Popular Post Dionoid Posted August 19, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted August 19, 2022 (edited) Update: Lode Runner™ for Atari 2600 is now available in the AtariAge Store! Hi folks! The very first time I played Lode Runner was at age 15 on my Commodore 64. As one of the early microcomputer games it really stood out because of its challenging gameplay and smooth character animation; these little runners really seemed to be alive! The game instantly became one of my favorites. I think it’s safe to say that anyone who had a home computer in the '80s knows Lode Runner. This classic 2D puzzle-platform game was developed by Douglas E. Smith and was released for (almost) all 8-bit platforms from that era: Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit, VIC-20, IBM PC, ZX Spectrum, MSX, NES, etc. It even got an Arcade conversion by IREM, produced by Scott Tsumura (more about him later). But it didn’t stop there: Lode Runner became available with each new generation of consoles, and today the game is available on all modern platforms: Xbox One / Live Arcade, PlayStation 4/5, Switch and Steam. While Lode Runner got converted to many platforms, there was one still missing... I’m talking about the classic console that really propelled video games into everyone's living room: The Atari 2600. But… that is going to change very soon, as I’m excited to announce that Lode Runner for the Atari 2600 will be released by AtariAge at the upcoming 2022 Portland Retro Gaming Expo in October, and will be available in the AtariAge store in November! You’ve probably noticed the ™ at the end of Lode Runner™ in the title of this post. That’s because me and Albert from AtariAge have been working with the people from Tozai, Inc., which is the company that owns the intellectual property of Lode Runner. Sheila and Scott from Team Tozai (yes, the same Scott who produced the Arcade version in 1984, amongst lots of other games) have been taking great care of Lode Runner and have pushed the game to all these modern consoles. And now they helped us getting their game available on one of the most famous video game consoles of all time: the Atari 2600 (which recently even got its own official Lego® replica set). A big thank you to Team Tozai! You probably also noticed the beautiful artwork on the 3D render of the box. This was all done by David Exton, who did an excellent job on the box, manual and cartridge label. Me and David both love the '80s Japanese video game artwork style, which was a bit more gloomy and threatening than most western artwork from that time. You’ll see that back in David’s amazing artwork for this game. In the coming weeks, I’ll be updating this post with a short background story on how this game was created. Lots of stuff to tell, like: How things kicked off after a private 10-minute crash course on CDFJ by John Champeau at the 2019 Portland Retro Gaming Expo. How I got inspired by a forum post by user ZylonBane (from 2003!), which showed that Lode Runner could (at least graphically) be possible on an Atari 2600. How I adapted the original 150 levels into a 20x15 play area, as opposed to the standard 28x16. And how my team of beta testers helped with making these levels actually playable How the source code of the guards’ quirky AI pathfinding algorithm was shared in a Japanese textbook from 1988, titled “Learning Practical C Language by Source Program of Lode Runner”. How Thomas Jentzsch helped me to compress the tilemaps for 150 levels into 11kB! How I got rid of "Lives" and "Game Over" and replaced it with modern gameplay design practices: unlockable levels and a bonus timer. Downloadable 3-level demo ROM: LodeRunner2600-Demo-NTSC.bin (NTSC version) LodeRunner2600-Demo-PAL60.bin (PAL version) Screenshots: Video showing the gameplay: Dodge the Guards. Collect the Gold. Escape! Cheers, Dion Olsthoorn - DionoiD Game Studios ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lode Runner™ is a registered trademark of Tozai, Inc. Copyright © 1983-2022 Tozai, Inc. All rights reserved. Edited October 18 by Dionoid Updated post with video of gameplay 65 6 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
+groundtrooper Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 Congrats @Dionoid. I am so excited for this "official" port. I loved playing Lode Runner on my Apple ][e back in the late 80's. It looks like you did an amazing job (as usual) on this. 4 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108411 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Defender Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 Wow, this looks amazing!! Great packaging and artwork. Really looking forward to playing and purchasing my copies. 4 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108412 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 Incredible! The artwork by David Exton is beyond amazing once again and suits the game perfectly. It's been unbelievable watching this homebrew develop over the years and I'm so excited to see people's reaction once they experience the final result of Dion's hard work! The additional fact that Tozai put their stamp of approval on it just shows how much meticulous care that was put into making this the absolute definitive Atari 2600 version. I'm incredibly honoured to have its debut on ZeroPage Homebrew in a few weeks! VERY looking forward to it! - James 7 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108429 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 That looks fantastic! 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108445 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Love the color palette. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108451 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Loved playing this on my C64 and I’ll love playing it on my 2600 even more. Looking forward to purchasing a copy at PRGE. Just 55 days away from PRGE ‘22 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108453 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 8 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said: Loved playing this on my C64 and I’ll love playing it on my 2600 even more. Looking forward to purchasing a copy at PRGE. Dion has done a truly remarkable job with Lode Runner! This is another in a long list of games I never thought I'd see so faithfully produced on the Atari 2600! I first played this on an Apple II, and then when I purchased my first home computer, an Atari 800XL, I got to really appreciate it. 8 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said: Just 55 days away from PRGE ‘22 Don't you be counting down the days, la la la la lalala la la, I can't hear you! ..Al 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108454 Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvga Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Wow! That looks fantastic! 4 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108456 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDevil'sCompass Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Love Lode Runner! Can't wait to check this out. Looks very cool. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108460 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absalon Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Your devotion to details is so great to watch. Man, so much love! I'm looking foreward to play the demo 🕹️ 1 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108539 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fort Apocalypse Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 That looks amazing! 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108559 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSetIlly Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 10 hours ago, Dionoid said: How I got rid of "Lives" and "Game Over" and replaced it with modern gameplay design practices: unlockable levels and a bonus timer. Thank-you for this. I love the idea of applying modern day gameplay ideas to older platforms. It can be surprisingly effective. Really looking forward to the demo. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108586 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Brilliant work! One of my favorite C64 games back then. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108594 Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Pictures say nothing.. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108602 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeddyBear89 Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Just when I was fully secure with myself that I would never, ever buy another video game I read this thread......just wow!!! This will be an early Xmas present for me! 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108701 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 8 hours ago, gambler172 said: Pictures say nothing.. A video will be coming soon! The video will make the game look even more impressive. ..Al 6 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108792 Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 WOW! 😍 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5108822 Share on other sites More sharing options...
killersquirel Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 I can't wait to get this one! 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5109103 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent X Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 Very impressive work! I look forward to reading more about the creation of this game. It's evident a lot of love has gone into it. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5109331 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDevil'sCompass Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 I'm curious were you able to include the iris screen wipe to reveal the next level? Not important to gameplay, just always thought that was really cool on the Apple II. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5109691 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 4 minutes ago, TheDevil'sCompass said: I'm curious were you able to include the iris screen wipe to reveal the next level? Not important to gameplay, just always thought that was really cool on the Apple II. Indeed it does have that cool wipe. ..Al 5 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5109694 Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwalla Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Looks great. So many new games coming in all the time. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5109724 Share on other sites More sharing options...
m.o.terra kaesi Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 (edited) gorgeous! It is a single-player only game, right? Edited August 23, 2022 by m.o.terra kaesi Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5110741 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 Wow - the surprises just keep on coming! 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/339630-lode-runner%E2%84%A2-for-atari-2600/#findComment-5110755 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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