+Nathan Strum Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 here's a hint - they said this game could NEVER been ported to an Atari 2600. Looks very nice, but I know of at least one or two people who thought it could be done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r_type2600 Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 A highly impressive conversion! It's great to see that a former professional Lynx programmer has discovered the 2600 as a playground for his creativity. For those who are not aware, Mr. D. Scott Williamson is responsible for some of the most prolific and arcade-perfect conversions on the Lynx - Roadblasters and Toki. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidcorp Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 I wrote S.T.U.N. Runner too :-) Thank all of you, and the people at the AVC Video Game Summit so much! Your kind words made this very difficult effort pay off. D. Scott Williamson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidcorp Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Albert of Atari Age contacted me Sunday and was generous enough to offer to help me promote and potentially sell Star Castle. I am repeating my heartfelt reply here for those of you who are interested. ----------------------------- Why thank you so much, and thank you for the tremendous resource Atari Age is. I will not be attending this years Classic Gaming Expo and while I greatly appreciate your offer to demo the product, I don't think I am ready to exhibition this work at that level quite yet. I'm not sure what you've seen so I'll give you a little back story... I'm a professional game developer who has been making video games for over 20 years, I used to work at Atari in Lombard Illinois in the late 80's, I've always been a fan of the video game industry and its history, and I was an Atari zealot as a kid. When reading the book Racing the Beam, a fantastic book by MIT press about the history of the Atari 2600, its games, an developers and how their interactions influenced the fledgling industry, I was struck by the chapter "A Yar Is Born", in which Howard Scott Warshaw, describes the circumstances that led to the development of Yars Revenge. He was originally asked to port the coin op Star Castle to the 2600 and he is quoted as saying "I soon realized that a decent version couldn't be done..." which has always stuck with me. He has made similar statements other interviews (DP interview http://www.digitpress.com/library/interviews/interview_howard_scott_warshaw.html , Atari times interview http://www.ataritimes.com/article.php?showarticle=522, Game career guide interview http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/378/on_game_design_the_.php?page=2) so I decided to prove it could be done and done very well. Star Castle is an 8k cartridge using standard F8 bank switching (for the time being), the same size as Asteroids. To be fair, Yars' Revenge is a 4k cartridge but as far as I know size wasn't a limiting factor when Howard said it couldn't be done. I don't want to suggest that I think any less of Howard Scott Warshaw, he did great things during a great time in our industry and was fortunate enough to be part of it's history. (Check out his DVD Once Upon Atari it's a great insight) Even though there is no RAM and under 30 bytes of ROM free, there is more I would like to do to the game software and hardware before I call it done. Not shown at the AVC Video game Summit is the physical Atari 2600 cartridge I designed and built. It's configurable for 4K, 8K, 16K, 32K, or 64K ROM and features game controlled LEDs in the cartridge. I'm also planning on machining a custom engraved clear acrylic case for the cartridge with my home made CNC machine. I don't have any plans to put Atari 2600 Star Castle cartridges into production as I didn't set out to port a 30 year old coin op game to a 33 year old platform to fill a market need. This game is the result of many months of very hard work and for that I am not inclined to share the code or binary. I will likely put up a website telling a more detailed story than the one here and look for a little publicity. But who knows, if there is a wealthy collector out there who wants it bad enough maybe I'd let my one and only copy go for a small fortune Feel free to share this story, the pictures, and videos freely, I'll be posting some eventually. Thanks so much for your interest, and once again thanks for AtariAge, a wonderful place for everything Atari. D. Scott Williamson SOLID Corp. P.S. I still am making games as the head of the Advanced Technology Group at High Voltage Software. If you want to know more about me or my recent projects, check out my picasa web album here http://picasaweb.google.com/spot1984 (there are pictures of some of the making of Star Castle and the cartridge in there and lots of other fun stuff) ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2010 4:44:38 PM Subject: Star Castle Greetings! I just saw a video that was posted on AtariAge of what appears to be a most excellent port of Star Castle to the Atari 2600. Congratulations on such a great job as well as keeping it secret! It's always nice to see such polished efforts come out of nowhere to surprise everyone. AtariAge is going to have a huge presence at the upcoming Classic Gaming Expo at the end of next week. I'll have a large number of game systems set up and will be demoing several upcoming homebrew games for the 2600. I was wondering if you might be interested in having Star Castle available for people to try? I'm sure it'd be a great hit at the show! And while I have your ear, if you're interested in making Star Castle available in cartridge form at some point, please let me know as I'd love to help you with that. Thanks and take care, ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Iacovelli Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 hey scott, I gave Al your e-mail address's(he asked me about the star castle project you did(if you wanted to talk about it at the show I would have let have some time between the tournaments