Blogs

Fire Call!

I thought it may be interesting to share what happens when my pager goes off for a fire call. Thankfully, I've only had false alarms to respond to, aside from two minor car accidents. (Since October 2017). We average one call per week. Thankfully, most of them are during the day, but there have been the occasional middle of the night calls. (The pager also goes off for any ambulance calls, which I only assist if the EMTs need help lifting the stretcher onto the ambulance boat.) Technically, I only need to respond to every call while officially on call (we're split into teams that are on call for two weeks at a time, eliminating the need for 20 people to show up for a false alarm), but because I live so close to the fire house and that I want the practice of putting my gear on & driving the truck, I make it a point to go to every call. (Again, there's not that many calls, so it's no big deal.) The pager tones don't sound like Station 51's tones but it's still pretty startling when it goes off. Anyway, here's the video. Let me know if you have any questions!

StormSurge

March 13

atariLBC's Gaming Notebook

011 - World Tour Racing

World Tour Racing Published: 1997 by Telegames Developed: Teque London Polygonal racers were all the rage in the mid-90s. At the time of the Jaguar’s release, Sega’s Virtua Racing ruled the arcades. Atari’s answer was the lackluster Checkered Flag; a game notorious for its low frame rate and horrible controls. The innovative but visually bland Club Drive also failed to impress gamers. By 1994, the Sega 32X had an excellent port of Virtua Racing. The release of the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation brought home amazing versions of Daytona USA and Ridge Racer, respectively. Atari needed a response. Something that would make up for the sin of Checkered Flag and provide Jaguar enthusiasts with a modern polygonal racer worthy of their 64-bit machine. Atari turned to developer Teque London to produce a Formula One licensed racer, complete with real tracks: F1 Racer. Unfortunately, by the time the game was ready in early 1996, Atari was on life support. The ruinous 1995 holiday season brought Atari to the brink and many complete or near complete Jaguar projects were cancelled. F1 Racer was shelved until Atari’s merger with JTS, at which point the title was purchased by Telegames along with Towers II, Worms, Zero 5, Iron Soldier 2 and Breakout 2000. The official F1 license was dropped and the final game, now called World Tour Racing, was released in 1997 on the Jaguar CD add-on. Is World Tour Racing the polygonal racer that the Jaguar always deserved? Let's take the game to the track and see if it qualifies! Gameplay: “Imagine that, a Jaguar polygon racer with decent controls!” Gameplay is straightforward in WTR. Under the default setting, use the controller’s d-pad to steer, B-button to brake and A-button to accelerate. Control is responsive and steering is tight. The brakes and acceleration work as they should. Options for a track map are available in single player mode. This helps tremendously. The C-button is used to toggle through the game’s three standard views: In-car, Chase 1 and Chase 2. The game views can really affect gameplay and your mileage may vary depending on which view you select. I prefer Chase 2 which is behind the car and above. The car looks smaller in this view but it was easier for me to control. Chase 1 probably looks the most contemporary with other polygon racers of the time. The In-car view puts you in the driver’s seat. This looked cool but I found it difficult to take corners in this mode. Other views are available on the controller’s keypad, as are options for track maps, music and road textures. WTR’s three main gameplay modes are Single Race, Championship and Arcade. Both Single Race and Arcade modes have a two-player, split screen option. In Single Race mode, players can elect to race any of the 16 available race tracks. In Championship mode, players race the entire calendar, taking on each track in turn. Both Single Race and Championship mode offer qualifying and free race options. Qualifying will establish your car’s grid-position in the actual race. If you choose to skip the qualifying option, you will automatically get the last grid-position. In Arcade mode, players race each track in turn, scoring points based on finishing place. Among the modes, my favorites are Single Race and Arcade. I enjoy Single Race because you have the option to select any of the 16 available tracks. There is a good deal of variety in the track layouts and its nice that all of them are unlocked from the start. Arcade mode is just easy to hop into. No qualifying, no problem! WTR offers a great deal of customization. In all modes, players can access the “Workshop” which allows tire selection, gearbox ratios, brake balancing and wing angle. I played around with these but they didn’t really enhance my race performance. One thing missing: Color selection! I hope you like a red car because that’s what you’re getting! Note: The action noticeably slows down during two-player split screen. Also, the track map feature is not available. This makes taking tight corners a bit trickier than in single-player mode. I consider the split screen option a novelty. Graphics: Graphically, WTR is a bit of a grab bag. In-game, WTR uses a combination of gouraud-shaded polygons, bitmaps and minimal textures. In still shots and on straightaways where you are the only car, this looks great. Atari-themed signs (“Atari”, “Jaguar”, “DOOM”), buildings, crowds and trees fly by and give you a real sense of speed. However, when there is too much on the scree the slow-down is noticeable. This doesn’t ruin the gameplay but it can be distracting. As mentioned above, the slow-down is even more prevalent in two-player mode. There is an option to turn on a texture on the race track. This option looks really strange and I found that performance improved slightly if I left it off. The information graphics (speed, place and lap) look very clean and are in line with the style of the day. Fonts are modern (for the 90s) and have a slight gradient shading which looks really good. In single player mode, there are three options for a track map. The first shows just a portion of the map in a translucent box. The second is a map of the full track, which rotates with you. The last map option is to have no map at all. I found the rotating full track map to be the easiest to use. The tracks themselves are different from one another but none of the environments really stand out. Is it Britain? Is it Brazil? Is it Hungary? Without the menu, who would know? It would have been cool if the artists incorporated something unique in each track to distinguish one nation’s track from the next. One of the tell-tale signs of a 90s CD-ROM title are the weird CG cutscenes and movies. WTR is chock full of them. These range from the bizarre Teque title-card, to the game intro, to an arcade machine bursting through the wall when selecting Arcade mode. The models here are much smoother than what was capable in-game and was at least on par with what other systems were doing at the time. None of these have aged well but its part of that era and always makes me laugh. Its clear someone was having fun with all of the extra storage the Jaguar CD provided! Sound/Music: WTR really shines in the audio department. Engine sounds and screeching tires sound just as you would expect. In true mid-90s fashion, in-game music consists of high-quality techno that is really fun to drive to. It truly shows off the Jaguar CDs audio capabilities and is some of the best music on the platform. My only complaint is that there are only 3 tunes over the course of 16 race tracks. It would have been great if more in-game music was included. Other Notes: There is no Memory Track support in WTR. Instead, you use an over long pass code. This is CRAZY for a Jaguar CD game. Maybe Teque didn't have time to implement Memory Track support but its a real bummer. Final Thoughts: World Tour Racing is a competent polygonal open-wheel racer. It controls reasonably well, is full of options, has a variety of tracks, and features some of the best music on the Jaguar. The graphics definitely tax the system and there is noticeable slow down during gameplay, particularly in two-player mode. Does it hold up to contemporaries on the Saturn and Playstation? Not by a long shot. That said, it is a fun game and its the best polygonal racer on the platform. If you have a Jaguar CD or are an F1 fan, its definitely worth a look. Thanks for reading and please share your memories and thoughts on World Tour Racing in the comments below! Do you think that it takes the pole position among Jaguar’s racers? The next game is: Primal Rage!

