Ross PK Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 It's a great game and I've completed all the planets, but when I get beamed into my spaceship and get put in space there's a blue planet which I try to land on and I just appear in space again. I'll go find the blue planet again, and the same thing happens again and again. Any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbaeza Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 (edited) It's a great game and I've completed all the planets, but when I get beamed into my spaceship and get put in space there's a blue planet which I try to land on and I just appear in space again. I'll go find the blue planet again, and the same thing happens again and again. Any help would be appreciated. 879579[/snapback] JTP: Great game, one of my favs. Indeed, no ending exists for this game. One day spent in bed with flu, I played this game and got stuck in the same place you did. I've heard of a wonderful ending, where you find a planet with other UFOs and guys like you....but never seen something like that. More on this subject: http://groups.google.cl/group/comp.sys.ata...e942298c1649f22 Sorry. No ending... Edited June 24, 2005 by lbaeza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross PK Posted June 24, 2005 Author Share Posted June 24, 2005 It seems weird that they'd make an ending like that though, it doesn't really make any sense, why not even a simple 'congratulations' instead. Maybe there is a way to a proper ending somehow, like maybe completing the planets in a certain order, or touching the planet a certain number of times before your gas runs out, maybe seven times since there were seven planets in the first place. *Shrugs* (crappy examples I know) Because as well as you saying that you've heard of a proper ending, I also read this on Gfaqs. Now... here's the odd thing. This is my conclusion after having spent an hour chasing this planet around under the Atari800Win emulator. However, I don't *remember* the game ending this way during my childhood. I remember having found a way to enter the atmosphere of this planet - after several attempts - and then landing on a landing pad, and *then* the game ended. That feels like a much more solid ending than simply running out of gas. But, for the life of me, I can't reproduce this endgame in the only known ROM dump of the game. Either the ROM is faulty or my recollection is wrong. Can't say which with any certainty. http://db.gamefaqs.com/computer/atari8/fil...e_planets_a.txt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Thag Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 I remember playing and winning this as well, but I don't recall it being the way you mentioned, Ross. Man, I've really got to drag out my disks and play this stuff again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Destructo Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 (edited) JTTP fan checking in...I love the mysterious, solitary feel of this weird little game. I suggest you also check out "ACTION QUEST" and "GHOST ENCOUNTERS," JV's other games in this style. Back in the '80s, I played a disk-based version of Journey To The Planets that had . No "Roklan" line on the title screen . "JV SOFTWARE" credit in the status bar's lower right corner . Reverse gravity(!) option for increased difficulty . Clouds in the landing/takeoff screens that throw you off course when you touch them . Death animation that draws concentric squares onscreen . Planet re-entry screens that show miniature renderings of the full planet surface But it had the same problem you describe: a "home" planet that disappears every time you touch it. Frustrated, I scanned the file with my graphical editor to look for any sign of an ending; sure enough, it contained a graphic of the player holding a banner that reads "GAME OVER." I decided that the "can't win" problem was an intentional and very sneaky copy protection: A cartridge that writes to its own memory space to make the game impossible to win, foiling anyone trying to play it in RAM. The weird thing is: today I know what the ending looks like: a ravine with high walls on the left and right and a landing pad in the center. The cliffs are dotted with ledges on which stand clones of you and your spaceship. The even weirder thing is: I don't know how I know this. Did I find a screenshot on the web? Discover the secret and play the ending myself? I can't remember. What brings me to this thread is that I recently got my hands on the cartridge for the first time, in the hopes of seeing the ending once and for all. And now you're telling me the cart has the same problem? No matter. I'll get to work solving those planets and tell you what I find. Edit: I know how I saw the ending previously: by playing the cartridge version, which I borrowed from someone. Edited December 11, 2005 by El Destructo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 FWIW, the cartridge version by Roklan is a re-release. -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogstar_robot Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 JTP: Great game, one of my favs. Indeed, no ending exists for this game. One day spent in bed with flu, I played this game and got stuck in the same place you did. I've heard of a wonderful ending, where you find a planet with other UFOs and guys like you....but never seen something like that. More on this subject: http://groups.google.cl/group/comp.sys.ata...e942298c1649f22 Sorry. No ending... 879861[/snapback] I had this game when I was kid. It's been years and years since I played it but I did finish it and it does indeed have the "wonderful ending" you mentioned. There is a final planet with other ships like yours parked in berths and all you have to do is land safely (tricky). If there was a secret handshake to get to that point, I can't remember what it was. I say again, this game DOES have an ending. There may be buggy revs of it floating around or something but I finished the version of it I had. Speaking of versions, mine was cartridge based. I don't know if the actual binary was any different from the disk or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Destructo Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 (edited) Played the cartridge to completion last night! It let me land on the home planet, which looked exactly as frogstar_robot describes above. Got an end-of-game bonus, "GAME OVER" appeared in the status bar, and that was that. No banner graphic, as I found in the disk file. I should mention that the disk version I played was a bootleg file, not a commercial copy. Did JV Software ever release this game on disk? If so, that would be good to get hands on...I imagine it has all the extras of my bootleg copy, with the added bonus of allowing you to actually win. Edited December 11, 2005 by El Destructo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathtrappomegranate Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 