Bug in Warlords?

[Scott Stilphen]

Found an old post by Harry Dodgson where he mentions it:

"Also, I would like to put out a thought for most programmers. Has anyone else realized that Atari has only made ONE videogame cartridge for the 2600 that has a fatal bug in it. Considering the amount of software revisions and bug fixes that I see for computers (MACs, SUNs, ...), I find that to be a very good record. Yes, the software was smaller and easier (more fun) to test, But it still means something!!

 

Oh, for those who don't know which cartridge, try Warlords in 3 player mode. It will occasionally not give the ball back to continue after a point is scored." Harry

 

Has anyone ever seen this before? If so, how do you trigger it?

[moycon]

Never heard of or seen that one.

[Ze_ro]

My guess would be that the killed player ends up grabbing the ball, but the game won't let (or force) him release it.... but I've never seen this happen before, even after a bunch of 3-player Warlords sessions. I guess it's not a very common bug.

 

--Zero

[Ze_ro]

Oh, and Atari made a lot of mistakes with Jaguar games... I actually found the "bug" in Atari Karts that lets you get to the Miracle Races easily (I'm confident that I was the first to find this actually... and I assume that it is a bug)

 

--Zero

[yellowdragon]

The only bug in Warlords I've ever noticed is that the ball will suddenly appear inside a castle and destroy it from the inside out, or simply remove a brick or two from the center of the wall. If I remember right, to do this, simply hold the ball on your shield and flick the paddle back and forth really fast.

 

Yellowdragon

[Scott Stilphen]

What about this one:

 

"If you get it right, you can literally "catch" the ball by jamming it between your shield and the edge of the screen. I have no idea as to how my sister did it several times IN ONE GAME. (I could never do it myself.) It's rather weird, you'll hear a dull *thump* and everyone will be wondering "wha?" "where's the ball?" Moving will release it."

 

Btw, does anyone have Harry Dodgson's email?

[StanJr]

Well, I've caught the ball and rolled down to the bottom of the screen which "hides" the ball from sight. I hear no thump noise when I do it this way. I've never done it without catching it first though...

[StanJr]

I noticed something else "buggy" about Warlords tonight whilst eeking out a victory against my girlfriend. If you rapidly work your paddle, the little shield thingy appears behind and sometimes in front of your crown thingy. Does it actually occupy these areas or is this merely a graphic glitch?