Jack-Ass Tramiel

Yikes! At the current exchange, that shirt costs $67! (And I think that's before S&H, which will probably be an extra $15 to the U.S.) I don't doubt that it's fashionable and well designed (it's from France after all), but what the hell is it made of that makes it cost so darn much?! Or was it designed by Jean-Paul Gautier or some other famed designer? It would be a way keen and cool shirt to wear in the rave/party club scene. (Imagine how cool you would be explaining to the girls that it's the same kind of shirt worn by a French soccer team, designed by Jean-Paul, and cost $100 to import. ) I just wish I could afford it/justify buying one to have the bragging rights. Maybe AtariAge.com could import a load of these and sell them for a small profit to fund the site? I'd certainly buy one. These shirts could definitely be tres geek chic for the U.S. market. J-AT [ 10-24-2001: Message edited by: Jack-Ass Tramiel ]

As I've mentioned in another thread, I'm looking into hacking the two levels of Donkey Kong so that they resemble the other two levels from the arcade version -- the elevator/"jumping springs" level and the cement/"pie" factory level. What is the tool or program one uses to hex edit the ROM file of a 2600 game? I've been looking into this and could use some advice, and suggestions on this. Here is the mock-up of the second level's playfield hacked to look like a 2600 translation of the cement factory: Here is the original arcade version in comparison: My proposed re-design spec: 1) Redesign the playfield. (This is the stickler; I'm concerned that the original playfield may be just one girder floor that has been repeated four times in the code. Anybody know if this is the case?) 2) Change girder color to yellow. 3) Redesign the foxfires into fireballs. Change the original foxfire color from yellow to orange. 4) Move the hammer down. 5) Remove 7 of the rivets from the original playfield. Move the 8th rivet to the base of the topmost ladder right beneath Penelope. Thus, the object of this level is to reach the top middle ladder. As soon as Mario touches this ladder (technically, stepping at the foot of it where the 8th rivet is), the level comes to an end. 6) Redesign or reassign the rivet graphic to a girder section block. Also, redesign or reassign the "off" block to appear as this same girder section block. (So that when Mario steps on this girder section block at the base of the top ladder, it doesn't disappear.) Like I said, the question is whether the original playfield's layout is a repeated pattern graphic. If it is, then a complete re-do of the playfield probably can't be done. This is what I need to find out first. I'm working on a redesign of the first level to resemble the elevator/jumping springs level, and will post that up soon. Advice, suggestions, comments, luck welcomed. J-AT [ 10-20-2001: Message edited by: Jack-Ass Tramiel ]

Albert, How about mentioning this guy's hack in the news, too: http://kudla.org/raindog/pac26.html He hacked Ms. Pac-Man to make a better version of Pac-Man. I'm surprised this isn't listed in the ROM archive. J-AT [ 10-19-2001: Message edited by: Jack-Ass Tramiel ]

Actually, guys, I'm seriously considering hacking the original DK ROM itself to create these two other levels. I'm studying screenshots of the two 2600 DK levels, and am noticing similarities between the two. For example, the girder designs are similar, and each level has only four enemy objects moving at once. (The first level can only have four barrels rolling, and the second level has four foxfires.) Also, I'm studying screenshots of the original arcade game (taken from MAME). The first level and the elevator level look similar in design and function. Likewise, the cement factory and last level could be considered similar. Here's my initial design plan: 1) Redesign the layout of DK-2600's Level Two to resemble the cement factory. Change the foxfires to cement pans. (I'm assuming here that if you change one foxfire on this level, all four of these characters will be changed.) These enemy sprites can only move side-to-side, and not up and down, on this level. Also, change the color of the blue girders to another color. 2) For Level One, change the layout to resemble the arcade's elevator level. However, the elevators will have to be removed from the level design since the original code doesn't have any up-down movement of scaffolding. Also, the springs will have to go, too, since there is no equivalent code for that. Instead, I'm proposing that barrels roll from Kong, from left to right and fall randomly at certain points where Mario has to avoid. Does anybody know how this hack could be done? I'm thinking this is do-able along the same method that was done in hacking Ms. Pac-Man to be the new and improved Pac-Man. I'd like to contact the author of that hack for his advice on this. J-AT

Yeah, what's the deal with the orange/yellow border surrounding the game field? Can the color of this be turned to black, or does it need to be there and at this color for some particular technical reason? J-AT

I was playing Donkey Kong on the Atari the other day and the obvious came to me: It would be way cool if somebody designed and programed a game featuring the elevator and cement factory levels, done in the same design style as the 2600 DK. It would use the same Mario, Penelope and Kong character designs. The game would comprise of only these two levels, and could be titled "Donkey Kong 2: The Next Levels." It would be even better if these levels could be merged with the code of the original 2600 game, or these original two levels could be recreated as well, but that's probably asking for too much. I'd just be happy with the elevator and cement factory levels, and calling it a sequel. J-AT

