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Pitkat


MarcoJ

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41 minutes ago, MarcoJ said:

Still functional though. Also shown in the video is how Pitkat also emulation exits when pressing Left in game. This is on a NTSC 7800.

Left? Did you mean right

you should read the the console switches in your game kernel too. Just add a:

	LDA SWCHB

to your game loop should be enough. So the PlusCart can see that the reset switch has been released and resets its internal the flag.

 

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Just now, Thomas Jentzsch said:

No, detecting that is a Stella option only. But Pitkat seems to have no such bug. Unless we missed something in the implementation.

I see. Just to be clear, Pitkat and Elite are both working fine on my 2600. It's only on my 7800 where the strange Emulation Exit and crashes are occurring. 

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15 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said:

Left? Did you mean right

you should read the the console switches in your game kernel too. Just add a:


	LDA SWCHB

to your game loop should be enough. So the PlusCart can see that the reset switch has been released and resets its internal the flag.

 

Cheers. Confirmed this works fine on the 2600. It's just on the 7800 where it's doing strange things with emulation exit.

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  • 6 months later...

For those of you who would like to order a physical cartridge of one of the Pitkat roms, the Atari Custom Cartridge service is available.

 

Please follow this link:

https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=949

 

Make sure to tick the Melody board option, Pitkat needs that. Once the order is placed, send an email to sales@atariage.com with a copy of which binary file you wish to use of Pitkat (see top of forum for the binaries). Include the reference for your order number when sending the email. Also, be sure to choose if you are using NTSC (North America), PAL50(EU, UK, Australia) or PAL60(EU, UK, Australia - may not work on all PAL TVs - check before ordering with a Harmony/Pluscart/Unocart).

 

With the binaries, there is also a choice of which software revision you wish to use - Version 2 or Version 3. There are slight graphical differences between them.

 

Version 2 - The most commonly known release. It has small gaps between tiles. AKA "gapped tile" version.

Version 3 - Updated graphics kernel so the gaps between tiles are removed.  AKA "gapless tile" version.

 

I, Marco Johannes, give my permission to create Pitkat carts using this service for personal use. The cost of the service is to cover the production cost of the game cartridge by Atariage.

 

Cheers - Marco  

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1 hour ago, MarcoJ said:

For those of you who would like to order a physical cartridge of one of the Pitkat roms, the Atari Custom Cartridge service is available.

Ordered!  Thank you Marco for making your game freely available to the community.?  Looking forward to the custom cart, box and manual.

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  • 1 month later...

Spent some time playing through a bit of the game tonight as well as, taking the time to really look through the entire manual.  The quality of the manual and the entire CIB is top shelf.  Thanks again @MarcoJ and @Albert for making this CIB possible.?

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  • 4 months later...

After starting Pitkat from level 1 several times over the past few months, I finally decided to stay with it.  This week I was able to finally finish the game.  I was initially drawn to Pitkat because I was super impressed with the coding effort that went into it (at least what I can only imagine).  As I kept playing and clearing more levels, I wanted more and more.  I surprised myself because I didn't realize how much I loved puzzle games.  Even on those levels that required me to press reset many, many times,  it was always so satisfying to finally solve it (I eventually took up position on the very edge of my couch so that the reset button was within a good stretched arm's reach).

 

Even though Pitkat is a port to the 2600, the product that @Jamtex and @MarcoJ have put together is nothing short of amazing.  I still can't get over the fact that Pitkat is Marco's first 2600 programming effort.  The features in the game really make the whole experience so much more enjoyable.  The in codes and out codes allow the game to be played over multiple sessions without the need to always start from scratch (at one point my cheat sheet with all of my codes was recycled by a family member which induced a panic-stricken rummaging through the garage until I eventually found it). The rewind feature is also really cool and helpful (I didn't use it that much...yeah right) and being able to preview the screen by holding down the fire button and moving the joystick left and right is a really nice touch.  The music is great, but you can turn it off if you want.  With 99 normal levels and some bonus levels, I will definitely be coming back to play this game again without any worry of the puzzles being too familiar.  There is even a speed run mode that I might even give a whirl at some point in the future.  For some spoilers to the game ending, see below.

 

Spoiler

After clearing the first bonus level (level A0), the following screen will appear.  Notice the "?" and that the children are still cats (have cat ears).

398181810_PitkatBonusScreen1.thumb.jpeg.27f0b6ab41bc5d6115ebda3e7a8f81c8.jpeg

 

I won't say how many bonus levels there are, but there are a few.  The last level is by far the hardest level in the game.  So, it should be pretty obvious when you get to it.  The only trick is that there are no save codes for the bonus levels.  You have to complete them all in one session.  In my first attempt I cleared all of the bonus levels except for the last one.  I probably spent an hour trying and finally had to give up.  For the second time around, I cleared the earlier bonus levels again, but again could not solve the last level.  Instead of powering off my Atari, I just left the game on at this level and turned off my TV.  I resumed the next day and after about thirty minutes, I was able to finally beat it.  I didn't keep count, but I had at least 100 attempts at solving the last level.  It was one where I tried different permutations of moves while strategically trying to identify the obstacles.  I didn't take notes as I went.  So, I know I can't reproduce it again without a similar effort.  It is that hard.  Here is the final screen once the game is beat.  The "?" is no longer there and the children are no longer cats.  The curse is over.  Bravo Dyfed and Marco, bravo.

