playable DEMO of finished Parsec 2600

[hloberg]

here is a playable demo of Parsec 2600. it only plays game level 3 over and over again as a demo.

as soon as I can get around to it i'll make it into a cartridge. right now working on the manual and the labels.

DEMO-parsec2600v13.bas.bin

 

and here is a video when I still had a bug or two to fix so you know what you are downloading. https://youtu.be/tDzGTof7qqE

 

enjoy and feed back is welcomed.

[hloberg]

Here is the 1st part of the manual. I went for humor because game manuals can be sooooo dry.

 

Parsec 2600

It’s war!

Planet 99 has declared war on Earth’s colonies due to various copyright violations perpetrated by an undisclosed Earth individual. You, being the hero that you are, has volunteered to pilot the new Irata 2600 Star Fighter (which happens to be the last one) to protect the drably that is colonial Earth.

Your task will be tough and you will probably die multiple horrible and painful deaths but, hey, the dental plan was fantastic. SO blast away at Swoopers and Blasters and navigate your way through the Refueling Tunnel and Meteoroid Storm.

And, my the Schwartz be with you because you’re gonna need it bucky.

Getting Started

This game cartridge is to be used in the Atari 2600 and it’s many clones because it probably won’t fit in any other game system. Well, maybe you could jam it into a ColecoVision but that would be stupid. But if you are so inclined to do so, more power to you bud because it still wouldn’t work due to Z80 and 6502 and other programming stuff too boring to discuss here.

And always remember to turn off the game console before you insert the cartridge. The emotional repercussions for the game console of having a cartridge inserted while it’s running are just too horrible to mention.

Parsec 2600 is a one player game and use the wired controller because a potato would be just plain silly.

The game starts with your Parsec 2600 sitting on the landing pad. Press the controller trigger to start the game at level one, wave one (swoopers).

You are initially given eight ships to complete your task of wiping out all the Planet 99 baddies. An additional ship is added for each level completed. A ship is removed each time you are hit by a blast, hit another object, hit the ground or run out of time.

Easter egg

If you wish to start at another level other than level 1 or increase your initial amount of ships then switch the left difficulty switch to A (expert) and press reset. This will produce a menu like pictured below.

<Picture of ee menu>

The numbers in the center is the starting level. Press the controller stick up to start at a higher level up to 30. Down to decrease back to 1.

When you are at the desired level press the controller trigger. The counter will reset to 4. Now you can increase the initial amount of ships up to 254 by pressing the stick up. Press the trigger again to start the game at the level and ship count you have specified.

Controls

In the Swoopers and Blasters waves you can only move your red ship up and down. Use the trigger to fire your ‘Plasma Laser Blaster Rail (PLBR) gun’ at the opposing ships.

With the Refueling Tunnel wave you can move up and down, as above, but you can not use your PLBR gun.

In the Meteor Wave you can move all four directions but still can’t use your PLBR gun.

The reset key will, um, reset the game. (Kinda obvious, isn’t it.)

Not so obvious is switching the B/W switch on will pause the game. Changing back to Color resumes the game. Would have been nice if Atari would have supplied a real pause button on the original 2600, ya think.

[+Random Terrain]

About 2 seconds after the end of the game, the player should be able to use the fire button like a remote control and restart the game instead of needing to get up and hit the reset switch.

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-standards-and-procedures.html#game_end

[+Karl G]

I recommend B&W to pause as you have done, but then switch to color *and* hit fire to resume. This lets the player start when they have the joystick at the ready, but also makes it compatible with the 7800 pause button.

[hloberg]

About 2 seconds after the end of the game, the player should be able to use the fire button like a remote control and restart the game instead of needing to get up and hit the reset switch.

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-standards-and-procedures.html#game_end

thank you, will add

[hloberg]

I recommend B&W to pause as you have done, but then switch to color *and* hit fire to resume. This lets the player start when they have the joystick at the ready, but also makes it compatible with the 7800 pause button.

good idea, will add

[doctorclu]

Parsec was the one game that made me want a TI-99. . (If this is the same game)

[+Lewis2907]

What were they trying to copyright? That would be a good ending or Easter egg if we knew the person(s) was try to copyright Parsec for humor.