Combat Gets Playfield Redesign Competition

Thanks to AtariAge for its competition in which entrants can design playfields for a remake of Combat for the Atari 2600. The competition info points out: "Ask anyone what games they played on their Atari 2600 when they were younger, and invariably Combat will be included among the titles listed... The original version of Combat supports many game variations, but few unique playfields." Therefore, retro programmer Zach Matley "...has created a new [unofficial] version of Combat, dubbed Combat Redux, that allows for 28 unique playfields.", and winners of the competition will get their maps included an Atari 2600 cartridge version of the remake.

Comments

This could kill Al

[Kris_J]

There are already over 100 entries (I've sent something like 11) and since the only way to get a screenshot is to power each one up in an emulator the guys running the compo were already in a lot of trouble before it was posted on Slashdot.

That said, I recommend that everyone give it a go. The (Windows only?) editor makes it trivially easy to design a playfield. I did a couple based on some well known Game of Life patterns, I'm sure some /.ers can come up with something even geekier.

included game?

[fireduck]

Ask anyone what games they played on their Atari 2600 when they were younger, and invariably Combat will be included among the titles listed...

this couldn't be due to the fact that combat was actually included with the 2600, could it? those were the days, when consoles actually came with a game included. and an adequate number of controllers so you could actually play against someone without having to buy anything else...

combat and video olympics, my first 2 atari games. video olypmics ruled. it was pong x 10. tennis? sure looks like pong. soccer? ok, it's like pong, but with a bunch of blocking guys, staggered, that all move in synch. volleyball? 2 blockers at the back moving in synch, otherwise just like pong.

Re:included game?

[*weasel]

combat was still pretty kick-ass though.

how long do you think 'till they remake river-raid, stampede, or adventure?

hopefully they leave the kool-aid man game out of it...

Re:included game?

[scrytch]

Anyone but me not buy an Atari, but a Sears Tele-Games, which was the 2600 renamed, with a good number of the Atari brand cartridges also renamed?

I can't recall what all the renames were, but Combat was "Tanks Plus". Air-Sea Battle was something else too, I can't recall. Video Olympics was definitely something else.

Super Breakout, Demon Attack, and Yars Revenge, hands down the best games ever created for the 2600, pure rhythmic video hypnosis. Ahh nostalgia. Best to leave it there -- if I played it today I'd probably think "boy these games suck", retroactively ruining the mystique.

Re:included game?

[secolactico]

with a good number of the Atari brand cartridges also renamed?

I remember buying a game that turned out to be River Raid with the named changed into "Operacao AM-X". The instruction/storyline were in portuguese printed on the cartridge (no individual manual required). Other than that, it was just plain River Raid.

Re:included game?

[Saige]

You were not the only one. I remember having a Sears Telegames unit also, but ours was purchased due to the fact that our original Atari VCS (wasn't called the 2600 at the time) unit - and I mean original, all six switches on the front, matte black sticker instead of gloss - had issues and had stopped working all that well, mainly due to a bad power switch IIRC.

I also remember one game available through Sears that I don't think was released by anyone else. At least, I never saw it anywhere else. "Stellar Track", which was just a version of the old, traditional strategy Star Trek-like game where you warped around sectors and quadrants to destroy X ships in Y days and all that fun stuff.

Silly memory

[bjb]

I remember back in my college days when I used to have an enormous stereo setup in my house. This thing was a pair of giant Klipsch speakers with 18" woofers, 8" ? midrange horns and dual piezo super tweeters. Basically, loud as heck.

My roomates and I plugged an Atari 2600 into the TV and ran the audio out into the stereo and cranked this thing up with Space Invaders and Combat.

Man, the earthquake that ensued from the fat rumbling bass produced by these games on the 2600 certainly pissed off many a house mate and neighbor.

Maybe now with new playfields, its time to construct something like that again. Unfortunately, college was a long time ago, and now I have to be respective of my neighbors :-(

OK, silly story over.

