Creating 2600 style games

[uosipa llamxew]

Continuing off topic: One of the nice features in a browser like Opera is to turn on/off plugins or java on the fly. I keep them off for the most part, but when a page I want to view isn't working I'll simply click "enable" and reload the page.

 

I also have Firefox and IE handy in case Opera just won't handle the code.

 

At any rate, I kept Shockwave and Flash uninstalled for a long time, but there are some really great games out there that I was missing. There's a work-around for most any internet hurdle.

Edited June 7, 2005 by mojofltr

[+Random Terrain]

Continuing off topic:  One of the nice features in a browser like Opera is to turn on/off plugins or java on the fly.  I keep them off for the most part, but when a page I want to view isn't working I'll simply click "enable" and reload the page. 

 

I also have Firefox and IE handy in case Opera just won't handle the code.

870054[/snapback]

Yeah, I still like Avant because it has that ability, better tabbed browsing than Firefox, pop-on and off toolbar and more:

 

http://www.avantbrowser.com/

[DominiRican05]

I use that Game Maker for making a mockup Atari 2600 type game call Tiny Toon and here's the file you can download and see how it came out. I even made some mockup Box and Cart art of my dream TTA game for the 2600^_^

867776[/snapback]

 

Wow this is impressive! I must say, I think we both have the same dream game. Can someone take this on and actually make it into a cart? This would make an awesome game!

 

Hey Atariboy can you design my dream game? Batman

[mos6507]

This might sound funny, but Macromedia Flash is a good route to go.  if you go to the "games" section of homestarrunner.com you'll see that they've created LOTS of games in Flash that are clearly inspired by the graphical looks of Atari and NES.

867651[/snapback]

I heard that Flash is hard to make games with. It would be cool if it wasn't that hard since I'd love to make a few online games.

867780[/snapback]

 

Flash has come a long way. I'm pretty much out of the loop these days but they added a lot to Flash in the last couple versions, like collision detection and a real OO scripting language and lots more. I think you can write pretty good games with it if you limit yourself to the most recent version. The site I work on hosts mostly Flash games and they look pretty slick.

 

Grab.com

 

BTW, we also take game submissions for those who want to know what to do with your games when you finish writing them.

[mos6507]

Continuing off topic:  One of the nice features in a browser like Opera is to turn on/off plugins or java on the fly.  I keep them off for the most part, but when a page I want to view isn't working I'll simply click "enable" and reload the page. 

 

I also have Firefox and IE handy in case Opera just won't handle the code.

 

At any rate, I kept Shockwave and Flash uninstalled for a long time, but there are some really great games out there that I was missing.  There's a work-around for most any internet hurdle.

870054[/snapback]

 

The main reason I still use Opera over Firefox is the zoom capability, which works better than merely changing font sizes. At home I site somewhat far away from my LCD monitor since my monitor is pushed up against the back of my desk so at 1024x768 it can be hard to read sometimes, especially late at night when my eyes start to lose focus. So I use the zoom feature quite a bit.

 

However, Opera crashes all too frequently, usually when two tabs are doing things at the same time. If Firefox came up with a good zoom feature I'd switch over to it entirely. I never use IE unless I absolutely have to because it is so easy to pick up spyware and viruses with it.

[mos6507]

Even neglecting that issue, I'd still recommend Java between those two, since Java is a useful programming skill that could come in handy in other areas.  Graphics programming might be easier in Flash though, I really have no idea.

 

 

Java applets take forever to initialize. Writing a game that actually looks good and runs well as an applet is not easy. Writing a game with good graphics in Flash is easy because actually composing the graphics in flash is WYSIWYG. You can layer stuff together and do all sorts of things visually in Flash. It's like the paint program and the programming IDE in one. The problem in Flash is writing a game that has good control. Most flash games are point-and-click affairs.

 

Also I would think that Java is slower than Flash because it is an intermediate language whereas the core Flash rendering and animation routines are compiled native code. Only the scripting part is interpreted (assuming that too isn't compiled when you save your SWF).

 

Also, Flash is vector so it is easy to make a game work properly on any resolution monitor. If you go to games.com and play the emulated versions of Battlezone and Asteroids they have there, they do not automatically scale to different sizes.

[uosipa llamxew]

Continuing off topic:  One of the nice features in a browser like Opera is to turn on/off plugins or java on the fly.  I keep them off for the most part, but when a page I want to view isn't working I'll simply click "enable" and reload the page. 

 

I also have Firefox and IE handy in case Opera just won't handle the code.

870054[/snapback]

Yeah, I still like Avant because it has that ability, better tabbed browsing than Firefox, pop-on and off toolbar and more:

 

http://www.avantbrowser.com/

870068[/snapback]

 

I just downloaded Avant and am taking it for a test run. I had a little trouble getting it to run at first; for some reason it defaulted to "work offline" after installation and I also had to reset my firewall to Avant to communicate with the internet.

