Recent Homebrews

[Gateway]

 

I have to disagree somewhat. Towards the end of its life the O2 came out with several games that improved on earlier games. Many are still quite impressive - Attack of the Time Lord, for example. Certainly when you look at Parker Brothers' later efforts, at the very least Frogger and the unreleased prototype Tutankham are the equal of their 2600 counterparts, and in the case of Tutankham I'd go so far as to say it's better than its 2600 cousin. And even with a much smaller community and far less support, it's managed a few real gems in the homebrew side: KTAA, Planet Lander and Mr. Roboto are great games.

 

And from what I've seen, Puzzle Piece Panic(sp?) will be/is an impressive game for the O2.

Edited February 14, 2007 by Gateway

[supercat]

I have to disagree somewhat. Towards the end of its life the O2 came out with several games that improved on earlier games. Many are still quite impressive - Attack of the Time Lord, for example. Certainly when you look at Parker Brothers' later efforts, at the very least Frogger and the unreleased prototype Tutankham are the equal of their 2600 counterparts, and in the case of Tutankham I'd go so far as to say it's better than its 2600 cousin. And even with a much smaller community and far less support, it's managed a few real gems in the homebrew side: KTAA, Planet Lander and Mr. Roboto are great games.

 

I don't wish to belittle the efforts of the O2 homebrewers; back in the day I had an O2 and thought it was cooler than the 2600--at least until Activision came on the scene.

 

While I certainly recognize that the O2 can be pushed in some of the same general ways as the 2600, however, it has many more fundamental limitations. The 8048 can't pump data nearly as quickly as the 6502, the sound generation hardware makes the 2600's seem brilliant by comparison, and the color palette is limited to two sets of eight. It does have some strengths (even with expanded memory, Killer Bees would still be tough to do on the 2600) but overall it's nowhere near as versatile as the much simpler 2600.

[Shawn]

 

 

While I certainly recognize that the O2 can be pushed in some of the same general ways as the 2600, however, it has many more fundamental limitations. The 8048 can't pump data nearly as quickly as the 6502, the sound generation hardware makes the 2600's seem brilliant by comparison, and the color palette is limited to two sets of eight. It does have some strengths (even with expanded memory, Killer Bees would still be tough to do on the 2600) but overall it's nowhere near as versatile as the much simpler 2600.

 

 

There ya go, you love that game to death! You should make a version for the 2600. I know you have the Jedi Skillz to do it. I bet you could make a 1:1 of Killer Bees.

[+kisrael]

One thing I noticed when I was making my game in 2003/2004 is that the best homebrewers all seemed to have cut their teeth on the 6502 8-bits back in the day. Is that still true?

 

I'm glad the community pushed me to polish JoustPong (music, pterry, the wall, etc) and I still think it's a highly compelling death match, but A/V wise it ain't no great shakes.

[+SpiceWare]

I learned 6502 on a VIC 20 - I wrote my code on paper and hand assembled it. I then typed the decimal values into DATA statements, did a loop to POKE them into RAM, and finally SYS to run the code.

 

I coded this way on the 64 as well. When I got the 128 I started using LADS and even modified it to add a TBL command for building jump tables.

[vdub_bobby]

I learned 6502 on a VIC 20 - I wrote my code on paper and hand assembled it. I then typed the decimal values into DATA statements, did a loop to POKE them into RAM, and finally SYS to run the code.

 

I coded this way on the 64 as well. When I got the 128 I started using LADS and even modified it to add a TBL command for building jump tables.

That is insane!

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I started with a hex mon, starting with extra lives up to writing a faster Turbo Tape for the C64 datasette. Later I switched to Hypra-Ass, which was a huge step in development comfort.

[joeybastard]

I'm amazed you guys can do this stuff. I tried learning it but I just don't have the patience(or the brains for that matter). I never got beyond some basic games on my old Vic20 when I was a kid.

[+SpiceWare]

I learned 6502 on a VIC 20 - I wrote my code on paper and hand assembled it. I then typed the decimal values into DATA statements, did a loop to POKE them into RAM, and finally SYS to run the code.

