pixelpedant Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) Since I'd collated a lot of content relating to Zaxxon and Arcturus for a video recently, I figure it's worth collecting that in a post, to make it more searchable. Heck, maybe I should just be doing that in the first place, and saving myself the trouble of making YouTube videos In any case, here's a big Arcturus/Zaxxon image content dump, for posterity, since it seems like a waste for this stuff to just be hiding out on my hard drive, and inside a video. And I know most of you guys know all this stuff (and more). But it's nice to have this kind of stuff publicly findable, in one place. Toward which end, I'll try to include some descriptive text. So, Zaxxon for TI-99/4A (and other platforms) was advertised in Compute! in February 1983, by Datasoft, as an April release: And in keeping with that, was announced by 99/4 Users of America (Feb 1983): But subsequently retracted, as the port did not come to be: Funnily enough though, Datasoft was still advertising for programmers in 99'er magazine in April to August 1983 making explicit reference to Zaxxon (I guess if you've got the rights, they might as well be good for something): However, while Zaxxon didn't happen, in October, Bill Bies (pronounced "Bees" per Bryan Roppolo) demonstrated his Zaxxon clone, Arcturus, at a Pittsburgh user group meeting: He's also noted there as the author of AsTIroids and Arthropod: It would ultimately be published by Sunware, who were advertising cart conversions at the time: (Home Computer Magazine, Summer 1984) (Micropendium, June 1984) (Winnipeg TIUG, November 1984) And who fairly imminently rebranded as Exceltec (Atlanta, November 1984) And Arcturus appeared under the Sunware brand in the Fall 1984 Unisource catalogue: With the cartridge as a sideport cart: It also appears (under the Exceltec brand) advertised in the Unisource catalogue in 1985: And by Arcade Hardware in the UK in 1985: Tex-Comp was advertising the disk version as a "backup" in the early 90s: And just for fun, here are some high scores from West Penn, 1987: The cartridge (and not just the disk version) is accessible today thanks to Acadiel and Tursi dumping and converting the cart in 2009. Edited May 26, 2020 by pixelpedant 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Nice game, visually striking, and great music... but sadly I cannot play it well enough to save my own life. TI - Arcturus.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) One key tactic, I think, is paying attention to the ship's shadow even more than the ship itself: Since this tells you both the ship's true horizontal position with respect to objects at ground level, and its height. The geometry takes a bit of getting used to. But all the information is actually there, as long as the shadow is visible. Note that flying enemy targets also produce shadows which reveal their position and height: Edited May 26, 2020 by pixelpedant 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 I agree, very nicely done, though I prefer the music from the other version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 I still have the old EA/5's I had back in the last century. These were removed from an old 5.25" diskette years ago. If someone without a FlashROM or FinalGROM wants to play it, here ya go. ARCTURUS.zip 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 Yeah, the disk version music is pretty awesome. Even as a Trekkie, I can admit Star Wars has some fantastic music, and this is a brilliant treatment of it: But I'm kind of glad the cart version has music that isn't just cribbed from Star Wars, as amazing as that music is. Though the end of stage jingle is still Star Wars. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 Oh, here's another tidbit, for Zaxxon. Compute! Magazine, July 1983: Zaxxon for TI-99/4A (on Disk) being explicitly advertised (jumping the gun a bit, it would seem) by one vendor with a list price of $28: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 6 hours ago, pixelpedant said: Zaxxon for TI-99/4A (on Disk) It was actually quite good (if memory serves me well). