Atari 2600 games not working.

[Birch]

Hi there gang!

New member here and first time poster.

I was looking for a little bit of help. BTW, love the site!

It seems that Atari 2600 games won't load for me. I keep getting the: Error Game did not load message.

Here are the pre-answers you require:

Are you interested in using TeamViewer?
- No
What is your OS? Example Vista, XP, Mac OSX, etc.
- Windows XP
What is your browser? Example Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, etc.
- Firefox 12.0
Post a link to one game you are having problems with.
- Frostbite - Atari 2600
What Play Mode is causing the problem? Example ArcadeOX Score, Java Full, etc.
- Arcade OX
Has it ever worked correctly before?
- No, but coin op games and NES work fine
Describe the problem.
- Get the "Error: Game did not load" message


Thanks in advance, any help would be great.

[Klawlight]

Hey, unlucky you, you chose a time when most people tend to not be in the forums.
So, with out team viewer, it may be a bit hard for me to help you.
Now, I have had this problem before, just not with any specific console.
The cause of the problem for me is my internet being over loaded with crap.
Things I've done to get games to load: Open task manager and close Firefox's plugin process, reload the page, then try again ; resetting my computer/browser; turning off programs such as steam, torrent clients, skype.
Now it's possible your problem isn't based on the speed of your internet,
It's possible your choice of games are just very unlucky, if you wouldn't mind, could you tell me some games that do work for you, and games that don't.
And if it's possible, can you test out something other than Nintendo and Coin Op, such as SMS or GameGear?
If you have any other problems feel free to message me, I'm somewhat tech savvy, and having issues of my own, I may be able to troubleshoot with you for multiple problems.

Hey, I forgot to mention,
Welcome to RetroUprising, I hope you enjoy the site and keep in mind the forums are a great place to make friends and talk about games,
as well as get rid of some technical issues you may be experiencing.

[Birch]

Thanks for the welcome and quick reply!

I appreciate the tech help as I am rather competent myself but this one is stumping me.

All other consoles seem to be working. Which brought up another question:

Why does retro uprising load my third party software (Nesticle, Fusion, etc) to run certain games? Is that why Atari is not working? Perhaps I need a third party program as well?

---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:15 AM ----------

SOLVED.

I didn't know that I needed to install third party emulators for the games.

After I installed Stella, the 2600 games work fine.

Thanks again!

---------- Post added at 09:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 AM ----------

Wow.

It's like a random shot now. Certain games at certain times. Maybe it's the lunar phase now?!

Thanks for all the help but the problems are totally random now. I've followed all the steps and tried all the fixes.

Can anyone else run Plaque Attack (2600) or Frostbite (2600) or is it just me?

Thanks.

[Klawlight]

Well, I've gone to the games you've listed and they appear to work fine for me.
Are you attempting to play in Score mode or full mode?
And do you have fairly fast internet, or slow internet? You may want to go to a website like speedtest and check.

[Birch]

I have tried both game modes.
My speed test results are:

Still not sure what's up.

[Kong]

Originally Posted by Klawlight

So, with out team viewer, it may be a bit hard for me to help you.

Thanks for trying to help but I should be the only one connecting with anyone via team viewer for RU support.

Originally Posted by Birch

I didn't know that I needed to install third party emulators for the games.

You do not need to install anything else. ArcadeOX should handle everything on it's own.

Are there any Atari 2600 games that you have tried that are currently working for you?
Are there any games from other systems that you have tried that are not working?
Which play mode link are you clicking? Full, Score or Java?

[Birch]

I finally got them to work by using IE. Not the preferred solution but hey, I love my games enough to run two browsers!

But I am still curious why some games load using my emulators while others use "MESS" or something.

Sorry if this is a noob question.

[Kong]

We use a custom version of MESS and MAME for score mode. Full Mode uses a different emulator depending on the system.

[Klawlight]

Originally Posted by Kong

Thanks for trying to help but I should be the only one connecting with anyone via team viewer for RU support.

I'm sorry about that, no one was on at the time, so I figured I'd offer to go on TeamView of them, I understand why you wouldn't want random people doing that for people though haha

Glad everything got worked out.

Actually, Kong, would it be alright in the future if I offered to help people over Team Viewer if I put out some kind of disclaimer stating that they should probably get help from you or something along those lines?

[CrispyChicken]

I'm getting the same thing for some reason.

