[jrok]

One thing I'd add is that if someone gets it touch with him, they might want to point him in the direction of an IDE-SATA adapter to mount his drive. They're not expensive or complicated, and I'm pretty sure I've even seen/used a firewire solution (sort of a "hotsync" cradle for the IDE that mounts it like a logical drive). He could always pull it over a network, obviously, but if he just has the loose drive or a lot of data to move a device might be easier.

This post has been edited by jrok: Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:46 PM

[RevEng]

So I'm glad to hear the news, and I trust updates will be posted to this thread. In the meantime...

If it is ever finished, how do you guys think MGD should end? Presently you fall into nothingness when you reach the final black zone.

Some thoughts...

• You land on a final basement floor, the game stops scrolling and plays some victory music. Game over.
  
• It never ends. The initial levels repeat, only faster.
  
• You grab a final prize at the "bottom" and a helipack. Then you start your ascent, with helipacks scattered around on your way up.
  
• The inky blackness is fine.

This post has been edited by RevEng: Tue Jul 28, 2009 5:22 AM

[sandmountainslim]

RevEng, on Tue Jul 28, 2009 5:21 AM, said:

So I'm glad to hear the news, and I trust updates will be posted to this thread. In the meantime...

If it is ever finished, how do you guys think MGD should end? Presently you fall into nothingness when you reach the final black zone.

Some thoughts...

• You land on a final basement floor, the game stops scrolling and plays some victory music. Game over.
  
• It never ends. The initial levels repeat, only faster.
  
• You grab a final prize at the "bottom" and a helipack. Then you start your ascent, with helipacks scattered around on your way up.
  
• The inky blackness is fine.

I LIKE the third option! That would be an amazing end to an amazing game.
I REALLY wanna see this one finished.
Wp

[Godzilla]

I'm a big fan of the infinite.

[e1will]

As best I can tell, the only two objects "missing" from the game which appear on the object table screen are the golden (flashing) pineapple and golden (flashing) mango. Or has anybody run across these two in the game as well?

--Will

[RevEng]

I've only seen the two glowing fruits, and recieved the 2 teleports as a result. I expect since Alex didn't finish the level design that those are teleports that are yet-to-be implemented.

Quote

The final game will have 9 zones. I'll leave it to you to work out what that's all about

9 zones = 9 levels of hell, in Dante's Divine Comedy. If I'm right, maybe I don't want to see the ending!

I racked up an 815 on the last posted version of MGD. Anybody got that beat?

[e1will]

RevEng, on Sun Aug 2, 2009 5:39 PM, said:

I racked up an 815 on the last posted version of MGD. Anybody got that beat?

I've got 1887 so far.

If you can get the mushroom early, pick up the next cherry, strawberry and pineapple, avoid the mango(es) and go through most of the game with mangoes passing by, grab the "right" mango that offers a helicopter, grab the helicopter, get another mushroom, pick up the cherry and strawberry (but not the pineapple), you can get to the black abyss with pineapples whizzing by.

Float down to about 1/5 the way up from the bottom and the points will really rack up. The black abyss (well, blue abyss if you have the mushroom) seems to give you points based on where you are vertically on the screen. At certain scanlines, it will actually deduct points!

Yes, I'm clearly addicted.

--Will

Attached thumbnail(s)

• 

[Nathan Strum]

Excellent score! I think my best is somewhere in the 1500s, using similar strategies to the ones you outlined.

[RevEng]

Wow, I am humbled... I didn't even realize you could have both the helicopter and the mushroom power at the same time!

Clearly I haven't played enough!

[RevEng]

Ok, I went back to school, and tonight I managed to score 1888. Anybody got that beat?

Truly an excellent game, and the deadly abyss is not a bad ending to the game either - you can try to cheat it, but eventually random effects will get you! (I'm thinking at that point the game has wrapped past the rom and is scrolling from ram.)

This post is also an excellent excuse to ask if anyone has heard from Alex, so I'm asking.

[StanJr]

I am dying for this game on a cart. Dying.

[e1will]

RevEng, on Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:52 PM, said:

Ok, I went back to school, and tonight I managed to score 1888. Anybody got that beat?

