The young games programmer, Larry Kaplan, who later went on to co-found Activision was rumoured to have had dealings with a certain Cyderdyne Systems circa 1984 ;-) Great video Jon and keep up the awesome work!
I play Dungeond of Eternity with my friends in VR on Quest 3 and when I get physically tired, I start a game on my 2600+. What a time to be alive, getting the latest advances in technology while keeping all the simple pleasures from the past. No compromises, I want it all. So happy to learn that the Analog Duo has been Jail Break, too many games to play at once and so many great youtubers on my watch list. All this while my unpainted miniatures collection is growing to a level where I would need 2 life to paint them all. Ho, and I am waiting for the pizza delivery guy, life is good.
Watching this video I think about how much I wished at the time and how much I still wish that Combat had some kind of AI so that single play was possible. It's worth remembering that Video Chess is only two years older and has an almost miraculous AI.
I didn't hear you mention (could have missed it) that the game is actually called "Air Sea Battle", and when it was sold through Sears only, Sears re-named it to "Target Fun". Looking back at all the Atari 2600 games now, Air Sea Battle is my favorite title for the system. I played Midway's Sea Wolf (1976) in the arcade when it was a new game and loved it. Air Sea Battle takes inspiration from Sea Wolf. There was another now incredibly rare game called "Bombs Away" from Meadows Games who was also located in Sunnyvale CA like Atari. I've never seen any of their games except RUclips videos. I was lucky that we managed to get an Atari at a flea market in the late 70s before it really caught on. Space Invaders wasn't out yet which made the popularity explode. We paid $40 for a used Atari in the late 70s included Air Sea Battle, Outlaw & Target included all the boxes, paddles and one joystick. We immediately bought a 2nd joystick.
@@samusvikerness661 As far as I recall, yes. Subsequent systems had either more memory available (like the 5200) so they could actually allow for input to choose number of players, difficulty, etc. And even beyond that, the addition of the numpad allowed for way more entry options beyond that red button. That just adds to its charm, though!
I also had the Sears Tele-Games unit with Target Fun. I remember playing game 11 with the guided missiles and me and my friends would try to beat each other to get to 99 points first.
The computer opponent in the Basketball game '78 was insane. He would back off and let you score if he though he would win. We also got a game labeled as Dr. J. vs. Larry Bird. Have you ever heard of that?
Canyon Bomber (which I think was designed by David Crane) also had a similar scheme in which the computer simply shoots continuously. I don't think I tried all the variations, but I feel like the computer's continuous firing was annoyingly effective.
Maybe they could have made it a little challenging by randomly moving the computer's aim, or making it speed up or slow down. Sometimes I'm left scratching my head at the decisions developers make. Did you ever play the computer game Archon II: Adept? You can play against the computer and it does a decent enough job of moving its pieces and fighting, however... There's one piece, the Wraith, that when you fight against a person, is invisible except when attacking. When you play against the computer, both sides are visible. The stated reasoning being that the game needs to know where it is in order to function. Except that the A.I. doesn't need to know where it is all the time. The routines that handle movement are completely separate from the A.I. routines that decide where to go and when to attack. They could have added a flag so that the A.I. only knows where it is when it's attacking, and therefore, visible.
The young games programmer, Larry Kaplan, who later went on to co-found Activision was rumoured to have had dealings with a certain Cyderdyne Systems circa 1984 ;-) Great video Jon and keep up the awesome work!
I play Dungeond of Eternity with my friends in VR on Quest 3 and when I get physically tired, I start a game on my 2600+. What a time to be alive, getting the latest advances in technology while keeping all the simple pleasures from the past. No compromises, I want it all.
So happy to learn that the Analog Duo has been Jail Break, too many games to play at once and so many great youtubers on my watch list.
All this while my unpainted miniatures collection is growing to a level where I would need 2 life to paint them all.
Ho, and I am waiting for the pizza delivery guy, life is good.
Sounds like your heart is full. A nice way to live!
@@GenXGrownUpI will take it while it last because the past few years has been hell for me.
There needs to be more recharged games of these older games and add varied AI difficulties for added challenge.
Yes
That might be my favorite video of yours, such simple fun. 10 out of 10.
Awww, thanks, JT. It's a bit of an experiment as you know. We'll if there's an audience for this sort of simplicity. 🤞
@GenXGrownUp I think I have to come clean, and make a full confession. I was rooting for the robot on the last game.
@@jeremiahthomas8140 TRAITOR! 😉
This was great! It brought back memories of playing this (Air-Sea Battle) at my maternal grandmother’s house! Hope your channel has continued success!
You're 100% right about the sounds... thanks for the member video !
Watching this video I think about how much I wished at the time and how much I still wish that Combat had some kind of AI so that single play was possible. It's worth remembering that Video Chess is only two years older and has an almost miraculous AI.
I didn't hear you mention (could have missed it) that the game is actually called "Air Sea Battle", and when it was sold through Sears only, Sears re-named it to "Target Fun".
