Dutchman2000 Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 I found this also on some VAX/VMS backup tapes, the barroom sports project. Here is a 5200 rom of Barroom Baseball that differs from the existing version (has a few different bytes) and a report on the project when it began. PROJECT PROPOSAL -- BARROOM (Bar Top Sports Game) _________________________________________________ DESCRIPTION As was evident at AMOA, there is an abundance of "Bar Top" games, primarily of the gambling type (mostly card games and horse racing). There must be a sizable market for this type of product or there wouldn't be so many companies building them (maybe a bad assumption). This is a proposal for a product to compete in this market. But rather than a gambling game, we would produce a 5200 quality sports game ("RealSports" Baseball, Foot- ball, etc.). It was originally thought that we could design a hardware system which would accept off-the-shelf 5200 cartridges on which time could be bought, but it was later decided that the cartridges do not have what it takes to succeed in a coin-op environment (dead time, ability to stall, long game times). However, to minimize unnecessary engineering effort, let's field test a unit which does contain an unmodified 5200 cart (we like Baseball) to see how it does. We'll call this phase I of the project. If the field test is successful, phase II of the project will consist of getting a programmer to modify the cartridge program, customizing it to the coin-op environment. Phase I: A Moose Brain and 16 character alphanumeric display will be used in conjunction with a 5200 PC board and an unmodified RealSports Baseball cartridge to field test the concept. Some software development will be necessary to control the alpha- numeric display and read the coin mech. An "add-a-coin" feature will be implemented to address the problems of excessive game time. An anticipated problem with this field test is that we will use standard 5200 controllers, which will probably break and have to be replaced every day or two. For phase II, new controllers will have to be designed. Phase II: If phase I proves successful, a programmer will be as- signed to the project to modify the cart (or write a new baseball program from scratch). Since the basic 800 chip set will be used, the program (and subsequent programs) can be developed on an 800 and re-assembled to run on "Barroom". Messages and timing will be moved from the Moose Brain to the game program and the Moose Brain and alphanumeric display will be eliminated. Coin-op quality controls will need to be integrated into the system. Either the modified program will accept standard coin-op controls, or a coin-op quality keyboard will have to be developed to be used with a coin-op pot joystick. Barroom Baseball (11-21-83).bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchman2000 Posted April 30 Author Share Posted April 30 BARROOM GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS BARROOM DATE: 8 FEB 1984 PROJECT LEADER: STEMPLER/DOWNEND START: 21 NOV 83 LAB: SICKBAY EXT: 7174/7456 NUMBER: 434XX RASTER | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: <21 NOV 83> 1ST ENG REVIEW: <13 JAN 84> 3 JAN 84 20 DEC 83 2ND ENG REVIEW: 1ST MKT REVIEW: <16 JAN 84> 9 JAN 84 3 JAN 84 2ND MKT REVIEW: 3RD MKT REVIEW: FOCUS GROUP: <21 JAN 84> 4TH MKT REVIEW: UL/FCC REVIEW: 29 FEB 84 FIELD TEST: 2 MAR 84 DRB/UL REVIEW: PROD REL MKT REVIEW: PROD RELEASE: JUN 84 NOTE: Above dates (except for prod release) are Phase I dates. Phase II calls for an engineering review in March, marketing review in April, field test in April and production release in June. But the occurance and/or schedule of Phase II depends on the results of Phase I. 1. Focus Group report received. Meeting should be scheduled late next week or the following week (2/20). 2. Before field test can occur, extensive gameplay changes will have to be made to the Baseball cart. A list of required changes (to simplify the game for the targeted audience) will be generated. A programmer is needed to implement these changes (can we borrow Keithen?). 3. Phase II hardware is 75% debugged. Still some problems with the DRAM refresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 It literally is just a few bytes. I wonder if they actually matter? BTW what the heck is a 'moose brain'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kr0tki Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 14 hours ago, Dutchman2000 said: An anticipated problem with this field test is that we will use standard 5200 controllers, which will probably break and have to be replaced every day or two. 😆 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kr0tki Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 (edited) 14 hours ago, Tempest said: BTW what the heck is a 'moose brain'? I've found a reference in the "Archives Catalog of the Strong" in a collection of Atari Coin-Op Division materials. (This is only a catalog, the documents are in a library in Manhattan, if anyone wishes to research. 🙂) The collection contains documents referring to a "Moose Brain", "Mouse Brain" and "Mouth Brain" which may or may not be the same thing. I guess it was some widget developed by Atari for use in coin-ops. Edited May 1 by Kr0tki 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 I think I see the difference between the two roms. The 'new' one has a better formatted title screen than the 'old' one. New Old 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Do we know how far this project progressed? Was it ever actually field-tested, or were the proposed changes to simplify the game never made? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 1 hour ago, jhd said: Was it ever actually field-tested, or were the proposed changes to simplify the game never made? We don't believe so. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchman2000 Posted October 24 Author Share Posted October 24 Here is a complete (I think) romset for Barroom Baseball: baroom.bin - Pam Controller (Moose Brain) This version is just to test display routines basebal.bin - Standard 5200 cartridge clock.bin - Digital Clock, This is a programming exercise only moose.bin - Pam Controller (Moose Brain) Purpose is to control a 5200 (through it's reset button), coins, and 16 character neon alphanumeric display nbar.bin - Moose Brain 5200 Controller, This version is just to test display routines These were created from original source code found on a VAX/VMS backup tape. Barroom Baseball.zip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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