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Some fun reads about Pondering About max's:


Review of PAM in Page 6 Magazine:

https://archive.org/details/New_Atari_User_Issue_056_1992-06_Page_6_Publishing/page/n33/mode/2up


Carts that should have been:

https://intotheverticalblank.com/2021/03/28/xegs-carts-that-should-have-been-vol-2/




Ad for PAM in Start Magazine issue 39 Dec 1990

https://archive.org/details/STart-Magazine-Issue-39/page/n97/mode/2up

I'm still perplexed what the "secret" is on level 1 of PAM's The Dream. For fun, I thought I'd see what happens when you poke some of the screen memory with the debugger.

So if I write a bunch of FFs in, I can make horizontal platforms. I'm only putting them in one screen of the double buffer so it flickers and you'll "drop" when it disappears temporarily.
However, it's enough that you'll catch a line while you're falling and you can springboard off of them.

Screen memory for level 1 starts at 1000, around 1870 is into the banner.




What's actually kind of cool is that poking into the screen memory will affect the path of the billiard balls too.

This also explains why your character drops down when you are standing on the platform and the Eggle moves underneath you, it's changing the screen colors from the color of the platform to another "non-platform" color. This is also why you can "walk" or "jump" on top of the eggle as it has platform colors as part of it.

So after moving all over the screen, I don't think it's tied to your character being on any screen location.

Okay, I think I figured it out. If you jump down to the platform where the eggle goes back and forth, then jump on the eggle while moving right, then jump on the spring going right, then there's a glitch which makes a bunch of junk on the screen. I'm guessing that's what's meant by "PM madness" (Player Missile sprites)

This screenshot is from the atari800 emulator under linux (ubuntu):
(I've overlaid the jump sequence)




This screenshot is from mame after doing the glitch:



It seems cosmetic and doesn't seem to affect gameplay.

I was trying all kinds of things: jumping down to the stack of pool balls. Trying to jumping on a pool ball in the air. Pulling the switch and trying to get to where the steam pot is before Max shoots up. "Walking" on top of the eggle. Jumping on the eggle and trying to climb on the banner. Jumping up and down on the banner attachments a bunch of times. Trying to pull the switches out of sequence. Trying to jump down on the banner where it has a band in the word TD since it looks like a platform. Trying to "catch" the banner while falling and pressing the jump button.

FYI, Pondering About Max's has been added to the software list.

Awesome! Thanks, kmg!