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 They were selling it for 48 Pounds in 1985? Holy crap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 25 minutes ago, sometimes99er said: It was actually quite good (if memory serves me well). My memory sucks, but this surprises me, I never knew Zaxxon existed for the TI, only Arcturus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 1 hour ago, INVISIBLE said: My memory sucks, but this surprises me, I never knew Zaxxon existed for the TI, only Arcturus. this time its accurate.. there's no evidence Zaxxon ever existed for the TI 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 15 minutes ago, arcadeshopper said: this time its accurate.. there's no evidence Zaxxon ever existed for the TI THANKS! That's good to know. It would make a killer port though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 Can't really blame the vendor for advertising it though, given Datasoft had explicitly announced an April release. Presumably that ad was submitted well ahead of time and was just assuming the title would be available by publication (as promised). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 There is a Zaxxons Trainer in the GameBase. It only has some sprites. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 Huh, neat, yeah. Here's source, if anyone without Gamebase wants to play with it: 100 ! NEW SOFT TI 99/4A 110 GOTO 150 :: S,A$,PT,K,C,A,TM,FRD,HT :: CALL CLEAR :: CALL SCREEN :: CALL CHAR :: CALL MAGNIFY 120 DATA 32,2,1000,36,12,10,104,15,300,108,10,0,128,5,500,124,16,0,132,5,500,124,16,0 130 DIM PAT(15),COL(15),AM(15) 140 !@P- 150 ON WARNING NEXT 160 CALL CLEAR :: CALL SCREEN(2) 170 FOR A=4 TO 15 :: READ PAT(A),COL(A),AM(A) :: NEXT A 180 CALL CHAR(92,"000000030000000000000000000000000C30C000000000000000000") 190 CALL CHAR(36,"03071F1F1F3F3F7F7FFFFFFF7F1F00008080808000000000C0E0E0E0C") 200 CALL CHAR(32,"6030180C050103273F0E00000000000000000080000080C08") 210 CALL CHAR(108,"000000003F3F3F3F3F3F3F3F3F1F070000000000FCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCF8E") 220 CALL CHAR(104,"071F3F7F7F3F1F474020180700000000E0F8FCFEFEFCF8E2020418E") 230 CALL CHAR(120,"102349D367339E7117317BA76DF0B71105123871C46E55022AF2CFE64C196F86") 240 CALL CHAR(96,"FFFF0C183060FFFF183C66C3FFFFC3C3C3E7663C3C66E7C37EFFC3C3C3C3FF7E") 250 CALL CHAR(100,"C3E3F3DBCFC7C3C37EE7C1781E83E77E",64,"3C4299A1A199423C") 260 FOR A=3 TO 8 :: CALL COLOR(A,16,2) :: NEXT A :: CALL COLOR(1,2,2,9,8,2) 270 DISPLAY AT(12,8):"`abbcde TRAINER" :: DISPLAY AT(20,5):"PRESS ANY KEY TO BEGIN": : : :"@1985 NEW SOFTWARE TI 99/4A" 280 CALL KEY(0,K,S) :: IF S=0 THEN 280 290 DISPLAY AT(1,12)ERASE ALL BEEP:"OPTIONS": : : :"PRESS": :" 1 FOR FIRE": :" 2 FOR ESCAPE": :" 3 FOR GROUND": :" 4 FOR ENDING" 300 CALL KEY(0,K,S) :: IF K>52 OR K<49 THEN 300 310 IF K=52 THEN CALL CLEAR :: STOP 320 DISPLAY AT(20,1):"NUMBER OF TIMES? 200" :: ACCEPT AT(20,19)BEEPSIZE(-3)VALIDATE(DIGIT):TM 330 DISPLAY AT(1,1)BEEP ERASE ALL :: RANDOMIZE 340 CALL MAGNIFY(3) :: A$="0000000000000000" :: CALL CHAR(96,"181E1FFF3F0F0F00"&A$&"1C7CF8F0F0F0F0F03") 350 CALL CHAR(124,"0000071F3F7F7F3F1F070000000000000000E0F8FCFEFEFCF8E") 360 CALL CHAR(128,"030F0F03000000000000000000000000C0F0F0C030F80E030") 370 CALL CHAR(132,"030F0F030C1F70C00000000000000000C0F0F0C0000000000") 380 CALL CHAR(100,"000003FF3F0F0F00"&A$&"0C7CF8F0F0F0F0F03") 390 CALL CHAR(112,"000002201406334B1F3F5F3F2F050000002122889CB8F8FCFFFCFDFCFEF88") 400 CALL CHAR(116,"000000000000000101070F0701000000000000000000002040E0E0F04") 410 CALL CHAR(136,"0C0F0F0F0F0F1F3E300000000000000060E0F0F0FCFFE0000") 420 CALL COLOR(1,14,14,3,2,14,4,2,14) 430 CALL SPRITE(#1,96,16,147,90,#2,100,2,154,90) 440 ON K-48 GOSUB 580,460,500 450 GOTO 240 460 CALL COLOR(1,2,2) :: FOR A=3 TO 5 :: C=INT(58*RND)+28 :: HT=C*2+50 :: CALL SPRITE(#A,136,A+9,C,HT) :: NEXT A :: FRD=1 470 CALL LOCATE(#2,147,90) :: CALL PATTERN(#2,112) 480 HT=3 :: FOR A=1 TO TM :: DISPLAY AT(1,1):A :: CALL SHIP :: FRD=-FRD :: HT=HT+1+3*(HT=5) :: C=INT(3*RND)+2 :: K=C*2 :: CALL MOTION(#HT,FRD*C,FRD*K) 490 CALL THEY(HT+1+3*(HT=5)) :: NEXT A :: CALL DELSPRITE(ALL) :: CALL CLEAR :: RETURN 500 FOR A=4 TO 14 STEP 2 :: C=INT(255*RND)+1 :: CALL SPRITE(#A,PAT(A),COL(A),C,248,4,-8,#A+1,PAT(A+1),COL(A+1),C,247,4,-8) :: NEXT A 510 FOR A=1 TO TM :: CALL SHIP :: CALL DEST :: NEXT A 520 CALL MOTION(#1,0,0,#2,0,0) :: DISPLAY AT(12,5)BEEP:"PRESS REDO OR BACK" 530 FOR A=1 TO 200 :: NEXT A 540 FOR A=1 TO 300 :: CALL KEY(0,K,S) 550 IF K=6 THEN CALL CLEAR :: GOTO 510 ELSE IF S THEN 570 560 NEXT A 570 CALL DELSPRITE(ALL) :: CALL CLEAR :: RETURN 580 FOR A=4 TO 10 STEP 2 :: C=INT(255*RND)+1 :: CALL SPRITE(#A,PAT(A),COL(A),C,248,3,-6,#A+1,PAT(A+1),COL(A+1),C,247,3,-6) :: NEXT A 590 PT,HT,FRD=0 600 FOR A=1 TO TM :: CALL FIRE(PAT(),COL(),AM(),HT,FRD,PT) :: DISPLAY AT(24,3):A :: NEXT A :: CALL DELSPRITE(ALL) 610 DISPLAY AT(3,1)ERASE ALL BEEP:"TIMES:";TM: :"SHOTS FIRED:";FRD: :"HIT TARGETS:";HT 620 DISPLAY AT(9,1):"PERCENTAGE OF HITS:";INT(HT*100/FRD): :"ABILITY:";INT(HT*100/TM): :"SCORE:";PT: :"SCORE RATE:";INT(PT/TM) 630 FOR A=1 TO 500 :: NEXT A 640 CALL KEY(0,K,S) :: IF S=0 THEN 640 650 CALL CLEAR :: RETURN 660 DATA 32,2,0,36,12,0,104,15,0,108,10,0 670 !@P+ 680 SUB SHIP 690 CALL KEY(2,K,S) :: X=3*((K=2)-(K=3)) 700 Y=6*((K=2)-(K=3)) :: CALL MOTION(#1,X,Y,#2,X,Y) 710 SUBEND 720 SUB FIRE(PAT(),COL(),AM(),HT,FRD,PT) 730 CALL SHIP :: CALL KEY(1,K,S) :: IF S=0 THEN SUBEXIT ELSE CALL POSITION(#1,X,Y,#2,X1,Y) :: FRD=FRD+1 740 CALL SPRITE(#3,92,16,X,Y,-60,120) :: FOR A=4 TO 10 STEP 2 :: CALL POSITION(#A,X,Y2) 750 IF ABS((Y2-Y)/(X1-X)-2)<.3 THEN CALL COLOR(#A,12,#A+1,10) :: CALL PATTERN(#A,116,#A+1,112) :: CALL SOUND(-400,-5,0)ELSE 780 760 CALL DELSPRITE(#3) :: CALL SHIP :: C=INT(256*RND)+1 :: CALL PATTERN(#A,120) :: PT=PT+AM(A) :: DISPLAY AT(1,1):USING "######":PT 770 HT=HT+1 :: CALL SPRITE(#A,PAT(A),COL(A),C,248,3,-6,#A+1,PAT(A+1),COL(A+1),C,247,3,-6) :: SUBEXIT 780 NEXT A :: CALL DELSPRITE(#3) 790 SUBEND 800 SUB DEST 810 CALL SHIP :: FOR A=4 TO 14 STEP 2 :: CALL COINC(#1,#A,9,DE) 820 IF DE THEN CALL SOUND(500,-7,0) :: C=250*RND+3 :: CALL LOCATE(#A,C,248,#A+1,C,247) :: SUBEXIT 830 NEXT A 840 SUBEND 850 SUB THEY(HT) 860 CALL POSITION(#1,X,Y,#HT,X1,Y1) :: CALL SPRITE(#6,92,9,X1,Y1,45,-90) :: IF ABS((Y1-Y)/(X-X1)-2)>.3 THEN SUBEXIT 870 CALL PATTERN(#1,120) :: CALL COLOR(#1,12,#2,10) :: CALL SOUND(-300,-7,0) :: CALL DELSPRITE(#6) :: CALL DEST :: CALL COLOR(#2,2,#1,16) 880 CALL PATTERN(#1,96) 890 SUBEND 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 Not bad for Extended BASIC... Although line 320 needs a space between BEEP & SIZE 320 DISPLAY AT(20,1):"NUMBER OF TIMES? 200" :: ACCEPT AT(20,19)BEEP SIZE(-3)VALIDATE(DIGIT):TM ZT.mp4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 Huh. Wonder why that space doesn't appear in the TI99Dir listing of the program. Bug I guess. Since it's definitely there, in the program itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 I have always been fascinated by Zaxxon, and it would be a nice challenge to make a port for the F18A. For the 9918A I think the MSX1 version is already as good as it gets. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrhodes Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 11 hours ago, sometimes99er said: It was actually quite good (if memory serves me well). Indeed. Zaxxon was one of my top 3 games i loved on the C64: Zaxxon, Z-Pilot, Blue Max. I wish Z-pilot could be on the TI with F18a support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 10 hours ago, Asmusr said: There is a Zaxxons Trainer in the GameBase. It only has some sprites. Ah yes, that looks like it. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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