Lambda

@TrekMD thank you! this is a homebrew mini game I produced. I designed it to be fun (and just the right dose of frustrating) for kids like my daughter and nephews. I used some basic mechanics that’d make it fun for them to understand some basic math concepts, and also give myself a fun way to show and explain to them. the game is relatively simple in concept. You start as a diver at the bottom of the ocean. You have an air supply that is constantly and quickly running out. In order to increase your air level, you must catch fish by colliding into them. Fish are constantly swimming by, and for each fish you catch, your air increases by a set amount... but for every fish you let swim away, your air drops by a set amount as well. This creates a “panicked” scenario where the player is constantly having to think about the most efficient way to keep catching fish. once the players air has increased a significant amount, it’s time to move on to the final stages of the mini game. The player moves the Diver off screen to the right and enters the next area. There are now no more fish left to be caught. Whatever air level you chose to progress with is now what you’re stuck with, and you’ll have to complete the game before the air drops to zero and you drown. (Little elements of “real world” risk here by allowing the player to make his own choices). The goal now on the next area is to swim across the screen from left to right while being chased by a territorial squid. If the squid catches you, it’s game over. Get past the squid to move on to the next area. the next area is guarded by a shark. Same deal here, you’ll have to swim past him without being caught. Get caught by the shark (or drown) and it’s game over. the shark has a bit more of an “upgraded” “AI” (that is if anything can even be called AI in an Atari 2600 game haha). It will feel a bit more like the shark is stalking you before it makes its attack for you, and getting past him is definitely harder than getting past the squid. if you manage to get past the shark, the next screen is simple: dive down to the treasure chest... hopefully you’ll have enough air left in the tank and won’t drown before you reach it. If you do, you win! the concept is pretty simple, and I’ve gotten a HUGE kick out of watching my younger nephews struggle a bit with this game at times. The level of frustration and high pace (frantic at times) seems to be just right to make the game fun. while I designed this game with kids in mind, I have had quite a few friends my age (30s) try this game out. Two of them had never played an Atari before. They surprisingly both were playing for 15-20 minutes each, taking turns, before they could figure out how to beat the game and swim past the squid and the shark. (It was actually hilarious for me to watch them Finally swim past the shark, only to drown a few feet from the treasure chest, and have to start over again).

@BortLicensePlate Thanks so much for the response! Means a lot to me to get honest feedback. And thank you for the redirection! I have added a new topic to the Share section in the brewery any have edited my original post to redirect there. (I’m still relatively new to forums, and still learning etiquette, so I appreciate the heads up ) that being said, I’ll share some pictures here of my favorite 2600 games in my current collection to keep things consistent and on topic. *the “Defend Atlantis” Contest pamphlet is one of my favorite pieces of the bunch... I wonder what would happen if I filled out the mailer form and mailed it in today ... wonder if I’d even get a response and what it might be

Hey All! I was directed to this more appropriate thread so I am reposting here under a fresh topic: Atari 2600 is the only system I have produced code to cartridge and published for as a homebrewer. It’s a small 4k mini game with 4 levels geared at teaching my daughter some of the benefits in understanding Pythagorean theorem when she’s a bit older I only produced 10 copies of the game, and got shelf space in a local game shop (Game-On in Miller Place and Smithtown NY - amazing group of people), and I wound up selling all copies before I ever had the chance to even speak about the production. (As a programmer I also have a “thing” about announcing a project before completion.... so many programmers in general (not just game devs) have a habit of announcing a project and not completing it. This is partly why I rarely ever speak about my work before it’s already finished). This is actually only the second time I’ve ever even spoken about this game (the first was on the NA forums just before they got destroyed). But, some of the feedback I got from my buyers was that they thought the artwork was different... one collector (full 2600 set) and a known collector on Long Island NY, told me the art was the reason he bought the game... he felt it was interesting. (Again, the game was designed for kids, so I had that “vibe” in mind when I designed it). But I’d love to get some feedback as to whether I should maybe continue this art style, or change pace and go for something a little more true to what Atari game artwork looked like back in the day, on my future games. I designed everything myself: the code, the artwork, the manual, etc. hand soldered every board and hand assembled all of the boxes and manuals myself. All feedback is welcome! Id love to hear what you all think, good or bad. I’m just really happy to be back with you all! pic related: Let me know what you guys think! Should I continue on with this style or maybe try for a more true to timeframe artwork style on my next homebrew? Thanks to all who respond!