How about Missile Command? Or Donkey Kong? Could anyone correct these graphics? J-AT

A 3-D graphics version of Adventure might be an interesting project to do on the PC with the Quake engine (which id Software has released to the public for free use). The end result could possibly be ported over to the Jaguar. [ 10-18-2001: Message edited by: Jack-Ass Tramiel ]

The square-dot issue: Include a feature where the player can invoke a spell which covers the player-character with a protective "shield". This shield covers the player-character in the shape of a sphere or square. This idea could be extended to include both a sphere or square shield and factor into gameplay. When the player is shielded in a sphere and a dragon tries to bite down, the player bounces away like a rubber ball. However, the player can move must faster than without the sphere. When the player invokes the square shield, enemies can't harm the player or bounce him about, however, your player will move slower than if he doesn't have the square shield turned on. As for the player-character him/her/itself, come up with four different characters (elf, wizard, warrior, archer) and have the game balance and difficulty be different for each player-character you play as. J-AT

Given present technologies and price points, the TV Boy is the way to go with its $19.99 retail price. What they need to add to this gizmo is a built-in flash ROM and USB port to it so that you can drag-and-drop 2600 ROMS to the TV Boy and delete them from the unit, too. Imagine the way it works with modern-day game systems and their controllers which use memory save cards. The same technology could work with a TV Boy and probably not cost much more, if at all. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if those in the hardware hacking community figure out a way to modify the TV Boy to do this. Of course, everybody would like to have a TV Boy with an LCD screen, but LCD screens remain costly to produce, though the prices have come down a lot in recent years. I don't expect we'll see such a gadget made until it can be produced for $20. The cost of the screen and the time it takes to produce is what's setting this back.

What is the current ownership status of the classic Atari arcade coin-op titles? This aspect has always confused me. I thought Atari Games owned titles like Missile Command, Asteroids, Centipede, etc. (Therefore, wouldn't Midway be the owners of these games today?) But then Hasbro released re-imagined versions of Missile Command, Centipede, even Pong. Did Hasbro buy all of the coin-op game rights back from Midway? Or did they automatically have the rights to home versions of these arcade titles, while Midway did not? J-AT

Crazy thought came to me this afternoon: Has anybody been able to interface an external 56K modem to an Atari 8-bit computer? Furthermore, has anybody written TCP/IP software for the Atari 8-bits and a simple Web browser for it? Actually, I'm wondering if any of the old home computers have had Web browsers written for them. J-AT