atarilbc

March 4

arenafoot's Blog

2018 Atari VCS/2600 Homebrew List (Final list for the year)

2018 Homebrews: A Very Galactopus Christmas (bB) by Ric Pryor “KaeruYojimbo” Alien Attack by Edward A. Smith “easmith” - available at Good Deal Games Alien Greed 5 by Chris Read “atari2600land” – available thru 2600connection NO “Public” ROM available Alien Revenge! by Edward A. Smith “easmith” - available at Good Deal Games Apollyon (bB) by Fehér János Zoltán “MemberAtarian” will be available thru Retronics Asteroid Rescue (bB) by Ross Adkin “TidusRenegade” – available on the Retron 77 and thru Good Deal Games Astronomer (bB) by Alex Pietrow “Coolcrab” – available on the Retron 77 and thru Packrat Video Games Baby (bB) by Robert Raymond Holmes III "Robsome" – available on itch.io for $1 and on the Retron 77 Balloon Trip by “bluswimmer” available thru AtariAge Beeware (bB) by Fehér János Zoltán “MemberAtarian” Bifröst by David Weavil “s0c7” (updated from 2010) Birds and Beans by “bluswimmer” CAAAT (bB) by Fehér János Zoltán “MemberAtarian” Death Voyage (bB) by Eric Pryor "KaeruYojimbo" Drakko (bB) by John Von Neumann Dungeon II: Solstice by David Weavil “s0c7” – available thru AtariAge Fear of the Dark (bB) by Fehér János Zoltán “MemberAtarian” Flappy The Duck (bB) by Brian Wayne Shea "metalbabble" Gatecrasher II by “Mr SQL” High Score Slow Burn Screen Burn (bB) by B.J. Best “bjbest60” {Best Games #1} – sold out private sale, now available thru 8-Bit Classics Horizon Shift (bB) by Flump Studios UK Journey to Xenos by Nick A. Bild, MS Kar Kombat (bB) by Alan W. Smith - available at Good Deal Games Mappy by John W. Champeau {Champ Games} – available thru AtariAge Maze of NewBorne (bB) by “Reverend Jared” Monkey King (was Climb the Tree) (bB) by Alex Pietrow “Coolcrab” – (will be) available thru Packrat Video Games Muncher 77 by Rick Skrbina "Wickeycolumbus" – available on the Retron 77 NO “Public” ROM available Neko 2600 (bB) by Brian Wayne Shea "metalbabble" NeXion 3D (bB) by Brock Keaghey “TheMajorHavoc” – available on the Retron 77 Pabling's Glitch Adventure (bB) by Skyler Hanners "superskyphoenix03" NO “Public” ROM available Parsec 2600 (bB) by Howard Oberg "hloberg" Pickle by Edward A. Smith - available at Good Deal Games Plague (bB) by Fehér János Zoltán “MemberAtarian” (will be) available thru AtariAge and Retronics Red Light Green Light by “Secamline” Refraction by Norbert Landsteiner “NoLand” Sheep It Up! (bB) by “Dr. Ludos” - available thru AtariAge Shifty Lifty (bB) by Ross Adkin “TidusRenegade” – available on the Retron 77 (1st update) NO “Public” ROM available Sky Destroyer (bB) by Eric Pryor "KaeruYojimbo" Space Game (bB) by Karl Garrison "Karl G" & Maggie Vogel – available at AtariAge Stacker (bB) by ‎Desmond Jones Stardust (bB) by Brian Wayne Shea "metalbabble” Stripes of Terror (PAL only) by Krzysztof Kluczek, Michał Żuchowski, & Mariusz Górski Sword of Surtr (bB) by Jeff Stermer “ultima” – (will be) available at AtariAge The Gizzle Wap and the Terrible Blizzard of Firn (bB) by Jeff Smith "Mountain King" Tron (bB) by “Orange808” Turtle Bay by “Unlink2” Tyre Trax (bB) by Lewis Hill "Muddyfunster" demo’d at 2018 PRGE at AA booth Zombie Road Kill by Scott Dayton {NEO Games} - sold out private sale NO “Public” ROM available 2018 WIP’s: Aardvark (Pending Release) by Oscar Toledo Gutiérrez “nanochess”, Thomas Jentzsch (coding), Nathan Strum (graphics) demo’d at 2018 PRGE at AA booth Amoeba Jump (was Doodle Jump 2600/Poodle Jump) by Dion Olsthoom demo’d at 2018 PRGE at AA booth Apshai (aka Lost Dunjonquest Apshai) (bB) by Justin Gibson “waderain” Attack of the Timelord! by Flavio Nunez NO “Public” ROM available Bag Boy (bB) by “KevKelley” Bike Warriors by “gfvh” Black Jack Theta VIII by “azure” Castle of Doom (bB) by Chris Read “atari2600land” (updated from 2015) Castle of the Cryptid by “Buckaroo” ChaoticGrill (Burgertime) by “splendidnut” (updated from 2015) demo’d at 2018 PRGE at AA booth Choplifter! (bB) by Fehér János Zoltán “MemberAtarian” Choplifter! by Flavio Nunez NO “Public” ROM available Dare Devil (bB) by Lewis Hill "Muddyfunster" Disc Donk (bB) by B.J. Best “bjbest60” {Best Games} Distopia (bB) by Fehér János Zoltán “MemberAtarian” Dragon Racer: Trials of the Wyrm (bB) by “Revontuli” Dragon’s Descent (bB) by “Revontuli” El Alquimista (bB) (The Alchemist) by “Fdx” Falling Sky (bB) by “bogax” Guns'n Corpses by “gfvh” Jumpity by William Pilgrim "Nowhere Man" Kelly Kangaroo (bB) by Denebola Interactive KnightGuy in LowRes World by John Von Neumann Lights Out by “mcmartin” Low Res Racer by John Von Neumann Magimaze (bB) by B.J. Best “bjbest60” {Best Games} Ms. Galactopus by “KaeruYojimbo” (updated from 2016) Nyan Cat by “JeremiahK” Orb (bB) by Ed Riley "winkdot" (updated from 2015) Pac-Man 2600 8K by “DINTAR816” <updated> Peril by John Von Neumann Phantoms of the Dark (was Flicker of Light) (bB) by Justin Gibson “waderain” Please Save My Baby (bB) by Jeff Stermer “ultima” Point Procurer beta by BJ Best Quantum Tunnel (bB) by Jared Gray West “graywest” Railslider (bB) by “Lillapojkenpåön” Resident Evil 2 (bB) <demake> by Jeff Stermer “ultima” Robo-Ninja Climb by “gauauu” demo’d at 2018 PRGE at AA booth RoboMechanik by Krzysztof Kluczek “KK/Altair” demo’d at 2018 PRGE at AA booth Robot X (bB) by “goofyblocks” Robot Zed (bB) by Chris Spry “Sprybug” demo’d at 2018 PRGE at AA booth Seaquest II by Flavio Nunez NO “Public” ROM available Shark Jaws + (bB) by Ed Riley "winkdot" Shifty Lifty Plus (bB) by Ross Adkin “TidusRenegade” Skee-Ball (bB) by Michael Salzman "Dethfactor” Spies in the Night 2 (bB) by Jared Gray West “graywest” Stranded (bB) by “OldAtAtari” (abandoned?) Temple Runner (bB) by Ross Adkin “TidusRenegade” was Escape From Kukuku Temple The Cabin (bB) by “Odourman” The Quest (bB) by “Lewis2907” Tombstones (bB) by B.J. Best “bjbest60” - will be available at 8-Bit Classics Tower of Rubble by Dion Olsthoorn "Dionoid" Toyshop Terminator (bB) (was Christmas Cookie Cutter) by Karl Garrison UT2600 by “MLdB” (updated from 2016) Wal-Rush 2: Tick Tusk (bB) by “JWalrus” White Water Madness (bB) by Chris Read “atari2600land” Wizard of Wor Arcade by John W. Champeau {Champ Games} demo’d at 2018 PRGE at AA booth 2018 Hacks: Active Shooter (Turmoil hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” ALF (Taz hack) by Scott Dayton {NEO Games} & James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” - available thru Repentless Video Games Alien Greed Jump (Amoeba Jump hack) by Scott Dayton Alien Lifeform (King Kong hack) by Scott Dayton - available thru Repentless Video Games NO “Public” ROM available Alien Revenge! Halloween Hack (was Monster’s Revenge) (Alien Revenge! hack) by Edward A. Smith “easmith” – sold out at Good Deal Games Alien Turmoil (Turmoil hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Alien Visitors Are Our Friends ["V"] (Cosmic Ark hack) by “doctorclu” Anorak's Adventure (Adventure hack) by “Knarfian” Asteroid Belt (Turmoil hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Batman (Popeye hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Battle Checkers (Checkers hack) by James Francis "Out_of_Gas" Battlestar Galactica (Space Attack hack) by “doctorclu” Battlestar Galactica NEO (Space Attack hack) by Scott Dayton Beer Capture (Flag Capture hack) by “TheHoboInYourRoom” Bentley Bear's Honey Heist (Donkey Kong Hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Berzerk Blast (Turmoil hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Berzerk NEO Version 2 (Berzerk hack) by Scott Dayton - available thru Repentless Video Games Boringly Superbly Fair Dragster (Dragster hack) by “Omegamatrix” Bouncer (Boing! hack) by Scott Dayton {NEO Games} - sold out NO “Public” ROM available Broadside (Combat hack) by Claudio Salvucci {CDS Games} - available thru the AtariAge forums Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (Buck Rogers hack) by “doctorclu” Cat Attack! (Pooyan hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Daredevil: Blackwing's Nightmare (Spider-Man hack) by James Francis "Out_of_Gas" Dawn of the Dead (Worm War I hack) by Scott Dayton - available thru Repentless Video Games Enigma Of Mars (Riddle Of The Sphinx Hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Extinction (Demon Attack hack) by Scott Dayton - available thru Repentless Video Games Flag Capture NEO (Flag Capture hack) by Scott Dayton Freddy’s Fear Factory (Cake Walk hack) by Scott Dayton – available thru Repentless Video Games NO “Public” ROM available Hole Hunter (diagonal fix hack) by “Lucky Man” Hyper Joust (Turmoil hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” If Rob Kudla Met Todd Frye (Ms. Pac-Man hack) by “Wolfy Danger” Infestation (Jr. Pac Man hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Ketchup Kaboom! (Kaboom! hack) by Scott Dayton {NEO Games} - sold out Klax Color Hack (Klax hack) by “Omegamatrix” Mars Explorer (Jr. Pac-Man hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Miner 2049er Faster (Miner 2049er hack) by Thomas Jentzsch (speed up hack), “OmegaMatrix” (reset bug fix), and “doctorclu” (sprite hack) MissADVENTURE (Adventure hack) by Alan W. Smith - available thru Good Deal Games Monster’s Revenge! (Alien Revenge hack) by Edward A. Smith “easmith” Moon Patrol Arcade DC (Doctor Clu) Version (Moon Patrol+ hack) by “doctorclu” Nitemare (Megamania hack) by Scott Dayton - available thru Repentless Video Games Outatime (Dragster hack) by Lee Kebler "keebz" Pepper Penguin (Birds and Beans hack) by “bluswimmer” on the Retron 77 (1st update) Pirates of the Caribbean (Popeye hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Prison Moon (Sky Skipper hack) by Scott Dayton Pumpkinhead (Frankenstein’s Monster hack) by Scott Dayton – available at Repentless Video Games Q*Bert Jump (Amoeba Jump hack) by Scott Dayton – released at Free Play Florida 2018 NO “Public” ROM available Santa Bros. (Mario Bros. hack) by Scott Dayton – sold out private sale NO “Public” ROM available Santa HERO (H.E.R.O. hack) by Scott Dayton Santa HERO ET (H.E.R.O. hack) by Scott Dayton Scraper Caper w/ Bounty Bob (Fire Fighter hack) by “doctorclu” Space Foxes (MMSBC hack) by Jason Schelhorn and Ricky Henry (of Electric Tapes) - released at Mountain State Pop Expo (proceeds go to the Children's Home Society of West Virginia) NO “Public” ROM available Space Invaders Blue (Space Invaders hack) by Scott Dayton Stargate Desert Raid (River Raid hack) by “DevKK” and “Whip” Stranger Things – Barb’s Revenge (Dig Dug hack) by “keebz” Sub Strike (Turmoil hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 (Halloween hack) by Scott Dayton – available at Repentless Video Games NO “Public” ROM available The Thing (Alien hack) by Scott Dayton – available at Repentless Video Games Tron: Bit Frenzy (Dr. Flin and His Pills hack) by Scott Dayton TRON Saves Atari With Trackers (Fast Eddie hack) by Scott Dayton - available thru Repentless Video Games TRON Saves Atari No Trackers (Fast Eddie hack) by Scott Dayton - available thru Repentless Video Games U.F.O. Galaxian (Galaxian Hack) by James Catalano “JamCat Reloaded” Wings of Death (Seaquest hack) by Scott Dayton AtariAge Trak-ball hacks released: Centipede, Millipede, Reactor, Plaque Attack, Star Wars: The Arcade Game, Missile Command, SpaceMaster X7, Challenge of Nexar, Colony 7, Missile Control 2018 Demos: AcidRain by “Jeremiah” & “Kno1” - 5th at Nordlicht 2018 Alpha Cucks by “Dentifrice” - 3rd at Silly Venture 2018 Compofiller by “g0blinish” - 4th at Silly Venture 2018 Dengue Fever by Digital Sounds System & “Flush” - 1st at High Coast Hack 2018 Happy 2019 (bB) by John Von Neumann Hard 2632 by “Imp” & “SvOlli” - 1st at Deadline (Berlin) 2018 (there is a default Demo game built it) Lapin Kulta by “Dentifrice” - 2nd at Simulaatio 2018 M by “Flush” - 2nd at Silly Venture 2018 Mushroom Adventure by “Satori” - 2nd at Riverwash 2018 Ram @tack by “Trope” - 2nd at @party 2018 Stella A Trois by “Flush” - 3rd at Revision 2018 Three Minus by “altair” - 1st at Silly Venture 2018 2018 Technical Achievement Award: Hard 2632 by “Imp” & “SvOlli” - 1st at Deadline (Berlin) 2018 Gray Screen with no Music by “Tjoppen” Aardvark for a 32 pixel sprite that smoothly enters, traverses and exits the length of the color changing playfield (both single line) without using HMOVE blanks, WSYNCs or using extra sprite data Aardvark for alternating playfield priority to create transparency effect (sun/moon shining through the clouds) Mappy for Player and Enemy anti-flicker code Mappy for the 85 pixel multicolor title screen Mappy title screen BIN (by Thomas Jentz.)