Looking back at all the Atari 2600 games now, Air Sea Battle is my favorite title for the system. I played Midway's Sea Wolf (1976) in the arcade when it was a new game and loved it. Air Sea Battle takes inspiration from Sea Wolf. There was another now incredibly rare game called "Bombs Away" from Meadows Games who was also located in Sunnyvale CA like Atari. I've never seen any of their games except RUclips videos.
I was lucky that we managed to get an Atari at a flea market in the late 70s before it really caught on. Space Invaders wasn't out yet which made the popularity explode. We paid $40 for a used Atari in the late 70s included Air Sea Battle, Outlaw & Target included all the boxes, paddles and one joystick. We immediately bought a 2nd joystick.
You must've bailed early - I mention that 20 seconds in. 😜
Great memories.
@@GenXGrownUp The cat started crying. Must have been at that moment.
meow 😹@@classicarcadeamusementpark4242 😿
Don’t you just love that archaic chart showing the variations? Imagine a kid having the patience to even look at that thing.
I absolutley ADORE the game variation chart on early Atari titles!
@@GenXGrownUp it’s very nerdy. Haha I thought about the whole variations thing the other day. The 2600 was the only console to do it that way right?
@@samusvikerness661 As far as I recall, yes. Subsequent systems had either more memory available (like the 5200) so they could actually allow for input to choose number of players, difficulty, etc. And even beyond that, the addition of the numpad allowed for way more entry options beyond that red button. That just adds to its charm, though!
This reminds me of the great videos where it's "Luigi wins by doing nothing."
I also had the Sears Tele-Games unit with Target Fun. I remember playing game 11 with the guided missiles and me and my friends would try to beat each other to get to 99 points first.
I love this video and your continued coverage of that seriously games you got.
Thanks, Nick. Glad you dug it! 😁
Jon, "I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle."
There is something charming about putting the words Atari and AI together.... this was a fun video!
Really like Air Sea Battle. Simple gameplay but so much fun!
Jon got beaten by a book! 😂😂 fun video and fun game. Enjoyed it! 😎
They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Now we know the book is mightier than me!
I got this game in 1981, guess it was a birthday present.
Hours of fun with my buddies and my younger brother.
Still loving it 😄👍🏻
The computer opponent in the Basketball game '78 was insane. He would back off and let you score if he though he would win. We also got a game labeled as Dr. J. vs. Larry Bird. Have you ever heard of that?
You're talking about One on One by Electronic Arts. Played a bunch of it on my Atari 8-bit Computer!
Beer, a friend , and air sea battle =great fun to this day
Back in the day, the beer was Yoo-hoo, but the fun was the same!
“Thank ya very much, thank ya very much…” ⚡️
Another great video game. I think my first 2600 game was combat or outlaw.
Canyon Bomber (which I think was designed by David Crane) also had a similar scheme in which the computer simply shoots continuously. I don't think I tried all the variations, but I feel like the computer's continuous firing was annoyingly effective.
Great video, fun to watch.
Glad you enjoyed it 😄
It's too bad that the AI isn't more intelligent, but with only 2K to work with I think they did pretty good!
Great content as always! Will buy a shirt next paycheck
Awesome! Thank you!
This is the first fighter airplane game I ever played.
That's some advanced AI right there. 😂
that was fun jon...hey the a.i.got 1 win and almost won the last one!!
I know! It was a nail-biter!
The Atari ‘robot’ function in 1977 was just static fire at regular intervals; not like the semi-intelligent A.I. we have today
It's literally as smart as a brick on the fire button! 🧱
Wish it was 1977 because my mom and dad would be alive. They were my world. 😢
😞
Great Video!
Thanks!
In the first game it looked like the computer had he advantage of firing into the targets.
If only I'd made a couple more shots, though!
Maybe they could have made it a little challenging by randomly moving the computer's aim, or making it speed up or slow down.
Sometimes I'm left scratching my head at the decisions developers make. Did you ever play the computer game Archon II: Adept? You can play against the computer and it does a decent enough job of moving its pieces and fighting, however... There's one piece, the Wraith, that when you fight against a person, is invisible except when attacking. When you play against the computer, both sides are visible. The stated reasoning being that the game needs to know where it is in order to function. Except that the A.I. doesn't need to know where it is all the time. The routines that handle movement are completely separate from the A.I. routines that decide where to go and when to attack. They could have added a flag so that the A.I. only knows where it is when it's attacking, and therefore, visible.
For sure. I know Archon II very well. So mote it be!
Ahhh the simplest AI. Set the fire button to high 😂
Today my birthday 🎉
Chunk. Clickety-clickety-clickety-click-click (Sorry, I'm putting on channel 38 to watch Star Blazers).
just shooting at the same interval and it just luck of the draw if the computer hit something
Atari AI will take over the world and destroy mankind
1st! Gotta love these vids!
Thanks for watching!
I wonder why you lost on that one game?
Because I stink! 😁