lost child

I'm betting that Atari Troll meant to insert a "NEVER" in there somewhere. :-) This hack rules over all other hacks! @Nukey: If you were to cut out the redundant routines and plumb the code back together, could you free up enough bytes to put Hangly Man, Hangly Man +, Hack'Em, and Hack'Em + all into one 8k ROM?

Ich begehre für Blut!

LMAO She had blocky boobies?!? Funny thread! :-)

Eventually I would like to have most of the hacks by Nukey and Thomas. Right now I only have Asteroids DC (excellent BTW). I am also excited to see the Indy 500 XE and Castle Wolfenstein hacks when they are released. So why would I buy any of these? In many cases, the games are truer to their arcade counterparts, graphically or by the way they control. Variations on a theme or alterations to the way a game looks and feels sometimes keeps my interest in the game. Sometimes a hacker will take a game that I would not have given a second glance, and alter it in such a way that it is attractive. This is a great idea! One of my pet peaves is having to lift my fat arse from my comfy spot on the couch to reset a game. ... Ah, who am I kidding? I usually kick the switch with my foot. HAHA! :-)

Here is a zombie. I didn't know exactly what kind of colors to use, so I got my scheme from the zombies in Ghost 'n' Goblins. It would look better if he could have red eyes. I decided to try and stick within something the VCS could handle though.

I wanted an Etch-A-Sketch Animator soooo bad back in the day. I never got one. I think the only other thing in the Sears Wishbook that I was interested in that year was a B&W movie camera for kids that used audio cassettes. I forget what the name was... something like PXR200 or something. ... Memories Here is an animation I made up earlier. It was just supposed to be a Skeleton, but he kind of looks like he is ice skating or something. Also, I decided to post the other witch anyways. Oh yah, and I modified one of those mudmen to kind of look like a screaming/biting baby. :-) I think of these, my favorites are the wizard, dog, pig, and venus fly trap. I have been thinking of maybe digging out my old MMF CD and maybe throwing a game together. :-) Maybe not... who knows?

Paint Shop Pro I fought with the witch. The first version was more cartoony - with a big wart on the end of her nose - but I wasn't sure if I was stretching my imagination to see it. So I changed it a bit. Also, I cheated and added two scanlines - making it 8x15; I just didn't have enough room to animate her properly. She sucks anyways... I can't draw witches. :-P I kind of like my cat though. :-) I think I might go back and tweak with it some more later. @Reptone: The only thing I thought of to fix the pig was to cut off that last pixel on the tail. Otherwise, to make it look right, the whole thing would need to be drawn over. :-( (The first pig animation I posted was screwed up anyways - I got in a hurry and lopped off part of the tail and didn't notice until I'd already posted. This is about the time I realized that we can no longer edit our posts! d'oh!)

Piggy

I don't see how this would prove anything, really. Admittedly, each of the pictures shown has its flaws. I don't know much about Eli's Ladder, but there are a few things in the last photo that would make me ask questions: How come there is such a cast shadow on everything except for the Eli's Ladder cart label, which seems to be the same brightness throughout? Is it me, or does a close up show that the label is slightly askew? Are the corners rather crisp on this label? I guess my point is, I totally understand why people would call this into question. However, AFAIK, sku_u isn't putting it up for sale, so who cares?! LOL! Moving forward - in the time that I have been on Atariage (a while... this is not my usual handle), sku_u has never done anything to make me question or distrust him; I would make a trade with him any day. I think do think that a high resolution screenshot would be more beneficial than any other photo or absurd request for those who need more proof. If nothing else, the photo would make a nice addition to the Atariage database. :-) I really don't care about the rarity of the cart or whether or not this is a hoax or not; I'm a player not a collector. I just thought that this thread made for a very interesting read. I will be watching to see what else comes of it. HAHA!

I think the wizards game sounds intriguing. The colors are probably far too complicated for an Atari 2600 game, but while designing characters for another thread, I got a little carried away and mocked up a graphic for a wizard as well. So, why not post it here... maybe a visual will keep the interest sparked or even help inspire new ideas. :-)

A couple more. Sorry to keep flooding, but I'm obsessed!

Just a tad bit fast... but definitely on the right track! And I get to download and play it first... err, second after Nukey! Brilliant! Now I can't stop playing!

Until Nukey started working on this hack, I had thought that the hack of MsPacman was going to be the closest incarnation of Pac-Man we'd ever see on the VCS. @Nukey: Thanks for proving me wrong. :-) This hack is far better than what I would have ever expected to be released from a commercial game company back then. Is this version so close to the original that releasing something this good for home use might possibly have hurt arcade profits? I would expect that more hours have gone into this (including programming the original kernal) than were ever available to commercial programmers back then. I could only expect this kind of quality from another classic gaming fanatic. Nukey is truly amazing! I don't have anything against the version of Pacman originally released for the VCS. I do think that it is different enough from the arcade that with some minor sprite changes it could have taken on a new name of its own. What does bother me a bit is the shift from fruits, dots, and power pellots to wafers, power-pills and multi-vitamins. Seems shifty to me. Whose side was Atari taking in the then new War On Drugs?

