Atari Age Roms

[Cody_Rock2001]

I was wondering what is known about how complete atari age's rom set is? Anything missing that can be found else where?

[+Random Terrain]

atarimania.com/rom_collection_archive_atari_2600_roms.html

[Syntaxerror999]

I know that Activision roms are missing... Sort of... If you dig deep enough and find the three zip files of all the roms, the Activision roms are there... You can also download rom hunters rom pack.

[+Random Terrain]

You can also download rom hunters rom pack.

 

I wonder where he could find that?

[Cody_Rock2001]

Rom hunters set is the one I have along with the sets from atari age. Thanks for the quick replys

[Andromeda Stardust]

I noticed some of the ROMs are missing from the Harmony packs. Air Raid is nowhere to be found for instance. Also, ROMs need to be separated PAL versus NTSC. There's no reason to be playing both NTSC and PAL ROMs on the same Harmony cartridge.

Edited October 24, 2013 by stardust4ever

[Retro Rogue]

Any ROMs that have been asked to be removed by the ROMs owner have been removed. I don't know that atarimania follows that policy.

[Rom Hunter]

I noticed some of the ROMs are missing from the Harmony packs. Air Raid is nowhere to be found for instance. Also, ROMs need to be separated PAL versus NTSC. There's no reason to be playing both NTSC and PAL ROMs on the same Harmony cartridge.

 

That's because Air Raid is not a true original ROM (it's based on code of Space Hockey).

 

Air Raid can be found in the standard ROMS map of my collection, though.

 

About PAL vs NTSC: the NTSC counterparts of the PAL true originals are in a seperate map.

 

You can easily pick out the true original PAL ROMs if you want and replace them by their NTSC counterparts from the seperate map.

 

I want my Harmony Cart ROMs collection to be as genuine as possible.

 

Edited October 27, 2013 by Rom Hunter

[Dr Manhattan]

I'm extremely grateful for the rom hunter pack but there's a few things I would love to see in future versions.

 

First it would be cool to see games sorted by genre. A homebrew folder would also be nice. And I'd really like to see a folder for games that use specialty controllers like the trackball and the paddle controller.

 

BTW, if there is already a homebrew rom collection please point me in the right direction. Thanks.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I think sorting by Genre is a little much.

 

Furthermore Air Raid is not a hack of Space Jockey. Air Raid did steal the graphics and sound effects, but it's really a separate game. I have played both games, well attempted to play Air Raid on my Harmony at any rate since it slowly rolls on my CRT set. In space Jockey, you shoot horizontally; in Air Raid, you shoot vertically. Also the rules and objectives are totally different between games. For what it's worth, I own the actual cart for Space Jockey. Air Raid is unobtainable it seems.

[Dr Manhattan]

I think sorting by Genre is a little much.

I don't. I think it adds a lot of playability to the collection and would greatly improve the harmony cart experience. Even moreso if you're a fan of a particular genre like shooters, etc.

 

But to each his own.

 

I have actually attempted to sort my own roms by genre but I'm not as familiar with the 2600 library as the experts. I know I'm probably missing a few games.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I don't. I think it adds a lot of playability to the collection and would greatly improve the harmony cart experience. Even moreso if you're a fan of a particular genre like shooters, etc.

 

But to each his own.

 

I have actually attempted to sort my own roms by genre but I'm not as familiar with the 2600 library as the experts. I know I'm probably missing a few games.

Problem is there are a lot of crossover genres that don't fit in one catagory, plus there's a million ways to sort games. I would value sort by publisher more so than sort by genre. That would weed out a good percentage of the crap shovelware titles.

[Impaler_26]

BTW, if there is already a homebrew rom collection please point me in the right direction. Thanks.

 

You can find a hacks and homebrews collection here:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/144662-atari-2600-hacks-and-homebrews-rom-collection-v1-2

 

It's by far not up to date but it's at least a start.

[Dr Manhattan]

 

You can find a hacks and homebrews collection here:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/144662-atari-2600-hacks-and-homebrews-rom-collection-v1-2

 

It's by far not up to date but it's at least a start.

 

Thanks very much!

 

On the subject of game genres.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_genres

 

I see very little cross over.

 

I also have a great arcade emulator for the original Xbox called CoinOPS. Maybe some of you have heard of it? It does a terrific job of separating games by genre. It definitely makes playing the catalog of games a lot more fun. Here's a demo video in case anyone is curious.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3MgoLAbqF4

[dwane413]

Furthermore Air Raid is not a hack of Space Jockey. Air Raid did steal the graphics and sound effects, but it's really a separate game.

