1169 replies to this topic

[Rom Hunter]

In fact, I'm very interested in the bugged versions that were officially released back then:

Air Battle
(original production run): The Difficulty switches were programmed as A for easy and B for hard (opposite for how they were intended to be used). This was reversed in a new production run. The original cartridges were never supposed to be released. Fearing that some might have been accidentally shipped to stores, though, Mattel Electronics operators were informed of the first version just in case somebody got one and called up, confused. It's unknown if any of the original cartridges were released:
http://www.atarimani...ERSION_ID=19390

Astroblast
(Original version only) - If two joysticks are plugged in and both moved at the same time during the game, unexpected things can happen (the same effect will happen if you use either controller). UP+DOWN+RIGHT = “blast off” slow (picture #1); UP+DOWN+LEFT+RIGHT = “blast off” fast; DOWN+LEFT+RIGHT = “land/burrow” slow (picture #2); UP+LEFT+RIGHT = “land/burrow” fast; one joystick LEFT and the other RIGHT = turn invisible. Repeating this lowers your score. If your ship is not visible (from using any of these tricks) and a rock falls on where your ship actually is, the screen turns red and the base counter will constantly cycle from 99 down to zero (picture #3). The only way to get out of it is to RESET. Later production runs removed these bugs/tricks.

Bridge
The original version allows you to bid 8 spades, and crashes when you do; later releases fixed this.

BurgerTime
2 versions exist! Later production runs added a choice of difficulty levels using the TV Type switch (B/W = easy, COLOR = hard) and fixed this bug: cheese and eggs are tall enough that they can sometimes catch the chef when walking on the plank below him.

Ghostbusters (PAL)
The PAL version will crash if you try to enter the headquarters building when it’s flashing. A fixed version was later re-released by HES.

Millipede
The 1987 re-release has some incompatibility problems with the original 6-switch model and certain 7800 systems – the game will hang up when you completed the bonus stage after level 3.

Skeet Shoot
The original PAL releases had a bug that caused the screen to roll.

Edited by Rom Hunter, Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:21 PM.

[Omegamatrix]

Rom Hunter, on Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:19 AM, said:

Air Battle
(original production run): The Difficulty switches were programmed as A for easy and B for hard (opposite for how they were intended to be used). This was reversed in a new production run. The original cartridges were never supposed to be released. Fearing that some might have been accidentally shipped to stores, though, Mattel Electronics operators were informed of the first version just in case somebody got one and called up, confused. It's unknown if any of the original cartridges were released:
http://www.atarimani...ERSION_ID=19390

Makes sense why my white labels had the same rom. Crazy Climber had one of these Air Battle carts at one time. Who he sold it to I don't know. I'm going to see if I can find one of these Bridges. I've known about the bug for a while (actually from looking on Atarimania), but have sadly never even owned a single Bridge cart.

[Rom Hunter]

If anyone owns one of the bugged versions on post #101 , please let me know!

It would be great to have these dumped.

Edited by Rom Hunter, Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:53 AM.

[Hornpipe2]

Rom Hunter, on Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:52 AM, said:

If anyone owns one of the bugged versions on post #101 , please let me know!

It would be great to have these dumped.

My understanding is the two versions of Astroblast! have already been dumped...

[Rom Hunter]

This is possible.

But which version is the fixed one?

[Hornpipe2]

Well, as I posted earlier (I know because I tried to reproduce the bug in both versions) -

Hornpipe2, on Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:04 AM, said:

Astroblast (Paddle) (1982) (M Network, Hal Finney) (MT5666) [a].bin is an older buggy version of Astroblast and Astroblast (Paddle) (1982) (M Network, Hal Finney) (MT5666).bin is the 'fixed' one.

[Rom Hunter]

I'm sorry.

Must be Alzheimer.

Thanks.

Five ROMs left:

Bridge
The original version allows you to bid 8 spades, and crashes when you do; later releases fixed this.

BurgerTime
2 versions exist! Later production runs added a choice of difficulty levels using the TV Type switch (B/W = easy, COLOR = hard) and fixed this bug: cheese and eggs are tall enough that they can sometimes catch the chef when walking on the plank below him.

Ghostbusters (PAL)
The PAL version will crash if you try to enter the headquarters building when it’s flashing. A fixed version was later re-released by HES.

