Hacking Galaxian into Galaga how hard would it be?

[+johnnywc]

I'll be glad to help out if anyone is interested. Heck - I'd even give it a shot if I knew 5200 programming... I have created a pretty faithful port if anybody needs to know the patterns, levels, difficulty ramping, etc.

 

Nice work! Galagon would be a great starting place for the game logic.

 

-Bry

 

Side note - maybe we should move ZB related comments somewhere else. This was starting to become an interesting thread about 5200 Galaga...

 

Bryan - I'm glad you like Galagon. I'd be more than willing to try my hand at a 5200 version of Galaga. I'd need to get up to speed on 5200 programming though - I'm pretty good at the 2600 and I've done some games in BASIC on the 800 from the early 80's (eesh!). Any quick tutorials on 5200 programming that could be helpful?

 

Thanks!

[walter_J64bit]

I'll be glad to help out if anyone is interested. Heck - I'd even give it a shot if I knew 5200 programming... I have created a pretty faithful port if anybody needs to know the patterns, levels, difficulty ramping, etc.

 

Nice work! Galagon would be a great starting place for the game logic.

 

-Bry

 

Side note - maybe we should move ZB related comments somewhere else. This was starting to become an interesting thread about 5200 Galaga...

 

Bryan - I'm glad you like Galagon. I'd be more than willing to try my hand at a 5200 version of Galaga. I'd need to get up to speed on 5200 programming though - I'm pretty good at the 2600 and I've done some games in BASIC on the 800 from the early 80's (eesh!). Any quick tutorials on 5200 programming that could be helpful?

 

Thanks!

Good luck with programming the 5200!

Edited April 19, 2006 by walter_J64bit

[+Allan]

Bryan - I'm glad you like Galagon. I'd be more than willing to try my hand at a 5200 version of Galaga. I'd need to get up to speed on 5200 programming though - I'm pretty good at the 2600 and I've done some games in BASIC on the 800 from the early 80's (eesh!). Any quick tutorials on 5200 programming that could be helpful?

 

Thanks!

 

Your best bet is to start at www.atariarchives.org with books like Mapping the Atari and De Re Atari. Unfortuntely it's not very organized if you know 6502 but just want to learn about 8-bit and even more so 5200 hardware specifics.

 

Curt has a number of 5200 docs that the programmers were given to learn the differences between the 8-bits and the 5200.

 

http://archives.atarimuseum.com/archives/archives.html

 

Go to technical documents and then Atari 5200 and check out 'Atari 5200's Memos' and 'Atari 5200 PAM Package Technical Documents manual.

 

Any more questions PM me of course.

 

Allan

[NoahsMyBro]

This brings to mind an off-topic, but imo important question.

 

Curt is an invaluable resource for our community. I don't know him, but I assume he's a nice guy to boot, and I don't wish anything bad to befall him.

 

I hate to be morbid, but suppose something does happen - he could get run over by a bus, killed by some random mugger, etc... I've often wondered about my online contacts/accounts/friends, and how I'd effectively just 'disappear' off the net, and nobody online would know what happened to me. But I'm really an inconsequential, bit-player; Curt's of much more import and value to the community at large.

 

I'm not sure where to go with this post, or how to proceed, but I think this is an important consideration. Sorry to be morbid or crass. Curt, I especially don't mean to show any disrespect to you by sounding uncaring; sorry if this comes off that way.

[+johnnywc]

Bryan - I'm glad you like Galagon. I'd be more than willing to try my hand at a 5200 version of Galaga. I'd need to get up to speed on 5200 programming though - I'm pretty good at the 2600 and I've done some games in BASIC on the 800 from the early 80's (eesh!). Any quick tutorials on 5200 programming that could be helpful?

 

Thanks!

 

Your best bet is to start at www.atariarchives.org with books like Mapping the Atari and De Re Atari. Unfortuntely it's not very organized if you know 6502 but just want to learn about 8-bit and even more so 5200 hardware specifics.

 

Curt has a number of 5200 docs that the programmers were given to learn the differences between the 8-bits and the 5200.

 

http://archives.atarimuseum.com/archives/archives.html

 

Go to technical documents and then Atari 5200 and check out 'Atari 5200's Memos' and 'Atari 5200 PAM Package Technical Documents manual.

 

Any more questions PM me of course.

 

Allan

 

Thanks for the tips Allan!

[Bryan]

This brings to mind an off-topic, but imo important question.

 

Curt is an invaluable resource for our community. I don't know him, but I assume he's a nice guy to boot, and I don't wish anything bad to befall him.

 

I hate to be morbid, but suppose something does happen - he could get run over by a bus, killed by some random mugger, etc... I've often wondered about my online contacts/accounts/friends, and how I'd effectively just 'disappear' off the net, and nobody online would know what happened to me. But I'm really an inconsequential, bit-player; Curt's of much more import and value to the community at large.

 

I'm not sure where to go with this post, or how to proceed, but I think this is an important consideration. Sorry to be morbid or crass. Curt, I especially don't mean to show any disrespect to you by sounding uncaring; sorry if this comes off that way.