Arenafoot

February 19

arenafoot's Blog

2017 Atari VCS/2600 Homebrew List (Final list for the year)

This is just this year and just for the Atari VCS/2600.............
2017
Homebrews released
Jan. 4, 2017 - Toledo Atomchess (AtariAge forum)
Jan. 7, 2017 - Pixels (AtariAge forum)
Jan. 23, 2017 - Dungeon II: Solstice (AtariAge forum)
Feb. 6, 2017 - Eagle One (AtariAge forum)
Feb. 21, 2017 - Reders UFO (AtariAge forum)
Mar. 2, 2017 - Sharknado - NeoGames (Atari 2600 Homebrew FB group)
Mar. 4, 2017 - Cellar-y Celery (Chris Read & Tim Duarte of 2600connection.com)
Apr. 11, 2017 - Twist'r Shark (Scott Dayton "NEOGames" thru Atari 2600 Homebrew FB group) {3 cart versions}
Apr. 17, 2017 - Catharsis Theory - a new 4k demo
July 16, 2017 - Scramble, Anguna, Drive!, Assembloids 2600, L.E.M., Panky the Panda, The Gizzle Wap and The Strange Red Tree - AtariAge
July 19, 2017 - Kar Kombat (AtariAge forum)
July 27, 2017 - The Ultimate Cyclist (AtariAge forum)
Aug. 21, 2017 - Meteor Shower (AtariAge forum)
Sept. 19, 2017 - Spies in the Night (Scott Dayton "NEOGames" thru Atari 2600 Homebrew FB group) {2 cart versions}
Oct. 20-22, 2017 - At 2017 PRGE: Draconian (Spiceware/AtariAge), Space Cactus Canyon (bjbest60/AtariAge), & Super Cobra Arcade (Champ Games/AtariAge)- final ROM released 11/30/17
Oct. 27, 2017 - At 2017 Eurocon: Give Me My Pancake! (Sijmen Schouten "Mr. Atari")
Nov. 2, 2017 - Bitquest, Fishy, Nanowing and Pothole (AtariAge forum)
Nov. 26, 2017 - Sand Castles (AtariAge forum)
Dec. 29, 2017 - Gene Medic (GitHub) Hacks released
1/6/17 - Tapper - Portable (AtariAge forums) - Thomas Jentzsch
1/6/17 - Budweiser Tapper hack - Portable (AtariAge forums) - Thomas Jentzsch
1/6/17 - Missile Control TB (AtariAge forums) - Thomas Jentzsch
1/15/17 - Popeye hack (AtariAge forums) - ILA2600
1/20/17 - Gee Bee Barnstorming (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/20/17 - Zeppelin Barnstorming (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/20/17 - Copter Barnstorming (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/20/17 - Powered Glider Barnstorming (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/20/17 - Activision Dragster Hot Wheels Hack (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/21/17 - Astromech Soccer (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/21/17 - Berzerk Robot Soccer (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/21/17 - Dalek Soccer (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/21/17 - Lost in Space Soccer (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/21/17 - Astromech Tennis (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/21/17 - Dalek Tennis (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/21/17 - Lost in Space Tennis (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/22/17 - Star Wars Salvage Run Hack of Jr Pac Man (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/22/17 - Zerk-Man (Ms. Pac-Man Hack) (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/22/17 - Zeppelin Attack (Commando Raid Hack) (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/22/17 - Star Wars Targ (Universal Chaos Hack) (AtariAge forums) - Jamcat
1/27/17 - Vector Vaders (Megamania hack) (Atari 2600 homebrew FB group) - Scott Dayton
2/3/17 - Lunar Outpost Defense (M.A.D. Hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/4/17 - Zombie Soccer (RealSports Soccer Hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/6/17 - Mouse Soccer (RealSports Soccer Hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/8/17 - Grave Robber (Gopher Hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/17/17 - Marble Craze TB (trak-ball hack) - Thomas Jentzsch
2/18/17 - The Passion of Jesus (Red Sea Crossing hack) - Atari Dogs
2/19/17 - Fonz Enduro (hack) - Out_of_Gas
2/22/17 - Adventure Kingdoms (hack) - ZenBiped
2/26/17 - Flying Monkey Joust (hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/26/17 - Gyrocopter Joust (hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/26/17 - Jetpack Joust (hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/26/17 - Mario Bros. Joust (Joust hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/26/17 - Rocket Joust (hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/26/17 - Sea Monster Joust (hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/26/17 - Space Invader Joust (Joust hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
2/26/17 - Zeppelin Joust (hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
3/4/17 - When Pigs Fly (Joust hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
3/14/17 - Star Wars Episode 1 Droidship Battle (Star Wars: Death Star Battle hack) - ILA2600
3/19/17 - Robot Panic (Jawbreaker hack) - The Mr. Video
3/25/17 - Coily's Quest (The Rescue Of Q*Bert) Kangaroo hack - Jamcat Reloaded
4/7/17 - Easter Bunny Boom (Kaboom! hack) - Scott Dayton
4/7/17 - Easter Bunny Boom Black (Kaboom! hack) - Scott Dayton
4/19/17 - Moo - F - O (Ms. Pac-Man hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
4/19/17 - Golf Color Hack - atari2600land
4/23/17 - Kitten Cannonball (Human Cannonball hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
4/24/17 - Battlestar Galactica (Galaxian hack) - ILA2600
4/26/17 - Pac Ghost Circus (Circus Atari hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
4/26/17 - Kitten Circus (Circus Atari hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
4/27/17 - Alien Egg Checkers (Video Checkers hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
4/27/17 - Pac-Man Checkers (Video Checkers hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
5/3/17 - Martian Checkers (Video Checkers hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
5/3/17 - Ms. HERO/H.E.R.O.I.N.E. (H.E.R.O. hack) - Scott Dayton
5/5/17 - Cat & Mouse (Flag Capture hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
5/6/17 - Return To Base (Flag Capture hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
5/9/17 - Kitten Drop (Sky Diver hack) - Jamcat Reloaded
6/29/17 - Slot Racers Wheel hack - accousticguitar
7/4/17 - Dig Dug 35th Anniversary Edition (Dig Dug Arcade hack) - NostAlgae37 (WIP)
7/4/17 - Astro Blast NEO (Astroblast hack) - neotokeo2001
7/24/17 - Laser Sharks (Laser Blast hack) - neotokeo2001
8/3/17 - cleaning up Sneak n' Peek - Out_of_Gas
8/10/17 - Solar Fox Remix Custom Initials version - neotokeo2001
8/12/17 - TRON Saves Atari (Fast Eddie hack) - neotokeo2001
8/13/17 - TRON Saves Atari No Trackers (TRON Saves Atari hack) - neotokeo2001
8/20/17 - Dog Patch (Skeet Shoot hack) - Out_of_Gas Sept. 16, 2017 - Dark Cavern "Black Edition" (hack of Dark Cavern) (Scott Dayton "NEOGames" thru Atari 2600 Homebrew FB group)
10/5/17 - River Raid (Fantasy Mode) - Nukey Shay
11/23/17 - Bad Elf 2017 (Keystone Kapers hack) - Otis Driftwood (sold thru Atari 2600 Homebrew FB Group)
11/25/17 - Moon Patrol Arcade (Moon Patrol+ hack) - doctorclu
11/27/17 - Santa Falls 2017 (Pitfall! hack) - neotokeo2001 (sold thru etsy)
12/6/17 - Santa's Workshop (Cake Walk hack) - neotokeo2001 (sold thru etsy)
12/6/17 - The Last Starfighter (Buck Rogers hack) - Shawn Darrin
12/17/17 - Star Trek (Starmaster hack) - GhostGuy Releasing Soon (actual software)
Demo'd At 2016 PRGE/releasing soon? - The Stacks, Golden Legends (Gauntlet 2600) - AtariAge
Soon - Dark Cavern Black (hack) {cart only} - Scott Dayton "NeoGames"
Soon - Fire Ants - ComiSoft Inc.
Soon - Balloon Girl - Jason Santuci
Soon - Legends - Scott Dayton
??? - Alien Greed: Return of Charles - NeoGames
??? - RAM-Pong - Packrat Games
??? (carts signed Feb 2015) - Demons (based on the 1985 movie) - NeoGames
On Hold - Tunnels & Trolls - Jason Santuci
??? - The Barn, Zombie Road Kill - Scott Dayton
??? - Aaron the Aant - Chris Read/2600Connection
previewed at 2015 Portland Retro Gaming Expo - The Stacks - AtariAge
WIP - Laughing Boy - Jason Santuci/AtariAge
WIP - D.K. VCS, DK Arcade 2600, Pac Man 8k, Wizard of Wor 2: The Arena - AtariAge
Future project - Colony 7 TB (Trak-Ball version) - Thomas Jentzsch WIP (work in progress during 2017)
Dec. 31, 2016 - PArsec - hloberg
Jan. 5, 2017 - 1K Atomchess - nanochess
Jan. 11, 2017 - Avalanche Invaders (hack of Avalanche) - Scott Dayton
Jan. 22, 2017 - Dungeon II: Solstice - s0c7
Jan. 23, 2017 - Danny - The Maxx
Feb. 3, 2017 - Air Taxi - Kylearan
Feb. 6, 2017 - Space Cactus Canyon beta - bjbest
Feb. 28, 2017 - Francis Ichabod Cranium 8 - atari2600land
Mar. 4, 2017 - Chaotic Grill (better Burgertime) - splendidnut - back working on it
Mar. 5, 2017 - Hunt the Wumpus - The Maxx
Mar. 25, 2017 - Guau! - Fdx
Apr. 1, 2017 - Robin's Roundabouts - boski
Apr. 17, 2017 - My Knee Hurts - atari2600land
May 2, 2017 - Battlezonetron - ILA2600
June 9, 2017 - Caves of Zargon - VGAGuy
June 26, 2017 - T.r.a.s.h. - WizardBone
July 1, 2017 - Hacker Face
July 3, 2017 - Melvin, el extraterrestre - Fdx
July 4, 2017 - Dig Dug 35th Anniversary Edition - NostAlgae37
July 20, 2017 - Brics - VGAGuy
July 24, 2017 - Space Game - kdgarris
July 25, 2017 - Air Hockey - 8-bit_d-boy
Aug. 16, 2017 - Zybort Is Bad - atari2600land
Aug. 20, 2017 - The Horde - greywest
Aug. 21, 2017 - Blinky (screensaver) - JeremiahK
Aug. 24, 2017 - Avenger Road Rage 2050 - arcade_lights
Sept. 5, 2017 - French Fries - atari2600land
Sept. 5, 2017 - Winter Fortess - Phano
Sept. 6, 2017 - Bombs Away! - OneSwitch.org.uk
Sept. 7, 2017 - Nyan Cat - JeremiahK
Sept. 8, 2017 - Sierra Maestra - vidak
Sept. 21, 2017 - Dinosaur! - atari2600land
Sept. 24, 2017 - Astronomer - Coolcrab
Oct. 5, 2017 - River Raid (Fantasy Mode) {hack} - Nukey Shay .....aka "River Raid 3" now
Oct. 20, 2017 - Baby - Robsome
Oct. 20, 2017 - Bubsy - doctorclu
Oct. 26, 2017 - Yatba - chavert
Oct. 27, 2017 - Invisible Maze Demo - VGAGuy
Nov. 8, 2017 - My History Teacher Ate Lemons - atari2600land
Nov. 19, 2017 - Robot Zed - Sprybug
Nov. 20, 2017 - My History Teacher Ate 2,600 Lemons - atari2600land
Nov. 22, 2017 - Driving Demo - Tony The 2600
Nov. 25, 2017 - Whitney's Music Box - Buckaroo
Nov. 26, 2017 - Sand Castles - metalbabble
Dec. 1, 2017 - Mappy - Champ Games "johnnywc"
Dec. 2, 2017 - King of Mersia - gfvh (back working on it)
Dec. 6, 2017 - Hell Escape - amoss
Dec. 7, 2017 - Quidditch - flickertail
Dec. 14, 2017 - High Score Screen Burn Slow Burn - bjbest60
Dec. 15, 2017 - Back to the Future (demo) - ZackAttack
Dec. 17, 2017 - Robo Mechanic - Sikor
Dec. 19, 2017 - FeargalQuest - AtariboxWorld - KaeruYojimbo
Dec. 23, 2017 - Donkey Kong 3 (port) - started by atari2600land (2010), picked up by ILA2600
Dec. 24, 2017 - Wet Paint - mojofltr
Dec. 25, 2017 - Deimos Lander - jbanes (back working on it - now 32k)
Dec. 25, 2017 - Snow Flakes - Lolkiu64
Dec. 31, 2017 - Atari 3D Tennis - Trip2018

