wongojack

April 3

31 minutes ago, Rickster8 said:

I agree, it's HORRIBLY difficult to grab the falling humanoids because the ship cannot fly slow accurately... It only flies fast it seems and then you crash into everything.... Other things I hate are that damn yellow spaceship that comes whizzing out if you take too long to get through a level... Stupid addition..... Also cannot stand the little red demons that you have to shoot... They are too small to hit... I always smart bomb them but some get away and then I'm forced to be accurate with that un-accurate ship..... I think it's a decent port as far as this game goes, but I also think it's Atari-softs worst Inty game, Centipede and Pac-Man are better IMHO.....

I did however do something pretty cool which I've never done before on Inty Defender. I grabbed / saved two humanoids at once....

I wasn't sure this was even possible - good to know

April 2

32,975

I'm not someone who can roll the score on Defender or even keep a consistent game going, but I can tell this is a good version of Defender. I wish the acceleration of the ship was a bit easier to control as it is really difficult to pick up the falling people in mid-air.

March 30

I now have an XBox One that will not power on. I suppose this info could be helpful, but I will probably just upgrade. In a way, it is kinda sad that the reasons to keep the XBox One going are kind of limited especially if you can afford to replace it.

I may still try to open it up and fix it.

On 2/7/2022 at 3:35 PM, PCFI said:

I know this is an old post but I worked on an Xbox that was also missing its 5 volts standby but it turned out, it stemmed from me missing the 3.3 volts. There are two MOSFETS, U4B4 and U3C1. U3C1 should have 5 volts on the drain to supply voltage into U3C2 which creates your 3.3 volts standby. Without the 3.3 volts standby, I could never get 5 volts on the drain of U4B4.

U3C1 is controlled by U7P1 which is a dual PNP chip. Pin 5 is the base (around 2.8 V), pin 4 is emitter (tied to ground), and pin 3 is the collector (this controls the voltage on the gate of U3C1). If you are missing the 5V on the drain of U3C1, you can lift gate leg of the chip or you can short pins 3 and 4 of U7P1 forcing ground on the gate of U3C1, which will cause it to conduct.

Once I did this, the power supply kicked in and the console booted. I made a video about it if you care to search Youtube.

Not sure if this is your problem but it may be worth a check.

I'm looking for the video. Do you have a link? I don't suppose you have a photo of U7P1 - and could you tell me if you left the XBox in that state or did you eventually replace the PNP? Was there a permanent fix?

March 28

5 hours ago, Eltigro said:

I saw that and was actually thinking about going to it. They mentioned you could buy passes at the door, but never said how much they were. And there was some free shuttle thing to the National Videogame Museum. I'm not super into Pinball, but I bet I still would've had fun.

It is kind of an expensive show. If you are just playing the games, you really have to go multiple days to get your money's worth. We have so many places to play games in DFW that I'm not sure that Pinfest is quite the exclusive opportunity it once was. We even have some groups locally who host little tournaments that I may try out someday. Example: NTX Pinball | The Colony TX | Facebook

March 27

Hey hey - it was a big week for me as we had the Texas Pinball festival here in DFW. This is an annual show that must be the biggest weekend pinball event in the world. The show has changed a lot over the years. It is bigger now, but has kind of turned into a trade show with lots of shops that make pinball machines bringing them for sale. When I first started going, Stern would make a movie licensed game every year. Now there are more than half a dozen companies bringing multiple new tables each year, and the prices keep going up. I'm sorta wondering if Pinball economics will cool off a bit next year, but we'll see.

