+SpiceWare Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 Waaaaaaaaahhhh!!!! Yeah, USPS didn't do very well this year. Normally shipments from Austin get here in a day or two. The copies I gave as gifts took five days because they got stuck at the North Houston post office for a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 Yeah, USPS didn't do very well this year. Normally shipments from Austin get here in a day or two. The copies I gave as gifts took five days because they got stuck at the North Houston post office for a few days.I am one state over (shreveport) and it took longer than usual but they arrived just in time Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roryjr Posted December 26, 2017 Share Posted December 26, 2017 Mine finally moved on Christmas Eve. If I don't have it today, I should have it tomorrow. Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roryjr Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 It came yesterday (the 26th). I love the box, poster and the manual. I miss manuals in todays modern games. I do have a question. Does it move to other quadrants when you finish the one you are on? I seemed to stay in the alpha quadrant. I did continue, though. I know I can pick a quadrant, but the manual seems to imply that you pick a quadrant and stay there until you pick another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 You stay in the currently selected quadrant until you choose a different one. There is no end to a given quadrant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 It came yesterday (the 26th). I love the box, poster and the manual. I miss manuals in todays modern games. I do have a question. Does it move to other quadrants when you finish the one you are on? I seemed to stay in the alpha quadrant. I did continue, though. I know I can pick a quadrant, but the manual seems to imply that you pick a quadrant and stay there until you pick another.After playing every sector in a given quadrant, they continue to loop until you hit stage 256, assuming the gameplay doesn't get so insane it becomes impossible to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roryjr Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 Oh I assume it does get insane. it was getting rough for the little distance I did get. I am still impressed with the amount of stuff running around on screen all at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted December 28, 2017 Author Share Posted December 28, 2017 Quadrants A and B repeat the last 6 sectors like they do in the arcade units. Quadrants Γ and ∆ repeat all of their levels. Quadrant E is randomly generated, so sectors do not repeat. Additionally the sectors in A and B are reused. In A 13, 14 and 15 are prior sectors: const unsigned char * const alpha_levels[] = { alpha_1, // 1 alpha_2, // 2 alpha_3, // 3 alpha_4, // 4 alpha_5, // 5 alpha_6, // 6 alpha_7, // 7 alpha_8, // 8 alpha_9, // 9 alpha_10, // 10 alpha_11, // 11 alpha_12, // 12 18 24 alpha_9, // 13 19 ... alpha_5, // 14 20 alpha_10, // 15 21 alpha_16, // 16 22 alpha_17 // 17 23 }; while B reuses sectors from both A and B: const unsigned short int beta_levels[] = { (unsigned short int) beta_1, // 1 (unsigned short int) beta_2, // 2 (unsigned short int) alpha_8, // 3 (unsigned short int) alpha_9, // 4 (unsigned short int) alpha_16, // 5 (unsigned short int) alpha_4, // 6 (unsigned short int) alpha_12, // 7 (unsigned short int) alpha_11, // 8 (unsigned short int) beta_9, // 9 (unsigned short int) beta_10, // 10 (unsigned short int) beta_11, // 11 (unsigned short int) alpha_8, // 12 (unsigned short int) alpha_9, // 13 (unsigned short int) beta_14, // 14 (unsigned short int) alpha_17, // 15 (unsigned short int) alpha_16, // 16 (unsigned short int) beta_17, // 17 23 29 (unsigned short int) beta_18, // 18 24 ... (unsigned short int) beta_19, // 19 25 (unsigned short int) beta_14, // 20 26 (unsigned short int) alpha_17, // 21 27 (unsigned short int) beta_22 // 22 28 }; It took Nathan quite a bit of time to figure those all out and create the sector data. The difficulty maxes out at sector 32 so if you're able to make it that far it's time to change Level to Hard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvio Mogno Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I don't want to offend anyone... but SpiceWare is the best 2600 programmer ever 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 I don't want to offend anyone... but SpiceWare is the best 2600 programmer ever Thanks, but hardly A lot of collaboration goes on in these projects - without the help of others like Chris Walton, Fred Quimby, Thomas Jentzsch, Nathan Strum, Michael Haas (and many others) my games would have been pale imitations of what they ultimately became. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Too many awesome homebrews by awesome developers, not only Atari but Nintendo, Sega, Coleco, Intelli, and a host of other classic systems. Tons of collabs across many different authors, games, and systems, such that to crown one guy as king would be in grave error. It is a community effort through and through, and everyone benefits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Thanks, but hardly A lot of collaboration goes on in these projects - without the help of others like Chris Walton, Fred Quimby, Thomas Jentzsch, Nathan Strum, Michael Haas (and many others) my games would have been pale imitations of what they ultimately became. This is good to know. I have to make an effort this time to mention others involved when I do reviews. I might need some of these spelled phonetically so I don't butcher the pronounciation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I don't want to offend anyone... but SpiceWare is the best 2600 programmer ever He's definitely my favorite but there's many