RaymanC Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 (edited) Hello Friends !! Attached you will find my second homebrew game for the Atari 2600... STRATOVOX 2600 It is a port of the 1980 Taito arcade game Stratovox also known as Speak and Rescue. The object of this game is to shoot UFOs attempting to kidnap astronauts that appear on the right side of the screen. If all astronauts are kidnapped, the game is over. Use the joystick to move your spaceship left or right and press the button to fire. You have to destroy 12 UFOs to complete the first level. On the second level, you have to destroy 15 UFOs, then 18, 21, 24 and so on. At the end of each level, you will receive 100 bonus points for each astronaut not kidnapped. Also, novice players will receive an extra astronaut without exceeding the maximum of 10 astronauts in the screen at once. You start the game with 3 spaceships. Reach 5,000 points to receive an extra spaceship. Yellow UFOs score 50 points and Red UFOs score 100 points. UFOs carrying an astronaut score random points from 300 to 1,000 depending on their color and speed. There are 36 levels in this game. Levels 1 to 4 are the easiest levels; the real action starts in level 5. Below are demo versions in NTSC and PAL60 format. You can play the first 5 levels however the Atarivox will not be enabled for the demo. Carlos RaymanC Stratovox DEMO NTSC.bin Stratovox DEMO PAL60.bin Edited April 23 by RaymanC ROM UPDATE 27 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-88 Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 Love it!! I have the actual arcade game, very respectable port of it! 13250 my first try. Can't wait to hear the voices when they are ready. 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4625621 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaymanC Posted September 5, 2020 Author Share Posted September 5, 2020 4 hours ago, IG-88 said: Love it!! I have the actual arcade game, very respectable port of it! 13250 my first try. Can't wait to hear the voices when they are ready. Hello, I'm glad you love it !! My highest score so far is 38,950. Enjoy !! Carlos Rayman_C 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4625644 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 This is cool! Thanks! 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4625655 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 28 minutes ago, RaymanC said: My highest score so far is 38,950. Sweet! I’m away and won’t be able to play for a couple of days, but now I have a score to shoot for.? 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4625673 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darthtom Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 On 9/5/2020 at 4:41 AM, RaymanC said: Hello Friends !! Attached you will find my second homebrew game for the Atari 2600... STRATOVOX 2600 It is a port of the 1980 Taito arcade game Stratovox also known as Speak and Rescue. The object of this game is to shoot UFOs attempting to kidnap astronauts that appear on the right side of the screen. If all astronauts are kidnapped, the game is over. Use the joystick to move your spaceship left or right and press the button to fire. You have to destroy 12 UFOs to complete the first level. On the second level, you have to destroy 15 UFOs, then 18, 21, 24 and so on. At the end of each level, you will receive 100 bonus points for each astronaut not kidnapped. Also novice players will receive an extra astronaut without exceeding the maximum of 10 astronauts in the screen at once. You start the game with 3 spaceships. Reach 5,000 points to receive an extra spaceship. Yellow UFOs score 50 points and Red UFOs score 100 points. UFOs carrying an astronaut score random points from 300 to 1,000 depending on their color and speed. There are 36 levels in this game. Levels 1 to 4 are the easiest levels, the real action starts in level 5. This game does not have voices like the arcade but I am planning to add some using Atarivox+ or SAM. If you find any bug please let me know. Enjoy !! Carlos RaymanC Stratovox_2600_NTSC_RC1.bin 32 kB · 59 downloads Stratovox_2600_PAL60_RC1.bin 32 kB · 19 downloads 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4626051 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffIrok Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Looking forward to checking this out - Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4626144 Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldLeader Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Awesome! I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but I plan to later. Back in the day, we had this game at a Safeway; The only game they had. I miss those days when almost every restaurant, convenience store, and even some grocery stores had games. My mom knew a checker there and she told us the story about working late one night and suddenly hearing voices...She thought, "I'm overworked!" (Put her hand on her head dramatically),...Then realized it was just the Stratovox machine! I used to play a game or two while my mom did some shopping...Good times! 4 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4626239 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Well done! I'm partial to the VIC-20 port of it called Bandits. They added a few other things like shields and new types of enemy. You can see the "bouncing balls" at 1:10 and the "convoy" at 1:29. 1 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4626314 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaymanC Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 4 hours ago, SpiceWare said: Well done! I'm partial to the VIC-20 port of it called Bandits. They added a few other things like shields and new types of enemy. You can see the "bouncing balls" at 1:10 and the "convoy" at 1:29. Thanks ! Yes, there are many others enemies on that version too. I had the C64 back in the days and I never saw Bandits. By the way, How were you able to add voices to Draconian without the Atarivox+ ? Is that possible with batari Basic ? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4626323 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 2 hours ago, RaymanC said: By the way, How were you able to add voices to Draconian without the Atarivox+ ? Is that possible with batari Basic ? Back in the 80s they figured out that the 2600 could play back 4-bit digital audio samples: It's done by setting AUDC0 to 0 and updating AUDV0 on every scanline, including the scanlines during overscan, vertical sync, and vertical blank. It takes a lot of processing time, so is difficult to do while also drawing a screen. That's why Quadrun blanks the screen during speech. In Draconian I'm using the CDF coprocessor to reduce the overhead, which allowed me to have speech while drawing the screen. The CDF coprocessor is emulated by an ARM processor in the cartridge, can learn more about that in the Harmony/Melody club. The same technique of updating AUDV0 on every scanline is used in Pitfall 2 for the 3-voice music. It uses the DPC coprocessor to make it possible. I do the same with the music in Stay Frosty 2, just with DPC+. I'm not that familiar with bB, but you should be able to add it to a bB project using inline assembly. 4 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4626422 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaymanC Posted September 7, 2020 Author Share Posted September 7, 2020 8 hours ago, SpiceWare said: Back in the 80s they figured out that the 2600 could play back 4-bit digital audio samples: Hmmm, 4-bit digital audio samples....inline assembly.... Very good ! Now I have something to start with.... Thanks !!! 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4626609 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 7 hours ago, SpiceWare said: Well done! I'm partial to the VIC-20 port of it called Bandits. They added a few other things like shields and new types of enemy. You can see the "bouncing balls" at 1:10 and the "convoy" at 1:29. I love love love Bandits and played the hell out of it on the C64. I hadn't though about that game in decades until @RaymanC started talking to me about Stratovox and I found out that Bandits was an homage to it! - James 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4626621 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Hmm. Anyone else play this on actual hardware? I tried running it on my Harmony Encore and the yin-yang symbol just spins. I'm running firmware 1.06. Stratovox.MOV Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627185 Share on other sites More sharing options...
