The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls

Main => Software Forum => Topic started by: DaredevilDave on August 18, 2017, 03:18:52 pm

Title: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 18, 2017, 03:18:52 pm
Computer Space v1.0 Available Now!!!
(post updated 10/25/17)

Step right up and get your free copy of my brand new Computer Space sim!

What Is Computer Space?
Computer Space was the first coin operated video arcade machine and was released in 1971.

Computer Space is a very rare game (about 1,500 were built) and there are no ROMs or emulators available, so I recreated the game. I spent a lot of time getting the details precise to bring as much of the original gameplay to this as possible. It took me a bit longer to complete than I'd planned (what doesn't), but the game is finally complete.

MAME, Hyperspin, MaLa
The game was designed for incorporation into most MAME front end systems, like Hyperspin and MaLa. If your FE of choice can run EXE files than you can run Computer Space, no problem.

Screenshots
Ultra-HD Graphics! ;)
(http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_10.jpg)

MAME style menu
(http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_controlmenu.jpg)

One is the real game:
(http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_sidebyside.jpg)

Youtube Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--rwRMrFlcg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--rwRMrFlcg)
Downloads

Marquee
(http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/marquee.png)

Wheel Art
(http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/wheel.png)

Snap Image
(http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/snap.png)

Snap Videos (right click and Save As...)
http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/ComputerSpace_640x480.mp4 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/ComputerSpace_640x480.mp4)
http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/ComputerSpace_320x240.mp4 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/ComputerSpace_320x240.mp4)

Website
http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/index.htm (http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/index.htm)

Game Downloads:

Computer Space v 1.0

Windows 32/64 bit
Windows 32/64 bit version 1.0 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_win_v100.zip)
Linux
Linux version 1.0 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_linux_v100.zip)



====================================
(original Post below)


I have to admit I either didn't know about or completely forgot about Computer Space, the first commercial coin-op video game until a few weeks ago.

I found a few clones/sims online but wanted something that worked well with with an arcade cabinet front end.

So I started fiddling with my own version. I have a working prototype with a ship you can fly - that's all you can do.

What I would want to do is make a version of the game that plays and looks as close to the original as possible (or exactly), and works seamlessly with MaLa etc.

I even recreated the way the shape of the player ship gets warped a bit as it rotates. I sort of made the ship out of individual pixels instead of one image or sprite. That way the "pixels" can be slightly out of alignment depending on the angle of the ship. You can see what I mean in the video below.

Here is a video of the original game. Sorry can't get find how to embed youtube vids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BiFVGCxCwo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BiFVGCxCwo)

The gameplay shouldn't take more than a few days to program. The hard part for me will be in making it play realistically because I have never played the real game - not to my knowledge anyways. So unless I can find someone local with a machine I will need to rely on videos, the other sims I found, and user input.

I would make the game a Win EXE, but can also make Mac and Linux versions. It will be easy to add to many front end systems. It should be easy to include all game features, there isn't much to it. I would include wheel art and marquees and videos too.

Is anybody interested in this? I'd love feedback to help get me motivated.

Can I legally do this and offer it here (free)? And should this be in the "projects" section?




Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on August 18, 2017, 03:25:28 pm
Projects is more for hardware stuff, so you put it in the right place. 

Yeah I'm quite interested.  I mentioned 3d printing a mini computer space cab the other day and complained that I couldn't find a good sim to put on it.  It'd be nice if the Linux port would run on a pi.  ;)

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 18, 2017, 04:22:27 pm
I'm pretty sure it would (linux), but not familiar with the pie. As long as the specs are decent. I'd actually be happy to send you a very early build just to find out.

I'm hoping to find someone here in the SF Bay Area that has a machine I can maybe look at or even record audio from. I don't wanna swipe any audio from other people's work, so not sure where to turn there yet. Short of that maybe I can find someone here with a machine.

There are a few Youtube videos of the original game being played, and the video is routed straight from the machine. In other words it isn't somebody recording the screen with a camera. So I can use this to look at getting proportions correct, speed of the ship, how far missiles fly, how fast ship can rotate.

The video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR7gmVpw6Io (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR7gmVpw6Io)

I swiped the background starfield image from the video and cleaned it up. So I have the original background already.

I'm thinking of three view options:
- Fullscreen no border
- with a monitor bezel, slightly smaller play field.
- with part of the fiberglass cabinet visible, small playfield.

You could toggle between them using a TAB menu I think. I want to make any buttons and stuff like MAME.

I'm going for single player for now.

I'm having a rotten day (people, ugh!) so I think I will work on this today.

Here is a link to an existing simulator of the game. My only game play experience is from this.

http://www.computerspacefan.com/NewCompSpaceSim2.htm (http://www.computerspacefan.com/NewCompSpaceSim2.htm)

Cool, I needed something to do for the rest of the day.

ETA:
I also want to add any (optional) bloom, scanlines or other visual effect that will help make this look like it is being played on the original hardware.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: raph on August 18, 2017, 05:17:41 pm
This article might be useful to you, lots of pics and stuff. https://edfries.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/fixing-computer-space-3/
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: pbj on August 18, 2017, 06:48:02 pm
This article might be useful to you, lots of pics and stuff. https://edfries.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/fixing-computer-space-3/

Interesting read, thanks for posting.  I shook my head at some of it but you can't argue with his results.

 :cheers:
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 18, 2017, 07:03:33 pm
Thanks raph, I just read that page, or most of it. That is one detailed guy! Which is cool for me. And man that would be cool to slowly bring back to life one of these cabs like that. I don't have the know how but I love that stuff.

Totally fascinating how that machine works. I always thought I might have a vague understanding of what it means when someone says a game machine is "IC" based or runs off of hardware. Now I actually do to some extent. What a trip!

I'm designing the saucer now. I'm trying to make it look authentic, so perfect square pixels are kind of out. I've got it mostly figured out. I've been watching videos very closely trying to get the shape just right.

On some of them it looks like the saucers have a type of propeller thingy on the left end, but I don't see that in all videos. It's in the one I linked to above. Like the side view of a propeller.

Do the saucers have these "propellers" or this some kind of artifact I'm seeing?

I will do some research on gameplay, like how often the saucers move, and how far. How often they shoot. Maybe I can find some info. If not I'll use a stopwatch and a ruler (haha) on all the video I can find.

I've never tried recreating someone else's video game before.

Edit to add:
Can someone help me out with Youtube tags? I will post some videos when I can.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 19, 2017, 04:24:34 am
Progress:

- Starfield background is the same as the original.
- Player ship moves, turns and fires missiles.
- Player missile is steerable.
- Two enemy saucers move randomly. Timing needs work (on everything) but it's in the ballpark.
- Enemy saucers can be destroyed when shot, or crashed into.
- I made a screen "flash" for when there is a death, but it's just a start and not used yet.

I will make a to-do list as soon as it is shorter than my "done" list ;)

It's a pretty simple game, of course, so it's an easy job. Getting it to look and play authentic is where the work will be.

I'll get some pics up and hopefully a video too tomorrow/today (Saturday).

Looks like I'm doing this! I am a game developer so this is right up my alley. I want it to be perfect and will work at it until it is. Well... close anyways ;)

ETA:
I read that the Saucers shoot toward whatever "quadrant" the player ship is in and not using any fancy math for targeting. Their shots seem pretty accurate so I'm guessing the quadrants are small (not really quadrants).
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: 1500points on August 20, 2017, 12:19:08 am
The fpga for this is already done and working. I have been waiting for someone to assemble some for sale as complete fpga without having to be an fpga dev to get it going


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 20, 2017, 06:17:16 pm
Here is a screenshot of the game so far.