Millipede
The 1987 re-release has some incompatibility problems with the original 6-switch model and certain 7800 systems – the game will hang up when you completed the bonus stage after level 3.

Skeet Shoot
The original PAL releases had a bug that caused the screen to roll.


I own two different PAL Ghostbusters ROMs, but both versions don't seem to have the bug.

Edited by Rom Hunter, Thu Feb 7, 2008 12:05 PM.

[Omegamatrix]

Hornpipe2, thanks for clearing up Astroblast. We'll narrow this list down one by one.


~Omega

[Omegamatrix]

I had a hunch and bought both major label variations of bridge, as well as an '87 Millipede.



According to Clonespy:

16384  Millipede (1984) (Atari, Jerome Domurat, Andrew Fuchs, Dave Staugas, Robert Vieira) (CX26118).bin  14.01.2008  22:53
16384  Millipede (1987) Omega Dump.BIN																	07.02.2008  16:03

 4096  Bridge (2600 Screen Search Console) (Jone Yuan Telephonic Enterprise Co).bin					   14.01.2008  22:53
 4096  Bridge (purple TV screen black border label) Omega Dump.BIN										07.02.2008  16:25

 4096  Bridge (1980) (Activision, Larry Kaplan) (AX-006).bin											  14.01.2008  22:53
 4096  Bridge (white tv screen no border label) Omega Dump.BIN											07.02.2008  16:29

HOM3 says the difference in the Bridge roms is in two bytes so not much difference, but definitely a difference!

file 1: Bridge (purple TV screen black border label) Omega Dump.BIN
file 2: Bridge (white tv screen no border label) Omega Dump.BIN

08C1	07	06
0EFF	FE	FF

Alright the Millipede is not one bit different. I think this rumor of a different rom might have stemmed from a compatibilty issue with a particular 7800 or Heavy sixer. Remember Millipede uses the superchip. I honestly don't think Atari would be fixing old roms at that point (that late year) but chip modifications could still be going on. I would say if anything it could be a issue with the cart, but I don't want to crack it open as it is my only Millipede (I am ashamed to say, but it is true!). Anyhow the rom is no different.

With Bridge I don't know which version is the fixed (presuming one is the fixed version). Logic suggests the older rom should be the bugged version, and the older label version will have the bugged rom. When we know which label version came first we should be able to tell which one is the bugged version and which one is the fixed version. I'll leave that up to someone else. As a side note I do like it when I see both versions have been dumped before as it helps me reaffirm mine are good dumps. The Mexican multigame unit uses one of these versions of Bridge. Since Cpuwiz's dump and my dump both match 100% yet were done independently, it reaffirms that both are good dumps. See what I mean?

@ Rom what happened to Air Battle on your list? Also please go back to post #84 and look at the comparisons I made. I dumped UFI und sein gefahrlicher Einsatz, and found some 100% matches to roms you already have. The Plant Patrol I have is actually Tac-Scan (PAL), and again you already have the rom as it is of course a 100% match to your rom set. Anyhow have a look.


With Ghostbusters there is something in the works already, I'm just waiting for some good news.

[Omegamatrix]

I doubled posted by accident. Please delete. :)

Edited by Omegamatrix, Thu Feb 7, 2008 8:20 PM.

[Rom Hunter]

Thanks for helping me out, Omega.

I'm 99% certain that your left Bridge cart is the first (bugged) version.

I looked at your pirate dumps, but I'm not sure I want to add these dupes to my collection.

Forgot to add Air Battle to the list.

Will remove Millipede from the list.


Air Battle
(original production run): The Difficulty switches were programmed as A for easy and B for hard (opposite for how they were intended to be used). This was reversed in a new production run. The original cartridges were never supposed to be released. Fearing that some might have been accidentally shipped to stores, though, Mattel Electronics operators were informed of the first version just in case somebody got one and called up, confused. It's unknown if any of the original cartridges were released:
http://www.atarimani...ERSION_ID=19390

Bridge
The original version allows you to bid 8 spades, and crashes when you do; later releases fixed this.

BurgerTime
2 versions exist! Later production runs added a choice of difficulty levels using the TV Type switch (B/W = easy, COLOR = hard) and fixed this bug: cheese and eggs are tall enough that they can sometimes catch the chef when walking on the plank below him.