Hey All! Im not sure if this is appropriate for this thread or not, but I assumed it may be since this is an Atari thread. (If it isn’t, anyone can feel free to correct me and point me to a more appropriate thread, no worries). Atari 2600 is the only system I have produced code to cartridge and published for as a homebrewer. It’s a small 4k mini game with 4 levels geared at teaching my daughter some of the benefits in understanding Pythagorean theorem when she’s a bit older I only produced 10 copies of the game, and got shelf space in a local game shop (Game-On in Miller Place and Smithtown NY - amazing group of people), and I wound up selling all copies before I ever had the chance to even speak about the production. (As a programmer I also have a “thing” about announcing a project before completion.... so many programmers in general (not just game devs) have a habit of announcing a project and not completing it. This is partly why I rarely ever speak about my work before it’s already finished). This is actually only the second time I’ve ever even spoken about this game (the first was on the NA forums just before they got destroyed). But, some of the feedback I got from my buyers was that they thought the artwork was different... one collector (full 2600 set) and a known collector on Long Island NY, told me the art was the reason he bought the game... he felt it was interesting. (Again, the game was designed for kids, so I had that “vibe” in mind when I designed it). But I’d love to get some feedback as to whether I should maybe continue this art style, or change pace and go for something a little more true to what Atari game artwork looked like back in the day, on my future games. I designed everything myself: the code, the artwork, the manual, etc. hand soldered every board and hand assembled all of the boxes and manuals myself. All feedback is welcome! Id love to hear what you all think, good or bad. I’m just really happy to be back with you all! pic related: Let me know what you guys think! Should I continue on with this style or maybe try for a more true to timeframe artwork style on my next homebrew? Thanks to all who respond! ***EDIT: In light of this possibly being inappropriate for this thread, if you have any feedback and wish to share, I hope you’ll visit my new topic here:

@fcgamer thank you, bud! And yes, we do live in an exciting time. I’d like to believe I’m as excited as you are, for what could lie on the frontier! People here in this community want to learn. They want to learn design, and development, and new techniques to further progress... and THAT is exactly why I’m so excited to be a part of this community, befriend people like yourself, and see what everyone has to offer. There is one major goal for me here: to see my daughter (very young), appreciate NEW technology BECAUSE of what older technologies have provided us all to progress with. If everyone here (the people with younger generations that they know they can inspire) takes this attitude, the retro systems of old will NEVER die... they’ll continue to live on and provide fun and inspiration for so many more generations to come. I like to believe that that is exactly why we are all here... none of us want to see these wonderful technology breakthroughs and gaming systems die with US.. they should live on

