A little Robinett project

[Atari-Jess]

I do hope a physical object could be sent to Mr. Robinett in representation of our regards for his efforts.

 

Emails are nice to be sure, but this is the difference between a ROM image and a Cartridge!

 

He deserves a little something

[G.Whiz]

I agree. Pitfall II is great to look at but tedious to play.

 

Indeed so. Once a person has cleared Pitfall II, what's the point of playing anymore? It's even less of a test of skill than Pitfall I. One bit of 'controlled randomness' that would have greatly improved the game would have been randomizing the vertical phasing of birds and, within limits, the horizontal positioning, when the player moves from screen to screen. Some combinations of phasing would require that a player who ran on the screen would have to run off again, but that's already the case now. The difference would be that by randomizing the combination of phasing and position players would have to quickly make a decision based upon two variables on the new screen instead of simply waiting for the bird on one screen to reach a particular height before moving to the next.

I loved Pitfall II -- until I finished it. Yes, replayability certainly lacked!

 

I think that with a playing field this big, you could have made an Adventure-type game that was meant to be explored in a non-linear fashion. But of course, this was a Pitfall sequel, not an Adventure sequel, so I suppose they wanted to keep some of the essential elements there...

 

~G

[G.Whiz]

(the Superman "engine" was, according to some reports, developed first; but Superman was released later)

 

According to WR, Atari wanted to do a Superman game based upon the engine he was working on, but he had no interest in the project. He handed off the engine he had at that point and continued work on Adventure. Superman predated Adventure in the Sears catalog; I don't know how the developments of the two games related chronologically.

Yes, the full text of that interview is here: WR Interview

 

Although it doesn't say so specifically, considering the timeline of Adventure I would think that Superman was probably completed first. Also, I don't think that Superman was based on the Adventure engine. Sounds like Adventure was WR's "pet project" before he was asked to develop Superman. So he started that, and then handed it off to another programmer.

 

That being said, given the similarity in approach to both games (multiple screens, find and move objects, etc.) it's almost certain that WR used some of the things he learned developing Adventure in Superman before he handed it off.

 

In other words, to me it sounds like Superman didn't use the Adventure engine, but as a "sibling" engine it likely had a number of similarities.

 

~G

[+Random Terrain]

So is this thread dead now? No more love for Warren Robinett?

[supercat]

In other words, to me it sounds like Superman didn't use the Adventure engine, but as a "sibling" engine it likely had a number of similarities.

 

Are you suggesting that WR would have abandoned his WIP adventure engine after handing it off to Joe Dunn, and then built a new one from scratch?

 

It would be very interesting to be able to see the state of the code when Joe Dunn got it. Unfortunately, I doubt any copy exists.

[Christophero Sly]

So is this thread dead now? No more love for Warren Robinett?

I have some thoughts on my intial reaction to Adventure and what I think the game represents, but I can't seem to hammer them into anything coherent, let alone suitably eloquent.

Edited January 13, 2007 by Christophero Sly

[Shannon]

What? No comments on that crazy bat? I used to dread that thing when it would start it's little bouncy dance that preceded it taking my hard earned item. Then there is those scary ducks, I mean dragons, with the hole in their stomach.

 

Thing I liked most about the game is that things happened off screen. Not something you really see much happening these days. In fact this configuration inspired me in one of my many game ideas I came up with back in my programming days. It never really came to fruitition but still.

 

The dot and easter egg is just absolutely brilliant in the way that it was designed to get the attention of the observant player.

 

It's really hard to express so many years later because alot of the joy of the game was in the imagination that it activated in me in my youth.

 

That being said from some of the adventure hack threads it sounded like adventure was designed in such a way to be highly flexible in it's setup.

 

What else can be said about one of the few 2600 programs that still manages to come up in best of lists despite the fact that most people think video games started with nintendo.

Edited January 13, 2007 by Shannon

[+Random Terrain]

So is this thread dead now? No more love for Warren Robinett?

I have some thoughts on my initial reaction to Adventure and what I think the game represents, but I can't seem to hammer them into anything coherent, let alone suitably eloquent.

If I waited until I could write something that was coherent and eloquent, I'd never write anything. You just start typing, cut and paste it into the proper order, reread it, edit it, throw your hands up and say "good enough."

[fsuinnc]

I beleive I was a Junior in high school when Adventure came out. I had an atari and a few games and very little money. My best friend was ill and bed ridden for several months. One of the few things that he could do was play video games. The fact that we could spend hours, day after day, replaying Adventure long after we grew bored with super breakout, Combat and Homerun made all the difference in the world until my friend recovered. True, it's a one person game but somehow Adventure held the interest of both of us game after game. I have never met Mr. Robinett (though I think I live and work just a few miles from him now) but have always thought of Adventure not just as a great early video game but a very special game as well.

[supercat]

What? No comments on that crazy bat? I used to dread that thing when it would start it's little bouncy dance that preceded it taking my hard earned item. Then there is those scary ducks, I mean dragons, with the hole in their stomach.

 

My "favorite" (grr...) was when the bat would swap my sword for a dragon.

[Chris++]

So is this thread dead now? No more love for Warren Robinett?

 

No, I appreciate all the responses. I\'m waiting to see if I get a few more before I collate them. Thanks.

[Shannon]

Give it some time. People are still recovering from christmas and playing with their new toys.

 

Besides. I've noticed things have been kinda slow here lately.

[lokidchser]

Some of my fondest memories about the atari 2600 was playing Adventure for hours on end. The roar of the dragon, the dread when the bat entered the room I was in, the satisfying flash and sounds when the chalice was finally brought to its home. Still have my original 2600 sixer, and still play Adventure to this day. Thanks, Warren for the fond memories

[Chris++]

Welcome to the forums.

[lokidchser]

Welcome to the forums.

 

Thanks. Just found this site and am currently reading through the 330 pages of posts.

[Atari2600Lives]

I emailed Robin a few years ago and included a pic of my then 6 year old son playing adventure (He got a big kick out of it and he was very nice e-mailing me back).

 

Adventure is the single greatest 2600 video game of all time.

Edited August 10, 2007 by Atari2600Lives

[Tom_Explodes]

I've always loved Adventure. Scared the crap out of me, though. I mean, the game used to TERRIFY me. I didn't understand the difference in the reset function from other games. I'd hit reset because I didn't like how it was going and... I was back at my castle, the dragons were alive, EVERYTHING ELSE WAS THE SAME. I used to think the game was self aware. I had nightmares about never being able to turn it off and the dragons would get angry and yell at me through the screen.

 

In short, Adventure is one of my favorite games of all time.

 

- Tom Dougherty

Edited August 11, 2007 by Tom_Explodes