Arenafoot

July 17, 2018

Hacking with Atari

In defence of emulation

A common sentiment found among retro-computing enthusiasts is that there's nothing quite like the real thing. It's understandable, computers and game consoles (i.e., computers disguised as toys and appliances) are physical items and our happy nostalgic memories are complimented by recollections of touch and heft: the feedback of button clicks, shunting cartridges into slots, and so on. However, there's a particular aficionado - we've all met him, he's a member of every fan group and forum - whose affection for real hardware gives way to an unpleasant snobbery. A "true fan" would never emulate, he says, implying that a gaming community is only a place for those with disposable income, space, and a nihilistic acceptance that the platform will die with the original hardware. I'm certainly not arguing against the value of hardware and experiences which come with it, we're all in agreement of its importance, but I do insist that emulation is also a first class citizen without which a platform has no future. Ashes to hardware ashes Take the Atari Jaguar; fewer than 250,000 are known to have been produced, with even fewer numbers of accessories such as CD-ROM drives. Of that number a great deal will have been owned by people with no interest in preservation. Many Jaguars have likely been dumped in the trash along with an avalanche of VCRs. Of the survivors many will suffer electrical faults due to old-age (the dreaded open-circuit capacitor problem). Many more will simply be damaged in accidents. This is already a serious problem for CD-ROM units which were produced in much smaller numbers than the console itself and are notoriously failure prone - although, arguably, no more so than other CD-ROM drives from the time. Taking the long view there will be a time when, for most people, original hardware will no longer be a viable way to access the content produced for the platform! New developments This is perhaps the strongest argument in favour of emulation. New content is vital for a platform and emulation is key to lowering the barrier in producing new content. In the late 70s it took highly skilled programmers with excellent design sense (a very select cross-section of personality) months to produce new games for the Atari 2600 using mainframe computers costing thousands of dollars. Today, a cheap PC with the Stella emulator, which includes an excellent debugger and the ability to step through program execution and inspect the emulated Atari's emulated state. Imagine what those original Atari and Activision programmers could have achieved in an afternoon with such capabilities! Imagine what today's programmers, of all kinds of skill levels, can achieve! A more thoughtful perspective I highly recommend that anybody with an interest in retro-gaming listen to Frank Cifaldi's GDC talk on the subject of emulation. It's witty, thought-provoking and quite brilliant. There's a lot to unpack, but in under an hour he touches on numerous relevant subjects such as preservation, the ethics of piracy, and how emulation can be leveraged in the most positive (and commercial!) ways:

dgrubb

April 18, 2018

Hacking with Atari

Jaguar USB Tap: Wrapup

Busy month, but I'm elated to have, finally, nailed down the hardware design and have working firmware! A few words on USB ... In ye olde' days, such as when the Jaguar was developed, connections with the outside world were often turn-key and very simple. On the Jaguar controller, a selection of pins are used as address selectors and each data pin is tested in turn. Easy to code for and cheap hardware to build, little more than latches and diodes. However, such interfaces are not portable and there's no connector on a modern PC which could be contrived to be made compatible with such a scheme (maybe the old parallel port with a suitable breakout?). USB seeks to solve this problem by being the Ultimate Protocol, fully configrable and compatable with any imaginable use-case, from gamepads to webcams. Normally, I'd regard such ambitious goals as unrealistic and error prone. If you recall the early days of USB, and the extremely buggy drivers stacks of the time, this concern was clearly warranted. Having said that, something about the scheme works as over a decade later it's become a ubiquitous standard that actually kind of works. Being every solution to every problem means that USB is huge. It takes a surprising amount of processing power to drive even a simple USB connection and the description of the specification itself is voluminous, a >100MB download. All this to say that almost all the code, and almost all the processing power, in the Jaguar USB Tap is devoted just to the task of driving USB. I don't know if it's progress, but the scope of it leaves me awed. The Jag stuff This was the easy part: all I needed to do is continually poll the Jaguar controller pins and check for changes in state from the previous check. Something like: for (all buttons): if (this button's address not set) { set the pins for this button's address } read some pins if (these pins are different from the last time I checked) { print readout on the UART send a USB message }
The USB stuff is a bit convoluted, but essentially I send a table of data: USAGE_PAGE (Generic Desktop)USAGE (Gamepad)USAGE_PAGE (Button)[... 17 one-bit states for all the buttons ...][... followed by 7 bits of padding as USB frames must be byte aligned ...]USAGE_PAGE[... Two axis, one byte each, for the D-pad ...]END_COLLECTION
Even though the D-pad is made out of digital buttons I still treat it as if it were a piece of analog data. This follows a convention in USB gamepads to distinguish direction from action buttons, but the uC also has the ability to read analog values. Maybe one day I can get my hands on a rotary modded controller and will be able to support Tempest 2K as Jeff Minter intended. One last thing ... USB devices use unique vendor ID (VID) and product ID (PID) codes to identify themselves and to prevent driver collision. This is a reasonable thing to do but it costs $5000 to register a VID! Very hostile to small businesses and community projects. Fortunately, one very gracious small-business has gifted their VID for community usage and unique PIDs can be requested from http://pid.codes for hobby scaled projects. I've made a request and, if I get the PID, can embed it into the firmware going forward. Wrapup I can now play Jaguar games with the control scheme the original developers intended, and enjoy a speed advantage where emulation performs better than a real console (granted, the opposite is the case for most games. Emulation is hard so I really appreciate the work that's gone into virtualjaguar. Thanks, guys!). I've also grown quite fond of the controller itself. The groves on the back allow it to sit comfortably and I don't find myself cramping my hands to reach all the controls so it makes a pretty decent controller for other consoles too. The Mega Drive is a particularly nice fit as it shares the D-pad + three primary action button layout.

dgrubb

January 23, 2018

Hacking with Atari

Jaguar USB Tap: The agony (of hardware bugs) and the ecstacy (of firmware)

Development environment To start writing code for our STM32F07 series uC via an ST-Link programmer (embedded in a cheap Nucleo board, see previous entries) all we need are a few easy to obtain tools: a C compiler (although Rust is becoming more interesting as an embedded language), a debugger and a tool for handling communication with the uC over the ST-Link. ST provide several options for fully integrated IDEs with varying levels of platform and license support but my personal preference is to avoid all of them. I dislike large IDEs; partially because they absorb system resources and obfuscate underlying details, partially because of my political zealotry and partially because kids today have it too damn easy with their iThings, ghetto-blasters and whatnot. Rather, I shall be using the GCC compiler, the GDB debugger and OpenOCD for programming, all of which are completely open-source, readily available across platforms and are simple to use (IMHO, YMMV). On a Debian-derived Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu or Mint, they're installed with a one-line apt-get invocation: $ sudo apt-get install gcc-arm-none-eabi gdb-arm-none-eabi openocd
Magic. As I'm not planning on using an IDE I need to add a few extra targets to my Makefile to perform the programming and debugging functions an IDE would normally integrate: make # Build the projectmake clean # Delete compiled objectsmake upload # Use OpenOCD to program the target devicemake debug # Open a debugging session with the targetmake run_gdb # Connect to a debugging session
Fail With a development environment and initialisation code I was ready to start programming! I hooked up the ST-Link to the target uC, double checked all my power connections, and ran make flash. Nothing. OpenOCD's output indicated it was unable to detect a target. However, it did detect the target supply voltage so at least some part was functional. As an experiment I applied a jumper from VDD to one of the uC's GPIO and everything came to life. OpenOCD detected and programmed the target. Curious ... I programmed the uC a few times with some simple code that just went into loops or incremented variables to ensure that I could connect a GDB debugging session without any further problems. Satisfied, but still confused about the previous behaviour, I tried setting the GPIO as input pins whereupon I lost contact with the uC again. This time, applying power to GPIO failed to revive the board. Confused and frustrated I went back to my original schematic to search for any kind of clue. It was pretty obvious what had happened: I had made a mistake in drawing the schematic symbol for the uC itself, assigning the same number to two different pins.
This error percolated all the way down to the trace routing leaving VDDA unconnected. By bridging the GPIO to VDD I had inadvertently provided sufficient power to the GPIO block for the pins to function, that in turn allowed the GPIO pins which double up as a serial programming port to work. By enabling the GPIO pins as inputs I was switching their power source to VDDA. One quick mod to verify this was what was going on ...
... and I'm going to need to redesign the PCB. Lesson learned, which, frankly, I should have already been cognizant of, is not to rush and take the time to double, triple and quadruple check your design before sending the gerber files off to the PCB manufacturer. We can rebuild him As I'm going to have to redesign the PCB anyway I'm going to make a few changes I was thinking about doing anyway: Switch from the 20-pin TSSOP uC package to a larger 48-pin LQFP. I really liked the idea of using the smaller package for space efficiency and all the required functions fit nicely into that layout. However, it also meant I had to dedicate the two programming pins to GPIO functions so I can't debug while running all the pins. That won't be much of a problem after I've finished all the code, but for the sake of an easier debugging process it'll be nice to separate those functions. Add jumpers to the output enable lines of the logic level translation chips so I can manually control those devices, allowing me to turn them on, off, or let the uC drive them. With the larger uC package I can also make use of one of the UART ports for a bit of simple status output without an ST-Link. Could come in handy. Add a button to allow for manual control over NRST, so I can reset the uC without powering down the whole device.

