Reserve List for Jr. Pac-Man

[darthkur]

BTW, the one I am using is the one with the expansion port on the side (the '84 version). The carts work fine for me on that one.

 

Thanks,

Bob

 

 

That sure is good news because that's the model I have and my cart just showed up today. I just got back from seeing the new Star Trek movie so I haven't tried out the game yet. Sounds like it should work fine though on my console.

[gdement]

***NOTE***

By the way, I found out that once you hit RESET, this all goes away. It's only the first game you start after powering the unit on that this happens on.

 

If that works, then couldn't you just automatically "reset" the game as a workaround? Unless I'm forgetting something, I think the reset button is just a button signal, nothing more. It doesn't actually reset the ICs or interrupt power or anything, the "reset" is just a software function, isn't it?

 

 

 

... Still, if somebody with the hardware knowledge could figure out precisely what the root problem is, I'm sure all homebrewers would be relieved to learn about it for future reference.

Edited May 9, 2009 by gdement

[FireTiger]

I have tired it cold in two 85/86 units w/o expansion port showing/ bevel and it worked fine.

[NinjaWarrior]

what level is the glinch at??

[Zoyx]

what level is the glinch at??

"You're a Mean One, Mr. Glinch"

[HatNJ]

Hi Bob

Yep when you get things figured out Im still in for one

 

Have both models of the 7800 and have all the homebrews from the store here as well as a couple others and they all work fine in both

 

Thanks for all your hard work

Mike

[NinjaWarrior]

You know what I mean..a bug

 

Will removing the C4 resister do the trick

Edited May 9, 2009 by NinjaWarrior

[jwierer]

what level is the glinch at??

Will happen on the first level.

[jwierer]

By the way, I found out that once you hit RESET, this all goes away. It's only the first game you start after powering the unit on that this happens on.

I've since replaced the ram in my cart, but on at least one occasion I hit reset, played the first 3 levels fine, and got phantom dots on the 4th level. It wasn't repeatable, but you might want to try going through a few games and see if happens for anybody else who has a 7800 that exhibits the same symptoms.

 

-Jeff

[AdeptRapier]

Hello!

 

I recieved my cart today and it looks great, thank you very much! I tried it on my 7800 which seems to be one of the later models (no expansion port that I could see on the motherboard) and the game seemed to work perfectly no problem!

 

AdeptRapier

 

[Dauber]

So....my console, again, is probably one of the newer ones...no hint whatsoever that there was ever supposed to be an expansion port. So far, it's played EVERYTHING that's been thrown at it -- the Activision games that don't work on most 7800s, homebrews, regulars, and even the Supercharger.

 

Having said that, I finally had some time to fire up the 7800 and Jr. Pac-Man. The verdict: FLAWLESS!!!

 

I had time for two full-length games....I saw nothing odd, except for the mazes I could never reach before (I played in high-speed mode). No bugs, no nothin'.

[NinjaWarrior]

I just got it today..plays fine with me

[akator]

Bob, I'd like to be on the list if more carts are ever sold

[FireTiger]

I would suggest asking people that do not want the cart becase of this glitch to drop of the list, but that would just be me- its such an awesome game!

[Almost Rice]

I got my cart today. There is no problem with missing walls on the right side. My 7800 is one with the expansion port but the case covers it. My other 7800s do not have the composite mod so I cant test it at this time.

 

I have a 7800 with expansion port on the case and one with no expansion port at all. I will test them when I get a RF box.

[darthkur]

I tried mine out and it works great. Played a few normal games plus I zipped through the mazes with the "turbo boost" and got to the Root Beer maze. That one's even really hard with the added speed. I didn't notice any open spaces where they were not supposed to be.

One odd thing that did happen, which I believed was commented upon a ways back, was on the Teddy Bear board I happened to eat the energizer at the exact time the Bear hit it. The destruction effect graphics and sound commenced and the ghosts all turned blue. I didn't happen to eat any of the monsters so I can't comment on that but I did notice when I finished the maze there was one dot left over. It didn't impede the game play nor did it create any sort of other disruptions or errors so I don't see a problem with it. I figure the timing involved in JR and the Bear hitting an energizer at the same moment is so rare, normally, that it's not even something you'll hardly ever see, let alone have to worry about.

Edited May 10, 2009 by darthkur

[mimo]

Just got home after a weekends camping, nice to find Jr.Pac-Man on my door mat when I got home

Thanks Bob, it looks really professional, now must finish that s-video mod I started before xmas

[PacManPlus]

Ok, thank you everyone.

 

Here's the latest:

 

I opened a cart that tested 'bad' and one that tested 'good'. No obvious differences. (They both are using OTP proms - this is the first time I've used them). The reason why I mention that specifically is that Mitch had told me he had issues with this type of prom.

 

I removed the 'bad' prom, and placed it in another board. Worked fine, which made me believe it's a RAM thing. I then moved it back to the original board and got the issue again. So, my next step was to take a 'normal' eprom and put it in the 'bad' board (with me so far?) To my surprise, it worked. Now I'm very confused. I'm wondering if it's some sort of timing thing.

