@BASEDSAKRI Night Driver is a TTL game (like Breakout and Pong) and therefore much more difficult to port than later microprocessor games; this becomes a question of whether it's worth adding these early games from a development perspective, since you might get 3 other games running in the time invested in programming one.
Star Wars is not owned by Atari (for what should be clear reasons).
Computer Space is not owned by Atari and is TTL as well.
@gingerbeardman The Atari ST version is discussed and we have some historical artifacts included in the story, but the playable versions are Atari 8-bit, Apple II, C64, and our fresh port/remaster, which was done for a very specific purpose that will become clear when the game is played.
@Vyacheslav333 Correct. It is mentioned in the timeline as part of the game's history, but since the 2012 remake is still available on Steam for purchase and it doesn't fit in with the origin story that this interactive documentary was designed to tell, it was not included.
This is not simply a collection of games; it's really something different.
@Atariboy Okay, think we figured it out: The text is wrong. Sprint 1 and 2 had 4-way shifters, but Sprint 8 had two-way, according to the arcade ROM itself. It's a case of misremembering and/or Atari changing the spec between design and production. The flyer image shows a cabinet with gas and brake pedals but the official photo of the final production cab only has gas, and the shifter is 2-way. Based on the ROM, there's nothing that suggests the final version of the game supported 4-way shifters. It could well have been a technical reason or a cost reason, but Atari changing its spec during development isn't unheard of.
If we get the chance to do more updates, I will definitely change the text so it's accurate, as that's actually my fault that it's wrong. Thank you for spotting this, made for an interesting internal discussion today!
@Atariboy Yep, it was a DE call but I'm not sure if it was a choice or a mistake. Thanks for pointing it out; I will bring it up to the team. It's the kind of thing we might be able to address if we get the chance to do DLC, which we are hopeful about.
@Atariboy I can answer a little, since the whole collection will be playable in Portland this weekend. Games like Neo Breakout have absolute and relative paddle controls, and we have some interesting solutions for those analog controls. Games with full rotation steering feel pretty good to me — I mean it's still possible to oversteer and crash in Fire Truck, keeping it on the road is half the gameplay even with the authentic wheels — but I'm not sure if our steering system is what Code Mystics used.
If you're going to be at PRGE, swing by booth 300. I'd love to hear your thoughts after you get some hands on.
@Grumble "I see lots of misspellings such as "Haunted Houses" (should be "Haunted House)"
It's not a misspelling, it's one of the six new games. From the Steam product page: "Haunted Houses – The original “survival horror” game for the Atari 2600 gets a modern 3D voxel-based sequel, featuring more houses, more spooky situations, and more urns."
@Atariboy Gotta disagree with you on this, for history's sake. Andrew Ayre is still running Digital Eclipse, then and now. Mike Mika moved up from DE technical adviser to studio head from the old crew. After leaving DE, Frank Cifaldi runs the VGHF out of the same building as DE today and frequently weighs in.
No disrepect to the fine folks at Code Mystics, but a lot of people came back to work at the "new" Digital Eclipse when they had the chance. There's more vintage DE people working at modern DE than you may be assuming.
Comments 9
Re: Hands On: Atari 50 Gets Even Better With Adventure II, Warbirds, And More
@BASEDSAKRI Night Driver is a TTL game (like Breakout and Pong) and therefore much more difficult to port than later microprocessor games; this becomes a question of whether it's worth adding these early games from a development perspective, since you might get 3 other games running in the time invested in programming one.
Star Wars is not owned by Atari (for what should be clear reasons).
Computer Space is not owned by Atari and is TTL as well.
Re: 'Atari 50' Is Getting More Games Via Free Updates, 12 Dropping Next Week
I would really love to know the source of some of the info being stated as fact in these comments.
Re: Digital Eclipse's 'The Making Of Karateka' Launches On Switch After Other Consoles
@gingerbeardman The Atari ST version is discussed and we have some historical artifacts included in the story, but the playable versions are Atari 8-bit, Apple II, C64, and our fresh port/remaster, which was done for a very specific purpose that will become clear when the game is played.
Re: Digital Eclipse's 'The Making Of Karateka' Launches On Switch After Other Consoles
@Vyacheslav333 Correct. It is mentioned in the timeline as part of the game's history, but since the 2012 remake is still available on Steam for purchase and it doesn't fit in with the origin story that this interactive documentary was designed to tell, it was not included.
This is not simply a collection of games; it's really something different.
Re: Atari Anniversary Collection Full List Of Games Possibly Revealed In Retailer Leak
@Atariboy Okay, think we figured it out: The text is wrong. Sprint 1 and 2 had 4-way shifters, but Sprint 8 had two-way, according to the arcade ROM itself. It's a case of misremembering and/or Atari changing the spec between design and production. The flyer image shows a cabinet with gas and brake pedals but the official photo of the final production cab only has gas, and the shifter is 2-way. Based on the ROM, there's nothing that suggests the final version of the game supported 4-way shifters. It could well have been a technical reason or a cost reason, but Atari changing its spec during development isn't unheard of.
If we get the chance to do more updates, I will definitely change the text so it's accurate, as that's actually my fault that it's wrong. Thank you for spotting this, made for an interesting internal discussion today!
Re: Atari Anniversary Collection Full List Of Games Possibly Revealed In Retailer Leak
@Atariboy Yep, it was a DE call but I'm not sure if it was a choice or a mistake. Thanks for pointing it out; I will bring it up to the team. It's the kind of thing we might be able to address if we get the chance to do DLC, which we are hopeful about.
Re: Atari Anniversary Collection Full List Of Games Possibly Revealed In Retailer Leak
@Atariboy I can answer a little, since the whole collection will be playable in Portland this weekend. Games like Neo Breakout have absolute and relative paddle controls, and we have some interesting solutions for those analog controls. Games with full rotation steering feel pretty good to me — I mean it's still possible to oversteer and crash in Fire Truck, keeping it on the road is half the gameplay even with the authentic wheels — but I'm not sure if our steering system is what Code Mystics used.
If you're going to be at PRGE, swing by booth 300. I'd love to hear your thoughts after you get some hands on.
Re: Atari Anniversary Collection Full List Of Games Possibly Revealed In Retailer Leak
@Grumble "I see lots of misspellings such as "Haunted Houses" (should be "Haunted House)"
It's not a misspelling, it's one of the six new games. From the Steam product page: "Haunted Houses – The original “survival horror” game for the Atari 2600 gets a modern 3D voxel-based sequel, featuring more houses, more spooky situations, and more urns."
Re: Atari Anniversary Collection Full List Of Games Possibly Revealed In Retailer Leak
@Atariboy Gotta disagree with you on this, for history's sake. Andrew Ayre is still running Digital Eclipse, then and now. Mike Mika moved up from DE technical adviser to studio head from the old crew. After leaving DE, Frank Cifaldi runs the VGHF out of the same building as DE today and frequently weighs in.
No disrepect to the fine folks at Code Mystics, but a lot of people came back to work at the "new" Digital Eclipse when they had the chance. There's more vintage DE people working at modern DE than you may be assuming.