Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 31 minutes ago, johnnywc said: TJ @Thomas Jentzsch stepped in to help in 2013 or so (don't remember exactly when) and we started from scratch and worked on the colors and added in alternating scan line shifting to reduce the flicker: I hardly remember. 31 minutes ago, johnnywc said: Since the sprites are flickered on every frame, you can see that the colors of the characters change dramatically depending on what background color the square is (white, black, or the cycle color). To reduce the color change (a bit), one could change the sprite color, depending on over which background square they are displayed. But that would most likely require at least a DPC supported kernel. 31 minutes ago, johnnywc said: Anyway, maybe one day we'll pick it up again - I loved playing Archon back in the day! Same here. Fingers crossed! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomberman94 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Archon would be a great addition to the 2600 library of games - I loved playing it on the C64. Game was unique and combines strategy with action elements. Graphics of the 2600 pictures shown were already really great - only would change the style of the text at the bottom. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+doctorclu Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 7 hours ago, johnnywc said: Anyway, maybe one day we'll pick it up again - I loved playing Archon back in the day! I'm really surprised the 2600 had the ability to do what you showed in the pictures. Not in complete disbelief of a 2600/VSC (a true one) running a full game of Archon, but seems it would certainly go be beyond the limitations I'm used to seeing for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 20 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: I hardly remember. me neither, time really flies by! 20 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: To reduce the color change (a bit), one could change the sprite color, depending on over which background square they are displayed. But that would most likely require at least a DPC supported kernel. Yes, I think the Boom! kernel that @cd-w wrote would work great hear as it can update sprite and color for up to 9 or 10 (maybe even 11 with CDFJ+) sprites alternating like the 96-pixel routine, so each character's color could be set individually based on the background color. 20 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: Same here. Fingers crossed! 🤞 I would definitely want to see if we could acquire licensing for Archon - does any body know who holds the rights? I think is was Freefall back in the day (I remember the animated logo at start up ). 18 hours ago, Bomberman94 said: Archon would be a great addition to the 2600 library of games - I loved playing it on the C64. Game was unique and combines strategy with action elements. Agreed, it's one of my favorites! 18 hours ago, Bomberman94 said: Graphics of the 2600 pictures shown were already really great - only would change the style of the text at the bottom. Thanks! The text on the bottom was done to fit in 48-pixels since at the time that was all I knew for text routines. A DPC version using the ARM could use the 96-pixel text routines I use in all my other games so we could use the classic Atari 8-bit font (although I would probably squash it down to 6-bits because of the 2x wide horizontal resolution of the 2600). 14 hours ago, doctorclu said: I'm really surprised the 2600 had the ability to do what you showed in the pictures. Not in complete disbelief of a 2600/VSC (a true one) running a full game of Archon, but seems it would certainly go be beyond the limitations I'm used to seeing for sure. Using fastfetch and the alternating scanline flicker routine can make for some outstanding graphics (see Boom! for an example). Certainly something that advanced would be much more difficult to do without the ARM chip assisting with data prep before the frame (although TJ's rewrites were all assembly so it's possible). It'll be fun to find out! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 1 hour ago, johnnywc said: I would definitely want to see if we could acquire licensing for Archon - does any body know who holds the rights? I think is was Freefall back in the day (I remember the animated logo at start up ). Probably still Free Fall. There's contact info here, and they openly encourage licensees (for "contemporary platforms" anyway). But that site hasn't been updated since 2008. The last ones (listed) to have licensed Archon were React Games. But they don't claim to own it - they're a development studio. The link for their version Archon goes nowhere. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Karl G Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 On 1/17/2023 at 12:52 PM, Nathan Strum said: Probably still Free Fall. There's contact info here, and they openly encourage licensees (for "contemporary platforms" anyway). But that site hasn't been updated since 2008. The last ones (listed) to have licensed Archon were React Games. But they don't claim to own it - they're a development studio. The link for their version Archon goes nowhere. FWIW, I sent an email to the info at freefallgames.com address about a month ago inquiring about permission to do a 7800 version of the game, and did not get a response. The email didn't bounce either, though. My developer resume is a bit sparse, so maybe someone with a more proven track record might get a reply if that email is still active, though. I've personally moved on to trying my hand at a sci-fi variant inspired by Archon instead, but I'd love to see what you guys could pull off for an Atari 2600 version of Archon. 