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Atari 2600 Homebrew Games Completed/WIP in 2021

ZeroPage Homebrew
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ZeroPage Homebrew Quadrunner

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Atari 2600 Homebrew Games Completed/WIP in 2021

 

Below is a list of all the Atari 2600 homebrew games that have either been completed in 2021 or have released an updated WIP in 2021. Please let me know if there are any missing or inaccurate (credits, binary sizes) entries. Note: Games are only added to this list if there is a playable binary or video of the game.

 

Physical Release

 

Completed

 

WIP

 

Previous Years: 2020, 2019

 

More Info:

  • Updated xxx xx, 2021: When I last updated the listing
  • 2021xxxx: When the latest binary/video was uploaded
  • Demo: Not the full game. Limited either by levels, time, lives or in some other way
  • [ref]: Link to where the developer declared the game completed
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johnnywc River Patroller

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3 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

Too bad that so many great games had to be moved to 2021.

Wait, what happened!? ?  Zoo Keeper and Avalanche and all the other games in the store aren't eligible for the 2020 awards even though most of them have fully playable binaries available for evaluation?

 

@ZeroPage Homebrew James, did I miss a post about this?  I've been head down working on Gorf Arcade so apologies if I missed an announcement.  

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johnnywc River Patroller

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5 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

I was surprised too. The games are all long done and can be pre-ordered. But I suppose these are the rules.

Thanks for the info TJ... was there an announcement about this and the reasoning behind the decision?  I am more disappointed than surprised but don't want to jump to conclusions before I've read the arguments for not including these games in the 2020 awards although they were "Completed in 2020".

 

 

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ZeroPage Homebrew Quadrunner

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1 hour ago, johnnywc said:

Wait, what happened!? ?  Zoo Keeper and Avalanche and all the other games in the store aren't eligible for the 2020 awards even though most of them have fully playable binaries available for evaluation?

 

@ZeroPage Homebrew James, did I miss a post about this?  I've been head down working on Gorf Arcade so apologies if I missed an announcement.  

Hey John,

 

I really wanted to include all the completed, but not released, games in this year's competition but couldn't find a way to logically make it happen. In order for the nomination committee and then the public to properly evaluate and vote on each game, there needs to be a publicly available binary or physical release of the full complete game to base their decision on. Although the games that are available for pre-order in the store have been declared completed, most of them have not released a final full complete binary of the game and currently the only full versions of the games exist in the hands of the developers and beta testers. Some of the games have earlier WIP builds or demos available but very few have the full complete game available to the public to play.

 

Once the full games are released in binary or physical format they will be eligible in the year they are put out, in this case it looks like 2021 for most of the list above. Hopefully this makes sense but please let me know if you think that my reasoning is off.

 

- James

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ZeroPage Homebrew Quadrunner

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3 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

Hm, at least for Robot City a final ROM is available.

You bet! This post here declares RC8 as your final ROM and it's publicly available.

 

Please note that the list is not same list as we're using for the Awards, it's only a general reference point.

 

- James

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johnnywc River Patroller

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1 minute ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

 

I really wanted to include all the completed, but not released, games in this year's competition but couldn't find a way to logically make it happen. In order for the nomination committee and then the public to properly evaluate and vote on each game, there needs to be a publicly available binary or physical release of the full complete game to base their decision on. Although the games that are available for pre-order in the store have been declared completed, most of them have not released a final full complete binary of the game and currently the only full versions of the games exist in the hands of the developers and beta testers. Some of the games have earlier WIP builds or demos available but very few have the full complete game available to the public to play.

 

Once the full games are released in binary or physical format they will be eligible in the year they are put out, in this case it looks like 2021 for most of the list above. Hopefully this makes sense but please let me know if you think that my reasoning is off.

 

 

Hi James,

 

Thanks for the explanation.  Although I understand the decision, I must politely disagree with the reasoning.  Most of these games AFAIK have a ROM available (and the associated artwork) to properly judge it's merits as a completed game.  Full binaries of games are sometimes not released for years (Mappy from 2018 still doesn't have a full release ROM available, for example).  Furthermore, I don't think someone should actually have to purchase a game and have the physical cart  and packaging in hand to be able to make accurate judgement on it's merits.

 

For example, I will not be releasing full ROM versions of Zoo Keeper or Avalanche in 2021.  This is done so Al has an opportunity to recoup his investments on the printed versions.  There are demo ROMs available for both that are 95% complete and both have been declared 'final' with 2020 copyrights, yet they are not eligible.  Since they will be available as physical releases in 2021, the only people that will have a 'better' opportunity to evaluate these games will be the people that purchase it; everyone else will need to make their judgement based on what's already available in 2020 (demo ROMs and the images of the printed material, etc.).

 

Perhaps you could give the authors an opportunity to post a most updated demo to be eligible for the 2020 awards?  For me personally, the Avalanche demo is derived from the final build so that wouldn't change, but I could if needed post an updated ZK demo from the final build (restricting the # of levels, Savekey support, etc.).

 

Anyway, hope this makes sense and I hope you reconsider!  If not, it looks like 2021 is going to have *a lot* of games in the competition! :)  (most likely 5 completed just from Champ Games, plus a few WIPs!) :o :) 

 

Thanks,

John

 

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ZeroPage Homebrew Quadrunner

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40 minutes ago, johnnywc said:

Perhaps you could give the authors an opportunity to post a most updated demo to be eligible for the 2020 awards?  For me personally, the Avalanche demo is derived from the final build so that wouldn't change, but I could if needed post an updated ZK demo from the final build (restricting the # of levels, Savekey support, etc.).

 

Anyway, hope this makes sense and I hope you reconsider!  If not, it looks like 2021 is going to have *a lot* of games in the competition! :)  (most likely 5 completed just from Champ Games, plus a few WIPs!) :o :)

 

I think your reasoning is sound in regards to demo versions of the final games and we will allow them starting this year. Game demos are generally considered to be a fair representation of the full game, enough to convince the person to purchase the full version.

 

A reasoning I had behind only allowing the physical version or full binary is to not misrepresent the final game, and the developer, by using an early WIP build for the entry that is missing features or has bugs that may detract from the enjoyment. Demos definitely fill that gap and I think can substitute well for the final game, especially in this year where there are a number of games completed but not yet in the hands of the public.

 

So far the Atari Homebrew Awards has been a passive event where there aren't direct submissions from the developers and I am hoping to keep it that way to simplify the process. If we can keep the rules so people don't have to fill out annoying forms to be qualified for an award, all the better for them and myself. Each year we refine the rules as situations arise and this new rule is one step closer to making the event better!

 

Thanks!

James

 

 

Edited by ZeroPage Homebrew
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Dionoid Dragonstomper

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10 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

Update with link to Final Demo:

Hi James, minor detail: the Port-link currently points to the C64 version, but this '2600 version is a port of the original game: https://flatgub.itch.io/tower-of-rubble

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