Arcade <- These were all played on cabinets

Baby Pac-Man 52 <- Nicest version I have EVER seen

Donkey Kong 6

Donkey Kong Jr Remix 15 <- Yep, somone has built a remix cabinet

Gorf 12

Mouse Trap 6

Out Run 17

Popeye 15

Star Wars Trilogy Arcade 4

Warlords 8

TG16

Devil's Crush 11

Stand Alone

Atari Video Pinball 13

Here's a list of all the Pinball machines I played

Aliens

Baywatch

Beerfest

Big Lebowski

Demolition Man

Doctor Who

Dukes of Hazzard <- Homebrew project based on Firepower (I think)

Evil Knievel

F14 Tomcat

Fish Tales

Foo Fighters

Galaxy

Getaway

Godfather <- Brand new from Jersey Jack Pinball

Harlem Globetrotters

Harley D

Hurricane

JB you only live twice <- Comes in multiple art themes (like Dr No, Diamonds are Forever) with same playfield

League of Legends <- Homebrew project

Mandalorian

Merry Go Round

Night Rider <- No not THAT Knight Rider

Rick Morty

Scooby Doo <- Crazy new, had to wait in long lines to play it

Six Mil Dollar Man

Star Trek (Abrams)

Star Trek (Next Gen)

Toy Story 4 <- Another new one

Terminator 2

Time Zone

Queen <- Another new machine

Ultimorphic Lexy Lightspeed

Vegas

Victory

Willy Wonka <- Gene Wilder references only

Sadly, I took no pictures this year, so that's boring, but here's a picture of KISS pinball from last year: PXL_20220326_000047203.jpg (onedrive.com)

March 27

Hey hey - it was a big week for me as we had the Texas Pinball festival here in DFW. This is an annual show that must be the biggest weekend pinball event in the world. The show has changed a lot over the years. It is bigger now but has kind of turned into a trade show with lots of shops that make pinball machines bringing them for sale. When I first started going, Stern would make a movie licensed game every year. Now there are more than half a dozen companies brining multiple new tables each year, and the prices keep going up. I'm sorta wondering if Pinball economics will cool off a bit next year, but we'll see.

PC

Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story 26

Archibald's Adventures 51

ASCII Attack 20

Pinball Arcade, The 47

Pinball FX3 67

Rollers of the Realm 55

Voodoo Dice 11

You Have to Win the Game 62

PS4

Pinball Arcade, The 38

Here's a list of all the Pinball machines I played

Aliens

Baywatch

Beerfest

Big Lebowski

Demolition Man

Doctor Who

Dukes of Hazzard <- Homebrew project based on Firepower (I think)

Evil Knievel

F14 Tomcat

Fish Tales

Foo Fighters

Galaxy

Getaway

Godfather <- Brand new from Jersey Jack Pinball

Harlem Globetrotters

Harley D

Hurricane

JB you only live twice <- Comes in multiple art themes (like Dr No, Diamonds are Forever) with same playfield

League of Legends <- Homebrew project

Mandalorian

Merry Go Round

Night Rider <- No not THAT Knight Rider

Rick Morty

Scooby Doo <- Crazy new, had to wait in long lines to play it

Six Mil Dollar Man

Star Trek (Abrams)

Star Trek (Next Gen)

Toy Story 4 <- Another new one

Terminator 2

Time Zone

Queen <- Another new machine

Ultimorphic Lexy Lightspeed

Vegas

Victory

Willy Wonka <- Gene Wilder references only

Sadly, I took no pictures this year, so that's boring, but here's a picture of KISS pinball from last year: PXL_20220326_000047203.jpg (onedrive.com)

March 27

I finished the original Shovel Knight campaign not too long ago. I believe this one is now known as "Shovel of Hope" since the treasure trove introduced at least 3 more campaigns to play. It was absolutely brilliant. Everyone should play this game at least a little. I really appreciated that the default difficulty level wasn't punishing (at least not for me). There were some trial and error segments, but they were limited and lasted just the right length to limit frustration. This really might be a perfect modern "retro" game . . . And I still haven't played the other campaigns yet! Easy 5 out of 5.

Shovel Knight Review - Just Push Start

March 26

I agree with the pro and con list. There's no way this is the worst Inty game. However, something that hurts it (and Demon Attack) is that the 2600 version plays a bit better in both cases. If the 2600 didn't exist then I'd probably have a higher opinion.

Anyway, it is fun for what it is. I really wish you could attack from behind though.

March 22

1 hour ago, JagChris said:

I should follow him. I follow Garry but not him.

