It is common knowledge that the software versions in every single arcade release are not always equal – while games were in production, problems would be discovered and reported so developers would offer patches/code updates to fix those issues. Often particular code versions will become revered by players of a certain game (especially with fighting games where the balancing is “just right”) but sometimes extra improvements could still be made.
Such is the case with the popular classic Robotron:2084. Originally designed by the “VidKidz” Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar, the game has remained a fixture of arcade competition, especially in the wake of people tackling old world records to make new ones. In an effort to satisfy long-time players, Mr. DeMar has set out to release a new code update for the game, entitled the “Tie-Die ROMset”, that name coming from some colorful shirts that Eugene Jarvis will sometimes wear (if you follow AH regularly then you know that Eugene is still professionally involved in arcades with his company Raw Thrills; stay tuned for an interview on their upcoming Jurassic Park arcade title).
The code is still in Beta form but it is getting some testing from top Robotron players and on real hardware too. The ROMset will be made available here sometime in early 2015. Here is a list of some the features that the new code will offer, more might be added in the final:
1) Number of Lives shown at bottom of screen for each player (they still wrap at 256)
2) 10 Million digit now shows
3) 10 Million+ scores are correctly placed in High Score table which goes up to 9.999.999
4) Extra Ships now settable at 10-15-20-25-30-40-50-60-70-75K
5) Set HSTD initials to “4” to start game at 99,900,000 to see Goldilocks mode. Will not register as HSTD
6) If 3 blanks entered for initials then score is not entered into the High Score Table
7) Default initials changed for entries 3, 4 an 5
and here is a video of the new code in action:
What are your thoughts on this?
the tie-die romset update was officially released to public on February 9, 2015. Check out WilliamsPlayersUnite website for details on the romset.