Disclaimer: Nothing is finished or looks the way it will when complete. Just posting this to prove I am actually doing this ;)

- Saucers fly and shoot randomly for now. They move approximately the same speed and directions (eight) as the original game
- Player ship is fully controllable and shoots steerable missiles
- Saucers and ships need redesign until I can get them right (graphics)
- Score is kept although I have no scoreboard yet.

Again, this will work with popular front ends and will be free. I'm not exactly crazy about this game (Computer Space), but I thought it would be cool to have a decent version of it available for multi-arcade cabinet use. I can't believe nobody has done this.

(http://i67.tinypic.com/1232yab.jpg)

Other notes:

The player ship is built with individual "pixels". I did this so that when the ship rotates it will "warp" a little bit as the pixels find the closest position for themselves. You can see that in the image.

The ships pixels don't look right but it's okay for now.

The saucers are just animated sprites.

The game play works fine. In fact it's almost done. I need to get the saucers shooting as they should, which will take about 20 minutes. The graphics and finer touches will take a little time, but not much.

If anyone else reads this and is interested please let me know. It helps motivate me knowing I'm not the only one. And anyone with access to a real machine - I would love to pick your brain and have you maybe test this for me when ready! :) I will update the game for as long as it takes until a consensus is reached that it is good.

ETA:
I'm going to make some images for the score numbers. I want to recreate the way they look and a font is too clean, plus I can't find a good one anyways. The numbers on any images and videos I can find are far from perfect looking (which is cool!). I think the method with which they are displayed gives them an overlap look where the lines intersect.

Posting this video again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR7gmVpw6Io (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR7gmVpw6Io)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 20, 2017, 11:09:04 pm
Score and timer works with deliberately funky looking custom sprites for "fonts".

(http://i63.tinypic.com/2r73vh5.jpg)

The numbers are the same size as the original game, and are in the exact same spot. if you look at the real game, the numbers in relation to the background stars are virtually the same. I need to alter the color and maybe blend them in a little in some way.

The game is almost entirely functional now.
- game doesn't end when the timer reaches zero.
- I need to program in the functions for Start, quarters, etc for front ends.
- no sound yet
- Saucers "AI" doesn't exist yet. Should be about 3 lines of code :)

This is all very easy stuff, just a matter of me taking the time to do it. Then I will fuss with the graphics a bit.

Comments?
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: pbj on August 20, 2017, 11:32:41 pm
Looking good.  Keep coding.

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 22, 2017, 04:36:50 pm
Thank you! I have been :)

Game is functional - keeps score, ends when timer reaches the max time. I just need to work on the saucers missile aim, and I won't be able to maybe for a few days.

I ran the game in my custom made front end and it works great. Credits, player start, and exiting the game. I'd like to make a MAME style options menu. If I get lazy it will just be an INI file you can hand edit.

Video of my front end (figured out youtube tags - there are none!):
! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gB7CcNMuGQ#)

The game is an exe so you'll need to use shortcuts or a batch file depending on your FE. Mine uses shortcuts.

A soon as I get my websever going I will make test versions available for people. Right now I have no place to upload anything.

Few more notes since I'm bored:
- As far as I know there is no indication as to how many quarters/credits the machine has in it. I'll assume there is a light on the control panel for this or something. Anybody know about this?

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on August 22, 2017, 08:14:47 pm
How big is it?  You can upload things directly in a post so long as they are under a couple of megs.  If not we have a download repository here... or I can throw it on my site. 
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: headkaze on August 23, 2017, 11:10:36 am
I don't know much about the hardware used for "Computer Space" but I briefly searched Google using the terms "computer space emulator" which gave me the site http://www.masswerk.at/icss/ (http://www.masswerk.at/icss/)

Looking at one of the Javascript source files (http://www.masswerk.at/icss/pdp1_engine.js?v=2.8.7fx (http://www.masswerk.at/icss/pdp1_engine.js?v=2.8.7fx)) I noticed about half way down the the following comments:

Code: [Select]
/*
DEC PDP-1 emulation
original emulation by Barry Silverman, Brian Silverman, and Vadim Gerasimov, 2012
(c.f. http://spacewar.oversigma.com/html5/)

Extended by N.Landsteiner 2012-2015
(fairly complete implemntation of CPU and paper tape reader.
still missing: sequence break, flexo writer, paper tape punch.
there is no internal memory buffer, since memory is implemented
as an array.)
Most important changes:
* added hardware multiply/divide option
* re-implemented arithmetics, sense switches, and program flags
* re-implemented shift-group (no loops)
* added emulated hardware multiply/divide
* added xct in-place skips
* extended some iot and opr instructions and flags logic
* added test-word (not zeroed by reset)
* added paper-tape emulation and status register
* added realtime count
*/

So it would appear that this version actually emulates the hardware. If accuracy was something you were trying to re-create I suggest porting the emulation code rather than re-create it based on observations of the game running.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on August 23, 2017, 02:43:09 pm
With mentions of a paper tape reader and such it sounds like it might be computer space's main frame cousin...  the one with the black hole in the center ect...  The name escapes me. 

Actually.... looking closer, that's the pdp port of computer space.  They are emulating the pdp and running the computer space program on it because there is a project to revive pdp 1 machines.  In other words it isn't computer space, it's yet another homebrew of computer space..... just a really weird one. 
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 24, 2017, 02:41:21 pm
That stuff is over my head, I'm a  half-assed programmer who got lucky with a few games haha. That hardware thing mentioned half a dozen posts ago sounds a little interesting too, but I want something I can play on my computer and arcade machine, and in this decade preferably.

Like I said, I didn't know this game existed until recently, and so far nobody I have mentioned it to has ever heard of it. I can't believe there are no proper remakes or simulations after all these years. Props to the people who made a few, but they just aren't good enough for an arcade cab.

I will make a a faithful recreation of the game play, hopefully with the help of some testers. If someone comes out with a better one later I'm cool with that. I would have been happy downloading someone elses work if it existed. Much less work!

I have some important work that needs to be done before I can complete this game. Hopefully in a few days.

I don't know the legalities of any of this, but for now I have made wheel art, snap, a marquee, and 30 sec video for front ends. I'm trying to figure out who owns the IP for this game, if anyone.

Maybe I will upload a vid later today.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: pbj on August 24, 2017, 03:15:21 pm
Nobody owns it, the trademark is dead.

http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=72407332&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch (http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=72407332&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch)

 :cheers:
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 24, 2017, 05:17:41 pm
Cool thanks!

I'm messing around with different frame rates for the game to simulate the feel of the original. Not sure if I should though. I can make it optional.

I see that the original game had a GE television stuffed inside, at least in a video I watched. I'm curious at what refresh rate or fps the game ran at, or maybe what it appears to run at. Any ideas?

I have the saucers firing at the ship properly. For now they aim exactly where the ship is and fire. I will adjust that later. I've watched videos and the ships are pretty accurate, though I've read there is no advanced targeting going on.

I want to simulate the screen flash accurately (explosion). I almost have it, but the saucers color isn't inverted using my technique. I have a few workarounds in mind if needed. I wonder if I should make the flash optional just in case some find it annoying, or seizure inducing.

Questions for anyone who knows:

- is there any kind of logo or title during the attract mode? Or anything at all? All I've seen is the saucers flying around until a game is started. Hey the easier the better so I'm cool with that! I'm guessing there is nothing and not so much as a boot screen since there is no computer ;)

- I need sounds. Maybe I can find someone with a local machine. I have a good recorder. If not, is there anyone out there that can record audio off their machine? I realize this is a long shot but may as well ask. Hmm, 1300-1500 machines built ever, half a dozen people in this thread...  ;D

If I can't do either of these things, I can resort to ripping audio from Youtube videos, at least for now.

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: raph on August 27, 2017, 03:10:04 pm
I know Ed, who did the article above on the original cab restoration. I just sent him an email pointing here, maybe he will have time to jump in and answer your questions.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 28, 2017, 05:34:20 pm
Cool!

