Fort Apocalypse

Given that there was some interest in Laser Light Show, I was curious whether it would be possible for someone to make a cartridge that had an audio line-in/headphones-in jack and/or microphone, such that the "game" running from the cartridge could use that input?

Here's a POC of the dungeon code I wrote above if it helps:

Dev release: POC, not game yet. You maneuver a radioactive goat that can walk through walls through a multi-level dungeon. There is no collision detection. Some rooms look a little Castle Wolfenstein-ish! goat_dungeon_dev.bas.bin goat_dungeon_dev.bas

Story: You are a goat stuck in a dungeon. Collect hearts, save goats, explore, and find the next level before cave-in! How to play: Use the joystick to move your goat. If you don't like the room or map, use the joystick to use explosives or the reset button to start over. If you don't like the color of your goat, press the select button. If you're stuck in/on a wall/cave-in too long, a buzzer will sound, then your goat may die. Explore rooms and levels of the goat dungeon and collect hearts and goats for points. Yes, you can go back and forth in rooms and the hearts and goats keep reappearing! If you stay in a room long enough, then it will start to cave-in. If you stay on a level long enough, it will really cave-in. goat_dungeon_0.9.bas goat_dungeon_0.9.bas.bin

Yeah, you could have a single rand value to add to it that is set at game initialization. So, maybe something like: dim gameseed=a dim dungeonx=x dim dungeony=y dim dungeonz=z 'these were generated by a script to generate random numbers one-time for all time data roomseed 195, 204, 252, 237, 143, 135, 29, 235, 142, 103, 95, 198, 195, 116, 42, 33, 183, 7, 251, 148, 97, 11, 43, 76, 175, 214, 173, 46, 49, 176, 56, 94, 108, 185, 239, 124, 204, 131, 229, 132, 251, 139, 243, 15, 119, 254, 43, 50, 58, 27, 35, 103, 207, 19, 230, 249, 221, 39, 32, 28, 166, 117, 94, 44, 208, 224, 213, 33, 162, 41, 4, 101, 92, 74, 2, 28, 178, 210, 19, 12, 170, 9, 141, 77, 217, 171, 45, 19, 67, 160, 44, 12, 210, 14, 85, 34, 137, 78, 40, 74, 209, 104, 227, 217, 210, 192, 209, 29, 193, 60, 190, 117, 188, 59, 229, 214, 33, 70, 5, 77, 242, 10, 244, 20, 186, 234, 220, 21, 243, 178, 34, 98, 225, 124, 253, 7, 32, 139, 100, 99, 26, 55, 191, 102, 171, 225, 227, 131, 6, 207, 155, 55, 161, 208, 131, 195, 81, 86, 108, 109, 227, 77, 50, 5, 197, 213, 93, 162, 127, 37, 108, 230, 98, 133, 245, 169, 130, 99, 106, 198, 238, 48, 100, 245, 176, 220, 148, 157, 126, 31, 121, 135, 112, 44, 54, 27, 230, 212, 24, 93, 75, 64, 46, 202, 159, 58, 133, 20, 18, 63, 48, 29, 145, 33, 188, 174, 6, 169, 163, 201, 28, 200, 144, 180, 115, 193, 52, 150, 199, 28, 197, 146, 110, 118, 16, 78, 226, 37, 188, 66, 15, 124, 84, 106, 131, 168, 105, 187, 171, 19, 121, 55, 197, 54, 135, 107 end gameinit gameseed=rand mainloop '... 'after changing coords, etc. upon entrance to new room, then goto or gosub roominit '... goto mainloop roominit 'temp5 is roombits temp5=roomseed[dungeonx]+roomseed[dungeony]+roomseed[dungeonz] temp5=temp5+gameseed 'now check whether a room feature is there via the 8 bits of temp5... e.g. if temp5{0} then ... 'if you need more room features, could use temp6=temp5+gameseed2 and have it set to rand at gameinit, etc. '... Would bitmask XOR (^) be better than all the additions, then?

