ZeroPage Homebrew Twitch Stream

[+TwentySixHundred]

Centipede and Ms Pacman are brilliant games and well made ports of the originals.

 

Reactor is one my all time favorites though. I would have to rank it in my top 5 of all time. The gameplay is so solid once getting used to it even though the graphics are bare minimum. Truly underrated gem that doesn't get the hype. Parker Bros really knocked it out the park with this one.

[DaveM]

As the guy who transcribed the Sub Scan instructions for the Atari Age database, I feel almost a legal obligation to watch tonight 

 

Some strange quirks with a couple hidden gems that'll hopefully save a bit of time: Tac-Scan uses paddles, but the paddles have to be plugged into the RIGHT port.  The left difficulty switch on Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes gives you infinite lives if set to B, 4 lives if set to A. And for some reason, the cartridge starts up on game variation #6. It's a good default game variation, but why not make that game #1?

[+johnnywc]

Much better selections this time around.  

 

As others have said, Ms. Pac-man, Centipede and Reactor are the standouts IMO.  Other favorites include Frankenstein's Monster, Seaquest, and I've always enjoyed Star Wars: Jedi Arena (may be the only one lol).  Honorable mentions for Crazy Climber, Shootin' Gallery and Tron: Deadly Discs.  Top pic is easy: Ms. Pac-man for sure!   

[Thomas Jentzsch]

@ZeroPage HomebrewYou should really try more variations, some games have much more to show than you find in variation 1. The Videogamecritic gives some tips for good variations.

 

E.g. Rescue Terra I has two more games in it. Both are not very good too, though.  

Edited August 11, 2022 by Thomas Jentzsch

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

2 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

@ZeroPage HomebrewYou should really try more variations, some games have much more to show than you find in variation 1. The Videogamecritic gives some tips for good variations.

 

E.g. Rescue Terra I has two more games in it. Both are not very good too, though.  

Good suggestion, some of the default variations are missing really great game elements! We would love to try multiple variations of each of the 450+ games but most games we have barely enough time to each put in one turn before the five minutes is up. We do watch the chat and if someone suggests a good game mode, we give that a go if we still have time (like Shootin' Gallery last night).

 

I've been marking down my favourites each stream so we might do a 'best of' show series for classic Atari games so we'll have time to explore each game in more detail. 🙂

 

- James

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY COMMODORE 64!

 

Tomorrow on ZeroPage Homebrew it's Commodore 64 day! What better way to celebrate the C64s 40th Anniversary (1982) than to play some incredible new homebrew shooters on my actual childhood Commodore 64, my first computer!

We'll be playing Galencia (Galaga inspire shooter), Soul Force and Zeta Wing, all three are incredible recent shooters released for the system! Also stay tuned for AFTER DARK where Tanya will strive to defeat Professor Elvin Atombender in her favourite C64 game the 1984 classic Impossible Mission!

 

Fri Aug 12, 2022 @ 6PM PT | 9PM ET | 1AM GMT+1Day

WATCH LIVE: https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/
WATCH LATER: https://youtube.com/zeropagehomebrew/

 

Games:

• Galencia (2017 Retail | C64) by Jason Aldred
• Soul Force (2021 Retail | C64) by Sarah Jane Avory
• Zeta Wing (2022 Retail | C64) by Sarah Jane Avory

After Dark:

• Impossible Mission (1984 | C64) by Dennis Caswell

 

 

 

[+Nathan Strum]

On 8/10/2022 at 9:38 AM, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

The Atari 2600's 45th Anniversary Countdown continues tonight with the third part of all the classic 2600 games released to the public in 1983 such as Ms. Pac-Man, Star Wars Jedi Arena, Entombed, Frankenstein's Monster and Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes! What are your favourite games from the third part of 1983? (list below)

