Two sequels to "Bruce Lee" in the works for Atari 8-bit
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Users of the AtariAge forum are joining forces to bring the two existing sequels of the beloved Bruce Lee platformer (Datasoft, 1984) to Atari 8-bit computers.
Both projects date back to March of this year, when Filippo "Philsan" Santellocco warned about the imminent launch ofBruce Lee - Return of the Fury (ROF); work of Vidar "DMX" Bang for the Commodore 64 computers. Title that was added toBruce Lee II, published in 2013 and which also has a version for C64.
The announcement prompted forumer Paul McLaneinc to contact DMX, who flatly declined any interest in participating in any initiative to port his game to other platforms. However, he did manage to convince him to add comments and tags to the original code, as well as the design of his new rooms.
Users Ute (USA) and Fantômas (France) took up the baton. After engaging in a long debate regarding the technical possibilities of relocating the lamps that the protagonist must collect, reconfiguring the locations and modifying the enemies, they realized that the most practical thing to do was to develop a similar editing program that allows the creation of scenarios like in Lode Runner or Boulder Dash.
By the end of March,They presented the first version of their level generator, written in C#. With a few limitations, particularly on the fifth screen, the program allows you to modify virtually all scenarios. By mid-April, the project wasshared in Sourceforge repository; and it already has a font and character editor, as well as the ability to add and remove DLI. You can even add maps from bitmap images.
After some tests with individual rooms, Ute and Fantomas posted at the beginning of June a version of the game that starts from the end of the original and the protagonist must return to the starting point; which is why it was namedEel Ecurb(Bruce Lee backwards).
This is a test run that has some minor flaws - there are levels where lamps can kill you or you risk getting stuck with no way to "move on". "This is just a test demo. We have no intention of fixing (the bugs) as we want to concentrate our efforts on the Atari versions of Bruce Lee 2 and Return of the Fury," Ute stressed.
The XEX version of Eel Ecurb requires an APE loader, using programs such as RespeQt and the SIO2SD device. According to tests by forumer The Doctor, the file does not run on Atarimax or Megamax cartridges. Instead, the ATR file uses a custom loader to ensure it runs on real Atari hardware.
Additionally, they hope to add more things like allowing a second player to control the Ninja; allowing the sumo Yamo to chase Bruce Lee up the stairs like in the Commodore version; and the option to configure the difficulty, among others.
It should be noted that user Alfred also helped decode the original Bruce Lee, as did José Pereira, while Philsan and Mario "Emkay" Krix contributed Atari graphics mode screenshots for future ports.
Eel Ecurb for Atari computers
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