instead of have crimefighter (steve lucas) film it.) anyways, it was great that you came, and if by chance VGS 2k11 happens, you always welcome to come and show your stuff(I said if because VGS had hit wall sort to speak especially with the fairfield inn when so many thing went wrong, it came to me that either I close up the show after this year or move to smaller venue and doa reboot like the movie producers do with franshises( star trek, batman and superman for instance) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidcorp Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Thanks Dan, You really put on a great show and I thought it would be a great place to let people see Star Castle for the first time. I had no idea how it would be received or if people would even care (as much as I did ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 I don't have any plans to put Atari 2600 Star Castle cartridges into production as I didn't set out to port a 30 year old coin op game to a 33 year old platform to fill a market need. This game is the result of many months of very hard work and for that I am not inclined to share the code or binary. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Star Castle was one of my favorites way back when I first started going to the arcades. I really hope you decide to release this. I'd love to play it 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 BTW solidcorp, did you ask Al if it was cool to just post his private conversation with you in public? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidcorp Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Thanks for the callout CPUWIZ. That was an oversight on my part, though I did remove the email addresses FWIW. I hope he doesn't mind, everything he said was very nice and I hope he doesn't find any harm in my post. BTW, you can call me Scott if you like - or SOLIDCorp or whatever. D. Scott Williamson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydro Thunder Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 (edited) Greetings, Scott! Obviously it is totally, completely and utterly up to you what you decide to do with your fantastic Star Castle project. But I would like to add my vote to the list of votes for having it made into cartridge format (even if you choose not to release the bin, etc). Ask around on this site to get financial general info about homebrews, I think you'll find that there indeed is a market, if a niche one, for a bazillion year old game on a bazillion year old game system. I'm already fantasizing about the label art, box art, etc... And it's too bad you won't be showing the project at CGE, it'd be a HUGE splash, even if it's not fully completed. All the best, and once again, great work! -Greg Edited July 19, 2010 by Curious Sofa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntavio Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 I don't have any plans to put Atari 2600 Star Castle cartridges into production as I didn't set out to port a 30 year old coin op game to a 33 year old platform to fill a market need. This game is the result of many months of very hard work and for that I am not inclined to share the code or binary. I will likely put up a website telling a more detailed story than the one here and look for a little publicity. But who knows, if there is a wealthy collector out there who wants it bad enough maybe I'd let my one and only copy go for a small fortune Please define small fortune..............Several people here can buy it if "small fortune" is fairly reasonable. Broad strokes. Not looking for an exact number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidcorp Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 "One Million Dollars!" (read like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers) Just kidding. I'm sorry guys, I'm really really genuinely flattered and I don't want to come off as a jerk (although it may be too late ) but I really just want to finish the one game cartridge and show it off right now. I'd be happy to talk about the technical aspects of making of the game though if anyone has any questions. D. Scott Williamson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Iacovelli Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 "One Million Dollars!" (read like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers) Just kidding. I'm sorry guys, I'm really really genuinely flattered and I don't want to come off as a jerk (although it may be too late ) but I really just want to finish the one game cartridge and show it off right now. I'd be happy to talk about the technical aspects of making of the game though if anyone has any questions. D. Scott Williamson scott, I can you do for you what I did nolan bushnell and set up a video cast for you to answer any questions regarding your game or history or whatever. it will have to be done after I return from CGE. I'm working out some deatils to relaunch the old Dateline atari rtc's that was orignally on GEine and do it via video cast using stickam.com hoping to get nolan in on those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holygrailvideogames.com Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 I would be intersted in purchasing Star Castle but only if you agree to allow me to release and sell copies of it. I am sure that others would be interested in a similar arrangement as well. I suspect that this would have more interest than the majority of the homebrew releases since it is already a known game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 I would be intersted in purchasing Star Castle but only if you agree to allow me to release and sell copies of it. I am sure that others would be interested in a similar arrangement as well. I suspect that this would have more interest than the majority of the homebrew releases since it is already a known game. I don't like where this is headed....... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 If I'm not mistaken, Al would give you $5 royalties on every cartridge sold, and the binary would not have to be released. That would put a few dollars in your pocket for all that work and you wouldn't have to do any of the manufacturing, marketing, or selling. Plus, and this is the best part, you would have our eternal gratitude. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 I would be intersted in purchasing Star Castle but only if you agree to allow me to release and sell copies of it. I am sure that others would be interested in a similar arrangement as well. I suspect that this would have more interest than the majority of the homebrew releases since it is already a known game. I don't like where this is headed....... Indeed. I'm sure we'd all love to own a copy of this game, but if Mr. Williamson decides that he doesn't want to release it to be manufactured, that's his decision as the author, and we should respect that. Let's all try to keep our enthusiasm in check, and resist the temptation to become a nuisance on the issue. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tremoloman2006 Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 I would be intersted in purchasing Star Castle but only if you agree to allow me to release and sell copies of it. I am sure that others would be interested in a similar arrangement as well. I suspect that this would have more interest than the majority of the homebrew releases since it is already a known game. I don't like where this is headed....... Indeed. I'm sure we'd all love to own a copy of this game, but if Mr. Williamson decides that he doesn't want to release it to be manufactured, that's his decision as the author, and we should respect that. Let's all try to keep our enthusiasm in check, and resist the temptation to become a nuisance on the issue. I agree... but for people like me who bought a Vectrex just to play Star Castle it's hard to imagine code sitting somewhere doing nothing when it could be giving people joy. I for one wouldn't hound the author but I sure as hell hope he changes his mind and decides to offer it to the public. I would rather not known the title existed than being shown that teaser, but that's just me. Fine work nonetheless! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holygrailvideogames.com Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 (edited) I would be intersted in purchasing Star Castle but only if you agree to allow me to release and sell copies of it. I am sure that others would be interested in a similar arrangement as well. I suspect that this would have more interest than the majority of the homebrew releases since it is already a known game. I don't like where this is headed....... I simply would like this game to be released. It looks great and is an arcade classic. At some point I would like to release games like Atariage, Good Deal Games and Atari2600.com does. It would be a continuation of my business. I gave him the names of a couple of people who I believe could get this game released soon after he has it ready to go should he decide to release it. This probably would be a good release for a 200-250 copy limited edition run or a permanent run like AtariAge does. Edited July 19, 2010 by holygrailvideogames.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tz101 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Maybe he is being careful out of concern for possible royalty claims by the original developer of Star Castle. They might want a cut of the pie... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidcorp Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 I would be intersted in purchasing Star Castle but only if you agree to allow me to release and sell copies of it. I am sure that others would be interested in a similar arrangement as well. I suspect that this would have more interest than the majority of the homebrew releases since it is already a known game. I don't like where this is headed....... I don't like where this has gone, it was never about money. I regret making that stupid joke that has taken the attention away from the work. I wrote the game because I am a fan and to prove I'm at least as good as one of the best Atari 2600 programmers there ever was. D. Scott Williamson 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidcorp Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Maybe he is being careful out of concern for possible royalty claims by the original developer of Star Castle. They might want a cut of the pie... FWIW I tried very hard to acquire the license. Without getting into the very interesting and sordid origins of the Star Castle coin op, it was released by Cinematronics, a company which was purchased by Tradewest and renamed Lehland Corporation, all of which was purchased by Midway, which as recently purchased by Warner Brothers Interactive. I know quite a few people at Midway/WMS and I was able to work with the interactive media liaison at WBI who is in possession of the formidable list of properties to which Warner Brothers possesses the rights. Curiously, Star Castle is not on that list. D. Scott Williamson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Mr. D. Scott Williamson is responsible for some of the most prolific and arcade-perfect conversions on the Lynx - Roadblasters and Toki. Definitely two of the best games on that system (Toki especially). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntavio Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 I don't like where this has gone, it was never about money. I regret making that stupid joke that has taken the attention away from the work. I wrote the game because I am a fan and to prove I'm at least as good as one of the best Atari 2600 programmers there ever was. D. Scott Williamson Well you seem like one of the best 2600 programmers by what I saw on You Tube. But you would get more accolades if we could play the game. Maybe you could just release the code to someone like Albert or CPUWIZ to produce carts for a nominal fee for the materials. That is if you don't care about the money 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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