 

I coded this way on the 64 as well. When I got the 128 I started using LADS and even modified it to add a TBL command for building jump tables.

That is insane!

Yeah, but I was only 15 and didn't have the funds to buy an assembler. Not sure one would have worked well with a tape drive I figured out 6502 using the VIC 20 Programmer's Reference Guide. I started out coding small subroutines to speed up BASIC programs - such as a "shift screen left" for a Super Cobra style game. BASIC was fast enough for moving the helicopter up/down and such, but not for moving the whole screen. The hardest part to figure out was the byte value to use for backward branches - my original loops were coded like this until I figured out two's complement:

 ldx #0
loop
 do something
 inx
 beq continue
 jmp loop
continue

I did more complicated stuff over time, such as a 40 column(The VIC normally displayed 22 columns) ASCII Term program that utilized a 3x6(or 7) pixel font(similiar to the font used in one of Medieval Mayhem's easter eggs) and the host routines for my BBS software. The host routine basically cloned screen output to the modem and mapped modem input to the keyboard buffer(it also did ASCII translation for non-Commodore users). My fancy BBS stuff(online music, sprites, joysticks and such) didn't happen until I started using LADS.

Edited February 14, 2007 by SpiceWare

[Video]

I was pretty impressed with the 2600's homebrews from 00-02 (Didn't get any earlier) But it's been a few years since I got a new game for the 2600, and I'd kinda like to see how they've come. I've watched a long time, but just never have the money.

[+SpiceWare]

Most of the homebrews have the ROMs available, so you can try them out using an emulator such as Stella. Final ROMs for Medieval Mayhem are here

[kirin jensen]

 

 

While I certainly recognize that the O2 can be pushed in some of the same general ways as the 2600, however, it has many more fundamental limitations. The 8048 can't pump data nearly as quickly as the 6502, the sound generation hardware makes the 2600's seem brilliant by comparison, and the color palette is limited to two sets of eight. It does have some strengths (even with expanded memory, Killer Bees would still be tough to do on the 2600) but overall it's nowhere near as versatile as the much simpler 2600.

 

 

There ya go, you love that game to death! You should make a version for the 2600. I know you have the Jedi Skillz to do it. I bet you could make a 1:1 of Killer Bees.

Actually, without resorting to a supercharger, it's likely to be impossible to do a 1:1 of Killer Bees.

 

 

There are two sets of Beebots. One color turns clockwise when it collides with something, the other turns counterclockwise. Simple enough, BUT... that's true for each individual Beebot. To be accurate to the O2 game, you couldn't merely have them move as one object; AND on many occasions more than four Beebots would be on the same line. AND the individual collisions make for continually changing patterns of motion.

 

 

Killer Bees isn't, say, Robot City. Either console can handle four sprites and a reasonably symmetrical maze. There are six beebots operating independently, plus three swarms of bees. You'd likely have a great deal of difficulty even approximating it. It's a little like expecting the O2 to be capable of a game like Space Shuttle. Even approximating it would be hard.

 

supercat, I'd agree that you can't push the O2 in the ways you can the 2600. However, the O2 has the capacity for two channels of sound with the Voice component, a fairly common add-on. With the manipulation of the built-in characters (as in Killer Bees) you have many more independently moving objects on the O2 - without flicker. A built-in grid would make it possible to build much larger landscapes for a game like Adventure than you could on the 2600. Or even to allow the user to build their own dungeon/maze a la K. C. Munchkin.

 

They're two diffferent machines. Some of their capabilities overlap, but I feel the O2 has a great deal of potential yet unexplored.

[espire8]

I can't wait to play Medieval Mayhem with four players; I had a blast with 4-player Warlords 25 or so years ago and want to repeat the experience.

 

The animations in this are incredible for a 2600 cart, the dragon looks like it could have come out of a 7800 game, and the knight at the end was a nice surprise.

 

Now if I can only find myself a second set of paddles somewhere at a decent price...

Thanks for the mention ... if you thought that was a nice surprize -wait til you see the hidden easter egg credits, that's where the best animation is!

[Sonja]

I would love to buy some howebrews, but they are out of my price range.

