atari 2600 Missing Projectile sprites-Atari 2600

[lephoenixreborn]

I have an Atari 2600 jr. I am unable to enjoy space invaders as the enemy projectiles do not display. I get hit with invisible projectiles. How do I fix this? Do I clean the cartridge or something?

[+DrVenkman]

On 2/13/2021 at 5:22 PM, lephoenixreborn said:

I have an Atari 2600 jr. I am unable to enjoy space invaders as the enemy projectiles do not display. I get hit with invisible projectiles. How do I fix this? Do I clean the cartridge or something?

If you're playing through some kind of scaling device and then HDMI to a modern flatscreen, you may have an issue with the scaler not dealing well with the Atari non-standard analog RF video signal. However, and unfortunately, a more likely cause is an issue with the TIA chip in the Atari, which is responsible for graphics and sound. That's not a beginner-level repair, unfortunately. 

 

To help rule this out, do you have other carts handy to test things with? 

[lephoenixreborn]

.

On 2/15/2021 at 5:22 PM, DrVenkman said:

If you're playing through some kind of scaling device and then HDMI to a modern flatscreen, you may have an issue with the scaler not dealing well with the Atari non-standard analog RF video signal. However, and unfortunately, a more likely cause is an issue with the TIA chip in the Atari, which is responsible for graphics and sound. That's not a beginner-level repair, unfortunately. 

 

To help rule this out, do you have other carts handy to test things with? 

I play using the RF adapter to tv. No hdmi.

Mini golf works fine.

[+SpiceWare]

22 hours ago, lephoenixreborn said:

I play using the RF adapter to tv. No hdmi.

Mini golf works fine.

 

Is this a classic CRT TV or a modern TV?  Many modern TVs incorrectly handle the 240p signal used by older consoles like the Atari. One issue I've seen is they'll only displaying 30 fps instead of 60 fps (so half the frames are never seen). For games like Mini golf that doesn't matter as all objects are drawn on every frame, but it will cause problems with games that use 30 Hz flicker like the projectiles in Space Invaders.

 

A couple others to try:

 

Missile Command, it uses 30 Hz flicker for the incoming missiles. Do you see all the incoming missiles, or do your cities get destroyed by something you can't see?  

 

Pac-Man, it uses 15 Hz flicker to draw the ghosts.  Do you see all 4 ghosts, or just 2?