Champ Games - Robotron: 2084 (2600)

[Albert Penello]

This is amazing! Great work to the team.

Is it possible for those of us on emulators (using Xbox or Playstation controllers) to enable to dual sticks? 

[Kiwi]

On 7/29/2020 at 8:29 PM, johnnywc said:

Very cool!  Both player look almost alike, maybe paint the 2nd player's head red would make it easier to difference between player 1 and 2.

[AtariKid81]

My solution to the Robotron dual controller question/issue: Buy 2 Amiga Powersticks - one for each hand. They fit in the palm of your hand and can be easily operated with your thumb. I use the Powerstick with the Atari 7800 version of Robotron, and it works like a champ! 

Edited August 24, 2020 by AtariKid81
Mispelling

[johnnywc]

On 8/20/2020 at 4:54 PM, Albert Penello said:

This is amazing! Great work to the team.

Is it possible for those of us on emulators (using Xbox or Playstation controllers) to enable to dual sticks? 

Thanks!  Yes, I believe someone at the beginning of this thread did exactly that.   Just map your controller (I assume you're using the 2 thumbsticks) to joystick 1 and joystick 2 in Stella and you should be good to go!   

15 hours ago, Kiwi said:

Very cool!  Both player look almost alike, maybe paint the 2nd player's head red would make it easier to difference between player 1 and 2.

Thanks!  Good point on the colors...  we have changed them in the latest build so one player is purple and the other is orange, and it seems to work pretty well.  The helmets match the color of the skill level so those will be green, blue or red.   

 

We'll be posting an updated demo soon that will have co-op mode enabled so players can give their feedback.   

 

[ZeroPage Homebrew]

We'll be checking out an Exclusive WIP Update of Robotron: 2084 on tomorrow's (Fri Aug 28) ZeroPage Homebrew stream LIVE on Twitch at 6PM PT | 9PM ET | 1AM GMT! Hope everyone can watch!

 

Twitch Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/

 

Games:

• Popeye 7800 (2020 WIP | 7800) by @darryl1970
• Robotron: 2084 (2020 Exclusive WIP Update) by John Champeau (@johnnywc) (Coding & Design) of Champ Games, Nathan Strum (@Nathan Strum)  (Art & Graphics), David Brown (Music & Sounds)
• Spire of the Ancients (2020 WIP Update | 7800) by @SmittyB

 

 (SET VIDEO TO 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY)

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by ZeroPage Homebrew

[Fungi]

Would it be so bad to rename it, oh I don't know, Robotron: 2600?

 

[+adamchevy]

I’m pretty damn excited for this game to come out! Co-op Robotron is the stuff my dreams are made of.

[spspspsp]

I come back to this demo every now and then. It's great fun. I prefer it over the copy I have for my A800.

 

 

Have you had a chance to examine why sometimes the missiles appear black/invisible sometimes? I was able to reproduce that again a few times in this game.

 

This particular play through took about one hour, then I just let my lives go. I really should spend more time on the other levels, but I like that i can just kinda zone out on novice.

 

I don't know how the arcade does it, but is it also not possible to know how many lives you have above 8 lives there too? 

 

 

[johnnywc]

On 8/28/2020 at 11:30 PM, Fungi said:

Would it be so bad to rename it, oh I don't know, Robotron: 2600?

 

Unfortunately, we need to steer clear of the word "Robotron" so that will not be part of the name. 😕   2600 is currently on the table as the 'year' though...  

On 9/3/2020 at 2:16 AM, adamchevy said:

I’m pretty damn excited for this game to come out! Co-op Robotron is the stuff my dreams are made of.

Thanks!  My son and I have been played probably 10 hours of Co-Op and I can tell you it's fun, challenging and pretty stressful, especially on the later levels!    PS Great avatar!   

[johnnywc]

6 hours ago, spspspsp said:

I come back to this demo every now and then. It's great fun. I prefer it over the copy I have for my A800.

 

Wow - that's a great score!   

 

6 hours ago, spspspsp said:

Have you had a chance to examine why sometimes the missiles appear black/invisible sometimes? I was able to reproduce that again a few times in this game.