I'll have to catch the YouTube rerun later, but there are some keepers in here for sure. Ms. Pac-Man showed that Atari had finally realized gamers wanted faithful arcade ports, and they delivered big time with it and Centipede. G.I. Joe was incredibly impressive visually, but not much of a game. I was a fan of the arcade version of Crazy Climber, and had the Atari Age Magazine order form all filled out to buy the 2600 version - but never sent it in. I don't think I had the money. Revenge of the Beefsteak Tomatoes is a surprisingly good game, but I probably like it for the title more than anything (and I doubt I paid full price - I think I picked up most of the 20th Century games after the crash). Tac/Scan is a pretty decent port that captures the feel of the arcade game reasonably well, and I may be the only person besides John who likes Jedi Arena . Seaquest is a solid if unspectacular Activision title, and I got a "free" Tron joystick with the two Tron games, but only Deadly Discs feels like it belongs with the movie.. I'm going to give it to Reactor though. It has great gameplay, visuals and sounds, and manages to capture the rather complex and unique play mechanics of the arcade game very well.

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

4 hours ago, Nathan Strum said:

I'll have to catch the YouTube rerun later, but there are some keepers in here for sure.

It was a great batch and super fun play through! My favourites were:

 

• Tron: Deadly Discs
• Ms. Pac-Man
• Adventures of Tron
• Frankenstein's Monster
• Tac-Scan
• Centipede

 

- James

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Tanya is really good at playing through the rooms of IM and ordering the notes. But puzzling is not her strength. I almost had to stop watching the latter relive, because I nearly got upset when she did not see the obviously matching pieces.  

Edited August 14, 2022 by Thomas Jentzsch

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

EVERY Atari 2600 Game released in 1983 (Part 4)!

 

The Atari 2600's 45th Anniversary Countdown continues tomorrow with the fourth part of all the classic 2600 games released to the public in 1983 such as The Official Frogger, Robot Tank, Galaxian, Crackpots and The Earth Dies Screaming! What are your favourite games from the fourth part of 1983? (list below)

 

Tue Aug 16, 2022 @ (LIVE @ 7PM PT | 10PM ET | 2AM GMT+1Day)
WATCH LIVE: https://twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/
WATCH LATER: https://youtube.com/zeropagehomebrew/

 

 

Spoiler

M*A*S*H
Dolphin
Keystone Kapers
Oink!
RealSports Soccer
RealSports Tennis
Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle
Zaxxon
No Escape!
Sky Skipper
Strawberry Shortcake: Musical Match-ups
Polaris
Flash Gordon
Enduro
Plaque Attack
Atari Video Cube
Miner 2049er
Earth Dies Screaming
Spacemaster X-7
Robot Tank
Galaxian
London Blitz
Wall Ball
Solar Fox
Cakewalk
Solar Storm
Star Strike
Tutankham
Bank Heist
Porky's
Crackpots
Jungle Hunt
Kangaroo
Death Trap
Blue Print
Stronghold
Moonsweeper
Q*bert
The Official Frogger (cassette)
Rabbit Transit (cassette)

 

[Jason_Atari]

A lot of great games in this lot. Keystone Kapers, Enduro, Crackpots and the Official Frogger being the obvious ones. I would consider Spacemaster X-7, Flash Gordon, Death Trap and Blue Print to be hidden gems. I've always had a soft spot for the 2600 version of Tutankham even though it's nothing like the arcade version.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Its Enduro for me from this list.

 

London Blitz has some nice looking and cleverly done 3D maze. Disarming the bombs is pretty complicated, you should have a look at the manual.

[DaveM]

Solar Fox may be my all-time favorite 2600 game.  I used to be able to roll the score back in the day.  Can't come close now.    It may be the only game where I like the 2600 version better than the arcade version.

 

No Escape, Enduro, and Moonsweeper are more of my favorites.

 

Flash Gordon and The Earth Dies Screaming are a couple games where you need a manual to know what's going on.  Without it, they don't make much sense, so the games get a bad rap, but if you know what's going on, there's some fun to be had with them.

 

Tip for Sky Skipper - to refuel, you need to pick up one of each animal at a time.  If you pick up just one of each, then your fuel goes to full.  Had a strange experience with this one.  Back when it came out, we got it through a mail order offer for free.  When it arrived, each page of the manual was doubled.  So, it had two covers, and two of each page, all perfectly stapled together.  I wish I had kept it that way.  For some reason, I pried open the staples, carefully slid the pages apart, and created two separate manuals.

