New Atari 7800 Homebrew - Pac-Man Collection XM

[TrekMD]

Now the production of the XM units has moved forward and developers are starting to get test units, we'll be seeing new titles being made for the 7800 that take advantage of the XM's capabilities.  One of those titles currently being developed is Pac-Man Collection XM, which takes advantage of the 320 mode of the 7800. 

The video shows a WIP for Pac-Man Collection XM for the 7800.  It will require the XM add-on for Yamaha sound (done be Perry Thuente) and High Score Saving.  It will work without it, but you will get standard TIA sound and no High Score retention.  The game is about 75% complete with a few bugs and missing features (such as an actual random maze generator) and some missing TIA sounds (Yamaha sounds have not been started yet).

Check out the video below...

https://youtu.be/rhS9pSRZWRI

[TrekMD]

Here is a new video posted today by Bob...

https://youtu.be/C9yi7c4s2GI

[zapiy]

This looks class I must say, are you getting one fella?

[TrekMD]

I preordered the XM.  I just need to get this once released.  Mind you, the second video does not have any Yamaha sounds.  It is ONLY TIA sound!  That by itself is excellent.  I can hardly wait to hear the additional sounds with the XM!  Bob is making the game so everyone can play it, even if they don't have an XM.

[TrekMD]

Here's the latest video, posted today by Bob...

https://youtu.be/IhmAaWU4_TM

[TrekMD]

Alright, here is the latest update.  Up until now the game has only used TIA for sounds (and those have been impressive); however, thanks to efforts by Perry we now have POKEY sounds added to the game.  You have to watch and listen...

https://youtu.be/Hvez7uMaP48

[Shadowrunner]

That sounds great. Just like the arcade.

[TrekMD]

It sure does!  And this is not done yet! 

[TrekMD]

Here's today's video of the game to show more progress...

https://youtu.be/fKFcO-9ww5k

[davyk]

I see this version has introduced scrolling to avoid scaling artifacts. I have the original release of this which doesn't scroll - it is scaled to fit but it's a great job. My version is PAL and it didn't seem to get any optimisation applied to it unfortunately and a PAL60 version wasn't on offer at the time (although that may not be possible on the 7800). The PAL colours hadn't been translated all that well either and one of the ghosts can be hard to see sometimes which is a shame but not game breaking. It's still a nice compilation but the slower speed, borders, colours and the poor RF signal of the 7800 compromised it. Still very playable though.

The Megadrive version of Ms. Pacman has scrolling too - it doesn't hurt the game too much but it is a compromise.

How has this footage been captured? This looks and sounds great. I wonder if a TATE mode could have been an option to avoid scrolling?

[TrekMD]

Yes, this is being done using Mode 320 on the 7800.  The system has always had this capability but it was rarely used as it limits the choice of colors.  It's working fine for this particular game.  Normal 7800 mode is 160, which is what was used for the version Atari released.  This latest video shows the game taking advantage of POKEY and Yamaha sound chips that will be on the upcoming XM unit. 

[davyk]

The version of Pacman Collection I have then was based on the official Atari release - isn't that right?

[TrekMD]

The first Pac-Man Collection Bob did was not a hack but it does use 160 Mode on the system.  I believe it has POKEY programmed but it will use TIA sound if there isn't a POKEY chip found.