We'll get to the Jaguar parts soon. Honest.

dgrubb

December 24, 2017

Hacking with Atari

Jaguar USB Tap: hardware update

My PCBs arrived today so I was able to solder together a prototype. No magic smoke! Next up: finishing the firmware ...

dgrubb

December 8, 2017

Hacking with Atari

Project: Jaguar USB Tap

Justification In recent years the retro-gaming community has taken a revisionist view of the Atari Jaguar. What was once a console marred by failure is now more regularly being perceived as a missed opportunity. Rather than maintaining a reputation as a broken console the Jaguar is becoming more highly regarded as a technical innovator failed by a lack of capital and business acumen of the company who developed and marketed it. Consequently, demand for Jaguar consoles and peripherals has increased enormously with prices for used equipment rising accordingly. Emulation provides an easy way for newcomers to enter the scene without having to pay a heavy upfront cost for access. Since the Jaguar's era the video gaming market has changed considerably with controller designs becoming more or less standardised around a layout favoured by the two current dominant platforms, Microsoft's XBox and Sony's PlayStation: two analog sticks, a D-pad, four action buttons and a pair of shoulder triggers and buttons. Vendors of PC compatible gamepads have aped this layout in turn but, unfortunately, the Jaguar controller doesn't easily map to this format due to the inclusion of a twelve-key numeric pad embedded into the controller front face. This makes emulating Jaguar games with off-the-shelf PC gamepads somewhat dissatisfying, forcing the player to make use of a keyboard in addition to gamepad, or forgo a controller altogether. Even though a complete Jaguar console may be prohibitively expensive, a Jaguar controller can be purchased for ~$20. Combined with emulation a genuine controller can allow an affordable path to enjoy the Jaguar's eclectic library of games with the input device they were designed for, if the controller can be made to work with the standard inputs of a modern PC. Hence I intend to design and build a cheap converter device: the Jaguar USB Tap. Design Philosophy I am greatly influenced by the goals of the free software movement initiated by Richard Stallman. I also want the community surrounding Atari and the Jaguar to be healthy and robust. Making this project as open as I can possibly make it is a natural consequence of these two impetuses. Therefore, there are several requirements I must adhere to: All source code must be published with a Free/Libre license and made available through a convenient and readable mechanism (e.g., plain source hosted on a service such as GitHub). All hardware design files - such as schematics, PCB layouts and Gerber files - must be published in the same manner. Hardware design files must be available in formats which are standard and trivially readable. For example, if the schematics were published freely but couldn’t be opened without an expensive proprietary tool then they wouldn’t be open in any reasonable sense. When selecting components consideration must be given to how easily another person can reproduce the design. For instance, parts which require special soldering equipment or advanced techniques, such as quad-flat pack ICs with no pins (QFN), are undesirable.

Fulfillment of these requirements shall influence technical and non-technical decisions alike. For example, an FPGA would be a good technical solution but a poor choice for the goals of this project as they require expensive proprietary software and programming devices.
Component selections Even though I shall be using entirely surface-mount (SMD) components, with the exception of connectors, I will be selecting components with relatively large footprints such as 1812 for non-polarised capacitors. Larger components will result in a board being much bigger than it needs to be, but I feel this to be an acceptable trade-off to ensure that the design is accessible as they require less skill to solder but can also be identified and handled more easily by those with poorer eyesight. At the heart of the board shall be an STM32F070 microcontroller (uC) (http://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers/stm32f070cb.html). This part contains an ARM processor core, a USB peripheral and a small handful of GPIO pins making it highly suited as an embedded processor in USB human-interface devices (HID). While the part is a good technical fit for the project there are also accessibility reasons for using an STM32 uC. Chiefly, firmware can be developed using entirely open-source tools, such as gcc, on the user’s platform of choice (Linux, Mac OS or, I suppose, even Windows). A programmer device is required to upload firmware to the uC but this is another area where ST have done extremely well in providing an accessible solution. Every STM-Nucleo development board (~$10) contains an ST-Link programmer device which be used for programming external uCs in addition to that built into the board: http://www.st.com/content/ccc/resource/technical/document/technical_note/group0/30/c8/1d/0f/15/62/46/ef/DM00290229/files/DM00290229.pdf/jcr:content/translations/en.DM00290229.pdf Jaguar controller interface The hardware interface of the Jaguar controller is extremely simple. Button presses cause particular pins on the DB15 connector to be set high in contrast to some later systems, such as the Nintendo64, which serialise controller state data and maintain active two-way communication between controller and console. All that’s really needed is for the STM uC to detect rising-edge voltages on GPIO pins connected to a DB15 socket and send a USB HID message to the host PC. The controller has twenty-one buttons (n.b., even though the Pro controller has more buttons they’re mapped to buttons which exist on the original controller so no additional interpretation is required) and the DB15 connector provides fifteen pins. Button states are encoded with two bits worth of information: a column (or address) pin, and a data pin. This mapping is: Column 1 address (option, 3, 6, 9, #) Column 2 address (C, 2, 5, 8, 0) Column 3 address (B, 1, 4, 7, *) Column 4 address (Pause, A, N, S, E, W) - Row 1 data (pause) +5VDC Source - GND Row 2 data (A, B, C, Option) Row 3 data (E, 1, 2, 3) Row 4 data (W, 4, 5, 6) Row 5 data (S, 7, 8, 9) Row 6 data (N, *, 0, #) -

For example, when the player presses the A button pin 4 and pin 10 are set high. Source: http://arcarc.xmission.com/Web%20Archives/Deathskull%20%28May-2006%29/games/tech/jagcont.html
Result A high logic level for the controller is 5v but the STM32F070 runs at 3.3v (only two pins are 5v tolerant: D+ and D- USB data connections) so an interface chip is required to translate the two voltage levels. I’ve selected the TX01060 which provides an enable signal line allowing the uC to programmatically disable the connection to the controller if required. This is a useful point for attaching an LED for visual indication that the device is running as expected and for basic debugging. A regulator is also required to the convert the 5v power provided from the upstream USB connection to a level safe for the uC. Resources All design files, documentation and source code is available through my GitHub account and shall be updated as the project progresses: https://github.com/dgrubb/Jaguar-USB-tap

dgrubb

November 30, 2017

atariLBC's Gaming Notebook

010 - Ultra Vortek

Ultra Vortek
Published: 1995 by Atari
Developed: Beyond Games 2D arcade fighting games were incredibly popular in the mid-90s and console gamers wanted that experience at home. Unfortunately, with the notable exception of Primal Rage for the Jaguar CD, Atari's 64-bit console lacked conversions of well known arcade titles like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter 2. Instead, Jaguar 2D fighter fans were treated to questionable ports of 16-bit console titles like Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and Double Dragon V and two Jaguar exclusives: Kasumi Ninja and Ultra Vortek. Developed by Beyond Games of Lynx Battlewheels fame and released for the Jaguar by Atari in 1995, Ultra Vortek is a 2D fighter firmly in the mold of the Mortal Kombat series. The game is crammed with 90s fighter tropes, complete with all of the special moves, fatalities and attitude of the era. Ultra Vortek is considered by many Jaguar enthusiasts to be the system's best fighter. Is Ultra Vortek the killer 2D fighter that the Jagauar sorely needed? Let's plug this totally extreme game in the big cat to find out. It's Annihilation Time! Gameplay: Ultra Vortek offers two main game modes: Vs. and Tournament. There are four difficulty levels that range from "Training" to "Killer". This write-up will focus on the single-player game. At its core, the single-player mode of Ultra Vortek is a rather generic tournament fighter with a standard best of 3 set-up. The player selects one of 7 playable characters, each representing one of three factions. Once selected, the player sets out to fight the others in a life or death contest to challenge "the Guardian" and take control of "the Ultra Vortek" - "the wellspring from which mankind draws its eternal energy." If you lose, the life force of your faction will be subsumed by the Ultra Vortek. Heavy stakes, indeed. The tournament itself is called "the Time of Testing" and there is a bit about a Vortek Tablet that is frankly lost on me. Backstory aside, Ultra Vortek offers control using the standard Jaguar gamepad's three action buttons and d-pad. Special moves and fatalities - here called Annihilations - are pulled off through various combinations of the directional and action buttons. While the special moves are easier to pull than in other Jaguar fighters, I still found it difficult. It's strange that there is not a Pro Controller option for Ultra Vortek, as it was a relatively late release. While the 3 button control scheme is adequate, the game would have clearly benefited from the 6 button design of the Pro Controller. In-game action is mostly fluid. The button response and hit detection are decent and the characters are fairly well balanced. That said, it is far too easy to beat the game in Normal mode by simply using a leg swipe. The difficulty ramps up tremendously in Hard mode, making for a much more enjoyable single-player game. Importantly, the game lacks a combo system which may put off some fighter fans. Graphics: Graphically, Ultra Vortek shows off the Jaguar's 2D capabilities quite nicely. The stage levels are rather detailed, featuring a blend of post-apocalyptic and hellscape imagery that suits the theme of the game. From digitized onlookers, to subway trains, to roving eyeballs, to mirrored floor surfaces, it's clear that a lot of thought went into the presentation of each stage. That being said, the stages feel disconnected from the characters themselves. By that, I mean that the stages do not necessarily reflect the attributes or biography of the selected opponent. Instead, you'll find yourself fighting on any of the stages, regardless of the opponent/player character selected. This isn't a deal breaker by any means. It's just a bit odd considering all of the time the developers spent on the game's lore. Character sprites are decent sized, though not as large or detailed as in Kasumi Ninja. The characters themselves are derived from a mix of digitized photos for the human faction and Buzzsaw, and stop motion and hand animation for the more fantastical characters. Character design is pretty generic cyberpunk/post-apocalyptic fare. They fit the game but are not terribly memorable. My favorite characters to play were the human Lucius and the robot Buzzsaw. The standard hits, special moves and fatalities are well animated and many are humorous in their over-the-top nature. For example, the shape-shifting Mercury has a fatality where he turns into a meat grinder and subsequently grinds the body of his foe. Other moves send severed heads hurtling toward the screen. There is also a "poopality" which is everything you would imagine it to be. Oh and there are buckets of blood, acid and ... "mercury"...to be had on screen depending on the characters in play. Ah, the 90s - so extreme! Other notes on graphics: 1) I really like the spiked swipe screen. It looks fantastic and is a nice added touch. 2) The player select screen is really cool with one small quibble: character names do not show onscreen until you're in the level. This is a really strange design choice. 3) I really love the eye in the center of the health meter. It follows the action and is so otherworldly. Sound/Music: I generally like the near CD quality rock and metal tunes that serve as the soundtrack to the game. It's cheesy but it fits the tone of the game. The hit sounds, digitized voices and other sound effects are all admirably accomplished. I really enjoy some of the character specific sounds, like the short circuiting of defeated robot characters and the squishy noises made by Mercury. Final Thoughts: Ultra Vortek is a competent 2D fighter that gets more right than it does wrong. The story is interesting, the gameplay works and the music is jamming. While it isn't quite up to the standards of contemporaries like MK3, it is a solid entry in the Jaguar's lackluster fighter line-up. Is it the best fighter on the Jaguar? For me, that honor goes to Primal Rage. That said, if you're a fan of this style of fighter, give it a try. If not, pass. Thanks for reading and please share your memories and thoughts on Ultra Vortek in the comments below! Do you think it is the best fighter on the Jaguar? Also, a special thank you to The Professor who recommended this game in the Readers' Choice post! I'll do another readers choice selection for Post 020. The next game comes courtesy of the randomizer. That game is: World Tour Racing!

