Atari 2600 Boulder Dash (R) Announced!

[SoulBlazer]

I'm sure Andrew was happy to be compared to Hitler.

 

I was simply making a reference to the difficult nature of the negoiations, that's all. No offense was intended.

[Albert]

I'm happy to announce that the Boulder Dash box artwork has been completed! Here are some nice renders that Nathan Strum put together:

 

 

 

The box artwork is now on its way to the printer!

 

Enjoy!

 

..Al

[+Midnight Synergy]

Wow!

 

<starts hopping up and down in anticipation>

[+Nathan Strum]

Quick thanks goes to Dave Dries who helped set up the Cinema 4D file for me.

[achtbits]

Iggy*SJB' timestamp='1328228709' post='2457845']... will there be a "combined" shipping cost, or will it be an additional $6?

How I know Al, I am pretty sure you have to pay the shipping only once.

 

When I ordered BD I also ordered some other items from the AA store.

Shipping costs were added twice, once for BD and once for the other items.

I assume they need to be sent as two separate items then.

I didn't think about it before reading the post about the shipping...

 

And what I also didn't think about, when I ordered: is it a PAL game at all?

Looking forward to the packages though.

[+Nathan Strum]

It's switchable between NTSC and PAL.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

And what I also didn't think about, when I ordered: is it a PAL game at all?

Andrew and I are both from PAL countries. So don't worry, the game is switchable between PAL and NTSC.

[achtbits]

Andrew and I are both from PAL countries. So don't worry, the game is switchable between PAL and NTSC.

 

Great

[Rhod]

[ntavio]

What a beautiful box.........

[Tickled_Pink]

That is stunning. Too bad I couldn't afford a copy.

[Emehr]

Noice!

[+HatNJ]

Great Box Cant wait to see it for real when it hits my mailbox

[Godzilla]

drools

[+Random Terrain]

drools

 

Catches drool in a rusty bucket and drinks it.

[+Nathan Strum]

Eeeeeww.... rust.

[+cmart604]

Holy crap that box looks beautiful! I can't wait to get mine!

[Godzilla]

watch out! that drool has been known to create radiocative mutant monsters!

[Jinks]

It all looks good, the box the new graphics and everything. This is the best 2600 game ever made by far the rest have no comparision. Any 2600 fan should at least have one of them. So whats next burn game, box up, and ship out? What the ETA??

[ManCaveArcade]

That box is awsome!!! I can't wait to get mine.....

[Andrew Davie]

It all looks good, the box the new graphics and everything. This is the best 2600 game ever made by far the rest have no comparision. Any 2600 fan should at least have one of them. So whats next burn game, box up, and ship out? What the ETA??

 

Thank you for your kind comments. I'm really proud of the whole thing; perhaps the greatest program I've ever written.

The boxes are being printed in Germany. They then ship to USA. The carts need to be burned; this is a trivial thing; a couple of days at most. As I said, Thomas and I are leaving the delivery of final binary to the very last second so we can make as many improvements as possible. Just today we found a bug in the 7800 pause routine, so this policy appears to be paying off. However, we're really just dabbling in the code, as everything has been complete since early December. Just colour changes and minor bug fixes. The manual needs to be approved and printed; this will happen while the boxes are in-transit. As you can see, everything is very close and we're all itching to get this out the door ASAP.

I am very sure that those who have purchased will be happy with the final product. The manual contains some very interesting information, the box is lovely, the cartridge artwork is beautiful, and the extras are teriffic.

My apologies for the delays; it turns out that the process has been much more intensive than Thomas and I had anticpated. Anyone who wants a refund, that's fine -- no questions asked.

Cheers

A

[+Propane13]

Ok, I'll bite-- How does a 2600 game have a 7800 pause routine?

[Andrew Davie]

Ok, I'll bite-- How does a 2600 game have a 7800 pause routine?

 

The COLOR/B&W switch is different on the two machines. On the 2600 it's a two-position slider with two "states" - colour OR B&W. On the 7800 it's a momentary push-button with no "state".. The software has to detect a press, and recognise it as a pause, and detect an identical press and detect it as an un-pause. Basically the code has to be different for the two platforms, as this cartridge runs on both 7800 and 2600 machines.

 

Cheers

A

[+Propane13]

Awesome! Nice that you're considering making this work on cross-console hardware.

 

Hey-- I've been wondering something. As a programmer, how does it feel to get close to release?

This project has gone on for a LONG time and had hurdles overcome in many areas (technical feasibility, negotiations, etc).

 

When it's all said and done-- is it fun as a programmer at this point? Or, more tedious and painful?

And, when the first copy goes out the door, will it be an ecstatic moment, or maybe just a little sad?

 

I think it would be very tough to keep the motivation going on a project of this magnitude, and then to just "let it go" seems like it would be strange to do.

 

-John

[hpat]

It all looks good, the box the new graphics and everything. This is the best 2600 game ever made by far the rest have no comparision. Any 2600 fan should at least have one of them. So whats next burn game, box up, and ship out? What the ETA??

 

Thank you for your kind comments. I'm really proud of the whole thing; perhaps the greatest program I've ever written.

The boxes are being printed in Germany. They then ship to USA. The carts need to be burned; this is a trivial thing; a couple of days at most. As I said, Thomas and I are leaving the delivery of final binary to the very last second so we can make as many improvements as possible. Just today we found a bug in the 7800 pause routine, so this policy appears to be paying off. However, we're really just dabbling in the code, as everything has been complete since early December. Just colour changes and minor bug fixes. The manual needs to be approved and printed; this will happen while the boxes are in-transit. As you can see, everything is very close and we're all itching to get this out the door ASAP.

I am very sure that those who have purchased will be happy with the final product. The manual contains some very interesting information, the box is lovely, the cartridge artwork is beautiful, and the extras are teriffic.

My apologies for the delays; it turns out that the process has been much more intensive than Thomas and I had anticpated. Anyone who wants a refund, that's fine -- no questions asked.

Cheers

A

 

Hi Andrew,

 

Love the box design too, but more importantly can't wait to play the game.

Would have loved to have submitted a design but didn't see the comp until it was to late...(

Just laughing to myself because I live in Limburg (south Netherlands) so my box will be doing some serious travel.

 

Success

Patrick