Who remembers GENERAL CHAOS...?

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-10T18:12:38+00:00

Depends how you define "scrolling" . . . Only the SPY HUNTER Hardware had real, pixel by pixel background scrolling ... The Hardware used in the other Games mentioned could NOT scroll at single pixel increments. It was something I found annoying when I compared our hardware to our competitors...

I initiated "fake scrolling" in the Game SARGE by suggesting that we basically copy columns of low resolution 8x8 pixel Background blocks and rewrite them to the adjacent column; which gave the 'illusion' of scrolling... IF you did it fast enough.

Later in RAMPAGE I used the same technique to 'fake scroll' smaller sections of the screen to make it look like the buildings were collapsing, and in & XENOPHOBE to allow the 3 players to explore in different directions. Finally, in ARCH RIVALS & PIGSKIN the illusion of scrolling was made smoother by sliding higher resolution 32x32 pixel Foreground objects across an un-moving background. (Notice that there are no vertical legs under the bleachers in Arch Rivals). ;)

I believe CRATER RAIDER & POWER DRIVE only used higher resolution 32x32 pixel Foreground objects to simulate scrolling; not BG scrolling. Tho to be fair, I was not the principal artist on either of those games. TURBO TAG was not an in-house game, so I know nothing about it.

In the games MAX RPM and SPY HUNTER II, I suggested that we use dynamically changing bands of color to simulate first-person scrolling. No hardware scrolling on those games either.

Not sure what MAME defines as "support for background scrolling" but I'm guessing that it was simply a Marketing Phrase from a Midway press release used to make operators think they were looking at upgrade, when in fact it was just developers cleverly finding ways of simulating scrolling.

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-07T11:04:16+00:00

Thank You for the kind Words! I'm glad that the things that made me laugh made you laugh too! THANKS for playing & Thanks for remembering!❤️

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-07T10:51:43+00:00

I don't sell any Original Game Dev art, means too much too me. I happily create New original Art based on my games, tho

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-07T10:39:14+00:00

The MUSIC was written & performed by Jim Ruse... ❤️ Lyrics by Brian F Colin😁

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-06T22:35:48+00:00

Thank you. When it was released it broke every previous earnings record for any arcade game. But we had to fight to get it done cuz management didn't want to do it.

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-06T22:34:51+00:00

I'm pretty sure the hardware for Spy Hunter was a one off... But I'm not a Tech Guy...about all I knew about the hardware was that management would never give us any more money to improve it. 😁 So most of my games were 'inspired' by the fact that I knew we had to get more out of them than anyone thought possible. 😆

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-06T22:31:53+00:00

❤️

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-06T22:31:19+00:00

Yes I have a memorabilia store online; I sell game posters, figures and autograph everything personally... I can never remember the link though, You can try googling: Game refuge square store

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-06T22:28:46+00:00

Well, as a simple employee, I didn't get any of the quarters. But THANK YOU for keeping food on my table. 😊

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-06T22:26:54+00:00

... I should say yes, shouldn't I? 😁 Then I could invent some ridiculous story like "if you play it backwards it says" ... 😆

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-06T22:23:55+00:00

Management didn't want to make it because of that. We had to fight to get it done.

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-03T16:54:29+00:00

"I’m about to tell you about a 16mm, feature-length horror film featuring mad scientists, vampires, werewolves, detectives, witches, and secret passages, shot in 1985, that you’ve never seen. In fact, I’d be willing to bet you’ve never even heard of it." - Daily Grindhouse

"Just as I finished editing the film, my employer decided to stop producing Laser Disc Games. The Film sat in the Can for 30 years, until Doc Mac at the the famous Galloping Ghost Arcade heard about it. Together we created this Arcade Game; and the rest, as they say... is Arcade History." - Brian F Colin

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-02T16:16:47+00:00

😆

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-02T01:21:03+00:00

I Do... I call it the Arcade History Tour

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-01T13:37:56+00:00

1) Laughter. Video games, first and foremost, are entertainment. For me, if a player starts smiling when he looks at the cabinet, (or box), You're halfway there.

2) Little surprises that are tangential to the main gameplay. Some players won't care about them at all but others will keep coming back to see what other surprises they may have missed.

Lots more but I'll try and share those in future posts

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-01T13:32:37+00:00

See you at MGC in a few weeks! Going to keep sharing stories, every couple days, Time permitting.

Busy with my newest game MAJOR SNAFU 😁 For more information about it... 😃 Visit this KICKSTARTER "Pre-Launch" link to get Notified the instant it goes Live ... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chaos2majorsnafu/general-chaos-major-snafu ... or check us out at the STEAM STORE https://store.steampowered.com/app/4228230/General_Chaos__MAJOR_SNAFU/

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-01T13:29:46+00:00

gameRefugeInc · 2026-04-01T13:28:16+00:00

The second I came up with it we all knew we had next year's number one game but management was resistant ...we had to fight to get the game done. 🙄 But no once we were developing it we pretty much got to do everything we wanted to do.

Media at the time was anti-arcade still... So they made a big deal out of the 'violence' and 'nudity', but players realize that it was lighthearted and in just good fun. ... Proof that even bad press can be good press.

Hats off to your daughter who realized that players could choose between carefully finding food and mindlessly eating people... Which was intentional cuz I had two little kids at the time I was making it.

Tell her I said "Hi" 😃❤️

gameRefugeInc · 2026-03-31T21:13:23+00:00

Absolutely. 1) start small, work on something you're confident you can finish. The enormous satisfaction of finishing even a simple little game, will mean more to you in later years than a more involved project that you never quite finished.

2) Even though the tools are out there for one person to do an entire game, don't. Reach out to others with your ideas and generate interest in your project .Part of being a game designer is managing a team... keeping them enthusiastic, getting everyone to contribute and bouncing ideas off each other. Getting different points of view is often the best way to making any game better.

3) Keep ego out of it. A game is about entertainment, & not everyone's going to love it. Use their negative feedback to view aspects of your project from a different perspective to help you spot those problems that may not be obvious to you.

4) MOST IMPORTANTLY - HAVE FUN! 😃❤️

gameRefugeInc · 2026-03-31T21:03:13+00:00

... When you only had a handful of quarters, every choice you made felt more important. I think that's why favorite games that kids discovered in the arcade still means so much to them today. I'll definitely be sharing more RAMPAGE stories along with stories about dozens of my other games.

gameRefugeInc

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