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The Official 2600 Easter Egg and Programming Mysteries Thread


Tempest

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Since the graphics data for BP is in the code, this may be the result of an unwanted glitch. But the code for the city is very simple (just four code locations: one for initial pattern load, two for scrolling back and forth and one for displaying) and I cannot see anything which could create a gap in the city.

 

The terrain CTRLPF write at $F761 would seem to be a possible candidate (the reversed building gfx makes the scroll happen from and to the center rather than the edges). But the value is an immediate value, and the register is updated just before drawing the city on every frame...so it would take ROM corruption for that to happen.

 

IMO it was an embellished account of the actual EE. Pretty common BITD when mythbusting was difficult.

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I'm not sure if this qualifies as an "easter egg"or not, but I discovered a hidden room in Superman (for the 2600).

It was in the disassembly of the game, called the Null Room, where the game puts all the items that wind up out of play (like when you drop a bad guy into the jail for example)

 

If you use Stella or other emulator, you can change the room number to number 0, which puts you into this hidden room.

 

I posted two videos here...

 

and

 

I also found similar things in Adventure and Haunted House...if anyone is interested...

 

Marc

 

What do the zero rooms in Adventure and Haunted House look like?

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What do the zero rooms in Adventure and Haunted House look like?

Neither really have "null rooms" per se...but if you change the room number in Adventure you get the game select screen, which is just an empty room with the number 1, 2, or 3 in the center. It's an actual room. You can also get to it if you are on the game select screen, and move the joystick a bit, then your square character icon appears at the bottom. In game play, you can set the game number register to this screen, etc.

 

In Haunted house, there is a register that hold the "floor" number...if you set it to 0 or a high number, you can enter a "floor" of the house that has no exits. Again, not really an intentional null room like the one in Superman, but rather an anomaly with similar characteristics.

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  • 11 months later...

Two questions:

1. What % of Missile Command carts produced did NOT have the RF Easter egg? My guess is less than 10%. I have been collecting, and tested others, and I have never come across one out in the wild. It's usually the first game I go to test a system, This leads me to question 2.

2. Would others consider the Missile Command egg the easiest of the 2600? For me, it's oh too easy to end a game with less than what, 50 points or so.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yesterday I did some treasure hunting.

Scott Stilphen provided me with this Sunrise Software press information:
http://www.atarimania.com/2600/boxes/hi_res/quest_for_quintana_roo_sunrise_cart_6.jpg

It always bothered me that the Quest for Quintana Roo passwords in the VCS version were 'left-overs' from the earlier versions made for the other systems, but not usable.

Why would they leave these 'passwords' in?

So I tried a different approach: I put them in as coordinates on Google Earth...

Much to my surprise it lead to a position in the city of Chetumal on the Yucatan peninsula, were (according to the press info) a real treasure chest was buried.

Perhaps it's still there waiting for us?

8)

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Yesterday I did some treasure hunting.

 

Scott Stilphen provided me with this Sunrise Software press information:

http://www.atarimania.com/2600/boxes/hi_res/quest_for_quintana_roo_sunrise_cart_6.jpg

 

It always bothered me that the Quest for Quintana Roo passwords in the VCS version were 'left-overs' from the earlier versions made for the other systems, but not usable.

 

Why would they leave these 'passwords' in?

 

So I tried a different approach: I put them in as coordinates on Google Earth...

 

Much to my surprise it lead to a position in the city of Chetumal on the Yucatan peninsula, were (according to the press info) a real treasure chest was buried.

 

Perhaps it's still there waiting for us?

 

8)

 

That always bothered me too. The 2600 is difficult enough to program for, why would they go through the bother of putting in passwords they knew weren't going to be used? It's not like they directly ported the code form the 8-bit versions or anything like that.

 

So those weren't unused passwords but rather clues for a contest? How did this go unnoticed for so long? I assume the contest never happened?

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That always bothered me too. The 2600 is difficult enough to program for, why would they go through the bother of putting in passwords they knew weren't going to be used? It's not like they directly ported the code form the 8-bit versions or anything like that.

 

So those weren't unused passwords but rather clues for a contest? How did this go unnoticed for so long? I assume the contest never happened?

 

I dont think the contest was ever held.

 

But thanks to that press information I got curious about these codes again and... voila!

 

8)

Edited by Rom Hunter
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  • 8 months later...

Two questions:

1. What % of Missile Command carts produced did NOT have the RF Easter egg? My guess is less than 10%. I have been collecting, and tested others, and I have never come across one out in the wild. It's usually the first game I go to test a system, This leads me to question 2.

2. Would others consider the Missile Command egg the easiest of the 2600? For me, it's oh too easy to end a game with less than what, 50 points or so.

 

 

I've been buying and testing Missile Command carts forever and have NEVER found the no-easter egg version. So I'm definitely curious too!

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I've been buying and testing Missile Command carts forever and have NEVER found the no-easter egg version. So I'm definitely curious too!

My guess is less than 1%.

I find Easter eggs to be a big part of my interest in Atari. I found the Adventure one by glitching the system back in the late 70s early 80s.

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  • 1 month later...

This is definately a glitch, but while playing Warlords, I discovered that if the ball flies at a paddle at a certain angle and you jam the paddles towards a wall, you can get the ball stuck between the wall and the paddle, and it will not move.

