jindroush Posted May 10, 2002 Share Posted May 10, 2002 quote: Originally posted by MikeMika: I think the title is BattleLyrae(?), or at least something like it. The Tail of Beta Lyrae by Philip Price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted May 10, 2002 Share Posted May 10, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Jindroush: The Tail of Beta Lyrae by Philip Price. Oh my god, that is the *first* disk-based game I purchased for my Atari 800XL, immediately after buying a 1050 drive. I believe it came in a plastic bag with the manual, and was published by DataSoft. And man, it kicks major ass. Of course, I no longer have the original (sigh), but the mere mention of it makes me want to skip out on work right now to go play it at home. Or maybe I just need to fire up an emulator. I've got all this PS2 hardware surrounding me, but am longing for my 8-bit. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMika Posted May 10, 2002 Author Share Posted May 10, 2002 Thanks Jindroush and Albert... Now I have something to actually look forward to. I thought I was crazy for a while, because I had lost so many details over the years. I tried talking with a lot of folks who just thought I was insane. It really is an amazing game. Albert, if you're going to CGExpo, we should sit down and play through it! It was amazing! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted May 10, 2002 Share Posted May 10, 2002 quote: Originally posted by MikeMika: It really is an amazing game. Albert, if you're going to CGExpo, we should sit down and play through it! It was amazing! We will have a booth at CGE2K2 and I'll be sure to have some 8-bit hardware on hand that we can play it on. You may need to remind me as it gets closer to CGE. Perhaps I better start working on my "Stuff To Bring To CGE" list. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callipygous Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 I must have the Deluxe edition. A hard cardboard box with this on the lid: "Commander: A nomadic race of ALIENS has taken over the settlements on the tail of the double star Beta Lyrae. Your mission as a Wing Commander, is to destroy the Alien surface installations and force their retreat from the planatoids within the Tail of Beta Lyrae!" BTW, the music is by Gary Gilbertson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMika Posted May 11, 2002 Author Share Posted May 11, 2002 I have been looking for this Atari 400/800 title for a long time. This is my last resort. I traditionally hate posting these "What is this game?" posts. It has been a while since I would ride my dirt bike to my friend's house to play this, about 20 years actually, so here goes: I think the title is BattleLyrae(?), or at least something like it. It is a side scrolling, left to right shooter. It played a whole heck of a lot like Scramble. It looked like a cross between Vanguard and Scramble. Any potential leads would be great. When my friend got rid of his Atari computer, the game went with it. I have looked for ATR files, lists, screenshots, anything. Such fond memories. Thanks, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshleo Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Heaven/TQA: Philip Price? the cool guy who wrote Alternate Reality series... but the game you are talking about is imho crap... was it not programmed in atari basic??? hve You are kidding, of course! Yup, it was written by Philip Price but looking at the speed and fluency of the game I hardly think it was written in Atari Basic ... compiled or otherwise! From my poor memory, I think it used a fractal algorithm to produce the landscape. Using a simple random number generator would not have produced the undulating terrain. To produce fractal generated graphics at that speed takes more power than Atari Basic can give you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 I'll say. The Basic fractal example in Antic magazine took at least 15 minutes to create a single frame! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndary Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 Tail of Beta Lyrae was a fun game.. it did not have best graphics like Zybex, Matta Blatta etc.. i am not sure if it was coded in basic or pure assembly i can check.. i only have the european release Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted May 12, 2002 Share Posted May 12, 2002 The fractal geometry in games like Beta Lyrae and Rescue on Fractalus isn't exactly that complex -- it's not doing Mandelbrots or anything. It's a much simpler (and obviously much faster) algorhythm that just generates landscapes using fractal mathematics so that it's scalable. You might say it's kind of a predecessor to polygons. The effect was damn cool, though. Really effective in a day and age where realtime polygons in anything more than wireframe were only something higher end machines could do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted May 12, 2002 Share Posted May 12, 2002 Philip Price? the cool guy who wrote Alternate Reality series... but the game you are talking about is imho crap... was it not programmed in atari basic??? hve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted May 12, 2002 Share Posted May 12, 2002 maybe i have a completly different game in mind... i just can remember some interlace gfx and some "3d shooter" fx... but i will try to get a ATR of it... hve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheddy Posted May 12, 2002 Share Posted May 12, 2002 You guys sure it's using fractals, anyone looked yet? Although I haven't looked at the game in a while, I would have thought something simpler could have done it?? Still it is a fine game, but I remember it being very difficult (but that's just me I expect!) and also frustrating because of the "dead body" rule (where you killed something and its explosion gets you instead - although I guess that's kind of realistic) Must check it out again though (we wore out the original disk!) [ 05-12-2002: Message edited by: Sheddy ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshleo Posted May 12, 2002 Share Posted May 12, 2002 Well, that's what was claimed at the time. Looking at it, it does seem that it uses a simple fractal generator. The reason for this is the way the landscape undulates. A fractal engine would presumably only require a random seed to generate a new landscape every game. That is where the random generator would end ... a random generator would not create the undulation in the landscape. Well, that's my way of looking at it anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted May 13, 2002 Share Posted May 13, 2002 downloaded the atr...but it seems like a simple scramble clone with a huge intro? what is fractal generated? the 2d scrolling landscape??? maybe i have the wrong atr but it says it is done by philip price... ??? hve ps. the "basic" games were done by "avalon hill" as far as i can remember... my girlfriend says: if anything else you could so perfect remember than atari stuff.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshleo Posted May 13, 2002 Share Posted May 13, 2002 Yup. That's *all* it is. But a pretty damned good Scramble clone at that. It was indeed written by Philip Price (aka Mr Alternate Reality) and yes, the fractals were used to generate the 2D terrain. Just don't ask me how! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted May 13, 2002 Share Posted May 13, 2002 hahaha... typical programmer driven feature.... "fractal generated" 2d scroll terrain... unbelievable... for what??? rescue on fractalus is a game written around a routine as well but far more better... imho completly unneccessary... a typical "game" written around a gfx routine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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