22 replies to this topic

[kevin242]

A while back we are told that the 99% complete 8bit Sinistar prototype
was discovered. So what happened? When do you we get to try this
thing out?

Does anyone have any details?

[MrFish]

kevin242, on Wed Dec 7, 2005 10:50 PM, said:

A while back we are told that the 99% complete 8bit Sinistar prototype
was discovered.  So what happened?  When do you we get to try this
thing out?

Does anyone have any details?

Go look on the "Prototype" forum. All the details are there.

[kevin242]

I mean details as to when it will be released so we can play it.

[maibock]

I played it at this last Philly Clas.. err I mean VGXPO and it kicked some butt - The sounds were dead on

[Tempest]

AFAIK we are still waiting for permission from the programmer. He wanted to make sure we had the final version. Ken should be able to shed more light on this.

Tempest

[birdie3]

C'mon... Some of us are really jonesing for this game!!!

[Artlover]

Tempest, on Thu Dec 8, 2005 12:54 PM, said:

He wanted to make sure we had the final version.

I've always disliked attitudes like this. I think pretty much no one cares if it's final or not except him.

Sure, a complete version would be nice, but why exactly can't we have what exists in the meantime? Wouldn't stop him from finishing it. Besides, he's the one that stopped working on it and forgot about it years ago, so why is it suddenly so important to him that it be complete first now?

We the users were the only people that continued to care, and actively spend time up to the present searching under every rock in the world trying to find it. We're the ones that it's ultimately for, so why not give us what we want. By all means, finish it, but let us have the alpha now. Something to play with to repay us for our years of loyalty to the project and years of effort trying to locate it.

Besides, I'm sure many of the programmers here probably could have finished it themselves by now. Or, help him finish it.

To that end, exactly how long does it take? It's a 20 year old 8bit computer. Games arn't that big or complicated. Most of the time, back in the days, it only ever took a few months from start to finish. Been longer then that since we last heard he was going to try and finish it. Granted, I'm sure he has more important things to do, which is even more reason to just release what exists now.

My personal opinion is: Either release it, finish it, or destroy it. But don't just sit on it and tease everyone as that only serves to hurt the people that even actually care about it.

[doctorclu]

Remember Castle Crisis?

I had been jonesing for a Warlords game for the Atari 800 and it finally arrived.

They released the copy of the rom image that you could load from the Atari iteself, or emulation. That was ok. That got me fairly hooked, and later I liked it so much I had to get the cartridge.

I guarentee you that if a executable was released of Sinistar to help wet the appetite of people that when the cartridge is released that people will clamor to buy the cartridge just as much if not more than if the rom image had not been released.

My thoughts on it.

"Beware! We Hunger!"

[Tempest]

Artlover, on Thu Dec 8, 2005 1:47 PM, said:

Tempest, on Thu Dec 8, 2005 12:54 PM, said:

He wanted to make sure we had the final version.

I think pretty much no one cares if it's final or not except him.

That is true, but since he was kind enough to provide us with the game we must abide by his wishes. Without him, we would never have found it. He just wants the best version of the game out there.

Tempest

[kevin242]

I hope it's not gonna take another 20 years to get Sinistar out to the masses!!!

[birdie3]

As an enthusiast - I think that it may be a better idea next time for the "finder of long lost prototypes" to not say a word about discoveries like this until they are fully prepared to release it to the public.

[doctorclu]

birdie3, on Thu Dec 8, 2005 10:39 PM, said:

As an enthusiast - I think that it may be a better idea next time for the "finder of long lost prototypes" to not say a word about discoveries like this until they are fully prepared to release it to the public.

Now now... don't be bitter and be patient. He obviously wants to do this right.

One, he probably wanted to gage how many cartridges should be made (can you say "Battlesphere?") and two, he probably wanted make sure he had a good project on his hands that people will not complain about later. Or as good a product as possible.

These are lessons I've learned from watched the Atari Jaguar community.

[Allan]

doctorclu, on Fri Dec 9, 2005 12:01 PM, said:

birdie3, on Thu Dec 8, 2005 10:39 PM, said:

As an enthusiast - I think that it may be a better idea next time for the "finder of long lost prototypes" to not say a word about discoveries like this until they are fully prepared to release it to the public.

Now now... don't be bitter and be patient. He obviously wants to do this right.

One, he probably wanted to gage how many cartridges should be made (can you say "Battlesphere?") and two, he probably wanted make sure he had a good project on his hands that people will not complain about later. Or as good a product as possible.

These are lessons I've learned from watched the Atari Jaguar community.

Cartridges? I thought they were just releasing the binary.

Allan

[birdie3]

No no. I am not bitter. I have MAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's not my point. It's really cool that this guy is even willing to share at all. I am not bitter. My point is that I/most of us here have seen a few developers talk about stuff on here and then it never appears or we wait for years.

It works both ways - this type of thing also generates alot of hype too.

I should have worded my thoughts differently. Apologies..

[Goochman]

Thanks for sharing the news of its existence - hope to see a new in the near future,

[Dutchman2000]

Yes, I think I can shed some more light on this.

