1st hardware prototype

[Andrew Davie]

On 15 August, I got an unexpected package from batari.  I had asked a while ago for some test/prototype boards to be burned with a WenHop binary, just to confirm it works on actual hardware and to have myself a small batch of "the real thing".  Well, they arrived... and they work.  Not only that, but they look absolutely gorgeous running on my TV.  There are 10 boards; I thought I'd get extra because I don't know why. Just seemed like a good idea. You can just see "proto" and the date of binary at the bottom of the title screen. The video doesn't really do it justice; to the eye this looks way way better, with none of the flicker or shimmer. Almost a solid colour screen.  Did I say way better than I'd imagined/hoped?  Way better; almost perfect. Anyway, am inspired enough to post the video, although I am not working on this game at the moment. The video shows the occasional screen roll glitch, and it's not a complete game of course. But it works. And it's gorgeous.  I'm very happy.

PS: The board has "AtariAge" stencilled on, but is actually nothing to do with Al or AtariAge. I'll scrub the stencil off, probably. They were just spare boards that were lying around when manufactured.

PPS: This binary was from before I implemented the smoother rock movement/falling. Maybe I should do another "run" to represent the "final" version; it's sufficiently improved.

[Adam]

That looks AMAZING! Once it's done it will be a great game.