Scramble on the Atari VCS2600

[pixel]

Wow!

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/245610-scramble-2600/

[beamrider]

yes, I saw that.

I'm thinking the pulse code base could come in handy here as the Vic-20 doesn't have a decent version of Scramble.

[pixel]

I'm thinking the pulse code base could come in handy here as the Vic-20 doesn't have a decent version of Scramble.

Oh dear… The first VIC game where you'd have to tilt over your telly sideways?

[Boray]

Oh dear… The first VIC game where you'd have to tilt over your telly sideways?

What?

[groepaz]

as the Vic-20 doesn't have a decent version of Scramble.

wat? i always preferred the vic20 version over the slowish (and way too easy) c64 version(s) (until recently, when a super great new port showed up...)

[beamrider]

well they all look pretty bad to me (full character scrolling), unauthentic sound effects, wrong colours etc.... The VIC should be capable of something closer to the VCS port above. Yes, the new C64 version is great.

[beamrider]

I did a bit more reading on this.

Seems some of the new 2600 games (this included) are kind of "cheating" (IMO) as they use something call "DPC+ARM", which makes use of the "Melody" cartridge and its 70mhz RISC cpu to generate graphics frames. Some of the game is actually written in 'c' to run on the RISC CPU.

[Boray]

Haha! I think we talked on Denial, many years ago, the possibility to put a faster cpu and lots of ram on a game cartridge to make a super cartridge game for vic-20.

[pixel]

Is "stella" emulating a RISC plug-in? Nah. Looks pretty explainable to me without it. 32K allows for a lot of kernels.

[hasseapa]

yes, I saw that.

I'm thinking the pulse code base could come in handy here as the Vic-20 doesn't have a decent version of Scramble.

My thoughts exactly. A 16K Pulse would make a very nice Scramble (or even a full blown Nemesis/Gradius). There is also a very nice TI Scramble from 2013.

My favorite Scramble for Vic is the one made by R. W. Stevenson. It may not play very much like the arcade and the colors are all wrong (I love the garish colors of the arcade) but it is still perhaps my all-time favorite Vic game for the unexpanded machine.

[r.cade]

Is "stella" emulating a RISC plug-in? Nah. Looks pretty explainable to me without it. 32K allows for a lot of kernels.

Yes, it is.

There are several of these games. Space Rocks is another...

[beamrider]

Is "stella" emulating a RISC plug-in? Nah. Looks pretty explainable to me without it. 32K allows for a lot of kernels.

YES! - Stella does emulate the melody cartridge.

If you check, you will find that the game won't run on any other flash-carts due to its reliance on the RISC cpu!

[pixel]

Oh, O.K. That's quite a game changer.

[pixel]

Seems some of the new 2600 games (this included) are kind of "cheating" (IMO) as they use something call "DPC+ARM", which makes use of the "Melody" cartridge and its 70mhz RISC cpu to generate graphics frames. Some of the game is actually written in 'c' to run on the RISC CPU.

Couldn't find anything about how to make use of the RISC CPU on the cartridge. On the AtariAge page where you can order one they don't even mention there'd be a CPU on it.

Yeah, it feels like cheating.

[beamrider]

This should provide a heads-up on the approach..

http://atariage.com/forums/blog/148-spi ... =203&st=10