Mountain King Map - Atari 2600
Game Chambers
King world. It includes the main mountain as well as everything I've
seen of the secret area. You can view it at:
http://www.gamechambers.com/gcMKmap.htm
Tips, observations, and comments welcome.
--
Randy
Game Chambers
www.gamechambers.com
Replicant 182
an A+.
Replicant 182
Just another skin job walking the streets
Kirk Is
> You have far too much free time on your hands.. Beauty map though, I give you
> an A+.
Yeah, that map really is a thing of beauty.
Not that it matters, but I'll probably link to it from my blog sometime in
the next few days. Expect at least...oh, maybe 10 extra hits ;-)
--
QUOTEBLOG: http://kisrael.com SKEPTIC MORTALITY: http://kisrael.com/mortal
Life's too short for sentences that begin "life's too short for..."
--Slashdot
Game Chambers
Kirk Is
> Thanks for the encouragement guys. By all means link up.
Well my link is there from http://kisrael.com
I wonder if it would be possible to hack ROM to try to see what's up
there. Like, something that adds a few pixels to the vertical player
position every click.
I don't know how deliberate that area is up there...I always assumed it
was a funny glitch when the "map maker" was forced to examine its own
code. But easter eggs in other versions of "Mountain King" make me
wonder if it might be deliberate... or perhaps it's both...they put in the
ability to get up there, saw it was something weird, but didn't work to
make sure it was something meaningful...
Dang, I wish we could talk to the folks who wrote this.
--
QUOTEBLOG: http://kisrael.com SKEPTIC MORTALITY: http://kisrael.com/mortal
"While some look at what is and ask 'why?' and others look at what could be
ask 'why not?' I look at my coffee table and ask 'where are my sunglasses?'"
--Paul Mather, subatomic humor
Game Chambers
Appreciate that.
>I don't know how deliberate that area is up there...I always assumed it
>was a funny glitch when the "map maker" was forced to examine its own
>code. But easter eggs in other versions of "Mountain King" make me
>wonder if it might be deliberate... or perhaps it's both...they put in the
>ability to get up there, saw it was something weird, but didn't work to
>make sure it was something meaningful...
My impression is that it is deliberate but not complete. It doesn't
seem completely random because you have the ladders underneath that
conveniently extend down just far enough to let you in, for example. I
think a look at the other versions is a good idea that could lead to
some answers. Originally I assumed that Mountain King was based on the
"King of the Mountain" game that kids play (though I don't really
remember the rules). But isn't there a classical story about "The Hall
of the Mountain King"? Maybe the game was going to follow that story
line.
>Dang, I wish we could talk to the folks who wrote this.
I've heard through the grapevine that the programmer isn't
enthusiastic about being interviewed. But there may be others who know
the deal.
Russ Perry Jr
> I don't know how deliberate that area is up there...I always assumed it
> was a funny glitch when the "map maker" was forced to examine its own
> code. But easter eggs in other versions of "Mountain King" make me
> wonder if it might be deliberate... or perhaps it's both...they put in
> the ability to get up there, saw it was something weird, but didn't
> work to make sure it was something meaningful...
>
> Dang, I wish we could talk to the folks who wrote this.
I have... The guy doesn't really remember a lot, and he's not really
that interested in doing much talking about those days (he declined an
interview for 2600 Connection, had no interest in CGE, etc).
He DID say however, that the "secret kingdom" was intentional, but
he couldn't remember why, or what for. He ascribed the glitchy
areas to bugs; I got the impression that part wasn't completed. But
that's all he knew.
--
//*================================================================++
|| Russ Perry Jr 2175 S Tonne Dr #114 Arlington Hts IL 60005 ||
|| 847-952-9729 slap...@enteract.com VIDEOGAME COLLECTOR! ||
++================================================================*//
Tuesdays Puzzle
> I just finished putting the final touches on a map of the Mountain
> King world. It includes the main mountain as well as everything I've
> seen of the secret area. You can view it at:
> http://www.gamechambers.com/gcMKmap.htm
>
> Tips, observations, and comments welcome.
Awesome work. What I would really love to do is fill the map in with
diamonds and maybe a flame spirit (if you can get a screen capture of
it) to turn it into a desktop wallpaper. (Maybe a theme too.) Any
possibility that you could provide small graphics of a diamond
cluster, flame, skull, and bat? I'll do the rest of the work.
Also, just a suggestion: have you considered providing a "cheat
sheet" for those that don't know how to get to the top with the crown?
I remember it taking me something like a year just figure out the
right path and then a couple of weeks mastering it.
Tuesday
Game Chambers
>Awesome work. What I would really love to do is fill the map in with
>diamonds and maybe a flame spirit (if you can get a screen capture of
>it) to turn it into a desktop wallpaper. (Maybe a theme too.) Any
>possibility that you could provide small graphics of a diamond
>cluster, flame, skull, and bat? I'll do the rest of the work.
That would be cool. Originally I was going to put the diamonds in the
map, but it seemed to distract from the layout of the mountain. I can
send you a BMP of a diamond cluster if you like. And PC Atari Emulator
(PCAE) will let you "screen capture" any of the other graphics.
>Also, just a suggestion: have you considered providing a "cheat
>sheet" for those that don't know how to get to the top with the crown?
> I remember it taking me something like a year just figure out the
>right path and then a couple of weeks mastering it.
That's a great idea! Funny thing is, I'm not sure that I remember the
best route to take. A year or so ago I was able to get the crown up to
the flame a decent percentage of the time. Lately I've been more
obsessed with the hidden kingdom. In fact, the other day I made a
faint attempt to carry the crown up to the hidden kingdom and I didn't
even come close to the mountain's summit.
