ArminTamzarian Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Hello all, A cursory look through the many forum categories here yielded no apparent section devoted to my particular interest today, which is determining the names of a couple of old 800 games I used to play back in the '80s. There was a board on another site that I ran across last night which had a specific forum category devoted to users helping other users determine the names of old games based on vague descriptions from hazy, twenty-plus years old memories. Unfortunately, it seems almost totally dead now (excepting the russian porn spammers), so I was hoping to get some help here at AtariAge...any chance of getting something similar going around these parts? Before it died completely out, it did appear that the category was fairly well used, with many posted help requests and plenty of responders. I don't think I ever read a thread that failed to determine the game in question. Anyhow, if a new forum category gets started, that would be awesome, otherwise, could a forum moderator/admin/regular point me in the right direction as to where I can post my Atari 800 game identification help request? Much obliged! -Armin (Seymore) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Hello all, A cursory look through the many forum categories here yielded no apparent section devoted to my particular interest today, which is determining the names of a couple of old 800 games I used to play back in the '80s. There was a board on another site that I ran across last night which had a specific forum category devoted to users helping other users determine the names of old games based on vague descriptions from hazy, twenty-plus years old memories. Unfortunately, it seems almost totally dead now (excepting the russian porn spammers), so I was hoping to get some help here at AtariAge...any chance of getting something similar going around these parts? Before it died completely out, it did appear that the category was fairly well used, with many posted help requests and plenty of responders. I don't think I ever read a thread that failed to determine the game in question. Anyhow, if a new forum category gets started, that would be awesome, otherwise, could a forum moderator/admin/regular point me in the right direction as to where I can post my Atari 800 game identification help request? Much obliged! -Armin (Seymore) Just ask the questions here - most get answered very quickly! And feel free to also share any of that Russian pr0n Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Ack, no pron please But yes, ask in here, there's a fantastic range of users in here, from 15 - 65, I'm 50 this year and the Atari was my working life back then as it was for a lot of the users here so trust me, you will get your answer in here and quickly too.. These guys are brilliantly helpful and really nice people.. Mind the bloke called Carmel tho, we are not sure he's human Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Or you can post in the High Score Club and well track down the 50 games that loosely match the vague descpition and play them to boot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Or you can post in the High Score Club and well track down the 50 games that loosely match the vague descpition and play them to boot That actually sounds workable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArminTamzarian Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 Appreciate the enthusiastic response! Here goes... Vague Description #1: For some reason, words like 'cave', 'bat', 'cavern', 'flight' all come to mind when I try to remember the name of this game, but I could be completely off base. You played a bat (if I remember correctly). You are at the very bottom of the screen, and the game scrolls vertically (though not automatically) as you move ahead. I believe the setting was in a cave, which had very rough (randomy/jaggedy) walls, which were kind of rubbery (if I recall the sound effect correctly) when you bumped into them. I also seem to remember that it was possible to somehow get outside the left edge of the cave in certain places so you could fly freely along the very edge of the screen without having to fight any enemies. It seems like you could shoot some sort of rays or elongated bullets to kill enemies, which I think were things like other bats and the occasional spider. As I recall, there enemies were scattered rather sparsely throughout the cave. I think the walls of the cave were brown (or brownish), and either your character or the enemy bats made high-pitched chirping bat-like noises from time to time. There might also have been a wing-flapping sound-effect as you flew. Vague Description #2: Seems like this one was called 'Tower' on the game menu. I believe the correct name for the perspective of this game would be rear/overhead-view in isometric 3D. You are a fighter ship flying over the surface of a planet, slowly closing in on a giant tower (just a thick line, as I recall) that you are supposed to destroy. Seems like there was various info at the bottom of the screen that showed the distance to your target and your energy level, as you had depletable fuel and must fly over these round glowing/flashing energy circles on the surface of the planet (that are a certain color only, avoiding the other colors) in order to replenish energy. I seem to remember that there were some sort of enemies that attacked you along the way as well, perhaps in the form of stationary guns firing at you, or perhaps other ships (not really sure). It seems like this one had fairly good graphics for the time. Any help naming either (or both) or these games would be greatly appreciated! They were lots of fun back in the '80s... -Armin (Seymore) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kr0tki Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 (edited) 1. Mountain King? Caverns of Khafka? Thrax Lair 2. Stealth Edited May 18, 2011 by Kr0tki 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArminTamzarian Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 1. Mountain King? Caverns of Khafka? Thrax Lair 2. Stealth Un. Freakin'. Believable. I am truly impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArminTamzarian Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 On a fairly unrelated note, can anyone point me to a standalone (as in not one of several games chosen off a menu) copy of the BASIC game 'Engineer' (the one where you draw lines to build a bridge across a canyon, having each line 'inspected' and approved by a little man before you can draw the next line)? Searching for 'atari' and 'engineer' gives a lot of irrelevant search results no matter where I seem to search... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russg Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 On a fairly unrelated note, can anyone point me to a standalone (as in not one of several games chosen off a menu) copy of the BASIC game 'Engineer' (the one where you draw lines to build a bridge across a canyon, having each line 'inspected' and approved by a little man before you can draw the next line)? Searching for 'atari' and 'engineer' gives a lot of irrelevant search results no matter where I seem to search... Here. http://ftp.pigwa.net/stuff/collections/holmes%20cd/Holmes%202/Programming/Basic/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 (edited) 1. Mountain King? Caverns of Khafka? Thrax Lair 2. Stealth Un. Freakin'. Believable. I am truly impressed. Both are quite popular games still so not too hard, you need to be really vague to beat most guys in here, the attention to detail in their memory is amazing, mine was the same until age rotted it Edited May 18, 2011 by Mclaneinc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 My first thought for game 2 was Buck Rogers DOH Like the cheering icon Kr0tki, celebrating the victory Now who else has forgotten a game?... start the descriptions off loosely then release a clue at a time every day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArminTamzarian Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 My first thought for game 2 was Buck Rogers DOH Like the cheering icon Kr0tki, celebrating the victory Now who else has forgotten a game?... start the descriptions off loosely then release a clue at a time every day Well, here, just for the hell of it... I don't remember what style game this was, but I do remember that after you finished a level, a little man would come out and tip his top hat to you to the tune of "The Entertainer". Any thoughts? -Armin (Seymore) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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