Author Topic: ... maybe one day we can reach the Lair of the Dragon also on our VCS ?  (Read 6052 times)

MacDLSA

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Hi there, DLF people.

Sorry, Bruno... I'm here since the 2006 but I know I don't post anything interesting since long time :'( :'( .
Well, hope you'll forgive me if I'm now writing a "little request" here, which is not properly "little"...

I come straight to the point, without much "boggles"... [ see the picture below ]



So, is there any daring european programmer (Assembler) around here who would bring himself to face the challenge?
I already heard some americans (since, way back, the 2009...) from AtariAge but no one seems to like the idea...
Simply, it seems to me that there isn't a person who could be actually both a huge fan of the game and good assembler programmer to "port it" to the AtariVCS/2600 :shock: !
[ Yeah, I'm a huuuuuuge fan of both AtariVCS and Dragon's Lair... but I haven't any kind of assembler programming abilities  ;D :-\ ! ]
 
As I said some time (years) ago, through the Daphne Team (in which I am inside since years...), I had a conversation with A.Foster (thanks to Teo, who made me know him !), chief of LLC Partners (the holders of the Copyrights of the game) that gave me "carte blanche", recommending me in any case to send him any kind of "demo".
I've already shown him some drawings, sprites, map and a gameplay hint, but he said to do not absolutely disclose nothing "sensible" before I find someone who can realize the game! Yeah ... it's needless to say that the game in question is a "goose that lays golden eggs" and that any attempt to use the name and characters is under control anywhere on the net (they already "stopped" several rights violations... in one way or another they come to know almost everything...).
 
And... nothing, I repeat here the point discussed on AtariAge: absolutely excluding an FMV (due to the very restricted capability of the console), it remains that it would be a great platformer, very similar to Pitfall II, or at least it was my (our) basic idea since the beginning !

I (better say "we", since Mr.Foster knows the question) considered the idea to "port it down" from the various Coleco/C=64 version... and also the others, allow me to say, INFAMOUS releases for NES, SNES and GameBoy...
No, seriously... WHY we've to further outrage a game that deserves much more than this ?
 
I designed maps, sprites and I think we have all the necessary "ingredient" for a good layout for the game, then, if it has to be a "deep hack of Pitfall 2" or a completely re-written game, well... we could even decide it.
I repeat, I say Pitfall II because in the way it was conceived and planned by the great Mr.Crane it already responds almost fully perfect to the gameplay for a Dragon's Lair platformer, obviously with game situations and appropriately modified and adapted characteristics...

So, please take a look at those maps that I made (very) long ago:

This is the complete map of Pitfall II for the C=64 (VCS version only differs in graphics, the layout is the same).


This is a "mixed" map of Pitfall II and Dragon's Lair


... and this one is VCS' Dragon's Lair full map (but without sprites like characters, weapons, enemies, holes, secondary walls and the correct path to the Lair... it's just to show you ;) ).
[ the map is based on a mockup I made years ago : I "took" it from the map of the original SEGA coin-operated "Pitfall II - The Lost Caverns" game, especially to give someone an "input" for another possible game for the VCS which could probably be one of the greatest hits for our beloved console. In fact SEGA's arcade game was never "fully" ported to any home system... even the ColecoVision &/or MSX versions are *VERY* crappy and almost different from the coin-op !  ;) ]




At this point, I ask again :

is there any daring european programmer (Assembler) around here who would bring himself to face the challenge ?
Marco"MacDLSA", Daphne Team
irc[dot]enterthegame[dot]com , channels #Daphne / #Lasergames

DarthNuno

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That is a great idea! Hope you'll find someone that could code this! I've heard that the Atari 2600 is really 'tricky' to program  :-\
But instead doing a re-skin of Pitfall, maybe a game like 'adventure' (here) could more fit the Dragon's Lair theme?
Another great game, this time on Colecovision, could be a nice inspiration... Gateway to Apshai (here)...

MacDLSA

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Hey Bruno !

Yep, it has to be coded "telling" the TV electron beam to trace informations, (scan)line per line, and it has to be done during the retrace periods (VBI).
However, it hasn't many instructions to use and addresses are relatively few (the 6507, VCS' CPU, is a "castrated" version of the famous 6502).

Oh, yep, I (we) considered Adventure and also Dark Chambers and even Secret Quest (the game wanted and produced by Nolan Bushnell in the 1988/'89), but there's too much "movement-freedom" (yep, we thought to go in the "limited-movements" direction and considered horizontal 2d platforms as "ideals"...).
Obviously, with an Adventure hack or a similar game, we'll have an "essential" graphic... and it's not good for a DL game ;) .
Gateway to Apshay is an extraordinary game ! I played and finished it on my C=64 in the '85 or so :) ! And, btw, I could tell that, for the history of the videogames, Adventure had inspired Gateway to Apshai, while the other two VCS games mentioned before and many more to come, as "The Master of Magic (C = 64), has all been inspired by this last  ;D !
Marco"MacDLSA", Daphne Team
irc[dot]enterthegame[dot]com , channels #Daphne / #Lasergames