Homebrews
My History
Development


Homebrews

Download Odyssey2 emulators – PCMac OS
Game Downloads Screenshot
Puzzle Piece Panic! -- The classic falling block game.

Features: 4 game variations, polyphonic music, and G7400 enhanced.

In order for the game to work in the emulators, I had to make another version. The music is stored in .wav files and uses The Voice emulation to make the music. If you purchase the cartridge, you do not need The Voice.

The cartridge and manual are now available at Packrat Video Games.
Emulator Files
ROM
VOICE files

Real ROM
ROM

Instructions
lo-res pdf
hi-res pdf

Cart Label
(lo-res)
(hi-res)


 
Mr. Roboto! -- A little bit of a lot of stuff all rolled in to one 8k game.
Plus a hidden puzzle!
Features: 3 game screens; intro and menu screens; Voice enhanced; for 1, 2, or 0 players.

The cartridge and manual are now available at Packrat Video Games.
ROM (zipped)

Instructions
lo-res pdf
hi-res pdf

Cart Label
(lo-res)
(hi-res)


See More
 
Planet Lander! -- Every good system needs a Lunar Lander type game.

I wanted to keep the game under the 2k limit, like the earlier games, but I managed to squeeze in multiple screens, random landscapes, and increasing difficulty.

The cartridge and manual are now available at Packrat Video Games.
 

ROM (zipped)

Instructions
html
lo-res pdf
(updated)


My History

The first video game system my brother and I had was the Odyssey2 by Magnavox. We got it soon after Atari came out with their pathetic version of Pac-Man. The O2's answer was K.C. Munchkin. With it's smooth animation and bold colors, you just couldn't even compare the two. Best of all, the ghosts didn't flicker!

The joysticks were better than Atari's, too. Even though they were bigger and klunkier, they fit better in your hand. The only down side was that the joysticks weren't detachable (at least on our system), so when the controllers died, we had to get creative.

On our system, the cables from the controllers to the system were the first to go, so my dad ran an extra wire from the stick to the console. Then, the actual sticks started to short out, so he got really creative. He went to Radio Shack (of course) and got 2 blue project boxes and 10 red buttons and built 2 push-button controllers from scratch. I'll give him credit for the fact that they worked, but he skimped on the buttons and got the cheap ones. You had to press really hard for the buttons to work and after a game or two, you had to stop from the pain. Your fingers would be swollen with indentations on the tips.

Thinking about it now, all we had to do was get 2 female joystick connectors (d-sub 9 - also at Radio Shack) and we could have just used Atari joysticks. Oh well.

We were the only kids that had an Odyssey2, so there was something different when friends came over to play. I don't think any of the kids new our names, but it was nice to feel like we had friends.


Development

I write on my Macintosh iBook DV (the clamshell style). I use Codewarrior to write, and Toolserver / orgASM to compile into a binary file(rom image), which can be used by the emulator. An AppleScript is executed first, which copies the file, renames it, and changes the file type and creator.

I built Sören Gust's ramcart, which lets you download rom images to a real machine. This took way longer to build than it should have, but it was a learning experience. The downloaded game would work for about 30 seconds, then it would crash. After 2 weeks of this, I realized that the Odyssey was the problem. I tried it on another machine and it worked perfectly. I think there are some leaky capacitors in the first machine -- store bought carts work fine, but homemade carts don't. Maybe the eproms are more picky about voltages?

I had to write a Mac application to open a serial port and send the rom image. I will post it here eventually, after I fix some things.

iBooks don't have serial ports, just USB. My old Powerbook 520c, though, does have serial ports. So, I would have to write and compile on the iBook, ethernet it over to the PB520, then use my Serial Sender to send it to the Odyssey. Whew!

I just bought the Belkin USB Serial Adapter, which gives my iBook serial ports. So now I can put the 520c away for a while.