(01-06-2023, 02:58 AM)TerryRitchie Wrote:(01-06-2023, 02:38 AM)mnrvovrfc Wrote:(01-06-2023, 02:10 AM)madscijr Wrote: But anyway, great job, as always! You did it with Berzerk, you did it with Asteroids. What about Tempest (with level editor!), Gravitar, and Defender / Stargate?? ?
How about Mr. Do? (Dig-Dug clone)
I actually have some Dig-Dug code laying around here that I started a few years back but haven't finished. I also have Missile Command, Frogger, and Super Mario on a drive or two around here somewhere as well, again, all unfinished. Now that I'm older I have the patience to finish code. But in my younger years I was like the proverbial dog in the back yard ... Squirrel! ... Squirrel! ... with every new squirrel (project) I would get distracted and forget about the previous.
Believe it or not Tempest is actually a 3D polygon game using the same math box technology as Battle Zone. Tempest is another one of those games that look simple on the surface. The more I dig into these old arcade games the more I appreciate the programmers and engineers that made them. When I was a kid I used to think 25 cents was too much for a game. Now I realize it probably wasn't enough. Although all it would take is one big hit and the programmers would make money hand over fist which would cover those games that didn't do as well I'm sure.
And to think, these guys and gals did this all on CPUs like the 6502, 6809, and Z80 to name a few, in Assembler no less!
It truly is mind blowing... Eugene Jarvis and the Atari guys were my heroes as a budding computer geek. Not only did they work wonders with very primitive tools, the games themselves are works of art, they're beautiful to look at, and fun to play, even after all these years.
I would love to one day build a cartridge for my Vectrex that turns it into a vector display that plugs into a PC's USB port, and be able to program vector games in QB64PE on a real vector screen!
^^^
You were talking about squirrels - I am well acquainted with them, I have a basement and many hard drives full of such rodents, burying their acorns and forgetting all about them until they dig one up by accident! Focus, Danielson!!! Stay on target!
Tangentially yours...