how/where to play Battlezone if possible?

[nopeda]

A few years ago there was a website where you could go and play Battlezone online but something happened and it seems to have gone away. From time to time I've spent time trying to find someplace else. There's a newer(?) lame version but that doesn't get it. I found Asteroids but can't find the good old Battlezone. I would buy it if it's not too expensive, though I've never bought or loaded a game and don't know how to do that. 

 

Thank you for any help with this!

 

David

Maine, USA

[CPUWIZ]

https://www.retrogames.cz/play_110-DOS.php

 

https://classicreload.com/win3x-battlezone.html#

 

https://www.free80sarcade.com/atari2600_Battlezone.php

[CPUWIZ]

P.S. I know it is still new to some people, but you really don't need to be afraid to ask AI. 

 

BingAI/GoogleAi/ChatGPT:  Please find me all the versions of Battlezone from Atari, that can be played online.

[nopeda]

Thank you guys for your suggestions. A couple of them were different versions not at all like the one I'm looking for and some of them I couldn't get to do anything, but thanks for trying and if you find and want to share any more possibilities I'd like to try them. So far I get the impression it's not out there any more.

[leech]

On 9/1/2024 at 4:01 PM, nopeda said:

A few years ago there was a website where you could go and play Battlezone online but something happened and it seems to have gone away. From time to time I've spent time trying to find someplace else. There's a newer(?) lame version but that doesn't get it. I found Asteroids but can't find the good old Battlezone. I would buy it if it's not too expensive, though I've never bought or loaded a game and don't know how to do that. 

 

Thank you for any help with this!

 

David

Maine, USA

My favorite version is the 1998 one (now known as battlezone 98 redux).  The latest one is awesome in VR, but very hard...

But being able to play the Arcade version in a browser is sweet.

[mr_me]

Arcade Battle Zone (1980) is here:

https://www.retrogames.cc/arcade-games/battle-zone-rev-2.html

It works fine but I'm unable to change the control mapping. 

 

It's also on Antstream but that's a subscription service.

 

 

 

[nopeda]

17 hours ago, mr_me said:

Arcade Battle Zone (1980) is here:

https://www.retrogames.cc/arcade-games/battle-zone-rev-2.html

It works fine but I'm unable to change the control mapping. 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like what I'd sure love to play but I haven't been able to figure out how to play it. 

Edited September 3 by nopeda
Entered my reply in the wrong place

[nopeda]

Continuing the struggle at retrogames.cc I went to the home page and typed in battlezone in the search and it came up with this: https://www.retrogames.cc/lynx-games/battlezone-2000-usa-europe.html  which I couldn't get to play either but I don't care to play that version anyway. I also didn't see and option to register but I see people on Youtube talking about it.

[NE146]

Why not just play it in MAME at this point.

[nopeda]

6 minutes ago, NE146 said:

Why not just play it in MAME at this point.

I'll look into that but don't know anything about it. I'd be glad to buy a copy if it wasn't too expensive if that would work. The only games I've ever played were Asteroids and Battlezone, so I don't know anything about this stuff. Asteroids you can still play at:  https://www.echalk.co.uk/amusements/Games/asteroidsClassic/ateroids.html

[+GoldLeader]

Off the top of my head,

 

You could always pick a up a cheap PlayStation (PS1) then get this:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/166945389076?_nkw=Atari+PS1&epid=6080&itmmeta=01J6X2NP59QEY8TMXFEXX14HW9&hash=item26deb87a14:g:CG4AAOSwWTZm0hww&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKl%2FFvbkU9%2BMgq8aotwGcmn6BUFqzoBKNFP8qKlbizCE8abGajxQhfBKTlLAQ20Eg6Mdbybn8yybU3M5R%2BLulCJHTFhF%2FV05C%2BqRCN%2Fui1flhZ0a%2BMdifXKt5GEi5X8%2BpLeGaSDtr3cjnlM66PLZrza0o7GrPlM3ooJ%2F5gRfbYHSlcd8ZYgBvYQgUXFob52bKe1nxkoNvuxiasZMXqZS54rl2L3jairJWddAFY4FB3050SeFp788%2FkFXEqewzBaObVfiX51sA5HGWWVwHk4xz1wP|tkp%3ABFBM3uLWordk

 

It really was a Favorite of mine!   Included are Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Black Widow, Centipede, Gravitar, Missile Command, Pong, Space Duel, Super Breakout, Tempest and Warlords.

 

And just check ebay etc.  There's probably cheaper copies out there

[mr_me]

2 hours ago, nopeda said:

It looks like what I'd sure love to play but I haven't been able to figure out how to play it. 

What's the issue, loading in the browser or controls? Press right-shift to add coins and enter to start the game. Game controller mappings work okay, but not the keyboard and I'm unable to change them.

 

1 hour ago, nopeda said:

I'll look into that but don't know anything about it. I'd be glad to buy a copy if it wasn't too expensive if that would work. The only games I've ever played were Asteroids and Battlezone, so I don't know anything about this stuff. Asteroids you can still play at:  https://www.echalk.co.uk/amusements/Games/asteroidsClassic/ateroids.html

MAME is free, it emulates the old hardware but doesn't include the game software. You'd have to find the Battle Zone rom files on your own because we're not allowed to discuss where they're archived.

 

Mame automatically configures Battle Zone with dual stick controls on an xbox style controller.