They said they don't announce games or preview games. They just come our with them.

I don't know if you've watched it, but here's the Zero Page Homebrew interview that was done at launch for your reference:

March 22

Tagging @-^CrossBow^- who has a TON of experience and might be able to help.

March 22

All the defender-type games right in a row! (I'm not complaining)

BTW - it is ok to take a break. The Intellivision will roll on.

March 22

3 minutes ago, desiv said:

I'm not convinced that being cynical and being critical are the same thing myself...
But that's me...

I'm generally critical, and sometimes cynical, myself... 🙂

Great!

March 22

1 hour ago, desiv said:

There is ALWAYS something to be cynical about, if someone chooses to go there...

Um yeah - I "choose" to go there because I'm an intelligent person who thinks critically about things. I consider it a positive trait.

Here's what I am NOT ~~cyncial~~ critical about

The quality of software that David Crane and Audacity can produce

Here's what I am critical about

The idea that David Crane and Audacity are somehow influenced by this forum
The willingness of David Crane and Audacity to learn from the years of homebrewing experience in this community

There's plenty of reason to be critical based entirely on direct interviews and the difference between what they previously stated and what has happened.

March 22

13 hours ago, JagChris said:

Its too bad there is such a cynical vibe to all this instead of well wishing.

It is too bad that there is something to be cynical about to begin with.

The game is great, but Audacity wasn't influenced by this community before and they won't be 2 years later. Whatever you think you can accomplish with well wishes, you can't. They aren't listening (at least not here).

March 21

3 minutes ago, Silver Back said:

Regardless of whatever semantics Audacity wanted to use, it seems they didn't reach their desired goal. When I Google them and any information is from 2021. Their Twitter, Facebook and other social media has nothing new since 2021. I haven't heard any updates or announcements since 2021.

If they are a "professional company" with hired employees then they aren't doing much to keep the brand alive. Or anything. They would be announcing progress for Casey's Gold and new projects and pushing product to keep employees paid.

idk what their end goal was but I don't think they achieved what they wanted until until I hear from them I assume they aren't pressing forward.

Another sign that they preferred to stay separate from the existing community. They could have easily learned reasonable expectations for Circus Convoy by talking to those in this forum who have released and sold games over the years, but it seemed they thought they could somehow swoop in and outsell every homebrew ever released.

March 20

I have not yet purchased Circus Convoy, and I've made no attempt to pirate it. Is there a rom available for individual purchase yet? Last time I checked, you had to buy the $100 edition to get the rom.

Anyway, the release was very exciting, but there were several things about the interviews and release communication that I would consider went past just plain "neutral" when Crane and Kitchen were describing homebrews. They seemed to go out of their way to talk about it in interviews and then made sweeping statements about the lack of available tools for 2600 development. I remember one "homebrewer" here on AtariAge commenting about the software tools by saying something like "Sure they may have developed new tools, but they must have used DASM." Yeah

They didn't really show any awareness of the very high quality homebrews that have been released or the additional hardware used to play and develop them.

The thing is - we don't know. They haven't really made much of an attempt to engage with this forum and the MANY detailed discussions and discoveries that happen here. Actually, I'm grateful because it was the release of Circus Convoy that kinda made me realize that I'm not really interested in playing every homebrew. I'm more interested in supporting the developers in this community. Since Audacity doesn't really show up here, they are only on the outside orbit of my interests.

Game looks totally awesome though!

March 20

Intellivision
Mission X 28
Star Wars Empire Strikes Back 20

Just a little bit of time in the Intellivision HSC for me. I thought I could swoop in and get an even higher score than last week on Mission X, but I ended up doing worse, so I just cut my losses and quit. Same with ESB. Neither of these games are very much fun at all.

