Crossbow for the 5200?

[Atariboy2600]

This game was on both 2600, 7800 and even on the XE but I never see it on the 5200. So I wonder if anyone can post the XE game of Crossbow to the 5200 or is it that you need a gun port for the unit?

[Shawn]

This game was on both 2600, 7800 and even on the XE but I never see it on the 5200. So I wonder if anyone can post the XE game of Crossbow to the 5200 or is it that you need a gun port for the unit?

1025712[/snapback]

 

 

Gun for the 5200 :drool:

[Atariboy2600]

Yea if that the case this could be the first 5200 gun game^_^

 

Crossbow for the XE:

[Gabriel]

Gah! I remember Crossbow. For about a month or two it was my favorite arcade game EVAR! I remember going to the arcade at the mall and having to wait in line to play the thing. There were crowds around it all the time.

 

Then, one day, no one was playing it anymore. Oddly, I remember playing the game during that phase and just suddenly not caring.

 

This is one that I need to play again and restore my memory. I literally can hardly remember anything about the game other than I played it and loved it for a short period of time.

 

And any new classic arcade games to play on the 5200 would be welcome.

[SteveW]

I'm just wondering how it'll control with the 5200's analog stick.

[Shawn]

I'm just wondering how it'll control with the 5200's analog stick.

1025743[/snapback]

 

 

To heck with the analog stick, we're aiming for gun support (pun intended).

[Bryan]

Here's a little problem. Atari could have hooked up the light pen input on Antic (pin 4) to the trigger on port 1, but they didn't. It's simply pulled high.

 

-Bry

[+Allan]

Here's a little problem. Atari could have hooked up the light pen input on Antic  (pin 4) to the trigger on port 1, but they didn't. It's simply pulled high.

 

    -Bry

1025787[/snapback]

 

That's amazing that they didn't considering all the capability was there and light guns are simple to make. They dropped the ball in the end-zone on that one.

 

Allan

[Cobra Kai]

Analog control would have worked great on 5200 Crossbow, and the non-centering action would have actually been a plus. This game would probably be best with the trak-ball, it's mechanics are similar to Missile Command.

 

Now, is that pic of the XE version what this game would look like for the 5200? That's not too bad if that's the case, I would buy this if it was ported and I could use my trak-ball.

 

On topic, and one question I've often wondered. Why wasn't the very similar game Cheyenne ever ported to the 7800? It's just as fun as Crossbow, only with a different time period(the wild west).

[ziggystar]

Interesting this came up. We (MHS) recently aquired the rights to all of Exidys games, including crossbow!

 

I'd like to see this happen too, anyone with the talent that wants to try, PM me.

 

[sku_u]

Interesting this came up. We (MHS) recently aquired the rights to all of Exidys games, including crossbow!

 

I'd like to see this happen too, anyone with the talent that wants to try, PM me.

 

1027828[/snapback]

 

Does that mean you have Teeter Torture? That'd lend itself well to the 5200.

[+Allan]

Interesting this came up. We (MHS) recently aquired the rights to all of Exidys games, including crossbow!

 

I'd like to see this happen too, anyone with the talent that wants to try, PM me.

 

1027828[/snapback]

 

So what was the purpose of buying the rights to these games? Are you going to program some new versions of Exity's games on some console/consoles? Just curious.

 

Allan

[moycon]

Dont forget Chiller!!

 

What would really make a mint if marketed would be a plug and play light gun that had all the Exidy gun games in it. You know one of those units that just hooks directly to the TV.

 

I'd buy something like that in a second.

[sku_u]

Dont forget Chiller!!

 

That was my all time favorite arcade shooter!

[Agent X]

Interesting this came up. We (MHS) recently aquired the rights to all of Exidys games, including crossbow!

 

I'd like to see this happen too, anyone with the talent that wants to try, PM me.

 

1027828[/snapback]

 

Do you have total rights to all the Exidy games? If so, then that would be very cool!

[Shawn]

Dont forget Chiller!!

 

That was my all time favorite arcade shooter!

1027856[/snapback]

 

You mean to say there are others aside from me that like chiller? Anyone I personally knw always thought it sucked, I love the game. But then again alot of peope have only played the NES port (if you wanna call it a port), it's good but no arcade version, and the 5200 could make it look alot better on console than the poorly mad nes game. Also to heck with all the exedy gun games on a plug put them on an ATARI mulitcart.

 

But back on track, so is this crossbow 5200 gonna get a gun or what?

[sku_u]

Here's a little problem. Atari could have hooked up the light pen input on Antic  (pin 4) to the trigger on port 1, but they didn't. It's simply pulled high.

 

     -Bry

1025787[/snapback]

 

That's amazing that they didn't considering all the capability was there and light guns are simple to make. They dropped the ball in the end-zone on that one.

 

Allan

1025806[/snapback]

 

How hard would it be to modify this? If someone were able to make a modification, would you be able to use an XE lightgun with the 5200 through one of the redemption/masterplay interfaces?

 

 

Dont forget Chiller!!

 

That was my all time favorite arcade shooter!

1027856[/snapback]

 

You mean to say there are others aside from me that like chiller? Anyone I personally knw always thought it sucked, I love the game. But then again alot of peope have only played the NES port (if you wanna call it a port), it's good but no arcade version, and the 5200 could make it look alot better on console than the poorly mad nes game. Also to heck with all the exedy gun games on a plug put them on an ATARI mulitcart.

 

But back on track, so is this crossbow 5200 gonna get a gun or what?

