How much is known about Sweat: The Decathlon Game?

[shadow460]

The title pretty much says it all. I found a ROM online that allows completion of the 100 Meters and the Hurdles events without hopping all the way through. It allows the 400 meters to be played as well, but I did not play all the way through that (thought I'd hit the High Jump, actually, and it was going to be an endless run).

EDIT: I did finish the 400 meters in some 38 seconds, and I figured out that the Discus event is controlled by the #1 paddle in the left controller port. Turning the knob lets yu fine tune the power, and you hit the button once to start the movement, a second time to release the discus.

 

Anyway, I used a pair of paddles in Port 1 to select events, and a Pro Line Joystick in Port 2 to actually make the dude run. The control I found so far is almost identical to The Activision Decathlon...slowly wiggle the stick to run (more like Biathlon in the 7800 Winter Games) and hit the button to jump. I honestly think it's one of the few games like Star Raiders that uses totally different types of controllers in each port.

 

Anyone else mess around much with this prototype?

Edited December 17, 2006 by shadow460

[Rom Hunter]

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/sweat/sweat.htm

 

[shadow460]

Atariprotos gave me a good idea as to what to expect before I loaded up the game. However, I thought the events would be less playable than they actually were. I kinda wonder if more has been discovered since Tempest wrote that page, or if maybe I'd stumbled blindly onto something.

 

He says the right joystick button causes the player to hop. That's true. I found out that if you wiggle the joystick slowly, the athlete will run instead. It's not the same as Decathlon where you shake it for dear life...that didn't do anything when I tried it.

I could play the 100M, the 400M, and the hurdles, and once they were over, pressing Reset brought me back to the starting line, and pressing Select brought me back to the menu, where I could select a different event with the paddle controller.

 

Then, too I was a little surprised that the paddles worked in the discus.

 

I saw a Starpath game list with 13 games in a magazine when I was very young. Sword and Survival Island were listed as "coming soon" and I think they had screenshots. I wish I could remember if 13 was indeed Sweat, and what the name of that magazine was.

If I had to guess, I'd say it was Enter magazine from CCW.

Edited December 17, 2006 by shadow460

[Crazy Climber]

The box on Atariprotos looks cool. Anyone know if that was an actual idea, or maybe one exsists?

[Tempest]

Atariprotos gave me a good idea as to what to expect before I loaded up the game. However, I thought the events would be less playable than they actually were. I kinda wonder if more has been discovered since Tempest wrote that page, or if maybe I'd stumbled blindly onto something.

 

He says the right joystick button causes the player to hop. That's true. I found out that if you wiggle the joystick slowly, the athlete will run instead. It's not the same as Decathlon where you shake it for dear life...that didn't do anything when I tried it.

I could play the 100M, the 400M, and the hurdles, and once they were over, pressing Reset brought me back to the starting line, and pressing Select brought me back to the menu, where I could select a different event with the paddle controller.

 

Then, too I was a little surprised that the paddles worked in the discus.

 

I saw a Starpath game list with 13 games in a magazine when I was very young. Sword and Survival Island were listed as "coming soon" and I think they had screenshots. I wish I could remember if 13 was indeed Sweat, and what the name of that magazine was.

If I had to guess, I'd say it was Enter magazine from CCW.

 

Actually yes I do need to update that page. At the time I really didn't get a chance to play around with the various controllers but since then I've been told that it is indeed far more playable than I thought. Feel free to pass along any new information.

 

I don't know much about that box. It's the one that came with Stella Gets a New Brain, and I assumed it was a mockup of what the real box would have looked like.

 

Tempest

[shadow460]

That's pretty much it, really. Paddles go in the left port and a joystick in the right. Other than what I've posted, everything was exactly how your site listed it.

I think maybe some events were to be on a second load, though. Just the way the discus is a "separate" prototype leads me to believe Sweat was a multiloader.

