NSG's Atari 7800 Prototype Mega Thread!

[nosweargamer]

This thread will be set-up kinda like a book, with a table of contents on the first post.

 

10 Prototypes in 1 Video

The Atari 7800 Game by Game Podcast Prototype Special

Compilations that covers: Electrocop, GATO, Klax, Missing in Action, Pit Fighter, Plutos, Rampart, Rescue on Fractalus, Sirius & Toki

 

Klax: Video Review & Gameplay videos

 

Missing in Action: Video Review & Complete Gameplay Videos

 

Pit Fighter: Video Review

 

Plutos: Video Review

 

Rampart: Video Review

 

Rescue on Fractalus: Video Review

 

Sirius: Video Review

Edited December 14, 2016 by nosweargamer

[nosweargamer]

[nosweargamer]

[nosweargamer]

Klax

Publisher:  Atari

Year: 1992

Based on: The 1989 Arcade Game by Atari Games

Amount Completed: Possibly 100%

Reason for Cancellation: Most likely due to the decline of the Atari 7800 market.

 

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by nosweargamer

[nosweargamer]

Missing in Action

Publisher:  TNT Games

Year:  1989

Based on: The Chuck Norris movie series.

Amount Completed:  Mostly completed. It seems all there levels are there, although two of them have bugs that make them impossible to complete.  The ability to pick up and use items also appears to be in the early stages.

Reason for Cancellation: Most likely due to the decline of the Atari 7800 market. It’s possible that sales of their Atari 2600 game, BMX Air Master, also played a part in the decision.

 

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by nosweargamer

[nosweargamer]

Pit Fighter

Publisher:  Atari

Year:  1992

Based on:  The 1990 Arcade Game by Atari Games

Amount Completed:  Very little.  Appears to be a very early build. Single level, characters look the same, you cannot pick up anything, glitches when jumping, no title, no sound, but you can control your character.

Reason for Cancellation:: Most likely due to the decline of the Atari 7800 market.

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by nosweargamer

[nosweargamer]

Plutos

Publisher:  Tynesoft

Year:  1990

Based on:  The 1987 Computer Game

Amount Completed: Mostly Complete, after a group of Atari 7800 enthusiasts worked on a found prototype.

Reason for Cancellation: Most likely due to the decline of the Atari 7800 market.

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by nosweargamer

[nosweargamer]

Rampart
Publisher:  Atari
Year: 1991
Based on: The 1990 Arcade Game by Atari Games
Amount Completed: Not much. Title screen without titles, multiple maps, but enemies are floating placeholders, one button shoots, the other blows up all the enemies, no sounds except at the title screen, no building stages, but you can play two players.
Reason for Cancellation: Most likely due to the decline of the Atari 7800 market.
 

Edited December 19, 2016 by nosweargamer

[nosweargamer]

Rescue on Fractalus

Publisher:  Atari

Year:  1984

Based on:  1984 Lucasfilm Games Computer Game

Amount Completed: Not much. You can fly around in a small space, several instruments run through testing pattern, no objects to pick up or fight and no sound.

Reason for Cancellation: Believed to be cost reasons. The game required an extra RAM chip.

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by nosweargamer

[nosweargamer]

Sirius

Publisher:  Tynesoft

Year:  1990

Based on: Possibly Zybex, a 1988 Computer Game

Amount Completed: Mostly Complete, after a group of Atari 7800 enthusiasts worked on a found prototype.

Reason for Cancellation:: Most likely due to the decline of the Atari 7800 market.

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by nosweargamer

[nosweargamer]

Now this is how you do it..

 

No C64/Amstrad CPC placement screens here.

 

Simply superb stuff.

 

Thank You! 

I just wanted to give the 7800 some attention it was lacking with whatever I had available.

(Shame I couldn't get my hands on Toki)

[RickR]

Rescue on Fractalus

Publisher:  Atari

Year:  1984

Based on:  1984 Lucasfilm Games Computer Game

Amount Completed: Not much. You can fly around in a small space, several instruments run through testing pattern, no objects to pick up or fight and no sound.

