Some Alpha 1 info...

Well, since I had the Alpha 1 game out at the Rocky Mountain Pinball
showdown this past week I actually played Alpha 1 more than anything
else and I decided to document some of the differences between it and
the Production Major Havoc game.... Since I had the game packed away for
a long time, I actually found that it is a pretty fun game as it stands
even tho it is a prototype. The mazes are different enough that it is
interesting and challenging.

*General Cabinet Stuff:*

Crystal Castles Cabinet, no sideart, Amplifone monitor (with a working RED!)

No serial number tags.

Artwork is handmade with clear plastic overlay. Center artwork between
speakers is painted glass with clear plastic overlay.

The name 'Alpha 1' appears only on the Marquee, software and ROM labels,
all other game references (harness's, fingerboard, PCB) are labeled
'Tolian Web'.

Main processor has two 16K Paged ROM areas (8000-BFFF I think), need to
look in MAME.

Vector has four 8K ROM pages

*PCB:*

The Fingerboard which converts the Tolian Web harness to allow a
production MH PCB to plug into it is labeled as 'Tolian Web -> M.H.'

PCB hardware is very close to Gravitar. PCB is labeled as '#9' with a
sharpie. There is only 1 processor. Jumper wires abound.

No 'Sparkle' hardware (color shift register)

*Gameplay:*

There are only 12 levels, 13 is actually level 9 again and it displays
the same TAC-SCAN messages as level 9.

The warp codes are 23(Level 4), 46(Level 8), 51(Level 9)

There is no background music (there are only two pokeys on the PCB)

Most sounds are much rougher, simpler or plain missing. Sounds are not
yet normalized, some are quite loud, others are quiet.

Space Ship mode has Fishoids that circle forever when they reach the
bottom, they never sweep across the bottom after 3 circles.

Space ship shots are tiny specks instead of 3-D blocks.

Maze Objects Missing: Doors, Keys, Ion Cannon's, Booties, Escape Pod,
One Ways, Clock (Owen has mentioned that Mark C. designed those objects)

When completing breakout, the area fills with 6 different color 'Alpha
1' logos, extra man is awarded.

Attract mode text story is different from production and actually much
shorter, more programming jokes tho.

Most mazes are different in some way, since there are only 12 mazes,
they all seem to be a bit harder too.

Space Station landings are insanely difficult, small pad, harsh initial
velocity to correct.

Level 11 and 12 have exits that are substantially different than the
production version.

My game has a red 'X' most of the time in the lower right hand corner
(Im thinking it is a pokey issue or a timing warning flag perhaps)

Sometimes a blue 'X' appears next to the red 'X' during gameplay but
generally disappears quickly.

Level 12 still has the maze message of 'Keep going the homeworld is
near'. :-)

You can play Alpha 1 in MAME, but it would be difficult without having a
roller controller. I bet it would even be difficult having a tempest
controller for the space station landings.

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Received on Mon May 5 02:19:55 2008