Creating 2600 style games

[COMTARI]

What is the easiest program to use to create simple 2600 style games to play on the PC? I've seen game creation software that creates first person shooters and 3d renderings...but I want something more simple, without having to go back and learn a programming language.

 

I just wanted to try my hand at making my own original 2600 type games for my own use, just for the fun of designing my own games.

[+SpiceWare]

Not exactly what you want but 2600 Programming For Newbies

 

Use DASM to assemble the code and an Atari Emulator to play it on your PC. You can also use a Krokodile Cartridge, Cuttle Cart, or even a Starpath Supercharger to play it on a real Atari.

Edited June 3, 2005 by SpiceWare

[vdub_bobby]

Not exactly what you want but 2600 Programming For Newbies

 

Use DASM to assemble the code and an Atari Emulator to play it on your PC.  You can also use a Krokodile Cartridge, Cuttle Cart, or even a Starpath Supercharger to play it on a real Atari.

867108[/snapback]

I don't think he wants to actually program the 2600, but just wants to make simple, 2600-style games on his PC easily.

 

I've never used it, but I've heard that Gamemaker might be what you are looking for.

[COMTARI]

Not exactly what you want but 2600 Programming For Newbies

 

Use DASM to assemble the code and an Atari Emulator to play it on your PC.  You can also use a Krokodile Cartridge, Cuttle Cart, or even a Starpath Supercharger to play it on a real Atari.

867108[/snapback]

I don't think he wants to actually program the 2600, but just wants to make simple, 2600-style games on his PC easily.

 

I've never used it, but I've heard that Gamemaker might be what you are looking for.

867202[/snapback]

 

Correct...Just wanted to make some simple fun games that didn't take months to draw out and design.

 

I remember the fun of playing Atari and I've always had games invisioned that I would like to have seen on the system. I think it would be fun to try to create and play some of those games.

[+Random Terrain]

As you can see above my avatar, the best thing I ever used to make games with was Gary Kitchen's GameMaker for the Commodore 64:

 

http://www.mts.net/~kbagnall/commodore/gamemaker/info.html

 

Gary Kitchen's GameMaker was very easy to use and a fun. Besides being able to do just about anything you wanted, it came with the best tools built-in. You could make cool music without knowing anything about music, play around with sound effects, make animated sprites, and so on. I want an updated version of Gary Kitchen's GameMaker for the PC so that semi-stupid people like I am can make games in the 21st century.

 

Until that day comes, here are three things you could try that are made for non-programmers:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Maker

 

http://www.clickteam.com/English/tgf.htm

 

http://www.clickteam.com/English/multimedia_fusion.htm

 

 

I like Multimedia Fusion the best, but the last time I checked, all three programs were still more complicated to use than they should be. You're stuck with them since nothing else seems to exist, so check them out and pick the one you can understand the best.

 

 

You might also want to check out Cobra:

 

http://www.codersworkshop.com/viewarticle.php?id=9

 

It requires actual programming, but it's supposed to be better and easier to use than anything that has come before.

[yuppicide]

Gary Kitchen's game maker was very limited and very complicated to use. The manual was HUGE. I remember my friend had it.

[+Random Terrain]

Gary Kitchen's game maker was very limited and very complicated to use. The manual was HUGE. I remember my friend had it.

867283[/snapback]

Limited in what way? You could make just about any game you could think of back in 1985. What was complicated about it? The main part was pretty simple and the tools were easier to use than anything you can buy today. And what do you consider huge? The manual is 5 x 7 and about the width of a pencil. That's not huge.

[Lord Thag]

Personally, I still use QuickBasic. It's free, easy to use (it is basic after all) and you can do all kinds of neat retro-style games that will run under windows, and under DosBox on everything else. Personally, I don't think basic is all that hard to learn, and if your going to put the time into something, why not do it with an actual programming language you can use as a stepping stone to something else? I've done my own versions of Adventure, Swordquest, and a gazilion other things on it. I still use it whenever I'm writing small-medium 'retro' style games 'cuz it's easy, and umm, quick

[attendo]

For windows applications I use Rapid-Q alot I can highly recommend it, just do a google search for it. At my page click here you will find some stuff i made with Rapid-Q. Its basic but more advanced, but if you want to program a real nice game count on it it will take you much time, reading and thinking.

 

Lately im starting to learn assembler and c++. Also did many stuff with php and asp but thats for making internet applications.

 

Have fun!

[vdub_bobby]

Not exactly what you want but 2600 Programming For Newbies

 

Use DASM to assemble the code and an Atari Emulator to play it on your PC.  You can also use a Krokodile Cartridge, Cuttle Cart, or even a Starpath Supercharger to play it on a real Atari.

867108[/snapback]

I don't think he wants to actually program the 2600, but just wants to make simple, 2600-style games on his PC easily.