I'm still working on it, just finishing up another project at the same time.

I'm almost done with a MAME style game menu (press tab key)

I screwed up my saucer missiles so now they don't fire correctly anymore. Can't figure out what I did!

I have a full screen view and an optional view that shows the upper part of the cabinet and monitor and all that. Makes the playfield a bit small but what the heck.

I would post a video but this other project popped up. Almost done!
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 29, 2017, 08:59:39 pm
Video of the game!

Youtube description:
Early video of a mostly working Computer Space clone I'm working on. Computer Space was the first commercial coin-op video game.

The ship graphics, speed, turning rate, and many other things need to be worked on still.

Game will run on Mac, PC and Linux when it is complete. It is compatible with MAME front ends, such as MaLa and Hyperspin.


I see I uploaded the most boring part of the video where my ship barely even moves :(
!blablabla (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuzv75_nCE&feature=youtu.be#)

There are things I am unsure of and/or that need to be fixed.

To do
- The missiles in my game are short lines and I think they were just dots in the original.
- I believe missiles are not destroyed in the real game after they collide with a ship. Mine don't either.
- Upon being hit, player missiles should spin out of control as the ship spins.
- Not sure about the turning radius of the missiles, but I can figure this out, as well as speed of all objects and ship rotation. Theses speeds are always the same so it's easy to figure out as long as I have a video to watch. Of course player testing will come into play too.
- Screen flash isn't completely finished.

Done
- I now have a working MAME style Tab menu
- Game has sounds ripped from videos. Clean as I could get them for now. They probably sound as bad as the original cabinets :)
- Everything else.

I will make a copy of this available real soon, I promise.

Comments on the video are welcome. If you see something wrong please let me know!
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on August 30, 2017, 12:39:26 am
There's no video dude.  You need to put a description in between the url tags as half of the browsers out there can't see the depreciated youtube support on this site.  That way we can click on the link.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on August 30, 2017, 02:12:52 am
I fixed it but I still don't see the video on one of my PCs.

Here's a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuzv75_nCE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuzv75_nCE)

![url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuzv75_nCE&feature=youtu.be#]! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuzv75_nCE&feature=youtu.be#)[/url]

If it doesn't work in this post then I guess copy/paste the url above? Not sure what else to do.

ETA
Sorry video seems wonky still in some browsers. Can anyone help me out? I'm still trying.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: raph on August 31, 2017, 05:58:39 pm
I watched it on YouTube, and it looks like it's come along nicely!
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on August 31, 2017, 09:22:10 pm
Yeah it looks good.  Something that seems to be ruining the illusion is when the screen inverts.  You can see black around the spaceship dots.  I don't know if that's even fixable.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 03, 2017, 01:39:51 am
The black around the dots is fixable. The flash was a quickie. It actually does more than invert the colors in the real game it seems.

I'm still a few days away from continuing work on it.

Thank you for the input! I will post more vids, and a copy of the build when I can.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 06, 2017, 10:59:12 pm
Things I have done:
- player missiles spin out of control when player ship is hit and spinning.
- fixed broken saucer missiles. No idea how I screwed that up.
- F3 key resets game.
- Tab menu is functional. Options are controls, set game timer, free play, screen flashes, volume, brightness (brightness may end up being a placeholder for something else)

I have it so there is a glow around each object like in an old monitor. Well that's the idea. I will make an option for this type of stuff too. If you have an old monitor then you don't need to fake it.

To do:
- Player ship needs a max speed, right now there isn't one.
- Finish the explosion flash.
- Custom controls. Not looking forward to this.
- Saucer AI may need tweaking. You guys can let me know once you try it.
- Saucer animations may need tweaking (the dots that move left and right across the ship). I need to figure out if there is any logic behind the patterns or if they are random - fast, slow, and reverse.

It is ready for testing and tweaking of the game mechanics. I STILL need to get my webserver up so I can upload the file for y'all to download. I've been both busy and lazy. More lazy I must admit. Maybe tomorrow.

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 06, 2017, 11:30:17 pm
Menu
(http://i64.tinypic.com/2yo3fh0.jpg)

Alternate view. Could zoom it in a bit maybe. Graphics need work.
Thanks to whoever I swiped this photo from. I changed the color and edited it a bit. I was going to do it in 3D, and maybe I will.
(http://i65.tinypic.com/2vdsi93.jpg)

Hours of action packed fun!!!  ;)
(http://i65.tinypic.com/bg4mrp.jpg)

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: pbj on September 07, 2017, 12:28:58 am
I'm looking forward to playing this.  Chop, chop.

 :cheers:
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on September 07, 2017, 12:42:28 am
Yeah man, release a demo or something. 
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 07, 2017, 03:39:27 am
Computer Space Demo Available
Version 0.6
Windows only (for now)

I want comments!
If you are familiar with the real game, please help me make this sim as accurate as possible!

Read the ReadMe file. I guess the game is ready for some beta testing?!?! We shall see.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Zk02UCSp7gX2RFbW5tSUc5Y00/view?usp=sharing

Please let me know if you have any problems downloading or running the game.

You will need a somewhat modern computer to run this (486 ain't gonna cut it) because I used a current game engine to design it. Unity 3D(2D) isn't the best choice for this game, but it's what I have been using for the past 7 years, so I just went with that. It has unnecessary overhead for a 2D game like this, but oh well. It is easy to port to OSX, Linux and other platforms as well, which I will be doing.

ETA
I will make my wheel art, snap, marquee and video available as well!
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: nexusmtz on September 08, 2017, 01:54:39 am
Please let me know if you have any problems downloading or running the game.
Ran fine on my test XP VM, so it should run for most people, but I don't have any point of comparison for feedback on the speeds.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 08, 2017, 02:07:23 am
Linux Version - I have not tested this as I don't have a Linux install available.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Zk02UCSp7gWkFkQmpPUWhTUHM/view?usp=sharing

This version is slightly newer than the Windows version

- Ship has maximum speed now.
- Ship missile lasts slightly less time on screen.
- Bezel view graphics are slightly updated.

I wonder if I should simulate the weird scoring "glitch" that was in the original game, or some of them maybe. Where the score wouldn't display correctly if the player got more than 9 points.

Do I need to make an OSX version? Howzabout a "pro mode" where the saucers AI is a lot more difficult. Maybe like an Easter Egg feature ;)

How about 2 player? Please say no....nah it would be easy.

My last major task is custom controls.

Good to hear it ran for you, nexusmtz! Thank you!
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: pbj on September 08, 2017, 09:44:25 am
The Windows version plays very well.  I haven't played an actual machine so no basis of comparison for me.

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 10, 2017, 12:33:52 am
Very cool!

Here is some artwork I made. Can't stand blank spots where images should be in my front end!

I will improve the marquee later. Having the title on the right looks better in my menu, but I can make a few variations. Maybe narrower too.
I'll do a vid soon.

If you have any art requests let me know.

Marquee
(http://i63.tinypic.com/2lc016r.png)

Snap
(http://i68.tinypic.com/s2cdb9.png)

Wheel Art - transparent
(http://i63.tinypic.com/2iiiqzc.png)

The game is really easy, but in 1971 controlling a ship on a screen was brand new and was difficult for people to play. I can improve the AI if it isn't correct.

I am having an issue with recovering after colliding with a saucer. Sometimes your ship will keep reappearing on top of the saucers and explode repeatedly. I will come up with a fix.

Also, my ship disappeared once after a death and never reappeared. I think I know why, but it's a known bug.