I can't understand how Air Raid could have so much of the same code as Space Jockey and not be based on it.

 

I have played both games, well attempted to play Air Raid on my Harmony at any rate since it slowly rolls on my CRT set. In space Jockey, you shoot horizontally; in Air Raid, you shoot vertically.

And yet the code for moving your ship left and right (Air Raid) or up and down (Space Jockey) looks very similar to me:

 

Other parts of the program have chunks of code that are identical.

 

Also the rules and objectives are totally different between games.

Just because the finished product is different doesn't mean they didn't originate from the same code.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I can't understand how Air Raid could have so much of the same code as Space Jockey and not be based on it.

 

And yet the code for moving your ship left and right (Air Raid) or up and down (Space Jockey) looks very similar to me:

CompareCode.png

 

Other parts of the program have chunks of code that are identical.

 

Just because the finished product is different doesn't mean they didn't originate from the same code.

I still say Space Jockey and Air Raid are two completely mostly different games, compared to say, Video Olympics and Pong Sports which have different labels but identical ROMs. You don't have to analyze the code; no doubt Air Raid stole much of it. Fact is they play very differently compared to each other. If it weren't for the fact that Air Raid blatantly ripped the graphics and the sound bytes, most people wouldn't even consider them related, other than the fact that both are mediocre air/space shooters.

Edited October 29, 2013 by stardust4ever

[Rom Hunter]

I agree that Air Raid is a 'in-between' case.

 

It's not a true original, but different enough to stand on it's own.

 

Could it have been programmed without the Space Jockey code?

 

I don't think so.

 

I'll think about marking it as an original release (~) in the next release of my collection.

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Then how about Peter Penguin which is a hack of Pac-Man? Original?

 

IMO a hack should always called a hack.

[Rom Hunter]

Thomas, so you're pleading for Air Raid being a non original?

 

Where do you draw the line?

 

What does it still make a hack?

 

Music Machine 'borrowed' from Kaboom!

 

And Pumuckl I (AKA Zoo Fun) from Panda Chase.

 

Also hacks?

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I would draw the line, where the copied code and its variables still use at the same addresses. This means, the code was never reassembled, but just patched (hacked).

 

I vaguely remember a discussion at AA about this some years ago. IIRC we were also looking for a name for non-hacks which are not originals. "Pirated" maybe?

 

So to be more realistic, one has to look into the code.

 

BTW: Wasn't Pumuckl done by the same people who did Panda Chase?

[Rom Hunter]

BTW: Wasn't Pumuckl done by the same people who did Panda Chase?

 

 

I doubt it.

 

As you know, Pumuckl was a German TV cartoon character.

 

I don't think Taiwan based Home Vision was involved in the programming of this one.

 

ITT Family Games must have done the adaption.

 

Edited October 29, 2013 by Rom Hunter

[Rastignac]

Is there only one "Pitfall 2 PAL" version ? I now have two PAL cartridges of "Pitfall 2", and it seems that the music sounds a bit different depending on the cartridge. It seems mad; but other people ear it also. Same console, same TV, just swapping the cartridges.

The two are sure PAL ones (ie: not a NTSC and a PAL). I can't understand why one doesn't sound like the other (ie: a dirty cartridge or a broken one should not do that).

[Rom Hunter]

I have no idea either.

 

Must have something to do with that DPC, I guess.

 

[Andromeda Stardust]

Is there only one "Pitfall 2 PAL" version ? I now have two PAL cartridges of "Pitfall 2", and it seems that the music sounds a bit different depending on the cartridge. It seems mad; but other people ear it also. Same console, same TV, just swapping the cartridges.

The two are sure PAL ones (ie: not a NTSC and a PAL). I can't understand why one doesn't sound like the other (ie: a dirty cartridge or a broken one should not do that).

There is an internal resistor connected to some special hardware inside the cart. Due to part tolerances being pretty lax back in the early 80s, values can be off a bit. Changing the value of this resistor changes the pitch of the music.

 

Here's a custom mod I did, replacing the stock 560k resistor with a 220k and a 1M pot in series. By rotating the knob on the potentiometer, it yields about 2-and-a-half octaves of pitch change:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/209682-pitfall-ii-tone-adjustment-pot-mod/