Shawn Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Here is a copy without personalization for those who would prefer it: Birthday_Mania (no name).bin 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 First of all, so much thanks to all involved for making this part of history available to the community. Second, I was just thinking how the original carts had some random's name on the title screen, so, unless you know one of these randoms' name, any name or no name is as good as anything. Do we know the font/size characteristics was used for the original names? I suppose one could say that no name is perhaps the closest possible, as that would be what the original rom has. But it is very nice to have a version with the creator's name as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) So Waggie's effort is out the the picture, never heard anything for some time. And what about Roberts wish to give to some monies to charity for any cart sold. I d/l'ed the .bin and given 20 UKpounds to Cats Protection UK. Edited July 31, 2019 by high voltage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 1 minute ago, high voltage said: So Waggie's effort is out the the picture, never heard anything for some time. And what about Roberts wish to give to some charity for any cart sold. I d/l'ed the .bin and given 20 UKpounds to Cats Protection UK. I was under the impression it was still planned, but someone will have to put in the effort to add the auto name addition programming. Of course, even after that, these projects have sometimes taken years to go from ready rom to carts for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 20 minutes ago, high voltage said: So Waggie's effort is out the the picture, never heard anything for some time. Atari_Warlord is Waggie. He changed his user name last November. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 3 minutes ago, Shawn said: Atari_Warlord is Waggie. He changed his user name last November. I should've clicked, doh…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxsolo2000 Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Just wanted to say thank you for everyone involved and a massive thank you for releasing this. I salute you all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Thank you for doing this, Waggie. Brilliant work! I hope you guys still plan to release it in cart form, that would be just a delight! ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 Exactly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supergun Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 Holy cow, and just like that, the rom is suddenly freed with no fanfare whatsoever! Incredible. From 10K to 10¢ in an instant. Of course, thank you for finally doing so. What an odd ending to such a long ordeal. The 404 is now possible for every collector! It’s a great day indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supergun Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 On 7/31/2019 at 2:53 PM, Rom Hunter said: Thomas, except for the name change this is the closest to the original ROM as possible, right? Edit the name to Nancy Reagan, and then it is truly the closest possible. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicgamer74 Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 (edited) I can't get the little guy to move. Is anyone having trouble with this? I can get him to blow out the candles when I press the joystick to the right but that's all. Edited August 6, 2019 by classicgamer74 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impaler_26 Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 22 minutes ago, classicgamer74 said: I can't get the little guy to move. Is anyone having trouble with this? I can get him to blow out the candles when I press the joystick to the right but that's all. You need a paddle controller to play Birthday Mania. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicgamer74 Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 I figured as much. I'll have to wait until I get home from work as it doesn't work on my emulator. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevgauntlet Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 (edited) I got the game to work, here's how I did it: 1. Press Tab and select "Input" DEFAULT EVERYTHING! 2. Assign the keys to your preference. 3. Go to Devices & Ports: Make sure your mouse controller is under "Analog Devices: Check "Allow all 4 directions on joystick." 4. Uncheck "Grab mouse in emulation mode" and "Use control key combos" 5. Load game, press tab and choose "Game properties" 6. Under "Controller" tab, pick P0 controller as "Paddles" and close menu. 7. Press the "`" on the top-left corner of your keyboard. 8. Click the I/O tab, look at the middle-left spot under "SWCHA (W)" and the first "0" will turn red. 9. Close the debug menu and do a complete restart on the emulator. 10. As soon as the game loads, move the directional keys and click the mouse. 11. Enjoy! Edited August 6, 2019 by trevgauntlet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 Is there any way to tell from looking at the original source code what development system was used to create this cartridge? e.g. unusual compiler directives or unique formatting Way back in the very first post, the programmer indicated that he had no memory of the system used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supergun Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 I happened to be out of town this past weekend when the news broke regarding this rom release & I was busy catching up with work so I wasn’t able to finally get to this and burn myself an eprom and try it out until now. Here are my initial observations. I’ll begin with a reminder that I had actually played this game back around 1996 at the owners house. One of very few, I’m sure, who had ever done so, but of course at the time I truly didn’t understand nor appreciate the extreme significance of the game & I really couldn’t recall much about it years later. Well tonight, I think I can understand why. It didn’t take more then a few seconds of playing before I realized that it was pretty much a Kaboom clone or dare I say, even perhaps just a hack. It uses the paddle, it uses the mad bombers sprite, and the play control is pretty much identical. No doubt, I observed & determined the same thing 20 years ago, and probably left there unimpressed & disinterested in the same way I would have with any similar scenario. (such as say playing Spiderdroid for the first time and realizing it’s Amidar) One of our code guys here should look it over (or maybe use that clone spy program) and see just what, if any, programming code is used or recycled from Kaboom. Anyhow, it plays a little loose or even jittery, not quite as sharp & as tight as Kaboom, which makes it a little bit harder to control & to succeed. Also the difficulty is a bit off & could have used some tweaking. It starts off ridiculously easy (borderline boring) and then takes way too long to begin to increase, and then when it finally does, it becomes blazingly fast, arguably too difficult. It’s a very low scoring game, and may not even be capable of a 5 digit display. (9,999 may be the max possible score & then it would roll over) More or less every time you break a couple hundred points, they increase your air capacity. On my second game, I got it as high as about 80 and scored 726 points. I plan to play it much more and will report back what else I uncover. