Electrocop for 7800

[Prosystemsearch]

It was showcased in mid 1984, and after that seemed to have dissapeared. Who was the Programmer behind it, And why wasn't it part of the launch titles for the 7800?? Did someone lose it?? :P What kind of game was it? A sidescroller platformer?? or a top-down shooter?? It's just one of many missing atari 7800 game protyotypes.

[rhcocker]

I would think it would be the same or similar to "Electrocop" for the Lynx

[bennybingo]

Per www.atariprotos.com :

 

 

 

 

 

7800 Rumor Mill

Electrocop

Developed by ICC for Atari. One of the more famous MIA 7800 prototypes, Electrocop was complete and shown at the CES show but ultimately unreleased. The whereabouts of this game are currently unknown. It is believed that this version of the game differed from the version that was released on the Atari Lynx.

[gorfcadet]

Looking at the list, Toki, Elevator Action, and Moon Patrol make me really sad. Who would still have any of the hard drives to look at?

 

Toki... sniffle.

[Prosystemsearch]

Looking at the list, Toki, Elevator Action, and Moon Patrol make me really sad. Who would still have any of the hard drives to look at?

 

Toki... sniffle.

Maybe some individual programmers have them.

[KevinMos3]

There's more info on the game, including pics, in this thread:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/105531-anyone-know-what-unreleased-game-amy-hennig-worked-on/

 

Really a shame it wasn't released. Looks amazing.

[Shawn]

Didn't some chick say she had it in her desk at work or something like that back in the day but the lead went cold after a while?

[DracIsBack]

Amy Hennig did it as one of her first gigs.

 

Artwork has been found, but never the ROM.

[Jinks]

Find her!! Take her rom! Find her! Take her rom!

[Lynxpro]

It wasn't from 1984. 7800 Electrocop was worked on after the Lynx was released. And I thought the programmer was the lady who programmed Warlords and a bunch of other 2600 games back in the day.

 

Elevator Action and Moon Patrol were probably done by GCC. 5200 Elevator Action is also MIA. We'd want that version as well so the POKEY audio could be lifted and added to the 7800 version to support XBOARD, XM, Cuttlecart2, H2, and Versaboards.

 

We also need Missing in Action completed. The Sculptured Software programmer had mentioned finishing it up a couple of months ago. He said it was like 95% done when Atari Corp canned it when they discontinued support for the 7800.

Edited May 28, 2014 by Lynxpro

[DracIsBack]

We also need Missing in Action completed. The Sculptured Software programmer had mentioned finishing it up a couple of months ago. He said it was like 95% done when Atari Corp canned it when they discontinued support for the 7800.

 

I must have missed that thread! The game is decent but there are parts where it can't be completed without cheats.

[Stun Runner 87]

Looks better than Missing in Action.

ElectroCop looks like a Sega Master System game.

Would of been great

These are the type if games that could of made the 7800 more competitive with NES

 

I hope its found so PMP can bless it.

[Lynxpro]

 

I must have missed that thread! The game is decent but there are parts where it can't be completed without cheats.

 

I thought the cheats were necessary because the collision detection wasn't completed. Maybe the programmer intended to finish that as part of the 5% [or 10%] that still needs to be finished.

[DracIsBack]

 

I thought the cheats were necessary because the collision detection wasn't completed. Maybe the programmer intended to finish that as part of the 5% [or 10%] that still needs to be finished.

 

Yeah - that's definitely one of the issues. There's a level where there are holes in the ground that you need to jump over, but what you see and where the computer thinks they are differ.

[Rhomaios]

These are the type if games that could of made the 7800 more competitive with NES

 

Right!? Ugh, I want these unreleased 7800 games to turn up so bad. Anyone know a good detective? I'll chip in a few dollars to hire them.

[Stun Runner 87]

Right!? Ugh, I want these unreleased 7800 games to turn up so bad. Anyone know a good detective? I'll chip in a few dollars to hire them.

I wish Sherlock Holmes is reading this thread.

[DracIsBack]

These are the type if games that could of made the 7800 more competitive with NES

 

 

Yes, though a lot of this was also in the timing. When Atari rolled out the 7800 initially, they didn't stop in 1986 and say, "Oh my - Nintendo has these disruptive games with a lot of depth, while we have better versions of arcade games from the last generation ... we'd better react".

 

How they reacted initially was to pour their resources into the XE Game System instead. The 1986, 1987 and most of 1988 library for the 7800 was a lot of arcade hits of yesterday and computer conversions that Atari licensed for the XE and 7800. The titles seemed mostly chosen by the fact that XE code existed on disk or tape which could be quickly converted to cartridge ... but they got the license for more than one Atari system.

