I was just reading about the Invisible Dot in Adventure the other day… there was this easter egg in “Adventure,” which was a really trippy game.
Adventure had dragons, and castles, and you had to get the Chalice back to the Yellow Castle.
The best thing about it was since it came out very early, no one had the manual (the manuals to Atari games always got lost), so there was all this oral mythology built up around the game. Like we called the dungeons “catacombs,” and all the dragons had names. Everyone had a theory on why the Bat did what it did, and how to fight the different dragons.
I don’t know if the names were from the manual, or if someone’s dad came up with them… the green one was called Grendel, and the Red one was called Yorick. I don’t remember the yellow dragon’s name, but he looked like Big Bird. The game was full of magic because of the oral history that surrounded it.
Anyway, the Invisible Dot was this thing somewhere in the Black Castle, where Yorick would hang out… After you kill Yorick, you somehow find this Invisible Dot using the Bridge or the Magnet or both… then you take it and put it behind a wall, and something secret happens.
We must have spent dozens of hours trying to find this damn thing, and in retrospect no wonder, because we were missing large amounts of details. Which wall? How do you find it if it’s invisible? How would you use the Magnet or the Bridge to get this thing? And what happens when you do this anyway?
I have since found out the real names of the dragons. And the plot. And a lot of hints that make the game a lot less mysterious. So I’m not going to tell you any of this legitimate information, because it’s no fun.
most atari games made little sense. i remember playing combat and finding that secret spot in the wall where you could warp to the other side of the screen.
This was the best Atari game EVER.
Anyone know how to contact Atari
ive seen the “invisible” dot
Me too- recently. It was on a reissue, one of those atari systems housed entirely in a joystick, that you plug directly into the TV.
The real gyp of it was, I found it, and used it to get through the wall, but the credits didn’t roll- instead the phrase “TEXT?” appeared in “chalice-color” on the top of the screen.
I think what happened is when they ported it, they found this easter egg and just removed it, not knowing it was part of the game! Aaargh!
But my question remains- was it invisible before? When you hold it against a wall you can see it. I have to hunt down an old copy of Adventure and a 2600 to see if it works.
Another thing they messed up- the catacombs are now 3 colors- the dark, your light, and the walls shown by your light. It was better with just two- more difficult to see.
I love the game Adaventure. I read all about the Easter EGG with the authors name. Yes, the dragon does look like a duck. I wonder why they drew it that way. Funny. Pretty neat game as it really stimulates the imagination.
I feel that programmers back then had more creativity as they had to make a playable and fun game with very limited technology. Atari has quite a few titles that totally warrant respect, even though they are graphically poor compaired to modern computer games.
My Atari 2600 has never crashed. I can’t say the same for my computer.
Charles
danielkuciel@tripod.com