 

I've never used it, but I've heard that Gamemaker might be what you are looking for.

867202[/snapback]

I was actually thinking of Game Maker which is free and looks like pretty much exactly what you are looking for.

[+Random Terrain]

Personally, I still use QuickBasic. It's free, easy to use (it is basic after all) and you can do all kinds of neat retro-style games that will run under windows, and under DosBox on everything else. Personally, I don't think basic is all that hard to learn, and if your going to put the time into something, why not do it with an actual programming language you can use as a stepping stone to something else? I've done my own versions of Adventure, Swordquest, and a gazilion other things on it. I still use it whenever I'm writing small-medium 'retro' style games 'cuz it's easy, and umm, quick 

867409[/snapback]

Sounds like you might like Cobra (whenever it finally comes out). I can't wait to try it.

[gulag picture radio]

This might sound funny, but Macromedia Flash is a good route to go. if you go to the "games" section of homestarrunner.com you'll see that they've created LOTS of games in Flash that are clearly inspired by the graphical looks of Atari and NES.

[yuppicide]

Gary Kitchen's gamemaker was very limited. For instance I believe you could only have two backgrounds or something like that I remember. It was very hard to learn as well. The manual was huge. It was also limited in the types of games it could make.

 

Besides to run games you'd need a Commodore 64 emulator. He wants to make games that run directly on PC.

 

If you want something easy you want something like Gamemaker or something. You draw your sprites. You say which one is the player, which one is the enemy, etc. You define what your player ship can do and how it moves and fires.

 

There's a lot of different game makers like this.. some better than others. Most of the easy one as WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) and some have built in languages you can also program to get more functionality out of the program.

 

There's also game makers that cater to just text adventures if that's your thing and there's one that will make old point-n-click games, like the old Sierra quest games.

 

Cobra looks cool, but you need to learn programming to do it. Macromedia Flash is pretty cool.. you can find tons of tutorials on the internet and modify them a little.. like a Pac-Man tutorial, but make your own maze instead.

Edited June 4, 2005 by yuppicide

[Atariboy2600]

I use that Game Maker for making a mockup Atari 2600 type game call Tiny Toon and here's the file you can download and see how it came out. I even made some mockup Box and Cart art of my dream TTA game for the 2600^_^

atari_tinytoon.zip

[+Random Terrain]

Gary Kitchen's gamemaker was very limited. For instance I believe you could only have two backgrounds or something like that I remember.

867743[/snapback]

Right, you could only have two scenes in memory. It wasn't that bad for 1985.

 

 

It was very hard to learn as well.

867743[/snapback]

I'm half retarded and it wasn't that hard for me. It's not like you had to remember anything because all of the commands were right there on the screen.

 

 

The manual was huge.

867743[/snapback]

Again, why do you say it was huge? I have it right here, it's the width of a pencil, a pencil.

 

 

It was also limited in the types of games it could make.

867743[/snapback]

Right, it was 1985, you couldn't make Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but you were free to make a lot of different types of games. I even made a Toys R Us demo for the Commodore 128 with it.

 

 

Besides to run games you'd need a Commodore 64 emulator. He wants to make games that run directly on PC.

867743[/snapback]

Are you on drugs or are you just insane? Nowhere in my post did I say he should make games using the old Gary Kitchen's GameMaker. I said I wanted a new version of it for the PC. An updated version for the 21st century. I can't believe you're wasting my time with that ignorant crap.

[+Random Terrain]

This might sound funny, but Macromedia Flash is a good route to go.  if you go to the "games" section of homestarrunner.com you'll see that they've created LOTS of games in Flash that are clearly inspired by the graphical looks of Atari and NES.

867651[/snapback]

I heard that Flash is hard to make games with. It would be cool if it wasn't that hard since I'd love to make a few online games.

[+kisrael]

I don't think it answers the original posters question, but my current favorite language/environment for Flash-like online work is the Java based "Processing"...it's really not ideal for simplified old school games, but I've had a lot of fun with it.

 

You can get it at http://processing.org and the page of stuff I've done with it is http://kisrael.com/features/java/

[yuppicide]

Right, you could only have two scenes in memory. It wasn't that bad for 1985.

 

There were other programs I would have rather used. Gary Kitchen had a lot of other limitations: No scrolling backgrounds, Could not load data from disk so there was hardly any memory to have your game in, the font for text was bigger than the font of a Vic-20 computer making games with lots of text undoable.

 

 

I'm half retarded and it wasn't that hard for me. It's not like you had to remember anything because all of the commands were right there on the screen.

 

Making your own game was very complicated. Just making the hack of Pitfall! with the Christmas background they gave you with GKGM was easy. Changing the music and stuff, easy, but actually making your own game from scratch. Forget about it.

 

 

Again, why do you say it was huge? I have it right here, it's the width of a pencil, a pencil.

 

Compaired to other game makers back then and their learning curve, this was much harder and manual much bigger.

