77 replies to this topic

[Albert]

The War Continues...

After the successful elimination of the terrorists and their missile silo complexes, we have heard through various sources that they have relocated, and have doubled their security! Once again you must invade enemy territory and prevent the missile launching aimed at Washington D.C. and stop the terrorists once and for all!

Make your way through five different terrains in search of the Depot where you will pick up Fail-Safe clues. One letter in the code, in it's correct position, appears in the center of your fuel gauge. The sixth terrain is the most dangerous of all - the missile silo is heavily guarded by all enemies, including a mine field! If you make your way past that, you will have to enter the four-digit hexadecimal code to stop the launch and save the world. Do that, and you will start over in a more difficult environment. Otherwise...

FailSafe is a new Atari 7800 homebrew game by Bob DeCrescenzo (aka, PacManPlus), who has a stellar track record in releasing a variety of high-quality arcade ports under his belt. FailSafe is an unofficial sequel to Atari's original game Countermeasure for the Atari 5200. AtariAge and Bob DeCrescenzo are sponsoring a contest to create original artwork for FailSafe. This label artwork will appear on all copies of FailSafe, which will be made available for purchase in cartridge form after the contest has run its course. This artwork will also be featured on the cover of the manual created for FailSafe.

Click here to learn more about the contest!

Contest ends February 7, 2010 at 11:59pm EST!

[Cyber-Independent]

I've just sent in my first submission for this contest! It's been a while since I participated in one of these, fingers crossed!

[thegamezmaster]

Not an artist but definately want this game. Can't wait.

[HatNJ]

All of Bob's games are High quality and fun will 100000% get one when available

[LarcenTyler]

This looks like a great game. Makes me wish I'd been able to play the original Countermeasure game.

(For those who have played the original, I'm guessing the bit about 'Court martial and dishonorable discharge' was just there as a way of explaining what would happen to your pilot if you shot a silo? Or do you actually get a game over?)

[PacManPlus]

You actually get 500 points for shooting a silo. In the original, the alternative objective is to destroy all of the missile silos. You can either shoot them all or try and stop the launch.

In mine, you actually can't shoot either the Missile silos or the depots. So it's slightly different, as the whole premise of the game is that there is only one heavily guarded missile silo that your shots can't reach, so you must try and enter the code that will cancel the launch.

BTW, thanks for the compliments, guys!

[fsuinnc]

As I understand it, the label contest ends tomorrow but I can't seem to find any submissions posted. Granted, I'm not all that clever wheb searching the message board but am I missing something?

[Albert]

fsuinnc, on Sat Jan 30, 2010 12:22 PM, said:

As I understand it, the label contest ends tomorrow but I can't seem to find any submissions posted. Granted, I'm not all that clever wheb searching the message board but am I missing something?

Sadly, I've only had three contest submissions sent in so far. Not sure if it's just the time of year, if people aren't as interested in creating labels for 7800 games, or people are just busy. So I'm going to put the submissions I received thus far up on the contest page and likely extend the contest another week.

..Al

[Albert]

I just received more entries from another participant. I'll try getting them up on the contest page tonight.. Maybe that will provide some inspiration.

..Al

[LarcenTyler]

I don't have the skills to do a good label.

Also, what I meant was in the Atari 5200 version, the manual said that shooting a silo after the launch timer had run out was grounds for a dishonorable discharge and court martial. Does anything actually happen if you shoot a silo when the timer runs out?

[holgibo]

Albert, on Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:46 PM, said:

I just received more entries from another participant. I'll try getting them up on the contest page tonight.. Maybe that will provide some inspiration.

..Al

It's a good idea to extend the contest another week. Until now I had not the time to do a good label for this game, but next week I'll send my submission.

..Holger

[Albert]

holgibo, on Sun Jan 31, 2010 12:54 PM, said:

It's a good idea to extend the contest another week. Until now I had not the time to do a good label for this game, but next week I'll send my submission.

I didn't get the labels up last night as I had hoped, but I'll be working on them in a few minutes and will also extend the contest a week (I've done this before).

..Al

[Albert]

I've just posted nine FailSafe Label Contest Entries, submitted by:

- Nonner242
- Jay McCallum
- the.golden.ax
- Terry Wilson

You may view the entries here:

FailSafe Label Contest Submissions

I have extended the contest another week until February 7th at 11:59pm EST. If you've already submitted a label, now you have time to submit another! If you haven't created a label yet, hopefully the above entries will provide some inspiration. I look forward to seeing more entries n the coming week!!