[+littaum]

From this list my favorite of the group was Jungle Hunt - detailed graphics, a variety of game play and I always liked the opening ditty for each section.  

[+Cafeman]

Oops, I replied in the unpopular thread. Repeating:

 

A surprising amount of good fun games there, especially compared to some of the prior show selections fro 82/83.  I like most: Enduro, Jungle Hunt, Q*Bert, Robot Tank, Keystone Kapers.

 

And MASH just for the nostalgia, ferret face!  

[CapitanClassic]

For me it would have to be between Dolphin, Enduro, Robot Tank, or Moonsweeper. I would probably choose Robot Tank, since I haven’t “beat” it yet, although in the latter levels the computer is extremely unfair.
I can also appreciate how good No Escape, Solar Fox, and Official Frogger are, but I just wouldn’t normally play these games without a purpose like getting a high score in the HSC.

[+Nathan Strum]

15 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

The Atari 2600's 45th Anniversary Countdown continues tomorrow with the fourth part of all the classic 2600 games released to the public in 1983 such as The Official Frogger, Robot Tank, Galaxian, Crackpots and The Earth Dies Screaming! What are your favourite games from the fourth part of 1983?

Atari was starting to regularly knock it out of the park with games like Galaxian and Jungle Hunt. RealSports Tennis was also impressive, but I still prefer Activision Tennis for some reason. Gameplay > graphics.

 

This must've been the year of the Columbia Video Game Club, since I'm seeing some of the games I bought through that (Polaris, Solar Fox and others). Solar Fox is a really excellent game - one of CBS' best efforts. I have no idea how I found out about that club though. I do remember seeing ads for a lot of these games in magazines, and never seeing them in any stores (Avalon Hill and CommaVid in particular), although I did find a couple of bargain bin CommaVid games after the crash.

 

I started losing interest in Activision's stuff around this time - Keystone Kapers was too repetitive (even for Activision  ), Dolphin, Oink! and Plaque Attack seemed more aimed at kids. But Robot Tank was pretty cool, especially with the additions of day/night and changing weather. For some reason though, I never bought it. Probably didn't have the money (some games being upwards of $40 at the time). Enduro was also very good, but I don't think I bought my copy until much later, since it came in a smaller box which (I think) was leftover unsold stock from Canada.

 

Other notables are Flash Gordon and (yes... I'm going to say it) - Strawberry Shortcake Musical Matchups. Nope - I didn't buy it, but even then I was impressed with how great the characters looked, and it's still one of the best-looking use of graphics on the 2600.

 

I worked at Toys 'R' Us during the Christmas rush in '83 in the video game booth (where you picked up your purchases). It was absolute mayhem. But the most popular game by far was Q*Bert for the 2600. I don't know why I recalled that, other than maybe because I wasn't that enamored with the 2600 port, and couldn't figure out its popularity. We had display boxes for two "Revenge of the Jedi" games that were in our storeroom. I tucked them out of the way intending to try to figure out a way to take them home (I figured I'd offer to buy them, or just say, "Hey, these games aren't coming out because the name's wrong. Should I trash them?") but was laid off after the holidays and wasn't able to get back to them. I don't know if anyone ever found them, or if they knew what they were. The store was eventually bulldozed.  

 

Stinkers from this group include Zaxxon and Miner 2049er, which is one of the worst 2600 games period. It had so much badness, it oozed over into a sequel! (It may not have been so disappointing if the hype around Miner 2049er hadn't been so overblown.)

 

No Escape! was visually impressive and had cool sounds effects - hallmarks of Imagic's better games. But Moonsweeper eclipsed it, featuring great gameplay, and amazing graphics where you're flying down to and across planet surfaces in perspective. That was incredible for its day and still looks great! That would be my pick from this group.