This discussion had some interest to me: Maybe this story will provide some insight for those reading: I work in IT security. As such, we have a few definitions for those that participate: Hackers: write their own tools Script-Kiddies (Skids): Download the tools hackers create and use them for their own purposes. As a white-hat, I’ve written quite a few scripts and tools. There was one time when my step son wouldn’t do his homework. He wanted to play XBox instead. His mother (Nor I) wanting to be the bad guy, I wrote a Bash script that would identify the ID codes of Microsoft products. I then set a machine of mine into “Monitor Mode” and scanned the airwaves for his XBox’s connection to the home router. I then wrote a small script flooding the router with packets to deauthorize the XBox from the router. -Essentially, the home network worked fine, and all family members were unaffected... but my step son’s XBox was effectively “kicked” off the network until I stopped the DOS flood. -Result: his XBox didn’t work online anymore, and he had to do his homework with neither his mother or myself having to be the “bad guy” ... in his eyes... something was wrong with his XBox. Later that night (Under inspiration), I wrote a script that would flood the router with UDP packets to several ports: essentially testing whether or not a specific router was susceptible to this type of DOS attack from within the network, if someone had tried it. I released the script to several of my “friends”. A few of them modified the script to include differences in packet type, and different ports to attack on. New programs were born. In essence: I had written a tool that others modified to create something that works for them. One I had given out freely ( this “freely-given”attitude could readily be substituted for someone selling a tool like NESMaker for such a nominal fee, based on perspective). I hold no grudges against those who modified my scripts and used them for their own purpose. I assume that the creators of NESMaker probably hold a similar attitude once the product is paid for. In sum, and from my perspective: I Love Development! Whether you are new or old on the scene, it is always great to see someone do something fun with a tool. (Tools can be used for so many different purposes). If someone has done something new and fun with a tool, I look forward to supporting them as they learn and grow. We all had to start somewhere (Whether that be NN or NM). (And more importantly for all of you programmers out there:... are any of you really going to tell me you have never googled a library case or searched stackoverflow for a question you had?... think about that!) What would be “un-cool” is if someone used strictly predetermined assets and created something they called “their own” and released it to a community. This would be akin to my friend taking my scripts and simply modifying the “Authored By:” section of the code to state his name. In essence, I’m concerned with seeing genuine growth. Labeling or not on the product... I’d love to see that person learn... this community is full or “learners”... and I think the majority of those looking to “scam” others on a cheaply made game are often brought into the light very readily, sheerly by the experience of those in the community and what they have witnessed before. But if that person was honest about how they went about their project, like many on here are, that in sum would tell me that in one way or another... no matter how small... this person is adding to our community...they are trying to learn. and THAT is something I love to see just my own thoughts.

Similar to @TylerBarnes post, @Scrobins was one of the helpful individuals who directed me towards listings of Star Keeper back when I was hunting for it on the NA forums. Grateful for guys like Scrobins in the community!

Thanks to all for the warm welcome! @Jeevan, I’ll be sure to check it out! Thank you!

Hey All! Glad to be back to what seems to be another great forum that most NA users have migrated to. I have to say, I’m completely disappointed with the way NA fell into oblivion after the purchase by Jeff Meyer of GoCollect. As an IT professional and Collector myself (although, probably not up to the level of Collector that most of you are here), I’m frankly sickened by the horrible rollout of his new “website”, (if we can even call it that)... one of the most unprofessional displays I’ve seen in years, and I’ve seen A Lot! I work on Wall St as both a trader and an IT professional, and I’ve seen some shady things... but this was a full blown Corporate Raid, if I’ve ever seen one. (My opinion.) I was helping one individual on NA (I can’t remember his handle), reverse engineer a kiosk console, and when I went back to find out if anything had progressed, all was gone... including the codes I had written/passed to the individual to help him unlock the system and his progress...(I know the threads are still there in some form but the layout and navigation are now a moot point for me as only archived threads). (Jeff, if you see this, I know who you are, and you should be ashamed of yourself). -Rant Over That being said, I’m happy to see a bunch of you all migrated to this site and the community still seems to be active. Looking forward to interacting with you all again! As for what I am interested in: I’ve been collecting the games of my youth, bringing back that nostalgia feeling again (Sega Genesis, NES, SNES, Atari2600, N64, Dreamcast) I’ve also developed and produced my own fully published Atari 2600 mini-game, and have a very deep love for development and design, from code to cartridge. It shows a great love and interest for the hobby by anyone who goes to this length, and I’m always happy to buy from, help out with code ideas, and support those developers. (I had to get my hands on 2 copies of Star Keeper for this exact reason! (One for me and one for my daughter when she’s older)). Happy to find you all again, and speak to you soon!