Propane13

Interesting. So a fun experiment idea (if anyone wanted to try)-- I wonder if anyone has used clonespy to see if perhaps the 7800 cart contains some of the contents of PEBBLE.18M? It might be interesting to see if there are similarities. It could possibly mean the ability to make custom courses to some degree. If that doesn't work, I think there's an Apple / Atari ST / Amiga version out there that may have some similarities. I don't have a Windows computer at the moment, otherwise I'd try. It's possible they made their own data set, but if I were writing a port of a game, I'd try to port what I could to make it easier.

Does Mean 18's course equate to one of the maps from the PC version?

I also am interested.

I am very much looking forward to this game. Glad it's getting a release!

Would anyone be able to post a screenshot or a screen capture? Also, I would like to know more about the original DOS game, but I can't find much.

I thought it might be fun to try to brainstorm what some 7800 sequels could have looked like. For example: 1) What if Basketbrawl expanded its universe to "Basebrawl" or "Footbrawl"? 2) "Crossbow 2: The Race to Space" featuring our heroes going to a launchpad, a rocket, the moon and beyond, meeting astronauts, cosmonauts and aliens from Alien Brigade along the way? 3) How about a 4-player Ballblazer 2 with special power-ups like in Mario Kart where you can cause the players to spin out? Or maybe the course is more maze-like? Of course, it would have an amazing soundtrack to it. 4) Ninja Golf 2: Pebble Beach or possibly Ninja Mini Golf I personally would have loved if Scrapyard Dog 2 or Alien Brigade 2 came out. But, I can't really imagine what features they would have. What do you think could have been a fun sequel?

Works for me! As a side note-- back in the day, I disassembled the 7800 diagnostic cart and found out that it needs specific plugs to work. Essentially, it needs something like this: The odd thing is that the 2600 diagnostic plugs are completely different. And, at this point, no Atari 7800 diagnostic plugs have ever been found that I'm aware of. So, I've always thought it would be a good idea if somebody could make a special set of plugs just for the 7800, since frankly, they don't exist but without them the 7800 Diagnostic cart is completely useless. I would be happy to help with such a project. But, as you mentioned, the 7800 "fit" has always been the problem. If you want to read my write-up from years ago, it's here: https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~harvey/7800/diag.html. But, I was a LOT younger then; enjoy the ride. If you have any interest in going down the 7800 plug path, I'd be happy to help however I can.

These look great! I was thinking about it and was curious if there could is a way to make a solution that is a little more 7800 friendly. I have a 3d printer and some familiarity with modeling software. Not sure if that could be useful, but I would be willing to help and thought I would ask.

First of all, thanks for sharing! There's a lot going on with this game, and it's nice to learn a little more about the journey itself. Wishing you the best of luck on this. Sounds like a hard-to-debug effort with only 2 end states-- it either works or it doesn't. While it may feel like the project has minimal followers, I have a completely different expectation that the level of interest will explode if you ever get to a "hey, I think I want to try to sell planet 1 and see what happens" phase. This thread has been fascinating since it's basically a development blog. But, it's much more detailed and frequently updated than a lot of other development threads here at atariage. In other cases, most of the posts seem to drop big feature release dumps every few weeks or months, which is different from here where it's micro-additions at a rapid frequency that can occur even hourly (or less, sometimes). I'm pretty sure jumping in on a 20-page thread can be daunting for many users here; some folks may only be checking it monthly or less since it's so active but very technical in a lot of areas; others may be waiting for an alternate "it's ready" kind of post and have moved on until that sort of event occurs. But, in the end, I think the project is going to be really special and generate a lot of interest. I am not convinced that this single thread's response rate is indicative of potential interest as a whole. Of course, I wouldn't suggest to open the floodgates at this state with "hey, I might make a cartridge", since that sort of statement usually attracts a lot of "hey Wen Release" type discussions, which is counter to where you are now in development. Perhaps Depeche Mode said it best: "Enjoy the Silence". If you did want to gauge / increase interest in a different way, you could try creating a one-time alternate thread called something like "Survey: Wen Hop graphics" or "Wen Hop: Level designers wanted" and see if you get more traction. I'll bet a lot of people don't realize how far along this has come; maybe there's some psychological effect of seeing frequent mini updates and thinking "it's going to be a while-- I'll wait a year or so to check in". In lieu of one being available, could you give us some parameters of what's workable in the engine? The following would be helpful: Current X/Y grid size Is the X/Y coordinate where the player starts on the grid fixed or defined per level? Any limitations? Does there need to be a border on the grid? Is the total number of coins needed to win fixed or defined per level? Any restrictions? Is the Y-coordinate where the water/lava starts fixed or defined per level? Can we set whether it stays still, or if it moves up or down? Does faucet flow into the water make it rise faster? Is the rate of rising fixed, or can it be slowed or increased? What's the current list of objects definable in the grid? I know there's a lot. I almost forgot about the gravity flippers. Is the win condition still going to an exit square? Is that dynamically located or static? Is the timer for a given level static or defined per level? I think with the above, even without a level editor, some designs could be created even via simple paint programs to give a sense of possibility. We definitely appreciate the hard work invested so far!

That looks fantastic! If you feel like you are hitting a lull, it might be interesting/different to take a minute and talk a bit about the game itself and how far it has come. Some possible questions: How is the conversion going? What is your favorite feature that you have already developed so far? Do you have a feature that you are most looking forward to implementing? (for me, it's bombs with differing explosion radii if that becomes a thing) Is there any specific feedback that you are looking for? There could be many things that the community missed in the thread that we could take a second look at if helpful. I am pretty sure this thread has many lurkers like myself. What can we as a community do to help you? (Level design, ideas, feedback, playtesting, etc...) What is your favorite "ah ha" moment that you had during this experience? Personally, I really look forward to seeing and reading new updates on this thread. You have accomplished quite a bit!

That was fun! Good content; I had no idea that Failsafe made it to the VCS store. My only suggestion would be that the microphone seems to cut in/out a bit making it a little hard to hear in some cases. I'm not sure if there's a cheap/easy podcast-friendly alternative you could try, but it might make things a little clearer. BTW, if you continue to make these, please continue to post on atariage so we can see them (I go to the 7800 page every few days).

Apologies if this was covered already, but is Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest safe from the upcoming removal? It's not listed as such, but I wasn't sure if there was some sensitivity due to the title character.

Thinking of things that can go through the pipes- I wonder if a little robot could be designed. I'm guessing that is probably impractical with the graphics limitations, but it could be something special. You could send the robot through the pipes, switch to the robot, move the robot to flip a switch, and then become the main character again. The main character is just too big to go through the pipes, but it's no trouble for a robot. I could also see the pipes being a conduit for bombs.

Feedback: * I really like the water animation effects * The refactor of the falling coin behavior makes a lot of sense and looks good. * The pipe remover is a great feature. While it's still early in the pipe-making / deleting stage of things, have you thought about limiting the amount of pipe that's available in some levels (and maybe having it quietly make a buzzing noise or something if you have used too much)? I could see an interesting puzzle where there are multiple taps available but only a limited amount of pipe in order to solve a level, so you have to carefully decide on placements.

This is one of my favorite WIPs. Glad to hear it's still actively being worked on.