Re: Vector programming

Paul,

Replies Throughout....

> Are you so new to the list that you're not aware of Vector Breakout? It's
> one of the games in Clays Multigame. He's got a lot of Tempest programming
> knowhow, but probably not all there is. I suspect he'll respond too.
>

Clay responded with gome very good information regarding emulation in MAME, which
also answered some questions I had.

> <ramble on>
> This always makes me wonder why people do such things. Why document the
> Tempest code? Why write new games for obsolete hardware? I'm not saying
> these activities are bad, but why do them?
>

It's another aspect to game collecting. I'm a programmer myself, and used to
write games for the old 8-bit machines (6502 based). After I bought my EPROM
programmer, one of the very first thoughts I had was "I wonder if I could jazz up
Asteroids". It's just another way to experience the hobby, and also the knowledge
you gain regarding the intimate details of how the game operates assists in
troubleshooting hardware problems as well. I recently had a Battlezone kick my
butt (I broke down and bought the boards from Eldorado), but in the process of
troubleshooting, I gained a good amount of understanding into how the game
actually operates at the hardware level. Very fascinating.

>
> I ask myself: Why reverse engineer the Cinematronics board? I think because
> it was interesting. Why write an emulator for it? Because I wanted to play
> Star Castle again. Why write a menu program for Marks multigame? For the
> challenge and to help someone out.
>

This hobby has so many aspects it's incredible. I got into the hobby by thinking
"Wow, my own arcade game". Then, after I bought Asteroids, it was "These Atari
vectors are really neat". Now I'm on my way to collecting the Atari vectors. The
graphics are addictive, the gameplay is addictive, and the sideart is awesome.
You can take this hobby to any level you desire, from playing the games on MAME
to actually re-writing the program code and making hardware enhancements.

>
> So I kinda understand why *I* did some of those things. Does anyone else have
> some other motivations for such goofy activities?
>

I always thought the game programmers to be god-like in some way. Sitting aroung
on bean-bags and playing games all day. Of course, there was a lot more work to
it than that, but that was my impression as a child. Now that I have the
education and the tools are becoming available again, it would be neat to at
least live part of the fantasy.

>
> The real question is this:
> Why those activities instead of creating a new game on current hardware?
>

The classic hardware is much simpler and more elegant. Programmers nowadays just
throw bigger hard drives and more memory at a problem rather than optimizing for
hardware (generally speaking). Remember writing code for machines with only 1 or
2K of available memory? I do. I wrote games that had more play value than most on
the market now. That's the situation with the classic hardware. How better to
hone your optimization skills than with a machine that only has a few K of
useable memory, 16 or 32K of (slow) program space, and an 8-bit processor running
around 1 MHz. I'd love to take a Lunar Lander and add a cool Saturn 5 liftoff as
the opening sequence or attraction screen.

>
> I've got some answers to that, but I'd like to see what others have to say.
> <ramble off>
>

Just my $.25 worth. I may never suceed in making a popular re-write or
enhancement to a classic Atari vector, but I guarantee you that I'll have loads
of fun failing!

    - Matt

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