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad per say about the game. In fact, for a simple 4K cart, it’s pretty damn good! I mean it has a “title screen”, it plays a great opening melody, it has ok graphics, easy to understand gameplay, and even a secondary death melody. It just starts slow & takes a while to become engaging & challenging. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegamatrix Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 It's always awesome to see a new game. I feel it was absolutely appropriate to have the author's name in the title screen. Thank you to the efforts of all, including Mr. Tokar. ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitfall Switchy Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 On 7/31/2019 at 11:19 AM, Atari_Warlord said: It was never my intent to hold this game hostage for so long. I'd still love to have the individualized versions published. The main piece missing is an automatic way to update each ROM with a different name. Attached is a ROM with the original programmers name in recognition of his creation. Thanks to Thomas for cleaning up the code and creating this version. Albert, if this can be added to the first post, please do so to make it easier to find. Play Hints: 1. This is a paddle game (left port) 2. Left difficulty switch in A=narrow blast, B=wider blast 3. Reset starts new game 4. Select not used 5. B/W switch, Color position shows and plays Happy Birthday screen, B/W position skips intro screen 6. Right difficulty switch in A=single blow mode, B=continuous blow mode 7. The game pauses between waves and only starts the new wave when the fire button is pressed or if it is being held down. 8. Enjoy! Birthday_Mania_Robert_A_Tokar.bin 4 kB · 142 downloads Oh my god... thank you so much for this Warlord (Waggie). As a much younger enthusiast of lost and found media, and old games like this, this means the world to me, and to everyone else that watched and chatted in this thread for the past 7 years now. Seeing footage of the game for the first time 4 years ago was exciting enough, but actually experiencing something that only a handful of people got to play back in 1984 is even more so. Thank you again! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Yes, thank you very much, Warlord Waggie. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHATETHEBEARS Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 So will this be available in the Atariage store on a cartridge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supergun Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 I don’t think that’s going to happen. It would probably be too complicated to do so. To understand why, people have to go back to the beginning of this thread and read through all of it. It’s literally been years since this began & one particular detail that got lost in the shuffle has to do with any profits that the game generates having to go to charity. Not an easy thing to clarify & implement when producing & selling carts through the AtariAge store. It’s an inconvenience & not worth the hassle because there is no money to be made for anyone involved. Secondly, since this particular game’s charm relies so heavily on personalization (without that it amounts to just a Kaboom hack) then unless & until a name entry system is programmed & implemented (like say RealSports Tennis has) it comes off as “meh” when it just says “to you” and “odd” when it says the programmers name. It’s just not very appealing like that. The game then loses its character. So it’s not a very marketable game for anyone to produce in any significant quantities. It’s kind of a build your own cart thing. Or just play it on Harmony or an emulator. Kind of like Space Chase monogrammed edition. Similar situation. I mean, who cares for a game rom that is personalized to some other random person? Would you want a signed Raiders of the Lost Ark movie poster hanging in your home that says: “from Harrison Ford & Steven Spielberg to Random Name”? And if these carts were individually made then that’s exactly what would happen years from now when they exchange hands through sales & trades in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 48 minutes ago, Supergun said: I don’t think that’s going to happen. It would probably be too complicated to do so. To understand why, people have to go back to the beginning of this thread and read through all of it. It’s literally been years since this began & one particular detail that got lost in the shuffle has to do with any profits that the game generates having to go to charity. Not an easy thing to clarify & implement when producing & selling carts through the AtariAge store. It’s an inconvenience & not worth the hassle because there is no money to be made for anyone involved. We've done this before.. 48 minutes ago, Supergun said: Secondly, since this particular game’s charm relies so heavily on personalization (without that it amounts to just a Kaboom hack) then unless & until a name entry system is programmed & implemented (like say RealSports Tennis has) it comes off as “meh” when it just says “to you” and “odd” when it says the programmers name. This isn't too difficult to do, and would not be the first game sold in the AtariAge Store with personalization. ..Al 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 Mr. Atari offered this option this too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Combat Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 If someone wants to do a limited edition with ? and manual I’m game. The cart label needs to be different than the original or say repro to protect the original Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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