Prototypes and ROM dumps (split from Missils Command 2 Screen shots)

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Prototypes and ROM dumps (split from Missils Command 2 Screen shots)

This is split from the train wreck of a thread. I made my account the OP or else Joe would have been stuck with it.
 
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Prototypes and ROM dumps (split from Missils Command 2 Screen shots)

Yeah, if I had the only known copy of this or Crazy Otto or any other similar board then I totally would hoard the code as well. I'd protect it like Fort Knox!

Have you ever considered that Scott may not own the PCB so it's not up to him if the ROMs get donated to MAME? Calling Scott a hoarder and protector? Maybe if he didn't take his protos to CAX every year you might have a case. Maybe if he never donated anything to MAME you might have a case. All people do is bash Scott for not getting certain games in MAME, nothing is ever mentioned about the proto games he has contributed to MAME. And make no mistake, he has contributed many games to MAME. He just doesn't brag about it. BTW, it's not the only known copy, the others just haven't posted about theirs. I wouldn't either after seeing how Scott gets bashed. Do you think Scott just gets this stuff for free with his ex-Atari contacts? He doesn't, it costs money, and plenty of it. I know this for a fact. We're not talking $20 and a case of beer here. We're talking 4 figures with no guarantee the code or PCB will even work, so he pays more money to more contacts to work things to the next step.

In the case of Missile Command 2, this effort has been in the works over 10 years and I have documented email proof of this. I think even getting it to CAX is pretty nice on his part.
 
Have you ever considered that Scott may not own the PCB so it's not up to him if the ROMs get donated to MAME? Calling Scott a hoarder and protector? Maybe if he didn't take his protos to CAX every year you might have a case. Maybe if he never donated anything to MAME you might have a case. All people do is bash Scott for not getting certain games in MAME, nothing is ever mentioned about the proto games he has contributed to MAME. And make no mistake, he has contributed many games to MAME. He just doesn't brag about it. BTW, it's not the only known copy, the others just haven't posted about theirs. I wouldn't either after seeing how Scott gets bashed. Do you think Scott just gets this stuff for free with his ex-Atari contacts? He doesn't, it costs money, and plenty of it. I know this for a fact. We're not talking $20 and a case of beer here. We're talking 4 figures with no guarantee the code or PCB will even work, so he pays more money to more contacts to work things to the next step.

In the case of Missile Command 2, this effort has been in the works over 10 years and I have documented email proof of this. I think even getting it to CAX is pretty nice on his part.

I have never seen Scott get bashed (not saying it didn't happen) I just thought he was like one of the most respected guys out there with a lot of cool shit.
 
I have never seen Scott get bashed (not saying it didn't happen) I just thought he was like one of the most respected guys out there with a lot of cool shit.

Look up Scott and pressure on him to dump and donate Marble Man (Marble Madness II), both here on KLOV and on the rec.games.video.arcade.collecting newsgroup. You won't see one or two posts, you'll see a hundred.
 
My post was NOT intended as negative against Scott at all. There was not an ounce of sarcasm in there. If I owned a one-off rare game I would not let the code out. That's all I was saying. If you are going to own the only one of something....then why in the world would you let it out to be copied? I wouldn't.
 
If I sparked off something ugly here then my sincere apologies to Scott, that was not my intention at all, my question was an innocent one and I didn't realize he owns MM II, if I had I wouldn't have asked it knowing what it could stir up. He has the right to do WHATEVER he wants with those ROMs including never releasing them, I don't hold it against him and we should just be happy they're preserved in the hands of a collector generous enough to bring his games to CAX, something he has no obligation to do.

And if this turns into some kind of bashing thread then the mods ought to either lock it down or just delete it.
 
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Missile Command 2 was one of two games found on Atari's 1992 "Arcade Classics". I play it occasionally on my Ms. Pac-Mame:

1181242048.png


11812420482.png


11812420481.png


http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=6904


Interesting. I should try to find one of those. Or...compile it from the original source code......


/*======================================================================*/
/* main Main Line Control */
/* */
/* CLASSICS */
/* */
/* Date: June 1992 */
/* Project #: 542XX */
/* VAX File: EE$USERDISK:[PEEDES.MAIN] */
/* Project Leader: Kelly Turner */
/* Programmers: Kelly Turner */
/* Norm Avellar */
/* Matt Setzer */
/* Animators: Ron Seawright */
/* Petrice Moriarity */
/* Rhizaldi Bugawan */
/* Engineer: Brian McKee */
/* Technician: Glenn McNamara */
/* */
/* COPYRIGHT 1992 ATARI GAMES CORP. */
/* UNATHORIZED REPRODUCTION, ADAPTATION, DISTRIBUTION, */
/* PERFORMANCE OR DISPLAY OF THIS COMPUTER PROGRAM OR */
/* THE ASSOCIATED AUDIOVISUAL WORK IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. */
/* ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. */
/* */
/*----------------------------------------------------------------------*/

