Anyone ever think of homebrewing a port of Sea Wolf???

[BIGHMW]

Many of us my age (56 as I am writing this) might possibly remember playing this game as mere grade school kids growing up in the mid-70's (pre-Space Invaders era). I remember feeding quarters into this game over at Shakey's whenever I went out there in the 70s, and it, Formula K (Kee Games), and Star Fire (Exidy) along with the onboard pinball machines often saw my face, but I was thinking of this game while my mind drifted off just a few minutes ago, and it brought upon the idea of maybe a 5200 port in which might be a simple one for just about anybody here on AA especially since we here on AA happen to be so blessed to be on a board with tremendous programming talents on it to port it, but especially if it were to be done more in color as opposed to the monochrome version that we played in the arcade BITD.

 

Maybe added features (beyond the original arcade version's extended time for a bonus) like progressive waves with count of remaining targets to hit as well as perhaps more (and even mobile and even multiplying mines at that!!!) mines to wreak havoc with your firing lines, and even shorter time lengths in which to knock off each wave, or maybe, less torpedoes per salvo (in the arcade it was 4 per salvo, then you had to wait a few seconds for the "reload" in order to make matters worse) to work with as you progress.

 

The joystick controller would be utilized in the analog form (like in Super Breakout, Missile Command or even Kaboom!) and would absolutely rock with either the Trak-Ball or my ProPaddle 2 to perfectly simulate the periscope on the arcade version.

 

How many others my age remember playing it, and how many would love to see a 5200 homebrew of Sea Wolf??? Hey, we already have Super Breakout, and the 5200 version looks and sounds far better than the OG A8 port of it, so I figure, why not this???

 

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by BIGHMW

[BIGHMW]

Well, I found this version for the 2600, and also in 1983 Epyx put out a version along with Sea Wolf II and also Gunfight in a "multicart"-style release (3 classic games in 1 port!)

 

 

....and here is that Epyx version with the 3 games in one as I already mentioned:

 

 

 

Sea Wolf 2600.zip Arcade_Classics_Seawolf_II_Gun_Fight.zip

[ledzep]

I think it would be a very boring game.  The greatness of Sea Wolf was having to view through, and aim with, the periscope -

 

 

Not only that, but the mirrors reflecting the lights for the reloads, and the actual physical explosion lights, were what made that game so cool and realistic.  It doesn't work without the periscope.  How that would be done for home I don't know, some kind of table mount for a periscope mounted on a pedestal with a paddle-type POT to read the rotations (like a Star Wars yoke), and fire buttons on the side handles, maybe?  Probably have to have some kind of min/max distance from the TV, too, so the crosshairs would line up.

 

With a functioning periscope controller and some added features (maybe having to move forward from time to time or occasionally a ship would turn straight at you to ram you, if you don't sink it you die) it could be a cool game.  But without the periscope it would just be a slow Space Invaders.  This game needs the dedicated periscope to view through as much as Silent Scope requires the actual rifle with the tiny monitor inside the scope to aim through.  You could make a light gun with a scope with a tiny monitor that you could maybe hold in your arms instead of it being mounted, but I wonder how that would fuck up the aiming so it would probably need a stand and not move around, only swivel.

 

 

I have thought about a dedicated periscope controller for a Sea Wolf game a few times.  It would be really cool but I think also way too much expense to justify it.

[BIGHMW]

...and BTW for anyone who wants to convert it for 5200 use, I found the original A8 ports of both Seawolf II and Gunfight in separate files in my Homesoft Collection so here they are in case Paul Lay @playsoft, @Wrathchild or anyone else wants to do the honors. Also included is the A8 OG 1984 ANALOG port of one that I have been calling for a conversion of since we already have Missile Command so this might be an unofficial sequel to it, Planetary Defense, as well as its revamped 2012 version as well.

 

Planetary Defense would rock with the Trak-Ball the same way as it did on the A8 with the koala pad (just change "koala pad" to "trak-ball" in the control mode) as well as add the analog function of the original 5200 controller and maybe even a digital control version of it as well, much like someone did with Gorf for the 5200 years ago (the original CBS 5200 port used the analog function in which was uncontrollable at least for me and I prefer to use the digital version in which is more stable for me instead whenever I play her on Big Sexy)

Seawolf II.xex Gunfight.xex Planetary Defense.xex Planetary Defense 2012.zip

[+GoldLeader]

I used to love Sea Wolf in the arcade!  Seems like a great idea for 2600 to me.   Now,  maybe I'm just tired, (Just got up),  but I couldn't remember if it existed specifically or not...I thought I remembered it from the AtariAge store (Yep!) and sure enough it's there in the Homebrews section on my Harmony!  Gonna play it today!!

