SteveW Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 I tried playing the hidden paddle games earlier, but my paddles aren't in very good shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipercub Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 (edited) Hidden games, Cool! I was sceptical when the flashback came out to pave the way for a promised hardware compatable future product but they did it and although not perfect it is a huge leap from the flashback. I bought both and it is great to see how far they came in one version. Sure I want to see a full sized cartridge based unit and I would buy one if they did of course. As a collector with boxes of systems, many many boxes of cartridges and more than a few Atari arcade games in my home arcade I can spot the same artifacts and glitches too, but I like to be realistic about what to expect from a nolstalgia product made 25 years after the fact. The way I see it they kept their word on a legacy hardware game and I will buy a few of these to support them and hopefully a flashback3 with a cartridge slot is in the future! In fact I need to run get another for my brother for helping me move to the new house next week (more room for a bigger arcade!). -Opened mine up tonight, WOW. Most companies make it as hard as possible to modify or extract extra features. Atari has silkscreened the pinouts right on the board. And a sticker to clairify which jumpers and pins are what. Very NICE. Clearly this board could be used in a future cart based product. I hope we see carts and cart based units soon! Edited August 18, 2005 by Pipercub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefcpguy Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 Spoiler picture follows. I am the eggman I am the eggman I am the 913399[/snapback] Very cool. Here's something I've been wondering while I rifle around for some old paddles: once you unlock the games, do they STAY unlocked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 Spoiler picture follows. I am the eggman I am the eggman I am the 913399[/snapback] Very cool. Here's something I've been wondering while I rifle around for some old paddles: once you unlock the games, do they STAY unlocked? 914628[/snapback] No, you have to unlock them every time you turn on your FB2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 As a collector with boxes of systems, many many boxes of cartridges and more than a few Atari arcade games in my home arcade I can spot the same artifacts and glitches too, but I like to be realistic about what to expect from a nolstalgia product made 25 years after the fact. I wonder why the HMOVE bars show up in some games but not others (they are notably absent from "3D Tic Tac Toe", for example) Weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feralstorm Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 Since it's not totally consistent, I think it has something to do with the small differences between the FB2 "2600 on a chip" hardware and the genuine original article, and how different games' programming tricks react to them. I'd be curious to know if a cart-hacked FB2 plays a Missile Command cartridge the same or differently than the built-in version (which seems to have no 'comb', but some visual glitches on the left edge of the screen, and by the missile cannon's ammo-meter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy the Atarian Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 Well finally my local WalMart got the FB2 in, apparently a few days ago, probably the day after I checked about it a couple of days ago. A few people seemed to notice it, although I saw one lady who was picking up a FB1. Anyways, overall it's a great package. I played the games on it for about 4 hours today and I have been enjoying them a lot. Especially Save Mary, it's quite an addicting game and one I'll be playing for a while. I guess since I have not played the 400/800 version of Caverns of Mars I'm not annoyed by any differences, although I thought it was strange how the flicker turned out. Only the first playfield you see per level (while your going down) flickers (well, on my HDTV it has a pulsing effect that's different from normal flicker) but no playfield flicker for the rest of the time. Otherwise I thought that it is a fun game, albiet a little easy. I did encounter a strange partial screen roll effect on level 2 when firing, but it only started to roll then fixed itself. I was disappointed with Yars Return and Asteroids Deluxe. No rolling effect, but getting the double images of all the sprites and the flicker make them difficult to play. The Qotile shield isn't solid like in Yars Revenge, it's dotted. I'll have to take a pic to explain. It also states in the manual that Yars Returns wraps, but I can't in mine. I may have missed it earlier in the thread, but will the versions that aren't misssing the voice in Quadrun also not have these weird effects in these games? If so how will we be able to tell which run we'll be buying before hand? Mine does not have any voice in Quadrun, but no rolling in the games other than a little bit in CoM that I mentioned. There also was a little bit of the double sprite effect in Lunar Lander, but not so much. OK enough negative stuff about it, I like the design and the new CX-40b's are great, I felt that they are better than the originals. I kind of like Wizard, I was hoping that the level would scroll but with two players it can be interesting. Frog Pond is also a lot of fun with two players, in fact my wife wanted to play it and she barely beat me out on it too. I only played Adventure 2 for a little bit, same with Return to Haunted House. I was hoping that RHH would have been more than just a hack of Adventure, but I need to give it some more time. I'm also happy to finally have Secret Quest. Aquaventure is an interesting game, much better than Sea Quest which from the pictures I thought the two would be quite similar, but fortunately Aquaventure isn't lame like SQ is. Arcade Asteroids and Pong are great and all the other titles that are common for the 2600 that I have are perfect. Overall, I really really like the fb2, hopefully a 'fixed' version will be available before too long. Thank you Curt and Atari! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 I wonder why the HMOVE bars show up in some games... Which games? Maybe they are only "emulated" HMOVE bars, which the programmer used to hide the real ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipercub Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 "OK enough negative stuff about it, I like the design and the new CX-40b's are great, I felt that they are better than the originals. " My Atari 2600's are all packed and in the moving process, I bought the FB2 and played it a day or so then had to pack it. I agree that the joysticks are great but I didn't stand them side by side. Are they the same size? Parts compatable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 I wonder why the HMOVE bars show up in some games but not others (they are notably absent from "3D Tic Tac Toe", for example) Weird. I didn't see them in any game. I can only see the Missile Command comb when I fire a missile in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 I didn't see them in any game. I can only see the Missile Command comb when I fire a missile in the area. You mean, they only occure to P0 and P1, but not to the background and playfield? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 You mean, they only occure to P0 and P1, but not to the background and playfield? I wish I had my capture card connected so I can show you what I mean. I'll see if I can connect it tonight. The HMOVE lines are not in plain view. When you look at the game you don't see the "comb". If you move over to the left of the screen and fire a missile you will see the combs when the explosion happens but only in the area of the explosion. So it's almost as if they masked them on purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 The HMOVE lines are not in plain view. When you look at the game you don't see the "comb". If you move over to the left of the screen and fire a missile you will see the combs when the explosion happens but only in the area of the explosion. So it's almost as if they masked them on purpose. 915678[/snapback] That's what I meant. The explosions are done with P1. So the HMOVE lines seem to only influence the players but not the playfield or the background. Right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 (edited) [double post] Edited August 21, 2005 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy the Atarian Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 (edited) "OK enough negative stuff about it, I like the design and the new CX-40b's are great, I felt that they are better than the originals. " My Atari 2600's are all packed and in the moving process, I bought the FB2 and played it a day or so then had to pack it. I agree that the joysticks are great but I didn't stand them side by side. Are they the same size? Parts compatable? 915547[/snapback] Here's a side by side comparison. They look virtually the same although the the stick no longer has the overlay and so it feels different. The cords on the CX-40bs are a bit longer, maybe about a foot or so, which I'm happy about. Another thing I forgot to mention was the manual. Pretty well put together, although a couple of games could have used a few more specific instructions, but at least we have the manuals either here on AA or at AtariProtos. Did anyone catch the the description in Wizard about the evil wizard Rassark and his evil imps Nagromj and Leimartj ? That was pretty clever. I like Combat 2, although it would have been nice to have the planes in this one. It is interesting with the destructible terrain and that your tank can be hit a few times before blowing up. I still have yet to try out Radar Lock, Hangman and video chess and checkers. I also figured out the code for the hidden paddle games, I'm surprised they didnt add more to that menu, but it was cool nevertheless. Edited August 21, 2005 by Shaggy the Atarian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 That's what I meant. The explosions are done with P1. So the HMOVE lines seem to only influence the players but not the playfield or the background. Right? Sorry Thomas. When I looked at the games again, supercat was right. Some of the games do show the HMOVE lines. These are the ones I checked... Pitfall! River Raid Save Mary Aquaventure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 Sorry Thomas. When I looked at the games again, supercat was right. Some of the games do show the HMOVE lines. These are the ones I checked...Pitfall! River Raid Save Mary Aquaventure 915784[/snapback] Do they really show lines or just a black bar? Any pattern that you recognize? Maybe it's only the background which is not influenced. You can easily check those games using z26 (ALT+ZXCVBN). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 Another thing I forgot to mention was the manual. Pretty well put together, although a couple of games could have used a few more specific instructions, but at least we have the manuals either here on AA or at AtariProtos. The larger online manual is done and will be going up soon. It includes complete instructions rather than the abbreviated ones that had to be done for the small packed in one. That includes full manuals for all the hacks/homebrews/proto games as well. Did anyone catch the the description in Wizard about the evil wizard Rassark and his evil imps Nagromj and Leimartj ? That was pretty clever. Thanks. I had other names first, but it was decided not to go with them for various reasons and these were gone with instead. It'll all go down as part of Atari folklore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 Do they really show lines or just a black bar? Any pattern that you recognize? Maybe it's only the background which is not influenced. You can easily check those games using z26 (ALT+ZXCVBN). 915793[/snapback] I haven't noticed any games that show individual HMOVE lines, but a number of games show a solid HMOVE "bar" and do not use the Ball or other such nonsense to generate it. Perhaps someone on the FB2 crew decided HMOVE bars are ugly and decided to eliminate them. To be sure, they are ugly, but they are also part of what makes the 2600 the 2600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 I haven't noticed any games that show individual HMOVE lines, but a number of games show a solid HMOVE "bar" and do not use the Ball or other such nonsense to generate it. Yeah, it seems only the games that use the HMOVE on each scan line (except for Atari Climber) have the HMOVE lines on the left. Save Mary does show the HMOVE for the score reposition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 Save Mary does show the HMOVE for the score reposition Yup, a single line at the bottom. But at left above there are a lot of HMOVE blanks too. If my "except background" speculation is right, the bars should be there. And it would explain why they are missing in Climber 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 I tried playing the hidden paddle games earlier, but my paddles aren't in very good shape. 913447[/snapback] I wish software allowed swapping paddles. My player 2 paddle is decent, but player 1 bounces all over the place. Tuner cleaner improved it for about 5 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King_Salamon Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 You'll need to open 'er up and clean out the pot. It'll work like new when you do. I'm not much for fixing electronics but this is a project even I completed! (And somewhat proud of it!) You can get paddles free from people who are sick of them jittering (and even their paddle games!) and fix them up and have sets for 4 player gaming! Do a search and there are instructions on how to accomplish this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcrowe Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 "So it's almost as if they masked them on purpose." WHAT????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was there tinkering for cosmetic reasons??????!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Was there tinkering for cosmetic reasons??????!!!!!! I don't think so. I suppose it is just a little bug. Especially since they often occure. Probably they just "forgot" to implement them correctly in front of the background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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