Mega Man 2600 $$$ Double Dragon 2

[CDS Games]

Are you taking this project on, Save2600?

[+save2600]

Are you taking this project on, Save2600?

 

No, no, no... only barely scratched the surface of bB!

[Turbo-Torch]

So does the person who spent $500 just get one game, same as the person who spent $50 to fund the project?

Will it be an exclusive title only for those who backed the project? If not, and they start selling in the AtariAge store for $30, do any of the original funders get a portion of the sales?

 

What if someone doesn't like something about the game? Does the programmer need to keep making changes? What if several backers disagree on elements of the game? Will their opinions be rated on how much they chose to spend?

Is there any way possible this won't end in a bunch of drama and butthurt?

 

Lastly, who will keep all this money in escrow? The programmer needs to be protected from all those who talk a big game and then silently disappear when it comes time to pay up...and that WILL happen. Same goes for giving any significant amount to a programmer.

[Supergun]

Very well put. Pandora's Box here.

[Inky]

Turbo-torch nailed it.

[hizzy]

I guess those issues mentioned above could be addressed. I don't think this is an impossible project to pull off.

[gauauu]

I guess those issues mentioned above could be addressed. I don't think this is an impossible project to pull off.

 

Absolutely. There's jut not enough money on the table to motivate anyone to figure it out.

[sn8k]

I put 500 and some one else said 200. The rest of you keep saying there's just not enough money here to do this and you're right, there isn't enough money to do this so long as you only keep saying there isn't enough money to do this instead of just saying a number. You make this sound as if I expected to do this with 500 bucks. How stupid are you to keep stating the obvious the previous person before you had stated. Like to feel included much?

 

Clearly this has been a failure. I want Double Dragon 2. Yes I also own it on NES and now on ps4 but that isn't the point. If you just want to keep saying the same shit and not post an amount of money you are willing to pay for a game that would be an awesome addition to the 2600 and or 7800. Do us all a favor and shut up or this thread needs to be closed.

 

I want new games. So do you, or do you? If not. You have nothing to say here 5 people before you haven't already said. State a F#%*Ing number or move on. Games are hard work . Yes we know that. Thank you x5 for your input. Credit worthy.

[sn8k]

Burger time 2 anyone? Gtfo.

[CDS Games]

Actually, this thread hasn't been a failure. People are just understandably skeptical about the money aspect. I've long been wondering whether a Donationware model could work, particularly with games that can't be sold because of trademark or other issues. But normally the way things go around here is that you catch a developer's interest, and then things are off and running.

 

So what are we looking at here? The main problems with Activision's DD are that a) it's too hard, and b) the sprites look clunky. Always easiest to start with graphics, so here's a new Billy and some potential sprites for the sequel:

 

 

Graphics modification can actually get you most of the way to Double Dragon II. Assuming there's no impediment to doubling the ROM size, with careful level arrangement you can add extra sprites and bosses. You will likely have to share some though--you basically have 4 sprite sets to work from: Billy/Jimmy/Williams/Roper, etc. (all shared!); Linda, Abobo, and Boss Willy. We can get that up to 7 with bankswitching (Billy/Jimmy/etc. will have to carry over to the second bank).

 

The game play would be the big sticking point, as I don't know that this game has ever had a commented disassembly, so it'll be a challenge figuring everything out. And then coming up with ways to make the modifications within the existing code.

 

But before we open up the hood and see what's feasible, tell me what specifically you want to see from DDII and how it can fit into the 2600 context. Like the new "cyclone kick" move in DDII....how can that be added, if it can? Do you get rid of one of the other moves? How would it be activated? Do you keep the DDI control scheme, or do you go with the DDII version?

[hizzy]

There are some interesting things to come up in this discussion, like the potential pitfalls. Honestly, I could see this happening. I'm not much of a double dragon guy, but I hope fans of the game come out and help you in your quest for a DD II.

[Jinroh]

Find out who programmed that 2600 Mega Man demo, and ask him what he learned & what he left on the cutting room floor. Then, use him or a rom hacker here to enhance & expand it into a full blown Mega Man game.

 

The Mega Man 2600 source is available so that cuts out the middleman. :3

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/146936-making-of-mega-man-2600/?p=1789548

[sn8k]

Were getting somewhere slowly now. Thanks for the input. I ultimately wont make decisions. These must be voted. Cyclone kick would be cool because it wasn't in the first. I would say personally,drop the back elbow in favor of cyclone.

 

500 ain't enough. But if all fans put 50-100 bucks on top of the 700 we have now, someone makes the game gets roughly 2500-5000

[Jinks]

In the end you need honest, respectable and trustworthy people investing and programming. This without costing thousands in legal fees that would be hard to enforce any judgements that would be meaningless.

So basically trust or forget it.

