PDP Spacewar hack is finished!

[Rob Mitchell]

Thomas Jentzsch and I wish to announce that PDP Spacewar is finished! Thomas did some custom hacking to the Atari Space War code and I modified the shapes of the spaceships.

 

Now the contest: Figure out what he did to make it more like the 1960's Spacewar that was played on PDP computers from coast-to-coast.

 

Have fun!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

pdpspacw.zip

[atwwong]

Whoo-hoo! I'm the first one the download this baby! Thanks!

[NE146]

I've never played PDP Spacewar.. I've played Vectorbeam's Space War in arcades a ton of times of course. Are there any major differences?

[Rob Mitchell]

I've never played PDP Spacewar.. I've played Vectorbeam's Space War in arcades a ton of times of course. Are there any major differences?

 

I've never played Vectorbeam's Space War or Cinematronics Space War. But I have played Atari and Vectrex Space War which is more thrust .. turn and shoot.

 

MESS allows for PDP emulation of Spacewar which is what inspired us to make the hack much like the 1960s version.

 

Thomas has added alot more game physics to Atari Space War which requires more skill to kill the other ship.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[ubersaurus]

Now hack online play into it

[Rob Mitchell]

Now hack online play into it  

 

Would a simple internet -> joystick interface work? Plug into controller port 1 or 2 of the console .. start the game on the two remote machines and voila!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Rob Mitchell]

Here are the changes:

 

two different gravities selectable with a difficulty switch.

two different shot speeds/travel length selectable with a difficulty switch.

the game matrix has been rearranged and only 8 games are selectable.

smaller ships and smaller shots.

different colors!

different starting positions (PDP style)

less thrust effect.

 

All these changes make the original Atari Space War code play like the 1962 version PDP Spacewar. It is more of a strategy game than a turn and fire game.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[ubersaurus]

So what's the new game matrix?

[Rob Mitchell]

So what's the new game matrix?

 

That's for you to figure out!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[+legeek]

Very cool Rob and Thomas!

 

Now I need to find a second player (looks in Rob's direction)

 

Cheers,

Ben

[Rob Mitchell]

Now I need to find a second player (looks in Rob's direction)

 

Considering that you and I live 5 minutes drive away from eachother .. We could have a face off Space War contest! BTW: I own two Starplex 5 button controllers so get ready!

 

Rob Mitchell, Around the corner from LeGeek!, Georgia