Arkyology - New prototype discovered - Finished Game!

[DirtyHairy]

I suppose those of us who develop classify a 'bug' as an error, in design or implementation especially if it doesn't meet the design specifications. Where a user that just wants to play the game calls a 'bug' anything that interferes with game play?

 

True enough

[Supergun]

 

 

I am amazed about how you seem to see fit to crap on the work of a whole team of people, including me, in a single sentence Do you have any idea about the time and effort that has gone into researching the hardware to the point where we are now? Are you aware about the way Stella enables homebrew development? Do you think the advancements in modern day homebrews could have been made without a reliable emulation platform? How do you think this piece of video game history will be preserved after the original hardware has died away?

 

I don't want to derail this thread, so I'll stop here and swallow the rest that I'd have to say on this subject.

I dont have or use emulators. I dont buy or use homebrew games. I dont support either. I never have. I never will. They are all unofficial and aftermarket things. And NONE of that is nor will ever be needed in order to read the data from an eprom on a 30 year old prototype. We would be playing Arkyology today, just fine, without any of that stuff.

 

Ill give credit where it is do. So I will say that others in the community here DO use emulators and/or program homebrew games using them, etc. And maybe 32kb & 64kb & larger games are now possible because they make it easier to do. Again, great, and enjoy. Its not my cup of tea. Never has been. Never will be.

 

If I care off a bit harsh, I apologize. Thanks for your hard work, even though I do not utilize it. But my opinion is still the same. Ill just say it nicer this time. I dont like emulators. Period.

[pwalters]

I did find these two articles. Nothing super-concrete. There are a couple big names with HomeComputer Software dropped in the second article. I used the quotes with "Sparrow Games" because I didn't know the exact name of the entity that was providing the game to Sparrow at-large. It sounds like HomeComputer Software developed games and Sparrow published and distributed them. How EnterTech would get involved is mysterious, but HSC may have wanted to farm out the task or Sparrow may have approached EnterTech directly. It's possible some other company was involved in a joint venture with Sparrow and other company was farming it out to EnterTech, but it's kind of complicated for a small-ish software spin-off at Sparrow. However, descriptions of The Music Machine game say it was published by HomeComputer Software, developed by Christian Software Development and distributed through Sparrow Distribution, so it's possible a whole other distribution-publisher-development branch existed from Sparrow in 1983.

 

Could also be this publishing company decided to try to move Arkyology independently in 1986, without Sparrow Distribution. The Chicago Tribune article mentioned way back in the beginning of the thread might give more insight, through a closer look, if anybody has a subscription.

 

Edit: BTW, I wonder what ever became of "Name that Hymn", not that I would be much good at it, and HomeComputer Software after this article? Video game crash for obvious, but it looks like Sparrow had at least three games they were marketing: Arkyology, David and Goliath and Name That Hymn. I also wonder if The Music Machine video game had been released yet, since there is no mention of it.

 

http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Blog:Change_of_Heart:_Secular_Developers_Turned_Christian (a 2015 blog article)

HomeComputer Software

Under a joint venture agreement, HomeComputer Software, creator of the obscure Super Micro handheld system, made several titles that were distributed by Christian record company Sparrow (or rather, Sparrow Distribution). These included the Family Bible Fun line for Atari 8-bit and Apple II computers and The Music Machine for the Atari 2600, which was based on a series of children's records. Name That Hymn and a 2600 game, Arkyology, were also announced. (The programmer of Arkyology appeared on the AtariAge forums, and a finished prototype was uncovered in 2015. The game was developed by a different company, Enter-Tech.)

 

From June 1983:

https://archive.org/stream/softalkv3n10jun1983#page/194/mode/2up/search/sparrow

HomeComputer Software (Sunnyvale, CA), developer of Family Bible Fun Games, has split off from parent company Personal Computer Management Corporation and established new headquarters in Sunnyvale. John Tedesco, Former PCMC vice president and founder, is now president of and director of marketing for HomeComputer Software. Daniel Shafer, creator of the Bible games, is executive vice-president in charge of production. Sparrow Records, a Canoga Park, California-based gospel record company, is marketing the Bible Fun series through Christian book stores nationwide as part of a joint venture in which HomeComputer Software will create additional games for exclusive distribution by Sparrow, beginning with Name That Hymn.

 

Very nice research there. I do recall there were several entities involved, and 'JohnTedesco' sounds very familiar. If he is the customer I recall - who appeared to be late 30's to early 40's, then he would be probably somewhere between 72 to 77 today.