[sn8k]

Then we will call it Dragon Fighter 2-600 or something.

[Jinks]

If it was dd2 2600 make it sega genisis 2 button compatible.

[sn8k]

700 bucks on the table so far. I figure on the lowest end, 5-7 thousand will get us this game. Maybe we'll even get part 3 if this goes smoothly. Or we can go in a different direction and make an all new double dragon altogether. Double dragon 4. This way its something that hasn't been done. However if double dragon 4 goes down then I would want that on 7800

[Andromeda Stardust]

700 bucks on the table so far. I figure on the lowest end, 5-7 thousand will get us this game. Maybe we'll even get part 3 if this goes smoothly. Or we can go in a different direction and make an all new double dragon altogether. Double dragon 4. This way its something that hasn't been done. However if double dragon 4 goes down then I would want that on 7800

Dude, listen to yourself. This isn't 1982. People aren't still making Atari games for the money. They've moved on to platforms like Steam/mobile/PS4/XB1, bcause for every gamer buying Atari homebrew, there are thousands of gamers buying for modern platforms.

 

You want Megaman or Double Dragon ported to Atari, do it yourself. Otherwise if you want to support the homebrew movement financially, feel free to browse the AtariAge shop and get some dope new games for $30-$50.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I would love to see more new games, and fewer demakes, unless the demake is huge departure from the og game, like the 2600 Halo. That's a fun game just on its own.

Nice someone mentioned Halo. It's an incredible masterpiece, not created for commission I might add, and I generally loathe modern FPS titles.

[CDS Games]

I'm a little puzzled by this offer being taken as some attempt at a programmer's salary. To me it's like asking a contractor friend to come help you with a home renovation project and you'll slip him some money for his trouble. This is not on a professional level at all...it's a friendly hobby community and one hobbyist with a wish list offering to compensate another hobbyist with the potential to make it happen. "Donationware", I think, comes closest, and sn8k can correct me on that if I'm wrong.

 

I may well be interested in taking up Double Dragon 2 mainly because of personal interest in the game. But I admit to being a little nervous about the money aspect....it introduces an accountability that I'm not sure I can live up to, this being very much a side project. I would be absolutely mortified if I took anything and then left people feeling cheated because I hit an unsolvable snag or the end result wasn't up to someone's standards. This community means a great deal to me.

 

Just thinking out loud here, but instead of money, how about Atari stuff? I've been really wanting some of Al's homebrews and hacks for a while but have nothing extra to spend on them. I badly need a Harmony cart to test hacks out on real hardware. Games and controllers, even, if folks have extras and would like to donate those. (Just broke my only set of paddles, dangit!!)

 

Would that bring this back down to a hobbyist level? None of us would be here if it weren't for Al, so it seems fitting for the compensation to ultimately go to him.

[CDS Games]

Were getting somewhere slowly now. Thanks for the input. I ultimately wont make decisions. These must be voted. Cyclone kick would be cool because it wasn't in the first. I would say personally,drop the back elbow in favor of cyclone.

 

Without having looked at the code, that might well be a way to go. I read somewhere that the elbow was made less effective anyway in DDII.

[Supergun]

Super Double Dragon for SNES has always been Double Dragon 4. And part 5 was a one on one fighter. So a true sequel would be at number 6 now.

 

I think part 1 & 2 would be about the limit of the scope of what anyone would want to attempt to make/improve and/or play for 2600.

 

I guess I understand a little bit better now what the original poster is longing for. The problem is that there isn't really a precedent for it yet.

 

I feel the same way about Cart label stickers for Protos & repros. There's a bunch of them I want made for my label-less carts, but I am not artistically talented & I don't own a color printer, etc. So I'm at the mercy of asking anyone around here who does that. (they're all too busy)

[CDS Games]

Exactly...lack of precedent is an excellent way to describe it. At least if it were an established thing on here, people would know what the expectations would be on both sides.

 

I'd like to know Al's thoughts on this issue. Personally, I'd find it nice to trade goods and services that flow right back into the community. Like making repro labels that everyone can use for, say, a cart or a trak-ball or something. A fellow hacker once offered me an AtariVox...I didn't need one but that was a very nice gesture and is the kind of thing I love about this forum. Hobbyists sharing with each other and appreciating each others' work. And people like Nukey who have been so selfless with their time and energy without taking near enough credit. I'm not sure what he needs if anything, but I'd sure like to hear it and contribute.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

I'm a little puzzled by this offer being taken as some attempt at a programmer's salary.

 

I don't see it an attempt at salary, but it does seem like an attempt to bribe or motivate someone who otherwise wouldn't be interested. I think the best way to get either of these projects off the ground would be to find programmers interested in doing it anyway rather than throwing more money at them until someone decides they're worth doing.

[CDS Games]

He may well have found someone interested.