Did JV Software ever release this game on disk? Yes, and on cassette too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogstar_robot Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 I say again, this game DOES have an ending. There may be buggy revs of it floating around or something but I finished the version of it I had. Speaking of versions, mine was cartridge based. I don't know if the actual binary was any different from the disk or not. 968560[/snapback] According to this walkthrough: http://db.gamefaqs.com/computer/atari8/fil...e_planets_a.txt The most common rom floating around the net (probably the one on this site too....) seems to be a bad dump. The chief symptom of course being that you can't land on the final planet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Destructo Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 The most common rom floating around the net (probably the one on this site too....) seems to be a bad dump. The chief symptom of course being that you can't land on the final planet. 968609[/snapback] Does the "rom" floating around the net display Roklan anywhere on the title screen? If not, it isn't a ROM dump at all, but a copy of the disk-based version by JV Software. In fact, since the ROM I just played to completion is cut down and very different from the one that you, me, and the FAQ writer described, I'm sure of it. I bet we all played a bootlegged copy of the disk version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbaeza Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 I bet we all played a bootlegged copy of the disk version. 968686[/snapback] Time to dust off my original Roklan Software's Journey to the Planets cart and play it until the mystery is solved! I have access to a EPROM burner....anybody knows if this cart inside has ROMS or EPROMs? Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Destructo Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Time to dust off my original Roklan Software's Journey to the Planets cart and play it until the mystery is solved! You'll solve the mystery a lot faster if you read my account of playing the cartridge to completion a few days ago. One thing is certain: the freely available file is a copy of the disk version, not of the cart version. We need an original, commercially produced copy of the disk version for comparison. If that plays to completion we'll know that the bootleg file is broken, either by accident or by design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Destructo Posted November 25, 2005 Share Posted November 25, 2005 (edited) Update: Mystery SOLVED!! The complete disk-based version of the game isn't corrupted or broken at all! The home planet is supposed to disappear. It doesn't relocate randomly, however; it moves diagonally by one sector in the opposite direction your ship is flying when you touch it. To land, do this repeatedly to "push" the planet into a corner of the "universe." Then, approach it from the opposite direction as describe above. It now has nowhere else to go, and so allows you to enter. How do I know this? Let's just say I've heard from an authoritative source. Update update: --> <-- Edited November 26, 2005 by El Destructo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 I would like to get a copy of the original rom dump, Atarimania doesnt have one yet either. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 I would like to get a copy of the original rom dump, Atarimania doesnt have one yet either. Stay tuned, we should have that one soon -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 I would like to get a copy of the original rom dump, Atarimania doesnt have one yet either. Steve 972009[/snapback] Actually, they have one here on Atariage: Journey To The Planets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Dang, you're right -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad5200 Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Is there any way to convert that rom dump of Journey of the Planets .bin file to a .xex file? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Destructo Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 (edited) FYI: If the ROM dump is exactly like the cartridge, it will let you enter the home planet the first time your ship touches it, and not require you to "push" the planet around like the larger, disk-based version does. You will also see the "plain" ending: score counts up, "GAME OVER" displays, and that's all. The man only comes out with a banner on the disk version...according to my source, whose initials are JV. Does anybody have the disk version handy? I'd like to fire it up in an emulator and see the full ending for myself, for the first time after all these years. Update: atarimania.com has posted the disk version for download! Journey To The Planets at atarimania.com Thanks! Edited November 27, 2005 by El Destructo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neopeius Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Update: Mystery SOLVED!! The complete disk-based version of the game isn't corrupted or broken at all! The home planet is supposed to disappear. It doesn't relocate randomly, however; it moves diagonally by one sector in the opposite direction your ship is flying when you touch it. This is correct. I have played this great game many many times. I never knew there was a pattern, though. I just kept landing on it until the game finally ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross PK Posted January 5, 2006 Author Share Posted January 5, 2006 Wow, so the ending is possible after all? I have the cassette version btw. I'm very interested in looking into those other two JV games that El Destructo mentioned since he's said they're in the same style as JTTP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Hello, I have the cassette version btw. Is there any way you could convert it to a CAS image? -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross PK Posted January 5, 2006 Author Share Posted January 5, 2006 (edited) How would I convert it to a CAS image? If it's not possible for me to do it, I could always rip the tape as an mp3 or wav file and send it too you. Edited January 5, 2006 by Ross PK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathtrappomegranate Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 How would I convert it to a CAS image? If it's not possible for me to do it, I could always rip the tape as an mp3 or wav file and send it too you. 994558[/snapback] If you can save it as a .wav file, you can use the Wav2Cas utility to convert it to a .cas file. You can get the utility and docs here. Or you could just send a .wav or .mp3 to Atari_Frog or myself for conversion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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