[Dutchman2000]

While I was going through another batch of Atari stuff I received, I found some videotapes. Imagine my surprise when I saw this Zookeeper footage on one of them. The graphics for the game were done by Courtney Granner and were very well done. So it appears that I found the sounds for this game first and now the Character Animations. I guess I'm getting closer to finding the game!

Here is a link to YouTube if you want to see the footage yourself.

Atari 2600 Zookeeper Animation

Here's a direct link to a higher-quality version hosted on AtariAge (20MB):

http://atariage.com/...keeper_0001.wmv

[Rom Hunter]

Great.

Are those really VCS graphics?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Rom Hunter, on Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:11 PM, said:

Are those really VCS graphics?

Hard to tell with Youtube's low quality. Currently you even seem to see some kind of shading, which is defintely impossible.

Animated screenshots would be better.

[Rom Hunter]

The girl sprite at the end of the movie looks very detailed.

[Dutchman2000]

Thomas Jentzsch, on Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:29 AM, said:

Rom Hunter, on Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:11 PM, said:

Are those really VCS graphics?

Hard to tell with Youtube's low quality. Currently you even seem to see some kind of shading, which is defintely impossible.

Animated screenshots would be better.

This video was taken directly from the original videotape. I apologize for the quality but youtube is what it is. I do have a better quality version that I will ask Albert to host so that should help. The video was recorded off of an Atari 800 using the ANIMAT program the animators at Atari used at that time. They would then export the source code and give it to the programmer. I talked to Courtney Granner about this footage and he confirmed that it was genuine and how it was created. He no longer has any of his disks so screenshots will not be possible.

[Albert]

Dutchman2000, on Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:40 AM, said:

This video was taken directly from the original videotape. I apologize for the quality but youtube is what it is. I do have a better quality version that I will ask Albert to host so that should help. The video was recorded off of an Atari 800 using the ANIMAT program the animators at Atari used at that time. They would then export the source code and give it to the programmer. I talked to Courtney Granner about this footage and he confirmed that it was genuine and how it was created. He no longer has any of his disks so screenshots will not be possible.

I'd be glad to host it.

..Al

[Tempest]

Those are some amazing graphics. It's hard to believe that they never released this game. Too bad there's no footage of the playfield.

Tempest

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Tempest, on Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:22 PM, said:

Too bad there's no footage of the playfield.

Yet!?

[Allan]

Very cool. Was that the only thing that was on the tape?

Allan

[Dutchman2000]

Allan, on Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:34 AM, said:

Very cool. Was that the only thing that was on the tape?

Allan

Actually no, but it was the only interesting thing. The rest of the animations were from released games.

[mos6507]

Dutchman2000, on Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:47 AM, said:

Allan, on Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:34 AM, said:

Very cool. Was that the only thing that was on the tape?

Allan

Actually no, but it was the only interesting thing. The rest of the animations were from released games.

That might be kind of interesting to see also.

[Crazy Climber]

Zookeeper! Sweet! I hope you find it, I love the arcade game
Those graphics are very good, damn near NES quality
On a seperate note, has Zookeeper (the arcade version) ever been released for any handheld systems? I think that would be a fun one for the GBA or similar

[Wickeycolumbus]

Dutchman2000, on Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:04 AM, said:

While I was going through another batch of Atari stuff I received, I found some videotapes. Imagine my surprise when I saw this Zookeeper footage on one of them.

Keep looking, maybe you will find the actual proto!

[yuppicide]

Wow! Excellent find and great graphics. You can actually tell what all the animals are even.

[Jess Ragan]

Knowing what I know of the Atari 2600's method of drawing characters, I think it would be impossible for Zeke to stand sideways. The game would probably look like this to compensate for the system's limitations.

Attached image(s)

• 

[Tempest]

Jess Ragan, on Tue Jan 27, 2009 4:16 AM, said:

Knowing what I know of the Atari 2600's method of drawing characters, I think it would be impossible for Zeke to stand sideways.

Huh. Good point. I never thought of that.

Tempest

[Dutchman2000]

UPDATE:

Albert has graciously hosted the original file for you all to enjoy. So now you can see it in much better quality.
Zookeeper Character Animation Video

[Tempest]

Is it just me, or is there no animation for the monkey in there?

Tempest

[Dutchman2000]

Tempest, on Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:01 AM, said:

Is it just me, or is there no animation for the monkey in there?

Tempest

You are correct, no monkey animation. Maybe they were leaving that one out due to memory constraints?

[Propane13]

Thanks for sharing!

Any sprite masters want to try to re-create these?

I think with this info available, someone could probably replicate this demo in Batari Basic or assembly.

-John

[Allan]

You could just find an 8-bit animation program and do it in that. There are tons of them. Then you could have output the data.

Allan

[Albert]

And in case some of you missed it, here's the thread about the Zoo Keeper audio that was discovered back in 2005:

http://www.atariage....showtopic=65629

..Al

[Deteacher]

Jess Ragan, on Tue Jan 27, 2009 4:16 AM, said:

Knowing what I know of the Atari 2600's method of drawing characters, I think it would be impossible for Zeke to stand sideways. The game would probably look like this to compensate for the system's limitations.

Believe me, I know absolutely nothing about programming, so if this question seems like a stupid one, then I'll apologize now and save everyone the trouble. Having said that:

Why couldn't Zeke be drawn sideways? They managed to make Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man flip sideways on the 2600. Is it that it would just take up too much memory to do it? Again, sorry if it's a dumb question. Just curious.

BTW, I love the mockup image! Very cool!

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Deteacher, on Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:27 PM, said:

Jess Ragan, on Tue Jan 27, 2009 4:16 AM, said:

Knowing what I know of the Atari 2600's method of drawing characters, I think it would be impossible for Zeke to stand sideways. The game would probably look like this to compensate for the system's limitations.

Believe me, I know absolutely nothing about programming, so if this question seems like a stupid one, then I'll apologize now and save everyone the trouble. Having said that:

Why couldn't Zeke be drawn sideways?

I wondered myself here too.

[Jess Ragan]

Most characters in 2600 games are drawn in horizontal lines, with one color per line. Look carefully in that video... you'll notice that the colors are layered. If you turned the characters sideways, the horizontal layering no longer works, and the characters would look weird. Well, not the monocolored ones, but certainly Zeke.