[How was Maze Craze created?]

How did Maze Craze work, given the hardware limitations of the 2600? Assuming that the maze was the 'playfield' object, which ordinarily has bilateral symmetry on the 2600. Was it altering the bitmap while it was being drawn?

 

I did a search but couldn't find a discussion on how Maze Craze came to be... curious if anyone has ever heard it discussed or has any insight.

[Castle Crisis cart for sale in the AA store]

http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?ma...products_id=274

 

Has anyone else who bought the game out of the new batch had a problem with the cartridge? When starting it up, it will crash after a few seconds. I'll get bits of the castles displayed on the screen and a lock-up.

 

Anyone else getting this? I am wondering if it's just my cart that is defective.

 

(Also, who would we contact about getting a replacement?)

[Xenophobe XE now for sale?]

Does the package from Video61 come with a box, or is it just the cart?

[Top ten most underrated games ever]

My top ten underrated games:

 

10. Zookeeper (arcade)

Probably not underrated on retro forums, but the thing is never mentioned along with Galaga and Centipede and Ms. Pac. Which is too bad, because it really did have unique gameplay and the three different kids of levels it has are sufficiently different that you don't get bored doing the same thing trying to set a high score.

 

 

9. Spike's Circus (Vectrex)

This was a Vectrex homebrew game that came out last year and was one of my favorite games of 2006. It involves the Vectrex mascot character doing various circusy things involving balance and juggling and such. I really think it has unique gameplay for the most part. If you have a Vectrex, head over to vectorzoa.com and get a copy. It's awesome.

 

 

8. Front Page Sports: Football Pro 98 (DOS / Win98 / XP)

To this day it completely buries every single version of Madden, ever, in the gameplay department. In a perfect world, Sierra would not have destroyed this franchise and the developers would have been funded well enough to see what they could have all done in the 21st Century. I, too, once thought that Madden games were good, but once I started playing this for the PC I could never (and will never) go back. The running game works, the passing game is realistic, the sim options are fantastic and if you start looking at the third party add-ons, it will add another five years (real years) enjoyment to the game.

 

 

7. Breach II (DOS)

It's not X-COM or Jagged Alliance, but few games are. It's the best game of the second "tier" of turn and squad-based tactical strategy games, though. Was destroyed by Breach III, which is possibly one of the worst games ever made.

 

 

6. Circuit's Edge (DOS)

This is a graphical text adventure written by George Alec Effinger and developed by Westwood (and published under the "Infocom" label once Activision bought it). Based on the book When Gravity Fails, by Effinger. A cyberpunk game that has you figuring puzzles through the chip-based modifications our hero (and other game denizens) can plug into himself. Arabic-themed, and the sound is absolutely amazing for a game released today, much less in the 80s. Great combat, fun graphics, deplorable characters that will nevertheless charm you.

 

 

5. Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get all the Girls (DOS, Amiga, Atari ST)

Steve Meretzky, formerly of Infocom, wrote a game about a dark-haired, nerdy, would-be magician who goes to school to learn how to practice sorcerery. Maybe for her next series J.K. Rowlings can rip off Planetfall.

 

 

4. Rise of the Triad (DOS)

Everyone here probably remembers it, but this franchise is in desperate need of a modern-day sequel, especially since BioShock's success will spawn 100 grim and gritty shooters. Rise of the Triad is utterly preposterous, sometimes brimming with nonsense, but every single second of it was interesting and fun. Ludicrous gibs!!

 

 

3. Rocket Jockey (Win 98)

A unique game where you pilot a "crotch rocket" around an arena and play one of three game modes. Virtually impossible to get going on anything but Windows 98. Features a great soundtrack by Dick Dale. You can knock guys off their scooters and send out grappling hooks as they try to run back and throw them around the arena like rag dolls. Filled with similar sick fun. You know how many games try to be "cyber sports" games but are really unfun? The shooting-tires-into-soccer-goals part of Rocket Jockey is honestly the best fake sports game ever made.

 

 

2. Sentinel Returns (Win 98 / XP)

Now that Glide can be emulated easily, you can go back and play this modern-day version of Sentinel. A lot of people who played the original version by Geoff Crammond didn't like the remake, but having played this one first I think it's one of the best games ever made. The entire game is about battling for position based on energy levels, while the ever-watchful eye of the sentinel tries to knock you back down. It's gorgeous and filled with tension.

 

 

1. Knight Orc (DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, C64, 8-bit, etc.)

This is a graphical text game that came out around 1987 - it is basically a single player MMORPG, as the dozens of other characters grief each other, steal from each other, insult each other and try to get over on one another. Lots of emergent gameplay if you like that sort of thing. The text parser never gets in the way of the fun and the end game involves telling a bunch of psychos what to do so you can win the game.

[Good 2 player / netplay games?]

Castle Crisis is amazing. It's one of the best games I've ever played, period.

 

(Is that available as its own ATR file anywhere? Or can a cartridge still be purchased for the 8-bit version? I read something that said that Infogrames (who became Atari) was trying to stop the distribution of it.)

[Zookeeper restoration project]

That thing is looking gorgeous, great job.

 

As someone who knows nothing about Zookeeper (and Taito cabs in general) what is the benefit of bypassing the coin processor? Is it just to allow free play? (And I take it the coin processor is different than the coin mech on the cab's front door?)

[A new arcade manual scan archive]

I was just made aware of a repository for arcade manuals - all handy in a nice space with no registering required to get them. It's accessible through this link: http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/000454.html . I know that I have a hell of a time trying to track them down for the machines I have, and going to one spot laid our logically is a huge boon.

[Looking for a serial (disk drive) cable]

Either way, SIO2PC is a great device. If you are going to get the cable, consider getting an Atarimax flashcart

 

For $44, you can put 40-50 games on a cartridge. I have two of these and that seems sufficient to hold my favorite games When you want to play, power on the console, select a game from the menu, and play.

 

Ah, thanks for posting that. This'll let me not have a PC in the same room as the Atari. I have a Flash cart for my Vectrex and the thing is great, an enormous time saver.

 

Do you know off the top of your head if a game can save its own data to the Atarimax Flash cart? For instance, if I throw an Infocom game on it would be helpful if it can save my progress without having to use a floppy.

[Looking for a serial (disk drive) cable]

Just wanted to say thanks (I hate it when someone starts a thread asking for info in their first post and never comes back to the thread) - I have a bunch of avenues to go down now and I'm going to make that 800 live again. Of course, all my floppies are probably dead since it's been 25 years, but I know about the SIO2PC thing, so I'm cool.

 

Thanks again, everyone!

[Looking for a serial (disk drive) cable]

I have an Atari 800 that, after a long layoff, I am going to try to hook up and have active. I am originally from Rochester, NY and had kept the 800 at my parents' home before moving to Colorado.

 

At some point over the last nine years, the serial cable that I was using to go from the Atari to the disk drive was lost in the basement. Does anyone know if there is a good spot on the web to buy a replacement cable? I checked eBay and while there is one there, the seller ships once a week and I just missed his ship time. Not a big deal, but if there is a vintage seller that you guys know about, I definitely want to be in the knowledge loop.

 

(I'm also not 100% certain how to hook the 800 up to a TV, as the TV I was hoping to use just has RCA plugs. Is there a modern-day adapter for that, too?)

 

Thanks

 

 

-- Robb