MiSTer FPGA - Dark Chambers [2 Player] / Atari 7800
0Another 7800 multiplayer session recently, this time with a Gauntlet clone, Dark Chambers. The story behind this game is a bit deeper than it being a simple clone though.. as the original concept for it actually predates Gauntlet, and was the inspiration for the arcade classic, it turns out. It was originally released in 1983 under the name "Dandy" by John Howard Palevich for a thesis at MIT, and was one of the first games to offer simultaneous four-player co-op. He actually sued the Gauntlet devs when he saw they had ripped it off so heavily, and had his name added to the credits, as well as his own Gauntlet arcade cabinets shipped to him as compensation along with royalties. He later licensed the original Dandy IP to Atari, resulting in Dark Chambers.
We started off thinking this might be some hidden gem in the library, but quickly learned that it doesn't quite hold up. The game's main failing is that it doesn't really do anything new or interesting with the Gauntlet formula. It gets monotonous rather quickly, and by the end of the video we were just running into enemies and shooting health items to end it quicker. We had higher hopes for this one when first trying it, but in the end found much more enjoyment in games like Basketbrawl for multiplayer.
If anyone has any other multiplayer Atari 7800 recommendations, I'd love to hear 'em! I found the console to be more interesting that I had expected, and am looking forward to exploring the library further, including the wide array of homebrew.
Our new Atari 7800 core came out of the gate with extreme accuracy thanks to Kitrinx/Rysha, who also maintains the NES core and has heavily contributed to the near-perfect state it's in today. Rysha is a dedicated MiSTer dev, and has been a constant advocate for proper preservation. I've never met a person so excited about making old hardware obsolete, and we are lucky to have someone with this talent and drive working with the project so closely.
Note: I'm using 5x integer scaling in this video to fill the screen better. I've found that in pretty much every Atari 7800 game, 5x works very well.
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Atari 7800 core 04-17-2021 build - Dark Chambers
Filter: Scanlines(Soft)\110_85_soft // Gamma: 2.4 // Color Temp: Warm
Played using a 2x Hori Real Arcade Pro VX-SA arcade sticks, with 1ms USB polling.
Settings: 5x Integer Scaled to 1080p // HDMI to Datapath e1s capture card
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|:=-Timestamps-=:|
00:00 - Boot/Settings
00:34 - Title/Demo
02:03 - Gameplay [2 Player Co-op]
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None of this would be possible without the constant hard work of Sorgelig. It cannot be overstated how much he has done and continues to do for this project, since its beginning. You can support him either at his Patreon in the link below, or on Paypal, depending on your preference. MiSTer is a paradigm shift in how we can experience these classic games. This is a long-term preservation project that will continue to grow so that gamers today and in the future can experience these excellent systems as accurately and lag-free as possible. Donating what you can will help keep the updates coming. Thank you.
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Github link for this core: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Atari7800_MiSTer
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