I wish there was some kind of boot-up screen I could simulate, but there was no computer in this game. Maybe I can simulate an old CRT warmup fade-in hah. I assume that is all you would see.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on September 10, 2017, 01:24:49 am
Looks great man.  Great job. 
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: RPO R6V on September 12, 2017, 12:26:04 pm
 Before I even make time to try it out, may I say THANK YOU for your hard work. I'm a huge fan of old black and white games and have often wondered if anyone would ever do this kind of thing for any of them since I assume there's a real possibility most of them won't be emulated in MAME (or DICE or any other way) in my lifetime.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 13, 2017, 12:46:54 am
Looks great man.  Great job.

Thank you! Have you given the linux version a try by chance?

I'm not sure this will run on a Pi. I did a little research - apparently Unity compiles linux files that are not compatible with Pi (this may have changed), BUT they are compatible with an Android emulator that runs on the Pi.

Just what I've read.


Before I even make time to try it out, may I say THANK YOU for your hard work. I'm a huge fan of old black and white games and have often wondered if anyone would ever do this kind of thing for any of them since I assume there's a real possibility most of them won't be emulated in MAME (or DICE or any other way) in my lifetime.

You are very welcome, and thank you for the kind words!

I found DICE about 9 months ago. I wanted to run the motorcycle game (Stunt Cycle?) but I don't know if it will work well in MAME front ends because, if I remember correctly, there are menus you are forced to go through when you run DICE, like setting controls. I tried to contact the creator of DICE, but no dice! :(

Just to be clear, Computer Space will not run in MAME but it is compatible with front ends that can run EXEs, like MaLa. In my own front end the game blends seamlessly into the menu/launch system.

I wonder if anyone would be interested in a mobile version? It would take me less than one day to make it compatible with a touch screen. Would people want the "First Arcade Game Ever" on their phones?

ETA:
To Do:

- finish the damn explosion flash!!! I can make it look perfect!
- Need to resolve ship collisions - sometimes the ship stays on top of the saucers after a crash and they just keep crashing repeatedly.
- Bug where ship won't reappear after it explodes multiple times in quick succession.
- Tweaks to ship speed, turning, etc.

I can fix all of these, no problem. That's about all that remains!
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: PL1 on September 13, 2017, 10:30:28 am
I found DICE about 9 months ago. I wanted to run the motorcycle game (Stunt Cycle?) but I don't know if it will work well in MAME front ends because, if I remember correctly, there are menus you are forced to go through when you run DICE, like setting controls. I tried to contact the creator of DICE, but no dice! :(
You are running the latest version (0.9) available here (https://sourceforge.net/projects/dice/), right?

You only have to configure the controls once.

You can run individual DICE games without going through the menu system, just add the game name after the executable.

If you:
  1. Unzip the emulator files into C:\DICE\
  2. Put the ROMs in C:\DICE\roms\

. . . then "C:\DICE\dice.exe stuntcycle" works as a shortcut or from command prompt -- exactly as described in the README.txt file.  ::)


Scott
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 14, 2017, 01:14:12 am
New download soon!

I have my web server up and will upload the newest Linux and Windows builds.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 18, 2017, 02:30:12 am
Computer Space v 0.8 is available!

Well my version is anyways ;)

Fixed:
- all objects appear correctly when explosion flash occurs - pretty much sort of.
- increased thrust power of player ship.
- adjusted length of time player ship spins when hit.
- fixed saucer and ship colliding repeatedly after an initial collision.
- player missile disappears in mid-flight when game ends.
- saucers no longer disappear momentarily when shot (they still do when they crash).
- added score card to bezel in Bezel View.
- added a little screen glow in Bezel View.

To Do:
- adjust saucers accuracy
- custom controls

There may still be a rare bug when the player dies and won't reappear. Please let me know if you encounter it, or any other problems.

Downloads:
Windows 32/64 bit
Windows 32/64 bit version 0.8 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/compspacewinv08.zip)

Linux
Linux version 0.8 (http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/compspacelinuxv08.zip)


Let me know what you think, and I want honest criticism if you see an issue. I want this to be good. Try it in your front end! Or maybe your back end...?  :dunno  :dizzy:
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 21, 2017, 02:45:33 pm
Can anyone verify that the Linux version is working? I see there have been some downloads. I have not tested it myself.

I mentioned this project to my Dad and told him how I was trying to make it as accurate as possible. He says, "If only 1,500 were made at the most, who's gonna know?" Hahaaaa. Well someone may, and that is the person I want to impress. :)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 21, 2017, 04:45:43 pm
ETA: (deleted a lot of words)
---------------
Done for next release
- made saucers, once again, disappear briefly when shot.
- fixed bug where game wouldn't end properly if player was dead when timer/game ended.
- slightly better saucer shooting AI. Still not good though.
- fixed a scoring bug where you could score more than one point per hit. That explains my high scores!

To Do:
- finish saucer shooting "AI".
- finalize timing and speed of objects (double check)
- custom controls. The game will probably be otherwise finished (v1.0) before I do this since it is easily worked around.

To Do Later and Maybes:
- add optional bloom, ghosting or other effects to simulate a CRT monitor.  :dunno
- possible: frame rate selector. Not sure this would be useful. Would simulate different monitors (the real game had a TV stuffed inside it)
- Hyperspace mode - a free "bonus play" if you beat the game, where the screen colors are "inverted". Was optional in original game I believe.
- simulate the machine breaking down for months at a time ;)

Current downloads are on the opening post of this thread.

Or you can go to my thrown-together Computer Space web page that has all game versions, as well as all the marquee and wheel art images in one place.
http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 22, 2017, 09:24:37 pm
Computer Space version 0.85 Available!

Fixes
- fixed player score bug where multiple points could be awarded for one hit.  :-[
- added optional glow and bloom effects to play around with (in the Tab Menu).
- added a Reset Defaults option in the Tab menu.
- adjusted saucers shooting AI. They are more accurate now.
- tweaked missile speeds and ship thrust.
- added trails to the missiles. Let me know what you think about these. Probably should be optional.
- Lowered the frame rate to 30 fps just to see what it's like. May make changing it an option but it's stuck there for this version.

(I updated this version at 7:15 pm Pacific time to include the following. Download it again if you want)

- adjusted ship thrust and speed, again. Quicker with better max speed management.
- made ship slightly bigger.
- reduced missile trails.
- fixed bug with audio volume.
- made collision areas smaller for missiles and saucers.


Downloads:

Windows 32/64 bit
Windows 32/64 bit version 0.85 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_win_v085.zip)

Linux
Linux version 0.85 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_linux_v085.zip)


or go here (marquee and wheel art are here as well)
http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/ (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 22, 2017, 11:48:42 pm
Snap Videos Available!
(Right-click and choose "Save As...")

320 x 240 mp4
Video 320x240 mp4
 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/ComputerSpace_320x240.mp4)
640 x 480 mp4
Video 640x480 mp4 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/ComputerSpace_640x480.mp4)

Videos are about 30 seconds.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 23, 2017, 01:05:36 pm
Please re-download the game!

I fixed a bad bug today in "Bezel Mode" where the explosion flash would not disappear.

It's still version 0.85 because I am lazy, so download it again either above or from here:

http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/

This was a big update so make sure to get the newest version.

Is anyone still here?  ???
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on September 23, 2017, 01:52:52 pm
I've got a question.  Is it normal for the ships to just stay there after you shoot them?  I'm not familiar enough with computer space to know if that's correct or not, but something seems off... maybe the ships don't pause their firing long enough or something.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 23, 2017, 02:28:28 pm
I've got a question.  Is it normal for the ships to just stay there after you shoot them?  I'm not familiar enough with computer space to know if that's correct or not, but something seems off... maybe the ships don't pause their firing long enough or something.

Thank you! This is the kind of thing I'm hoping we can figure out together :)  ;D

Are you asking if the ships should move away after they have been hit? Say they are sitting still and you kill them, then they reappear again in the same place, still not moving?