Intermission works great! I can't wait to see it fully animated! When life looks glum, I know that I can always look on this board for an update to cheer me up. Thanks Nukey, You rule.

Here are some more. Some of the colors might be a little difficult to hack into a game, but I'm posting the ideas anyway. I got a little carried away. I like messing with Paint.

This is excellent! The music is great, and the death sound is much closer. Maybe I'm delusional, but it seems like the gameplay is a little tighter too. Bravo! :-) Neat idea! Maybe the maze could change when fruit is eaten. Dots could be covered under the original maze as well. The only way to get these dots would be to eat fruit to skip back and forth from screen to screen and would make each level much more difficult to pass. You'd probably need to reconfigure the game so that fruit pops up more frequently though. Then you could also make it so that ghost monsters speed up over time. So if a player is taking too long on a level, the ghost monsters will ruthlessly eat him up. In the tradition of sadistic hacks... I envision it being called Sad-Man.

I came up with a few, although I'm not sure if they are what you had in mind.

Maybe you could disassemble the Mr Pacman hack, rip the music code, and incorporate it into your hack.

This homebrew is BRILLIANT! ((Applause)) One thought on game variations... In addition to the 5X12 grid variation mentioned above, maybe one row (or guess) could be taken away after a code is broken - instead of the game ending. This way the game gradually becomes more difficult as each code is deciphered. This might add to the replay value... and even make some sort of competition possible (ie... High Score Club). Maybe this game variation could be toggled with the SELECT switch(?) This one is high on my want list if/when it comes out on a cartridge. Keep up the great work!

You could always count how many pixels there are available (ie... 24X8) then create a file with those specs in Paintshop Pro or any paint program. Then play around and create a logo that you find pleasing. Then you can crop that logo into smaller (8X8) pieces so that it is easier for you to see where to transfer them over into HOM. It is an excellent idea! I have thought about it once or twice before, but I am not skater-savvy enough to know what tricks to implement... or how to draw them. I am a BIG fan of BMX Airmaster, and I cannot wait to see where this goes!

I think that Pacman kind of looks like a wheel of Cheddar. So with that in mind, I wrote up a cheesy (pun intended) manual for an alternate theme for the game: Cheddar's Misadventure In The Haunted Pizza Parlor Cheddar works for a pizza parlor when it is taken over by poltergeists. Pepperonies are strung from one end of the parlor to the other. Help Cheddar gather up the pepperonies while avoiding the poltergeists. Of course, working a full shift, Cheddar packed along a lunchbox full of fruit and other goodies. The ghosts have raided this as well. If Cheddar is lucky, he will be able to reclaim some of his lunch along the way. Cheddar has just one secret strength; when he eats a jalapeno he is taken with halitosis! Cheddar's breath will become deadly enough to frighten even the dead. Fortunately, in each of the four corners of the parlor is a Jalapeno. Show those beasties who is boss! In game II the poltergeists will start playing with the electricity in the building. Can Cheddar survive?! ___ Other varieties of cheese that might make for a catchy title: GOUDA! - Gouda by itself kinda sounds neat. LIMBURGER - a cheese so stinky that only jalapenos could make it stinkier. Limburger's Shift

I don't think it's too late. I, for one, would like to have you on board! :-) I sat down and played five rounds. Here are my scores: Game 1 - 358 (pathetic) Game 2 - 1418 Game 3 - 802 Game 4 - 2278 Game 5 - 1450 It makes it a lot easier for me to dig these games out when I know that I will be playing along with many others. :-) Now I just need to dig up the old thread that tells me how to clean the pots on my paddle controllers!

I have owned a copy of Marble Craze for quite some time, but had never taken much time to sit down and play it. My apartment was pretty cramped, and I rarely found enough time to unpack my joysticks and game paddes to go around or two on my VCS. I moved into the new place last Monday, and I have my own dedicated game room of sorts now, so I have all my games unpacked and can fire it up any time I feel the urge. So today I pulled out Marble Craze and realized what a great game it really is! This game is so innovative and fun, you will want the original cart once you play it. The gameplay is a challenge, but very addictive, and the music is rockin'! So far, I have only made it to level 7 -- yah, I'm pathetic -- but I have had a blast along the way! I really think that you guys who haven't picked this one up yet, should really think seriously about Stan's offer to reimburse you if you don't fall for the game. I would never push on someone else's offer, but then since I have played it I can only imagine that the no one could push away this fine piece of craftmanship... that is unless that person already has all sorts of mental issues already, in which case Stan's offer should be null and void. Disclaimer: This lost child has no bias against people with mental issues. He is only trying to help you. Why waste your time on E.T. or Pacman when you can buy one hell of a game right now on Atariage for the everyday low price of $25.00. Your family and co-workers are sick of you being crabby. You owe it to them and yourself to buy this game NOW... Besides, you could get hit by a large bus in the next year and die a most gruesome death. Your life will be more complete having played this game. on>

Albert said: Those clear carts are dead sexy! Makes me wish I'd forked out the extra 3 bucks or however much it is for a clear case! Of course, now that everyone has seen and will want to buy the clear cart version so early on in Climber 5's life, the black cart might end up being the more obscure and sought after version in 20 years! Of course, we're all going to die in 2014, so it doesn't matter anyways. LOL!