Frostbite 400 (for Christmas)

[glurk]

OK.  I think I've knocked this one out in time.  Maybe a few hours late...  It's the Atari 2600's "Frostbite" for the A8.  I'm calling it "Frostbite 400" because it will run on one.  Or any other Atari 8-bit, I do believe.  It's an 8K cartridge image, runs with 8K RAM.

 

Same story as my 'Barnstorming' port, it's what I think Activision might have released, if they had done so.  Same game as the 2600, with slight graphic improvements.

 

I started a new thread for this because, darn it, this was too much work for it to go un-noticed.  Happy holidays, and enjoy!

 

Frostbite 400.car

[_The Doctor__]

level 3 interwebz were terrible for today, so being able to connect and download this was a bright spot in my day. Thank You

[Heaven/TQA]

first spot of my eyes were down left corner for the Activision logo and if it is the old or the scrolling colored one

 

[+Philsan]

Very nice, thank you!

 

Could you add a check to adjust PAL colors?

[Marius]

Amazing! I am so glad you are doing this. This is also one of my favorite 2600 games. Very cool stuff!

[holgibo]

^{Really cool! I love this game on the VCS and now I can play it on my XL! Thank you!}

[glurk]

8 hours ago, Philsan said:

Could you add a check to adjust PAL colors?

Well...  I have the colors set so they look best in NTSC (because that's what I have), but I did test PAL colors in Altirra, and I think they look OK.

 

The problem is that I converted this from a 4K 2600 game, and it has the colors hard-coded EVERYWHERE and they are critical to the program code - used within calculations.  So I'd have to change all the color values that are ALL OVER the code, and compile a new version, which is a lot of work.  And then I'd have two separate code bases to keep in sync.

 

So, at least for now, I think PAL users will just have to live with it, with PAL60 and PAL50 colors a little off, and PAL50 a bit slower.

 

So - no for now, I can't do it.  Maybe after it's been play-tested (by users here) and I'm certain that there are no bugs...

 

EDIT TO ADD:

 

IMPORTANT!!  If you find any bugs/problems, please TELL ME so I can fix them.  I believe it's pretty solid, but this was a major job, and things can and do slip by...

 

EDIT # 2:

 

For instructions on gameplay - read the Activision 2600 manual, it's on Atarimania:

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-frostbite_s6825.html

 

Really good gameplay tips here (at the bottom):

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/67047-hsc-season-2-week-11-frostbite/

 

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by glurk

[tjlazer]

Thank you!  Very cool.  Been wanting a port for ages!   Can someone make an XEX file?

[glurk]

Before people start wanting PAL versions, and XEX versions, give the coder (me) some time!  I have already found a few minor bugs, and I REALLY DO WANT reports of any others that may be found.  This would help SO MUCH!!!

 

I NEED play-testers, bug-testers.  This is all done by me, and all I ask is that people let me know if they find issues.  I  don't have a RetroTink, or a VBXE, or any of that gee-whiz hardware.  So, if you do, and you see any problems, let me know.  I just want to make the best game possible, and if I'm playing the game over and over, I can't do any coding, LOL.  I don't want praise, I want (helpful) criticism, hahaha.....

 

There will be at least one more release before I can call it final.

 

[tjlazer]

OK no problem, I can beta test if you would like.  I am a big Frost Bite fan!

[adam242]

1 hour ago, glurk said:

Before people start wanting PAL versions, and XEX versions, give the coder (me) some time!

 

 

or someone begs for a 5200 conversion... ??

[erichenneke]

Just played it quite a bit on Colleen. It's great. I love these kind of games! Really loved those straight-forward Activision games back in the day. The ones that make you play again and again and start hitting restart like a madman. This is definitely one of those. I made it to 7,350 and decided I love it enough to wait until I can play on my real a8 system with a proper joystick! Nice job.

Eric

Sent from my KB2005 using Tapatalk

[glurk]

OK!  So I can't edit my first post, but that's alright.  I have a new one, with some slight/minor bugfixes, and I'm willing to call it "FINAL."

 

I'm not saying it's perfect, but I can't find anything else to fix.  It's the very best I can do.  I'll assume that no reported bugs means no one else can find any either (?)  So I'm confident to release:

 

FROSTBITE 400 (FINAL)

 

Frostbite 400 (FINAL).car

[erichenneke]

just played up to 13,980 where the icebergs start drifting apart. Much better on a system with a joystick vs. playing on my phone with Colleen.   

 

Not seeing any bugs so far. 

 

This one goes into the "quick fun games" keeper folder on my flash devices.  