The way I have it now, the saucers movements are random. They will move in one of 8 directions (or not move at all) for 3-5 seconds(?), then move another random direction.

They can also sit still, but I programmed that to be less frequent.

I can program it so that, if the ships are sitting still when hit that they will move once they reappear. Am I understanding this?

From watching the real game:
- it seems that the saucers, when shot, continue to move while invisible.
- they do not re-appear randomly at all as far as I can tell, unless the random direction has changed in the meantime.
- I haven't noticed what they do after being shot or collided with while sitting still.

I don't know what you mean about the 'not pausing their firing long enough'. I think the saucers reload and fire about 1/2 a second after the previous missile disappears. I did notice the saucers firing while they are dead, I think (thought I fixed that)

I can fix any of this stuff, so please let me know if I'm on the right track.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on September 23, 2017, 09:54:10 pm
Yeah I think you need to force movement once shot.  In a couple of games they kept sitting in place and it wasn't very fun. 

I'm sorry, when I'm talking about the shots, I meant when the player gets hit sometimes the saucers shot again as soon as the player recovers.  That's another question... does the player just restart in the same place once hit?

I haven't had much time to test so what I'm talking about might not be 100% accurate... I need to play it more.  Unfortunately I don't have anything running Linux to test either, but when I get time I'll play around a bit more.  Thus far I've been very impressed with what you've made. 
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 23, 2017, 11:21:00 pm
Yeah I think you need to force movement once shot.  In a couple of games they kept sitting in place and it wasn't very fun. 

I'm sorry, when I'm talking about the shots, I meant when the player gets hit sometimes the saucers shot again as soon as the player recovers.  That's another question... does the player just restart in the same place once hit?

I haven't had much time to test so what I'm talking about might not be 100% accurate... I need to play it more.  Unfortunately I don't have anything running Linux to test either, but when I get time I'll play around a bit more.  Thus far I've been very impressed with what you've made.

Thank you!

Regarding the real game, based only on the videos I've seen:

- The saucers in the real game change direction more often than mine do, and in a tighter set of random numbers, if there are any at all. About 3-4 seconds.

- The player ship does not reappear in a random spot when shot. Its momentum continues.

- The saucers don't change course when they are shot and disappear, unless they were already going to at that time. They don't hyperspace to a random spot ever.

I may have reintroduced a bug where the saucers can shoot while they are dead. I will look out for that. I thought I saw a shot come out of thin air once.

I am not sure if their shot frequency changes when you die. Say a saucer missile hits you just as the missile was about to die/time out. The saucer would then be ready to fire another shot at about the time you finished spinning/dying. I will look into this and see what should be happening.

Thanks for the heads-up. I welcome any questions and suggestions!

I really need to play a real machine one time. There must be one in the SF bay area. I haven't tried to find out.

ETA:
I just watched a video
- The saucer did fire a shot while it was dead and invisible.
- The saucer fire rate does not appear to change when you die. I watched a shot hit at the last second and the saucers fired again when it should have. BUT...
- The saucer firing rate does appear to be a little bit slower than mine, which will help the problem you had. I was wrong. It's the same.
- The saucers change direction about every 3 seconds in the real game. Mine was random between 2 and 6. Fixed it. Makes the game a lot tougher.
- The saucers sometimes stay still for 2 "turns" (6 seconds)!!! So I am going to have to leave that how it is.

I do have it programmed so that there is a 1 in 9 chance that the saucers will sit still every time they change direction. It's the only direction change that has the possibility of being adjusted since I knew I may want to do so. If it seems too frequent I can change that.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 24, 2017, 05:50:29 pm
If I have time I will upload a new version tonight. I figured out how I'm going to do customizable controls. Probably won't have that finished.

Side note:
It's funny how the simplest game can take so long to build. At first glance it seems easy - 3 ships, 2 missiles, the end. Practically zero AI.

The devil's in the details. How to make the menus, designing menu graphics and buttons, arrows, and making sure they work. How do I decide which saucer should fire? How to make the game end, and work in Free Play mode, or with and without bloom effects.

Making the attract video haha - damn when I did come up with all this free time?

What if the ship explodes as the timer runs out? What if what if....anyone here who has ever programmed knows what I mean. Hell anyone who's ever built anything "gets it" :) It always looks easy on paper!

It's all simple, sort of, but put it all together and man - it's a job! What's cool is that after making many games I can now anticipate things and build accordingly.

Anyways, not complaining! I love this stuff! It just makes me laugh sometimes. "Oh I'll have this done in 3 days!" Pffft.

Here is a Youtube link to the higher res Snap Video (30 seconds) if anyone cares.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2BNgjUsP_s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2BNgjUsP_s)

Videos download links are in one of the posts above (lazy).
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 27, 2017, 10:36:22 pm
Computer Space version 0.92 is ready!

The game play is complete! If I get my hands on a real machine, or if someone tells me something is wrong then I may alter it. But as far as I can tell, it is done!

All changes and non-changes are according to how the real game plays. I'm willing to be wrong so if anyone knows better please let me know.

- saucers change direction every 3 seconds now, which is a lot more often, and matches the real game.
- player ship does not reappear in a random spot when shot. Its momentum continues. No fix.
- saucers don't change course when they are shot and disappear, unless they were already going to at that time. They don't hyperspace to a random spot ever. No fix.
- saucer firing rate is constant regardless of player death, saucer deaths, or anything else. No fix.
- custom Controls: the menu is built but you cannot set custom controls with it yet.
- I added the sound of a quarter dropping into the machine when you hit the credit button. I will probably remove it. However there is no indication the coin went in other than that.

To Do
 
- (edit to add, in Fred Sanford's voice) "Hide the mouse cursor ya dummy!" (aw come on, Pop!)
- finish custom controls
- maybe enable bloom and glow in the "Bezel View" when I get around to it ;)
- I'll do a Mac/OSX version next round.
- that's about it unless bugs are found.


Downloads:

Windows 32/64 bit
Windows 32/64 bit version 0.92 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_win_v092.zip)

Linux
Linux version 0.92 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_linux_v092.zip)


or go here (marquee and wheel art are here as well)
http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/ (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/)


Like I said the game play is, as far as I can tell, complete. I am going to have a very cold, very good ale and mini-celebrate.

Edit to add:

I want this to be compatible with as many MAME front ends as possible. I would think that any FE that can run an EXE will be fine with this game.

If I missed anything, please let me know. I want the game to act like a MAME game - Tab menus, same default buttons and functions. I just want to be sure I didn't miss anything.

Thanks to everyone for the help and encouragement! I hope you like the game. If you don't let me know and we'll see what we can do heh.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 28, 2017, 01:42:27 am
So I'm playing the so-called "finished game play" game on the big screen and I see a mouse cursor in the center of the playfield. How did I miss that all this time? 

:cheers:   :laugh2:  :dizzy:
^^ ya that's probably it.

By the way, joysticks will be supported in the controls setup menu.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on September 30, 2017, 10:24:24 pm
deleted
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Thenasty on October 01, 2017, 09:35:44 am
now it's broken :(  can't insert coin or start a game (been waiting for this version with custom control)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 01, 2017, 04:23:51 pm
now it's broken :(  can't insert coin or start a game (been waiting for this version with custom control)

Can you install into a different directory? I think I know what I did wrong. If this does not work (it will) please let me know. In the meantime I will see if I can make the transition easier.

The same thing happened to me and this fixed it. It has to do with the old way the controls were used vs the new way. Overwriting the old game leaves some traces behind. Hard to explain.

I have a few more bugs to fix:

- The saucers can still be collided with when they are invisible (dead)
- game needs an icon
- fix this control/update issue.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 01, 2017, 04:42:43 pm
Problem solved, expect a new upload in 10 minutes or so.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 01, 2017, 04:55:19 pm
Computer Space version 0.96 is available
New Mac version!