atarilbc

October 22, 2017

atariLBC's Gaming Notebook

009 - Syndicate

Syndicate
Published: 1994 by Ocean
Developed: Bullfrog Syndicate began life as a fairly popular overhead RTS on the PC and Amiga. The goal of Syndicate is to build the wealth, power and territory of your criminal enterprise through a combination of force, persuasion, taxation and research. The depth and novelty of the game led to a host of conversions. The last time I tried to play Syndicate was over 20 years ago and I was not at all impressed. In the intervening years, I've read that this game - including the Jaguar version - was generally well received and is thought by some to be a forebearer to the original GTA. Is the Jaguar version of Syndicate a solid translation of the computer classic? Or would it have better been left to a keyboard and mouse? Read on to find out! Gameplay: You start the game with a world map from which you select the territory you need to conquer. The more territory that you control, the more population and taxes collected. This leads to funds that you can use to buy intelligence during mission briefings, purchase equipment, or research enhancements for your agents. Once you select a territory, you are brought to a mission briefing. After accepting the mission, you get to select and equip a team of up to 4 agents, which you control in-game. "Control" in Syndicate is a relative term. I'm primarily a console gamer. As such, I expect game controls to be fairly intuitive. I want to be able to jump right in and start playing without looking through a manual. If I do read the manual, it should be to clarify some nuance or quirk of the game's features. Syndicate is not that type of game. From menu options to in-game controls, Syndicate requires the player to not only read the manual, but to study it. To make up for its lack of a keyboard, this computer conversion uses all of the buttons on the Jagpad. That's right, all three action buttons, plus the twelve buttons on the keypad. Because that's not enough for the actions in Syndicate, there are even button combinations that are required for certain actions. Want to zoom in? Press C+1. Need to deselect a weapon? That's C+9. All in all, I counted 26 possible actions available in-game. These are listed on pages 16-18 of the manual. Needless to say, I kept the manual handy so I had some idea what I needed to do. If that sounds tedious, that's because it is. The complexity literally stripped much of the joy and excitement out of playing this game. Once in the game, I found the onscreen movement clunky. I've played a number of point and click RTS games and this just doesn't flow for me. Graphics: The graphics in Syndicate are a bloody mess. The game world is presented in an isometric perspective that hampers navigation and can hide enemies and targets from view. The player's squad of agents, cops, enemies and targets are represented by blocky low-res sprites that look pretty bad no matter what your zoom. Some of the game maps are interesting from a distance, but lose detail and refinement when zoomed in. Scrolling across the play field is somewhat choppy and the onscreen action is anything but fluid. The in-game map is nearly useless as it's hard to differentiate between the different NPCs. There are some fun death animations, so that's something. Sound/Music: The music in Syndicate consists of dark synthy chip tunes that I suppose are befitting the dystopian future of the game world. It isn't terrible but it also isn't memorable. The game's sound effects are pretty limited. In a word: average. Overall: Syndicate on the Jaguar is a clunky RTS that is low on fun and high in tedium. It may have been highly regarded in its day, but there a far superior RTS experiences out there. Ultimately, the potential of the game's concept is undermined by the clunky control interface and lackluster graphics. Final Verdict: If it's not yet clear, Syndicate was not my cup of tea. The overly complicated control scheme made playing the game a chore. Maybe it works well on a PC, but on the Jaguar I mark this one down for collectors only. Thanks for reading and please share your memories and thoughts on Syndicate in the comments below! I'm particularly interested in hearing from those of you who enjoyed the game - either on the Jaguar or another platform. The next game is from my recent Readers' Choice post and comes courtesy of The Professor: Ultra Vortek! Thanks to The Professor and RickR for the suggestions!

atarilbc

September 16, 2017

atariLBC's Gaming Notebook

Reader's Choice - You Name The Game

Those who have been following this blog might know that I use Excel to randomly select which Jaguar game that I'll review next. This approach basically forces me to reconnect with games that I may not otherwise choose to play. Overall, it's been a fun experiment and one that I intend to continue as I wind my way through my Jaguar collection. That said, I'm just about finished with my Syndicate review (009) and I thought that I'd open up post number 010 to my fellow forum members. If there are any Jaguar games that you'd like to learn/read more about, let me know in the comments. I'll take the titles suggested and use Excel to randomly select one for post 010. Please limit your suggestions to two titles. If you happen to suggest a game that I don't have, I'll let you know. I'll keep this open until next Friday and announce the selection in the post for Syndicate.

atarilbc

September 10, 2017

atariLBC's Gaming Notebook

008 - Zoop!

Zoop
Published: 1995 by Viacom
Designed by Hookstone, Ltd.
Jaguar Version: Electric Spectacle Productions, Ltd. Zoop is one of those games that no one seemed to ask for but was nonetheless pushed out to nearly every platform on the market. Billed as "America's Greatest Killer of Time!", this puzzler appeared on Gameboy, Game Gear, SNES, Genesis, PlayStation, Saturn, Macintosh, Windows, and our own beloved Jaguar. The ads were EVERYWHERE. This was a game that was scientifically proven to be so addictive that you would lose your mind. This was Viacom's Tetris and we were all going to be glued to the screen. As I indicated in Post 000, one of the reasons that I'm doing this blog is to play some of the least played titles in my collection. Prior to this review, I had never played Zoop. I picked it up in a lot of sealed commons about six years ago and never even opened it. In fact, it is the only game in my Jaguar collection that I had never booted up. UNTIL NOW. Is Zoop the addictive puzzler it was advertised to be? Did it drive me cuckoo bananas? Was it worth ripping off the cellophane? Read on to find out! Gameplay: On the face of it, Zoop is a simple puzzler. The goal of the game is to eliminate colored shapes marching toward a square box in the center of the screen using a color matching game mechanic. You control a triangle that resides within this center square. The square itself is 4 rows tall by 4 columns wide. Blue, purple, green and orange shapes approach the center square from all four sides along sixteen different pathways. As new shapes appear, the earlier shapes will be pushed one space closer to the center square. If a shape gets to the center square, it's GAME OVER! To stave off your inevitable demise, the player uses the d-pad to move the triangle within the center square, targeting the shapes. Pressing the action button sends your triangle hurtling at blurring speed into the shapes. If you hit a shape that is the same color as your triangle, you'll eliminate that shape. If multiple shapes of the same color are stacked together, you can eliminate the whole lot for a score multiplier. If you hit a shape that is a different color as the triangle, you will swap colors with that shape without eliminating it. This can be used strategically to build stacks and improve your score. There are also a few power ups which come in handy. Control is tight and responsive. This is critical as you progress through each level. Speaking of levels, Zoop offers two game modes: Continual and Level. In Continual mode, the shapes on the board remain as you progress through each level without pause. In Level mode, the game field is cleared of shapes with each completed level. I preferred to play Level mode. Graphics: The graphics in Zoop are unremarkable. The player sprite is a simple triangle. Likewise, the approaching shapes are rudimentary blobs of color. There is minimal animation. The play field changes with each level. For some levels, the color combination is more interesting than others. That said, it's clear that they were going for a certain vibe with this game and stuck to it. Could it have used a little more graphic flare? Probably. But that isn't really the point. As it is, the game is bright and colorful and does the job. Sound/Music: The music in Zoop is sorta like "smooth jazz." It is calming and the tempo doesn't change as the pace of the game quickens. While competent, the music seems to be at odds with the gameplay. There are audio alerts if the shapes border the center square. Additionally, your triangle makes noise when moving or eliminating shapes. Overall: Zoop is a decent puzzle game. The few hours that I spent with it were enjoyable. The simple graphics and gameplay mechanic works well and control was what it should be. Was it as addictive as Viacom claimed? Not in the least. While I could see myself picking it up again, it was very easy to put it down. No one is going to miss sleep or be late to work over this one. At least I still have a firm grip on reality! Final Verdict: The Jaguar has few puzzlers and, in that way, Zoop fills a certain niche. If you like the genre, consider Zoop. Thanks for reading and please share your memories and thoughts on Zoop in the comments below! The next game is: Syndicate

atarilbc

September 2, 2017

atariLBC's Gaming Notebook

007 - Super Burnout

Super Burnout
Published: 1995 by Atari in association with Virtual Xperience
Developed by Shen Technologies SARL Super Burnout is 2D sprite-based motorcycle racer in the tradition of Sega's Hang-On. Published by Atari in 1995 and developed by first-time French developer Shen Technologies SARL, Super Burnout is viewed by many Jaguar gamers as one of the system's hidden gems. The silky smooth framerate, incredible sprite scaling, and tight controls stand in stark contrast to those of other Jaguar racers like Supercross 3D, Club Drive, and the infamous Checkered Flag. Indeed, it is not uncommon to see Super Burnout on the top ten lists of many Jaguar owners. Does Super Burnout deserve its place in the pantheon of the big cat's best games? Let's take this turbo charged title out on the track and find out! Gameplay: In Super Burnout, players race any one of six sport bikes along eight tracks against competing computer controlled bikes or a human competitor via split screen. From the main menu, players have a choice to either start the game or go into options. Starting the game will take you into the last setting used for the game, including game mode, computer AI and bike. Going into options will allow the player to select a bike, game mode, control and lap options and set enemy AI. The developers would have done well to open with the options menu but this is a small complaint. There are multiple modes of play, including: Championship, Trainer, Record and two-player Versus mode. Championship mode is the main game and takes players to tracks in America, France, Germany, Hungary, Brazil, Australia, Canada and Japan. Unlike arcade-style racers, there is no time challenge, checkpoint or placing requirement for progression to the next race. You can finish last in each race and progress through the end of the game. Some players might appreciate that, but I like the challenge of unlocking tracks. In other modes, players can select their desired track. Trainer mode allows you to practice a track and improve your strategy; Record mode is a "time attack" against your best time; and, Versus mode is two-player, split screen action. Each of the eight tracks has different characteristics; from long high speed runs, to gentle bends, to highly technical, hairpin turns. This makes your bike selection critical. You're stuck with the bike you chose at the outset, so choose wisely as each bike has different grip, acceleration and speed characteristics. It would have been cool to have some customization available or upgrading system, but alas... Control is tight and responsive. Players use the d-pad left/right to steer the bike and control lean. The B button handles acceleration and A serves as the brake. If you opt to use the manual transmission, you'll need to use the C button and up/down on the d-pad to shift. I found this to be cumbersome and stuck to automatic gear selection. Super Burnout does not reward pure speed. You cannot just put pedal to the metal and finish in the top 3. The game demands that you let up on the gas, time leans and apply the brake strategically. This requires that you spend time with each bike and each track to learn their nuances. Start a turn too late and you'll end up flying face first down the side of the road. These elements make Super Burnout easy to pick-up but difficult to master. Graphics: Super Burnout has some beautifully rendered 2D sprites and runs at a rock solid 60 fps. Moving 2D sprites is what the Jaguar was meant to do and Super Burnout throws hundreds of sprites on the screen without breaking a sweat. Player sprites are huge and nicely done. Trees, barriers, buildings, and crowds look great and whiz by at a fast pace giving you a terrific sense of speed. Impressively, Versus mode maintains the graphic quality in split-screen, although at the cost of in-game music. The look of the tracks are somewhat generic, with the exception of the type of tree used and some background graphics. For example, in Brazil you get palms and in Japan you get cherry blossoms. Similarly, the Sydney Opera House makes an appearance in the Australia track, while Hungary has a hillside castle - cause that's a thing unique to Hungary, I guess. These are nice touches but more could have been done to make each country more distinctive. A few of the tracks feature night racing, which is pretty cool. Otherwise, roadside barriers, crowds and buildings are reused or slightly modified from track to track. Objects on either side of the track are only one layer deep and are very repetitive. Sound/Music: The music in Super Burnout is a high point. Each screen and race track has its own composition. The music style is hard to put a finger on, but most in-game music has a decent rhythm and funky bass. The quality is excellent and easily rivals CD audio. Sound FX are less impressive. The engine sounds are convincing but, other than the announcer and faint crowd roar, that's all you'll hear. There are no screeching tires, burnt rubber or crash sounds. More could have been done to flesh out the effects. That said, in sum sound and music are among the Jaguar's best . Overall: Super Burnout is a solid if somewhat shallow racer. The game looks good, sounds good and controls well but it is otherwise very straightforward. Arcade-style time challenges, checkpoints and bike customization/upgrades may have done more to flesh out the game. Final Verdict: As a technical achievement and an example of how the Jaguar handles 2D, Super Burnout is a showpiece. It's arguably the best racer on the system and is enjoyable in both single-player or versus mode. I hesitate to call it a "must-have" but if you like sport bikes and racing games, it's well worth your time. Thanks for reading and please share your memories and thoughts on Super Burnout in the comments below! Do you think it's a "must have" for the Jaguar? Next Up: Zoop