#include "./lib/config.h"
#include "./lib/std.h"
#include "./lib/message.h"
#include "./lib/eer_defs.h"
#include "./lib/audio.h"
#include "./lib/def.h"

/*----------------------------------------------------------------------*/

extern MDTYPE obj[];

extern U16 vbsync; /* for software watchdog */
extern U16 overrun; /* worst case frame overrun */
extern U16 tbf; /* Total Background Frames */
extern U16 mbf; /* Max Background Frames */
extern U32 sum_addr; /* address used by background routine sum_it() */

extern S32 iexb; /* executive dispatch bits */
extern U8 forgnd; /* foreground flag, clear to execute from VBlank */
extern U8 bakgnd; /* background flag, clear to execute */

extern U16 end_timer;
extern U8 max_spiders;
extern SPIDERTYPE spiders[ ];
extern U16 spider_timer_short, spider_timer_long;
extern U8 end_of_wave,xtra_city;

extern U16 game_opts;
extern struct option option;
extern struct sw sw[];
extern struct debug auxsw;
extern struct switches switches[];
extern U16 button[];
extern U16 plyr_col[];
extern S8 leta[]; /* 0=delta X Left, 1=X left, 2=delta Y Left, 3=Y Left, 4=delta X Right, etc. */
extern U32 mc_bonus[],bonus[]; /* score levels for bonus lives for M.C. and Centipede */
extern U32 Ttshirt_score[2][5];

extern U16 attribute_timer;
extern U16 C_end[];
extern U32 atbl[];
extern U16 pede_bg000[];

S32 attr_slide1,attr_slide2;
 
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Missile Command 2 was one of two games found on Atari's 1992 "Arcade Classics". I play it occasionally on my Ms. Pac-Mame:

1181242048.png


11812420482.png


11812420481.png


http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=6904

It's also amazing how it looks exactly like the screenshots I included with the first post in this thread. I guess I must be playing the Vertical levels, I can't wait until I get to the Horizontal levels. That is going to ROCK!
 
Have you ever considered that Scott may not own the PCB so it's not up to him if the ROMs get donated to MAME? Calling Scott a hoarder and protector? Maybe if he didn't take his protos to CAX every year you might have a case. Maybe if he never donated anything to MAME you might have a case. All people do is bash Scott for not getting certain games in MAME, nothing is ever mentioned about the proto games he has contributed to MAME. And make no mistake, he has contributed many games to MAME. He just doesn't brag about it. BTW, it's not the only known copy, the others just haven't posted about theirs. I wouldn't either after seeing how Scott gets bashed. Do you think Scott just gets this stuff for free with his ex-Atari contacts? He doesn't, it costs money, and plenty of it. I know this for a fact. We're not talking $20 and a case of beer here. We're talking 4 figures with no guarantee the code or PCB will even work, so he pays more money to more contacts to work things to the next step.

In the case of Missile Command 2, this effort has been in the works over 10 years and I have documented email proof of this. I think even getting it to CAX is pretty nice on his part.
Well said, my friend. Thanks for your efforts Scott and especially for sharing the various pics, videos, artwork (for repros), documentation, etc., etc., etc.

Scott C.
 
I don't think anyone was bashing Scott, it's just that the thought of owning a repro MC2 (and having a cool new project to work on) gives a lot of us diehard Atari guys a special feeling in our pants.

But if it's like MM2 there is probably a gentlemen's agreement in place to not release the ROMs. And if you owned a game worth $15-20K and were asked to put your effort into devaluing your investment with the likelihood of no real return... well... I know I wouldn't do it.

Besides anyone who would bash Scott is ignorant. Without his contributions there would be a lot less repro Atari art out there for us collectors to fix up our games, and many years he is the one who comes through with the most impressive stuff for CAX.

EDIT: And that Classics cabinet is pretty sweet btw. Same cab as Robot Monsters, which is a pretty damn nice cabinet.
 
Sigh

Yes, it's a prototype. Yes, it was designed to be played in a Cocktail cabinet. Yes, there is only one base to shoot from. Yes, you can attack the second players cities (you can also help them defend them too). No, there is no chance of a ROM 'dump'. I will post some video up this weekend.

That's right. We all forgot that atariscott never dumps his roms - he's afraid that doing so would decrease the value of his collection. Because as we all know, that's the real reason why people dump roms - to lower their market value of rare games. Not to preserve the roms for the future, or to allow other people to simply enjoy the games in MAME. It's all a calculated ploy to screw gloating collectors.
 
