Super Pro System box racing "game"

[+fdr4prez]

On the back of the Intellivision Super Pro box, there is this one image of a racing "game".

 

It is a seemingly impossible game for the system.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

comparing the width of the racetrack and the size of the cars, it looks like passing will be impossible, but it sure looks fun.

 

Any programmers up for the challenge?  

 

[+DZ-Jay]

2 hours ago, fdr4prez said:

On the back of the Intellivision Super Pro box, there is this one image of a racing "game".

 

It is a seemingly impossible game for the system.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

comparing the width of the racetrack and the size of the cars, it looks like passing will be impossible, but it sure looks fun.

 

Any programmers up for the challenge?  

 

Wow!  I'm glad they didn't make that game back then.  I'd hate to be he kid who stared at that picture with excitement and anticipation, only to have his illusions crushed when he finally got to play the inevitably inferior-looking and severely compromised game.  😬

 

   dZ.

[carlsson]

What is wrong with a racing game where all cars finish in the same order as they started?

[+the1hatman]

2 hours ago, carlsson said:

What is wrong with a racing game where all cars finish in the same order as they started?

That's why I don't watch Formula 1 as it is!

[Intymike]

It's the box art from Pole Position.

 

[+fdr4prez]

1 hour ago, Intymike said:

It's the box art from Pole Position.

Oh, crap, i forgot about that.  I've not seen that box in a very long time.

 

Now there's a game that could use some Intellivoice enhancements to bring it closer to the arcade game.

 

The "prepare to qualify" is clear to me, but the second one if always garbled for me and I still don't know what she says... just like Intellivoice  

[+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog]

6 hours ago, fdr4prez said:

Oh, crap, i forgot about that.  I've not seen that box in a very long time.

 

Now there's a game that could use some Intellivoice enhancements to bring it closer to the arcade game.

 

The "prepare to qualify" is clear to me, but the second one if always garbled for me and I still don't know what she says... just like Intellivoice  

Why do so many games need to be enhanced? Wouldnt it be better to leave the old games that were already produced alone.. and let the programmers produce new games with new content?  With the evergrowing technologies and knowledgable programmers, it seems that "New" games would be a better option.

 Someone with that type of programming capabilities could probably come up with a really neat new racing game! (Which we need badly!)  Multiple tracks, Different cars, Upgrading engines & tires, Banked corners,.. lol.

[+fdr4prez]

I certainly didn't imply that someone should do it now.

 

It was that preverbally "could"

 

Kinda like saying, "Star Wars could have been better if Han didn't shoot first"

[carlsson]

I'm convinced that someone, someday will develop another racing game. The market is somewhat unsaturated and with technical improvements lately, it shouldn't be quite as difficult as it may have appeared before. The question is who will be the first, and exactly what viewport of racing will it involve.

[Intymike]

Arnauld did an impressive demo already 20 years ago.

 

[+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog]

7 hours ago, carlsson said:

I'm convinced that someone, someday will develop another racing game. The market is somewhat unsaturated and with technical improvements lately, it shouldn't be quite as difficult as it may have appeared before. The question is who will be the first, and exactly what viewport of racing will it involve.

Would love to see a Nascar, F1, or LeMans game one day!

[carlsson]

Yeah. The question is which view(s) it should offer.

[+DZ-Jay]

2 hours ago, Intymike said:

Arnauld did an impressive demo already 20 years ago.

 

Arnauld does impressive demos three times a week before breakfast, and twice on Sundays!

Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to ever have the time to work on his projects; so we will have to depend on one of the lesser and mere mortal programmers that have come after.

 

    dZ.

[Intymike]

14 minutes ago, DZ-Jay said:

Arnauld does impressive demos three times a week before breakfast, and twice on Sundays!

Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to ever have the time to work on his projects; so we will have to depend on one of the lesser and mere mortal programmers that have come after.

 

    dZ.

He did some of the most impressive games on the Intellivision.

 

Maybe you should pick up the challenge.

 

[+DZ-Jay]

12 minutes ago, Intymike said:

He did some of the most impressive games on the Intellivision.

 

I know -- and he did them in Assembly Language, almost 20 years ago!  Plus the music tracker I've enhanced and maintain was originally written by him.

 

12 minutes ago, Intymike said:

Maybe you should pick up the challenge.

Oh nooooo, no, no no.  😱

 

I'm lower than a lesser mere mortal programmer.  I probably have almost as little time as the venerable Arnauld, significantly less talent, plus my procrastinating super-powers have gotten stronger with time -- like a French wine ... or the smell of stale beer.

I trust the new generation of Intellivision programmers to take on the mantle, and accept the challenge of making a great Intellivision racing game.

 

I could offer my help where I can be of assistance.  I also could offer feedback and criticism ... I have plenty of time for that.  😁

 

    dZ.

[Intymike]

44 minutes ago, DZ-Jay said:

 

I know -- and he did them in Assembly Language, almost 20 years ago!  Plus the music tracker I've enhanced and maintain was originally written by him.

 

Oh nooooo, no, no no.  😱

 

I'm lower than a lesser mere mortal programmer.  I probably have almost as little time as the venerable Arnauld, significantly less talent, plus my procrastinating super-powers have gotten stronger with time -- like a French wine ... or the smell of stale beer.

 

 

    dZ.

Don't make yourself smaller than you are! You showed everyone that you are a capable game designer and programmer!