 

(Mitch, if you are reading this, I am tending to side with you that it may be the OTP proms, but the only thing that puts a monkey wrench in this explanation is that jwierer used a regular eprom and it happened to him)

 

I have it down to this:

It's not an issue with the maze drawing routine, but it is with the dot placement routine. The dots are placed in groups of 8 (1 byte for 8 dots) and an ASL is done to get the bit out to tell if a dot is to be placed or not. There is one variable that holds this value as it's being shifted. That's the variable that for some reason is being thwarted, only on the newer 7800s. For instance, the right side where the outer wall is has the last two positions of the dots and 6 'spaces' (value $C0). In the places where the dots are placed through the wall, this $CO value either isn't getting shifted correctly, or the memory position holding that value is changed to something else (again, only in the later model 7800s). I've tried moving it to a different location (maybe something was being overwritten), but that didn't help. One thing I am going to try when I get home, is changing the 'ASL TEMPDOT' to 'LDA TEMPDOT, ASL, STA TEMPDOT' just to see if that makes a difference.

 

BTW, I forgot one thing; the monsters will never go all the way out of the holes in the outer walls, because the program prevents them from moving outside the edge of the screen. They will just reverse direction. The player, however, can. It doesn't look like the program will crash, but this still shouldn't happen.

 

All things considered, I will be making the rest of the carts now that it looks like most people either have the port or don't have the issue. I just want to try a few things before I do. I may even rewrite the dot placement routine entirely.

 

Thanks for your patience, and thanks Mitch for letting me bounce ideas off of you.

Bob

Edited May 10, 2009 by PacManPlus

[FireTiger]

Sounds wonderful.

 

So when you get the error can you still clear the maze or are there a strange number of dots?

[PacManPlus]

One odd thing that did happen, which I believed was commented upon a ways back, was on the Teddy Bear board I happened to eat the energizer at the exact time the Bear hit it. The destruction effect graphics and sound commenced and the ghosts all turned blue. I didn't happen to eat any of the monsters so I can't comment on that but I did notice when I finished the maze there was one dot left over. It didn't impede the game play nor did it create any sort of other disruptions or errors so I don't see a problem with it. I figure the timing involved in JR and the Bear hitting an energizer at the same moment is so rare, normally, that it's not even something you'll hardly ever see, let alone have to worry about.

Yes, that will happen if you hit the energizer on the exact same frame as the bonus item. So, actually *two* dots get subtracted from the total. This is why you were left over with one dot at the end of the maze. Don't worry though, I made sure that the bug that is in the 5200 doesn't happen here. I remove the energizer as soon as the bonus item touches it. So if you die while it's exploding, it's already removed. This means that in the case where you and the bonus item hit the energizer at the same time, you actually hit it first within the same frame.

 

So when you get the error can you still clear the maze or are there a strange number of dots?

You can clear the maze, but it may require you to clear the dots that get put 'outside' the maze if they get put there.

Each dot that gets placed counts toward the end of the maze.

 

Edited for spelling

Edited May 10, 2009 by PacManPlus

[darthkur]

One odd thing that did happen, which I believed was commented upon a ways back, was on the Teddy Bear board I happened to eat the energizer at the exact time the Bear hit it. The destruction effect graphics and sound commenced and the ghosts all turned blue. I didn't happen to eat any of the monsters so I can't comment on that but I did notice when I finished the maze there was one dot left over. It didn't impede the game play nor did it create any sort of other disruptions or errors so I don't see a problem with it. I figure the timing involved in JR and the Bear hitting an energizer at the same moment is so rare, normally, that it's not even something you'll hardly ever see, let alone have to worry about.

Yes, that will happen if you hit the energizer on the exact same frame as the bonus item. So, actually *two* dots get subtracted from the total. This is why you were left over with one dot at the end of the maze. Don't worry though, I made sure that the bug that is in the 5200 doesn't happen here. I remove the energizer as soon as the bonus item touches it. So if you die while it's exploding, it's already removed. This means that in the case where you and the bonus item hit the energizer at the same time, you actually hit it first within the same frame.

 

 

 

 

That's good to hear. That's horrible when it happens in the 5200 version. Ruins the whole game.

Anyways, thanks for the info and thank you very much for the game. It's one of the high point's of my entire collection.

[TrekMD]

I got my cart today and it worked flawlessly... Thank you for such a great game!

[Greg2600]

How do we know when our turn on the list comes up, to pay, etc...private message?

[FireTiger]

How do we know when our turn on the list comes up, to pay, etc...private message?

 

yes.

[Lord Thag]

Well, mine showed up today! I played it for the first time today (not much for emulation). I have this to say:

 

Holy shit.

 

Best arcade to classic console port, ever. This thing is perfect, absolutely perfect. Everything plays flawlessly, and the attention to detail is simply staggering.

 

To those of you who are waiting, this is WELL worth the wait.

 

To those of you who missed the list, my deepest, heartfelt condolences.

 

The 7800 is rapidly becoming the king of arcade ports, and this game is likely to be the crown jewel.

 

Simply unbelievable.