Mission Omega from Commavid...does it exist?

[lucifershalo]

Do we have evidence that Mission Omega exists?

 

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-mission-omega_20494.html

[Tempest]

Nope, just the story. That blurb came from me as told to me by one of the DP guys.

 

Tempest

[lucifershalo]

the story?

[Tempest]

the story?

That it was done but was sent back for polishing and never finished in time to be released.

 

Tempest

[lucifershalo]

ok...so maybe it was never begun

[ntavio]

Too bad. I was looking forward to the "flashy graphics."

[Godzilla]

the ad I read as a kid had me drooling for this one back in the day... I still hold out hope that I may one day see something of it... even some graphics data or something to give some idea what it would have looked like... wonder if there is any 'dev' data that survived anywhere...

[Tempest]

the ad I read as a kid had me drooling for this one back in the day... I still hold out hope that I may one day see something of it... even some graphics data or something to give some idea what it would have looked like... wonder if there is any 'dev' data that survived anywhere...

It's possible. I believe this was one of the first Commavid games to be contracted out (like Rush Hour) so it's possible that if we can find the programmer he/she might have it. Nothing of it was found with the regular Commavid guys IIRC.

 

Tempest

[Rom Hunter]

the ad I read as a kid had me drooling for this one back in the day... I still hold out hope that I may one day see something of it... even some graphics data or something to give some idea what it would have looked like... wonder if there is any 'dev' data that survived anywhere...

It's possible. I believe this was one of the first Commavid games to be contracted out (like Rush Hour) so it's possible that if we can find the programmer he/she might have it. Nothing of it was found with the regular Commavid guys IIRC.

 

Tempest

AFAIK John Bronstein was the programmer, right?

 

Nothing was found at his house, though:

http://www.digitpress.com/archives/cc_commavid.htm

 

Edited May 11, 2011 by Rom Hunter

[rolenta]

That it was done but was sent back for polishing and never finished in time to be released.

 

It was not shown at CES either.

[Godzilla]

sean kelly and john hardie own the rights and someone still has "a box of cassette software with compilers, tools, and data on them. There were also several boxes of EPROMs that we have yet to go through and we're hoping to discover some of the other unreleased titles such as Mission Omega and Underworld" according to that article...

[Tempest]

Yeah I saw the tape that was labeled Underworld. They didn't know how to access the data though, they need a development system to read it (I think they used TRS-80's or something as arcane). That was a long time ago, no idea what they've done with it since then.

 

Tempest

[ntavio]

AFAIK John Bronstein was the programmer, right?

 

Nothing was found at his house, though:

http://www.digitpress.com/archives/cc_commavid.htm

 

 

Thanks for posting the article ROM Hunter. It was informative.

[+Random Terrain]

This is from Arcade Express (October 10, 1982). I thought I'd post it here in case it might be helpful:

 

www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-history-arcade-express-v01-05.html#commavid

A pair of new games from CommaVid are nearly ready for release, says Dr. Joseph Biel, Vice President. The Atari VCS-compatible cartridges will be in the stores by Christmas. "Mission Omega" requires the arcader to fly from a dying earth to an artificial world built to rescue the planet's population and supplies. Interceptor ships bedevil the flight that is the planet's last chance of salvation. "Mines of Minos" pilots the last remaining robot through the maze-like mine corridors. He is constantly stalked by aliens as he struggles to find and reassemble pieces of other robots to form his squad of fighters, so that they can battle the aliens and expel them from the mine.

[+Psionic]

Yeah I saw the tape that was labeled Underworld. They didn't know how to access the data though, they need a development system to read it (I think they used TRS-80's or something as arcane). That was a long time ago, no idea what they've done with it since then.

 

From what I remember, Sean Kelly apparently brought all the CommaVid development tapes to someone else, attempting to find a way extract the data. I attempted to put this person in contact with one of the CommaVid programmers because he needed some assistance with something, and that's the last I heard of it.

 

There was apparently some code for Underworld, as well as another unfinished title ("Ortho F"). Whether or not either of these games was anywhere near playable is doubtful. Unfortunately, there appears to be no traces whatsoever of Mission Omega (which is really odd).