CRV Posted December 25, 2009 Share Posted December 25, 2009 I've been researching a development company called HomeComputer Software. In the course of said research, I found this old Chicago Tribune article about upcoming Sparrow products. Since you have to pay to read the article, I only managed to grab this sentence: Also on the drawing boards at Sparrow are an Atari 2600 game called "Arkyology," based on events in the life of Noah, based on events in the life of Noah, and a game based on three incidents in the life of David, including his encounter with Goliath. According to InfoWorld, HCS had a joint-venture agreement with Sparrow. I assume HCS would have developed these (just like The Music Machine), while Sparrow would market and distribute them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chriswhit Posted December 25, 2009 Share Posted December 25, 2009 Wonder if the game was ever released? If so that would be a nice find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRV Posted December 25, 2009 Author Share Posted December 25, 2009 (edited) Wonder if the game was ever released? If so that would be a nice find I'm assuming neither game described was released. Edited December 25, 2009 by CRV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwalters Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 I've been researching a development company called HomeComputer Software. In the course of said research, I found this old Chicago Tribune article about upcoming Sparrow products. Since you have to pay to read the article, I only managed to grab this sentence: According to InfoWorld, HCS had a joint-venture agreement with Sparrow. I assume HCS would have developed these (just like The Music Machine), while Sparrow would market and distribute them. I know I'm replying to a very old post, but I just stumbled on this forum and thought I'd give a little insight into these two games.. Arkyology and David and Goliath. Back in 1982 - 1984 I worked for Enter-Tech Ltd. We developed video games, coin-op, cartridge, and gambling as well. We developed a few games for the Atari 2600. We had the contract to develop Arkyology, and David and Goliath for the 2600 back in 1983. I and my co-worker George Hefner were the programmers on the Arkyology project. My co-worker Rick Harris was the lead on the David and Goliath project, Andy Teague helped. Barb Ultis did the graphics for both games. The games required a cartridge board that handled ROM banking. The final games fit inside 8k bytes. Arkyology was finished and ready for release, I don't think David and Goliath was ever finished. Arkyology was about Noah's ark. The player controlled 'Noah' and the goal was to feed the animals on the Ark. The game showed three floors separated by ladders that contained animal stalls. Each level had two parts. First was to run around and open all of the animal stalls, the second was to 'feed' each of the animals. Of course, there were obstacles. There were birds flying past, alligators running on the floors, and a couple others if I remember right. Each level sped up with more obstacles. David and Goliath was about David. First he was a shepherd and the goals was to herd the sheep. Ultimately David was to meet and fight Goliath. David and Goliath was never finished as the company who contracted us ran out of money and couldn't pay (as I recall). btw: I have a game rom of Arkyology... probably the only one still in existence. 32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Reeeeeeeeeeally...... Cannot wait to see what you do with it, as I am sure many folks here would love to play it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 A finished game?!?!?! I really would like to see it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 So exciting when these things happen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Any chance some pictures and/or video could be released so we can see the game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Sure would be great to see a short gameplay video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfriendly Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I know I'm replying to a very old post, but I just stumbled on this forum and thought I'd give a little insight into these two games.. Arkyology and David and Goliath. Back in 1982 - 1984 I worked for Enter-Tech Ltd. We developed video games, coin-op, cartridge, and gambling as well. We developed a few games for the Atari 2600. We had the contract to develop Arkyology, and David and Goliath for the 2600 back in 1983. I and my co-worker George Hefner were the programmers on the Arkyology project. My co-worker Rick Harris was the lead on the David and Goliath project, Andy Teague helped. Barb Ultis did the graphics for both games. The games required a cartridge board that handled ROM banking. The final games fit inside 8k bytes. Arkyology was finished and ready for release, I don't think David and Goliath was ever finished. Arkyology was about Noah's ark. The player controlled 'Noah' and the goal was to feed the animals on the Ark. The game showed three floors separated by ladders that contained animal stalls. Each level had two parts. First was to run around and open all of the animal stalls, the second was to 'feed' each of the animals. Of course, there were obstacles. There were birds flying past, alligators running on the floors, and a couple others if I remember right. Each level sped up with more obstacles. David and Goliath was about David. First he was a shepherd and the goals was to herd the sheep. Ultimately David was to meet and fight Goliath. David and Goliath was never finished as the company who contracted us ran out of money and couldn't pay (as I recall). btw: I have a game rom of Arkyology... probably the only one still in existence. Great story. I'm curious, did your own curiosity lead you to find the 6 year old post on Atari Age in order to find out if any info on the games existed online? It would be cool to see some pics or a video of the game. Thanks for posting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Opening screen... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Level 1 (running on my board)... 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 BTW, it is not April, this is for real. And no, don't ask. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 This game is hard, but the mechanic is pretty solid. Open all the stalls for the animals and then the next thing is to feed them. I managed to feed one before I lost my last life. Excuse: I was using a 7800 stick, it was closest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRV Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Back in 1982 - 1984 I worked for Enter-Tech Ltd. We developed video games, coin-op, cartridge, and gambling as well. We developed a few games for the Atari 2600. We had the contract to develop Arkyology, and David and Goliath for the 2600 back in 1983. Do you remember if Enter-Tech did any other home games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwalters Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 (edited) Do you remember if Enter-Tech did any other home games? Yes, we worked with Unitronics and made three games for the "Unitronics Expander" ( http://www.atarihq.com/museum/2678/expander.html) btw: That second picture is actually me holding the joystick! It was taken at the 1983 CES in Las Vegas for a last-minute flyer. The three games pictured are "Treasure Hunt", "Dazzler", and "Those Little Buggers" ( I *REALLY* hated that name). Edited September 8, 2015 by pwalters 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwalters Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Great story. I'm curious, did your own curiosity lead you to find the 6 year old post on Atari Age in order to find out if any info on the games existed online? It would be cool to see some pics or a video of the game. Thanks for posting Well, out of curiosity last week I stumbled on the "Moppet Video" games that are listed here: http://ggdb.com/ByManufacturer.aspx?c=Coin-Op&s=Arcade&m=Moppet+Videoand a few other places. I found that there is a following for them because they are fairly rare. I was the main developer on most of those coin-op games. It made me a little nostalgic so I searched for Arkyology to see if there was any mention of it and found it here.... so here I am... 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Well, out of curiosity last week I stumbled on the "Moppet Video" games that are listed here: http://ggdb.com/ByManufacturer.aspx?c=Coin-Op&s=Arcade&m=Moppet+Videoand a few other places. I found that there is a following for them because they are fairly rare. I was the main developer on most of those coin-op games. It made me a little nostalgic so I searched for Arkyology to see if there was any mention of it and found it here.... so here I am... Wow! Welcome and thanks for sharing your story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Wow, nice another programmer joins AA, welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRV Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Well, out of curiosity last week I stumbled on the "Moppet Video" games that are listed here: http://ggdb.com/ByManufacturer.aspx?c=Coin-Op&s=Arcade&m=Moppet+Videoand a few other places. I found that there is a following for them because they are fairly rare. I was the main developer on most of those coin-op games. It made me a little nostalgic so I searched for Arkyology to see if there was any mention of it and found it here.... so here I am... What was the relationship between Enter-Tech and Tuni Electro Services? What were E.T. Marketing and E.T. Industries? Thank you very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwalters Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Hey CRV, The company was originally "Tuni Electro Services". Tuni was the last name of the company founder/owner. Tuni was based out of Oregon. The video game operation, where I worked, was based in Tempe, AZ and consisted of development, manufacturing, sales and marketing. At one point late in '82 Tuni started running out of money. Missed a payroll and shut down the company for a week or so while the local management regrouped. The local management got funding and bought out Tuni, and named the company Enter-Tech, Ltd.. Enter-Tech Ltd. was owned by E.T. Industries. The employees were issued stock in E.T. Industries based on how long they had worked for the company. E.T. Marketing was on-site in Tempe, AZ and was dedicated to the marketing of the products. I'm not sure exactly why the marketing branch was a different company, but we shared offices. E.T. Industries made odd things roughly based on entertainment such as the large water-slides found at amusement parks. I'm not sure if they still exist but I don't think they do. if they did, I'd like to find out if my stock has gone up any on the past 30+ years There were 3 programmers including me, and one graphics artist. There was a hardware tech who helped out on the programming tasks from time to time as well. We had an arrangement with Century Electronics out of the UK. We did some development work on their arcade boards and software and made them work for the US market. We had our own line of 'gaming' i.e. video poker for both 'amusement' (read gray-market), and also had a Nevada approved video poker machine. We made our own coin-op arcade line of products under the name 'Moppet Video' and we did 2600 development as well. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Tarzilla Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 If you have any around, I would be interested in seeing scans of any of the notes you made during development for any of the games, character sketches, gameplay ideas etc...even source code to some of the arcade games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Wow! Very cool. I can't wait to add this to my site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Wow! Very cool. I can't wait to add this to my site. It doesn't happen often, that you come across an unreleased game, that is finished. It is 8K and the ROM space is pretty much full. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRV Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Links of interest to at least pwalters: - An old post from someone claiming to have come up with Moppet Video - Picture of employees putting together cabinets at Tuni Electro Systems in Vancouver, Washington 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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