bluswimmer
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Posts posted by bluswimmer
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It's certainly an ambitious concept, that's for sure.... that said, the game feels pretty directionless right now. Maybe it's because not everything is implemented, but quite frankly it feels like I'm getting into areas that aren't even intended. I don't totally recall how I reached the area pictured, but I'm like 90% certain it's garbage data the game is interpreting as a level.
.thumb.png.2e55106e1119c184e500f40684695bdb.png)
I'm not sure if the code that takes you from screen to screen is working correctly... I'd take another look at that.
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On 10/15/2022 at 4:10 AM, glurk said:
Apologies to @bluswimmer for hacking his game, and the necro-bump of this thread... Anyways, I kinda like this game, and in order to try to hone my '2600 skillz' I've disassembled and hacked up this game, and hopefully improved it in some way.
-- snipped for space reasons --
Don't apologize, I welcome romhacks like this! Honestly, I'm kinda flattered.... I haven't played much of it yet, but I definitely appreciate some of the updated graphics, especially the death animation.
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7 minutes ago, Tempest said:
Maybe my problem was that I was expecting an updated version of the original game and Zero Mission is almost a completely new game with the different map, power ups, and extra areas. Still, 100%-ing it was no fun and in the end kind of pointless.
Yeah, it captures in the original in the broad strokes but is a very different game. Guess I could see why fans of the original wouldn't enjoy that. No accounting for taste, I suppose...
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I hold the exact opposite opinion- I find the original Metroid to be a frustrating slog, while Zero Mission is a much more tightly designed game. Granted, I didn't try to 100% it; I think one of the shinespark puzzles has a three frame window? Sure as heck not doing that. Also, I liked the suitless sequence, fight me.
Regarding the others-
- I actually like Metroid 2 quite a bit, more than most. Game's kinda repetitive with all the Metroid killing and occasional grinding for health/missiles, though I enjoy the game's oppressive atmosphere. If you're not a fan and would prefer the remakes I'd recommend going for AM2R over Samus Returns; Samus Returns really messes up the original game's ending.
- Super is great, but you already know that.
- Fusion is fantastic, but know going in that it's a much more linear experience.
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To be honest when I saw this it took a moment for me to register this as real. Could they really be making another huge acquisition after the Bethesda deal less than a year ago? The answer was yes, I suppose.
Putting my feelings about Kotick and the company's culture aside, frankly I'm pretty indifferent since I don't play any Activision games beyond their 2600 library. I feel like most of their major titles are going to remain multiplatform, like Minecraft.
It seems like the deal isn't going to close until June 2023, and Activision will remain independent until then. I'm in full agreement that they need to get Kotick out of there as soon as they can, though even with him gone it's going to take a lot to address the major issues with the company.
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Metaverse this, crypto that, it all just seems like buzzwords companies use to suck clueless investors in. My gut tells me all this NFT stuff is a fad, especially since there's so many people who are vehemently against this stuff.
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Haven't beaten the demo yet, but I am genuinely impressed by the sprite animations here (especially the teleport)!
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4 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:
Maybe you could utilize the button, e.g. for a different radius or double step rotation. The size of the dot could also change when pressed. And there could be discs you have to collect.
Some interesting suggestions. For now the game will probably stay as-is, since I'm not particularly motivated to update it further. Maybe some day if I get an itch to go back to it...
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I don't think we ever interacted, but even the loss of someone you knew only tangentially is a lot to process... May he rest in peace.
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Hi Everyone!
Attached below are three ROMs of mine that have not been given a wide release, but are in a (mostly) playable state. Don't get too excited; most of this is just alternate versions of stuff I've released before.
The first is "Pepper Penguin", an alternate version of Bird and Beans I created for the Retron 77. In order to sidestep potential copyright concerns, the bird was recolored into a blue penguin standing on an ice platform, and you collect peppers instead of beans. This is pretty much just a graphics swap; the game plays identically otherwise. Note that the scanline count has been changed so that it displays properly on a real console; the game is identical to its original release otherwise.
The second is "PRGE Trip", an alternate version of Balloon Trip made for PRGE 2018, though I can't actually verify if this was at the show that year since I didn't attend. The basic gameplay is the same, but the balloons are replaced with letters. Collecting the letters "P R G E" in that order awards bonus points.
The final one is just simply titled "Disc Game". This game uses the driving controller. You play as the black dot, and the goal of the game is to rotate to avoid the various discs. This was originally made earlier this year, but I wasn't very confident in the game, so I never ended up releasing it until now.
Maybe I'll get back to making a proper game one of these days... oh well.
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2 hours ago, roadrunner said:
Who now owns the rights to the old Atari Age magazine? is it now public domain?
I'd imagine it's owned by the new Atari; I think the brand was briefly revived during the whole VCS debacle, but don't quote me on that.
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5 hours ago, KevKelley said:
Apart from how Audacity Games utilized the codes, what kind of applications can these be used for? I had not realized how involved they are. I just assumed they were like a complex barcode.