KORONIS RIFT - Operations Manual 24 Febrius, 2249. For three days your Scoutcraft has been travelling through empty space, on its way from one foresaken part of the galaxy to another. You're a technoscavenger, making a living searching for abandoned technological systems - but for all the luck you've had in the last month you might as well be an intergalactic drifter. Psytek, your science droid analyzer, is monitoring the instruments. There isn't much to do - not much, that is, until suddenly Psytek flashes an urgent message: POWERFUL RADIATION FLUX DETECTED: COORDINATES 45:90 RELATIVE AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION Powerful is right! Your instruments indicate rads in the ten thousand range. "Any idea what it might be?" you ask. NEGATIVE. CHARTS INDICATE EMPTY SPACE FROM HERE TO STAR SYSTEM 583 Strange. And stranger still, when you deploy the Scoutcraft's optical sensor, you discover a large, solitary planet - one that simply doesn't exist according to the charts. But there it is, it's surface cut with deep chasms and ancient rifts. You call up a dimensional coordinate grid of the radiation flux. Sure enough, the lines of the grid are ruler straight until they reach the area of the radiation flux. There, they become as warped and tangled as the wiring of your third-hand Scoutcraft. A powerful radiation flux...a planet cut with deep rifts... Suddenly a wild idea occurs to you. Have you stumbled upon the legendary Koronis Rift? Seven hundred thousand years ago, the Ancients ruled the stars - a confederation of over thirty different races whose technological achievements were unsurpassed. According to legend, the Ancients used the deep rifts of a planet called Koronis as a testing ground for their most powerful weapons. Finding the fabled Koronis Rift has been a dream of technoscavengers for centuries. Now, just maybe, you're the one.... As soon as your ship moves within range, you activate your on-board detector. Tuned to the Ancient's standard wavelength, it should tell you whether this mysterious planet contains any caches of powerful technology. Instantly, the detector registers the loudest alarm you've ever heard. Koronis Rift...it must be! You signal Psytek. "Prepare the Surface Rover for descent." Using the optical sensor, you snap an orbital photograph of a section of the planet's surface. A moment later Psytek announces: SURFACE ROVER READY FOR DESCENT. "What about the Repo-Tech Robot?" you ask. RT ROBOT EQUIPPED AND ON BOARD. The Scoutcraft, with Psytek in control, will orbit while you explore the planet in your Surface Rover. You can always summon Psytek to come pick you up at any time - as long as you're in the clear and not under attack. There's no time to lose. Koronis Rift, the greatest treasure trove of technology in the galaxy, is waiting.... QUICK START 1. Launch Scoutcraft Once your disk boots up, you'll find yourself inside the Surface Rover, ready to explore the planet Koronis. To start scavenging, press the fire button on your joystick. 2. Koronis Rift The planet Koronis is cut by deep valleys, called rifts, which are ringed by mountain ranges and sprinkled with hills. You land in Rift One which looks to be the least dangerous. 3. Hulks The vehicle you see on the ground before you is just what you've been hoping to find - an abandoned hulk, a war machine of the Ancients. 4. Video Displays Check out the video displays at the top of you're screen. To the far left, the circle with a glowing dot at the top is your directional display. The glowing dot points toward the nearest hulk, directly in front of you. 5. Search To search the rest of Koronis Rift for Ancient technology, just turn your ship until the dot is at the top of the display, and then move forward. 6. Drive To turn on forward drive, just push the joystick forward. To turn off forward drive, pull it back. Push the joystick left or right to turn in those directions. Simple. 7. Guardian Saucers Those are Guardian Saucers swooping in. They are out to destroy you. New waves will keep coming until you destroy their base on Rift 20. You've got only two choices - to evade, or to destroy them. To fight back, use your joystick to position your targeting cursor - the small cross hair that moves within the viewing window. With the cursor centered on an enemy saucer, push the button on the joystick. One hit may not be enough. After all, these Guardian saucers will stop at nothing to protect the hulks of Ancient technology. And that's exactly what you're after. 8. Looting Hulks The radiation levels on Koronis are enough to fry a Dromodite. So you'll have to send your Repo-Tech Robot out to loot the hulks you find. But you can't do anything, until you've destroyed all the attacking saucers and positioned your Rover next to the hulk. Then you'll see the options "LOOT HULK" and "CALL SHIP" appear beneath your viewing window. To enter the option area, move the cursor to the bottom of the viewing window andpress the button. Move the cursor to the right until the indicator light above "LOOT HULK" comes on. To issue the command to your RT Robot, press the button on your joystick. The RT Robot will bring back any useful systems it finds in the hulk. To return to the Scoutcraft, activate the indicator light above "CALL SHIP" and press the button on your joystick. 9. Final Objective Destroy the saucer base on Rift 20 by gradually increasing your capabilities on the earlier levels. You can end the game anytime by returning to your Scoutcraft to cash in on all the technology you've found, but you cannot claim the entire planet for yourself unless you destroy the Guardian Base. 10. Pause and Restart Press the SPACE BAR to pause the game. Press it again to resume. To reset the game press ESC. SYSTEM ICONS The following lists standard military systems of the Ancients, along with symbols commonly used to identify them. Other types exist that have not yet been identified. LASER - Chromoquantized laser, capable of emitting a beam of destructive energy in a single color frequency. SHIELD - Chromoquantized shield, capable of defending against energy weapons of various colors. GENERATOR - comprising stand power supply. POWER RESERVE - a high capacity energy storage device. RADAR - Remote sensing device, designed to locate a specific type or class of objects. May also serve as compass or direction finder. ECM - Electronic countermeasure device, capable of interfering with enemy detection gear and rendering the user harder to detect. DRIVE - Propulsion module, for augmenting or changing the ability of the Rover to move over terrain. * **** ** ****** ** * ********** * * * * * * * * ****** * ** * * * ** * * ** ** * * ** * ** ** ** * ******* ******** ** * * ***** * * * ** * * * ***** ** ** ** ******* **** ** ** ** ****** *** ** ** * * **** * * * * **** * POWER ** LASER SHIELD GENERATOR RESERVE RADAR ECM DRIVE STRATEGY AND TACTICS Add a new module to an empty slot by selecting the slot and hitting the fire button. Use the "Add Module" option only to replace existing modules. Some strategies will score more points than others. For high points, either try to bring back lots of modules for dismantling, or try to gather enough powerful waepons quickly, then get to Rift 20 and destroy the Guardian base. Most radar modules point only to hulks made by the same race. If you first figure out what kind of modules an Ancient race is good at, then you can use radars made by that race to tell you if and where you may find more of those modules. Save the radars of useful races with Psytek for use on later rifts. Mapping the rifts will help you from game to game. Some modules will help you in making maps. Pay careful attention to energy flow. Powerful modules may require more energy than you can afford. If you add stronger shields and lasers to your Rover, you'll need to get stronger generators and power reserves too. Unusual modules may work only on certain colored saucers, or for limited amounts of time. Pay attention and experiment. You may find improved versions in later rifts. Note the progression of colors in the saucer weapons and shields. Once you recognize the pattern, you can plan ahead by having the modules you'll need to defeat or evade the saucers coming up. Differently shaped saucers have different attack patterns. Adapt your attacks to their patterns. Cutting through passes and staying near mountains can throw saucers off their pursuit, particularly if you have a good generator and drive.