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Gorf Arcade is now available in the AtariAge Store! https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1272 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrBlackCat Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Excellent! Ordered. In 82/83 my father got us a Vic-20. The two games we got were Omega Race and Gorf. I would say Gorf is the only game my father really ever played and it was addictive to him. Almost every day for a months he would play it after he got home from work. I still have Vic-20's, but he hasn't played anything in decades, but when I explained to him that people today are still making games for Atari consoles he was really surprised... I told him that even the Arcade version of Gorf was being made he said he wanted to come by and try it to see what it was like. I will be setting up the ColecoVision, Vic-20 and the Atari, as well as the Arcade version on the ALU, side by side so he can relive the old and try the old new for the first time in almost 40 years. (he is 80 now) Thank you all for all the effort into games like this, can't wait to play it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+llabnip Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Just want to add to the chorus on this one... Gorf Arcade is a BRILLIANT conversion to the 2600. You will not be disappointed - my favorite home conversion (the Colecovision was my previous best version prior to this). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 4 hours ago, MrBlackCat said: Excellent! Ordered. Thanks for the support! 4 hours ago, MrBlackCat said: In 82/83 my father got us a Vic-20. The two games we got were Omega Race and Gorf. I would say Gorf is the only game my father really ever played and it was addictive to him. Almost every day for a months he would play it after he got home from work. I still have Vic-20's, but he hasn't played anything in decades, but when I explained to him that people today are still making games for Atari consoles he was really surprised... What a wonderful story, thanks for sharing! I was always intrigued by the Vic-20 and looked forward to playing Omega Race at the local Service Merchandise in Massachusetts when my mom would drag me and my brothers out shopping around the holidays - good memories! 4 hours ago, MrBlackCat said: I told him that even the Arcade version of Gorf was being made he said he wanted to come by and try it to see what it was like. I will be setting up the ColecoVision, Vic-20 and the Atari, as well as the Arcade version on the ALU, side by side so he can relive the old and try the old new for the first time in almost 40 years. (he is 80 now) Awesome - I hope your Dad has fun playing Gorf Arcade! Do you have an Atarivox for the voice taunts? 4 hours ago, MrBlackCat said: Thank you all for all the effort into games like this, can't wait to play it. You're welcome, have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 Champ Games is proud to announce that Gorf Arcade has been nominated for three awards for the 5th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards, including Atari 2600 Best Homebrew, Best Graphics and Best Music and Sound! 😊 Congratulations to @Nathan Strum for his nomination for Atari 2600 Best Graphics! Congratulations to Bob Decresenzo @PacManPlus for his nomination for Atari 2600 Best Music & Sound! If you haven't already, please head over to the official awards thread and cast your votes for your favorite Atari 2600, 7800, 5200/8-bit, Jaguar and Lynx games! A big thank you to James and the @ZeroPage Homebrew team for hosting the event and congratulations to all of the other nominees! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoGamer Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I pre-ordered both Gorf and Boulder Dash for the Atari 2600 from the Atari Age store. I still want Elevator Action and Turbo; both look fantastic! Keep up the excellent work! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 3 hours ago, ColecoGamer said: I pre-ordered both Gorf and Boulder Dash for the Atari 2600 from the Atari Age store. I still want Elevator Action and Turbo; both look fantastic! Keep up the excellent work! Thank you! I know Al is busy getting those orders filled very soon. We're hoping to have Elevator Agent (aka Action) released in late Spring/early summer and Turbo Arcade in the fall. 🤞 Thanks for the support! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Just now, johnnywc said: Thank you! I know Al is busy getting those orders filled very soon. Yeah, this is going to be my life for the next month. ..Al 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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