Some puzzles, maybe? Granted I don't imagine it would get much more complicated than inputting a code you get from scanning.
Given score submissions, I do have to wonder how you'd get around people scanning someone else's code. It looks like Circus Convoy is using the cartridge id as a way to verify this, but that's not a luxury most of us have access to.
Edit, just hit me that this could potentially used to hide information from another player in multiplayer games. Could open up some interesting avenues for design, I suppose.
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I don't know what I expected.
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Most likely scenario is that you're probably miscalculating the pointer offset in your kernel.
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Impressive! This is a very polished port. Appreciate how the game has hints for which pieces to be moved; that wasn't a detail I expected to be present.
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I doubt it sold much, given that it came out in Japan the same year as the Famicom. By the time the Famicom was out, the 2800 looked laughably dated by comparison.
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2 minutes ago, zzip said:
Everybody is obviously a product of their environment, and it will reflect in what they create. But I can literally take any innocent-looking subject and write an essay explaining why it's a bad thing. But what's they point besides trying to make people feel guilty for liking something? So they reject it and adopt new things in its place? These new things can easily be deconstructed and problematized in turn, creating an endless cycle of "everything you like sucks and you should feel bad for liking it".
In the meantime, we will struggle to create content that offends literally nobody, and it will lack lasting impact.
Screw that, life is too short.
Well, I don't necessarily think that pointing out some unfortunate implications in a piece of media should necessarily mean that you're not allowed to enjoy it. I love the Super Mario games to death, yet when someone points out its over-reliance on the damsel in distress trope I can't really disagree with them.
Obviously, everyone's worldview is different, and you can't really account for everyone's tastes when creating a new game. Heck, deliberately avoiding sensitive material is a statement in of itself, and trying to target everyone at once is probably just going to make your game dead on arrival. My own games are made to appeal to my own tastes, and I acknowledge that it may be a turn off for some. However, that may also win over new players, who may have been turned off by similar games that came before it.
Ultimately, this subject is entirely subjective; what I deem as "problematic" may be seen as acceptable by another. In my view, articles like these help drive new art and push the medium forward.
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Good read, thanks for sharing!
I think it's important to acknowledge that a developer's beliefs are going to affect the work that's put out by them, even if they're not consciously aware of it, as was the case with Pitfall. All art is iterative, and as a game developer myself I think it's a good idea to keep a critical eye on the media I consume. This way, I can effectively iterate on the ideas that came before mine.
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This looks neat so far! I think a co-op mode would work wonders for this game, with each person controlling a different set of paddles.
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12 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:
How is raising awareness something bad? Isn't it something good if "normal" people are informed and understand autism? Or do they spread wrong information?
Most critics will direct you towards "Autism Every Day", an Autism Speaks-sponsored 2006 documentary which features a bunch of disgruntled parents of autistic children. Of note, one mother admits to contemplating a murder-suicide involving her autistic daughter.
Another infamous video which they produced was "I Am Autism", which was released in 2009. This video personifies autism as a villainous voice. The narration resembles that of the 1954 short film "Taming the Crippler", which was about polio.
I concede that both of these examples are pretty old, but today they continue to portray autism in this sort of way, albeit in less public forms. Starting last year, the organization has started to use Sesame Street to promote its "100 Day Kit," which appears to suggest that a diagnosis of autism may provoke feelings similar to a death in the family.
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As an autistic man I am not a fan of Autism Speaks. I have several reasons for my distastes, so I'll try to keep things brief.
- Historically they have not have many autistic people on its board of directors. As of now, only 1 out of 28 board members are autistic.
- Very little of their money actually goes towards helping families- only 1%. By contrast, nearly half of their budget is spent on "raising awareness".
I get that the author's support comes from a good place, but I think he should consider donating to a different charity.
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My guess is that EA is content with the money the Tapped Out makes, since freemium mobile games take less money to make, and make way more money than console games generally do. Quite frankly I'm not sure what EA could do with a console Simpsons game now, outside of a Hit and Run remake. Given the licensing nightmare that's sure to ensue, I doubt they want to make that either.
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Just saw the specs and pricepoint on reddit... all I can say is YIKES. It's literally not even worth considering at that price. Quite frankly I feel like they should've aimed for a lower-spec, lower-price set top box like a Roku. There's pretty much no way they can directly compete with Sony and Microsoft.
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The game now has PAL60 and SECAM60 versions, included below in this zip file. Additionally, the game's been optimized a bit further, so there's now 103 bytes of ROM free. Not that it matters, of course, since the game is still exactly the same.
URGENT EDIT: I just realized that the game doesn't work with the harmony cartridge due to the weird filesize. I've "expanded" the game into 2 kilobytes, but the game still has over a kilobyte free.
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Does anyone actually pay $20 for ROMs?
in Atari 2600
Posted
My game Cannonhead Clash has made $21 from a pay-what-you-want model on itch.io. I assume that number would be a tad higher if, say, it were priced at a flat five dollars, since the vast majority just elect to download it without paying (not that there's anything wrong with that). Beyond that I don't really have much insight.