[+GoldLeader]

10 hours ago, ledzep said:

I think it would be a very boring game.  The greatness of Sea Wolf was having to view through, and aim with, the periscope -

 

 

Not only that, but the mirrors reflecting the lights for the reloads, and the actual physical explosion lights, were what made that game so cool and realistic.  It doesn't work without the periscope.  How that would be done for home I don't know, some kind of table mount for a periscope mounted on a pedestal with a paddle-type POT to read the rotations (like a Star Wars yoke), and fire buttons on the side handles, maybe?  Probably have to have some kind of min/max distance from the TV, too, so the crosshairs would line up.

 

With a functioning periscope controller and some added features (maybe having to move forward from time to time or occasionally a ship would turn straight at you to ram you, if you don't sink it you die) it could be a cool game.  But without the periscope it would just be a slow Space Invaders.  This game needs the dedicated periscope to view through as much as Silent Scope requires the actual rifle with the tiny monitor inside the scope to aim through.  You could make a light gun with a scope with a tiny monitor that you could maybe hold in your arms instead of it being mounted, but I wonder how that would fuck up the aiming so it would probably need a stand and not move around, only swivel.

 

 

I have thought about a dedicated periscope controller for a Sea Wolf game a few times.  It would be really cool but I think also way too much expense to justify it.

A periscope controller for Sea Wolf?  LOL!   How about just a Virtual Boy version but maybe with some headpiece mounted Bright LEDs to flash when there's a hit to give you an extra Headache?  Now,  there's something I'd love to play once so I could complain about it afterwards!

 

 

@ledzep   Sometimes I read your posts and think This guy's a genius and other times I'm like Here we have a crazy person...Please,  Don't ever change!  is what I'm saying...

[BIGHMW]

27 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

I used to love Sea Wolf in the arcade!  Seems like a great idea for 2600 to me.   Now,  maybe I'm just tired, (Just got up),  but I couldn't remember if it existed specifically or not...I thought I remembered it from the AtariAge store (Yep!) and sure enough it's there in the Homebrews section on my Harmony!  Gonna play it today!!

Arsenal just got finished beating Aston Villa 2-1 to extend our Premier League record to 5 wins in 5 league matches (a perfect 15 points!) and remain top of the League so I too, will be trying out Sea Wolf as well on my FB9.

[+x=usr(1536)]

I do not plan on playing Sea Wolf today.  Should that change, I shall inform the thread.

[+GoldLeader]

1 minute ago, BIGHMW said:

Arsenal just got finished beating Aston Villa 2-1 to extend our Premier League record to 5 wins in 5 league matches (a perfect 15 points!) and remain top of the League so I too, will be trying out Sea Wolf as well on my FB9.

 

Does this mean you're celebrating with a Victory round of Sea Wolf?  Myself,  I'm on a day off, but have a list of odd things to get done,  with many optional side quests to get done if I have the energy.  At the end of some of my main tasks, ... or perhaps at the end of all...Well,  it's Miller Time! (so to speak) and I will have a beer and play some Sea Wolf!

[+GoldLeader]

1 minute ago, x=usr(1536) said:

I do not plan on playing Sea Wolf today.  Should that change, I shall inform the thread.

You better!

 

I'm trying to stay in the loop!

[BIGHMW]

You know some how, some way seeing the advancements in programming for the 2600/Flashback 9 over the past 40 years makes me almost want to forget about the 5200 and maybe instead focus more and more of my time on 2600 games, we all remember the butchery that the 1981 port of Pac-Man was like, even though some of us have since forgiven Atari for it, but in a way there have been many terrific homebrew ports for the 2600 like Sea Wolf, like Dennis @DEBRO's genius version of Pac-Man 4K and also @DINTAR816's Pac-Man Arcade and also so many others that somehow seem to make us want to just play on her rather than on Big Sexy (or ColecoVision for that matter), especially if you don't have the vookoo $$$ for a 5200, 7800, XEGS, or a C-V and also happen to be fortunate to own either a Woody, Vader, or a Jr, and a Harmony cart or a FB9 with her onboard SD slot. Flickering on games (like the OG 1981 Pac-Man) has become moot point as far as classic gaming is concerned, I'm proud to also own TWO FB9s, with a backup unit just in case the first one dies. Sure the trade-off is that you might have to put up with sucky-sucky graphics compared to the fine works of art that 8-bit/5200 ports are but it seems like it's so much more simple and that's why she has stood the test of time for these past 45 years ever since debuting back in 1977, they just keep up with more and more advanced ports we thought could never ever happen BITD like what John Champeau @johnnywc and the great folks at Champ Games have been able to concoct with their ARM-based games like Galagon, Gorf Arcade, Scramble, and now, Qyx. Add to that Donkey Kong VCS, @splendidnut's awesome Chaotic Grill! and so many others, and that all has me thinking of ditching everything and just going with my FB9 and maybe in the short future getting a 4-switch Woody to play those ARM-based games that a Flashback 9 can't play.