Fixed:
- fixed bug from last version where controls would not work!
- custom controls setup works (keyboard only for now)
- removed mouse cursor
- playing game in Free Play mode does not subtract a credit.
- other minor fixes
- icon added
- new Mac version released!

To do:
- add joystick support to control setup menu

Downloads:

Computer Space v 0.96

Windows 32/64 bit
Windows 32/64 bit version 0.96 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_win_v096.zip)

Linux
Linux version 0.96 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_linux_v096.zip)

Mac / OSX
Mac version 0.96 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_osx_v096.zip)


or go here (marquee, wheel art and snap videos are here as well)
http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/ (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/)


 :cheers:
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 01, 2017, 08:04:09 pm
Found a cool new bug in version 0.96

- Custom Controls - player missile will not turn if you change the left and right buttons.

Sorry :(

Now that I'm here,
Fixes for next release.
- fixed custom controls, again.
- ship now disappears for a moment after death spin.
- score is not given for saucers and player when they collide.
- player ship disappears rather than spinning upon collision with saucer.

I will stop offering so many updates after this next version. I realize it may be a pain for some of you.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 01, 2017, 08:37:22 pm
Update 0.97 available
Sorry for the quick updates. This should be a fine working version.

Fixes
- fixed custom controls, again - which is the reason for this quick update.
- ship now disappears for a moment after death spin.
- score is not given for saucers and player when they collide.
- player ship disappears rather than spinning upon collision with saucer.

To do
- basic joystick support. It will be Joy 1 (left and right), and buttons 1 and 2 for Thrust and Fire.
- add joystick support to control setup menu. Looks like a pain in the butt though, so I dunno.

Downloads:

Computer Space v 0.97

Windows 32/64 bit
Windows 32/64 bit version 0.97 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_win_v097.zip)
Linux
Linux version 0.97 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_linux_v097.zip)
Mac / OSX
Mac version 0.97 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_osx_v097.zip)


or go here (marquee, wheel art and snap videos are here as well)
http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/ (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/)



Below is an Easter Egg I thought about hiding in the game. It works 100% but isn't activated (so don't try to find it). But should I keep stuff like this out of the game, even if hidden? The original had Hyperspace Mode.
Double Cheers!!!  :cheers:  :cheers:

(http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/compspace_x2.jpg)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 03, 2017, 02:49:52 am
Notes on the next update. It will be a biggie!

I'm very excited! This game is about done!

I played this on my cabinet tonight - no keyboard needed anymore!

Done
- added fully configurable joystick support (up to 12 buttons) with a MAME-style custom setup menu. I can't believe I did it!
- game is fully navigable with a joystick, including menus.
- joystick can be disabled.
- explosion flash looks cooler and closer to the original. Still not complete.
- fixed graphical bug with player ship death.
- ship engine audio now plays even if Thrust key is reassigned.
- saucers aren't visible past the edge of the screen on wide screens anymore. Not sure when that popped up.
- numerous bug fixes and tweaks.

Joystick Control
Keyboard control is always enabled. Tab, Enter and Escape keyboard keys cannot be changed, however joystick buttons that map to them can be. I thought it was best to keep these keyboard shortcuts the same as MAME and other emus.

Player ship can be rotated with any joystick X axis, or with joystick buttons, or both.

I usually hate making menus but there is a great satisfaction when they work as designed!  ;D  :)  8)

(http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_controlmenu.jpg)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 03, 2017, 12:01:02 pm
Looks good man.  Did you add hat switch support?  I ask because I guarantee you sometime in the future someone is going to complain if it isn't there.  Might as well do it now.  Hat switches are a pain in the butt btw.....  they are in radians even though 99% of hat switches out there are only 8 way.  That's how d-pads are mapped in windows though.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 05, 2017, 12:04:22 am
There is no hat switch support and after some research on a few forums, I will not be adding it. Unity's controller support is terrible and hat switches are pretty much a no-go, which is insane. For such a popular engine it sure has a ways to go in a lot of areas.

There is a plugin I can buy but I don't think so. Pretty sad.

Are you talking about actual hat switches on joysticks, or are you saying that some people have their arcade cabinets with a stick mapped to the hat switch(?) Right now left and right can be used with any joystick axis #1.

I added the ability to disable joysticks though so that if someone wants to use Joy2Key that there would be no conflicts.

Sorry but you are correct, hat switches are a nightmare, or worse. I'm stoked I got as much working as I have. I consider myself a mediocre programmer.

I will probably wait until the weekend to release the next version. I've played it a lot and it's possibly version 1.0, but I will upload one more test version just in case and, if all goes well, probably call it complete. Until more bugs are found of course....or a new feature.

Should I throw in the four-saucer version as an easter egg? Maybe if a player gets a perfect score (not easy).

ETA:
Thanks for asking and bringing that up, I had not considered it. I know my joystick support is probably limited. I guess I shouldn't claim "full joystick support" haha. It supports 12 buttons, though I can add more, maybe I should. My "Player 1" button is 12. Coincidence? Hmmmm......

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 05, 2017, 03:23:53 pm
Nah, I doubt most people have arcade controls mapped to the hat interface, I just meant people with gamepads.  Unity is an odd beast.... been researching it for our racing game (no I haven't forgotten about doing that, I've just been busy) and it'll be feature rich in one area and lacking even the most basic functionality in others. 
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 05, 2017, 08:34:16 pm
I don't know what to think of Unity. I've used it for years and I know it well so it's hard to switch. But man - there are important bugs that have persisted for years. Streaming OGV vids (OGV, say what?) have no audio still. Years later and nobody knows why and it is not fixed. Just ignored. Input is atrocious. The new lighting engine is weird. But Unity's great in a lot of ways.

Speaking of racing games, when I made Daredevil Dave I used wheel colliders. That was a lot of fun for a two wheeled machine (not). Hard to fault Unity for that one though. But ya wheel colliders - ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- have fun.

One good thing is all the user made addons. It's very impressive and many are necessary. Definitely check the asset store. Some people have done a lot with car physics, sway bars, traction and stuff. And the ability to make games for Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android, Wii, etc etc, is very cool, and works pretty well.

And Unity has a strong support community. I figured out everything on my own, I mean I work alone. Myself and the forums were all I needed. :)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 07, 2017, 12:36:40 am
Working on finishing the explosion "flash". It doesn't really invert the colors, though I use that term. This is getting pretty close to how the real game looks.

There are these shadow like things that appear when the flash comes. The stars and ships have them. The score just gets dark. I used two different sets of score numbers - one dark - and swap them when the flash appears. I got sick of trying to blend one set of numbers properly against both the black background and the flash, so... ;)

This is where it is as of right now. All the elements are in. They just need some adjusting.

(http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_flash1.jpg)

This is also what "Hyperspace Mode" looks like in the real game. If you beat the game you get to play again, except the screen looks like it does during an explosion.

I am also going to add in the "incorrect" score symbols from the older game. It couldn't display double digits for score, so it showed some wonky symbols instead, then starts again at zero. I think that was fixed later(?) so I may make it optional. I need to look into that again.

These should be the last features I add to the game.  8)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 11, 2017, 01:33:46 am
Since I'm hangin out here tonight, thought I'd share the latest.

Done
- added joystick support with custom setup.
- game is fully navigable with a joystick, including setup menus.
- joystick can be disabled.
- better looking explosion flash effect.
- ships "glow" effect now disappears with ship when dead.
- fixed small problems with ships audio.


To Do
- FIX mapping of Enter key with joystick
- FIX mapping of Enter key with joystick
- FIX mapping of Enter key with joystick

That's it. It's the stupidest thing. I assign the Enter key to a button using said button, as in MAME, and then the cycle loops because I've just used the new Enter key during the process. It actually works but it looks confusing for a particular reason that isn't worth describing. As if any of this is..

