330 replies to this topic

[Jess Ragan]

Quite impressive. I'm not sure how it's going to SOUND when it's finished (this is a 7800 we're talking about), but right now it looks and feels very much like the arcade version. The collision detection seems a little picky to me, however.

JR

[mojofltr]

I downloaded this when you first posted it, but I just now took the time to check it out.
WOW! Now I really have to get a 7800! Already, this is the best Frogger port I have ever played!

I'm using MESS (.87), so that very well may be the problem, but I have noticed that after some time the screen will go completely black and the frog turns yellow. The game contiunes, but I cannot see what happens until "splat" - I'm dead! I've had this happen 2 times so far; I was in a different spot each time and I can't think of anything that may have triggered it.

@Kepone:

Open MESSgui
Find Consoles>Atari 7800
In the right panel, click on the "Device View" tab
Click ".." and choose "MOUNT".
Now browse to the directory of your 7800 ROMs.
Double-click on the Frogger ROM.
Click the "Picker" tab. The Frogger ROM should now be mounted and listed.
Double-Click on Frogger and it should work provided your MESS configuration is correct and you have the 7800 Bios ROMs.

[Mayhem]

Jess Ragan, on Sun May 8, 2005 12:24 AM, said:

Quite impressive.  I'm not sure how it's going to SOUND when it's finished (this is a 7800 we're talking about), but right now it looks and feels very much like the arcade version.  The collision detection seems a little picky to me, however.

Yeah... the only things I would say at the moment I see are the collision detection being a little TOO close, and that compared to the arcade, the frog explodes on the square it was on, as opposed to where it actually went to (and where it got hit by something or missed a jump).

(unless my memory of the arcade is shite, but I believe I'm right here)

[Schmutzpuppe]

Jess Ragan, on Sat May 7, 2005 6:24 PM, said:

The collision detection seems a little picky to me, however.

Did you played the first or the second version I posted?
In the newer version the collision detection should be better.

mojofltr, on Sat May 7, 2005 7:35 PM, said:

I downloaded this when you first posted it, but I just now took the time to check it out.
  WOW!  Now I really have to get a 7800!  Already, this is the best Frogger port I have ever played! 

I'm using MESS (.87), so that very well may be the problem, but I have noticed that after some time the screen will go completely black and the frog turns yellow.  The game contiunes, but I cannot see what happens until "splat" - I'm dead!  I've had this happen 2 times so far;  I was in a different spot each time and I can't think of anything that may have triggered it.

Never had this problem but I use a newer version of MESS (most of the time I use Prosystem).
Maybe it's really an emulator issue maybe not.
Did anybody else had the same problem?

[Schmutzpuppe]

MayhemUK, on Sat May 7, 2005 9:02 PM, said:

.. and that compared to the arcade, the frog explodes on the square it was on, as opposed to where it actually went to (and where it got hit by something or missed a jump).
(unless my memory of the arcade is shite, but I believe I'm right here)

You are right in the current 7800 version the frog dies earlier.

[Mayhem]

Schmutzpuppe, on Sun May 8, 2005 11:13 PM, said:

Did you played the first or the second version I posted?
In the newer version the collision detection should be better.

It's better in the second version, though still a little tight. You can be slightly away from the edge of the turtles and be ruled to die. So I saw.

Apart from that, two thumbs up for what you've done so far

I'll have to try it on a real 7800 and compare, as in MESS, playing it as PAL gets the screen all skewed.

[Schmutzpuppe]

MayhemUK, on Sun May 8, 2005 5:28 PM, said:

Schmutzpuppe, on Sun May 8, 2005 11:13 PM, said:

Did you played the first or the second version I posted?
In the newer version the collision detection should be better.

It's better in the second version, though still a little tight. You can be slightly away from the edge of the turtles and be ruled to die. So I saw.

Apart from that, two thumbs up for what you've done so far

I'll have to try it on a real 7800 and compare, as in MESS, playing it as PAL gets the screen all skewed.

I will tweak the collision detection.
For me it looks good on my PAL setup beside the fact that the picture is a bit lift up.
I guess there are more NTSC users so I first want to make sure it runs on NTSC.
Later PAL adjustmend is comparatively easy.

btw. the colors are more PAL optimized (red instead of pink turtles )

Edited by Schmutzpuppe, Sun May 8, 2005 4:40 PM.

[Mayhem]

Schmutzpuppe, on Sun May 8, 2005 11:38 PM, said:

btw. the colors are more PAL optimized (red instead of pink turtles )

I did see that actually in MESS

[Cousin Vinnie]

Damn guys, keep the 7800 development up. These new games look simply amazing. Qbert, Frogger, and Burgertime are three games I never cared about until now. Please release in cartridge form!

Cousin Vinnie

[oldbloke]

how does one make a cart for the 7800? i would guess it is similar to making a 2600 one. is there a document or website about how to do this?

[birdie3]

Impressive indeed! I can't wait to see how this turns out. Keep up the excellent work.

[EricBall]

oldbloke, on Wed May 11, 2005 11:58 AM, said:

how does one make a cart for the 7800? i would guess it is similar to making a 2600 one. is there a document or website about how to do this?