 

I'm confused. Are you saying Curt needs to go into protective custody until Galaga is finished?

 

-Bry

[NoahsMyBro]

Actually, I'm concerned about the loss of Curt's knowledge, as well as documents/knowledge/materials in his possesion.

 

If Curt falls off the face of the earth tomorrow, what happens to all of the useful documentation and equipment he has collected and shared? Would whoever handles his estate know it's worth, or put it out at a Garage Sale?

 

The 5200 Programmers that may have benefitted from his docs lose out, for starters.

 

...God, I feel like a vulture even discussing this.

[eegt97]

Not sure if this would add anything, but the more info the better, right? Calamari's site has a partial 5200 reference and a document with differences between 8-bit computers and the 5200. Also has a TASM/equates tables for the 5200. I found them all helpful with emulation stuff. Good luck if you go for it!

 

http://kidsquid.com/old/compilers/5200bas/...ry/library.html

 

-Brian

Edited April 19, 2006 by eegt97

[JagFan422]

Actually, I'm concerned about the loss of Curt's knowledge, as well as documents/knowledge/materials in his possesion.

 

If Curt falls off the face of the earth tomorrow, what happens to all of the useful documentation and equipment he has collected and shared? Would whoever handles his estate know it's worth, or put it out at a Garage Sale?

 

The 5200 Programmers that may have benefitted from his docs lose out, for starters.

 

...God, I feel like a vulture even discussing this.

 

you should just stop now, you sound like a complete tool. If i was Curt i would be offended reading your two posts. You seem like well, maybe i should leave Noah all my stuff if i die, is what your trying to imply in a round about way.

[JB]

I actually understand what he's trying to say.

Curt's a valuable source of knowledge. But an inherently temporary one.

 

I don't really see the "gimme your stuff" angle. That wouldn't actually fix the problem, just relocate it.

More along the lines of "a public database of Curt's information would be a good idea" angle. Which may be overstepping a boundary anyways. I dunno.

[sku_u]

Curt's not going anywhere. He's a dedicated archivist and true fan of Atari. If a certain tool couldn't chase him away a few years ago, a few posts in an innocent thread certainly will not.

[jetset]

So...after all this talk is there anyone able and/or willing to attempt this ?

[JB]

Curt's not going anywhere. He's a dedicated archivist and true fan of Atari. If a certain tool couldn't chase him away a few years ago, a few posts in an innocent thread certainly will not.

Let's just hope he looks both ways before crossing the street.

Those busses can come right outta nowhere.

[+remowilliams]

Actually, I'm concerned about the loss of Curt's knowledge, as well as documents/knowledge/materials in his possesion.

Don't worry, as we speak insane Atari collectors are enveloping Curt and his house in an acid free UV proof polybag that is hermetically sealed inside a double locked positive pressure dust free lead vault.

 

[JB]

So THAT'S why they were asking for ZipLoc donations...

[NoahsMyBro]

Actually, I'm concerned about the loss of Curt's knowledge, as well as documents/knowledge/materials in his possesion.

 

If Curt falls off the face of the earth tomorrow, what happens to all of the useful documentation and equipment he has collected and shared? Would whoever handles his estate know it's worth, or put it out at a Garage Sale?

 

The 5200 Programmers that may have benefitted from his docs lose out, for starters.

 

...God, I feel like a vulture even discussing this.

 

you should just stop now, you sound like a complete tool. If i was Curt i would be offended reading your two posts. You seem like well, maybe i should leave Noah all my stuff if i die, is what your trying to imply in a round about way.

 

 

I wasn't trying to suggest that in any way, shape, or form, and I'm sorry it came across that way. I've been around here a long time, though not a frequent poster, and I'd hope my visible history on the boards can attest that I'm not the opportunistic ass you appear to think I am.

 

In any case, what with the hermetically sealed UV-protected shrinkwrap being set in place around Curt's home, I'm satisifed my concerns have been addressed.

 

As for the actual topic at hand (remember Galaga? It's a song about Galaga...), I never really played much Galaxian on the 5200 - I don't remember why. I assume I just didn't like it all that much, but I honestly don't recall. Of course, I never was a huge fan in the arcades either. When it came out, I thought it was just a ripoff of Space Invaders, and as a kid I had a hangup about not giving perceived ripoffs like that any appreciation. (I never watched the original Battlestar Galactica because I thought it was just ABC trying to cash in on Star Wars' success.) Also, I was pretty bad at the arcade Galaxian.

 

However, I'd definitely be interested in a Galaga for the 5200 if it was done. I always was disappointed the 5200 didn't have the long-term commercial success I felt it deserved, and would love to see it pull something like Galaga off.

[walter_J64bit]

I like POPCORN!

[PacManPlus]

Only with Movie Theater butter, though

[shadow460]

I never knew the 5200 didn't have Galaga until I started hanging around here.

[+Allan]

I just looked through the 5200 label thread and realized nobody ever made a Galaga label. Hmmm...

 

 

Allan