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Team Pixelboy News Bulletin - January 15th 2020


Pixelboy

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10 minutes ago, Ikrananka said:

One thought occurred to me yesterday.  The default control scheme for the game itself looks to be quite awkward if playing with a stock CV controller.  How about an option in the game to use the Asteroids Controller control scheme or an alternative that is better suited to a stock CV controller.  In the latter case I would think that the the second fire button and the keypad would come into play for thrust and hyperspace.

That is something we will likely consider, since we'll be testing the game with both types of controllers.

 

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Obviously not my call at all, but nearly every home port of an Asteroids type game used a pretty standard control scheme: Up for thrust, Down for Hyperspace or Shields, Left to rotate left, Right to rotate right, and the Button to fire.  I had no problems playing 2600 Asteroids like this when I was a kid. I would sincerely recommend against using the keypad buttons for any "in-game & game-intensive" button commands, as I don't find them very easy to find/manipulate without looking down at them...just my thoughts.  

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23 minutes ago, doubledown said:

Obviously not my call at all, but nearly every home port of an Asteroids type game used a pretty standard control scheme: Up for thrust, Down for Hyperspace or Shields, Left to rotate left, Right to rotate right, and the Button to fire.  I had no problems playing 2600 Asteroids like this when I was a kid. I would sincerely recommend against using the keypad buttons for any "in-game & game-intensive" button commands, as I don't find them very easy to find/manipulate without looking down at them...just my thoughts.  

I certainly agree with not using the keypad for anything intensive.  Perhaps simply adding hyperspace to the second fire button (in addition to joystick down also triggering it).  This would maximise the use of the joystick and both fire buttons while giving the player an option on how to trigger hyperspace.

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As an exercise to satisfy my curiosity,  I went through all the major companies that are list on the AtariAge main site and went through the manuals looking for games that used the Asteroids style controls (rotate left/rotate right/thrust up/hyperspace down/fire or similar) as well as games that only used left or right like Space Invaders or AstroBlast

 

By no means complete here is a rough list of 2600 games that could be compatible:

If there is a dash in the game name and controls columns that means no games from that company have compatible controls schemes

A couple of games have no controls listed because I couldn't conclusively tell but they bear further investigation.

If a company doesn't appear then I didn't drill into it so there will be more ?

Keeping in mind that I only spent an hour, have a look. I think we could crowd source the investigation of the 2600/8-bit/7800/ColecoVision and come up with a pretty decent master list

2600 Asteroid style controls v0.1.pdf

 

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1 hour ago, Tarzilla said:

As an exercise to satisfy my curiosity,  I went through all the major companies that are list on the AtariAge main site and went through the manuals looking for games that used the Asteroids style controls (rotate left/rotate right/thrust up/hyperspace down/fire or similar) as well as games that only used left or right like Space Invaders or AstroBlast

 

By no means complete here is a rough list of 2600 games that could be compatible:

If there is a dash in the game name and controls columns that means no games from that company have compatible controls schemes

A couple of games have no controls listed because I couldn't conclusively tell but they bear further investigation.

If a company doesn't appear then I didn't drill into it so there will be more ?

Keeping in mind that I only spent an hour, have a look. I think we could crowd source the investigation of the 2600/8-bit/7800/ColecoVision and come up with a pretty decent master list

2600 Asteroid style controls v0.1.pdf 82.58 kB · 5 downloads

 

Sweet list, thank you !!

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It's a good thing I did a check on my pre-order list tonight, because I'm already nearing the quantity limits!

 

GP World : 2 copies left (out of 60)
Mikie = 8 copies left (out of 60)
Monaco GP = 41 copies left (out of 60) (will probably decrease over the next week or so)
N-Sub = 6 copies left (out of 60)
Sega Flipper = 5 copies left (out of 60)
Sindbad Mystery = 1 copy left (out of 60)
Star Jacker = SOLD OUT (60 out of 60)
Zaxxon II = 3 copies left (out of 90)
Zoom 909 = 5 copies left (out of 60)

 

Since I reached 55 pre-orders on Sega Flipper, I had to bump up the limit from 50 to 60 copies, which means 10 less copies for Asteroids (110 instead of 120).