[Sinjinhawke]

3 hours ago, carlsson said:

Yeah. The question is which view(s) it should offer.

There is a 6th option.  Car racing text adventure.

 

 

[+DZ-Jay]

4 hours ago, Sinjinhawke said:

There is a 6th option.  Car racing text adventure.

 

LOCATION:  In cockpit of racecar.

You are sitting in the cockpit of your Formula 1 racecar.  You can see the dashboard, and through the windshield, the racetrack.  The accelerometer says you are currently going at 110 miles per hour, with the engine engaged in 4th gear.  The other cars are zooming past and in front of you.

Car #8 is on your rear right side, preparing to pass you.

Current available options are: steer left, steer right, press accelerator, hit brake, up-shift, down-shift.

What would you do? (L, R, A, B, U, D)

> Steer slightly to the right.

I'm sorry, I do not understand "steer slightly to the right."
Try again.

> Steer right

I'm sorry, I do not understand "steer right."
Try again.

Car #8 is getting closer ...

> Right

I'm sorry, I do not understand "right."
Try again.

> R

You swerve abruptly to the right in an attempt to block car #8 from passing.  Unfortunately, your lack of finess caused you to lose control, which forced your car to go into a spin, losing traction.

As you try furiously to regain control, you see the side wall barrier of the racetrack fast approaching your field of view.  During the last remaining instants before the imminent collision, your mind scrambles to make sense of it all -- how could it come to this?

Then in a flash, you hear a loud crashig noise before everything goes dark and silent.  There will be no more races, no more crowds, no more trophies.  It is all over now.

You are dead.

Thank you for playing.

😁

[mr_me]

14 hours ago, Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog said:

Why do so many games need to be enhanced? Wouldnt it be better to leave the old games that were already produced alone.. and let the programmers produce new games with new content?  With the evergrowing technologies and knowledgable programmers, it seems that "New" games would be a better option.

 Someone with that type of programming capabilities could probably come up with a really neat new racing game! (Which we need badly!)  Multiple tracks, Different cars, Upgrading engines & tires, Banked corners,.. lol.

Why not both.  Some people like to hack old games, some like to convert arcade games or games from other systems, and some like to design original games.  Each takes unique skills that not every programmer has.  Coming up with new game concepts isn't easy.  I like seeing the hacked games, they don't necessarily need to go in cartridges and boxes.

[+DZ-Jay]

28 minutes ago, mr_me said:

Why not both.  Some people like to hack old games, some like to convert arcade games or games from other systems, and some like to design original games.  Each takes unique skills that not every programmer has.  Coming up with new game concepts isn't easy.  I like seeing the hacked games, they don't necessarily need to go in cartridges and boxes.

 

Why not do all of them?  Somebody needs to hack an old arcade game to convert it from another system and design it to be original.  That would be the perfect trifecta!  😄

 

      -dZ.

[carlsson]

1 hour ago, Sinjinhawke said:

There is a 6th option.  Car racing text adventure.

On a system that needs an ECS to attach a keyboard. On a system that can and probably would have to utilize JLP RAM in order to fit all dynamic data. On a system with the text resolution 20x12 characters and 64 GRAM for potential graphics screens.

 

Sure, a point and click adventure probably is doable, but combining that with a racing setting is a first.

[carlsson]

A 7th option would be a race team manager simulator where you get the results after each race, but no active driving on your own.

[+DZ-Jay]

13 minutes ago, carlsson said:

On a system that needs an ECS to attach a keyboard. On a system that can and probably would have to utilize JLP RAM in order to fit all dynamic data. On a system with the text resolution 20x12 characters and 64 GRAM for potential graphics screens.

 

For a text adventure, limiting the text area to a few rows could allow for the use of a compacted GRAM font set.  Some information could be provided in the GROM font, like status and location details; which could be presented as emphasis.

 

For a point-and-click adventure, you do not need the ECS, unless you use a parser interface — but then again, it wouldn’t be point-and-click.

 

Moreover, I do not think you need extended RAM nor JLP features.  Although, you may need bank-switching in order to store a rich corpus of text or pictorial scenes.

 

Still, compression may help with that, and since an adventure game — almost by definition — does not need to run at twitch-reflex speed, you may get away with an aggressive algorithm that puts most of the cost on extraction.

 

Yes, it is perfectly doable.
 

13 minutes ago, carlsson said:

Sure, a point and click adventure probably is doable, but combining that with a racing setting is a first.

 

All you need is a story.

 

   dZ.

[mr_me]

44 minutes ago, DZ-Jay said:

 

Why not do all of them?  Somebody needs to hack an old arcade game to convert it from another system and design it to be original.  That would be the perfect trifecta!  😄

 

      -dZ.

If someone can take the code from an arcade game and run it on a CP1610, that would be very impressive.  Someone did do what you're describing for a Tandy, checkout DK Remixed for the Coco3.

 

.....

A text based racing game reminds me of the text based football and baseball computer games I saw on the Commodore Pet.

Edited April 7, 2023 by mr_me

[+DZ-Jay]

2 minutes ago, mr_me said:

If someone can take the code from an arcade game and run it on a CP1610, that would be very impressive.  Someone did do what you're describing for a Tandy, checkout DK Remixed for the Coco3.

I was being facetious, but that DK Remixed is indeed impressive!

 

Not quite original, so 2 out of 3 — a perfect bifecta!