Truly an excellent game, and the deadly abyss is not a bad ending to the game either - you can try to cheat it, but eventually random effects will get you! (I'm thinking at that point the game has wrapped past the rom and is scrolling from ram.)

This post is also an excellent excuse to ask if anyone has heard from Alex, so I'm asking.

I was able to get 2055 a couple of months ago, but that's the only time I've ever broken 2000.

--Will

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[RevEng]

Nice score Will! I had a feeling breaking 2000 was possible, as my 1888 run wasn't even close to being a perfect game.

StanJr: I originally played MGD on stella, until it got popular with my family.

After that, putting it on an eprom cart was the only way I was going to get my laptop back.

But I would love to see a finished version on cart, even if there's just a final unbroken platform after the void and the game title music starts playing.

This post has been edited by RevEng: Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:12 AM

[Albert]

StanJr, on Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:25 PM, said:

I am dying for this game on a cart. Dying.

Patience. I am working on it.

..Al

[StanJr]

Albert, on Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:14 AM, said:

StanJr, on Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:25 PM, said:

I am dying for this game on a cart. Dying.

Patience. I am working on it.

..Al

YAY! Albert rules! (when I get MGD on a cart that is... )

[e1will]

Albert, on Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:14 AM, said:

Patience. I am working on it.

..Al

I like the sound of that! This is one of my favorite homebrews.

--Will

[Dino]

Albert, on Tue Oct 13, 2009 12:14 AM, said:

StanJr, on Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:25 PM, said:

I am dying for this game on a cart. Dying.

Patience. I am working on it.

..Al

Will this game be "finished" AL?

[RevEng]

I managed to join the over-2000 club with a score of 2381. Where do I send away for the patch?

I'd love to see a "finished" version of this game too, but only if the new version maintains the kind of planning you presently have to do to maximize your score through the void. The void and death platform may be unintentional, but they add serious depth to the game.

[e1will]

RevEng, on Sun Nov 15, 2009 7:55 PM, said:

I managed to join the over-2000 club with a score of 2381. Where do I send away for the patch?
ManWentDown.jpg

Well done!

[RevEng]

Thanks Will!

Anybody else get their vision messed up after ending a game of MGD? For a few seconds after dying I still "see" motion.

Unsurprisingly I get a similar effect in Guitar Hero.

[bizarrostormy]

This game is FANTASTIC. I don't think anybody else has posted this: it seems to me that the mushroom reverses the controls only when it is red.

I hope Alex is doing well.

[AtariLeaf]

So the game is being put into cart form but am I correct that the game itself is incomplete? How incomplete are we talking and what happened to the original author?

[RevEng]

Not all the game zone data is complete. As a consequence, the unofficial end to the game is a black platformless void where you fall to your death. You can cheat death for a while by grabbing a helipack or bubble first, in which case you can drift through the void and rack up some extra points. Eventually the game scrolls into ram (I think) and kills you no matter where you are.

As unintentional endings go, its actually a pretty good one. You need to make sure you grab a helipack or bubble before you make it to the void, and ideally you've also grabbed a mushroom along the way too, so you can maximize your points in the void. (Will had some excellent tips on this earlier)

Alex Herbert, the author, indicated some heath issues were delaying the game earlier in this thread, and then he completely stopped replying entirely. VectrexMad! says he contacted Alex on another matter, and Al seems to be hinting that he's been in touch with Alex as well.

@bizarrostormy: that's definitely how the mushroom works, though I'm not sure if its been posted or not. But I agree that the game is fantastic. Its actually my favourite 2600 one-player game.

This post has been edited by RevEng: Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:35 PM

[Nathan Strum]

Al is attempting to contact him. I'm sure if something happens with regard to the game, he'll let us know.

[RevEng]

Has anybody played this on a 7800?

I recently acquired a 7800, and the game seems to glitch badly in NTSC mode (seems like scanline count is variable and music plays fast in spurts) but works fine in PAL60 and PAL modes. Other 2600 carts play fine on this 7800, and the MGD eprom cart I'm using works just fine on my 4-switch woody.