I'd like an updated PS2 version

[kabocox]

It is neat from the retro point of view. I'd much rather have an "updated" PS2 Version and I don't mean that is looks just like the classic game. I'm talking about a choice of 20-30 tanks, planes, cars, boats or what not, thousands of maps, and randomly generated maps. I'd also want some updated music, sound effects, and pretty textures to look at for hours on end. Oh remember to make the entire playing field just the screen that is very important. I think their is a huge market for "retro-ish" photorealistic 2D games.

I just thought hey, you'd just end up with a "modern" version of Bomberman.

Re:I'd like an updated PS2 version

[drakaan]

How about a 3D version that uses the shapes of the original maps and vehicles, but adds a third degree of motion (tanks can shoot over walls, jets and biplanes can fly up and down, 3-D split-screen visuals, etc). Oh, and keep the "can't shoot until your last shot hits something" part.

Re:I'd like an updated PS2 version

[Zangief]

Impossible. The game you are asking for is not a FPS, Racing, or Sport game, so it is economically inviable.

Re:I'd like an updated PS2 version

[kabocox]

Actually I really hate 3D. In Real Life, people do well with it, but hey, 2D is easier! Why should we have things that are more complicated just because we can? Actually, the shooting part I wouldn't mind, but the actually 3D moment I'm not fond of other than "jumping" and maybe "ducking." My reasons for hating 3D are mainly point of view and rotating field of vision. That 2D map is great. Make it 3D and you won't be able to see something. I want simple, fast, and lots of it. This should be something that you could pick up hand have fun playing in for 30 sec. and not have to worry about visually that huge virtual universe and where in the plot line you are at the moment. Simple games people will play and love. Complicated games people will play but they have to be better and they take up much more time. FFX2 takes several hours a day playing it. I'd like something I could setup so that I could have fun during a 5 min. break, but wouldn't worry about anything after it is over type of game. Puzzle games take too much time. They are good and make you think, but while you think you lose track of time and suddenly you've just being playing sol. at work for an hour. I want something that I can set to let me play for 3 min. play it and at the 3 min mark it saves and shuts down and I wouldn't have the urge to restart it.

Re:I'd like an updated PS2 version

[HTH NE1]

As long as it includes the ability to plug in paddles instead of a joystick and make your tank drive faster, albeit always turning.

I still have my Atari 2600's original paddles, but never had a game designed to use them, so they're still practically unused.

Re:I'd like an updated PS2 version

[Saige]

Wow, I'd love to have that set of paddles! I went out and purchased an old 2600 and a number of games, though getting Warlords and the two sets of paddles for four-player action was my goal. I never did manage to find a second set of paddles, though, as it seems they're in rather short supply. So I've never been able to get the four-player Warlords action going on.

Re:I'd like an updated PS2 version

[drakaan]

google found them pretty quickly for me... here

Re:2600 nostalgia

[drakaan]

The thing is, it *didn't* royally suck...compared to everything else. Of course, the fact that it had no competition (well, aside vrom the Vectrex that I lusted after to play Battlezone on) made that an easy win. The apple II, C-64, etc. didn't come out until a couple of years after the 2600. Demon attack (Activision, I believe) was a pretty decent 2600 game.

Pac-man with random mazes

[John Harrison]

This is interesting to me in that I am writing a version of PacMan with random mazes. The challenge is to make the mazes have attributes similar to PacMan but randomly generated so you never play the same game twice. I have a demo up at the webpage in my sig. I have actually made more progress (no dead ends, better ghost AI), but haven't posted those yet. Note that the ghost can't kill you.

Re:2600 nostalgia

[digitalgiblet]

You Intellivision owning bastard! Or was it Collecovision? ;-)

We had Atari, but I lusted after Intellivision and Colleco. (Coleco?). My cousin had both. They had far better graphics, but we had a greater quantity of games (most of which were crap).

My favorite 2600 game was Adventure. Several months ago there was an article on /. about some dude who re-created Adventure in shockwave. I was SHOCKED to find that I still remember the mazes and could navigate them with no hesitation. Damn. I can't remember 3 things I learned in high school, but I guess those mazes are with me forever...