Yes, I believe it only happens on the '9' levels, right?  (9, 19, 29, etc)  It's because the border is invisible on that level (like the arcade) and the player shots are the same color as the border.  The color change to the border color is happening a little too late on the left side and a little too early (from the color of the grunts/electrodes) so the missile can't be seen.  I have fixed this in the most recent version and it will be included in the next demo (that I will upload soon).

6 hours ago, spspspsp said:

This particular play through took about one hour, then I just let my lives go. I really should spend more time on the other levels, but I like that i can just kinda zone out on novice.

Advanced should definitely be a bit more challenging.   Topping off on level 9 reduces the difficulty too as there are 71 more unique levels in the game for Novice (40 waves on novice, then 41-60 are repeats of 21-40 but on standard, and waves 61-80 are repeats of 21-40 but on advanced).

6 hours ago, spspspsp said:

I don't know how the arcade does it, but is it also not possible to know how many lives you have above 8 lives there too? 

 

R:2600 can only display up to 8 reserves; I'm not exactly sure how many are displayed in the arcade but it's probably about the same.  My rule of thumb:  If you have more than 8 lives in reserve, you should probably play a harder skill level.     

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

John

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

1 hour ago, johnnywc said:

Unfortunately, we need to steer clear of the word "Robotron" so that will not be part of the name. 😕   2600 is currently on the table as the 'year' though...  

I am sure people will come up with heaps of names: Cybertron, Megatron, Mechatron, ARMagetron.........  

[SoundGammon]

20 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

I am sure people will come up with heaps of names: Cybertron, Megatron, Mechatron, ARMagetron.........  

Back in 1982, Disney tried to sue Williams because of the Tron part of Robotron!

[Albert]

2 minutes ago, SoundGammon said:

Back in 1982, Disney tried to sue Williams because of the Tron part of Robotron!

Huh, I did not know this...

 

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/04/business/disney-title-suit.html

 

I assume Disney either lost of settled, since Williams didn't change the game's name.  This isn't even mentioned on the game's Wikipedia page.

 

 ..Al

[+TrekMD]

Oh, names there would be a plenty, I'm sure:  Computron, Mangatron, Champatron...

[SoundGammon]

1 hour ago, Albert said:

Huh, I did not know this...

 

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/04/business/disney-title-suit.html

 

I assume Disney either lost of settled, since Williams didn't change the game's name.  This isn't even mentioned on the game's Wikipedia page.

 

 ..Al

I remember reading about it in one of the video games magazines back then.

[Fungi]

3 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

I am sure people will come up with heaps of names: Cybertron, Megatron, Mechatron, ARMagetron.........  

I'm pretty sure Cybertron and Megatron is off-limits.  I do like "Mechatron: 2600" tho'.

Edited September 14, 2020 by Fungi

[AtariBrian]

What about Robot Wars or Robot Wars 2020 before I realized it won't be out on cart this year.. Robowar 2021

Edited September 14, 2020 by AtariBrian

[johnnywc]

Just now, AtariBrian said:

What about Robot Wars or Robot Wars 2020 before I realized it won't be out on cart this year..

Have you been peeking? 👀   As it turns out, the current WIP name is RobotWar:2600, but we may end up switching :2600 for a year like :2184 (we want to stay away from 2084 and any -tron sounding names).

[Fungi]

Damn.  I keep getting killed by the grunts cuz I keep thinking they're electrodes, until they walk into me.

[JungleJet]

On 9/14/2020 at 11:41 AM, johnnywc said:

Unfortunately, we need to steer clear of the word "Robotron" so that will not be part of the name. 😕   2600 is currently on the table as the 'year' though...   

What about "Robot Ron"

[fdr4prez]

 

Nortobor

 

BoorTorn

[+sramirez2008]

3 minutes ago, fdr4prez said:

Nortobor

I see what you did there.

[fdr4prez]

4 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

I see what you did there.

sometimes I try not to see what I did 

[AtariLeaf]

On 9/14/2020 at 11:41 AM, johnnywc said:

Unfortunately, we need to steer clear of the word "Robotron" so that will not be part of the name. 😕  

Since both your Galagon and Spicewares Draconian are actually names of old Tandy Coco ports I submit we keep that theme going and call it Robotack 😁

[+thegoldenband]

On 9/18/2020 at 5:46 PM, fdr4prez said:

 

Nortobor

 

BoorTorn

"Bort, or no?"

 

 

Funnily enough, it's an episode about humans vs. evil robots...