March 20

2 hours ago, Keir said:

Week of 3/13/23 - 3/19/23

Commodore 64

Phantasie II - 430 minutes

I had some more game time this past week and decided to focus on Phantasie II, thinking I would finish it. I'm close but not quite there. While the earlier dungeons I can breeze through in one trip, the second to last one is quite difficult and I've already had to trek back to town 3 or 4 times to rest. The main problem seems to be that there is a greater need for spells but magic points are so limited! I hate that my fighters and thief have almost as many MP as my wizard. I also had a setback when of my fighters aged (apparently 29 is retirement age for an ogre!) At first I thought I would just deal with it for the remainder of the game, however not only did it mean she couldn't use any of her previous equipment (due to a -5 STR penalty) but the amount of XP she would need to level up nearly doubled! Instead I created a new fighter (a dwarf this time since they have much longer lifespans) and spent some time leveling him up. I just hope the time I spent doing that doesn't cause my 2 humans to age (they are already almost 40!)

Loved reading this post. This is what makes these early CRPGs so great. All kinds of different little variations.

March 20

PC

And Yet It Moves 30

Anodyne 64

Cortex Command 15

Crayon Physics Deluxe 35

Flipper Volcano 37

Hammerfight 14

Non-Stop Raiders 31

Zero Reflex 18

ZOLG 50

PS4
Dreams 220

Xbox Series S/X
Sims 4, The 178

Vampire Survivors 78

Nothing too serious. I keep going through games <120 MB in my Steam library and dabbling here and there. I really like Dreams and PSVR, but once I put that headset away, it is hard to make myself get it back out and all hooked up again.

March 19

Here's a 3rd score from me. Brings my hit total up: 298 + 109 = 407

March 16

1 hour ago, jimblargh said:

Is there a way to get your final score to show again after it has scrolled off the screen? Or do I just need to be quick with the camera?

It seemed like pressing the side button brought the score up again for me.

March 13

Intellivision

Demon Attack 125

Mission X 35

Star Wars Empire Strikes Back 45

DOS

Leisure Suit Larry 1: in the Land of the Lounge Lizards 295

March 13

PC

drm (death ray manta) 17

Dog Sled Saga 85

Galactic Lords 27

Non-Stop Raiders 15

Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt 32

Super Hexagon 29

Uplink 68

Zzzz-Zzzz-Zzzz 40

PS4

Dreams 250

Pixel Ripped 1989 47

Playstation VR Worlds 7

Race the Sun 27

Shovel Knight 412

Xbox Series S/X

Hogwarts Legacy 90

A bit more time in games <120Mb in Steam. I also finished the original quest in Shovel Knight and dinked around with some VR titles. Hogwarts Legacy is me helping my wife solve puzzles and find collectibles. She has MUCH more time in it.

March 13

Slightly better score for me on Game 10 - 7490. I'd like to get patched on Game 10, but I don't think it is going to happen tonight.

Game 1 18,494 Game 10 7,490 = 25,984

March 12

1 hour ago, Kurt_Woloch said:

Here are my times for this past week (March 5th through 12th, 2023):

Sorry, I didn't play anything this week. My father was in the hospital all week and I visited him every day until, finally, he died this morning. Now it's mourning time, so I don't plan to play anything for the next 6 weeks either (which would be through April 23rd). This goes back to my childhood when I liked to play records on a record-player, but then in 1979 my grandfather died, so my father made a new rule for me, he said "Now it's mourning time, and for the next 6 weeks you're only allowed to play 3 records a day". Presumably he wanted to make things easier for my mother whose father it was. Now for my father, I want to stick to this rule again, and I'll take it to the extreme by avoiding anything that's fun for the next six weeks which the actual purpose being that I don't get distracted and get to focus entirely on my father's funeral and everything else that has to be done in this situation. To this end, I've switched off the amplifier connected to my PC so that there's no sound output. I don't need sound to work on it though. I even plan to dismantle the whole Hi-Fi tower and put it into the attic for the next weeks. Then I want to move into the flat of my father which is now vacant and give up my own flat, so the hi-fi tower probably won't be set up in this flat anymore. Those are my plans for the next weeks, and these are the reasons if I don't post anything here for the next weeks.

I am feeling for you. I hope you find time to focus and find some peace during this time of transition.

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