Reason for Cancelation: Believed to cost reasons. The game required an extra RAM chip.

 

ROF would have been a great addition to the 7800 library.  This was one of my favorite games on Atari 8-bit, and I was just playing it the other night.  The "surprise" in the game is so cool, and it by itself makes the game worthwhile.  There is suspense every single time you stop to rescue a pilot. 

[nosweargamer]

I would've really liked to have seen 7800 ROF, especially since the 5200 got a port. 

A real shame it got lost in the new ownership shuffle. 

The thought that it was cut solely due to cost might not be true, but most likely is.

There is also the possibility that something happened with the project that made it difficult to pick up again after over a year on the shelf. For instance, one guy starts it, leaves with the sale, no other programmer is confident in finishing someone else's work so early in development and starting from scratch seems like to big of a hassle.

[RickR]

I would guess figuring out the controls issue was pretty daunting too.  ROF needs a "systems" button, a "airlock" button, a "fire" button, a "return to mothership" button, and some way to control speed.  Cramming this all in to a 2 button joystick may have seemed like another Karateka in the making. 

[RickR]

It should.

[nosweargamer]

I would guess figuring out the controls issue was pretty daunting too.  ROF needs a "systems" button, a "airlock" button, a "fire" button, a "return to mothership" button, and some way to control speed.  Cramming this all in to a 2 button joystick may have seemed like another Karateka in the making. 

 

Does the 2600 CX21 keyboard controller work on 7800?

 

Yes it does, although no 7800 game took advantage of it. Actually, as far as I know, there is no 2600 controller that won't on a 7800.

What they would've done with ROF is probably what they did with flight simulators: use the system switches including difficulty switches as part of the control scheme.

 

In my dream world any 2600 or 7800 game that used system switches would map the same functions to the Touchpad as well if the user had one.

In my dream dream world, those games would also come with overlays!

 

One of the biggest complaints I have heard about flight sims is using system switches. Using the Touchpad would have really helped in this area.

[nosweargamer]

Also, how were they planning to convert Skyfox to 7800?

 

C64 ver. Uses lot of keys...

 

A engages Auto pilot

 

F1 changed Radar view

 

G armed)disarmed guided missiles

 

H did same for heat seeking missiles

 

Spacebar activated afterburners.

 

They were planning to do it awkwardly.

[AtariHero]

Great thread! Some thoughts:

 

Rescue on Fractalus - (just operating off an assumption here) So if this was in development under Atari Inc., I would imagine that it was being made with the 7800 Keyboard in mind. That keyboard was going to have an additional 48k of RAM so it would have worked for both. That doesn't answer how they were going to do other computer ports that needed a bunch of keys though, since the keyboard was effectively shelved after the sale. 

 

Speaking of lost hardware, biggest shame for me is the cancellation of the high score cart. Such a neat concept for the time

 

Missing In Action - Not sure why I never watched stuff on this game before. I guess it was made by the same team who did Midnight Mutants as there are some graphics and sound similarities. Real shame it got so far then was axed. It would have filled one of those niches on the systems.

 

KLAX - I also never watched this in action for whatever reason. What a port it would have been! It seems to play perfect to the arcade. It just needed something like the Pokey and it would have been great.

 

Pitfighter - no loss there although the character sprites do look nice. I'm not sure how this game made it in the arcade.

 

Electrocop - Still holding out for the day when the source or ROM on this one is found.

 

Plutos and Sirius - I picked these up when they were on sale. Great shooters for 8-bit platforms, certainly better than Trevor McFur Another case of needing Pokey or some other sound chip to fill it out.

 

GATO - I never could get into this style of game myself (kind of reminds me of Ace of Aces, which I don't care for).

 

Toki - I haven't followed the news on this one - still waiting for something or did they already do a limited run? The 7800 sorely needed platformers as that was the hot item in the late 80s. Weird that it was in development around '93 though. 

[TrekMD]

All of these are really cool titles.  Electrocop would be fantastic to see on the system.  Toki may be released if it is completed. Hopefully, it is done using POKEY sound.