Battery backed Coleco games

[Itchy Scratchy]

I would almost be ignorant to believe that this questions has never been asked.

Has anyone attempted to make a Colecovision cartridge with battery back up.

 

I am researching my options as far as how large I can make a game.

We have seen the limits of the Colecovision in our games.

A quick shoot 'em up, what's your high score but there is another reason why that is all we ever had and no save game feature on the Colecovsion.

Shove the cartridge in, play the game then put your cartridge back on the shelf.  DONE!

 

I have no issues with creating a decent size Zelda-ESK adventure game with a feature to save your progress.

I mean seriously...  If I have to be limited to a password system then so be it but I would rather have something that you can play till you are tired, save your game then turn it off until you are ready to progress.

 

So lets make it happen people.

 

BTW, I know this can be done with emulator save states or better yet make a full ADAM game using file BIOS features saving to data pack or disk but how much more can we do with cartridge based games.

 

Let's not allow the TI 994A to be the only hobby machine from all these years.

Heck, I have seen more done on the old TRS 80 than I have for ADAM...

 

[+evg2000]

battery back up games exist as do games using more recent technology

[+evg2000]

lord of the dungeon would have been the first battery backed cartridge if it had been released bitd.  digital press released it many years ago

http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/lordofdungeon_2.htm

colecotorvision released a version a few years ago that replaced the battery backed saves with a chip that saves state.

[Pixelboy]

Where Team Pixelboy is concerned, The Black Onyx, Boxxle, Arcomage and Jewel Panic all have a savegame chip inside the cart. They use what I like to call the "Activision PCB", which is a custom board with bankswitching up to 64K and an EEPROM-based save feature.

 

[Itchy Scratchy]

5 minutes ago, Pixelboy said:

Where Team Pixelboy is concerned, The Black Onyx, Boxxle, Arcomage and Jewel Panic all have a savegame chip inside the cart. They use what I like to call the "Activision PCB", which is a custom board with bankswitching up to 64K and an EEPROM-based save feature.

 

HMMM.....

I smell future collaboration may be on the horizon.

[Pixelboy]

1 minute ago, Itchy Scratchy said:

HMMM.....

I smell future collaboration may be on the horizon.

If any collaboration happens, it will be with the AtariAge Store, as explained here:

 

 

 

[Ikrananka]

11 hours ago, evg2000 said:

colecotorvision released a version a few years ago that replaced the battery backed saves with a chip that saves state.

I always thought at the time that CollectorVision used a battery back up solution for the rerelease of LoD.  Are you certain that they used an EEPROM?

[NIAD]

9 hours ago, Itchy Scratchy said:

HMMM.....

I smell future collaboration may be on the horizon.

See, you spent all that time typing up your first post when all you had to do is ask if so-and-so exists. Be nice to TI, lord knows there are enough TI chips in the CV and ADAM.

 

I haven't looked at anything related to the TRS80, but seems like you are uninformed on all the development going on with the CV and ADAM. Do you use Facebook? If so, you should checkout the Coleco ADAM Facebook group.

Edited January 1, 2021 by NIAD

[+5-11under]

These are not widely available, though. I'm going to see if I can add a serial EEPROM to a "half" Megacart board. Seems like a natural next step.