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TEMPEST ELITE for Atari 400/800 XL XE


peteym5

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I am looking for an Atari 7800 programmer to assist with development. Trying to figure out to set it up with 4k of RAM. Tempest Xtreme and Tempest Elite uses lots of pre-calculated tables, will graphics 15 screen, and player-missile RAM. So it would be a different game almost written from  scratch.

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Part of it would have to be written from scratch but it is highly possible that some of the main CPU code could be reused since both systems use a 6502 variant processor.  Since the 7800 is a raster machine (and a very good one I might add) it would be able to handle all of the Tempest characters easily.  You might be able to bring those over as well since the MARIA chip handles sprites in a similar fashion as GTIA...just turn the images in an upside-down order.

 

I'm still learning how to program the 7800 but I would need aide in understanding, in dummy terms, how the DLL and DL are made up.  That is my only block.  Everything else I can figure out.

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Well doing the ship and objects coming up the web should be easy with the 7800. I am wondering what would be a good way to do the web graphics itself.

 

Hmmm...you should be able to treat the "web" like a "maze" in Ms. Pac-Man.  And knowing the cart sizes available for the 7800 it should be able to easily hold 100 or more webs.  But it all comes down to the skill of the programmer(s).

 

The sounds would be the trouble spot.  Unless Lance would be willing to place POKEY chips on the carts I don't believe there would be much of the music intact knowing the 2-channel limitations of TIA.  Although some games pulled the TIA sounds off really well I don't think it would be able to handle the music in Tempest Elite by itself.  Maybe if there was a way to combine the TIA sounds with POKEY music but you risk slowing the CPU down when accessing any TIA functions.

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Sound would definitely be an issue if only the TIA is used.  Adding POKEY would definitely be better.  I think if both TIA and POKEY are used, though, sounds get much better. 

TIA and Pokey would give you six voices. We use a program called RMT to generate the Music on the 8-bit. Not sure how Pokey is mapped on those cartridges. Don't have a ton of information on those. I had given thought about trying that 7800 Basic to see if I can port my Adventure/RPG project over. 

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i sent out yesterday for review from my team, all of the artwork and documentation for review. we made a film with commentary. and it shows us playing the game with a joystick, a 2600 driving controller, with paddle controllers, and a trak-ball.

 

its been a long haul for the guys who made this possible, but it looks like we are about there.

VIDEO 61 & ATARI SALES
www.atarisales.com
22735 Congo St. NE, Stacy, MN 55079
651-462-2500

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We Finally have unlocked the video with commentary with people playing the actual game with different controllers. I know when people were asking about these controllers, I pointed out various issues with using those controllers like needing to constantly moving your hands or not having a separate direction for the SuperZapper. So the Space Bar acts as the switch to activate the superzapper, and escape acts as pause when using something other than the joystick. When joystick is selected as the game controller, Space Bar will just pause the game. You also need to use SELECT and OPTION to cycle through the controller options on the title splash screen as someone will need to plug in another controller before starting the game.

 

Please stand by for the official announcement about the release of the Cartridge Game as we are hard at work preparing everything.

Edited by peteym5
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Hello, all,

 

Been a long time. Sorry about the hiatus. I am one of the beta testers for V61 and Tempest Elite, listed in the end credits as Artisan21. It is a spot-on game that will live up to players' expectations. We have tested various controllers, as it will have multiple controller support. So far, the best controllers that I have tested are the joystick, the European joypad, and the driving controller, with the driving controller being the best. You guys will love to play this game. It will be great. Thanks for letting me share that tidbit of information. :D

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Hello, all,

 

Been a long time. Sorry about the hiatus. I am one of the beta testers for V61 and Tempest Elite, listed in the end credits as Artisan21. It is a spot-on game that will live up to players' expectations. We have tested various controllers, as it will have multiple controller support. So far, the best controllers that I have tested are the joystick, the European joypad, and the driving controller, with the driving controller being the best. You guys will love to play this game. It will be great. Thanks for letting me share that tidbit of information. :D

 

 got to level seven today, even made it to the bonus round. my hands are still to slow yet to beat the bonus round. i am using the euro 7800 pad.

VIDEO 61 & ATARI SALES
www.atarisales.com
22735 Congo St. NE, Stacy, MN 55079
651-462-2500

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