 

 

[zzip]

15 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

Off the top of my head,

 

You could always pick a up a cheap PlayStation (PS1) then get this:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/166945389076?_nkw=Atari+PS1&epid=6080&itmmeta=01J6X2NP59QEY8TMXFEXX14HW9&hash=item26deb87a14:g:CG4AAOSwWTZm0hww&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKl%2FFvbkU9%2BMgq8aotwGcmn6BUFqzoBKNFP8qKlbizCE8abGajxQhfBKTlLAQ20Eg6Mdbybn8yybU3M5R%2BLulCJHTFhF%2FV05C%2BqRCN%2Fui1flhZ0a%2BMdifXKt5GEi5X8%2BpLeGaSDtr3cjnlM66PLZrza0o7GrPlM3ooJ%2F5gRfbYHSlcd8ZYgBvYQgUXFob52bKe1nxkoNvuxiasZMXqZS54rl2L3jairJWddAFY4FB3050SeFp788%2FkFXEqewzBaObVfiX51sA5HGWWVwHk4xz1wP|tkp%3ABFBM3uLWordk

 

It really was a Favorite of mine!   Included are Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Black Widow, Centipede, Gravitar, Missile Command, Pong, Space Duel, Super Breakout, Tempest and Warlords.

 

And just check ebay etc.  There's probably cheaper copies out there

It's also available for Windows, I have a copy and it does have Battlezone!

[nopeda]

20 hours ago, mr_me said:

What's the issue, loading in the browser or controls? Press right-shift to add coins and enter to start the game. Game controller mappings work okay, but not the keyboard and I'm unable to change them.

 

Thank you I got it to work right shift twice then Enter. Playing around getting killed time after time found:

left G, X              right T, A               forward N/A              back N/A               fire Z

but it's just not the same when you can't move. AFAIK the thing only has those five abilities and I can't get two of them to work. I did get high score which is a joke but at least I got to kill a few of the slow buggers and a couple of saucers. The audio sounds scratchy. Does it on your end as well?

 

I developed another question. Does mapping tell you what 'channel' or whatever it's called with games does forward, back, left, right and fire? In this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgMSO-YXfP8

around 3:30 the guy starts telling you how to configure MAME which I'm attempting to do. But what I see doesn't say forward, back, left, right and fire so in the mapping are they called something else, maybe that's universal to video games?

Edited September 4 by nopeda

[mr_me]

12 hours ago, nopeda said:

Thank you I got it to work right shift twice then Enter. Playing around getting killed time after time found:

left G, X              right T, A               forward N/A              back N/A               fire Z

but it's just not the same when you can't move. AFAIK the thing only has those five abilities and I can't get two of them to work. I did get high score which is a joke but at least I got to kill a few of the slow buggers and a couple of saucers. The audio sounds scratchy. Does it on your end as well?

 

I developed another question. Does mapping tell you what 'channel' or whatever it's called with games does forward, back, left, right and fire? In this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgMSO-YXfP8

around 3:30 the guy starts telling you how to configure MAME which I'm attempting to do. But what I see doesn't say forward, back, left, right and fire so in the mapping are they called something else, maybe that's universal to video games?

With Arcade Battle Zone you have to press two keys at the same time to move forward. One pair of keys controls the left tread the other pair the right tread, forward and reverse. Audio is scratchy, like Ne146 said, MAME is the way.

 

Mapping binds the input of your keyboard, mouse, game controller to the original control panel functions. In the video he's showing MAME general control inputs, there is another setting of bindings that is specific to each machine/game.

[NE146]

for what it's worth, I use MameUI which I always just preferred.

 

In Mame, hit TAB and you configure the game-specific controls with "Input (this machine)"

 

And from there you can specify the Left Stick (up/down), Right Stick (up/down), and Button 1 for firing. That to me is the only way to play Battlezone since it matches the arcade, vs. simplified single D-Pad control. 

 

In this screenshot below I chose W/S for left stick, I/K for right stick, and space bar for fire. If you have a modern D-Pad like a playstion dual-shock, etc.. you can map to the 2 analog sticks for example.

[nopeda]

5 hours ago, NE146 said:

In this screenshot below I chose W/S for left stick, I/K for right stick, and space bar for fire. If you have a modern D-Pad like a playstion dual-shock, etc.. you can map to the 2 analog sticks for example.

 

I don't have anything yet but took some of your advice so now I'm using E/D, I/K and F, C, Alt & Space bar to fire with. I got spoiled playing the actual arcade game and a few years ago wondered why I couldn't do as well playing on a computer. Finally figured out it's because the arcade game had two really nice handles for the tracks and the fire button was on the top of the right handle so you didn't have to give up a bit of maneuverability to shoot. Now I'd like to have that back but haven't seen any joy stick looking items with a button on top. Anyone have any suggestions on that?

Edited September 5 by nopeda

[nopeda]

A suggestion I just figured out for anyone playing this on a keyboard. If using I/K for the right track using your pointer finger for I and thumb for K try using O for your fire button and do it with your middle finger. It's going to take a while to get my chops back and probably won't really happen without stick control, but it's a lot better than it was with this setup. It's hard to get to coordination between going forward and going in reverse. I think that would be a lot easier with sticks, and I can't do well with those missiles without reverse. Also I haven't gotten to the super tanks yet, but for me it's a necessity with them also. 

[Video]

Never tried an online. For actual battlezone, your best bet is likely early Atari collections which feature it before Atari sold it. Think the ps2 and xbox collections would still have it, if you still have access to working hardware.

[zzip]

12 hours ago, Video said:

Never tried an online. For actual battlezone, your best bet is likely early Atari collections which feature it before Atari sold it. Think the ps2 and xbox collections would still have it, if you still have access to working hardware.

 

Yes, it's available in these compilations:

 

Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 (1996)   Playstation,  Saturn,  SNES

Atari Anniversary Edition (2001)   Windows, Dreamcast, Playstation, GBA

Atari Anthology (2004)   Windows, Xbox, PS2

Atari Greatest Hits Vol 1 (2010)   DS, iOS