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  • 3 months later...

 

 

Hi guys, I found an Easter Egg in a really cool homebrew game made in Brazil, it's the Rally Racer fair by More Work Games.
At a certain point in the race, I don't know exactly what I did and I entered this bonus screen.

The game has a Pilot Tips manual and I read everything to try to understand what I did but I didn't find out, does anyone know this funny game and got this easter egg? See the picture, Delorean on the screen! And some interesting information. Back to the future? 

CD1FD7D1-7C4B-431F-BACE-A6C4A9C37826.jpeg

Edited by RodrigoAB
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Hi Nukey

This screen appeared during a race( it’s not a score), i was overtaking cars and obstacles and suddenly got into this screen, so I realized I got a great bonus in miles, then the race back to where I was!

In the game the author talks about Delorean and other cars (Herbie, Ferrari Testarosa, etc) and they appear during the race as opponents.

I just don't know exactly what I did to get this bonus!

 

*The final score screen is another you can see in this print here:

5230566E-8AF8-4837-90F2-2D2B47F6943C.jpeg

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A little late with this answer, but...

 

On 8/2/2018 at 6:26 PM, Rom Collector said:

2. Would others consider the Missile Command egg the easiest of the 2600? For me, it's oh too easy to end a game with less than what, 50 points or so.

 

I'd consider the Yars' Revenge Easter egg the easiest on the 2600, if not all of video games.  It's so easy most people found it by accidentally tripping over it.

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On 9/23/2019 at 5:14 AM, RodrigoAB said:

 

Hi Nukey

This screen appeared during a race( it’s not a score), i was overtaking cars and obstacles and suddenly got into this screen, so I realized I got a great bonus in miles, then the race back to where I was!

In the game the author talks about Delorean and other cars (Herbie, Ferrari Testarosa, etc) and they appear during the race as opponents.

I just don't know exactly what I did to get this bonus!

 

*The final score screen is another you can see in this print here:

5230566E-8AF8-4837-90F2-2D2B47F6943C.jpeg

That's cool, man!

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My Atari 2600 was struck by lightning through the TV antenna when I was a teenager in the early 80's. The lightning fried something in the console, but didn't completely kill it, and every game was "different". It was like permanently frying every game, I suppose. Some games were still playable, some weren't. One of the most interesting was Pitfall - when you started the game, there was a Pitfall Harry in the normal starting position but also one directly under it in the cave and you could control both at the same time.

 

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  • 4 months later...

Adventure Question:

I know this is an older thread but I'll post the question anyway.  Of course we all know about getting Warren Robinetts name but, have any of you noticed the blinking screen in the dark maze on the way to the white castle?  You know how the screen will blink if there is more than one item on the screen?  If you are on your way to the White Castle in the dark maze and you are carrying an item, the maze blinks like there is something else hidden in the maze.  I've tried exploring the walls using the bridge but the Bat keeps coming in and taking the bridge.  Just wondering if any of you know why the screen is blinking like there is something else hidden in the maze.

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On 2/9/2020 at 3:58 PM, Jscreemr said:

Adventure Question:

I know this is an older thread but I'll post the question anyway.  Of course we all know about getting Warren Robinetts name but, have any of you noticed the blinking screen in the dark maze on the way to the white castle?  You know how the screen will blink if there is more than one item on the screen?  If you are on your way to the White Castle in the dark maze and you are carrying an item, the maze blinks like there is something else hidden in the maze.  I've tried exploring the walls using the bridge but the Bat keeps coming in and taking the bridge.  Just wondering if any of you know why the screen is blinking like there is something else hidden in the maze.

Interesting question.  I don't think there's anything else hidden as people have poured over the code by now.  

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On 2/9/2020 at 3:58 PM, Jscreemr said:

Adventure Question:

I know this is an older thread but I'll post the question anyway.  Of course we all know about getting Warren Robinetts name but, have any of you noticed the blinking screen in the dark maze on the way to the white castle?  You know how the screen will blink if there is more than one item on the screen?  If you are on your way to the White Castle in the dark maze and you are carrying an item, the maze blinks like there is something else hidden in the maze.  I've tried exploring the walls using the bridge but the Bat keeps coming in and taking the bridge.  Just wondering if any of you know why the screen is blinking like there is something else hidden in the maze.

The orange box that surrounds you is an "object" in the game's code. So whenever you're in one of the dark mazes, any two other objects will cause the blinking, since it blinks if there are three "objects" in a particular room.

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  • 8 months later...
  • 1 month later...

It maybe doesn't belong here, but a friend and I used to play Activision Grand Prix a lot. He got the world record (as far as we knew from newsletters), and went to find a camera (they required film back then). By the time the camera was loaded, the image on the TV screen had changed so that the score or time was no longer visible. So we never did send for the patch.

Edited by Freeway
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  • 5 months later...

Found something odd in Aardvark.  If you clear a hill without eating the queens you get a bonus hill with a blue aardvark at the top of the screen.  Must be that blue aardvark from the Ant and the Aardvark cartoons.  Guess he got tired of chasing that red ant.

IMG_8035 (2).JPG

IMG_8032 (2).JPG

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