Talk:Marble Madness

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[edit] Dual trackballs

Can anybody think of a good way to phrase that a solo player could use both trackballs to change direction quickly, instead of being restricted to a single controller, as is more typical of arcade games?--SarekOfVulcan 30 June 2005 20:22 (UTC)

Just say that. "In single-player mode, Marble Madness allowed both trackballs to be used to control the player's marble. Experts used this feature for improved control and speed." --Pelladon 00:02, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Incorrect information about hardware's video capabilities

I removed the following incorrect information from the "Notes" section of the main page:

 The game can only make horizontal and vertical lines, so diagonal lines had to
 be rendered by hand.

This is incorrect for two reasons:

  • The game hardware only displays "stamps" and "motion objects" (more commonly known in the industry as sprites), and in fact cannot generate even horizontal and vertical lines. ANY lines that the programmer might want to display must be synthesized out of suitable stamp patterns from the graphics ROMs.
  • The graphics were all rendered on a minicomputer, not "by hand". The minicomputer then compressed the images by assigning a single stamp to identical image blocks.

--Brouhaha 01:29, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Purposely imprecise

The article says "the trackball controls, which are purposely imprecise and difficult to master.". Is this saying that the trackballs were degraded in quality to sabotage the users' efforts? Or does it mean that "trackball technology was, as always, imprecise", ie - it just comes with the territory?

I have an interest in that when I was a child one year this was my game of choice on the annual fortnight spent at a (shudder) holiday camp. And I never did manage to get past the aerial level. If I knew that the controllers were intentionally subverting me I'd feel both vengeful and strangely vindicated. --bodnotbod 18:19, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

I think the article is completely wrong; the controllers are not precise (purposefully or otherwise), nor are they particularly any more difficult to master than any other kind of controls. The game may be difficult to master, but that's not caused by the trackballs. The microcomputer ports of Marble Madness that used joysticks were generally much harder to control. --Brouhaha 20:03, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Spielberg

An article I read about Steven Speilberg that came out at the time this game was new mentioned that a Marble Madness game was a prominent fixture in his offices. Dunno if this might be trivia-worthy if confirmable. Jafafa Hots 20:43, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't know about that. But I do know that one was in the cafeteria in one of the buildings of Apple Computer's Cupertino CA campus 1990-1991, because I brought it in myself. Not particularly newsworthy, though. --Brouhaha 07:13, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] First of its type?

What marble madness the first video game of its genre/type? 24.222.121.193 00:59, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Exactly what genre/type are you referring to? It certainly appears to have been the first 2.5D roll-marble-through-maze race video game. It's also the first video game to feature a stereo soundtrack for each level. --Brouhaha 07:09, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removal of ext links

Well done to Wgungfu for removing all those Marble Madness clone external links.[1] They belong somewhere like dmoz, as per WP:EL. --Oscarthecat 18:44, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. They'll be back though, as these types have required frequent reversions across game entries. Just take a look at the history for the Pong entry. --Marty Goldberg 19:15, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
I've added a warning, ready for the onslaught. --Oscarthecat 19:22, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Add to external links?

Game with original Atari maps and sound. "Rolling Madness 3D" write by Luca Elia, used OpenGL in 3d engine. [2] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.112.1.2 (talk) 23:45, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Influences?

Shouldn't the passage at the end of Ports (listing Super Monkey Ball, etc.) be moved to an "Influences" section? Since technically those aren't ports of the actual game but rather similar games that were influenced by MM? --Marty Goldberg 19:19, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Good point, now done.--Oscarthecat 19:22, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

I think this section should also be renamed. In an article on Marble Madness, I would expect a section called 'Influences' to be about earlier games that influenced Marble Madness, but this section is the opposite. Bobbyi 17:17, 22 October 2006 (UTC).

Actually, "Influences" is a standard subject on Wikipedia video game entries and refers to games the article subject has influenced. --Marty Goldberg 00:25, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stereo Sound

Verification needs to be made as to whether or not Marble Madness was the first game to feature stereo audio. The game Sinistar from 1982 claims to have had stereo sound in the sit-down version.

The entry uses the phrase "true stereo sound," but doesn't explain what is meant by "true."

TheAlmightyGuru 19:29, 3 May 2007 (UTC)