[BIGHMW]

50 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

 

Does this mean you're celebrating with a Victory round of Sea Wolf?  Myself,  I'm on a day off, but have a list of odd things to get done,  with many optional side quests to get done if I have the energy.  At the end of some of my main tasks, ... or perhaps at the end of all...Well,  it's Miller Time! (so to speak) and I will have a beer and play some Sea Wolf!

Well I DO work also, weeknights from 6-10 pm over at Safeway here in Port Townsend just down the hill from me cleaning the cutting room in the meat department and also cleaning up the bakery so I make some pretty good extra income to go along with my $978.00/month in Social Security Disability but yes some very tough decisions face me as I speak, I owe one of my supervisors at work $250.00 and also especially when my 2002 Beetle needs some serious work done on her, having a console with arcade graphics might no longer be in the cards for me nowadays.

[+GoldLeader]

3 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

Well I DO work also, weeknights from 6-10 pm over at Safeway here in Port Townsend just down the hill from me cleaning the cutting room in the meat department and also cleaning up the bakery so I make some pretty good extra income to go along with my $978.00/month in Social Security Disability but yes some very tough decisions face me as I speak, I owe one of my supervisors at work $250.00 and also especially when my 2002 Beetle needs some serious work done on her, having a console with arcade graphics might no longer be in the cards for me nowadays.

 

 

Well, keep working,...Ideally also keep saving some money (putting a little bit aside can work wonders...nice to have some savings for emergencies etc.),  but do what you gotta do.  As always I'm hoping you don't have to part with any of your consoles...Maybe sell a guitar or something instead*.

 

 

* I have no idea   You just seem like a guy who might have an extra guitar laying around...

[Keatah]

10 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

You know some how, some way seeing the advancements in programming for the 2600/Flashback 9 over the past 40 years makes me almost want to forget about the 5200 and maybe instead focus more and more of my time on 2600 games,

That wouldn't be a bad choice. But you needn't get rid of the 5200 either. There are just tons and tons of games, a big enough library that anyone can curate a set of favorites in no time. And what you can't acquire/afford right away, there's Harmony and ROMS. And if I had to pick between the 2600 vs 5200 I'd go for the 2600 straight away without question. The 2600 is a mix of both charm and tech. Simple spartan tech that is.

 

There are many desirable things about the 2600. Some discussed in this thread here:

 

10 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

Flickering on games (like the OG 1981 Pac-Man) has become moot point as far as classic gaming is concerned,

Yes that's right. It used to be a big discussion point years ago. But now just not a concern. We all know why it happens and it's just par for the course.

 

10 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

I'm proud to also own TWO FB9s, with a backup unit just in case the first one dies. Sure the trade-off is that you might have to put up with sucky-sucky graphics compared to the fine works of art that 8-bit/5200 ports are but it seems like it's so much more simple and that's why she has stood the test of time for these past 45 years ever since debuting back in 1977,

Maybe early on when consoles were making advancements in graphics with every new generation - graphics would be important. But once you've seen it all and played it all, it doesn't matter so much. Going from 2600 to Intellivision to Colecovision was a huge deal in the 1980's. But to us oldsters it isn't important today.

 

10 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

they just keep up with more and more advanced ports we thought could never ever happen BITD like what John Champeau @johnnywc and the great folks at Champ Games have been able to concoct with their ARM-based games like Galagon, Gorf Arcade, Scramble, and now, Qyx. Add to that Donkey Kong VCS, @splendidnut's awesome Chaotic Grill! and so many others, and that all has me thinking of ditching everything and just going with my FB9 and maybe in the short future getting a 4-switch Woody to play those ARM-based games that a Flashback 9 can't play.

Well you can certainly get a 2600 & compatible hardware and just see how it goes. Don't get rid of anything just yet. If certain things just end up sitting around doing nothing, then it's time to re-evaluate those things.

 

2 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

..having a console with arcade graphics might no longer be in the cards for me nowadays.