I expect it would let everyone play through the first load, then display the "Press Play" message, then let everyone play the next load, etc, until the entire decathlon was done. A final score might have been displayed in its own load much like Escape From The MindMaster did.

 

I have not messed with the difficulty or TV Type switches at all.

 

The again, the box doesn't have the Multi Load logo, so I might be wrong.

 

Still, though, without AtariProtos, I'd have no idea the game even existed.

Edited December 21, 2006 by shadow460

[mos6507]

The box on Atariprotos looks cool. Anyone know if that was an actual idea, or maybe one exsists?

 

The Sweat artwork was created by Dan Skelton for the Stella Gets a New Brain CD. He also created artwork for Polo, Wizard, Survival Island (created with Bryce 3D), and Sword of Saros (which reused the knight from other Starpath materials).

[Tempest]

The box on Atariprotos looks cool. Anyone know if that was an actual idea, or maybe one exsists?

 

The Sweat artwork was created by Dan Skelton for the Stella Gets a New Brain CD. He also created artwork for Polo, Wizard, Survival Island (created with Bryce 3D), and Sword of Saros (which reused the knight from other Starpath materials).

 

Ahh so it's not prototype artwork. I guess I'll take it down then, least someone think it's the real thing. Sure fooled me....

 

I never thought that the game might use BOTH types of controls. The reason I didn't see the joystick do anything is that I was wiggling it like you do for Decathlon (which as you pointed out doesn't do anything). So how does the paddle work with the discus? I was able to do that event with joystick alone.

 

 

Tempest

[shadow460]

In the discus, you turn the paddle knob to fine tune the adjustment meter. Hit the button to start the animation, then hit it again before the animation completes to release the discus. It reminds me of driving the ball in Mean 18, except that you watch the animation instead of a meter.

I saw five steps of animation, but you need to release the discus on or before the fourth one. If you release it on the last, the throw will be really weak.

[Tempest]

Ok I went backed and checked on a real 2600, and somehow I thought it used a joystick in port one instead of a paddle. I think this is because I was using an emulator at the time and it auto picked the proper controller as a joystick in port one does nothing. I went back and tweaked my page with new info.

 

I still only see 4 motions in the discus. Maybe I'm missing it?

 

Tempest

[mos6507]

The box on Atariprotos looks cool. Anyone know if that was an actual idea, or maybe one exsists?

 

The Sweat artwork was created by Dan Skelton for the Stella Gets a New Brain CD. He also created artwork for Polo, Wizard, Survival Island (created with Bryce 3D), and Sword of Saros (which reused the knight from other Starpath materials).

 

Ahh so it's not prototype artwork. I guess I'll take it down then, least someone think it's the real th

 

Depends on how you want to view it. Sweat was released on those CDs legally via our licensing agreement with Bridgestone. It's a different animal from things like Snow White, Elevator Action, or the cart version of Polo. So depending on your point of view you could think of the artwork as "official".

[Tempest]

The box on Atariprotos looks cool. Anyone know if that was an actual idea, or maybe one exsists?

 

The Sweat artwork was created by Dan Skelton for the Stella Gets a New Brain CD. He also created artwork for Polo, Wizard, Survival Island (created with Bryce 3D), and Sword of Saros (which reused the knight from other Starpath materials).

 

Ahh so it's not prototype artwork. I guess I'll take it down then, least someone think it's the real th

 

Depends on how you want to view it. Sweat was released on those CDs legally via our licensing agreement with Bridgestone. It's a different animal from things like Snow White, Elevator Action, or the cart version of Polo. So depending on your point of view you could think of the artwork as "official".

 

Well I meant it's not the original artwork that Starpath was going to use for the game back in 1983.

 

Tempest

[shadow460]

The last motion was kinda quick on the discus, and it didn't show up every time. It might have been something Scott was planning to remove, but never got around to doing so.

[Rom Hunter]

What about this artwork:

 

Is it genuine?

 

I mean from the eighties?

 

[Godzilla]

Id guess no, since my original sword of saros that I got back in the day didn't have that art.