Theory About Who Programmed 5200 Asteroids

[Goochman]

In that case, in addition to converting the game to the 5200 control scheme, they also increased the speed of the game and added the intermissions from the arcade game.

Are you sure the intermissions were written from scratch for the 5200 version? I always thought the Atari 8-bit cartridge release was originally 16K and the intermissions were removed so the game could fit in 8K.

Read my last post above...I'm not sure of anything. My problem with the theory that the intermissions were in the 8-bit port to begin with is partially the fact that Alan Murphy is credited with doing graphics for the 5200 port. If the intermissions were already in there and they were doing a straight conversion, what 'graphics' would he have needed to create?

 

Normally I'd say that it's a possibility that the 5200 version came first, but unless I'm mistaken that's not the case.

Update: According to the programmer, the original 8-bit port of Pac-Man was 8K and did not have the intermissions. If there's a 16K (disk) version that has them, this was created later by someone else.

 

Well - I can tell you this. I played an Atari 800 version of Pac Man with intermissions before I played one without on the cart. I also heard the 16k cut to 8k to make a cheaper cart. Not sure osmeone would go through the hassle to add these after the fact and prior to the 5200 version.

[+Psionic]

Update: According to the programmer, the original 8-bit port of Pac-Man was 8K and did not have the intermissions. If there's a 16K (disk) version that has them, this was created later by someone else.

Interesting... That would mean the Datasoft release is actually a hack of the 5200 version then.

That is possible.

 

Well - I can tell you this. I played an Atari 800 version of Pac Man with intermissions before I played one without on the cart.

Whichever version you (or anyone else) played first makes little difference, to be quite honest.

 

I also heard the 16k cut to 8k to make a cheaper cart.

Yeah, but where exactly did you "hear" this from? It's a typical situation...one person on the internet says something and everyone else just repeats it. Most of the information that you hear or read comes from dubious sources.

 

Not sure osmeone would go through the hassle to add these after the fact and prior to the 5200 version.

I never said that was the case...quite the opposite. The 8-bit version w/ intermissions came after the 5200 release (as atarimania alluded to above).

 

The idea that the 8-bit port was 16K (w/ intermissions), but was cut to 8K to fit on cartridge makes little sense for a variety of reasons...

 

- The programmer says it lacked the intermissions.

 

- The Datasoft disk release (which is presumably 16K and has the intermissions) came out well after the original (8K) cartridge release.

 

- All of the early Atari 400/800 games were released on 8K cartridges. It makes no sense that Atari would have even requested a 16K version. The Commodore 64 cartridge release of Pac-Man by Atarisoft is also 8K (and also lacks the intermissions).

 

- After the debacle with 2600 Pac-Man, there's no way that Warner would have released a (cheaper) stripped-down 8K version of Pac-Man if there was a 16K version that was better...they would have released it (on cart or disk) from the outset. Part of the reason they contracted the game out to Roklan in the first place was likely to insure a quality port.

 

- A team of three people (Jim Andreasen - programmer, Alan Murphy - graphics & Andy Fuchs - sound) worked on the 5200 port. Had the 8-bit port been complete w/ intermissions, Atari would only have needed a coder to convert the game over to the 5200. The fact that a trio worked on the game alludes to the fact that graphic and sound improvements were made (like adding the intermissions) or that the game was coded from scratch.

 

Sorry to cut you off at this point, but I'm not going to go on and on about this. This thread was supposed to be about 5200 Asteroids and I think we're going far off topic into an entirely different discussion based largely on speculation (which has already confused at least one person, apparently).

[Artlover]

This thread was supposed to be about 5200 Asteroids and I think we're going far off topic into an entirely different discussion based largely on speculation (which has already confused at least one person, apparently).

 

<-

 

[Bryan]

Update: According to the programmer, the original 8-bit port of Pac-Man was 8K and did not have the intermissions. If there's a 16K (disk) version that has them, this was created later by someone else.

The original 8K version of PacMan also has greatly simplified AI from later versions. I remember poking through the code and noticing that the two AI sections looked nothing alike.

[Tempest]

Update: According to the programmer, the original 8-bit port of Pac-Man was 8K and did not have the intermissions. If there's a 16K (disk) version that has them, this was created later by someone else.

The original 8K version of PacMan also has greatly simplified AI from later versions. I remember poking through the code and noticing that the two AI sections looked nothing alike.

Does the 5200 version have the same AI as the 8K 8-bit version or is it different?

 

Tempest

[Bryan]

Update: According to the programmer, the original 8-bit port of Pac-Man was 8K and did not have the intermissions. If there's a 16K (disk) version that has them, this was created later by someone else.

The original 8K version of PacMan also has greatly simplified AI from later versions. I remember poking through the code and noticing that the two AI sections looked nothing alike.

Does the 5200 version have the same AI as the 8K 8-bit version or is it different?

 

Tempest

I believe the 5200 has the upgraded AI. IIRC, the better AI has the ghosts going to their respective corners from the start (like the original) and with the simpler AI they don't.

[82atari5200]

So how about those asteroids....

[+Allan]

So how about those asteroids....

Well, we'll never now unless someone asks Mr. Brown and if he remembers. It's been a long time.

 

Allan

[82atari5200]

So how about those asteroids....

Well, we'll never now unless someone asks Mr. Brown and if he remembers. It's been a long time.

 

Allan

I was just trying to steer to conversation back to original topic. Anyway I'll always love the 5200 Pac Man and the 5200 period. I want to be cremated with my beloved 5200....

[Ransom]

So how about those asteroids....

Well, we'll never now unless someone asks Mr. Brown and if he remembers. It's been a long time.

 

Allan

I was just trying to steer to conversation back to original topic. Anyway I'll always love the 5200 Pac Man and the 5200 period. I want to be cremated with my beloved 5200....

 

Isn't it great that it has a convenient storage compartment where your ashes can be placed?

[Artlover]

So how about those asteroids....

I had asteroids once. Hurt pretty bad, but the doctor gave me some cream, cleared it right up.

[Ransom]

So how about those asteroids....

I had asteroids once. Hurt pretty bad, but the doctor gave me some cream, cleared it right up.

 

You got the cream? You're so lucky! My doctor had to dig the asteroids out. What a pain in the . . .