 

By the time the XE was sputtering, they seemed to take a conscious approach to making "NES like" games that were larger (128K instead of 48K) and more detailed. But they didn't hit the market until 1989 or 90 and by then the Genesis and Turbografx 16 had pushed the 7800 off of a lot of shelves. So even though there were games like Scrapyard Dog, Midnight Mutants, Alien Brigade and Commando, they were really hard to find in stores.

[Stun Runner 87]

Yes, though a lot of this was also in the timing. When Atari rolled out the 7800 initially, they didn't stop in 1986 and say, "Oh my - Nintendo has these disruptive games with a lot of depth, while we have better versions of arcade games from the last generation ... we'd better react".

 

How they reacted initially was to pour their resources into the XE Game System instead. The 1986, 1987 and most of 1988 library for the 7800 was a lot of arcade hits of yesterday and computer conversions that Atari licensed for the XE and 7800. The titles seemed mostly chosen by the fact that XE code existed on disk or tape which could be quickly converted to cartridge ... but they got the license for more than one Atari system.

 

By the time the XE was sputtering, they seemed to take a conscious approach to making "NES like" games that were larger (128K instead of 48K) and more detailed. But they didn't hit the market until 1989 or 90 and by then the Genesis and Turbografx 16 had pushed the 7800 off of a lot of shelves. So even though there were games like Scrapyard Dog, Midnight Mutants, Alien Brigade and Commando, they were really hard to find in stores.

 

Yes, this us true.

The games that came out in 89 and 90 were the most impressive, but like you said, Atari 7800 was already pretty much dead by then.

 

If only the 7800 came out in 1984 and they put out more than out of date arcade classic and games like Commando.

 

As Atari became dedicated to the XM and home computers, the 7800 just sittibg in warehouses for 2 years...i believd it was finally released in 86 for the sole purpose of making xtra profits and NOT for competition.....its amazing it dud as well as it did......in a way, the 7800 actually did very we for what it was worth...im suprised it sold at all with NES kicking everyones ass. When it came down to it, the 7800 was pretty much a cheaper option for a BUDGET home console spendthrifts and atari enthusiasts.

 

BUT STILL, GAMES LIKE MISSING IN ACTION AND ELECTROCOP CERTAINLY WOULDNT HAVE HURT THERE CAUSE THOUGH......THE SAME PEOPLE THAT BOUGHT 7800 GAMES BACJ THEN WOULD OF SPENT THERE MONEY ON THE GAMES THAT DIDNT COME OUT TOO....I KNOW I WOULD OF.

I REMEMBER THAT YOU COULDNT BUY OR FIND MIDNIGHT MUTANTS OR MOTOR PSYCHO IN STORES IN 1990...I HAD TO MAIL IN ORDER TO SUNNYDALE CALIFORNIA FOR THEM IN 1990.

Edited May 28, 2014 by Stun Runner 87

[DracIsBack]

I REMEMBER THAT YOU COULDNT BUY OR FIND MIDNIGHT MUTANTS OR MOTOR PSYCHO IN STORES IN 1990...I HAD TO MAIL IN ORDER TO SUNNYDALE CALIFORNIA FOR THEM IN 1990.

 

Me too. :-) Actually, I had a horror story that spoke volumes about Atari customer service. Atari Canada dropped the consoles early, so you couldn't buy 7800 games newer than Tower Toppler or Dark Chambers from them. So all the games you saw in the magazines couldn't be bought.

 

As a student without a credit card, I bought a US money order and mailed it to Atari USA, ordering SCRAPYARD DOG and MIDNIGHT MUTANTS. SCRAPYARD came defective and I had to mail it back to Atari.

 

They never replied for months, so I called them up long-distance to be told "we never received it". I sent an angry letter, which wasn't replied to.

 

Later, by chance, I had to call about something else and I mentioned the game. This rep was smarter and said, "Let me check the back." He found my game, which was never logged and I got my replacement copy ... about a year later.

[Stun Runner 87]

Me too. :-) Actually, I had a horror story that spoke volumes about Atari customer service. Atari Canada dropped the consoles early, so you couldn't buy 7800 games newer than Tower Toppler or Dark Chambers from them. So all the games you saw in the magazines couldn't be bought.

 

As a student without a credit card, I bought a US money order and mailed it to Atari USA, ordering SCRAPYARD DOG and MIDNIGHT MUTANTS. SCRAPYARD came defective and I had to mail it back to Atari.