Ghostbusters (PAL)
The PAL version will crash if you try to enter the headquarters building when it’s flashing. A fixed version was later re-released by HES.

Skeet Shoot
The original PAL releases had a bug that caused the screen to roll.

Edited by Rom Hunter, Fri Feb 8, 2008 6:37 PM.

[Rom Hunter]

Got an alternate Air Raiders ROM.

Can this one be checked for the Air Battle specs above?

 Air_Raiders__Air_Battle___1982___M_Network__Larry_Zwick___INTV___MT5861___a_.bin   4K   73 downloads

Edited by Rom Hunter, Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:54 AM.

[Omegamatrix]

This is what is different between the two Air Raiders roms:

file 1: Air Raiders (Air Battle) (1982) (M Network, Larry Zwick - INTV) (MT5861).bin
file 2: Air_Raiders__Air_Battle___1982___M_Network__Larry_Zwick___INTV___MT5861___a_.bin

0286	A5	A9
0287	DB	99
028A	E5	EA
028B	E1	EA

I don't have time to play it. The manual says that when the left difficulty switch is set to "A" position then it's much harder to get away from enemy shelling. There is no visible clue so you'll have to play this one for a bit, Rom.

[Rom Hunter]

I don't see any differences.

Thomas or Nukey,

Any idea?

[Omegamatrix]

This week we have another update of ultra rare PAL carts this time courtesy of Dino. Dino, the Atari world owes you big for these.


.jpg]


 Dinos_Roms.zip   32.3K   89 downloads


And now some comparisions first the 100% matches:

4k  Dino's Dump - Mission Survive (PAL) Video Gems (314 scanlines).bin
4k  Rom's Collection V2 - Mission Survive (1983) (Video Gems) (VG-04) (PAL).bin

4k  Dino's Dump - Condor Attack (PAL) Ultravision V-Case (312 scanlines - 315 scanlines with reset or select held).bin
4k  Rom's Collection V2 - Condor Attack (Action Hi-Tech - Hi-Score) (PAL).bin
4k  Dino's Dump - Space War (PAL) Funvision V-Case (312 scanlines - 315 scanlines with reset or select held - aka Condor Attack).bin

4k  Dino's Dump - Space Marshal (PAL) Taiwan - Spectravision case (312 scanlines - aka Planet Patrol).bin
4k  Rom's Collection V2 - Planet Patrol - Planeten Patrouilie (1982) (Spectravision, Spectravideo - Quelle) (SA-202 - 412.851 8) (PAL).bin

4k  Dino's Dump - Circle 176 (NTSC) Chinese V-Case (262 scanlines - aka Super Challenge Baseball).bin
4k  Rom's Collection V2 - Super Challenge Baseball (2600 Screen Search Console) (Jone Yuan Telephonic Enterprise Co).bin

No surprise that the Condor Attack rom is identical, but it is really good to have that confirmed. What is really interesting is the Circle 176 cart matches the rom off the 2600 Screen Search Console. For those who remember this is the console the unknown Datatech game was found on. A few posts above I also matched one of the 2600 Screen Search Console roms with Bridge. This gives a possibilty that M-Network released an alternate (maybe fixed) rom for Super Challenge Baseball. Both the Circle 176 cart and the 2600 Screen Search Console dumped and used this alternate rom. They could also have pirated off each other, or be related. I think it is more likely they pirated the same M-Network or INTV cart.

I am almost certain that Circle 176 cart is related to Funvision. See more here. Actually I think the circle 176 cart pictured is the cart Dino has. Dino is it double labeled by any chance?



Anyhow PAL Karate with Funvision logo on screen... Huge! Been waiting for that one forever!!
PAL adult games... these things are so frickin' rare it's amazing some ever got dumped. Unfortunately Jungle Fever seems to be dead on the double ender. Dino is trying to revive it, but we all know how these Playaround double enders were notorious for having one side not work. Beat 'em and Eat 'em has an odd number of scanlines but appears colored on Dino's PAL TV. In the second round (yes there is more coming down the barrel like Zoo Fun, and some you don't know about) we'll try dumping it again with an alternate method. I think it is a good rom though as it was tested, and it only doesn't make sense in the fact that odd number of scanlines should produce B&W on a PAL TV. If someone else wants to test it in the meantime on their PAL TV with a Krok please feel free.
EDIT March 15/08: The odd scanline count only appears in Z26. Stella shows an even number of 300 scanlines. This rom has also now been tested by people in their Kroks on PAL TV's and it came up in color so it is all good.