 

For example, Medieval Mayhem costs 10 times what I can get Warlords for, so for now it's just easier if I stick to Warlords.

 

I'd love to buy Go Fish!, Fall Down and Star Fire though.

[Recycled]

I would love to buy some howebrews, but they are out of my price range.

 

For example, Medieval Mayhem costs 10 times what I can get Warlords for, so for now it's just easier if I stick to Warlords.

 

I'd love to buy Go Fish!, Fall Down and Star Fire though.

 

 

Really...though...you're missing some excellent games if you justify not spending the money on homebrews. I believe the hobby should be supported as well.

Edited October 29, 2007 by Recycled

[espire8]

Medieval Mayhem costs 10 times what I can get Warlords for, so for now it's just easier if I stick to Warlords.

I don't know about that kind of statement. There's big differences between the two and I think you're totaly missing out just on account of the price tag. I'd give away my copy of warlords in a big lot with others. I have both games and I totally stopped playing Warlords once I got into Medieval Mayhem,..IMHO Mayhem plays 10 times better than warlords. Really, forget that MM is graphicaly superior. I'm only talking about the gameplay itself, especialy the AI, which is a very important fact to concider if you will be playing more often by yourself, and MM is far more entertaining than warlords when you have other human players involved.

Although, surprisingly after almost a year since it's release, this game has not been mentioned by most of the mainstream reveiwers yet. I wonder if they even know it exsists. Maybe I should do my own? Regardless, MM definately does deliver for the price it's worth and I'd recommend it for many reasons.

 

Follow this link to read from the Atari Times, where you'll find, perhaps the only in-dept MM review that I presently know exsist, and then decide for yourself.

[+Nathan Strum]

What's really needed is more reviews in the store for it (and for other games). Medieval Mayhem is currently the #7 selling game, yet there are only 2 reviews for it! It's like pulling teeth to get people to write reviews for the store.

Edited October 30, 2007 by Nathan Strum

[Albert]

What's really needed is more reviews in the store for it (and for other games). Medieval Mayhem is currently the #7 selling game, yet there are only 2 reviews for it! It's like pulling teeth to get people to write reviews for the store.

Tell me about it. Short of paying people, I'm not sure what to do!!

 

..Al

[Recycled]

What's really needed is more reviews in the store for it (and for other games). Medieval Mayhem is currently the #7 selling game, yet there are only 2 reviews for it! It's like pulling teeth to get people to write reviews for the store.

Tell me about it. Short of paying people, I'm not sure what to do!!

 

..Al

 

 

I have some reviews. One not so good one though....I don't want to make anyone mad...

[joeybastard]

What's really needed is more reviews in the store for it (and for other games). Medieval Mayhem is currently the #7 selling game, yet there are only 2 reviews for it! It's like pulling teeth to get people to write reviews for the store.

 

Yeah, I don't get it either. I've written reviews for every homebrew I've bought. It takes 5 minutes and it helps people decide on a game or just a nice way of giving the programmer a shout out. Right now I'm the only review for CV Terra Attack and I worked on the game!

[+Nathan Strum]

I have some reviews. One not so good one though....I don't want to make anyone mad...

As long as it's an honest review - that's all that matters. The more reviews a game has, the more information people have when they're buying. If people disagree with a bad review about a game, they need to take it upon themselves to counter it with a good one.

[+Nathan Strum]

Medieval Mayhem is currently the #7 selling game, yet there are only 2 reviews for it!

Correction - now there's 3.

[Albert]

What's really needed is more reviews in the store for it (and for other games). Medieval Mayhem is currently the #7 selling game, yet there are only 2 reviews for it! It's like pulling teeth to get people to write reviews for the store.

I am open to suggestions, btw.

 

..Al

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I am open to suggestions, btw.

How about regular review contests? This will make people write reviews AND the voting will make new people aware of the homebrews.

[+Nathan Strum]

That's a good idea. Maybe a random drawing from all of the reviews submitted in a given month - with the winner getting a free homebrew game of their choice.

 

November starts in just a couple of days...

Edited October 30, 2007 by Nathan Strum