 

They never replied for months, so I called them up long-distance to be told "we never received it". I sent an angry letter, which wasn't replied to.

 

Later, by chance, I had to call about something else and I mentioned the game. This rep was smarter and said, "Let me check the back." He found my game, which was never logged and I got my replacement copy ... about a year later.

LoL, what a bummer.

welp, thats late 1980s Atari for ya...lol

 

Even with the Lynx, which was awsome...Alot of people didnt even know the Lynx existed.

 

My funniest memory of the Lynx was seeing it in the movie Childs Play 3....i remember some of my friends saying,"what is that game hes playing" at the movie theatre.

 

Seeing it in a movie was probably its best promotion....thats how i found out about it, and the lynx came out a few years before the movie..

[Trebor]

As a student without a credit card, I bought a US money order and mailed it to Atari USA, ordering SCRAPYARD DOG and MIDNIGHT MUTANTS. SCRAPYARD came defective and I had to mail it back to Atari.

 

They never replied for months, so I called them up long-distance to be told "we never received it". I sent an angry letter, which wasn't replied to.

 

Later, by chance, I had to call about something else and I mentioned the game. This rep was smarter and said, "Let me check the back." He found my game, which was never logged and I got my replacement copy ... about a year later.

Hardcore dedication and glad it worked out in the end - Thanks for sharing the short story.

[Lynxpro]

Hardcore dedication and glad it worked out in the end - Thanks for sharing the short story.

 

Well, I never was paid - in carts - for all of my tips The Atarian published of mine since Atari Corp got mad, fired their entire executive staff, and pulped that last issue of Atari Explorer. So I wrote to Atari Corp and got nothing back in return. Wrote to Gary Tramiel and received no response. Then I brought it up to him at the shareholder's meeting. I wanted multiple carts but he said 1 so I selected a Lynx game - instead of a 7800 game - which he agreed to and I requested Dirty Larry. He then provided me with a copy of it.

[Prosystemsearch]

 

Yes, though a lot of this was also in the timing. When Atari rolled out the 7800 initially, they didn't stop in 1986 and say, "Oh my - Nintendo has these disruptive games with a lot of depth, while we have better versions of arcade games from the last generation ... we'd better react".

 

How they reacted initially was to pour their resources into the XE Game System instead. The 1986, 1987 and most of 1988 library for the 7800 was a lot of arcade hits of yesterday and computer conversions that Atari licensed for the XE and 7800. The titles seemed mostly chosen by the fact that XE code existed on disk or tape which could be quickly converted to cartridge ... but they got the license for more than one Atari system.

 

By the time the XE was sputtering, they seemed to take a conscious approach to making "NES like" games that were larger (128K instead of 48K) and more detailed. But they didn't hit the market until 1989 or 90 and by then the Genesis and Turbografx 16 had pushed the 7800 off of a lot of shelves. So even though there were games like Scrapyard Dog, Midnight Mutants, Alien Brigade and Commando, they were really hard to find in stores.

 

They really should have made the XEGS a PAL only release, or at least cut off support for it in North America in late 1988-early1989. That way the could focus more on the 7800 directly. that would have been much better IMO.

Edited May 28, 2014 by Prosystemsearch

[ColecoGemini]

 

Well, I never was paid - in carts - for all of my tips The Atarian published of mine since Atari Corp got mad, fired their entire executive staff, and pulped that last issue of Atari Explorer. So I wrote to Atari Corp and got nothing back in return. Wrote to Gary Tramiel and received no response. Then I brought it up to him at the shareholder's meeting. I wanted multiple carts but he said 1 so I selected a Lynx game - instead of a 7800 game - which he agreed to and I requested Dirty Larry. He then provided me with a copy of it.

So let's get this straight - you were a stockholder of Atari Corp, and a staff writer for their Magazine - when you were 13?

[Tempest]

 

Yeah - that's definitely one of the issues. There's a level where there are holes in the ground that you need to jump over, but what you see and where the computer thinks they are differ.

I've always wondered if you could pass that level through trial and error using an emulator and save states. I never had the patience to do it on a real 7800. Quick, someone try it!

 

The other level City of Sin is impossible to complete without the level skip cheat because the boss doesn't have collision detection (at least not as far as I could tell).

 

I think when I talked to the programmer (Chuck Peavey) he said that the game had progressed further than the prototype I reviewed and he thought he still might have a copy somewhere. I should follow up with him on that.