Ature, my homebrew action adventure game for Atari 2600.

[beoran]

KevinMos3,

 

Thanks for your explanation. It's indeed not a bad place to level up quickly!

 

As to the other people who play the game but get killed rapidly: Swordfighting is a dangerous matter,so don't just rush in. Keep your distance as much possible, keeping the range of your sword into mind. It's indeed a good idea to keep your sword sticking out so you get the benefit of the first strike, and it also helps judging your range. At first, try to fight foes that don't shoot at you, or the Ikaza's Footsoldier and the Big Black Bog Bass KevinMos3 suggested.

 

As for foes that do shoot at you, like most bosses, look very carefully how they can shoot. A diagonal approach is the safest, but as you can't strike diagonally, you may need to step in and time your attacks carefully. Foes can only shoot one arrow at you at the time, so as long as the arrow you dodges is still on the screen, it's safe to make a strike. You can practice dealing with shooting foes by fighting the Blue Bloom or the Crabby Crab foes west and south of your house.

 

Oh, and I also still have some problems beating the bosses myself, as it would be boring for me if the game was too easy for myself. Level up a lot,

look well at how and from what point they are shooting, and try to hit them from an angle where they cannot shoot you. And if you explore the game enough, you can find a way to collect the Numen Shield, which will make you invulnerable to enemy arrows, and which will help you defeat some of the harder bosses.

 

Maybe I really need to write a walkthrough, though, or perhaps, a "hints" page, for the more difficult puzzles.

 

Edit: Here it is:

 

http://ature.wordpress.com/hints/

 

Edit: And I uploaded a video to youtube. Sorry for the low quality:

 

Edited August 11, 2010 by beoran

[KevinMos3]

beoran, great job on the hints! I formatted it as a txt file for any XBox users (such as myself). You can place the text file in your GameFAQs media folder to view these hints from within the emulator.

 

edit: This file has been updated (8-14-2010) to reflect the changes made by beoran.

Ature Hints.txt

 

I do have one question about the hints though. What do you mean by: "The ancient tower was Ikaza’s henchmen. Most likely they hid the way to open it up again on the Black Ship." in hint 16?

Also, I found a couple of typos. In hint 2, patter should be pattern. In hint 18, you said the tree big foes. I assumed you meant the three big foes. I included these edits in the text file.

 

I watched a little bit of that youtube video on my dialup. The wait was painful , but I liked the comment bubbles on what I saw. I downloaded the video and watched the full thing (of course without the comments since it was offline).

 

 

edit: Here is your manual separated into individual images, formatted so XBox users can view it from within the emulator. If you would rather I didn't share these, just let me know and I'll take them down. I don't want to step on your toes. I don't even know if there are many (if any) XBox emulator users lurking here.

Ature Manual.zip

Edited August 15, 2010 by KevinMos3

[beoran]

KeviMos,

 

Thanks for pointing out those errors. I updated my blog page with the hints to correct them and explain the hint that I garbled. I also changed into

an ordered numbered list so it's easier to refer to one of hints.

 

I'm perfectly fine with you reformatting and redistributing the hints and the manual, on the Xbox or any other platform. If you read the License in the manual, it states you can do such thing. However, even though you don't have to, I would like to ask of anyone who redistributes my game to also include all the original files that are in the zip file I posted here as well, in case anyone is curious about the game's sources or documentation, or wants to improve on either of them. I'd also like this to avoid people downloading the manual and then not being able to find the game. It's easier if everything you need is included in one zip file, or other similar archive if that's anyway possible on the Xbox platform.

 

As for emulator users on the Xbox... I'm not an MS fan so I don't care too much. But to quote ADOM: "Sages wise and mystics flighty, even they must wonder."

Edited August 12, 2010 by beoran

[KevinMos3]

That's all cool. I wasn't intending to distribute anything, I was just referring to posting these things here in this thread. Like I said, I don't even know if any XBox users are lurking here, but if they are, they might find that reformatted manual handy. The newest XBox emulators updated by Madmab are excellent. They let you view images and even movies while playing the game, (well, not actually WHILE playing the game, you have to bring up the menu for that ). You could always view text files from within a game using the xport emulators, but only recently could you view images and movies.

[beoran]

Ok, that's cool, and I'm cool with it too. Gotta stop saying cool before I freeze.

[Atari_afternoon]

http://ature.wordpress.com/hints/

 

 

I´m glad you´ve made a blog and especially a video

Edited August 13, 2010 by Atari_afternoon

[beoran]

You're welcome!

