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It's said that nobody ever takes suggestions from people, but it doesn't hurt to try, right? The Atari 2600 has very little puzzle games in its library. Apart from Klax, Marble Jumper and Strat-o-gems, there's only a few others. I've been thinking that Zoop would be an excellent candidate to be Atari 2600-ified, so to speak. For those of you who don't know what Zoop is, search for it on Wikipedia. And Zoop was stolen from another idea, so Zoop wasn't even original to begin with. Here's a couple mock screenshots I made, one showing the actual playfield, the other the options screen. For the options screen, I didn't have the Atari font, so I used a (hopefully) similar one.

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It's said that nobody ever takes suggestions from people, but it doesn't hurt to try, right? The Atari 2600 has very little puzzle games in its library. Apart from Klax, Marble Jumper and Strat-o-gems, there's only a few others.
Don't forget newcomer A-Star. :)

 

I've been thinking that Zoop would be an excellent candidate to be Atari 2600-ified, so to speak. For those of you who don't know what Zoop is, search for it on Wikipedia. And Zoop was stolen from another idea, so Zoop wasn't even original to begin with. Here's a couple mock screenshots I made, one showing the actual playfield, the other the options screen. For the options screen, I didn't have the Atari font, so I used a (hopefully) similar one.
After quickly playing a Java Applet version linked from the Wikipedia page, I see there can be five colors in a row of 12 cells. This is a large number for the Atari, but not impossible. Allowing a little flicker will make it easier.
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"Not only will you have to worry about 4 different directions of pieces, but you also have to contend with 4 columns from each direction for a total of 16 columns! With all this activity to keep track of the player will never feel as if he or she is control of the situation."

- from Gregory DG's link to the review of Zoop for Jaguar.

How about we make it 4 colors in a row of 9 cells. That way, it'd be easier to program and better to keep track of the playfield (if this idea actually starts to turn into a game.)

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There were three: Edtris (Ed Federmeyer), Tetris 2600 (Colin Hughes) and Cubis (Eckhard Stolberg).

 

They each have merits and weak points. I think that Cubis is probably the best of the bunch, but the music is insufferable, and you can't shut it off (and it requires a Supercharger). Tetris 2600 would be pretty good except the controls are horrible (pieces flip around uncontrollably) and there's no audio.

 

As for the legality of selling any of them (or any Tetris clone), I thought that this was a pretty interesting read. :ponder:

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I've been thinking that Zoop would be an excellent candidate to be Atari 2600-ified, so to speak.

 

It may be possible to do a zoop-style game, though the normal ZOOP screen layout would not work well. Rearranging things so that your ship is in the middle row and shoots up and down might improve things, though. If you did that, then a Strat-O-Gems-style kernel would allow up to six squares across on the top and bottom, or possible twelve if you use Venetian blinds (though in that case, the number of rows might be limited by memory constraints).

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Or you could just homebrew it for the O2... :D
Not without compomises. The colors won't be a problem if you don't mind selecting from 16 instead of 128, but the O2 can't have more than 9 objects on the grid either.

 

Actually it can't even do the grid :)

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Or you could just homebrew it for the O2... :D
Not without compomises. The colors won't be a problem if you don't mind selecting from 16 instead of 128, but the O2 can't have more than 9 objects on the grid either.

 

Actually it can't even do the grid :)

Instead of having an "outline" the rows and columns could alternate between playfield and background.

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Or you could just homebrew it for the O2... :D
Not without compomises. The colors won't be a problem if you don't mind selecting from 16 instead of 128, but the O2 can't have more than 9 objects on the grid either.

 

Actually it can't even do the grid :)

Instead of having an "outline" the rows and columns could alternate between playfield and background.

Can we talk about the Atari 2600 some more? :?

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The Atari 2600 has very little puzzle games in its library.

There are plenty of puzzle games in the 2600's library.

Apart from Klax, Marble Jumper and Strat-o-gems
Don't forget newcomer A-Star. :)
There's also Pick 'n Pile (available in the AA store) which is very good.
There were three: Edtris (Ed Federmeyer), Tetris 2600 (Colin Hughes) and Cubis (Eckhard Stolberg).
Acid Drop, Crazy Valet and Jammed, Checkers, Backgammon, Chess, Rubik's Cube (3D)...

And I'll add:

Othello

the forthcoming Fourplay

Knight Jumper (see 2006 Minigame Compo)

 

Sort-of action puzzlers include Qb and Okie Dokie and probably others.

 

Altogether, there are at least 20 puzzle games for the 2600.

 

I didn't have the Atari font, so I used a (hopefully) similar one.

There is no Atari 2600 font. The 2600 has no text or character "modes."

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How about a plus sign with a grid of 3x3, making only 45 squares. Could be at most 32 kilobytes. I'm just guessing the size based on Strat-o-gems. Marble Jumper had the same grid, I think.
If you limit the number of colors, or allow Venetian Blinds/flickering, it can most likely be done. BTW, The Marble Jumper grid is 33 squares. You are actually better describing the Marble Jumper 2 grid. ;)
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Or you could just homebrew it for the O2... :D
Not without compomises. The colors won't be a problem if you don't mind selecting from 16 instead of 128, but the O2 can't have more than 9 objects on the grid either.

 

Actually it can't even do the grid :)

 

Umm...ok. There are two possibilities:

 

1) You're just pokin' fun. Which will be your excuse when you reply to this post, because

 

2) is that you're unbelievably ignorant.

 

The O2 can show more than 9 objects and the grid is BUILT IN.

 

Now go run and post that Bob Harris quote Atariheads loove so much even if it is obviously wrong on the face of it.

:roll:

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Umm...ok. There are two possibilities:

 

1) You're just pokin' fun. Which will be your excuse when you reply to this post, because

 

2) is that you're unbelievably ignorant.

 

The O2 can show more than 9 objects and the grid is BUILT IN.

 

Now go run and post that Bob Harris quote Atariheads loove so much even if it is obviously wrong on the face of it.

:roll:

 

Actually it's much too hot here to waste time on a clueless fanboy. Still, if you can count up to 10, try booting up any of your O2 games and count the boxes of the grid they do.

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