[yuppicide]

That's awesome man! Good idea to get programmers interested. It was actually pretty fun. I like that it had different levels. Any way to add scoring to the game?! After you complete all the levels does it get a little faster?! It seemed that way.

 

Have you posted this all in the programming forum?! Maybe someone will be interested.

 

I use that Game Maker for making a mockup Atari 2600 type game call Tiny Toon and here's the file you can download and see how it came out. I even made some mockup Box and Cart art of my dream TTA game for the 2600^_^

867776[/snapback]

Edited June 5, 2005 by yuppicide

[+Random Terrain]

I'm half retarded and it wasn't that hard for me. It's not like you had to remember anything because all of the commands were right there on the screen.

Making your own game was very complicated. Just making the hack of Pitfall! with the Christmas background they gave you with GKGM was easy. Changing the music and stuff, easy, but actually making your own game from scratch. Forget about it.

868319[/snapback]

I guess I'm not as stupid as I thought. Out of everything I have tried including various BASIC-like programs, Gary Kitchen's GameMaker was the easiest to understand and use. I made a few little things, but the best thing was a Toys R Us demo that seemed to impress just about everyone who saw it. You could do some cool stuff with it, but I would like a new version for today's computers.

 

I still don't get why you think the manual is huge compared to other game making programs. Remember the Arcade Game Construction Kit? It was approximately the same size and had a similar number of pages. I don't remember how big the manual for Shoot 'em Up Construction Kit was, but it doesn't really matter since it sucked. Talk about limitations. You were very limited in the type of game you could make with that. Oh well, we're wasting too much time on this subject. I need to get back to working on my web site.

[yuppicide]

SUCK was great for making Shoot Em Ups. That's all it was designed to do and it did it pretty well. Too bad it couldn't scroll in different directions.

 

The thing with AGCK and SUCK was that I didn't need the manual at all to even make games.. GKGM on the other hand I needed the manual. It's like GKGM was a programming language where the others were just WYSIWYG.. no programming.

 

I used to belong to a Commodore 64 user group back in the day. We met at a library once a month. Mostly old guys and demonstrations on word processing crap. I gave a demonstration on SUCK and how to make a game with it and I made a simple scroller.

[Lauren Tyler]

If you want something easy you want something like Gamemaker or something. You draw your sprites. You say which one is the player, which one is the enemy, etc. You define what your player ship can do and how it moves and fires.

867743[/snapback]

 

Gamemaker does look good, but what if your problem isn't knowing how to program, but rather, you can't draw sprites to save your life? Let's just say in general, I stink at drawing. What do I do then?

[+Random Terrain]

Gamemaker does look good, but what if your problem isn't knowing how to program, but rather, you can't draw sprites to save your life? Let's just say in general, I stink at drawing.  What do I do then?

869416[/snapback]

Use free images that are truly free or team up with somebody who can draw.

[vdub_bobby]

Gamemaker does look good, but what if your problem isn't knowing how to program, but rather, you can't draw sprites to save your life? Let's just say in general, I stink at drawing.  What do I do then?

869416[/snapback]

Use free images that are truly free or team up with somebody who can draw.

869418[/snapback]

There are a couple of guys who have offered to draw sprites for people. Check the homebrew forum.

[gdement]

This might sound funny, but Macromedia Flash is a good route to go.  if you go to the "games" section of homestarrunner.com you'll see that they've created LOTS of games in Flash that are clearly inspired by the graphical looks of Atari and NES.

867651[/snapback]

I heard that Flash is hard to make games with. It would be cool if it wasn't that hard since I'd love to make a few online games.

867780[/snapback]

 

My problem with the idea of writing games in Flash is that there's a fair number of people who would prefer not to install it. The problem is there's no apparent way to selectively allow Flash only for selected web sites. So since Flash is all-or-nothing, I'd rather not run it. I think Java is the same way, but for whatever reason Java usually doesn't get used for ads, while Flash is almost constantly used that way. Besides the annoyance, Flash ads also cause a significant slowdown, but maybe people running newer systems don't notice it. My niece and nephew have asked me to install Flash for some online games, but I've had to turn them down because of the performance impact it would have on the rest of the internet. If only those games were written in Java it wouldn't be a problem. I think a lot of people would prefer to install Java rather than Flash, simply because Java seems to have a better signal-to-noise ratio, while Flash mostly just adds noise.

 

Even neglecting that issue, I'd still recommend Java between those two, since Java is a useful programming skill that could come in handy in other areas. Graphics programming might be easier in Flash though, I really have no idea.

 

edit: After looking at the original question I can see my reply is somewhat off-topic. Well, if you get to the point of deciding to learn a language, then I endorse Java over Flash for the reasons stated above. But as far as easier game-making tools go, I don't have any particular recommendation.

Edited June 7, 2005 by gdement