 

I'm also trying to track down Tom Opfer (my direct supervisor), and/or Pat Reed as they both had much more dealing on the business side. I talked with Tom several times in the early to mid 90's but haven't since then.

[Swami]

 

Very nice research there. I do recall there were several entities involved, and 'JohnTedesco' sounds very familiar. If he is the customer I recall - who appeared to be late 30's to early 40's, then he would be probably somewhere between 72 to 77 today.

 

I'm also trying to track down Tom Opfer (my direct supervisor), and/or Pat Reed as they both had much more dealing on the business side. I talked with Tom several times in the early to mid 90's but haven't since then.

 

This sound right: 68 yrs old now, used to live in Glendale, AZ?

 

https://www.whitepages.com/name/Tom-Opfer/Arizona?q=Tom%20Opfer&l=Arizona

 

For John Tedesco, you'll have to scan through the images here, in "Images:"

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22john+tedesco%22&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjGk67m9LHdAhXq1IMKHTcxBZYQ_AUICygC&biw=1366&bih=651

 

I think Pat Reed is going to be tough, due to how common the name is.

[Swami]

 

Very nice research there. I do recall there were several entities involved, and 'JohnTedesco' sounds very familiar. If he is the customer I recall - who appeared to be late 30's to early 40's, then he would be probably somewhere between 72 to 77 today.

 

I'm also trying to track down Tom Opfer (my direct supervisor), and/or Pat Reed as they both had much more dealing on the business side. I talked with Tom several times in the early to mid 90's but haven't since then.

 

There's also a computer games professor in Germany named Tom Opfer

 

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-71649-7_19

[Rom Hunter]

I dont like emulators. Period.

Somehow that sounds different from saying 'emulators are shit' in front of the people who put effort in making them.

 

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Emulators SUCK. They are PURE shit.

One step closer to ignore.

[alex_79]

[...] But my opinion is still the same. [...]

You mean, your opinion about emulators gathered from NOT having or using emulators?

Yeah.

 

Please, keep expressing your thoughts, I always like to read carefully reasoned arguments.

 

 

[Supergun]

I honestly can not believe what Im hearing here. Many of you seem to have lost your way over the years and have subsequently put the carriage before the horse. Why are you even here?!

 

This is atariage.com! This is not computer city or emu paradise. This is a website dedicated to an old & beloved piece of hardware and for those who loved it and appreciate it.

 

Let me make this real simple.

 

What I love about the Atari 2600, and all cartridge based consoles for that matter, is that it is FAST. You turn it on, and you start playing. Its instant & immediate. Cartridges can get plugged in & swapped out in seconds flat. And when your done playing, you turn it off and walk away. DONE.

 

Computers & floppy discs & CD roms & hard drives have always been SLOW. ALWAYS will be. You have to power them up, wait for them to boot up & load the bios and operating system, locate your program and load it up, etc.

 

Computers are a big part of what KILLED video games in the crash of 84 and because of that, I have always had a hatred towards them and I always will.

 

I own about 5000 games for about 30 game systems. Most of them with 100% complete sets of the the released games for them and almost all of them are cartridge based. Wether it was the computer craze in the 80s or the CD game systems in the 90s, or the Sony & Microsoft CD systems of today, they all have the same problem; the words Now Loading are not allowed on my tv screen!

 

And even if I could look past that, I have yet to play any emulator for any system that plays games properly. The right colors, the right speed, the exact sound effects, etc.

 

Ever played arcade Frogger or arcade Donkey Kong on ANYTHING other then the original authentic arcade board? IT SUCKS. PERIOD. Let me say it again. IT SUCKS! Mario doesnt make the correct walking sound and Frogger doesnt speak when he arrives home.

 

So if you emulator lovers think that kind of incomplete imperfection is perfectly acceptable and properly preserves the game for history, then YOUR INSANE!

 

Now, Im done talking about this. Im entitled to my opinion just like anyone else here. And imho, emulators SUCK. I only use real hardware.

 

So to get back on topic and out of respect for Paul & his game, and the whole reason this argument began in the first place, which is that the original Arkyology rom, works perfectly fine on an authentic & original 2600. So wether or not it works properly in some aftermarket hack system or a computer emulator or whatever else, is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT.

 

The problems with YOUR rubber band engine. Modify YOUR fake copy crap hardware. Dont modify HIS rom data.

