Something I've wondered about

What if an unscrupulous homebrewer were to program an incomplete game for system XYZ and sell it as the complete package? Would anyone be the wiser?

How many can say that they have ever played a homebrew game through to completion? For instance, say that the accepted version of arcade game ABC had 8 levels. Say that the wicked homebrewer advertises his version as having all the arcade levels, but only the exceptionally skilled would ever reach the final two. He could possibly leave those levels out to save time and programming effort, and no one might be the wiser.

Could a scenario like this actually take place, and what is in place to prevent it from happening?

Good question.

I could never hope to play everything I own. So it is very possible if new purchases were made that those games would never be played through.

Thinking about Miner 2049'er II and 7800 Impossible Mission. There have always been rumors that those two games were incomplete.

Makes me wonder if it could ever be prevented?

I've never heard those rumors. Where did you hear about those?

onthinice wrote:
Makes me wonder if it could ever be prevented?

I wonder if sites like Good Deal Games and Atari Age have to see a complete play through (or possibly video of similar) before agreeing to sell homebrew games on their sites. Might be advisable.

That is a good question and I don't have a good answer for it. I know of official game releases that have had problems. For example, the Vectrex came with MineStorm as the pack-in game. The game is tough, so the programmer just completed 13 levels and stopped there assuming no one would get there (and it is documented that he never finished the game). Guess what? People did, so they had to release a limited cart with a "complete" game and use that ROM on all the consoles they manufactured from that point on.

Insofar as Impossible Mission for the 7800, the problem isn't that it is incomplete. The problem is that it has a glitch that truly makes the game impossible to complete! There is a hack that fixes the glitch and was called Possible Mission.

About homebrews, I should add that the common practice is to have folks who test out the games. I suppose one would have to assume that those people would find out if the game is incomplete.

I think the pal version of Impossible Mission was complete with no glitch.

It must have been 2049'er for the 2600. It was probably a rumor but what I remember was the programmer being fed up with Atari brass and leaving the game unfinished. Someone tried to finish it but did not understand the code of the previous guy. So they dumped the game as finished.

onthinice wrote:I think the pal version of Impossible Mission was complete with no glitch.

It must have been 2049'er for the 2600. It was probably a rumor but what I remember was the programmer being fed up with Atari brass and leaving the game unfinished. Someone tried to finish it but did not understand the code of the previous guy. So they dumped the game as finished.

Interesting. Maybe there is a way to find out. I did check on AA and there are no comments about this on the game database for 2049'er or its sequel. I did get the reviews from Video Game Critic and they are scathing! LOL Take a look: Video Game Critic

I just paid for the newly completed Gauntlet port for 5200. Hope it is the complete game when it arrives.

sloan wrote:I just paid for the newly completed Gauntlet port for 5200. Hope it is the complete game when it arrives.

I'm waiting for my copy of this as well.