Tempest Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I've updated my site with some looooong overdue 5200 reviews. The rom for Xari Arena will be released eventually, but I'm not sure if I have permission to release the others. http://www.atariprotos.com/ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Cool. A trackball version of Xari Arena. I remember the day taking those pictures of when you got to the end of the game. Pretty historic. I've never seen anyone else complete it. Maybe now we will. It would be great to see this final version get some artwork and be put on a cart for people. Is the source code on the disk as well? Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I read something about this yesterday and don't feel like reading through it right now but is that Xari Arena a complete game ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Yes it's a complete game. The prototype that's currently available is pretty much complete but it lacks the trak-ball support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Is this a fun game and will a trak-ball version be made ? And if this could be on cart where would I get a copy .. Al ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchman2000 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Cool. A trackball version of Xari Arena. I remember the day taking those pictures of when you got to the end of the game. Pretty historic. I've never seen anyone else complete it. Maybe now we will. It would be great to see this final version get some artwork and be put on a cart for people. Is the source code on the disk as well? Allan No, the disk only contained the ROM file which needed to be reconfigured for use on a cart. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aking Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 the pink panther game seems amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnice Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 In the two-player mode, could you hypothetically have each player use their own trak-ball? I've never played this game but it looks pretty cool, and I'd consider buying a "final version" copy on cart if one comes available later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 In the two-player mode, could you hypothetically have each player use their own trak-ball? I've never played this game but it looks pretty cool, and I'd consider buying a "final version" copy on cart if one comes available later. Yes I believe so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) Congrats! I found it a bit weird though because I thought the Trak-Ball version of Xari Arena was already released. The ROM cart of it Dan Kramer brought to the Sunnyvale Atari Party in 2014 supported the Trak-Ball. Plenty of people played it with the Trak-Ball but they didn't act like there was anything new to it. It would be cool to test The Open out to see if it supports 4-player. Dan says that back in the Atari Inc lab the tennis game did support 4 Trak-Balls but that was prior to its release and Atari's decision to revise the 5200 and only support 2 players. We had the intent of testing out the commercial RealSports Tennis with 4 joysticks - or Trak-Balls - at the Davis Atari Party this year - to see if it supported 4 players even though the box says up to 2 players - but ran out of time with all of LCD TV issues we had with our 5200s plus we were promoting 5200 Tempest with Trak-Ball since Keithen Hayenga was in attendance. Edited June 8, 2015 by Lynxpro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Congrats! I found it a bit weird though because I thought the Trak-Ball version of Xari Arena was already released. The ROM cart of it Dan Kramer brought to the Sunnyvale Atari Party in 2014 supported the Trak-Ball. Plenty of people played it with the Trak-Ball but they didn't act like there was anything new to it. It would be cool to test The Open out to see if it supports 4-player. Dan says that back in the Atari Inc lab the tennis game did support 4 Trak-Balls but that was prior to its release and Atari's decision to revise the 5200 and only support 2 players. We had the intent of testing out the commercial RealSports Tennis with 4 joysticks - or Trak-Balls - at the Davis Atari Party this year - to see if it supported 4 players even though the box says up to 2 players - but ran out of time with all of LCD TV issues we had with our 5200s plus we were promoting 5200 Tempest with Trak-Ball since Keithen Hayenga was in attendance. The version Dan has may or may not be the same version that I reviewed. We don't know yet, we need to get that rom form Dan and compare. However only the early version of Xari (the one with the thin paddles) supported Trak-Ball, the later version that is currently available (the one everyone knows) does not. This has been confirmed. If the four player mode exists in The Atari Open then it isn't activated the same way it is in the released version. I tried the Sean Special code and got nothing. This rom was given to me by FND before he sold the protos off, so he would have to give his ok before I could release it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 No, the disk only contained the ROM file which needed to be reconfigured for use on a cart. I hit 'Like This' because you answered my question, not for the actually answer, of course. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 It would be cool to test The Open out to see if it supports 4-player. Dan says that back in the Atari Inc lab the tennis game did support 4 Trak-Balls but that was prior to its release and Atari's decision to revise the 5200 and only support 2 players. We had the intent of testing out the commercial RealSports Tennis with 4 joysticks - or Trak-Balls - at the Davis Atari Party this year - to see if it supported 4 players even though the box says up to 2 players - but ran out of time with all of LCD TV issues we had with our 5200s plus we were promoting 5200 Tempest with Trak-Ball since Keithen Hayenga was in attendance. Sean also said that in the original version he had much better computer player code that played much better but had to take it out to shrink down the size. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Sean also said that in the original version he had much better computer player code that played much better but had to take it out to shrink down the size. Allan It might, it's hard to tell since I'm not that good at Tennis to begin with. I did notice that the two computer controller players in the doubles mode got into a loop where they hit the ball back and forth to each other continuously so I sped the emulator up and it got stuck in that loop for over 5 minutes before I gave up. I don't recall this happening in the released version. There has to be more to this early version other than the missing name entry and lack of 4 player mode. It doesn't take 3 months to get all that done. If FND gives his permission to release the roms, then hopefully someone who is decent at this game can test it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegamezmaster Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Just wanted to say you have a great site Tempest. Visit it often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) The version Dan has may or may not be the same version that I reviewed. We don't know yet, we need to get that rom form Dan and compare. However only the early version of Xari (the one with the thin paddles) supported Trak-Ball, the later version that is currently available (the one everyone knows) does not. This has been confirmed. If the four player mode exists in The Atari Open then it isn't activated the same way it is in the released version. I tried the Sean Special code and got nothing. This rom was given to me by FND before he sold the protos off, so he would have to give his ok before I could release it. Wait…so 4-player mode *can* be activated in the commercial release of RealSports Tennis with a special code? If that's the case, I wonder if there's any other games that secretly kept 4-player mode after Atari Inc stupidly dropped 4-player support from the revised 5200s... Edited June 8, 2015 by Lynxpro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoundGammon Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 This describes how to activate 4-player tennis: RealSports Tennis is one of the few 5200 games (one of only three actually) to allow for four players (time to break out that old four port system). Simply select the 'Doubles' option from the title screen, press '4' to enter "Sean Special Mode", plug in four controllers (or preferably four Trak-Balls) and away you go. Having four players playing tennis all at the same time is quite a sight, and is great way to kill an afternoon with four friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 This describes how to activate 4-player tennis: RealSports Tennis is one of the few 5200 games (one of only three actually) to allow for four players (time to break out that old four port system). Simply select the 'Doubles' option from the title screen, press '4' to enter "Sean Special Mode", plug in four controllers (or preferably four Trak-Balls) and away you go. Having four players playing tennis all at the same time is quite a sight, and is great way to kill an afternoon with four friends. That's pretty cool! More info that should be added to the FAQ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Wait…so 4-player mode *can* be activated in the commercial release of RealSports Tennis with a special code? If that's the case, I wonder if there's any other games that secretly kept 4-player mode after Atari Inc stupidly dropped 4-player support from the revised 5200s... It's possible. Although I doubt that there just because non of the other games would warrant it anyways. The other sports games have at least six or more players on each team so I don't think they would have made four player modes. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 RS Tennis is the only one I know of where it's hidden. The other two that support 4 players are Super Breakout and Asteroids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) RS Tennis is the only one I know of where it's hidden. The other two that support 4 players are Super Breakout and Asteroids. Not counting the M.U.L.E. conversion, Castle Crisis or the original 5200 version of Warlords which the original programmer won't release because he believes he's in an eternal contract with an Atari that's been legally dead for nearly 2 decades, of course... Edited June 8, 2015 by Lynxpro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 The EPROMs - or ROMs - on Dan's 5200 Tennis cartridge are labeled "PAM Tennis 343-01". It has a Loaner Cartridge Shell to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 The EPROMs - or ROMs - on Dan's 5200 Tennis cartridge are labeled "PAM Tennis 343-01". It has a Loaner Cartridge Shell to it. Ok that puts it around December 9th 1982 I think. So it's later than The Atari Open but earlier than the next proto I have dated 2/25. I would like to examine that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzep Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 (edited) Yes I believe so Oh man, I would love to be able to buy a boxed cart version of that! I have 2 trak-balls and Xari Arena looks so damn cool, a very unique game. Edited June 9, 2015 by ledzep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Ok that puts it around December 9th 1982 I think. So it's later than The Atari Open but earlier than the next proto I have dated 2/25. I would like to examine that one. A talented coder like Tep392 could probably take the better AI code from "The Atari Open" and merge it with the final release. I looked at the final release ROM posted to AtariAge and it appears to be less than 16K so inserting the better AI from the earlier version probably wouldn't even blow it up to 32K. I wonder how many other 5200 games were forced to be reduced in ROM size back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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