86 replies to this topic

[Albert]

Atari created a great driving controller for the Atari 2600, but only released one game to take advantage of it: Indy 500. While Indy 500 is great fun to play, it has a limited number of tracks. Gustavo del Dago has taken it upon himself to develop a new version of Indy 500 titled Indy 500 XE. This new version features more tracks (the game has been increased in size from 2K to 4K), the tracks are double-resolution, allowing for more detailed and interesting levels, different car graphics for each player, and more game variations.

Additionally, Gustavo has created an easy-to-use Windows-based track editor that allows the easy creation of new tracks, loading and saving of tracks (so you can go back later to refine them), selection of background, playfield, and player colors, and the ability to generate a binary so you can immediately test your creations. AtariAge and Gustavo are sponsoring a contest on AtariAge to allow everyone a chance at creating tracks that might be included in a cartridge version of Indy 500 XE, scheduled to make its debut at PhillyClassic 5 in March.

You can learn more about the contest and how to enter here. Have fun and good luck!

Winners Announced! Look Here for More Information

[ApolloBoy]

Cool! I'm gonna start making my own tracks!

[jedijeff]

Al,

When I went to test a Crash n' Score track I made, it played as a Tag game, and when I saved it as a Tag game, it played like a Crash n' Score game. Has anyone else had this problem, or is my pc being annoying?

Jeff

[Albert]

jedijeff said:

Al,

When I went to test a Crash n' Score track I made, it played as a Tag game, and when I saved it as a Tag game, it played like a Crash n' Score game. Has anyone else had this problem, or is my pc being annoying?  

Could be a bug in the editor, I didn't try that with the last version (the editor went through several iterations). Will try that shortly and report back.

..Al

[mojofltr]

Is there any way to set where the starting line goes? I made about 20 tracks with an earlier version of the track editor. Unfortunately, some of them don't seem to be worthwhile, as no starting line shows up.

[jedijeff]

Maybe it's just me but even the regular race tracks seem awfully slippery.

[mojofltr]

I hadn't been trying the different game modes. Too fun! Here I made a 1-player AtariAge tag race. My best score on it so far is 16. :-)

[Random Terrain]

So, are we supposed to send in a "bin" or an "ind" file? If "bin," does it matter what game we save it as or how many players?

[gus]

You need to save your work in the ".ind" format this let us include the tracks in the game. But if your prefer to send both files i´ts fine too.
Gus
BTW ind format contains all the imformation about your tracks.

[gus]

The Editor know how to adjust the start line height, you just need to open your old tracks and make a new hacked rom image. This will adjust the start line height.
Gus

[Random Terrain]

gus said:

You need to save your work in the ".ind" format this let us include the tracks in the game. But if your prefer to send both files i´ts fine too.
Gus
BTW ind format contains all the imformation about your tracks.

Thanks. I'll just send the ".ind" files then.

[Albert]

Random Terrain said:

So, are we supposed to send in a "bin" or an "ind" file? If "bin," does it matter what game we save it as or how many players?

I neglected to specify this on the contest page, which I have now changed. The .IND files are more important, although I would like people to submit both the .IND and .BIN files in order to facilitate updates to the contest page a bit more easily.

Thanks!

..Al

[Random Terrain]

Albert said:

I neglected to specify this on the contest page, which I have now changed.  The .IND files are more important, although I would like people to submit both the .IND and .BIN files in order to facilitate updates to the contest page a bit more easily.

Oops, I already sent in my ".ind" file only.

I hardly ever participate in contests, but although that editor is buggy, it's kind of fun to mess with. I made a simple realistic-like oval track that I will use as my first submission. I don't know if I will do any more than this one, but at least I participated this time.

I guess I should ask: can we submit more than one e-mail or is it a one-time deal?

As someone else said, I hope more people make editors like this. It sure is fun.

[gus]

Hi, I´m happy that you like the editor too. You say that it´s buggy so I understand that you found some bug on it ?
Please let me know about it and I will fix it.
Thanks for your help
Gus

[Random Terrain]

gus said:

Hi, I´m happy that you like the editor too. You say that it´s buggy so I understand that you found some bug on it ?  
Please let me know about it and I will fix it.
Thanks for your help
Gus

Every once in a while, the cars get a white background or the whole thing turns kind of white and then you can't select colors and things, but you can still save. Loading another track doesn't help either, so I have to close the program then run it again and everything is back to normal. I don't know what causes it, but it has happened many times now. Sorry I can't help more with the cause.

[Windows 98, 64MB of RAM, 233MHz]

[jedijeff]

Gus,

The only problem I am having with the editor is that when I use the option menu to change the game type and then save it, a tag game plays as a crash and score game and a crash n' score game plays as a tag game. Also, when a file is loaded, the options are not updated. For example if I save a 2 player race and then load a 1 player ice race, the options will still be on race and 2 player.

Otherwise it's a pretty cool editor.

Jeff

[gus]

Hi, I fix a bug in the editor that caused some problems with the Game Variations or Number of Players. Thanks to Jeff that tell me about the problem.
So please download this new version.
Thanks and good luck in the contest
Gus

Attached Files

•  trackeditor.zip   26.24K   162 downloads

[Albert]

Random Terrain said:

I guess I should ask: can we submit more than one e-mail or is it a one-time deal?

You can submit more than one email (and track).

..Al

[Random Terrain]

Albert said:

Random Terrain said:

I guess I should ask: can we submit more than one e-mail or is it a one-time deal?

You can submit more than one email (and track).

..Al

Thanks. This program is fun, so I might submit at least one more track.

[gus]

Hi, there is the explanation about laps counter.
There are 2 sensors. The first is what you see like the start line. The second isn´t visible to the players, but exist for the game. So you must pass over the two sensors in order to complete a lap. In the image you can see both sensors in diferent colors. So in your tracks you must ensure that the car can pass over the two sensors.
I hope that this help in your desings
Have fun and Good luck with your entries.
Gus

Attached Thumbnails

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[jedijeff]

Gus,

I made several tracks where the player's car doesn't pass over the second sensor line but the lap counter seems to work fine. Do you think that will cause any problems?

Once some of the entries are posted on the submissions page it would be very helpful to get some feedback from you and Al.

Jeff

Btw: I just sent Al the 18 tracks I made.

[Random Terrain]

Does anyone know when there will be something to look at on the Indy 500 XE Contest Submissions page? I'd like to see some submissions so I can feel bad about the poor quality of my own. So far, I've made two crappy tracks, but I don't think I'll make any more until I see some other tracks to compare with.

[jedijeff]

Indy 500 XE and Combat Redux make we wish there were 7800 versions being made. Better graphics, more tracks/mazes, maybe even a pokey chip for better sound effects and music, even AI for single player games. I can dream.

Jeff

[Albert]

Random Terrain said:

Does anyone know when there will be something to look at on the Indy 500 XE Contest Submissions page? I'd like to see some submissions so I can feel bad about the poor quality of my own. So far, I've made two crappy tracks, but I don't think I'll make any more until I see some other tracks to compare with.

We will start posting entries soon.

..Al

[Random Terrain]

Albert said:

We will start posting entries soon.  

Thanks. I forgot that you guys also have to prepare for the PhillyClassic. I don't see how you have time to do it all.