First playable demo of «Tony: Montezuma's Gold» for Atari 8-bits | Download
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Almost a year and a half after its announcement, Atari 8-bit users can enjoy the first playable demo of "Tony: Montezuma's Gold", a title that promises to revive the magic of exploration and adventure.
Behind this project are the talented Vladimir "Popmilo" Janković (Serbia) on the code; Rafal Dudek providing the concept and graphics; and Michal "Caruso" Brzezicki in charge of the music.As we previously reported on Atariteca, “Tony” stands out for its individual screens with impressive high-resolution monochrome graphics. The game pays tribute to the explorer and former military man Tony Halik (1921-1998), born in Torun (Poland). After his brave actions in World War II, Halik embarked on a three-decade career as an NBC correspondent, creating more than four hundred documentaries.
The plot of "Tony: Montezuma's Gold" begins with an unexpected call that awakens Halik, an experienced reporter and treasure hunter, from his sleep. Freshly returned from an expedition in the ancient city of Tula (Mexico), where he was exploring Toltec structures, Tony receives a call from Margaret, a colleague who informs him that he has been expected in the office for half an hour. Wasting no time, Tony prepares to head to the office, anticipating a new adventure.
Upon arriving at the Washington News office, Tony is greeted by the editor-in-chief, Steve, who proposes an urgent new expedition. Steve explains that the Museum of Natural History has contacted an individual named Miguel, who claims to have discovered the treasure of Montezuma I, but lacks scientific proof to validate his find. The newspaper is seeking to have Tony, with his experience and skills, travel to Mexico again to investigate and provide concrete evidence of this historic discovery.
Motivated by curiosity and challenge, Tony accepts the mission, preparing to embark on a quest that will take him deeper into the mysteries of the Aztec civilization. With the promise of adventure, discovery, and possibly unearthing one of history’s most sought-after treasures, Tony sets out on a new journey, once again proving his passion for exploring the unknown and sharing his adventures with the world.
According to the AtariOnline portal Rafał Dudek had been looking for a programmer to complete this game for Atari for over a year. Finally, Vladimir Janković brought the project to a playable demo, which was just released yesterday. The game is developed in bitmap mode due to the character limitation on the Atari, offering high quality monochrome graphics. The technique"chasing the raster beam", common on the ZX Spectrum, allows for fluid sprite movement and prevents image flickering without the need for double buffering. "Tony" runs on an Atari with 64KB of RAM, taking up almost every free byte.
While, in the AtariAge forum Vladimir "Popmilo" Janković shared his pride in the game and highlighted the teamwork. He stated that the game engine is robust, and with the demo released, the creation of the remaining levels will be easier.
"The full game will be available soon. The final game will be disc-based and will have a proper loader, as the game will have many parts similar to the C64 version," Janković noted. In addition, there will be a special collector's version that will include the cover made by Jerzy Dudek from Retronics.
This demo follows the versions already released for Commodore 64 and Amiga. Rafał Dudek highlights the importance of the Atari 8-bit version and encourages players to take part in this exciting adventure.
Tony: Montezuma's Gold for Atari 8-bit computers - playable demo
Download | 40 kBMORE INFO
✔ Press the space bar during gameplay to change the screen color.
✔ To get infinite lives, press the space bar twice. You'll know the trick worked when the little heart to the left of the word "LIVES" turns white.
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