[Thelen]

Again, what a nice conversion, thanks for this! Played it on the emulator, will test it later today on real (PAL, VBXE) hardware. I think I will score better on the real hardware instead of the arrow keys of the laptop ?

[glurk]

The same new (FINAL) one with a PAL palette:

 

Frostbite 400 (FINAL) [PAL].car

[STE'86]

Nice job, if you want to do a full on update for 800, i can provide you with the graphics from the 2019 c64 version.

[Thelen]

Thanks for doing a PAL version!

 

I'm sorry, couldn't test it on real hardware yet (I've only sio2sd hardware and to my knowledge this doesn't support CAR files)

Edited December 27, 2021 by Thelen

[glurk]

1 hour ago, STE'86 said:

Nice job, if you want to do a full on update for 800, i can provide you with the graphics from the 2019 c64 version.

Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm kind of done with it.  Your version looks great, but unlike it (and the Coleco version)  I was going with a DIRECT port of the 2600.  Like having the Stella emulator in the A8 computer, as close as possible.

 

It's literally running the same 6502 code as the 2600.  And if I start changing the graphics, it changes the collision detection.  And then THAT would change the gameplay, sometimes in unexpected and subtle (bad) ways.

 

And Steve Cartwright himself said that the game had TONS of playtesting and fine-tuning.  And so I'm taking advantage of that ?!!

 

Besides, I'm thinking about getting to work on a new port, which one I have not decided on yet!

[glurk]

I don't want to start a new topic for this, but I'm open for ideas on what I should port next.  I'd "prefer" an old Activision title, just to keep with the theme I've got going.  Not "required" though.  I was looking at 'Sky Jinks' because it's a pretty game, but it was never very popular.  A bit too simple in game-play.

 

Besides that one, I also looked at 'Chopper Command,' 'Cosmic Commuter,' 'Crackpots,' 'Dolphin,' 'Plaque Attack,' 'Spider Fighter,' and 'Starmaster.'  I am NOT saying that I'm sure I could do any of them, LOL.  But I was thinking of what I could do...  Many of those I've never even played before!

 

So I'm curious which one I should try to tackle...  None of them would be an easy port!

[erichenneke]

16 minutes ago, glurk said:

I don't want to start a new topic for this, but I'm open for ideas on what I should port next.  I'd "prefer" an old Activision title, just to keep with the theme I've got going.  Not "required" though.  I was looking at 'Sky Jinks' because it's a pretty game, but it was never very popular.  A bit too simple in game-play.

 

Besides that one, I also looked at 'Chopper Command,' 'Cosmic Commuter,' 'Crackpots,' 'Dolphin,' 'Plaque Attack,' 'Spider Fighter,' and 'Starmaster.'  I am NOT saying that I'm sure I could do any of them, LOL.  But I was thinking of what I could do...  Many of those I've never even played before!

 

So I'm curious which one I should try to tackle...  None of them would be an easy port!

Could you list the ones you have done so far already?  And are they all in one location available for download?

 

Kaboom and Stampede are both really fun games.   Actually, Dolphin and Sky Jinks are both a lot of fun too.  Spider Fighter is really fun and challenging too.

 

Seaquest is a good one, and I recently got the Skate Bordin cartridge and I had never played it before, but turns out it is a lot of fun too. 

 

You can't really go wrong with any of the Activision ports i think!   

 

Sorry, that probably doesn't help you narrow the field.  There are many great ones!

Edited December 28, 2021 by erichenneke

[glurk]

I first did 'Barnstorming' and now this one.  That's all I've done, and they are both posted on this board.

 

'Kaboom!' actually had an official A8 release by Activision, and phaeron (author of Altirra) already ported 'Stampede' and 'Seaquest' (plus several other ones too, non-Activision.)  They are also on this board somewhere, have to search...

 

The ones I listed are basically the only ones where I think I even have a CHANCE of success.  And I never played most of them before, LOL!

[Keatah]

Chopper Command was always a wintertime fav of mine, even if I was just so-so at playing.

 

Fishing Derby

Robot Tank

Tennis

Skiing

..were other carts we all played often back then. And loved every moment doing so.

 

FD, T, and S seem simple enough? But as a non-developer, I have no idea what's under the hood. RT looks tough straight away with the staticky TV noise and stuff.

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Keatah

[adam242]

Sky Jinks or Fishing Derby would be awesome..

 

My personal favorite old 2600 Activision game was Pressure Cooker. Not a demand or even a request.. a suggestion of something you might want to check out and see if *you are into.

[Heaven/TQA]

robot tank or the official battle zone which looks amazing on the 2600.

 

star master and robot tank were ace