Giles N Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 I guess we all have favourites for different systems or generations of systems. Which Atari 5200 games means the most to you, in anyway, and why do these games do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ryan Witmer Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 No contest, it's Qix. It was the first game I ever saw or played on the system and it totally blew my mind. The look, the sound, the gameplay... I was no older than 6 when I first saw it and it's fair to say it changed my life. My obsession with the 5200 springs from this one game. No game impacted me like Qix until the first time I saw Space Harrier on the Sega Master System, but that's a story for another time. If I'm allowed to include my own games, then RealSports Curling. Ratcatcher was cool because it was my first, but Curling really felt to me like my first truly solid game. I don't really play it, but I still love the fact that I actually made it happen. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles N Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 13 minutes ago, AverageSoftware said: No contest, it's Qix. It was the first game I ever saw or played on the system and it totally blew my mind. The look, the sound, the gameplay... I was no older than 6 when I first saw it and it's fair to say it changed my life. My obsession with the 5200 springs from this one game. No game impacted me like Qix until the first time I saw Space Harrier on the Sega Master System, but that's a story for another time. If I'm allowed to include my own games, then RealSports Curling. Ratcatcher was cool because it was my first, but Curling really felt to me like my first truly solid game. I don't really play it, but I still love the fact that I actually made it happen. So, you produce homebrew games for the Atari5200? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ryan Witmer Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 10 minutes ago, Giles N said: So, you produce homebrew games for the Atari5200? I've been known to do that, from time to time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 For me its always been Space Dungeon. A 5200 exclusive twin-stick shooter. Having said this, @AverageSoftware I can't argue with your choice of games, as Qix is one my 5200 favorites. It looks, sounds and plays like the arcade and works well with the stock 5200 controllers. BTW, I plan on purchasing a copy of Real Sports Curling at PRGE and would love for you to sign it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles N Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) 4 minutes ago, AverageSoftware said: I've been known to do that, from time to time. So, whats it like? Do you program through a PC, or connect a keyboard to the A5200? What do you use to make graphics, music etc? I mean, you don’t have like Gameguru5200 right? Edited July 31, 2019 by Giles N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles N Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, AverageSoftware said: My obsession with the 5200 springs from this one game. No game impacted me like Qix until the first time I saw Space Harrier on the Sega Master System, but that's a story for another time. Yeah, I started collecting some classics for the Sega Master, got some of the NES-games, but then ended up asking if it were consoles prior to that with solid arcade ports from the era 1978-1985. And thats where I found the A5200 to be: it had very good Arcade ports for that period (1978-1984 Arcades and being itself - home-console and games - in the market 82-84, perhaps 86 for late games). Its like before Out Run -> Pole Position Before Galaxy Force -> Buck Rogers Before Bubble Bobble -> Mr Dos Castle etc Edited July 31, 2019 by Giles N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ryan Witmer Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 38 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said: BTW, I plan on purchasing a copy of Real Sports Curling at PRGE and would love for you to sign it. No problem. You'll have to race Bob from the podcast for the first signature though. I'll be there just about all day on Saturday. 37 minutes ago, Giles N said: So, whats it like? Do you program through a PC, or connect a keyboard to the A5200? What do you use to make graphics, music etc? I mean, you don’t have like Gameguru5200 right? I work on a PC using an emulator. I also have an Atarimax cart that I use to test on real hardware. For graphics, it depends on the nature of the task. Sometimes I just sketch things out on graph paper, other times I use some small programs I wrote to convert images. Music is kind of tricky. I have a tracker program I downloaded that can do square waves. I like to figure things out using that and then convert to POKEY values by hand. I found a table somewhere for doing that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles N Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) 4 minutes ago, AverageSoftware said: No problem. You'll have to race Bob from the podcast for the first signature though. I'll be there just about all day on Saturday. I work on a PC using an emulator. I also have an Atarimax cart that I use to test on real hardware. For graphics, it depends on the nature of the task. Sometimes I just sketch things out on graph paper, other times I use some small programs I wrote to convert images. Music is kind of tricky. I have a tracker program I downloaded that can do square waves. I like to figure things out using that and then convert to POKEY values by hand. I found a table somewhere for doing that. Sounds like quite some job. Can you program for scrolling and action between sprites? Are the sprites like 16x16, 32x32 p., how many colours (without the transparent one)? Edited July 31, 2019 by Giles N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles N Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 1 hour ago, sramirez2008 said: For me its always been Space Dungeon. A 5200 exclusive twin-stick shooter. Having said this, @AverageSoftware I can't argue with your choice of games, as Qix is one my 5200 favorites. It looks, sounds and plays like the arcade and works well with the stock 5200 controllers. BTW, I plan on purchasing a copy of Real Sports Curling at PRGE and would love for you to sign it. I’ve not gotten into Space Dungeon as of yet. I guess I lack a good double-joystick-set-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles N Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 4 hours ago, AverageSoftware said: No problem. You'll have to race Bob from the podcast for the first signature though. I'll be there just about all day on Saturday. I work on a PC using an emulator. I also have an Atarimax cart that I use to test on real hardware. For graphics, it depends on the nature of the task. Sometimes I just sketch things out on graph paper, other times I use some small programs I wrote to convert images. Music is kind of tricky. I have a tracker program I downloaded that can do square waves. I like to figure things out using that and then convert to POKEY values by hand. I found a table somewhere for doing that. I’ve tried my hand at old-school grsphics. Here is a three-colour ‘Young Knight Hero’: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles N Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 Here I’ve tried to draw a typical bird-cartoon-hero in 3 colours and 16x16 pixels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 Xari Arena. The system had so much unrealized potential, and the fact that this gem wasn’t released says it all. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 17 hours ago, davidcalgary29 said: Xari Arena. The system had so much unrealized potential, and the fact that this gem wasn’t released says it all. Excellent game, especially if you have two trak-ball controllers. Play this one with the lights off and watch the colors jump off the screen! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 I've said this before in other threads but there were two games that made me want a 5200. Now, they aren't unique to the 5200 as they exist on the 8-bit computers as well, but I played them in emulation for the 5200 first. Those two games were: Star Raiders and Rescue on Fractalus. Star Raiders was the Wing Commander of its day and the 5200 version is really good because it has all the same sound and graphics as the 8-bit versions but takes advantage of the analog controllers the 5200 uses. Same with Rescue on Fractalus. I didn't know it was on the 8-bit line before getting it on the 5200 but it is just such a unique game from that time. And when you realize that all of the mountain terrain is being generated in real time using fractal equations it just made the game that much more impressive to me. Anytime the 5200 is brought out to be played, you can be sure that these two will be getting popped in for a bit. Having said that, there are two other games since that have really made me glad that I picked up a 5200 in the early 2000s. That would be the prototype of Blaster for the 5200, and The Last Starfighter. Blaster I don't believe was released or ported to any home consoles and the unreleased version for the 5200 really keeps the game play of the arcade intact while still playing to the strengths of the 5200s graphics and sound. It controls well with the stock 5200 stick too and that helps. Same with The Last Starfighter. Although I believe that did get a release as Star Raiders II on the 8-bits, but it plays much better as the TLSF on the 5200 to me and has become my next favorite space shooter on the 5200 next to Star Raiders. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ryan Witmer Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 Blaster is amazing. I'm so glad I bought a copy of that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 19 minutes ago, AverageSoftware said: Blaster is amazing. I'm so glad I bought a copy of that. Totally agree. Picked up my copy at 2017 PRGE. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 7 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said: Totally agree. Picked up my copy at 2017 PRGE. Did Blaster get a boxed release at the 2017 PRGE?! I've got a loose cart only that Al made for me many years ago with a label designed by CPUWIZ at the time. I would love to have a CIB version of this game as it really is a very impressive game on the system. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 6 minutes ago, -^Cro§Bow^- said: Did Blaster get a boxed release at the 2017 PRGE?! I've got a loose cart only that Al made for me many years ago with a label designed by CPUWIZ at the time. I would love to have a CIB version of this game as it really is a very impressive game on the system. I can't remember if I purchased it with the box at PRGE. If not, then I would have purchased the box separately from Marc Oberhäuser. @TrekMD Eugenio do you have a box with your copy? IIRC, we both purchased a copy from the AA both at PRGE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 I don't recall if I had boxed copies of Blaster at last year's PRGE, but I have had boxes for Blaster in the past. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 19 hours ago, davidcalgary29 said: Xari Arena. The system had so much unrealized potential, and the fact that this gem wasn’t released says it all. 2 hours ago, sramirez2008 said: Excellent game, especially if you have two trak-ball controllers. Play this one with the lights off and watch the colors jump off the screen! Yes, Xari Arena is quite good, especially when using two Trak-Ball controllers for simultaneous two-player action. And it's a title unique to the 5200, of which there are so few! It also plays well with the stock analog controllers, but I do prefer using a Trak-Ball. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 33 minutes ago, Albert said: I don't recall if I had boxed copies of Blaster at last year's PRGE, but I have had boxes for Blaster in the past. ..Al You definitely didn't have boxed copies of Blaster at last year's PRGE because I was there and that is where I picked up my Pete's diag cart along with TLSF was from you. Picked up Mappy and Zippy...etc. So I'm sure that had I seen a boxed Blaster there, I'd have grabbed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles N Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 3 hours ago, -^Cro§Bow^- said: I've said this before in other threads but there were two games that made me want a 5200. Now, they aren't unique to the 5200 as they exist on the 8-bit computers as well, but I played them in emulation for the 5200 first. Those two games were: Star Raiders and Rescue on Fractalus. Star Raiders was the Wing Commander of its day and the 5200 version is really good because it has all the same sound and graphics as the 8-bit versions but takes advantage of the analog controllers the 5200 uses. Same with Rescue on Fractalus. I didn't know it was on the 8-bit line before getting it on the 5200 but it is just such a unique game from that time. And when you realize that all of the mountain terrain is being generated in real time using fractal equations it just made the game that much more impressive to me. Anytime the 5200 is brought out to be played, you can be sure that these two will be getting popped in for a bit. Having said that, there are two other games since that have really made me glad that I picked up a 5200 in the early 2000s. That would be the prototype of Blaster for the 5200, and The Last Starfighter. Blaster I don't believe was released or ported to any home consoles and the unreleased version for the 5200 really keeps the game play of the arcade intact while still playing to the strengths of the 5200s graphics and sound. It controls well with the stock 5200 stick too and that helps. Same with The Last Starfighter. Although I believe that did get a release as Star Raiders II on the 8-bits, but it plays much better as the TLSF on the 5200 to me and has become my next favorite space shooter on the 5200 next to Star Raiders. Both are massively impressive... ...graphically ... I was really mindblown by Resque on Fractalus since it features filled polygon/3D-rea -time redendered landscape in which you can fly about...360 degrees round about... on an 8-bit home console... and it operates on a high frame-rate too; its one of the most technically impressive things I´ve ever seen on any 8-bit system... and particulary since its on a system from the era 1982-1984... (not the latest 8 bit systems, but kind of in the middle). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 3 hours ago, sramirez2008 said: I can't remember if I purchased it with the box at PRGE. If not, then I would have purchased the box separately from Marc Oberhäuser. @TrekMD Eugenio do you have a box with your copy? IIRC, we both purchased a copy from the AA both at PRGE. Yep, it was sold with the box. Here is the picture of mine.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 I apparently need to get more of those boxes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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