[Albert]

Get back on topic or I'll kick you from the thread, Supergun. Your above post is filled with so many inaccuracies it's not even funny. We get it, you don't like emulators. Move along.

 

..Al

[+Atari_Warlord]

There is a listing in the copyright database for a game called "Name that Hymn" by a Russel G. Waldrop. The registration date is 1982 with a creation date of 1980. It looks like this person is a recently retired pastoral councilor in Virginia. The listing only mentions the document is 13 pages but no mention of what system.

 

 

edit: I dropped an email to him, and will follow up with any information he's willing to share.

Edited September 11, 2018 by Waggie

[+Atari_Warlord]

I heard back from Mr. Waldrop. The game was never programmed for any system. He did remember submitting the idea to a church school board that rejected it because part of the game involved betting points to see who could name a song with the fewest notes, which they considered gambling.

[CPUWIZ]

I don't use emulators either, for what it's worth, there is just something wrong about it to me.

[Mr SQL]

It's a good point that no one should have to modify the ROM to make it compatible but rather the other way around, I remember a thread a while back with similar ideas about modifying heavy sixers to make them more compatible.

 

Emulation is pretty cool though because so many people are exposed to Atari who would not otherwise enjoy it, and while not as cool as the real hardware it's definitely close enough to trigger retro flashbacks.

 

I use emu's and real hardware, and support them all with RAD development tools. emu's are definitely the lowest common denominator, but with teamwork we can keep improving them!

[+swlovinist]

I loved the video John Hancock did about this game. Does he ever hang out here? I've always wanted to meet him as he was one of those who inspired me to create my own YouTube channel.

 

Off to New Jersey for AVGC this weekend. Thank you for your kind words. I visit the forums often but have been juggling alot lately. Atariage is the main forum that I use for the classics. Between teaching, YouTube, and conventions on the road it has been busy for me.

[pwalters]

 

Off to New Jersey for AVGC this weekend. Thank you for your kind words. I visit the forums often but have been juggling alot lately. Atariage is the main forum that I use for the classics. Between teaching, YouTube, and conventions on the road it has been busy for me.

 

Thanks for reviewing the game -- I liked your comment "Who knew that Noah's Ark would be so dangerous"

[Lord Thag]

John and I fired this up the other night. It's a great little game, so cool we got it in 2018. Hard to believe we are still finding new games now. Awesome the ROM was release so everyone can play it too.

[Sapicco]

 

Sure you do, no skin off your nose. The week and a half of graphic design, gone. The hours I spent preparing the boards, gone. I am not sitting on 100 PCB's, prepared for this game, either. Poof.

 

EDIT: Between you and the Toki guy, who cost me even more money (like 100 x 27C020's), I am pretty much done helping to get carts to the community. Good job.

Since the rom is released,and youve already prepped the materials, why not just start making the carts now and sell them. Count me in for 2.

[pwalters]

Today I'm happy to announce that AtariAge will build and release the official Arkyology cartridge. As with other AtariAge releases, this will be a boxed release with professionally printed materials. A date has not been set, but I expect it will progress quickly.

 

Many thanks for your patience. It's been a 35 year journey that will soon be complete.

 

Paul

[CPUWIZ]

Since the rom is released,and youve already prepped the materials, why not just start making the carts now and sell them. Count me in for 2.

 

All good, except for my wife's wasted time, I am out.

[Supergun]

I would like to comment on this, but seeing as Im on thin ice in this particular thread, I will use discretion.

[racerx]

Today I'm happy to announce that AtariAge will build and release the official Arkyology cartridge. As with other AtariAge releases, this will be a boxed release with professionally printed materials. A date has not been set, but I expect it will progress quickly.

 

Many thanks for your patience. It's been a 35 year journey that will soon be complete.

 

Paul

Great news!

 

I don't buy much in the way of "new" releases for the 2600, by this would be a cool pick up just for the story behind it.

[+sramirez2008]

Great news!

 

...this would be a cool pick up just for the story behind it.

 

This...and the fact that the game is really good.

[TrekMD]

Today I'm happy to announce that AtariAge will build and release the official Arkyology cartridge. As with other AtariAge releases, this will be a boxed release with professionally printed materials. A date has not been set, but I expect it will progress quickly.

 

Many thanks for your patience. It's been a 35 year journey that will soon be complete.

 

Paul

Great news! Looking forward to it!

[+sramirez2008]

Arghh! Missed seeing 2nd half of Day 6 by one animal.