The fact that Atari now belongs to a French game software publisher makes sense, since it is in Europe where Atari managed to succeed somewhat throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. Thus, the name Atari is more reputable there than here in the U.S.. I think Infogrames "gets it" as to what should be done with the Atari brand: Brand it with quality game software, and don't bother wasting time and money on hardware development. I see Infogrames using the Atari name to expand its company to compete against the other big French game software company, UbiSoft, in the international marketplace. My prediction is that Infogrames will do good with Atari now, and will have the name for decades to come.

Looks cool! Anybody know if we can actually buy one? My you French Atarians out there could find out? J-AT

This brings a question I've had for a while to mind: What ever became of the original illustrations that were created for the Atari-brand 2600 cartridges? Does the original artwork for Yars' Revenge, Adventure, Haunted House, Asteroids, Missile Command, etc. still exist? Did any of this work ever appear in classic gaming shows for sale or auction? Or did the Tramiels throw this stuff out or mutilate them? (The artwork for the Lynx title Gates of Zendocon is the 2600 Asteroids illustration redone.) It'd be a real shame if these original works were gone. I would love to have a high quality poster print of some of these illustrations. J-AT

So has anybody on this board actually gotten to play this version of Pac-Man? If so, what's it like? How does it compare to Ms. Pac-Man? Also, how much memory does this version use? It looks to me like it definitely uses more than 2K, so the argument that Todd Frye could have done better might not be the case. J-AT

Tempest, what is Missile Command II like -- what do you do in the game? J-AT

Has anybody ever actually seen it running? Played it? It looks even better than that Pac-Man hack created from Ms. Pac-Man. Here's the page on this site for it: http://www.atariage.com/screenshot_page.ht...areLabelID=1022 Last I read, Ebivision planned to release the game but with the Pac-Man character changed to a goldfish and the ghosts into jellyfish. But since then, nothing. What happened? Still, even if the game is released and the Pac-Man characters changed, I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult for someone in our community to change the characters back to Pac-Man and the ghosts. J-AT

Why don't you get in touch with the author of Z26 and tell him what you're doing? His 2600 emulator is written in assembly, I believe, and it's the tightest and most compatible around. Who knows, he might be able to make available a cut-down version of his code for your project. Imagine that -- an emulator program that is put into hardware form. I don't think anybody has done this yet. Things would come full circle! J-AT

Another vote for a Pitfall III, done in such a way where it picks up from the style of Pitfall II and does something even more sophisticated (if one can imagine that). I'd like a sequel to H.E.R.O. as well. J-AT

I had an Atari 2600 since around 1981 or so when I was a kid. Through the years, I would sell the unit but would wind up with another model in my hands. I never really bought too many games for it. As a kid, I think I only had about 4 or 5 games. In college, I had an Atari 2600 Jr., and the guys in my dorm would gather around the dorm's TV to play Winter Games on it. There would be nightly competitions after dinner to determine who was the best. They even set up league play that would last the week. I'm really quite proud I was able to contribute to this. The last games I ever bought for the system were the last (and best) that were made for it: Kung Fu Master, Commando, Skateboardin', F-14 Tomcat and so forth. (Damn, I never was able to beat Kung Fu Master since it was so tough. Has anybody ever finished it? And what happens in the end?) Anyway, the games that really got me excited about the 2600 again were Pitfall II and H.E.R.O. and I bought them immediately when they came out in 1984. To this day, Pitfall II is the ultimate 2600 game in terms of design, playability and challenge. It's the type of game that I hope future homebrew 2600 game makers aspire to. The game that I played the most (and still quite a bit to this day) is Phoenix. Don't know why, but there's something about it that gets my twitch reflexes going. J-AT

I sent the author my compliments on the article and mentioned this. It turns out that Tempest you were in fact quoted twice in the part about collecting lost prototypes but were edited out by the Salon editors. Christian Bogey was also quoted and his VCS simulator mentioned in a whole paragraph about rebuilding lost games (like the Ewok game) but that got cut, too. He even mentioned that way-cool VCS music video from Golden Shower with a link but that was cut, too! It was a great article still but it's a shame that the "author's cut" was not used. J-AT