The original programmer is NOT against a release. He just wants to wait to make sure that the best playable version is released. It is an unfinished game and he does care about the quality of it. I just need to go through all the different versions and all the source-code printouts and determine which version plays the best. The version that was shown at VGX was the last build, but it may not be the best. The programmer does have some other items as well, so I do not want to jeopardize anything by not following his wishes. He does not have to share the game with us, so be thankful that he did want us to see and play his version of Sinistar. I promise that once we agree on the best version, it will be released.

BTW, according to the development file, Sinistar was only intended for the Atari Computers. There were NO plans to release a 5200 version.

[MrFish]

Dutchman2000, on Fri Dec 9, 2005 3:10 PM, said:

Yes, I think I can shed some more light on this. 

The original programmer is NOT against a release.  He just wants to wait to make sure that the best playable version is released.  It is an unfinished game and he does care about the quality of it.  I just need to go through all the different versions and all the source-code printouts and determine which version plays the best.  The version that was shown at VGX was the last build, but it may not be the best.  The programmer does have some other items as well, so I do not want to jeopardize anything by not following his wishes.  He does not have to share the game with us, so be thankful that he did want us to see and play his version of Sinistar.  I promise that once we agree on the best version, it will be released. 

BTW, according to the development file, Sinistar was only intended for the Atari Computers.  There were NO plans to release a 5200 version.

Your work on this is appreciated. Sounds like you're handling things in a very respectful and appropriate manner (especially considering there may be more to come). I think people are just getting anxious, as we've all heard a lot of good things about this proto. Is it getting to the point where a time-frame could be estimated?

[Allan]

Dutchman2000, on Fri Dec 9, 2005 4:10 PM, said:

Yes, I think I can shed some more light on this. 

The original programmer is NOT against a release.  He just wants to wait to make sure that the best playable version is released.  It is an unfinished game and he does care about the quality of it.  I just need to go through all the different versions and all the source-code printouts and determine which version plays the best.  The version that was shown at VGX was the last build, but it may not be the best.  The programmer does have some other items as well, so I do not want to jeopardize anything by not following his wishes.  He does not have to share the game with us, so be thankful that he did want us to see and play his version of Sinistar.  I promise that once we agree on the best version, it will be released. 

BTW, according to the development file, Sinistar was only intended for the Atari Computers.  There were NO plans to release a 5200 version.

We're fully behind you Dutchman. Keep up the great work.

About Sinistar not being planned for the 5200, Curt posted a 3 page doc a while ago about 2600/5200/8-bit releases and it says 5200 Sinistar was to be released. It says 2 weeks to complete.

Allan

[Dutchman2000]

Allan-

Yes, that document was made by the Tramiels, and way after the original programmer was laid-off by Atari. According to the original development documents, it was never planned for a 5200 release. That's the main reason why it requires 48k of memory. If there was going to be a 5200 version, he would have done it. He did tell me he would have loved to get the bonus payments for such a version!

[www.atarimania.com]

Dutchman2000, on Fri Dec 9, 2005 9:10 PM, said:

The programmer does have some other items as well, so I do not want to jeopardize anything by not following his wishes.

Without revealing too much, does that mean the programmer has some other lost games?

--
Atari Frog
http://www.atarimania.com

[Allan]

Dutchman2000, on Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:11 AM, said:

Allan-

Yes, that document was made by the Tramiels, and way after the original programmer was laid-off by Atari.  According to the original development documents, it was never planned for a 5200 release.  That's the main reason why it requires 48k of memory.  If there was going to be a 5200 version, he would have done it.  He did tell me he would have loved to get the bonus payments for such a version!

That's odd since the document says it was for the 5200 and only had 2 weeks to be finished. I wonder why someone would list it under 5200 games soon to be finished when it was supposable never even started for the 5200 and was to big to even be converted from the 8-bit.

Could another version have been done?

Allan

[Gunstar]

Allan, on Sat Dec 10, 2005 6:42 PM, said:

Dutchman2000, on Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:11 AM, said:

Allan-

Yes, that document was made by the Tramiels, and way after the original programmer was laid-off by Atari.  According to the original development documents, it was never planned for a 5200 release.  That's the main reason why it requires 48k of memory.  If there was going to be a 5200 version, he would have done it.  He did tell me he would have loved to get the bonus payments for such a version!

That's odd since the document says it was for the 5200 and only had 2 weeks to be finished. I wonder why someone would list it under 5200 games soon to be finished when it was supposable never even started for the 5200 and was to big to even be converted from the 8-bit.

Could another version have been done?

Allan

That's possible I would think. The fact is that two entirely different parties could have licensed the rights to do ports. Does it say in that list who was to be the publisher? Maybe the 5200 version was third-party software and the 8-bit version was in-house. Did the 8-bit Sinistar programmer work for Atari in-house or was he frrelance or working for another developer/publisher himself? I'm assuming and Atari project.

[Dutchman2000]

He worked for Atari in the Home Computer Division. Later he was made a part of the Games division. He had another project that was greenlighted that he would've started after Sinistar. It was a game involvling Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.....