It should be the simplest fix but the mother ---smurf--- is eluding me! Every time I try to fix it - "Dude! We've checked that the button has been reassigned and/or is awaiting user input you stupid program, what is wrong with you (actually me, as always)....AAARGGG!?!?!!"

It's so lame but there it is, mocking me.  :badmood:  :banghead:  :dunno

Whew, sorry 'bout that.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 14, 2017, 12:55:36 pm
Computer Space 0.98 Is Here!

This is a big update, and if no bugs are found or reported it will end up as version 1.0. It better, I'm running out of version numbers  :P

Done
- joystick support with custom mapping.
- game is fully navigable on a cabinet/joystick, including setup menus.
- joystick can be disabled.
- better looking explosion flash effect.
- fixed small problems with ships audio and graphics.
- Easter Egg if you're good enough!
- small bug fixes and tidying up.

- found a bug in the Mac version where the screen stretches to fill the screen. I already tried to fix it and failed and I just don't care about the Mac version enough to do it, sorry. Maybe later.

The game supports joystick button numbers 0 - 16.

The X Axis on any joystick controls player ship left and right. Buttons can also be mapped to this.
If this doesn't work for some people, the joystick can be disabled and you can use "Joy2Key" or similar to map your own special controls.

I did a lot of work on the explosion effect. I need to see this game on my CRT monitor still :)

About the scoring:
For those familiar enough with the original, I went with double-digit scoring rather than single digit as in the early CS models. I could add single digits (plus the score display bug) but I thought a fixed version would be better for actual play. Besides I may add a second player, and the two player versions had double-digit scoring.

I may add that feature though as I do want the game to be as "authentic" as I can get it.

 :cheers:  ;D  8)

Downloads:

Computer Space v 0.98

Windows 32/64 bit
Windows 32/64 bit version 0.98 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_win_v098.zip)
Linux
Linux version 0.98 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_linux_v098.zip)
Mac / OSX
Mac version 0.98 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_osx_v098.zip)


or go here (marquee, wheel art and snap videos are here as well)
http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/ (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/)


Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 14, 2017, 07:26:19 pm
Is it live or is it Memorex? One is mine and one is the original game.

I placed and sized the score numbers exactly where they should be (or damn close) in relation to the screen and the background stars. I tried to make everything perfect.

I see the saucers are a little different. I'll fix that for v1.0  :-[ (ETA: I just fixed it)
(http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_sidebyside.jpg)


Explosion flash below. Color is a lot different due to the photograph of the real game (I hope)
(http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_sidebysideflash.jpg)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone Project - Anyone Interested?
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 21, 2017, 02:52:27 am
If there are no more bugs to report than I will release version 1.0 in a few days.

I am going to fix the saucers aiming a little bit, and I made some changes to their size.

Yep.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 25, 2017, 07:20:00 pm
Computer Space v1.0 Available Now!!!

Step right up and get your free copy of my brand new Computer Space sim!

What Is Computer Space?
Computer Space was the first coin operated video arcade machine and was released in 1971.

Computer Space is a very rare game (about 1,500 were built) and there are no ROMs or emulators available, so I recreated the game. I spent a lot of time getting the details precise to bring as much of the original gameplay to this as possible. It took me a bit longer to complete than I'd planned (what doesn't), but the game is finally complete.

MAME, Hyperspin, MaLa
Computer Space was designed for incorporation into most MAME/Arcade front end systems, like Hyperspin and MaLa. If your FE of choice can run EXE files than you can run Computer Space, no problem.

Screenshots
Ultra-HD Graphics! ;)
I fixed the look of the saucers a little bit. Subtle but I wanted it to be accurate.
(http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_10.jpg)

MAME style menu
(http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_controlmenu.jpg)

One is the real game:
(http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_sidebyside.jpg)

Running in my custom homemade front end (screenshot from video):
(http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/cs_fe1.jpg)

Youtube Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--rwRMrFlcg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--rwRMrFlcg)

Downloads


Marquee
(http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/marquee.png)

Wheel Art
(http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/wheel.png)

Snap Image
(http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/img/snap.png)

Snap Videos (right click and Save As...)
http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/ComputerSpace_640x480.mp4 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/ComputerSpace_640x480.mp4)
http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/ComputerSpace_320x240.mp4 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/ComputerSpace_320x240.mp4)

Website
http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/index.htm (http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/index.htm)

Game Downloads:

Computer Space v 1.0

Windows 32/64 bit
Windows 32/64 bit version 1.0 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_win_v100.zip)
Linux
Linux version 1.0 (http://www.mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_linux_v100.zip)

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: rovingmind on October 25, 2017, 07:22:45 pm
I've been away from the forum for awhile but have finally wandered back since i quit being lazy for awhile and actually managed to work on and actually fire up my cabinets. 

props to you sir for undertaking this project.  I have thought (like most of us who end up seeing computer space) of making one of the cabinets.  For anybody that actually does, this is an excellent solution.

  I do have one question though about the mac version.  before i download it, what is the oldest version of osX that is supported?  I've a mac mini getting shoved into a bondi blue imac running 10.7 for the wife.  I might put this on there.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 25, 2017, 07:29:49 pm
I've been away from the forum for awhile but have finally wandered back since i quit being lazy for awhile and actually managed to work on and actually fire up my cabinets. 

props to you sir for undertaking this project.  I have thought (like most of us who end up seeing computer space) of making one of the cabinets.  For anybody that actually does, this is an excellent solution.

  I do have one question though about the mac version.  before i download it, what is the oldest version of osX that is supported?  I've a mac mini getting shoved into a bondi blue imac running 10.7 for the wife.  I might put this on there.

This should run on your Mac machine.

All of my previous games run on my old Mac Mini that (IIRC) is running Snow Leopard.

One thing about the Mac version: It is best run on a 4:3 aspect ratio monitor (as opposed to widescreen), otherwise the screen will stretch rather than adding black bars as in Windows. I tried to fix this but did not.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: nexusmtz on October 25, 2017, 11:29:06 pm
Congrats on getting to 1.0! Runs fine for me, but that doesn't change the fact that I suck at it.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: rovingmind on October 26, 2017, 12:42:23 am
awesome, happily the 90's era imac had a 14" crt in it, i've shoehorned in a 4:3 lcd panel so it should be hunky dory.  I'll probably have to wait until after halloween to give it a go on that machine.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 26, 2017, 01:43:59 am
Glad to get some feedback thanks to you both! Good to hear about the screen!

I'd like to hear if anyone uses the Mac version. Mine stopped working for me, and I mean all past versions too. Might be a setting left behind from old runs. Funny - I tried to fix the screen stretch issue and next thing I know nothing works. Hmmm it could be this other thing I did. I'll look in a few days.

I do have a few things I'd like to improve. I'm glad the game is hard to play! The saucers have a few weaknesses that I should fix so was worried about that.

I should add a second player. It would be easy. In fact a second player would make the game so much more fun once you master the AI player.

Thanks everyone!!!!!

 :cheers:  :applaud:
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: rovingmind on October 28, 2017, 11:27:47 am
on mac osx 10.7.5,   2ghz core 2 duo mac mini, 2gig of ram,  the game does the happy bouncing opening thing, then quits with out any error message.   Not able to test actual gameplay.  :(
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: nitrogen_widget on October 28, 2017, 04:16:18 pm
do you have a 64 bit version for linux?
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 28, 2017, 04:30:18 pm
on mac osx 10.7.5,   2ghz core 2 duo mac mini, 2gig of ram,  the game does the happy bouncing opening thing, then quits with out any error message.   Not able to test actual gameplay.  :(

Okay thanks. It used to work and suddenly it doesn't for me either. I may have checked a box that I shouldn't have. I'll see.