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That's right. We all forgot that atariscott never dumps his roms - he's afraid that doing so would decrease the value of his collection. Because as we all know, that's the real reason why people dump roms - to lower their market value of rare games. Not to preserve the roms for the future, or to allow other people to simply enjoy the games in MAME. It's all a calculated ploy to screw gloating collectors.

I don't know Scott well, but I venture to guess he won't distinguish your 'rant' with a response.

I think it was mentioned earlier in this thread, from someone who would know, that he has dumped plenty of roms for mame. You being bitter is not going to shame him into doing something he doesn't want to do.

who are you?
 
So there is a whole secret society of prototype collectors. I knew it !
So how do these people get their copies ? Who do they buy it from and for how much.
Do tell Joe.

Sure, but it's not much of a story. It's not a "secret society" at all. For the most part, in fact well over 99%, its industry employees or ex-employees who got the game from being on the design team or just in the right place at the right time at the company. And they couldn't care less (or don't even know) about collecting or MAME. They're not consciously trying to hide or hoard the game, they just don't care to do anything about it. Some got their game under the pretense of never reselling or making it public and they have a strong conscience about that. Some couldn't care less if the game or ROMs were made public, but they don't want to be the one to do it with their game.

For example, I know a guy that has a complete working Exidy Vertigo. Collectors have been searching for that game forever. I tried anything and everything (including a money offer worth way more than I think it's really worth) to get the game from him and requests for just pictures or ROM dumps or anything. Not interested. No reason, just not inclined. He's very well off so money isn't an issue. I've met more than one person that's been to his house for parties and played the game, so he's not lying about it. Just no interest. He's not hiding, he's not hoarding, just no interest. There are several other examples. Maze Invaders, Marble Man, QB3, Akka Arrh, Taito Black Widow and even The Act as a current example and just about any other game that completed development, sent out for testing, but never made the production cut.

Some of these ex-employees are more friendly than others and it's the more friendly ones that Scott has been able to coax some protos from or information or help. In the case of Missile Command 2, there is more than one PCB known.

Who do they buy it from and for how much? I'm guessing they get the game free from dealings and contacts inside the company.
 
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For example, I know a guy that has a complete working Exidy Vertigo. Collectors have been searching for that game forever. I tried anything and everything (including a money offer worth way more than I think it's really worth) to get the game from him and requests for just pictures or ROM dumps or anything. Not interested. No reason, just not inclined.

If it's really not a matter of preserving the game's value or because of promising someone else not to release it, I wonder if a petition would perhaps sway him into dumping the ROMs if enough people put their names to it, with the owner's name being kept a secret of course? It would definately highlight the vast interest in seeing/playing it amongst the collector community, something he might not be fully aware of?
 
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If it's really not a matter of preserving the game's value or because of promising someone else not to release it, I wonder if a petition would perhaps sway him into dumping the ROMs if enough people put their names to it, with the owner's name being kept a secret of course?

Wouldn't work in this particular case. He just has no interest what so ever in him making any effort on releasing ROMs or selling the game and no interest in letting someone come to his house to do a ROM dump or take pictures. He just couldn't care less either way if the game got dumped or not, other than he doesn't want to make the effort or make his game available to do so.
 
Wouldn't work in this particular case. He just has no interest what so ever in him making any effort on releasing ROMs or selling the game and no interest in letting someone come to his house to do a ROM dump or take pictures. He just couldn't care less either way if the game got dumped or not, other than he doesn't want to make the effort or make his game available to do so.

Oh well, as long as he keeps the game safe I guess it's good just to know one survives, I hope he at least backs up the ROMs for himself someday incase it ever needs to be repaired. We've all got 6000+ other games to play with on MAME so none of us are deprived, it's just that it kills me to think some games like Bouncer may be gone forever.
 
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Oh well, as long as he keeps the game safe I guess it's good just to know one survives, I hope he at least backs up the ROMs for himself someday incase it ever needs to be repaired. We've all got 6000+ other games to play with on MAME so none of us are deprived, it's just that it kills me to think some games like Bouncer may be gone forever.

Bouncer stings though, as it 'looks' so much more fun than a lot of these old, lost games.
 
Bouncer stings though, as it 'looks' so much more fun than a lot of these old, lost games.

Yeah I know what you mean, Turbo Sub is such a cool game by the same company, Bouncer was no doubt fun too and it looks like a lot of creativity went into it. It MAY still exist out there as there's still a few leads left to be played out and not all hope is lost, but it hangs by a thread if it does and needs the ROMs backed up immediately even if it never gets released.
 
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