The reasons why are unimportant and personal. These days, all I keep is a SmallFormFactor PC for emulation. It gives me all the vintage systems plus all the arcades I could ever want. And it does all the old MS-DOS stuff as well as most AAA PC titles. Instead of splurging on vintage carts and consoles I was easily able to afford the PC just by pulling from the change jar.

 

Also have (but don't maintain anymore) a monster-sized mess of Apple II stuff. The A2 stuff needs to be rightsized significantly and soon. It's like this psychological cancer that grows to consume your every thought, every action, and a complete full-sized bedroom.

[BIGHMW]

30 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

 

 

Well, keep working,...Ideally also keep saving some money (putting a little bit aside can work wonders...nice to have some savings for emergencies etc.),  but do what you gotta do.  As always I'm hoping you don't have to part with any of your consoles...Maybe sell a guitar or something instead*.

 

 

* I have no idea   You just seem like a guy who might have an extra guitar laying around...

Already sold almost all of my musical equipment, just have the filming equipment still left, just to keep my career and my ambitions alive at least for now, but I'll keep that in mind but I want to get to a point by the end of the calendar year that I will owe zero to anyone and also have a surplus full of $$$, I'll try to stave off selling my 5200 and ColecoVision as long as I can, so here's to goods thoughts for all involved. And you'll see me on Saturday September 10th when I debut The Atari 5200 SuperReport with some better presentation than what I did in the past.

[Keatah]

One could make a periscope for SeaWolf by using those cardboard oats tubs and a set of swimming goggles. Strap it to your head and poke some LEDs in there. If you have small head, just use a Pringles can!

[ledzep]

56 minutes ago, Keatah said:

One could make a periscope for SeaWolf by using those cardboard oats tubs and a set of swimming goggles. Strap it to your head and poke some LEDs in there. If you have small head, just use a Pringles can!

 

So long as it had a POT like from the Paddles and it was centered and aligned to the monitor and it had fire buttons, sure.  But that's the thing, you take away the periscope, what do you have?  Space Invaders but with less enemies that aren't descending to crush you.

[youxia]

3 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

Arsenal just got finished beating Aston Villa 2-1 to extend our Premier League record to 5 wins in 5 league matches (a perfect 15 points!) and remain top of the League so I too, will be trying out Sea Wolf as well on my FB9.

I'm also a Gooner and it's the first time in years I've been excited about a new season - but my optimism will remain cautious until we play the "big" teams. I've seen Arsenal's wheels come off too many times in recent years WAIT THIS IS A SEAWOLF THREAD FOR KRISSAKES WHAT ON EARTH IS THE CONNECTION HERE 🤣

Edited August 31, 2022 by youxia

[BIGHMW]

Yeah but as I found out playing her THIS port of Sea Wolf HAS enemies that actually fire back trying to sink your sub as you go upon your business with them, in fact it also has some new wrinkles that Midway never thought of (and pretty much never thought of at that time and era) and that makes THIS version of Sea Wolf so much more enjoyable as you're not just going through the motions knocking off as many boats as possible within a time limit, there are also those bonus targets in which if you hit one replenish you fuel/time along the way, and unlike the arcade version, this one gets even ore challenging as you progress.

Edited August 31, 2022 by BIGHMW

[+GoldLeader]

1 hour ago, Keatah said:

One could make a periscope for SeaWolf by using those cardboard oats tubs and a set of swimming goggles. Strap it to your head and poke some LEDs in there. If you have small head, just use a Pringles can!

 

or...

[Razzie.P]

5 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

Arsenal just got finished beating Aston Villa 2-1 to extend our Premier League record to 5 wins in 5 league matches (a perfect 15 points!) and remain top of the League so I too, will be trying out Sea Wolf as well on my FB9.

I picked up some tacos for dinner and the sonsabitches forgot the lettuce, so I suppose that I too, will check out Sea Wolf as well this evening.  😁

[Cebus Capucinis]

3 hours ago, youxia said:

WAIT THIS IS A SEAWOLF THREAD FOR KRISSAKES WHAT ON EARTH IS THE CONNECTION HERE

Just wait until you find out Cindy Margolis is a Gooner.

[+GoldLeader]

17 minutes ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

Just wait until you find out Cindy Margolis is a Gooner.

Gooners never say die!

[+x=usr(1536)]

Just popping in to say that I'm still not playing Sea Wolf today.

 

I did think about possibly playing SubRoc-3D or Turbo Sub, but have not yet reached a conclusion regarding them.  We are currently 26 minutes away from midnight, so events may change at a moment's notice given the short span of available time to reach a decision.

 

Rest assured that I will continue to keep the thread in the loop.

[Cebus Capucinis]

Why would I play it on 5200 when I have the cabinet in my living room right now?