Several issues with the Atari VCS Vault (Vol1)

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omrojasm
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Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:44 am

Several issues with the Atari VCS Vault (Vol1)

Post by omrojasm »

There are several issues/bugs with the VCS port of the Atari Vault(Atari VCS Vault Vol 1.). I've reported them on the VCS' discord channel for VCS Founders Backers, but it seems none of them have been forwarded to CodeMystics as there hasn't been a single update on the VCS Vaults since its release almost a year ago:

Atari announced that the VCS Vault is "optimized" for the VCS and their very own "Classic Controller", led and rumble effects on games. However, the gameplay experience is anything but optimized for it. Issues/bugs related to the classic joystick:

* When the ball bounces on the paddle in games like pong, warlords or breakout(arcade), there's no feedback rumble when using the Classic Joystick, when using the modern controller there is.
* The paddle/dial functionality is too sensitive and the paddle jitters a lot.
* When using the Classic Joystic and browsing the manual/gallery for a game and zooming in there's no way to scroll up/down(the dial could be used for that)
* Star Raiders can't be played with the Classic Joystick with the "menu" UI, as the button that is supposed to be mapped to displaying the galactic map is the same one that brings the pause menu.

General bugs/issues not related to the CJ controller:
* The manual of a game(2600 ones) can only be seen before starting a game. There are games, like the SwordQuest ones, that have a comic book in the manual that is to be used as reference in the game, as there's no way to see it while playing,it's kind of pointless.
* SuperBreakout(arcade), is broken. If you change the game mode, the graphics corrupt in color and strange artifacts
* VCS Vault is advertised by Atari as "fully" optimized for the VCS, however only a handful of games have led or feedback rumble support(16 out 100 games). None of the 2600 games were enhanced with these features(eg: feedback when hit/fire in combat/asteroids or when you change lanes in Dodge'em), those are 84 of the game. so I don't understand what "fully" means, if it is because of the paddle functionality in the CJ, then there are better peripheral experiences than that(like the ability to use the pad in the DualShock 4 controller in a PS4)
* If there's a mouse connected to the VCS an annoying cursor is constantly hovering on the screen

I don't want to think that there hasn't been any update/fixes yet on the VCS Vault Vol1 because it's free and bundled with the VCS and user have to settle with what they got. The only product that was updated/fixed was the Vaul Vol 2 because the reports of the spawning bug in Adventure 2. The Vault Vol 2 is payed so, I guess that's why.

Please address these issues(at least the functionally critical ones) and deliver a product that speaks well of the VCS and the backers that supported this console. Thank you
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CodeMystics
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2014 3:22 pm

Re: Several issues with the Atari VCS Vault (Vol1)

Post by CodeMystics »

Hi,

Atari Vault is Atari's product for which they retained us to do development some years ago. We have not been engaged by Atari to provide any ongoing development for them for some time, so that would be why there has been no update from us to any of the products we've developed for them. (Whether they choose to do updates themselves, retain us again, or use another developer is up to them.) However, to address your comments:
  • The lack of rumble on the ball bouncing on the Classic controller is by design. The modern controller physically has two actuators -- one high frequency and one low frequency. The classic controller physically has only one actuator, and so it only responds to the rumble events intended for one of the two actuators in the modern controller. Events were divided between the two according to the effect desired. So, having only half the capabilities, the Classic controller only issues a subset of the events the modern controller does. (Combining both signals to the one actuator would just create a mess.)
  • The jitter is a limitation of the Classic Controller hardware. Smoothing out the jitter would result in input lag, which would make the games unplayable. Sensitivity can be adjusted in the UI.
  • If we get a chance to work on the product again, we will note this feedback.
  • There are some limitations to what can be done with the Classic Joystick due to its limited number of buttons. We recommend disabling the Menu mode or using the modern controller. If we are given the opportunity in the future, we can explore other avenues for improvement.
To your remaining items:
  • With this exact situation in mind, Atari Vault was designed with the ability to resume where you left off, so simply return to the menu, view the manual, then resume the game.
  • We are not seeing the issue with Super Breakout. If you'd like to share more details on steps to reproduce the issue, we will note and investigate should we have the opportunity to work on the title in the future.
  • Our mandate was that the rumble and LED effects were to be implemented in the arcade games only. We have no involvement in any marketing/advertising that may suggest differently.
  • A mouse can be used for UI navigation.
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