Haunted House II 3D & Boulder Dash® Acquisition

[KevinMos3]

I was very excited to be able to purchase Haunted House II 3D and Boulder Dash recently. I've wanted HH II for years. The manual does not give a lot of details, so I was wondering if anyone could explain some things and give some tips.

 

I've found plenty of treasures but what do the items do? I've noticed a long thing that kinda looks like a sword. When I pick it up, it takes up several spaces in the inventory. Does it replace treasures or just move them out of view? What is the benefit of the item?

 

I've also been running into an issue and I wonder if it's a bug. I've not read about this anywhere else. It seems nearly every time I play now, after several minutes, the screen wills start cycling colors like it's going into some screensaver mode. Once this starts, it will never stop, and it doesn't happen because of me standing still. It happens while playing the game and moving around.

 

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What's the story with Boulder Dash? I was always under the impression it was a conversion of the A8 version. Is this correct or is it a true homebrew made to look just like the A8 one? Is it actually licensed by First Star Software?

[+Cafeman]

II've found plenty of treasures but what do the items do? I've noticed a long thing that kinda looks like a sword. When I pick it up, it takes up several spaces in the inventory. Does it replace treasures or just move them out of view? What is the benefit of the item?

 

I've also been running into an issue and I wonder if it's a bug. I've not read about this anywhere else. It seems nearly every time I play now, after several minutes, the screen wills start cycling colors like it's going into some screensaver mode. Once this starts, it will never stop, and it doesn't happen because of me standing still. It happens while playing the game and moving around.

 

I don't recall anybody ever complaining about that screen color cycling bug. It sounds like the screen protection register isn't being regularly updated. You'd think that others would have noticed it. Can you pause/unpause the game, or press various controller buttons, and 'fix it' ? Try another game and see if the same thing happens after a while.

 

The sword protects you from the creatures, but you can't pick up any items while you carry it. So use the sword to explore the house, find where the items are, then grab all 3 items (pieces of the urn) and return them to the beginning door. Is there a key in this version, to unlock doors?

[thegamezmaster]

Congrats on the games. Too bad for those of us that can't get it.

[Andrew Davie]

What's the story with Boulder Dash? I was always under the impression it was a conversion of the A8 version. Is this correct or is it a true homebrew made to look just like the A8 one? Is it actually licensed by First Star Software?

 

It's not a "conversion", as we did not have access to any source code, algorithms, or for that matter ANY official code or data or information.

The game was programmed based on information online describing the caves, how objects behave, and from various screenshots, etc.

It's an exact clone in terms of gameplay and caves, however the internal engine is totally different. The limitations of the '2600 meant that a lot of rather convoluted programming was necessary to make the game work on that platform.

Yes, it's officially licensed by First Star Software.

 

Cheers

A

[+Mitch]

It's not a "conversion", as we did not have access to any source code, algorithms, or for that matter ANY official code or data or information.

The game was programmed based on information online describing the caves, how objects behave, and from various screenshots, etc.

It's an exact clone in terms of gameplay and caves, however the internal engine is totally different. The limitations of the '2600 meant that a lot of rather convoluted programming was necessary to make the game work on that platform.

Yes, it's officially licensed by First Star Software.

 

Cheers

A

 

I think he was referring to the 5200 version...

 

Mitch

[KevinMos3]

Yes, I was referring to the 5200 version. Thanks Mitch.

 

Although, that was a pretty gracious response to what must have seemed like a frustrating question to Andrew. So thanks to Andrew too.

Edited September 30, 2012 by KevinMos3

[sqoon]

I, too, recently bought a First Star Software copy of 5200 Boulder Dash. Excellent game, and lots more affordable than the VCS version.

[KevinMos3]

I was making a gameplay video of Haunted House II 3D the night before last (since I couldn't find any on youtube for it), and that bug appeared (a little over 2 minutes into the game). I'm still going to upload that video so you can see exactly what I'm talking about and maybe we can get to the bottom of it.

[Charlie_]

I was making a gameplay video of Haunted House II 3D the night before last (since I couldn't find any on youtube for it), and that bug appeared (a little over 2 minutes into the game). I'm still going to upload that video so you can see exactly what I'm talking about and maybe we can get to the bottom of it.

 

The bug where the screen starts to cycle through different colors?

I used to play thus game a lot and I don't remember that... Maybe I will dig out my cart and give it some play time...

I say it all the time, but I really wish the Rom of this game was released. I'd play it often if I could put it on a multicart. I wish I knew enough to get a Rom off a cart. I would do this one and Sinistar.

[KevinMos3]

I FINALLY got access to some better internet at a friend's house. It's not good, but it sure beats my dialup. Anyway, here's that gameplay video I mentioned. My capture card is pretty old so I apologize for the poor quality, but it gets the job done. The apparent bug occurs at 2 min 13 sec into the video. It happens just before I take a death. After losing all my lives, it looks like I'm sitting at the title screen, but I'm actually pressing all the buttons one at a time on my controller just in case I can get rid of the screensaver issue (and nothing would get rid of it).

 

http://youtu.be/gYvplxWBju8

[KevinMos3]

Still looking for input on this bug in Haunted House.

 

Also, looking for an answer to the Boulder Dash question.

 

What's the story with Boulder Dash? I was always under the impression it was a conversion of the A8 version. Is this correct or is it a true homebrew made to look just like the A8 one? Is it actually licensed by First Star Software?

[AtariMagic!]

Still looking for input on this bug in Haunted House.

 

Also, looking for an answer to the Boulder Dash question.

 

i think BD its a Mean Hamster/first star software official conversion.

 

Haven't tried HH2 yet