If "Pitfall 3" were available... what would it look like?

[+Propane13]

Hi everyone,

 

Sometimes I dream that "Pitfall 3" would exist for the Atari 2600.

Now, I'm not the kinda guy that would say "can someone program this?" or anything.

I just thought it would be interesting to discuss what people would envision it to be like.

 

I think the givens would be:

* Definitely not 3D.

* With a HUGE map, perhaps 8x that of Pitfall 2 (to make people feel *lost*)

* Same graphics style

* Our friend, the Scorpion

* Rhonda and Quickclaw would be back

* Not sure if swimming, balloons, the rat, or the Raj Diamond would return (in favor of new items and challenges).

* I'd like to see the silver bars return, personally (but leave the moneybags away)

 

Things that I think could be added would be:

* Teleports (to add to map complexity)

* A Mine car sequence (or something with mines in general)

* Maybe an ice cavern?

* More complicated "pitfall" caverns-- with ledges and broken ladders in different places that make navigation sort of a puzzle in itself

 

It'd probably be interesting to see some mock-up art or something for this (box or screenshot), although I can't do it myself (I can code, but have limited artistic ability; it would probably look like "revenge of the sticks").

 

Any thoughts? I'm sure people have thought about this before, and have their own opinions.

Let's hear them!

 

-John

[NovaXpress]

I'd like to see Pitfall Harry have sex with Rhonda then smash in her head with a baseball bat. You know, for a bit of the modern touch.

[Shawn]

Pitfall the myan adventure on the 2600?? That would be awsome. IT would be even better if it was on the 5200 or 7800.

Edited March 16, 2006 by Shawn Sr.

[Jacob Rose]

* Teleports (to add to map complexity)

* A Mine car sequence (or something with mines in general)

 

I really like the mine car idea - classic! Teleports....not so much. Adding some puzzles would be a great way to extend the playability of a limited map size, though.

[moycon]

I would like to see the game focus more on Pitfall Harry's hisute brother.

[Godzilla]

heck id just be happy to see the existing second cavern hacked into atari 2600 pitfall 2 and made as a cart somehow (pitfall 2.5?) but yea, id love to see a pitfall 3 in the original style. Id really like to see pitfall 3 as an uber pitfall one, with massive above and below ground networks in a giant circular world with secret tunnels and pyramids and etc.

[Godzilla]

oh, also,

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13278

[+Propane13]

I would like to see the game focus more on Pitfall Harry's hisute brother.

 

Wow-- you actually motivated me to find out what "hirsute" means.

That's impressive-- the last word I looked up for anyone recently was fysigunkus.

 

Whatever happened to Pitfall Hairy anyway?

 

-John

[+Propane13]

oh, also,

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13278

 

This reminds me of an idea I had for "Ninga Golf 2: Ninja in the City"

You could golf, take on street gangs, drive balls off of buildings, fight alligators in sewers, etc...

 

Surprised that there was a thread about this, actually-- sometimes I'm amazed at Atariage's history.

 

-John

[moycon]

I would like to see the game focus more on Pitfall Harry's hisute brother.

 

Wow-- you actually motivated me to find out what "hirsute" means.

That's impressive-- the last word I looked up for anyone recently was fysigunkus.

 

LOL That's too funny.

 

Whatever happened to Pitfall Hairy anyway?

 

-John

 

He shaved?

Edited March 17, 2006 by moycon

[8th lutz]

I think it would be a 32k cart. Pitfall harry can avoid being hit flying enemies without moving on ladders. It would have water to swim in along with a jungle for part of the game. It can be done being having him starting in the jungle then go into a cave. This game be butter for 7800 or 5200 due to the memory.

[+FujiSkunk]

It would look like Demon Attack.

 

At least, that's what a cartridge I got once that had only a bit of masking tape with "Pitfall III" scrawled on it turned out to be.

[supercat]

Sometimes I dream that "Pitfall 3" would exist for the Atari 2600.

Now, I'm not the kinda guy that would say "can someone program this?" or anything.

I just thought it would be interesting to discuss what people would envision it to be like.

 

A more interesting question is what other games would have been developed for the "Pitfall II" chip. I don't think Activision was planning on using it for just the one game. Different games would have needed different masks, but that shouldn't have been a problem.

[A.J. Franzman]

I like the ideas of different treasures (IMO they should be completely different, no stupid ingots, money bags, or diamond rings - make them like actual jungle native artifacts - statuettes of gold, stone or wood, various sorts of body jewelry, even esoterica such as earthenware pots, tools, weapons, etc. are all valuable).

 

I would also like to see some sort of pyramid or man-made structure (perhaps featuring Indiana Jones-style traps) in addition to natural dangers and creatures. Swimming was OK in II, but more should have been done with it. Ballooning was interesting but need not be repeated. I would like to see Harry swing from vines again, perhaps in a more complicated way. But please don't bring back the opening and closing "quicksand", ick!

 

Additionally, I would like it to be non-linear, with multiple paths possible to reach the goal (all very difficult in different ways, of course).