insertclevernamehere Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 I don't like to play these games before I have a physical copy in my hands from the AtariAge store but I love reading about them and watching videos on zeropage homebrew. The End looks like a must purchase for me and I'm excited to see you have another game in the works already. It would be great if you can get speech samples on it without the need for an AtariVox, ala Draconian. After all, there's so many more of us Atari enthusiasts that don't have an AtariVox than do. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627195 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaymanC Posted September 7, 2020 Author Share Posted September 7, 2020 4 hours ago, sramirez2008 said: Hmm. Anyone else play this on actual hardware? I tried running it on my Harmony Encore and the yin-yang symbol just spins. Hello Steve, That is strange....Can you check with James ? I think he played it on the show on actual hardware. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627228 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 6 minutes ago, RaymanC said: Hello Steve, That is strange....Can you check with James ? I think he played it on the show on actual hardware. Will do. Just looked at the Twitch re-play and he ran it off of his Harmony. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627229 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 16 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said: Will do. Just looked at the Twitch re-play and he ran it off of his Harmony. Very, very interesting! I just tried the binary posted in this thread on my Harmony Encore and it worked. BUT.... I then tried it on my OTHER (older) Harmony Encore and it DIDN'T WORK! They're both running Firmware 1.06. This is similar to what happened with Robotron: 2084 the other week on the stream. Luckily @johnnywc was quick on his feet and was able to do some reprogramming WHILE the show was streaming to work around the issue. From a quick search, and I'm just speculating, that it could be related to the issue posted here and has been subsequently fixed in newer Harmony Encore hardware revisions. - James 2 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627260 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 3 minutes ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said: Very, very interesting! I just tried the binary posted in this thread on my Harmony Encore and it worked. BUT.... I then tried it on my OTHER (older) Harmony Encore and it DIDN'T WORK! They're both running Firmware 1.06. This is similar to what happened with Robotron: 2084 the other week on the stream. Luckily @johnnywc was quick on his feet and was able to do some reprogramming WHILE the show was streaming to work around the issue. From a quick search, and I'm just speculating, that it could be related to the issue posted here and has been subsequently fixed in newer Harmony Encore hardware revisions. - James Thanks James. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627263 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Got it to work on my Harmony (firmware 1.05), but my Harmony Encore is garbled. Can’t seem to get it to reflash. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627302 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaymanC Posted September 7, 2020 Author Share Posted September 7, 2020 Great score Steve !! Let's see if I can beat it !! Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627314 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 (edited) I just beat my own score. Okay, I successfully re-flashed my Harmony Encore and I’m now able to run the ROMs. This game is addictive. Here’s my latest score (Wave 11 / Novice). I’m fine for today. I’ll go back and play advanced, again. BTW, really like that title screen. The colors pop with S-Video. Edited September 8, 2020 by sramirez2008 Difficulty = Novice 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627348 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaymanC Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 4 hours ago, sramirez2008 said: I just beat my own score. Okay, I successfully re-flashed my Harmony Encore and I’m now able to run the ROMs. This game is addictive. Here’s my latest score (Wave 11). BTW, really like that title screen. The colors pop with S-Video. 53,300 !! Excellent score !! You are really a pro !! I think I will need more practice to beat you !! 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627354 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 1 hour ago, sramirez2008 said: I just beat my own score. Okay, I successfully re-flashed my Harmony Encore and I’m now able to run the ROMs. This game is addictive. Here’s my latest score (Wave 11 / Novice). I’m fine for today. I’ll go back and play advanced, again. BTW, really like that title screen. The colors pop with S-Video. That's great to hear you got it working on your Encore and it was just a firmware issue. Awesome score!!!! - James 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627376 Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcrock Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 AMMMMAAAAAAZING GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310946-stratovox-2600/#findComment-4627944 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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