If I make it any higher into the hidden kingdom I'll definitely want
to revise the map, and I'll keep that idea in mind.
Kirk Is
> That's a great idea! Funny thing is, I'm not sure that I remember the
> best route to take. A year or so ago I was able to get the crown up to
> the flame a decent percentage of the time. Lately I've been more
> obsessed with the hidden kingdom. In fact, the other day I made a
> faint attempt to carry the crown up to the hidden kingdom and I didn't
> even come close to the mountain's summit.
> If I make it any higher into the hidden kingdom I'll definitely want
> to revise the map, and I'll keep that idea in mind.
I think I only made it to the top once.
Still, I wish someone with an idea of atari machine code would make one of
those cool ROM patches, to help cheat our way to some new discoveries.
--
QUOTEBLOG: http://kisrael.com SKEPTIC MORTALITY: http://kisrael.com/mortal
"All life is 6-to-5 against, just enough to keep you interested" --Runyon
Tuesdays Puzzle
> That would be cool. Originally I was going to put the diamonds in the
> map, but it seemed to distract from the layout of the mountain. I can
> send you a BMP of a diamond cluster if you like. And PC Atari Emulator
> (PCAE) will let you "screen capture" any of the other graphics.
That would be great. You can mail it to the account I am posting
from. Will the emulator allow me to make movies as well? Capturing a
flame spirit image naturally (without the flashlight) could be pretty
hard. Any ideas on how to do this? Maybe it will be easier to look
in my manual and figure out what pixels they used to build the flame.
> >Also, just a suggestion: have you considered providing a "cheat
> >sheet" for those that don't know how to get to the top with the crown?
>
> That's a great idea! Funny thing is, I'm not sure that I remember the
> best route to take. A year or so ago I was able to get the crown up to
> the flame a decent percentage of the time.
I can fill it in a mail it to you in a couple of days.
> Lately I've been more obsessed with the hidden kingdom. In fact, the other
> day I made a faint attempt to carry the crown up to the hidden kingdom and I
> didn't even come close to the mountain's summit.
I don't know that this would be possible. In my version of the game,
you win the level as soon as you hit the upper plateau. You don't
have to touch the campfire, just the level. Since you have to hit
that level to get to the secret area, the level would end before you
could make the final bounce (unless you find a way around this). Now,
on the easiest level, you could take the flame spirit up with you
because there is no time limit on how long you posess it and also the
bats can't steal it from you on that level. Maybe something would
happen if you gave the flame sprit to one of the two "mystery
entities". (Or maybe not, just an idea.)
Another thing to keep in mind is that even on the easy level, you have
a time limit on how long you hold the crown (2:30 I think and it gets
shorter as you move up to higher levels). I think my best time to the
top is around 90 seconds and even then it required a little luck. If
you wanted to take the crown with you up to the secret area you would
have to know how to work the pattern down tight and even then you
would only have a minute from the campfire plateau to go wherever you
wanted to go in the secret area. I don't think you would get very
far.
Tuesday
Game Chambers
>tuesday...@yahoo.com (Tuesdays Puzzle) wrote:
>>Also, just a suggestion: have you considered providing a "cheat
>>sheet" for those that don't know how to get to the top with the crown?
>> I remember it taking me something like a year just figure out the
>>right path and then a couple of weeks mastering it.
>
>That's a great idea! Funny thing is, I'm not sure that I remember the
>best route to take. A year or so ago I was able to get the crown up to
>the flame a decent percentage of the time. Lately I've been more
>obsessed with the hidden kingdom. In fact, the other day I made a
>faint attempt to carry the crown up to the hidden kingdom and I didn't
>even come close to the mountain's summit.
Update:
Tuesday's Puzzle has made detailed notes on getting the crown up to
the mountain's summit. It's all posted at:
http://www.gamechambers.com/gcMKing3.htm
Definitely worth a look.
Tony
> tuesday...@yahoo.com (Tuesdays Puzzle) wrote:
>
> >Awesome work. What I would really love to do is fill the map in with
> >diamonds and maybe a flame spirit (if you can get a screen capture of
> >it) to turn it into a desktop wallpaper. (Maybe a theme too.) Any
> >possibility that you could provide small graphics of a diamond
> >cluster, flame, skull, and bat? I'll do the rest of the work.
>
> That would be cool. Originally I was going to put the diamonds in the
> map, but it seemed to distract from the layout of the mountain. I can
> send you a BMP of a diamond cluster if you like. And PC Atari Emulator
> (PCAE) will let you "screen capture" any of the other graphics.
>
> >Also, just a suggestion: have you considered providing a "cheat
> >sheet" for those that don't know how to get to the top with the crown?
> > I remember it taking me something like a year just figure out the
> >right path and then a couple of weeks mastering it.
>
> That's a great idea! Funny thing is, I'm not sure that I remember the
> best route to take. A year or so ago I was able to get the crown up to
> the flame a decent percentage of the time. Lately I've been more
> obsessed with the hidden kingdom. In fact, the other day I made a
> faint attempt to carry the crown up to the hidden kingdom and I didn't
> even come close to the mountain's summit.
As you may already know I have taken the Flame Spirit twice to the
hidden kingdom. Additional ladders are present. But they blink so much
that it's seems impossible to climb them. Even the ladders created
with the paddles blink. And yes, the bats do fly up there too.
Getting the crown up there would be interesting!
Tony Roy
t...@vcn.bc.ca
tton...@yahoo.com