 

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Quick update:

 

GP World = 1 copy left
Mikie = 7 copies left

Monaco GP = 40 copies left
N-Sub = 5 copies left
Sega Flipper = 4 copies left
Sindbad Mystery = SOLD OUT

Star Jacker = SOLD OUT
Zaxxon II = 2 copies left
Zoom 909 = 4 copies left

 

EDIT: Also, I just finished sending e-mails to everyone who I haven't heard from yet regarding the Asteroids Controller.

Edited by Pixelboy
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Another game sold out, so I should post an update:

 

GP World = SOLD OUT
Mikie = 6 copies left

Monaco GP = 36 copies left
N-Sub = 4 copies left
Sega Flipper = 3 copies left
Sindbad Mystery = SOLD OUT

Star Jacker = SOLD OUT
Zaxxon II = 1 copy left
Zoom 909 = 3 copies left

 

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1 hour ago, rodge2001 said:

I had no idea preorders were even being taken until after nearly all the Mystery Man Collection games started selling out. I’m happy to have preordered 4 that were still available but is there any hope for more copies if demand is greater than expected?  

When the games ship you will be able to buy them on ebay from a seller named 2coolspirit. He will possibly have four or five copies of each game.

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3 hours ago, rodge2001 said:

I had no idea preorders were even being taken until after nearly all the Mystery Man Collection games started selling out. I’m happy to have preordered 4 that were still available but is there any hope for more copies if demand is greater than expected?  

These did go pretty fast for PBs concern about not selling out the larger amounts.

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5 hours ago, Swami said:

These did go pretty fast for PBs concern about not selling out the larger amounts.

I'd say they sold out fast because of the limited quantities.  :)

 

A few people got in late and I had to say "sorry, sold out", but not that many, so I'd say setting the limit to 60 copies of each game was a good match for the actual demand.

 

And with this, one last update:

 

GP World = SOLD OUT
Mikie = 1 copy left
Monaco GP = SOLD OUT
N-Sub = SOLD OUT
Sega Flipper = SOLD OUT
Sindbad Mystery = SOLD OUT
Star Jacker = SOLD OUT
Zaxxon II = SOLD OUT
Zoom 909 = SOLD OUT

 

In case you're wondering where all those copies of Monaco GP went, I decided to prioritize those who pre-ordered all of the other eight games of the Mystery Man Collection but haven't replied to me yet about Monaco GP. If anyone of those people backs out, I'll post an update here.

 

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34 minutes ago, goldenrod said:
Is production on only the Budget Series being cut back or are the following not on the schedule for 2020?:
The Cure
Prisoner of War
Ghost
1942
Bomber King
R-Type
Arcomage
Arabian
Space Shuttle: A Journey Into Space

All of these are still on the 2020 schedule, although if I'm forced to choose between Arabian and Asteroids, I will evidently choose Asteroids, and push Arabian to next year.

 

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And just for the record, all the Mystery Man Collection games are now SOLD OUT.

 

Thanks a lot to everyone who pre-ordered these games.  :)

 

 

EDIT: I'm still recording pre-orders for the Asteroids controller and game, by the way, just in case anyone is wondering.

 

Edited by Pixelboy
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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick update about this and that:

 

1) I added Monaco GP and Asteroids to teampixelboy.com.

 

2) Monaco GP has been ported by Mystery Man and has entered the beta-testing phase. No word yet on when he will tackle Asteroids, but I'm currently working on the design document of the game, and this document will be ready when Mystery Man's busy schedule clears up enough for him to work on the project.

 

3) I received an Asteroids Controller from doubledown earlier this week, which will be used to test Asteroids once the software will have been completed. I love the weight of the controller, not too heavy, not too light, when sitting on my lap. And the buttons feel good too. It feels just right! Two thumbs up to doubledown! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

That's all for now. :) 

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