In other words- something like: data roomseed 195, 204, 252, 237, 143, 135, 29, 235, 142, 103, 95, 198, 195, 116, 42, 33, 183, 7, 251, 148, 97, 11, 43, 76, 175, 214, 173, 46, 49, 176, 56, 94, 108, 185, 239, 124, 204, 131, 229, 132, 251, 139, 243, 15, 119, 254, 43, 50, 58, 27, 35, 103, 207, 19, 230, 249, 221, 39, 32, 28, 166, 117, 94, 44, 208, 224, 213, 33, 162, 41, 4, 101, 92, 74, 2, 28, 178, 210, 19, 12, 170, 9, 141, 77, 217, 171, 45, 19, 67, 160, 44, 12, 210, 14, 85, 34, 137, 78, 40, 74, 209, 104, 227, 217, 210, 192, 209, 29, 193, 60, 190, 117, 188, 59, 229, 214, 33, 70, 5, 77, 242, 10, 244, 20, 186, 234, 220, 21, 243, 178, 34, 98, 225, 124, 253, 7, 32, 139, 100, 99, 26, 55, 191, 102, 171, 225, 227, 131, 6, 207, 155, 55, 161, 208, 131, 195, 81, 86, 108, 109, 227, 77, 50, 5, 197, 213, 93, 162, 127, 37, 108, 230, 98, 133, 245, 169, 130, 99, 106, 198, 238, 48, 100, 245, 176, 220, 148, 157, 126, 31, 121, 135, 112, 44, 54, 27, 230, 212, 24, 93, 75, 64, 46, 202, 159, 58, 133, 20, 18, 63, 48, 29, 145, 33, 188, 174, 6, 169, 163, 201, 28, 200, 144, 180, 115, 193, 52, 150, 199, 28, 197, 146, 110, 118, 16, 78, 226, 37, 188, 66, 15, 124, 84, 106, 131, 168, 105, 187, 171, 19, 121, 55, 197, 54, 135, 107 end 'temp5 is roombits temp5=roomseed[x]+roomseed[y] 'now check whether a room feature is there via the 8 bits of temp5... e.g. if temp5{0} then ...

@rsiddall and I were just having a similar short conversation here about what to use for Pitfall. RevEng had unrand which may work for simple cases with 8bit rand only and not in DPC+, though it's testy trying to not use rand otherwise, and I didn't fare so well with using it in Family U.F.O. for the mesa range terrain, because of that or something else, I'm not sure. Pitfall had a neat mechanism: https://evoniuk.github.io/posts/pitfall.html I had some mechanism I think with kind of an x,y coordinate system in 2 Player Adventure, but it wasn't overly complex. Storing patterns in data wouldn't be terrible, and you could combine that with x,y coordinate system and bitchecks, like a calculation, maybe?

I looked more and unrand may not work as it's for the 8bit rand, and rand in DPC+ appears to be using an ARM-based 32-bit LFSR for random numbers. Maybe if there were a way to undo that or add a custom rand from the standard kernel then it could work? idk. Maybe pulling values from data would be easiest? Here's the method that was used in Pitfall (2600); it's a little intense: https://evoniuk.github.io/posts/pitfall.html

Release 0.1 Mirrored standard kernel playfield in same and split colors by player. Randomly moving player objects. xirbnekorb_0.1.bas.bin xirbnekorb_0.1.bas

Game story: You are defenders of the brixirb armada, who battle evil across the faces of the multiverses, and are currently on leave, playing xirbnekorb, as usual. Use your omni-multiversal wormholes to release the nlui into the force shields to ensure they stay safe. Don't lose the nlui, as you only have four! Lose all your nlui and you lose the game. Maximize your points. Darby bet against you. How to play: Press the joystick button to release the nlui. Move your joystick to move yourself and your mirrorself to rebound the nlui through the force shields. You get a point each time you receive the nlui. Don't lose the nlui! You may press the joystick button to start a new round or the reset button to restart the game. Good luck! Thanks to @splendidnut for his assistance with an problem during development! xirbnekorb_0.6.bas.bin xirbnekorb_0.6.bas

The sunset looks sweet! I can't get over how good the vine is and how good everything looks! The scorpion's pacing back-and-forth is even better than the original which just tracks Harry regardless of what level he's on! Here are some ideas on the motion of Harry. They aren't critical to have: Harry could "jump" off of the ladder at the top. Harry could be in "ladder mode" on the ladder and not go left or right until the top to jump off. Harry falls straight down after falling for longer; it's a different type of falling that prevents him from doing things, like going sideways, jumping in air in bottom level during fall, or catching ladder until he (about) hits the ground. The first half of the time he's in this state, he's standing. The second half of the time he's in this state, he's spreading his legs. And some fun ideas: Infinite left/right on top level of jungle and use something like RevEng's unrand to help choose which screen it shows: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/306994-running-the-bb-8-bit-rand-in-reverse/?tab=comments#comment-4849252 Harry could run, jump, and climb through the jungle at specified points in each screen to use as a screensaver! He could (almost) always jump pits and hazards, always move up and sideways to climb, and could change direction when hits brick wall. Anything you do on this would be great. It's really cool!