Linux 64 bit: I can make a 64 bit version, didn't even think about it. Do I need to? I don't use Linux so I don't know. I can make a universal 32/64 bit build.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 28, 2017, 04:48:34 pm
Not having luck with the OSX version. Even the old versions that worked don't now. Dude? So a newer version must have left an old setting behind, although I don't know why that would affect anyone else.

My tendonitis is really bad lately and I am not going to be able to fix the OSX version right now.

If you'd like to try some older versions:
http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_osx_v098.zip (http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_osx_v098.zip)
http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_osx_v097.zip (http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_osx_v097.zip)

I'll try one more thing right now and see if it works.

I can do the 32/64 bit Linux version. I have never tested the Linux builds.

ETA:
I can't get the OSX version to work yet. My apologies.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: nitrogen_widget on October 28, 2017, 04:59:27 pm
on mac osx 10.7.5,   2ghz core 2 duo mac mini, 2gig of ram,  the game does the happy bouncing opening thing, then quits with out any error message.   Not able to test actual gameplay.  :(

Okay thanks. It used to work and suddenly it doesn't for me either. I may have checked a box that I shouldn't have. I'll see.

I can make a 64 bit version, didn't even think about it. Do I need to? I don't use Linux so I don't know. I can make a universal 32/64 bit build.

64 bit version would be nice.
32 bit version on 64 bit linux requires me to track down 32 bit libraries and manually install.
could be my distro though.
it isn't debian based. :)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 28, 2017, 09:07:14 pm
Okay I will do a 64 bit Linux right now. I remember reading about players needing the 32 bit files otherwise. Should have it up in 10 minutes.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 28, 2017, 09:14:58 pm
Linux Universal v1.0 (32/64 bit)

http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_linux_v100.zip (http://mdigitalmedia.com/computerspace/files/computerspace_linux_v100.zip)

Same download link, same ZIP file. I could make separate versions for 32 and 64 bit if that is somehow easier.

Please let me know if this works correctly.

I will try to fix the osx version soon as I can.

ETA:
Failed to fix the Mac version. I don't know that I will continue to try. OSX was an afterthought - it was easy to deploy to it along with the others. Now it isn't. Hopefully one of the older versions above will work for people. I removed it from the website.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: nitrogen_widget on October 29, 2017, 09:28:53 am
works on 64bit linux now.
this would fit perfectly in a mini cabaret woody cab with a small crt.

I probably missed it in the thread but what resolutions will this run at?
Can you force a res. at start or does it adopt desktop res?
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: 1500points on October 29, 2017, 04:22:22 pm
Watching.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on October 29, 2017, 08:14:46 pm
works on 64bit linux now.
this would fit perfectly in a mini cabaret woody cab with a small crt.

I probably missed it in the thread but what resolutions will this run at?
Can you force a res. at start or does it adopt desktop res?

It will run at your desktop res. It will have black bars on the sides if necessary to keep the 4:3 aspect ratio. It does that on my 16:9 and 16:10 screens. There should be no stretching in Windows. Not sure about Linux.

I just experimented - I tried setting my 60 inch TV to 800 x 600 (in Windows I mean) and it filled the screen.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on November 07, 2017, 12:30:36 am
I just received a very nice email from Kevin at www.computerspacefan.com (http://www.computerspacefan.com). If you want to learn everything about Computer Space, go there!

I asked him for comments and was very pleasantly surprised. There are a few things I should fix, like the saucers aiming and the missiles don't normally have tails.

It was great hearing from someone who owns an actual machine(s?) and is so into it. Seriously cool, it totally made my day!

So in the near future (weeks) I will do another update.

I'm turning 50 tomorrow so starting the party early (now). Party on, Wayne!  :afro:
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: Thenasty on November 07, 2017, 09:49:20 am
Happy B-Day DareDevilDave.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on November 08, 2017, 01:16:00 am
Thank you!!!

This is a trip...

I just got off the phone with my Dad. I was telling him about this game. He's 75.

He told me "some guys" approached him at around 1970. My dad made boats in San Jose, CA and they needed a fiberglass cabinet built for a game they'd designed. Before I could say anything he said, "I remember the name of their company - Nutting Associates"

I said, "That's them!!! That's them! Those are the guys who made Computer Space!" I freaked the f out! No way?!?! He said all they had was a wooden cabinet at the time and some TVs and a production area.

My Dad almost designed the cabinets for Computer Space! What a trip! I had no idea of this connection until right now. I don't know why he didn't design them, he doesn't remember everything right now, but he remembered their name and thought it was strange that he did. I think maybe they couldn't afford the work, but they obviously got them designed somewhere.

 :cheers:
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: bosco on December 04, 2017, 11:30:11 pm
I'm usually a lurker but had to chime in to thank you for this great simulator.  Is there a way to turn off the filtering?  I'm one of the few that like my pixels blocky. :)
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: Howard_Casto on December 05, 2017, 03:54:20 pm
Computer space isn't a raster game, it's vector.  There aren't any pixels to uncover. 
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: pbj on December 05, 2017, 04:07:53 pm
Computer space isn't a raster game, it's vector.  There aren't any pixels to uncover.

lol wat.  Did Yoshi tell you that when you lapped him in Mario Kart?

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: Howard_Casto on December 05, 2017, 04:43:28 pm
Yeah computer space is a series of dots drawn on the screen.  It's not vector in the sense that everything is line art, but it is vector in the sense that there aren't any sprites. 
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: pbj on December 05, 2017, 04:48:56 pm
That is not what vector means.

Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: Howard_Casto on December 05, 2017, 05:12:09 pm
Dude I come in trying to explain something and it didn't come out right.  Instead of asking what I meant you come in laughing like Nelson from the simpsons and bringing up a discussion from several months ago.  I get the feeling that you think I'm the ---uvula--- in this situation.  You have a problem, you can't come in and talk like an adult and nobody on this earth or any other is going to disrespect me in that manner.  Please work on that and this won't happen anymore. 

Now as I was saying....  The ship is just a bunch of dots as is the starfield, ect.  They are at a super low resolution and drawn via instructions, which, yes, technically qualifies as vector drawing even though it is done so via a raster monitor.  It's just a vector with a length of 0.  Now if that doesn't qualify for your definition of vector fine, but it doesn't detract from my point... there isn't anything to clean up, unless you want those dots to look like giant chunky squares. 
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on December 10, 2017, 03:06:11 pm
I'm usually a lurker but had to chime in to thank you for this great simulator.  Is there a way to turn off the filtering?  I'm one of the few that like my pixels blocky. :)

There are some options in the TAB menu. If those are off that's as sharp as it can go.

This is a simulator and, unlike the real game, this one uses sprites. The ship is made from individual ones (dots or pixels, so to speak, and they aren't actually square), the saucers are one big animated sprite each.

By the way, I still need to fix the enemy ship aiming, they aren't very accurate. I've had a lot to deal with lately, but I won't forget this.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: nitrogen_widget on December 12, 2017, 11:10:59 am
The only way to make this better is to put it on the raspberry pi.




Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: DaredevilDave on December 16, 2017, 01:58:33 pm
The only way to make this better is to put it on the raspberry pi.

I read that if I compile an Android version that it can be played on a Pi through an Android emulator. I could try this if anyone wants to see if it works. It would be easy for me to do.

I still haven't gotten around to fixing the saucers accuracy.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: Manguan on January 12, 2019, 09:40:43 am
Great job.
v1.00 link gives 403 Forbidden openresty error.
Any other link?
Thanks.
Title: Re: "Computer Space" Clone (1st Video Arcade Game) - Now Available!
Post by: Stiletto on October 04, 2020, 11:00:37 pm
Does anyone still have this? I missed it on the first go around.

Website is down and files were not preserved by The Wayback Machine.