moycon #1 Posted March 27, 2003 Could it be done on the 2600? I always loved that game...and it SEEMS possible. But to my knowledge, I never even heard of this ever possibly being a 2600 game. What a great game. If I have time later I might whip up a quick mock-screenshot. Anyone agree or know why it was never attempted? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CPUWIZ #2 Posted March 27, 2003 I wrote a clone of that for the Amiga in the early 80's, I think besides technical limitations it would take up too much space to hold all the different screens. How sick is that, I still have a couple of screen shots ... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MegaManFan #3 Posted March 27, 2003 I wrote a clone of that for the Amiga in the early 80's, I think besides technical limitations it would take up too much space to hold all the different screens. Ahh, but if it was bankswitched on 16 or 32K with some good compression, couldn't it hold a fair to decent amount of them? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CPUWIZ #4 Posted March 27, 2003 Compression won't help you a bit on the 2600 because of it's RAM limitation. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tempest #5 Posted March 27, 2003 You could use a Supercharger to hold extra levels... Tempest Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nukey Shay #6 Posted March 27, 2003 There would be multiple problems creating the display regardless...since the 2600 only has the 40-pixel 1-color background. In Lode Runner, you have bricks, cement, horizontal and vertical ladders, and the gold. I suppose the gold could use the ball sprite (though there might be a problem if an enemy drops some)...but how to keep the bricks and cement looking different? In addition, you would need Ram to keep track of holes that are dug (which I believe is a maximum of 10 at any time...7 dug out and 3 filling back up) and the player and enemy locations. The missiles might be combined somehow to make a 4-pixel player and use the two player objects reused (a la Adventure) for 4 enemies (to minimize flicker). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Inky #7 Posted March 27, 2003 (awaiting Zylon's reply..) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZylonBane #8 Posted March 27, 2003 I don't see why it wouldn't be possible, but I'm almost certain that extra RAM would be required to hold the screen layout. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nukey Shay #9 Posted March 27, 2003 Oh...I forgot about having only one button to dig (which might be a problem if you are working in close quarters). And the extra ladders that appear when completing a level would also need to be in Ram, dunno how that would fare getting them on-screen afterward The brick/cement/ladder problem might be solved by having the cement be a section completely filled with pixels, bricks having pixels every other scanline, and ladders every third or fourth line. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nukey Shay #10 Posted March 27, 2003 Err...actually the ladder problem might be solved by having two seperate screens mapped. One with bonus ladders and one without. Any idea how to solve the digging/refilling hole problem (since the display screens can't just copy the pixel info mapped...the holes wouldn't get dug at all)? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sku_u #11 Posted March 27, 2003 Could this game be done on the 5200? It seems more feasable. It would be nice to see another game that actually uses the multiple functions of the 5200 keypad. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tempest #12 Posted March 27, 2003 Could this game be done on the 5200? Sure. There was a version for the XE which I think used 48K. A slightly scaled down version would be possible. Tempest Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZylonBane #13 Posted March 27, 2003 Actually the XE didn't even exist when the Atari port of Lode Runner was released. That was back in the 400/800 era. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tempest #14 Posted March 27, 2003 Actually the XE didn't even exist when the Atari port of Lode Runner was released. That was back in the 400/800 era. Yes but that was on disk. Atari released Lode Runner on a cartridge during the XE years. Tempest Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZylonBane #15 Posted March 27, 2003 You didn't specify the cart version. EDIT: Oh god... anyone who really wants to feel depressed, go visit the Broderbund web site. http://www.broderbund.com/ How the mighty have fallen... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tempest #16 Posted March 27, 2003 You didn't specify the cart version. I didn't need to, it was implied. I said ATARI released a version for the XE, the disk version was released by Broderbund for the Atari 400/800. Tempest Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CPUWIZ #17 Posted March 27, 2003 (awaiting Zylon's reply..) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Godzilla #18 Posted March 27, 2003 lode runner doesnt even come up on a search of their site. how sad. what was the name of their later era 3d apple 2 game, where you were on a hovercraft over the water? had amazing animation for the time, and was really fun. I used to play the heck out of it on the amiga... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CPUWIZ #19 Posted March 27, 2003 lode runner doesnt even come up on a search of their site. how sad. what was the name of their later era 3d apple 2 game, where you were on a hovercraft over the water? had amazing animation for the time, and was really fun. I used to play the heck out of it on the amiga... Raid On Bungling Bay. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZylonBane #20 Posted March 27, 2003 I didn't need to, it was implied. I said ATARI released a version for the XE But if as you also said it only required 48K, then it wasn't only for the XE. It could also be the 800 version. Hi-yah! EDIT: The name of the game was Airheart. One of the first games to use the Apple's new double-hires mode. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nukey Shay #21 Posted March 27, 2003 Yeah, you only said that it existed and used 48k...no mention of Atari or being on a cartridge at first. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tempest #22 Posted March 27, 2003 Yeah, you only said that it existed and used 48k...no mention of Atari or being on a cartridge at first. True but I did say that it was for the XE. The only version specifically released for the XE was the Atari Corp. cartridge version, the Broderbund version was only released for the 400/800 (check the box). The fact that the XE version works on the 400/800 and vice versa is inconsequential. Tempest Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joeybastard #23 Posted March 27, 2003 It's amazing that you both agree on the various facts yet still manage to argue.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Godzilla #24 Posted March 27, 2003 and dont forget the brazillian pirate version, 'Cosmic Jehosaphat' which is identical in every way, but has the broderbund logo removed from the game (and just in case you missed the jist of that message ) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joeybastard #25 Posted March 27, 2003 I think I'm naming my next band "Cosmic Jehosaphat" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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