Currently the only option is to cannibalize a common 7800 32K cartridge, swapping the ROM with an EPROM with an inverter between A15 and ~OE.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if Joe Grand of Pixels Past and Albert have something on the drawing board. (Although a donor cart may still be required for the plastic housing.)

[PacManPlus]

Regarding making a 7800 cart, I've heard of that solution before, but does anyone have a picture of where the chip gets soldered and what points?

Thanks

[Mitch]

Here's a couple of really quick scans I made of mine. Sorry about the quality, hope it's good enough.

Mitch

Attached Thumbnails

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[PacManPlus]

Thanks Mitch!

Ok so it looks like there's only 3 points that have to be soldered - cool.

[Bruce Tomlin]

Ugh! I mean, geez, two of the pins are already in the right place if you flip the chip over! :-)

This also works for 2600 Pac-Man boards, shifted two pins over. The cut trace is right under where the two wires meet. I usually put a small bit of electrical tape under the pins, but I removed it for the scan.

(The extra wire is +5 to pin 1 so I can use the pair of Atmel 29C256's that I have.)

EDIT: I've been thinking a bit, and I just realized that I could probably bend down three more pins (the inputs) on the "ground side" of the chip for physical stability. And likewise, two on the other side. It might not be worth the effort, but I can do it. Potting it down with glue or epoxy is still probably a better idea.

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by Bruce Tomlin, Sat May 14, 2005 9:08 AM.

[Harry_Dodgson]

EricBall, on Fri May 13, 2005 11:59 AM, said:

oldbloke, on Wed May 11, 2005 11:58 AM, said:

how does one make a cart for the 7800? i would guess it is similar to making a 2600 one. is there a document or website about how to do this?

Currently the only option is to cannibalize a common 7800 32K cartridge, swapping the ROM with an EPROM with an inverter between A15 and ~OE.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if Joe Grand of Pixels Past and Albert have something on the drawing board. (Although a donor cart may still be required for the plastic housing.)

If you use a Hat Trick cartridge you don't have to add chips to the bottom. I have a schematic that I worked up in '00 for that cartridge if anyone is interested.

[Mitch]

Harry_Dodgson, on Mon May 16, 2005 7:25 AM, said:

EricBall, on Fri May 13, 2005 11:59 AM, said:

oldbloke, on Wed May 11, 2005 11:58 AM, said:

how does one make a cart for the 7800? i would guess it is similar to making a 2600 one. is there a document or website about how to do this?

Currently the only option is to cannibalize a common 7800 32K cartridge, swapping the ROM with an EPROM with an inverter between A15 and ~OE.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if Joe Grand of Pixels Past and Albert have something on the drawing board. (Although a donor cart may still be required for the plastic housing.)

If you use a Hat Trick cartridge you don't have to add chips to the bottom. I have a schematic that I worked up in '00 for that cartridge if anyone is interested.

Quite true, just change a couple of jumpers. I have one of those as well.

Mitch

[Bruce Tomlin]

Harry_Dodgson, on Mon May 16, 2005 9:25 AM, said:

If you use a Hat Trick cartridge you don't have to add chips to the bottom.  I have a schematic that I worked up in '00 for that cartridge if anyone is interested.

I want to save my Hat Trick carts for something that requires bank switching or RAM. I love that C100339 board.

[PacManPlus]

Mitch, on Sat May 14, 2005 12:59 AM, said:

Here's a couple of really quick scans I made of mine. Sorry about the quality, hope it's good enough.

Mitch

Hey Mitch - I finally have a board taken apart (Centipede)...

Am I looking at the picture wrong, or do the two bottom pins from the inverter go to the same trace?

TIA,
Bob

Edited by PacManPlus, Tue May 17, 2005 8:24 PM.

[Mitch]

PacManPlus, on Tue May 17, 2005 7:24 PM, said:

Mitch, on Sat May 14, 2005 12:59 AM, said:

Here's a couple of really quick scans I made of mine. Sorry about the quality, hope it's good enough.

Mitch

Hey Mitch - I finally have a board taken apart (Centipede)...

Am I looking at the picture wrong, or do the two bottom pins from the inverter go to the same trace?

TIA,
Bob

Sort of, both are for pin 22 (OE). Pin 1 of the inverter goes to the hole and pin 2 of the inverter goes to the bent up chip leg.

Mitch

[Shannon]

Cool.... Nice to see some well deserved developement go into the 7800.

[Schmutzpuppe]

I added TIA music from Cybergoth to the latest frogger build.
Let me know what you think.

Attached Files

•  frogger.zip   11.16K   271 downloads

[vdub_bobby]

Schmutzpuppe, on Tue May 24, 2005 2:09 PM, said:

I added TIA music from Cybergoth to the latest frogger build.
Let me know what you think.

Nice

2 levels are in ; collisions seem better too

Music is pretty good...for TIA. A lot of the harmonies are out of tune. Pokey, please?

Oh, and I'm running this in MESS (NTSC, , I can't get PAL MESS to work for some reason).

Edited by vdub_bobby, Tue May 24, 2005 4:12 PM.

[Brad2600]

I played this in MESS. It kicks ass! Keep it up matthias!