Dino, I love seeing rare pirates like Space Marshal having their rom confirmed too.



The icing on the cake though is Dino's PAL Dumbo prototype. It only has two bytes difference, but what a two bytes! You see I wasn't even sure that the rom out there was meant to be PAL. It had 286 scanlines and jumped to 307 when reset is held. It was all over the place and kind of a mess that way.

Dino's rom is a perfect 312 scanlines all the time. It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Dumbo was meant to be PAL. This is the most complete Dumbo rom ever found. Amazing find, Dino!!

Edited by Omegamatrix, Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:24 PM.

[Omegamatrix]

I forgot to say what brand new never seen before roms were dumped.

Karate (PAL) Funvision
Beat 'em and Eat 'em (PAL) Mystique
Burning Desire (PAL) Mystique
Knight on the Town (PAL) Playaround
Dumbo (PAL Prototype, most complete version) Atari

[Rom Hunter]

Excellent.

Added.

Many thanks!

[Hornpipe2]

Sorry to dredge this up from last month, but...
Lord of the Rings, The - Journey to Rivendell (The Lord of the Rings I) (1983) (Parker Brothers, Mark Lesser) (PB5950) (Prototype).bin is the (slightly more complete) LOTR prototype
Lord of the Rings, The - Journey to Rivendell (The Lord of the Rings I) (1983) (Parker Brothers, Mark Lesser) (PB5950) (Prototype) [a].bin is older, has a worse sounding ending and (most notably) reversed difficulty switches.

Recommend a rename of [a] to (difficulty reversed). Atariprotos for more info: http://www.atariprot...e/lotr/lotr.htm

[Rom Hunter]

Already done for the V3 collection.

Thanks though.

[Omegamatrix]

These roms in the V2 matched conversions done by Thomas Jentzsch but are not listed as such.

Quote

16k Star Wars - Return of the Jedi - Ewok Adventure (Revenge of the Jedi - Game I) (1983) (Parker Brothers, Larry Gelberg, Gary Goltz) (PB5065) (Prototype) (PAL) (16K).bin
16k EO Conversions\Star Wars - Ewok Adventure (F6 Conversion, PAL) Thomas Jentzsch.bin

16k Star Wars - Return of the Jedi - Ewok Adventure (Revenge of the Jedi - Game I) (1983) (Parker Brothers, Larry Gelberg, Gary Goltz) (PB5065) (Prototype) (16K).bin
16k EO Conversions\Star Wars - Ewok Adventure (F6 Conversion) Thomas Jentzsch.bin

UFI und Sein Gefährlicher Einsatz is still listed as a missing rom (frowning face). I dumped and compared it in this thread a few posts back.

Then there are these strange smilies here? (scroll to bottom)

[Rom Hunter]

Fixed.

About Star Wars - Ewok Adventure:

Exactly what did Thomas convert (other than they are 16K)?

[Hornpipe2]

Question: What is different between the two Othello dumps? They are only 82.30% similar according to Clonespy.

EDIT: Colors (1980) (Atari) (Prototype).bin is PAL but not marked appropriately. 312 scanlines. http://www.atariprot...lors/colors.htm

Edited by Hornpipe2, Thu Apr 17, 2008 2:36 PM.

[Rom Hunter]

Colors format corrected for the V3 collection.

Thanks for the correction.

Exactly which two Othello dumps do you mean?

[Hornpipe2]

Rom Hunter, on Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:43 PM, said:

Colors format corrected for the V3 collection.

Thanks for the correction.

Exactly which two Othello dumps do you mean?

Othello (1981) (Atari, Ed Logg, Carol Shaw - Sears) (CX2639 - 49-75162).bin and
Othello (1981) (Atari, Ed Logg, Carol Shaw - Sears) (CX2639 - 49-75162) [a].bin

EDIT: Immediately I see that [a] has extra markers on the board and the base version doesn't.

Edited by Hornpipe2, Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:13 PM.

[Rom Hunter]

Yep, that's correct:
http://atarimania.co...VERSION_ID=8211