+johnnywc Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hello all, After some constructive feedback regarding the difficulty of Conquest of Mars, I have made a few changes that will hopefully make this game more enjoyable to play. Here are the list of changes: - delay between shots has been reduced so you can fire quicker - fuel consumption is slower - visual cues have been added to the laser gates level to show you where the 3 laser gates appear If you decide to download and test, your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! TIP: You can skip to any level/stage by pressing and holding SELECT on the title screen and then pressing the button. I plan on making this a PRACTICE mode that will be selectable from the title screen instead of a cheat/easter egg. com_rev2_NTSC.bin com_rev2_PAL60.bin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Nice game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NML32 Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) I just played it for the first time and I really like it. Is this version avalible from the AA store now? Edited January 24, 2009 by NML32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I just played it for the first time and I really like it. Is this version avalible from the AA store now? Not just yet, it needs to go through testing to make sure there are no problems with it before we start churning out carts based on this revision. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanw Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I haven't played this game before just now but two things were apparent immediately: Extremely addicting and hard as hell! Perfect combo in my book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrok Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) I'm not going to comment on the changes too much, since I loved the original so much. I'll assume that the 'nerfing' elements do work well for critics who want their blankies, but thankfully none of the intense goodness of this game have been lost in translation. This is a GREAT, HARD game, in the tradition of great coin-gobblers like Defender and DK, but without the one-armed bandit aspect of having to feed a quarter in every forty-five seconds. I love the polish and professionalism of this game. As far as I can tell, it is one of the most unsung homebrews in terms of relative greatness. It really harkens back to the days when individual virtuosos, not giant corporate hives, ruled the gaming world. BTW I think this new version is begging for a HSC '09 competition, just to see what everyone can do with the nerfed gates. My trigger finger is ready. Edited January 25, 2009 by jrok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impaler_26 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) I just played revision 2 a bit... The visual cues in the laser gates level really help, it's still challenging to get through them but now i'm sure i can do it if i practice long enough. So this change already get's a big from me! I'll play it some more and report back tomorrow... Edited January 25, 2009 by Impaler_26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmountainslim Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Since I already own the cart I am not gonna play the newest version Don't wanna risk liking the new version better than the one I own. Wp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 That's a really awesome game for the Atari 2600. Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdub_bobby Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) - visual cues have been added to the laser gates level to show you where the 3 laser gates appear Played this very briefly in emulation and this seems much better - those levels, before, seemed to be essentially memorization tests. Now, memorization will help, of course, but quick reflexes and a steady hand could get you through. IMO, a fair game should be beatable the first time through - of course, it should be hard enough that virtually no-one can do this - the point is that deaths should be fair to the player; he should never feel like there was no way to prevent his death. I felt like the old version went too far towards unfair. All that to say: thumbsup: to the new version; I'll likely buy this one. Edited January 25, 2009 by vdub_bobby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Hi John Great work,like all your games.... greetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Not just yet, it needs to go through testing to make sure there are no problems with it before we start churning out carts based on this revision. What's the ROM size? 16K? Would it be practical to make a 32K ROM that combined old and new versions, and allow an 'upgrade' option for owners of the original (so then owners of the original that didn't upgrade could sell their "rare collector's edition" carts for 5x the price )? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 What's the ROM size? 16K? Would it be practical to make a 32K ROM that combined old and new versions, and allow an 'upgrade' option for owners of the original (so then owners of the original that didn't upgrade could sell their "rare collector's edition" carts for 5x the price )? Yes, it's a 16K ROM presently. Not sure I really want to offer both versions on the same cart, though--we'd need some means of switching between them, which ideally would be a menu and I'm not sure there's room for that. Plus the manual would have to be substantially updated. We'll have to see what the final version of "Revision 2" ends up looking like. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Is one of the difficulty switches or the colour/b&w used? If not, could have that to switch between versions on boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Is one of the difficulty switches or the colour/b&w used? If not, could have that to switch between versions on boot. Unfortunately the Color/BW switch is used to pause the game and the A/B switches enable/disable the missiles from the enemy cannons. The versions are virtually identical (except for the small gameplay tweaks and the cavern cues) so having both versions on one cart wouldn't be worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I tried this newest version last night. It's still very very hard. I would probably not do well with the original. *hugs blankie* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I tried this newest version last night. It's still very very hard. I would probably not do well with the original. The original is actually easier. The rockets wave in particular is a LOT easier, since they don't come as fast, and you can shoot more quickly. It would be interesting to see a version of CoM that borrows some of the ideas from Caverns of Mars' sequel, Phobos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Unfortunately the Color/BW switch is used to pause the game and the A/B switches enable/disable the missiles from the enemy cannons. The versions are virtually identical (except for the small gameplay tweaks and the cavern cues) so having both versions on one cart wouldn't be worth it. Whatever happened to having game variations with the select switch? Not enough RAM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdub_bobby Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Game variations are cool, but the scale of the changes he's making sounds more like a 1.01 revision (or, to keep with tradition: COM+) than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NML32 Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Any updates to the revision? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 The reviews are in! The Video Game Critic has graciously taken the time to re-review Conquest of Mars with the updated laser gates: http://videogamecritic.com/2600cc.htm#Conquest_of_Mars Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Congrats! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 The reviews are in! The Video Game Critic has graciously taken the time to re-review Conquest of Mars with the updated laser gates: http://videogamecritic.com/2600cc.htm#Conquest_of_Mars Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions! Wow how time flies. I play tested the hell out of the first non-SARA version back when folks didn't even know this was coming down the pipe. Now if there was only a hockey game of the same quality for the 2600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 The reviews are in! The Video Game Critic has graciously taken the time to re-review Conquest of Mars with the updated laser gates: http://videogamecritic.com/2600cc.htm#Conquest_of_Mars Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions! Finally! Nice to see the game get some redemption. Now that that's out of the way… any plans to get back into programming? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NML32 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 It's been a while and I forgot about the game. Just ordered a cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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