atarilbc

August 26, 2017

atariLBC's Gaming Notebook

006 - White Men Can't Jump

White Men Can't Jump
Published 1995 by Atari
Developed by High Voltage Software White Men Can't Jump (WMCJ) is an Atari Jaguar exclusive developed by High Voltage Software and published by Atari in 1995. The game shipped with the Jaguar Team Tap peripheral for four player action. WMCJ is loosely based on the 1992 movie of the same name, which stars Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as street basketball hustlers. As in the movie, players play pick-up basketball for cold hard cash on the mean streets of early-90s Los Angeles County. Otherwise, the license is wholly wasted as neither character is mentioned in the game. WMCJ is notorious as one of the worst games in the Jaguar library. For many Jaguar owners, it tops that list. So, does WMCJ deserve the hate? Or is it, as the manual claims, "the most hyped up, monster jammin', bruisin' elbows, rebound snatchin', rim stuffin', skying over suckers, down your throat, money making game of street ball you never thought possible?" Let's plug WMCJ into the big cat and see what it's all about! Gameplay: WMCJ is a two-on-two basketball game, in which players play half court ball in a semi-3D perspective. There are two game modes: Vs. mode and Tournament mode. In Vs. mode, up to four players can play using the Team Tap. In Tournament Mode, up to two players take on the best street ball duos in L.A. with the hope of making it to the Slam City Tournament at the Inglewood Forum. At the start of the game, you take out a loan from a couple of loan sharks for money to bet. You have to win enough to make the $5,000 entry fee and pay the sharks back - or else! Game progress is saved through the use of one of three save keys - represented by actual keys. Playing the game is fairly straightforward. You use the d-pad to move, and the Jaguar controller's three main action buttons to pass/punch, jump/shoot, or for speed boost. The action triggered depends on whether or not you have control of the ball. The buttons are customizable from the options menu. Wait a minute, back up. Did I just write "pass/punch"? I sure did. This is street ball, so punching is front and center. Want to steal a ball or block a dunk? Just punch your opponent. It's perfectly acceptable. In addition to the violence, each character also has a "super dunk", which can be pulled off with a combination of movements. I have to say, pulling off a super dunk is pretty magical. Action response seems a bit slow, with blocking jumps coming just after a shot, punches thrown late and shots taken a few steps after you intended. Also, the computer controlled characters pass like pros but - frustratingly - I could never quite get the hang of it. Additionally, due to the semi-3D perspective of the game, it can be hard to tell what's going on at times. All of this combines to make WMCJ less fluid and enjoyable than it could be. Graphics: WMCJ uses an interesting art style to say the least. The game employs 2D sprites in a semi-3D perspective. The game uses sprite scaling to provide a sense of depth on the court. A dynamic camera follows the action. The camera movement is fast and can confuse the onscreen action. Words and phrases like "Bangin", "Take it back", "Airball", "Money" and "You gets none" appear on the screen in rapid succession. These use colorful fonts in full 90s glory. This can be a bit jarring and distracts somewhat from the gameplay. Fortunately, this feature can be switched off. The player characters appear to be digitized from real photos like Kasumi Ninja, but unlike Kasumi, these digitizations are in fairly low resolution. It's an interesting look, if a bit muddy. The characters themselves are generic and their design doesn't show a lot of creativity. From a player's perspective, I really have no reason to pick the "Urban Angels" over the "Dunkin' Demons", or vice versa. They just aren't terribly memorable or distinctive. This may be unfair, as other games benefit from team/player licensing. That said, even if a lot of players feel the same, playing as your favorite NBA star does make you feel a bit more engaged. The game environments are darker than they could be. To my mind, all the match-ups seem to be held at dusk. In sunny Los Angeles County, would it have killed them to make a really bright level? It was the 90s, so maybe they were trying to evoke smog. Also, no LBC? WTF. Otherwise, I generally like the look and feel of the courts. Between the dynamic camera, digitized character models, sprite scaling, onscreen text and other effects, there is a lot going on here. Unfortunately, it's just a little too taxing and the framerate suffers for it. Action can seem stuttered and the animations are anything but fluid. This doesn't break WMCJ, it just makes it less fun than other two-on-two basketball titles.
Sound/Music: Sound and music are a strong point of WMCJ. Unlike some Jaguar games, WMCJ features full audio, including in-game music, decent sound effects and heavy voice sampling. The in game music is well done but some of it seems a bit out of place for the game setting. One would expect more of a late-80s to early-90s hiphop sounds. Instead, we get some weird jazz music. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think the "Dis Masters" are playing jazz on their boom box while taking on the "3pt. Kings" in Compton. The voice over sampling is quality, if somewhat repetitive. I would like to hear a little more varied trash talk. The sound effects are what you'd expect from a basketball game, with swooshes that are sufficiently swooshy. Overall: WMCJ is a strange two-on-two basketball game. While its clear the developers were trying very hard, it is definitely a case of style over substance. I enjoyed some of the 90s quirkiness and it is truly unique. That said, there are better basketball games out there - even on the Jaguar. Sports games require a certain responsiveness and fluidity of action that WMCJ just doesn't have. This makes it a missed opportunity. Note: While this write-up has focused on the single player game, I want to add that this is tremendously fun with four players. People just really can't believe what they're seeing and it makes for a lot of laughs. A few years ago, I had a "Dads' Day of Atari" and someone picked this out. It was the loudest we laughed all afternoon. WMCJ itself isn't great, but it definitely has a so bad it's good quality that's best enjoyed with friends. Final Verdict: WMCJ is another odd edition to the Jaguar library. It is far from the worst game on the system but pales in comparison to the excellent Jaguar conversion of NBA Jam TE. If you find it cheap with the Team Tap, you might consider giving it a try. Four player Vs. mode is probably worth the price of admission. Besides, you can use the Team Tap on NBA Jam. Thanks for reading and please share your memories and thoughts on WMCJ in the comments below! Do you think it ranks as the worst game on the Jaguar? Or do you agree with me that it can be so bad that it's good? The next game is:Super Burnout

atarilbc

July 8, 2017

atariLBC's Gaming Notebook

005 - Robinson's Requiem

Robinson's Requiem
Published 2011 by Songbird Productions
Developed by Silmarils Sofware Robinson's Requiem is a combination first person adventure and point and click survival game. The player is Trepliev1, a Robinson space explorer from Alien World Exploration (AWE) who becomes stranded on the planet Zarathustra. With minimal equipment, you set out to explore the planet and survive various hazards. These include other Robinsons, natives, and a generally hostile environment. Robinson's Requiem saw release in the mid-90s on a variety of computer platforms including the Atari ST, the Atari Falcon, the Commodore Amiga and the PC. The game was also released on the 3DO. The Jaguar port of Robinson's Requiem was released by Songbird Productions in 2011. For those not familiar with Songbird, the company is run by Carl Forhan and specializes in the completion and release of "lost games" for the Atari Jaguar and Atari Lynx. Robinson's Requiem is one such title. Advertised on the back of the Jaguar CD packaging, the game was essentially complete when Atari ceased support of the Jaguar platform in 1996. Years later, Carl rescued the game and licensed it from the developers for release. Like all Songbird releases, the game has professional packaging on par with Atari's commercial Jaguar releases. So, how does Robinson's Requiem stack up? Let's take a stroll on Zarathustra to find out! Gameplay: The computer roots of Robinson's Requiem are clearly evident in the game's control scheme. The player uses the d-pad to move a cursor on the screen to search an area or body, pick up and use items, or access options from the ever present icon panel and "Sesame" screen. The Jaguar 9-key pad is used to move across Zarathustra's sprite-based landscape. The control scheme is anything but intuitive and would likely be better suited for a keyboard and mouse. That said, after an hour or so of roaming, I got the hang of it. The game is light on action. I quickly encountered two other Robinsons and had to kill both of them. The first, a man by the name of Socrates19, warned me - via an FMV sequence - that it was "every man for himself", that I was in his sector and that I needed to get lost or else. He went down with a few awkward punches which were activated by clicking on the weapons icon, selecting the fist icon and pressing "B." If that sounds laborious, that's because it is. It's very clunky and unresponsive. Searching Socrates' body revealed a treasure trove of equipment, including a survival knife, matches, battery and gourd. These can be used later in combination with other items to fight (knife), build a fire (matches) or get water. The second Robinson, a man named Darwin5, seemed pleasant enough at first but by the end of his FMV inexplicably turned into a werewolf. Moving around the game's environment was less than thrilling. I found myself hitting dead ends and getting stuck in crevices of the world map. There is an overhead map but I didn't find it very helpful. As it is, Socrates and Darwin5 were the only souls that I encountered in my time with the game. Zarathustra, garden spot that it is, seems oddly devoid of life. One of the more interesting gameplay mechanics is "manufacture". You can select items that you have scavenged and combine them to make a tool. For example, I used a branch and wire form the wreckage of my ship to make a noose. While crafting is commonplace in many of today's games, it is surprisingly deep for a 90s adventure. I have no doubt more useful tools are available but I didn't get that far into the game. In two hours I managed to kill the only two people I met, fill up my water gourd, boil said water, slice leaves and branches from trees, find some food and give myself food poisoning. Speaking of food poisoning, another action is a medical scan. Activating medical scan will let you check your overall health and determine what is wrong, the seriousness of the illness and treatment options provided you have the medicine. Like the manufacture feature, I found the need to scan and treat illnesses to be a nice touch. Graphics: Graphically, Robinson's Requiem is a mis-mash. Like other early CD-rom games, the developers were perhaps trying too hard to use all that the new medium had to offer. At start-up, the game treats the player to some classic 90s CG rendered video. The intro sequence is lengthy and sets up your mission and crash landing on Zarathustra. Once you take control, the game switches to a first person perspective. The game world is made of sprite-based textures. They are very muddy and do not look good at all. Pop-up is horrible and every few minutes there is a slight pause in the action to load a new area of the map. The landscape is dotted with trees that seem like paper cutouts and you are surrounded by mountains. When you do come upon another Robinson, they appear as a generic human shaped sprite. Upon approach, you'll be treated to grainy FMV typical of CD consoles of the day. Acting is sub-B movie level. On the bright side, the fire animation was well done as is the icon panel and health status scan. I also quite enjoyed Darwin5's lupin transformation. Sound/Music: The sound in Robinson's Requiem is ok. When there is music, it's well done. The in game sounds also set the tone for a hostile planet with gurgling water and animal noises. You also make noise when you're sick or fighting. Overall: You can probably tell by now that I didn't much care for Robinson's Requiem. Anytime a player spends more than an hour walking around without encountering in-game action, it's a problem. Zarathustra was simply much too ugly and desolate to keep my interest. Final Verdict: Robinson's Requiem strikes me as a game that is ambitious in concept but poor in execution. It strives to give the player a new kind of gaming experience but ultimately falls flat. This one is for the serious Jaguar collector only. If you're not a completionist, pass. Thanks for reading and please share your memories and thoughts on Robinson's Requiem in the comments below! I'm particularly interested in hearing from anyone who enjoyed this or another version of the game. The next game is: White Men Can't Jump

atarilbc

July 4, 2017

Kamakazi's Reviews

Memory Lane - Part 1

The first in a new series.