 

Perhaps it's because I programmed the game, but it seems the game is much easier for me than it is for you?

So I hope my hint section in the blog is helping you out.

[eegad]

Totally awesome game! I haven't gotten very far with it, but it seems really large/complex by 2600 standards.

 

Between this game, and Duck Attack, and Halo, and Turbo....this has really become an amazing year for Atari 2600 games!

[beoran]

Dear eegad, I'm glad you're enjoying the game. If possible, please help spread the word.

I think there are still many people who'd enjoy the game but don't know it exists.

[Animan]

I am jealous, horribly. This is a fantastic homebrew. This has to go into the store. Now.

 

I might make a label, but I am not the greatest artist of the others here.

[beoran]

Animan,

 

Glad to hear you like it. Yuppicide is working on putting this on cartridge.

No one else proposed to make a label yet, so your design would be very welcome.

[johnny_boy]

Beoran,

 

You succeeded at packing a decent amount of quality gameplay in this one, taking me back to my NES wonder-years, with its Zelda/Crystalis action-RPG play. It's a great example that hardware doesn't have to dictate the limits to game rules.

 

Your YouTube video is very informative, but I personally feel a short trailer with an appropriate soundtrack would help "sell" the game even better. The dedicated website is a good idea.

[beoran]

Dear Johnny Boy,

 

Thank you for the praise! I agree a trailer would be nice.

However, I'm not very good at editing movies yet, so it probably

won't be for anytime soon. Any help there would be appreciated. :]

[+Philsan]

Very nice game!

With the new bB v1.1 it could be improved.

I save all homebrews using standard format: Name (year) (author real name) (tv standard).

Don't you want to use it? (I don't know your real name).

[beoran]

Dear Philsan,

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the game. I hope you'll tell others about it so they can also enjoy it.

 

As for Batari v1.1, the new kernal looks very powerful, but it would probably require too much changes to

the game to make good use of it. Also, now I'm trying to focus on my very long term game project for PC,

so most likely, barring other people taking it up, Ature will stay as it is.

 

As for my name, I'd rather be known under the name Beoran for various reasons. Besides, Beoran is the name I gave

myself. In that, it is actually more "real" than the name of my ancestors or even the one my parents gave me.

So please name my game Ature_2010_Beoran_NTSC.bin or similar.

[Robot2600]

Wow, this game is amazing! I like to take a stab at label making, but it'll be a few days. Since the topic is 2 years old I don't think that'll be a problem .

[beoran]

Robot2600, glad you enjoyed the game as well. If you still want to make the label, I'm looking forward to it.

[+Gemintronic]

Whoa! The Master appears! What's next beoran? A Crystalis homage?

[beoran]

No, even better. It's an RPG for Windows/Linux/Mac though, and it's still under development. Look at http://www.beoran.net/eruta t get some first impressions.

[UberArcade]

If anyone else ever puts this on cart let me know. I would like to get it. I paid Yuppicide for one a few years ago but never got a copy.

[toymailman]

If anyone else ever puts this on cart let me know. I would like to get it. I paid Yuppicide for one a few years ago but never got a copy.

Ditto. Same story with Skull Island.

[+Gemintronic]

How about an anti-hero Ature and Skull Island game instead? You must roam the land collecting monies and scrambling puzzles to stall charge backs. I'd call it "Rogueicide"!

 

Any takers?

[Necron99]

If anyone else ever puts this on cart let me know. I would like to get it. I paid Yuppicide for one a few years ago but never got a copy.

I'd be in for one too. Great game, I missed the sign up for it before but I'm kind of glad I did now.

[beoran]

I even din't get my cart too, and I can't reach the giy, so there's not much I can do fear. But if anyone wants to make cards themselves, they can.

 

LOL at the rogicide idea.

Edited March 18, 2013 by beoran

[+swlovinist]

Just a heads up, that this game will be made again in a limited batch, following the instructions of the creative commons agreement. I emailed Beoran awhile back, and have decided to have the game for the Upcoming Cowlitz Gamers for Kids 2016 show. Albert has agreed to offer to do the boards for the show(Thank you so much). The completed game will include a plastic case, insert, cart, and some cool promo thing that I have not decided upon. Also included will be a cd that will include the rom, original manual, as well as hints, overworld pic etc. 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Childrens Justice & Advocacy Center.

 

This project was made possible by many people including Beoran, Albert, Atariage users TheLoon, Lord Thag and many more. The game will be sold at the show, with remaining copies being offered right here on the site first. As always I do not do holds or pre orders.