Wow! That looks really great!!

Coleco Telstar Combat's variations per the commercial:

(This topic branched off of another topic about Atari's Tank series.) The following partial of an ad for the Sears Tank (Atari Tank II) shows what looks like a mock-up closely resembling the Coleco Telstar's Combat playfield. Note: partial is of zoomed-in page scan from: https://vglegacy.com/pop-culture/sears/ and Combat is screenshotted from video:

Note that the Coleco Telstar playfield looks really similar to the Sears Tank mock-up. (Go here for discussion about that.)

Here are some other scans of the Sears Tank console (their version of the Atari Tank II console) and of the Tank +Plus+ game for Sears Tele-games Video Arcade (their version of Atari 2600) that looks like Combat. Both scans are from: https://vglegacy.com/pop-culture/sears/ and partials are zoomed-in versions of those two. Sears Tank (Atari Tank II) has what look like regular 2600 joystick controllers or something closer to them than those of the other mock-up of Atari Tank II, and the screenshot of the game looks different than Combat for the 2600, but looks mocked-up. Tank +Plus+ (or Tank +, Tank+, Tank Plus, or whatever it was formally called) looks like Combat for the 2600, but looks mocked-up.

From a DM from a fellow member in the forums:

I got a DM from a fellow member in the forums who chose not to be credited as it wasn't their info, but was fine with me posting it here: As stated, Tank III is really lacking information. I'm hoping that if someone working for Atari or an arcade owner/etc. will see this and clear things up. For example, at the very least if Tank III wasn't released in 1975 then someone should clear that up in various sources out there like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_(video_game) Also, one thing that spurred me on to get interested in Tank is that, clearly, the 2600 was developed to run Tank (Combat) among other games, yet multiple times I've seen developers say incorrectly something similar to "2600 internals were built to run Pong and that's why it's so limited," a statement which is at least misleading. Per the Tank page in Wikipedia: "A dedicated console version of Tank II was announced in 1977 but cancelled later that year; the joysticks for the game, however, became the standard joystick controllers for the Atari 2600 (1977)." I found some pics and info on the Atari Tank II dedicated console and Sears Tank dedicated console in this thread: How many were made of each if any? I know this gets into dedicated consoles which is a different forum area, but I'm curious about the existence and info about this as well as how the 2600 was influenced by the Tank series and dedicated console development.

Some feedback: AtariAge is moving into the future! I appreciate all of the work! I didn't realize I could edit posts anymore, and I think this could generate some support problems, and I've already posted a few things thinking that the ability to edit was gone, but it looks cleaner. Getting the colors, fonts, and look-and-feel closer to what it was for each supported platform would be good, but I know this is a lot of work. The white background is a little too bright for me. The changes to spacing/fonts make it feel less tight than it was before, which makes me feel a little lost and less able to read things quickly. I miss seeing the titles under the profile instead of just seeing "Members". But, on the good side, the new version is a throwback to the 80s "Members Only" brand! I'm old and set in my ways. I embrace the fact that the world is changing and want to love and support others, but part of me feels slightly like Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer- frightened and confused. I'll get over it, though!

Yep, I think so, but I wanted to try to confirm it. Some of the other questions I posed haven't been answered yet, also. The historians may not be monitoring this part of the forums, idk.

0.2 screenshot

Release 0.2: Two player gameplay. Left joystick controls Nesi, who can eat greens off the lake floor for points, come up for breath to restore life, and who must attempt to avoid danger. Nesi wants to get as many points as possible before losing all lives. Right joystick controls the ship that continuously drops depth charges/shoots and has light control over the up and down control of the submaries. The player controlling the right joystick wants to limit Nesi's points. If no second player is available the single player can play Nesi and avoid subs. nesi_0.2.bas.bin nesi_0.2.bas

Here's a quick and dirty solution. harry_jump_2.bas.bin harry_jump_2.bas

Release 0.1: Basic version of gameplay. Eat leafy greens off the lake floor while avoiding submarines. nesi_0.1.bas.bin nesi_0.1.bas