 

Finally, at least have an option for RANDOM positioning of treasures and hazards.

Edited April 4, 2006 by A.J. Franzman

[G.Whiz]

Finally, at least have an option for RANDOM positioning of treasures and hazards.

 

Excellent idea!

 

I'd like to see a game that took the best elements of Adventure (like random positions) and Pitfall. Need to find the grappling hook to swing over the ravine, not some handy vine. Take the wrong treasure and the Big Ball starts rolling (a la Raiders the movie). Scorpions and other beasties that aren't simply "obstacles" on the screen, but will search you out.

 

POV would be the same side-view as in Pitfall, not overhead. Both have their advantages, but I think that an Adventure-type game working on a Pitfall engine would work better than vice versa.

 

Most importantly, the game doesn't end when you find the last treasure. You have to get to some sort of "finish line" like bringing the chalice in the Yellow Castle.

 

~G

[stop_rebel_scum]

This is awful, you're like a bunch of people on diets talking about the most moist, luscious, creamy chocolate cake you can think of..

 

whatever pitfall 3 would be like, I would hope it wouldn't do the checkpoint deal. I'd rather lose a life or lose the game then get hit at the last hurdle before the next checkpoint and go hovering back up the ladder for what seems like an hour; losing my peak score in the process..

[brendano]

Id like to see randomly placed objects give you access to certain parts of the map. Like you need diving equipment to swim to the bottom of the water and you'd find a sunken treasure chest, but you need to swim around the octopus' flailing arms. Or you need to find a machete to get through dense foliage and you encounter a native tribe gaurding a lost artifact and you need to have a prince of persia style sword fight. And to go into a cave you'd need to find a lantern first. And to leave the Island you would need to find all the parts to make a boat or plane.

[+Random Terrain]

Yeah, whatever the game would look like, it would be nice if it had a nice dose of randomness, but I think most Activision programmers were allergic to that word, so it would probably never happen.

[Cador]

I'm afraid "Pitfall 3" was already made about 20 years ago. I made it on the Commodore 64 using Garry Kitchen's GameMaker. Basically, you controlled Pitfall Harry and you had to fight evil Pitfall Ninjas by kicking them to death like in "Kung Fu Master".

 

As stupid as this game sounds, it did use Pitfall I graphics and had a very old-school feel to it.

[NovaXpress]

What if Pitfall Harry had a weird friend who ate jellybeans and turned into stuff. That might be really cool.

 

or not.

[moycon]

I'm afraid "Pitfall 3" was already made about 20 years ago. I made it on the Commodore 64 using Garry Kitchen's GameMaker. Basically, you controlled Pitfall Harry and you had to fight evil Pitfall Ninjas by kicking them to death like in "Kung Fu Master".

 

As stupid as this game sounds, it did use Pitfall I graphics and had a very old-school feel to it.

 

I actually had/have a Pitfall III game for the C-64. I was pretty much just like the first game except the graphics were different. It took place in an egyptian pyramid I think.

[+Propane13]

Does anyone have a screenshot of the C64 version of Pitfall 3?

 

I did some searching, and the only thing I could find was some reference (possibly wrong) that says that this version was actually a hack of a C64 game called Orpheus in the Underworld

 

I did some searching and found that ROMs are available for "Pitfall III" (just google it in quotes, with C64 as an added keyword). Maybe someone can post a pic? I don't have a C64 emulator handy.

 

-John

[moycon]

Does anyone have a screenshot of the C64 version of Pitfall 3?

 

I did some searching, and the only thing I could find was some reference (possibly wrong) that says that this version was actually a hack of a C64 game called Orpheus in the Underworld

 

I did some searching and found that ROMs are available for "Pitfall III" (just google it in quotes, with C64 as an added keyword). Maybe someone can post a pic? I don't have a C64 emulator handy.

 

-John

 

Yep that's the game. There are pictures on that site you linked to.

[Pixelboy]

My vision of Pitfall III would be a game similar to Pitfall II, but with more variety in the map layout, items that can be picked up and carried around (like in Adventure) and the introduction of something new: dinosaurs! You'd have raptors and other dangerous dinos running all over the place, and Harry would need to either stun them, make them fall into traps you set for them, kill them with a single-use weapon, or find a path around them. The dinos would start running after Harry as soon as they spot him, and would even follow him horizontally across rooms as they try to catch him and have him for lunch.

 

Items would range from old exotic artifacts and primitive tools to modern items like a flashlight, a shovel, a jungle saber, etc. Some of these items could be used in specific places to trigger special events and unlock closed passageways.

 

The game could be called "Pitfall III - Adventures on Dino Island", but I prefer the title "Pitfall III - Close Encounters of the Prehistoric Kind".

[vdub_bobby]

What if Pitfall Harry had a weird friend who ate jellybeans and turned into stuff. That might be really cool.

 

or not.

 

Actually, I liked that game.

 

EDIT: And, personally, I don't think adding more complexity to Pitfall II would make a much better game.

Edited March 20, 2006 by vdub_bobby