kamakazi20012

April 3, 2017

Kamakazi's Reviews

Atari Day! - Ep 7

Here's what I did on Atari Day. Enjoy! Thanks for watching!

kamakazi20012

March 28, 2017

arenafoot's Blog

2017 Atari VCS/2600 Homebrew List (as of 3/5/17)

Arenafoot

March 5, 2017

Kamakazi's Reviews

January 2017 Game Pickups

Hope you enjoy the video! Thanks for watching.

kamakazi20012

February 1, 2017

atariLBC's Gaming Notebook

004 - Cybermorph

Cybermorph
Published:1993 by Atari Corporation
Developed by Attention To Detail (ATD) "Good luck." These are the first words that the player hears when their morphing T-Griffon unfolds on a remote planet. And Atari needed all the luck it could get when the Jaguar launched to limited markets in the winter of 1993. The odds were stacked against the once-giant of the industry. Atari released the Jaguar to a crowded market where the SNES and Genesis dominated and other consoles from SNK, 3DO, Phillips and others competed for shelf space. Further, next generation consoles from Sega and Sony were looming on the horizon. More than luck, Atari needed something special to show the prowess of its new 64-bit machine. What they had was Cybermorph - the Jaguar's oft-derided pack-in. It is perhaps most famous for Skylar, the game's green-faced guide well known for the apparently meme-worthy phrase "Where did you learn to fly?" When I first got my Jaguar I was quite pleased with Cybermorph. I thought the morphing ship, full 3D exploration and Skylar were all great. In '94, it was one of the more interesting and advanced games that I had ever played. So, how does it stack up today? Graphics: The graphics in Cybermorph are quite bland. The planets have dull, oddly colored landscapes and dark skies. The landscapes are sparsely populated with pods, trees, mountains, roads and enemies. Everything in the game is made up of Gouraud shaded polygons. At the time of its release, the in-hardware use of Gouraud shading was a technological advance over the flat shaded polygons found in many computer and console games. It can be a really cool effect when implemented well. Unfortunately, the art-style in Cybermorph leaves a lot to be desired. Aside from Skylar and your ship, the aforementioned T-Griffon, it does not appear that much care or imagination went into Cybermorph's polygonal models. Enemies are not very exciting and the trees and buildings that dot the landscape look like they were designed by a first grader. Draw distances are quite limited and pop-up can be a real problem. If you're moving too quickly, it is very easy to run into a mountain or other obstacle. On the bright side, I've always liked Skylar and the shape-shifting T-Griffon is cool. Sound/Music: Cybermorph lacks in the audio department. There is music at start-up that begins with a punch and devolves into a weird "smooth jazz" type thing. There is no in-game music at all. The fully voiced Skylar is impressive. Most impressive. The only people that will be annoyed by her haven't bothered to learn how to play the game. If you're hearing "Where did you learn to fly?" over and over again, you're doing it wrong! The ship sounds, weapons fire and crash noises are sufficiently "spacey" but aren't very imaginative. You've heard better whooshes and blasts in a hundred different games. Overall, the audio and sound effects feel underwhelming. Gameplay: The most interesting aspect of Cybermorph's gameplay is that it offers the player full 3D exploration. This was novel in 1993. Unfortunately, the world design and missions don't leverage this very well. As mentioned above, the game's worlds are sparsely populated. While there is plenty to blow up, there are also slow periods of inactivity and exploration. This would be interesting if the landscape offered more than tiny trees, the occasional building and oddly colored mountains and canyons. As it is, it is a bit of a snooze fest. Game worlds are also pretty small; it is easy to traverse a level at speed within a few minutes. Game missions lack variety and mostly involve collecting yellow pods. If this doesn't sound exciting, that's because it isn't. The gameplay just doesn't have a lot of depth. Control takes some getting used to, but I've always found it tight and responsive. In my view, Cybermorph is best played with a light touch and at slower speeds. Doing so helps to avoid Skylar's warnings and prevents overshooting targets and pods. Cybermorph also makes use of the overlay. Weapons selection is easily toggled using the top row (1-3) and multiple views are available using the rest of the pad. Overall: Did I enjoy playing Cybermorph? Yes. Despite its many shortcomings, the game does offer some fun and a romp down memory lane. That said, the game just feels undercooked. The lack of music, rudimentary level design and boring landscapes leave a lot to be desired. It's hardly good enough to be a flagship title. Fortunately, the Jaguar CD sequel Battlemorph is superior in every way. Final verdict: As the Jaguar's pack-in title, Cybermorph has earned a place in video game and Atari history. It is inextricably linked to the legacy of Atari's last console. As such, it's a must have for the Atari Jaguar collector. That said, the repetitive missions, lack of in-game music and bland graphics make the game hard to recommend from the player's perspective. There is fun here but the Jaguar has a host of tank-style 3D games and Cybermorph ranks pretty low on that list. Thanks for reading and please share your opinions and memories of Cybermorph in the comments! The next game is: Robinson's Requiem

atarilbc

January 30, 2017

Kamakazi's Reviews

My Top 5 Favorite Game Consoles

Here they are! The 5 video game consoles I enjoy the most. Hope you enjoy the video!

kamakazi20012

January 19, 2017

atariLBC's Gaming Notebook

003 - Pinball Fantasies

Pinball Fantasies
Published: 1995 by Twenty First Century Entertainment
Developed by Spidersoft Limited Released in 1995, Pinball Fantasies is a Jaguar conversion of the 1992 Commodore Amiga game of the same name. Billed as a “pinball simulator”, Pinball Fantasies features four tables and semi-realistic play. In addition to the Amiga and Jaguar versions, Pinball Fantasies saw release on the Amiga CD32, Super NES, DOS and Gameboy. The game has also appeared in compilations on platforms as varied as iOS and PS3. The Jaguar version of Pinball Fantasies is notable as one of only a handful of Jaguar titles published by a third-party company; Twenty First Century Entertainment. In the Jaguar’s library, it competes against Atari’s own Ruiner Pinball for the system's coveted pinball crown. Pinball Fantasies is a game that I have not spent a lot of time with over the years. Outside of a few highscore club matches, I rarely plug it in. So I was actually excited to see it pop up on The Gaming Notebook’s randomizer. Graphics: The graphics in Pinball Fantasies are competent. The layout of the four tables is well designed and the art is colorful, if bland. The score and ball readout is at the top of the screen and attempts to replicate the dot-matrix score display of a real machine. The ball looks right and moves fluidly around the table on various ramps, rails and loops. On the other hand, aside from some light-up bonuses and bouncing bumpers, there isn’t a lot going on. The art style on the game tables themselves are somewhat generic. “Partyland” has a carnival theme, “Speed Devils” has a racing theme, “Billion Dollar Game Show” has a game show theme, and “Stones & Bones” has a horror theme. There are no crazy bonuses that set off a myriad of lights. Nor are there any character animations, explosions or other effects that might have been done given the videogame format. It’s all very vanilla. One of the things that I love about actual pinball tables is the over-the-top table art, lights and sound. Those are meant to attract players. The tables here all feel a little sterile. If I were walking through an arcade, I definitely wouldn’t look twice at any of them. I don’t have the game on any other platform but a quick review of gameplay videos on Youtube leads me to believe that the Jaguar version compares favorably with contemporary ports. Like many of the 16-bit games ported over to the system, the Jaguar versions are typically sharper, with greater color depth and smoother animations. Sound/Music: The clicks, bumps, pings and rings of classic pinball is well represented in Pinball Fantasies. A true pinball aficionado might find a fault but to my ears, the pinball sounds ring true. In-game music is a mixed bag. I didn’t mind the music in “Speed Devils” or in “Stones & Bones”. In fact, the music in both of those tables is fairly enjoyable. The music on “Billion Dollar Game Show” was inoffensive. I found the music in “Partyland” intolerable. Keeping with the table’s carnival theme, it is music suited only to knife wielding psycho clowns. Gameplay: In terms of gameplay, Pinball Fantasies is just fine. With the standard control layout, the d-pad is the left flipper and the “B” button is the right flipper. The “A” button can be used to nudge the table and the “C” button launches the ball. It’s pinball so there isn’t a lot to it in terms of control.Like a real table, the tables in Pinball Fantasies are pretty big – too big for a standard tv. In order to accommodate, the field of view is limited to half of a table at a time and scrolls with the ball. You can set the scroll setting to “hard” or “soft”. A “hard” setting makes the action much faster and the scrolling is more jarring. I enjoyed playing with the “soft” scroll although this seems to slow the action somewhat. The game offers two difficulty settings: easy or hard. For me, the combo setting that most felt like real pinball was “hard” with a “soft” scroll. Game physics seem spot on. The ball doesn’t feel too floaty or too fast the way it can in other video pinball games. This is a high scoring game with generous multipliers and bonuses - typical in pinball. One thing that’s missing is multiple balls. This is likely due to the scrolling nature of the playfield. Of the four tables, I like "Stones and Bones" the best. It's just interesting enough to make me want to keep playing. "Speed Devils" is also a fun table. The other two are pretty forgettable. Overall: Pinball Fantasies is an above average video pinball game. It generally replicates the pinball experience at home and I think that was largely the intent for the original game designers. That said, I can’t help but feel that there was a missed opportunity here to leverage the media to not only recreate the pinball experience, but to bring something exciting and fresh to the table. Final verdict: If you like realistic video pinball, you might enjoy Pinball Fantasies. It definitely lives up to its description as a pinball simulation. If you prefer your video pinball to be a little more fantastical, pass. Thanks for reading and please share your opinions and memories of Pinball Fantasies in the comments! The next game is: CYBERMORPH!

atarilbc

January 16, 2017

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