1027912[/snapback]

 

My favorite scene in that game is the dungeon scene. This game found its way into the Beefsteak Carlies restaurant when I was a kid. I didn't play it as much but only because it was the one game in there that was 50 cents to play rather than a quarter.

[JB]

Here's a little problem. Atari could have hooked up the light pen input on Antic  (pin 4) to the trigger on port 1, but they didn't. It's simply pulled high.

 

    -Bry

1025787[/snapback]

 

That's amazing that they didn't considering all the capability was there and light guns are simple to make. They dropped the ball in the end-zone on that one.

 

Allan

1025806[/snapback]

 

How hard would it be to modify this? If someone were able to make a modification, would you be able to use an XE lightgun with the 5200 through one of the redemption/masterplay interfaces?

Definitely not. The adapters aren't intended to handle light guns. It's doubtful that the necessary pins are even connected to anything, much less forwarded through.

 

The 5200 also doesn't have a free pin for the lightgun input, so there's no way to get it from the DB15 to the DB9 even if the existing adapters could support lightguns.

 

 

What you COULD do is tap the 4 lines you need and run them to a DB9 placed in an unobtrusive spot on your 5200 case.

Or right out the top, if you're a dirty swine with no respect for aesthetics.

[Bryan]

A light gun can be connected, it just can't be polled the easy way. What you would do is wait for the trigger to be pulled, then set the background to a bright color and turn off DMA for one frame and wait for the sensor to see the beam with a software loop. You could probably get reasonable accuracy this way.

 

-Bry

Edited March 4, 2006 by Bryan

[Shawn]

A light gun can be connected, it just can't be polled the easy way. What you would do is wait for the trigger to be pulled, then set the background to a bright color and turn off DMA for one frame and wait for the sensor to see the beam with a software loop. You could probably get reasonable accuracy this way.

 

      -Bry

1028162[/snapback]

 

 

I sure hope this doesn't turn out to be a "what if" kinda deal as all this talk of it being possible to get a light gun rockin' on the 5200 has got me quite intrested. You don't even need to tap out a XE gun, just rewire a SMS gun seeing as this is a hwardware project to begin with why not add the SMS into the works (seriously).

[Bryan]

Here's exactly what you do:

 

Wire up a light gun so the trigger is wired to the top button. Wire up the bottom button to the photosensor (must be active low). Every frame check to see if the trigger (shift) is pressed, then:

 

1. Wait for the beginning of a frame.

2. Turn off all Antic DMA and set the background to a bright color.

3. Enter a software loop that counts and reads TRIG0 over and over across a line. This will look something like:

test1 
  LDA #0
  LDX #4 
  STA GRACTL
  STX GRACTL  ;Reset Latches
  CLC
  ADC TRIG0
  ADC TRIG0
  ADC TRIG0
  ADC TRIG0
  .
  .
  and so on...

The value you get will tell you how far into a line you were when trig went low.

 

5. If the latch is triggered, save the horizontal position and read VCOUNT for vertical position.

6. When VBI occurs, turn on Antic DMA and resume the game.

 

With DMA off, you should be able to achieve reasonable resolution. You'll have to adjust the horizontal position for the 9 refresh cycles on the left half of the screen as well.

 

-Bry

 

Edited to elaborate:

 

I did some more thinking, and I'd probably do the scan every other line (that's all the resolution you'll get from VCOUNT anyway, and you'll probably get even less from the gun). I'd use one line to check TRIG0, then the 2nd line to figure out what happened and then WSYNC to start the next cycle.

Edited March 4, 2006 by Bryan

[Shawn]

Here's exactly what you do:

 

Wire up a light gun so the trigger is wired to the top button. Wire up the bottom button to the photosensor (must be active low). Every frame check to see if the trigger (shift) is pressed, then:

 

1. Wait for the beginning of a frame.

2. Turn off all Antic DMA and set the background to a bright color.

3. Enter a software loop that counts and reads TRIG0 over and over across a line. This will look something like:

test1 
  LDA #0
  LDX #4 
  STA GRACTL
  STX GRACTL  ;Reset Latches
  CLC
  ADC TRIG0
  ADC TRIG0
  ADC TRIG0
  ADC TRIG0
  .
  .
  and so on...

The value you get will tell you how far into a line you were when trig went low.

 

5. If the latch is triggered, save the horizontal position and read VCOUNT for vertical position.

6. When VBI occurs, turn on Antic DMA and resume the game.

 

With DMA off, you should be able to achieve reasonable resolution. You'll have to adjust the horizontal position for the 9 refresh cycles on the left half of the screen as well.

 

      -Bry

 

Edited to elaborate:

 

I did some more thinking, and I'd probably do the scan every other line (that's all the resolution you'll get from VCOUNT anyway, and you'll probably get even less from the gun). I'd use one line to check TRIG0, then the 2nd line to figure out what happened and then WSYNC to start the next cycle.

1028207[/snapback]

 

 

So have at it !! Get crossbow over to the 5200 and start working on the patching the code to support the gun. You can do it and I will buy it. Sound fair?

[Atariboy2600]

Well just in case some one do port it here's a label I just made

[Tempest]

I always thought that was the damn ugliest artwork for Crossbow I've ever seen. I've never liked it. I remember the artwork for the Apple IIe version was pretty cool, but I can't seem to find a picture of it ATM.

 

Tempest

[Bryan]

So have at it !! Get crossbow over to the 5200 and start working on the patching the code to support the gun. You can do it and I will buy it. Sound fair?

1028263[/snapback]

 

Maybe I could write a simple gun test program...

 

-Bry