..Al

[GroovyBee]

We have some talented artists on AA.

[PacManPlus]

GroovyBee is right - we do have some very talented artists here.

BTW, (I hope this is ok) - I may ask the winner if he/she can move the title down slightly (if it's at the very top) so I can fit the "Atari 7800 Game Program" at the top like my other labels shown above.

LarcenTyler, on Sat Jan 30, 2010 10:47 PM, said:

Also, what I meant was in the Atari 5200 version, the manual said that shooting a silo after the launch timer had run out was grounds for a dishonorable discharge and court martial. Does anything actually happen if you shoot a silo when the timer runs out?

Ok, I get it now. You actually can't shoot the silos. There only is one in this game, and the terrorists have built defenses around it so your shots never actually connect with the silo. The only way to stop the launch is by guessing the launch code.

Thanks!
Bob

[LarcenTyler]

So it was kind of a joke put in the manual by Atari for the 5200 version? I see...

At any rate, I'll try to save up some money for the cartridge version definitely!

[PacManPlus]

Sorry - I meant that you can't shoot the Silos in FailSafe, in Countermeasure you can (and get 500 points for it).

...and thanks!

[holgibo]

Wow! There are some really good entries! My favorite by now is Jay McCallum's 1st entry.

[Albert]

I've received another 10 or so entries I will be posting later today.

Keep 'em coming!!

..Al

[jahfish]

PacManPlus, on Sun Jan 31, 2010 3:24 PM, said:

BTW, (I hope this is ok) - I may ask the winner if he/she can move the title down slightly (if it's at the very top) so I can fit the "Atari 7800 Game Program" at the top like my other labels shown above.

does anyone have the "Atari 7800 Game Program" as an illustrator/freehand file or EPS?

oh, does that sound as if i am participating? well, yes i am

[Allan]

jahfish, on Mon Feb 1, 2010 11:27 AM, said:

PacManPlus, on Sun Jan 31, 2010 3:24 PM, said:

BTW, (I hope this is ok) - I may ask the winner if he/she can move the title down slightly (if it's at the very top) so I can fit the "Atari 7800 Game Program" at the top like my other labels shown above.

does anyone have the "Atari 7800 Game Program" as an illustrator/freehand file or EPS?

oh, does that sound as if i am participating? well, yes i am

Wouldn't it me easier to just add the text with the right font?

Allan

[jahfish]

Allan, on Mon Feb 1, 2010 12:58 PM, said:

jahfish, on Mon Feb 1, 2010 11:27 AM, said:

PacManPlus, on Sun Jan 31, 2010 3:24 PM, said:

BTW, (I hope this is ok) - I may ask the winner if he/she can move the title down slightly (if it's at the very top) so I can fit the "Atari 7800 Game Program" at the top like my other labels shown above.

does anyone have the "Atari 7800 Game Program" as an illustrator/freehand file or EPS?

oh, does that sound as if i am participating? well, yes i am

Wouldn't it me easier to just add the text with the right font?

Allan

if you know the exact font, the exact sizes and the exact kerning then yes ...

[Albert]

I've just put up another 10 labels, submitted by Hernán Callo and Tom Kerese. Also updated the.golden.ax's entry, as I accidentally put the wrong one up yesterday.

You may view all the submitted entries here:

FailSafe Label Contest Submissions

Enjoy!

..Al

[jahfish]

since the 7800 part for the top is supposed to be the same everywhere, isn't there a way to upload/offer an AI-file or a photoshop file with the 7800 typo as one layer in the right size?

al, don't you have an old file from the previous games where that layer could be extracted?

[Albert]

jahfish, on Tue Feb 2, 2010 7:07 AM, said:

since the 7800 part for the top is supposed to be the same everywhere, isn't there a way to upload/offer an AI-file or a photoshop file with the 7800 typo as one layer in the right size?

al, don't you have an old file from the previous games where that layer could be extracted?

As long as your source artwork is layered, that doesn't have to be perfect for the contest entry--we'll change it if we need to so it's more accurate. The most important thing is the actual artwork/design of the label. I personally do not have the "Atari 7800" logotype that I can supply you with, but someone else may.

..Al