 

So far it seems pretty similar to Opera, except that it's free!

[kisrael]

So, what's the cheapest legal way to get a fullfeatured Flash IDE, and how much would it cost??

 

That's one nice thing about processing.org -- yes, it is feature poor compared to Flash, but it is free...

[dragonpup]

I use that Game Maker for making a mockup Atari 2600 type game call Tiny Toon and here's the file you can download and see how it came out. I even made some mockup Box and Cart art of my dream TTA game for the 2600^_^

867776[/snapback]

 

OMG! That a freakin' adorable! I haven't had a chance to really play the game but the mock ups are awesome! I love Tiny Toons. (There is a good Tiny Toons game on Sega Genesis called Tiny Toon's All Stars, but I am sure you know that).

[juancferrer]

I'll give another vote for "The Games Factory". I used it a couple years ago, and it was pretty neat. If you go to http://www.v-cade.com/ you can play some games made with it.

[gdement]

I never use IE unless I absolutely have to because it is so easy to pick up spyware and viruses with it.

 

ActiveX downloads can be disabled, if that's what you're referring to. Go to

Tools->Internet Options->Security and click "Custom Level" for the internet zone.

Then disable downloading of activeX controls, signed or not. Maybe you already knew about this, but it's hidden away enough that many people aren't aware of it. The default setting of "Prompt" is definitely a disaster waiting to happen.

 

That way IE won't ask you to install stuff just because some web site wants you to. Instead you'll get an annoying error message, but you don't have to worry about clicking the wrong button anymore, the only button is "OK". If you're running Flash then this error won't come up very often. It's also possible to hack shdoclc.dll so that message box no longer appears, I've done that and it works well. This link explains a bit more about how to fix the error message:

 

http://www.newbie.org/common/turnoff_activex.html

[+Random Terrain]

This might sound funny, but Macromedia Flash is a good route to go.  if you go to the "games" section of homestarrunner.com you'll see that they've created LOTS of games in Flash that are clearly inspired by the graphical looks of Atari and NES.

867651[/snapback]

I heard that Flash is hard to make games with. It would be cool if it wasn't that hard since I'd love to make a few online games.

867780[/snapback]

Flash has come a long way. I'm pretty much out of the loop these days but they added a lot to Flash in the last couple versions, like collision detection and a real OO scripting language and lots more. I think you can write pretty good games with it if you limit yourself to the most recent version. The site I work on hosts mostly Flash games and they look pretty slick.

 

Grab.com

 

BTW, we also take game submissions for those who want to know what to do with your games when you finish writing them.

871121[/snapback]

I forgot to look back in this thread. I need to check that out because I want to make fairly simple games that still look pretty good and Flash games almost always look better than Java games. I want to make various things including a blackjack game with slightly different rules. I just don't know where to start and how much it will cost.

[+Random Terrain]

I just downloaded Avant and am taking it for a test run.  I had a little trouble getting it to run at first; for some reason it defaulted to "work offline" after installation and I also had to reset my firewall to Avant to communicate with the internet.

 

So far it seems pretty similar to Opera, except that it's free!   

871147[/snapback]

Right now I only use two browsers. Avant and Firefox. Even with the extra stuff I have added to Firefox, it's still not good enough. It may never have Avant's cool pop-on and off toolbar. Avant lets me drag tabs and put them in any order I want.

 

When you delete a tab using Firefox, I hate that the tab farthest to the right opens instead of the last one used. And still when using Firefox even after the updates, when you click on a link that opens in a new window, the link color doesn't change unless you refresh the page. Totally useless when checking a bunch of links.

 

The main things I like about Firefox is that it's faster than most browsers (pages load faster) and you can add some cool extensions.

[Inky]

I still think that GameMaker is more intuitive, and easier to learn than some of the other tprograms being bandied about here

 

 

http://www.gamemaker.nl

[madscijr]

On 6/3/2005 at 10:20 AM, COMTARI said:

What is the easiest program to use to create simple 2600 style games to play on the PC? I've seen game creation software that creates first person shooters and 3d renderings...but I want something more simple, without having to go back and learn a programming language.

 

I just wanted to try my hand at making my own original 2600 type games for my own use, just for the fun of designing my own games.

 

I know this is a little late to answer, but perhaps it will help someone searching.

 

I have found QB64 to be awesome for creating simple Atari style games for the PC. 

It's simple to set up and get using (the IDE / editor / compiler is just one program), 

it runs on the latest Windows as well as older machines, 

the language is basically Microsoft QuickBasic (with some updates to support modern computer features,

but pretty much backwards-compatible for old QBasic and even GWBasic games), 

it compiles your program into a standalone EXE, or you can just share your source code, 

AND it works on Linux and Mac.

There is an active community and the people are very helpful. 

 

https://qb64phoenix.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QB64

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by madscijr