[+Nathan Strum]

Also, a quick anecdote about M*A*S*H. They had a "design a M*A*S*H video game" contest. I entered it (sadly, I didn't make a copy of my entry, although a friend of mine still remembers it), and completely forgot about it. Sometime later (I'm sure it was at least a year), a box shows up on our front porch, with no note, no explanation, nothing. I opened it up, and it was a TI-99/4a computer. Apparently, I'd won one of the runner-up prizes.

 

Always wondered how far I was away from getting a Jeep...

 

 

I didn't keep the computer. By then, it was already gone from the stores along with any software for it. So I gave it to my friend who already owned one and a bunch of cartridges.

[+johnnywc]

Wow - lots of great games in this bunch!  

 

Favorites for me include RS Tennis, Enduro, Spacemaster X-7, Robot Tank, Galaxian, Solar Fox, Jungle Hunt, Q*Bert and Moonsweeper.  Tops would have to go to Jungle Hunt for the game I played the most out of the bunch.   

 

The Official Frogger and Rabbit Transit are also very good, although I grew up on the PB version of Frogger so that's the one I remember the most (I didn't own a Supercharger BITD so I never played the other version until 2000).

 

 

[+TwentySixHundred]

Yeah like the others have said some really good titles on the list. Some standouts and im only going to mention what stood out to me back in the day.

 

Oink: Not a bad little game that gets really challenging, but has a nice difficulty progression curve.

 

Enduro: As someone always into motor racing and the likes it's a really well made game. Different weather conditions and day/night cycle really mixes things up keeping the player engaged.

 

RobotTank: Sign me up! Really enjoyed this back in the day and it truly felt sandbox-like back then. Once again weather conditions, day/night cycles and all the instruments you could lose in battle made things interesting. I used to just wait out the nights going all stealth and only fight during the day. Was a really fun game.

 

Q*bert: I know it's not the greatest port although was pretty good all things considered. It's impressive for a system that was designed for Pong and Tank so i have to add it to my list.

 

Many other great titles here i played later in the 90's and 00's but those i listed are of fond memories.

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

A lot of great games last night on the show! The one's that I really enjoyed were:

• Spacemaster X-7
• Solar Fox
• Solar Storm

I also looked up in the forums why the cartridge of Porky's seemed to work (after a bit) and not the binary on the Harmony Encore cartridge. There appears to be a fix to make the game work on the Harmony. Even then, the line count is out of control and changing all the time which can create chaos on LCDs and CRTs alike.

 

- James

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Wall Ball: Actually I started working and tried to add two shadows and then hack it for the trackballs. But it wasn't worth the effort, so I stopped.

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

1 hour ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

Wall Ball: Actually I started working and tried to add two shadows and then hack it for the trackballs. But it wasn't worth the effort, so I stopped.

 

Nice! I'm not sure it's worth the effort either... I think if someone wanted to go full on out updating it or remaking it, trak-ball control would be the way to go as well as shadows and a couple more things.

 

I just checked the game out in Stella and the ball only moves once every six frames (at 30Hz), no wonder it looks so chunky! It stays in the same place for WAY too long and then moves a huge distance making it extremely hard to track. I didn't analyze the code but I wonder if the game is busy doing ball location calculations that take six frames to calculate?

 

- James

[vitoco]

3 minutes ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

I just checked the game out in Stella and the ball only moves once every six frames (at 30Hz), no wonder it looks so chunky! It stays in the same place for WAY too long and then moves a huge distance making it extremely hard to track. I didn't analyze the code but I wonder if the game is busy doing ball location calculations that take six frames to calculate?

I haven't checked that game, but as I stated during the stream, my guess is that the ball location is precalculated in a NxNxN 3D grid mapped to 2D locations, and it moves from cell to cell in any given direction. So, if it stays that amount of frames in the same place, it is justs for speed. It should speed up by reducing the number of frames to wait for the next move. Again, just a guess...

 

Anyway, I don't like the idea of the shadows. I would prefer that the ball changes its bright. And trackball is a must.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

5 hours ago, vitoco said:

Anyway, I don't like the idea of the shadows. I would prefer that the ball changes its bright.

How would that work? You need information about X and Y position.