1. Are you interested in using TeamViewer (more info below)? - Yes
2. What is your OS? Example Vista, XP, Mac OSX, etc. - Windows 7
3. What is your browser? Example Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, etc. - Firefox
4. Post a link to one game you are having problems with. ET The Extra Terrestrial » Atari 2600
5. What Play Mode is causing the problem? Example ArcadeOX Score, Java Full, etc. - AOX Score Mode
6. Has it ever worked correctly before? -Yes
7. Describe the problem. -Error game did not load screen pops up for any Atari 2600 game, yet I'm not having any issues with all the other systems.

[RevJ]

Originally Posted by ChrisP

I'm getting the same thing for some reason.

1. Are you interested in using TeamViewer (more info below)? - Yes
2. What is your OS? Example Vista, XP, Mac OSX, etc. - Windows 7
3. What is your browser? Example Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, etc. - Firefox
4. Post a link to one game you are having problems with. ET The Extra Terrestrial » Atari 2600
5. What Play Mode is causing the problem? Example ArcadeOX Score, Java Full, etc. - AOX Score Mode
6. Has it ever worked correctly before? -Yes
7. Describe the problem. -Error game did not load screen pops up for any Atari 2600 game, yet I'm not having any issues with all the other systems.

I have basically the same set-up as above, tried just now and ET works for me .... Hope you get it working!

[CKF]

Got another weird 2600 problem. Has anyone ever had the screen cropped at the bottom? It doesn't seem to do it with every game, but when I tried to play King Kong, it's missing the bottom part of the screen, so you have to jump to see your position. I'll attach a screenshot. It did it with one other game too (galactic). It didn't do it with Miner2049er, Infiltrate or Pitfall II, those 3 looked ok. The games do work, you just can't see the bottom of the screen. I also tried rotating, and going full screen, with no change.
I'll include the 7 questions too:
Are you interested in using TeamViewer?
- Maybe
What is your OS? Example Vista, XP, Mac OSX, etc.
- Windows Vista
What is your browser? Example Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, etc.
- Firefox 13.0.1
Post a link to one game you are having problems with.
- http://www.retrouprising.com/game-menu/game/7151/
What Play Mode is causing the problem? Example ArcadeOX Score, Java Full, etc.
- Arcade OX
Has it ever worked correctly before?
- I think it worked correctly a few days ago for me
Describe the problem.
- bottom of screen not showing, gap above score, looks like entire screen is shifted down a few rows.

[Kong]

@CKF That is a bug with some 2600 games. Nothing that can be done about it right now. Happens in one of my favorite games 3D Tic Tac Toe.

@ChrisP. Does it happen in other 2600 games? Does it happen in other console games? Example Does it happen in SNES Score Mode?

[CrispyChicken]

Any 2600 game I try, it happens. I'm not having any problems with other consoles.

[Kong]

@ChrisP What is a good time tomorrow to meet in chat? Timezone?

[CrispyChicken]

I'm there now if you can get on.

[TwinChargers]

Originally Posted by CKF

Got another weird 2600 problem. Has anyone ever had the screen cropped at the bottom? It doesn't seem to do it with every game, but when I tried to play King Kong, it's missing the bottom part of the screen, so you have to jump to see your position. I'll attach a screenshot. It did it with one other game too (galactic). It didn't do it with Miner2049er, Infiltrate or Pitfall II, those 3 looked ok. The games do work, you just can't see the bottom of the screen. I also tried rotating, and going full screen, with no change.
I'll include the 7 questions too:
Are you interested in using TeamViewer?
- Maybe
What is your OS? Example Vista, XP, Mac OSX, etc.
- Windows Vista
What is your browser? Example Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, etc.
- Firefox 13.0.1
Post a link to one game you are having problems with.
- http://www.retrouprising.com/game-menu/game/7151/
What Play Mode is causing the problem? Example ArcadeOX Score, Java Full, etc.
- Arcade OX
Has it ever worked correctly before?
- I think it worked correctly a few days ago for me
Describe the problem.
- bottom of screen not showing, gap above score, looks like entire screen is shifted down a few rows.

I'd assume that this is still an unfix-able problem?

[elrod21]

Originally Posted by TwinChargers

I'd assume that this is still an unfix-able problem?

Yes it is a bug in the way MESS Renders the screen for some 2600 games.