1008002196_PitkatFinalScreen.thumb.jpeg.f714f398cc1f996cb2fef17a7935ea9b.jpeg

 

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28 minutes ago, Armscar Coder said:

This week I was able to finally finish the game.

Congratulations @Armscar Coder, you are the first to report finishing the game! Well done on your journey of many hours of problem solving. I dare say your grey matter has carved out new pathways and skills that will be useful in other areas of your life. Some of those levels are so hard and yes that final stage is tough as nails. 


We had a great time making the game and had wonderful support from @ZeroPage Homebrew and the Atari 2600 community. Overall a fantastic experience. Thank you everyone!

Edited by MarcoJ
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  • 3 months later...
On 12/31/2021 at 10:51 PM, MarcoJ said:

For those of you who would like to order a physical cartridge of one of the Pitkat roms, the Atari Custom Cartridge service is available.

 

Please follow this link:

https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=949

 

Make sure to tick the Melody board option, Pitkat needs that. Once the order is placed, send an email to sales@atariage.com with a copy of which binary file you wish to use of Pitkat (see top of forum for the binaries). Include the reference for your order number when sending the email. Also, be sure to choose if you are using NTSC (North America), PAL50(EU, UK, Australia) or PAL60(EU, UK, Australia - may not work on all PAL TVs - check before ordering with a Harmony/Pluscart/Unocart).

 

With the binaries, there is also a choice of which software revision you wish to use - Version 2 or Version 3. There are slight graphical differences between them.

 

Version 2 - The most commonly known release. It has small gaps between tiles. AKA "gapped tile" version.

Version 3 - Updated graphics kernel so the gaps between tiles are removed.  AKA "gapless tile" version.

 

I, Marco Johannes, give my permission to create Pitkat carts using this service for personal use. The cost of the service is to cover the production cost of the game cartridge by Atariage.

 

Cheers - Marco  

Marco,

 

I've ordered a Custom 2600 Cart w/Melody Board and included a note for ROM Version 3. At the same time I ordered the box and manual. Is that all that I need to do?

 

I play all of my 2600 games on a 7800. Someone posted about a problem with their 7800 playing Pitkat. Is that a common problem? I've also sent a note to Al about this order and asking him for contact info so that I can donate money to this project (unless it's no longer needed).

 

Mark

Edited by cessnaace
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Mark,

3 minutes ago, cessnaace said:

 I've ordered a Custom 2600 Cart w/Melody Board and included a note for ROM Version 3. At the same time I ordered the box and manual. Is that all that I need to do?

That's all you need to do, thanks for the order!

3 minutes ago, cessnaace said:

I play all of my 2600 games on a 7800. Someone posted about a problem with their 7800 playing Pitkat. Is that a common problem?

The 7800 is a bit of a finicky beast at times, and every now and then someone has an issue with a specific game and their 7800.  Usually if I replace a cartridge it will then work fine on that 7800, but sometimes a system will be more stubborn.  I wouldn't worry about it, and if there is a problem, I'll gladly help you out with it.

 

 ..Al

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30 minutes ago, Albert said:

Mark,

That's all you need to do, thanks for the order!

The 7800 is a bit of a finicky beast at times, and every now and then someone has an issue with a specific game and their 7800.  Usually if I replace a cartridge it will then work fine on that 7800, but sometimes a system will be more stubborn.  I wouldn't worry about it, and if there is a problem, I'll gladly help you out with it.

 

 ..Al

Al,

 

Thanks. Personally I've never had a game for the 2600 or 7800 not work in my 7800. Oh, I've had the occasional times when I'd start a game and it wouldn't come up properly, but as you mentioned turning the system off, pulling the cartridge out and then reseating it, and turning the system back on does the trick. I bought my 7800 when it was new. Now the 2600 Jr. is a different kettle of fish. I have two and both have switches that have gone bad. Hence why I use my 7800 so much (usually with a Genesis Controller; w/Seagul 78 Control Adapter on games for the 7800). I rarely use my 7800 PainLine Controllers, so one is like new and the other has never been used.

 

Mark

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3 hours ago, cessnaace said:

Someone posted about a problem with their 7800 playing Pitkat. Is that a common problem?

 

Thanks for supporting Pitkat! By purchasing the box and manual you have supported us already.

 

The game uses a HMOVE trick that can cause problems with some 7800s. It can be tricky to know which variant of 7800 you have.

 

For my 7800, I had to perform the "clip C64" mod, to make some homebrews work. It involves cutting one leg off the Capacitor #64. Some 7800s have a timer circuit added to the circuit board to help support some games which weren't quite compatible with the 7800. Some 7800s don't have the circuit at all, so should be OK. Only way to know is crack it open and have a look.

 

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16 hours ago, MarcoJ said:

 

Thanks for supporting Pitkat! By purchasing the box and manual you have supported us already.

 

The game uses a HMOVE trick that can cause problems with some 7800s. It can be tricky to know which variant of 7800 you have.

 

For my 7800, I had to perform the "clip C64" mod, to make some homebrews work. It involves cutting one leg off the Capacitor #64. Some 7800s have a timer circuit added to the circuit board to help support some games which weren't quite compatible with the 7800. Some 7800s don't have the circuit at all, so should be OK. Only way to know is crack it open and have a look.

 

I've never experienced any problems running any 2600 or 7800 homebrews in my 7800. The sticker on the bottom has printed:

 

72R4BR  A1  84  5300097

 

Mark 

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