great programmers making some fantastic games. Awesome time to be a 2600 fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 This is good to know. I have to make an effort this time to mention others involved when I do reviews. I might need some of these spelled phonetically so I don't butcher the pronounciation Key people involved in each project are listed in the manual. For Draconian: Chris & I designed CDF. He wrote the Harmony/Melody driver, while I added support to Stella. Fred created the hardware it runs on and fixed a compatibility issue that cropped up with some 7800s. Michael did the voices and majority of the sound effects. Nathan did a lot (and, of course, is the reason Draconian came to be). Chris also did a lot of code optimizing, via Messenger, which freed up enough space in the game to make sure everything would fit - those samples take up a lot of room! (Thomas did the same for prior games like Stay Frosty 2 and Space Rocks). ∆ quadrants are the winners of the ∆ quadrant competition, their levels are in the game. The last section covers people who made key suggestions to the game, such as the Quadrant E which randomly generates every sector. There really should be more listed in this section - these people normally end up in my Credits Easter Egg, but I knew Draconian wouldn't have the space for one, and didn't even think about listing them in the manual, so I didn't take meticulous notes during development like I have in the past. Nathan brought it up at the last minute while creating the manual (think we had a day to get them in there), so I got ahold of a few I could think of off the top of my head (to get their real names) and used "and the AtariAge community" to cover the rest. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvio Mogno Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Thanks, but hardly A lot of collaboration goes on in these projects - without the help of others like Chris Walton, Fred Quimby, Thomas Jentzsch, Nathan Strum, Michael Haas (and many others) my games would have been pale imitations of what they ultimately became. Too many awesome homebrews by awesome developers, not only Atari but Nintendo, Sega, Coleco, Intelli, and a host of other classic systems. Tons of collabs across many different authors, games, and systems, such that to crown one guy as king would be in grave error. It is a community effort through and through, and everyone benefits! I said "I don't want to offend anyone" I'm also a "poor" 2600 programmer I made this post because I was really impressed on how advanced is Draconian, compared to nearly every other 2600 game. I want to say "thank you" to all vintage game systems enthusiasts, especially the ones devoted to my loved 2600 system With their efforts we got some gems that were unthinkable in 1980 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 The last section covers people who made key suggestions to the game, such as the Quadrant E which randomly generates every sector. There really should be more listed in this section - these people normally end up in my Credits Easter Egg, but I knew Draconian wouldn't have the space for one, and didn't even think about listing them in the manual, so I didn't take meticulous notes during development like I have in the past. Nathan brought it up at the last minute while creating the manual (think we had a day to get them in there), so I got ahold of a few I could think of off the top of my head (to get their real names) and used "and the AtariAge community" to cover the rest.I'm still shocked you crammed that fifth quadrant into your code: gerrymandering indeed! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted February 8, 2018 Author Share Posted February 8, 2018 Special Delivery arrived today, thanks Tarzilla 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted February 8, 2018 Author Share Posted February 8, 2018 Lights On: Lights Off: 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Special Delivery arrived today, thanks Tarzilla IMG_9725.jpg Arm down! Arm down! Will these be for sale soon??? Way too cool!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted February 8, 2018 Author Share Posted February 8, 2018 Arm down! Arm down! Yeah, it's a very tight fit and fell out just as I snapped the photo. I was worried about breaking the arm if I forced it. I was going to track down my sandpaper this evening, but Tarzilla recommended making the hole in the side of the snowman a little larger instead. Will these be for sale soon??? Way too cool!!!There's been talk of that, though I don't know specifics. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 (edited) Special Delivery arrived today, thanks Tarzilla IMG_9725.jpg Super nice, love the glow in the dark! Can't wait for the game to arrive! Edited February 9, 2018 by cimmerian 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Lights On: IMG_9727.jpg Lights Off: IMG_9728.jpg Sweet! I need a glow in the dark version. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Any chance of a space station figurine release, minus the PRGE branding? That glow in the dark space station is beyond awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 AtariAge had so many holiday orders that only now have I received my comped copies of Draconian and Super Cobra Arcade (thanks John!). I bet Al's happy to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 AtariAge had so many holiday orders that only now have I received my comped copies of Draconian and Super Cobra Arcade (thanks John!). I bet Al's happy to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel Indeed, I have so many other things to catch up on, though! I need one of those Tesla phone chargers. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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