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Frostbite 400 (for Christmas)


glurk

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35 minutes ago, patjomki said:

 

So the sources of the c64 conversion of Chopper Command do not help?

Well, I looked at them...  But I'm not really a C64 guy, don't know that machine too well.  This already requires a good deal of knowledge of the 2600 and the A8, so adding in another machine adds a whole additional layer of complexity.

 

Keep in mind my goal, I want to DIRECTLY port the 2600 code to the A8.  That's my mission, that's why I'm doing these.  I want the 2600's game-loop running unchanged.  It would be another approach entirely (not mine) to write a conversion/adaptation of the game.

 

I can do this because the hardware of the two machines is so similar in so many ways.  I'm not a graphic artist, or a sound engineer, or able to create stuff like that on my own.  And I don't even WANT to write a game engine.  So these 'ports' suit my abilities and programming style.  And I've already got so much code written that I can now re-use for other ports.

 

It's not that I don't appreciate it, it just won't help with what I'm attempting to do.  And with 'Chopper Command' I'd need a full 2600 disassembly, which no one has done, to the best of my knowledge.  And I could do that part, but we'd be looking at a long time span, because that part is a major task unto itself.

 

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I think I'm probably doing 'Cosmic Ark' next - if I can get the star field nailed.  Which oddly, is probably going to be the hardest part of the game...  I'm not fully commited to it, though, but I'm testing out some things.

 

I can really only do ones where a (commented & notated) 2600 disassembly already exists.  I mean, I could do that part too, but it's a huge major task taking lots of time to do.  I've been (so far) working from Dennis Debro's great disassemblies, and 'Cosmic Ark' has been done by Thomas Jenztsch.  So they deserve thanks as well, their previous efforts are what have allowed me to do these.

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1 hour ago, glurk said:

And with 'Chopper Command' I'd need a full 2600 disassembly, which no one has done, to the best of my knowledge.

 

 

I see. And I understand your approach which already lead to two fantastic conversions that play extremely well.

 

Antonio Savona once said that he had a look at the vcs sources of chopper command. Unfortunately I don't know how to get in contact with him but perhaps @STE'86 can enlighten us whether a full disassembly exists or not.

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On 12/28/2021 at 11:14 AM, MrFish said:

Why, when there's already a superior Tennis game available for the 8-bit computers?

Are you referring to Atari Tennis?

 

Of the sports games on the 2600 I think I played Tennis the most, aside from Miniature Golf. Both pretty nostalgic.

 

Anyhow, my top suggestions for conversion ATM are Fishing Derby and Chopper Command.

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On 12/30/2021 at 9:47 PM, patjomki said:

 

I see. And I understand your approach which already lead to two fantastic conversions that play extremely well.

 

Antonio Savona once said that he had a look at the vcs sources of chopper command. Unfortunately I don't know how to get in contact with him but perhaps @STE'86 can enlighten us whether a full disassembly exists or not.

No, Tony didnt do a full one just analysed the control method code to make sure the c64 version felt exactly the same (drift and scroll slide etc) other than that the c64 version is a top to bottom recode with 8 bit charset in mind and hires hardware sprites. we added extra visual tweaks to all our conversions and in CC its was parallax scrolling clouds. I would have liked to get the sounds to match pokey more. I am very jealous of the the way the C64 coder who just just converted Seaquest got the sound to "sound"

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Just a quick FYI bit...  For those who've asked for XEX versions, both my ports - 'Barnstorming' and 'Frostbite' - are on the newest Homesoft disk, #463.  I think he ran a compressor on both, they are quite small and seem to run fine.  I never did a XEX of 'Barnstorming' so that's where to get one.

 

I'm pretty sure they are both only the NTSC palette versions, though.   As I've said previously, I prefer to develop for the CAR format, so leaving XEX conversions to someone else is fine with me...

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2 hours ago, nobody said:

These two versions from my site will detect the video system and set the corresponding colors ...

Ah!  I was unaware of that, So, THANK YOU then!

 

That's one thing I can't easily do within CAR images without rewriting the games to use a color table.

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19 hours ago, glurk said:

Just a quick FYI bit...  For those who've asked for XEX versions, both my ports - 'Barnstorming' and 'Frostbite' - are on the newest Homesoft disk, #463.  I think he ran a compressor on both, they are quite small and seem to run fine.  I never did a XEX of 'Barnstorming' so that's where to get one.

It's also available at Fandal's site (PAL and NTSC ver.): https://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=8114

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3 hours ago, Yautja said:

It's also available at Fandal's site (PAL and NTSC ver.): https://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=8114

Well, those versions are not ones I ever released, they are messed-up and don't work, the picture shows them messed-up, and they are mis-credited to Paul Lay (who did do the 5200 version).

 

It looks like someone simply took the CAR images and dumped them into memory from a XEX file, which won't work, since the game depends on the memory being cleared at start-up.  They were never intended to be run that way.

 

I hope someone can fix that, as I would never have posted them like that...

 

 

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On 1/5/2022 at 2:39 PM, glurk said:

Just a quick FYI bit...  For those who've asked for XEX versions, both my ports - 'Barnstorming' and 'Frostbite' - are on the newest Homesoft disk, #463.  I think he ran a compressor on both, they are quite small and seem to run fine.  I never did a XEX of 'Barnstorming' so that's where to get one.

 

I'm pretty sure they are both only the NTSC palette versions, though.   As I've said previously, I prefer to develop for the CAR format, so leaving XEX conversions to someone else is fine with me...

Homesoft Disk #463 (http://www.mushca.com/f/atari/index.php?idx=10&#DISK463)

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ZeroPage Homebrew is playing Frostbite 400 on tomorrow's stream LIVE on Twitch, hope you can join us!


Games:

 (WATCH AT 1080P60 FOR BEST QUALITY)

 

 

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