u/PhilosopherSimilar83

Greetings, programs!

I thought I would let you guys know that LIGHTCYCLE will be available next week on landonjsmith.com!

Over the past three weeks, I have had hundreds email me about the "Next Game" after my very successful SPACE PARANOIDS interpretation launched to the 30k+ who were awaiting its release. The response I've been getting from SPACE PARANOIDS has been wonderful...and I've had many tell me that it's "one of the best games they had ever played" and that it was "miles better than what 'the mouse' did" ... I figured it would only be proper to give you programs what you wanted next, which is LIGHTCYCLE...My next project developed from The Grid! I've been inspired by the Bally Midway original minigame featured in the 1982 arcade game, but I have made my adaptation more faithful to what is presented to us in the original film...while also putting my own twist on things. I would love to know what you think!

Greetings, programs.

First of all, Happy TRON day!
Secondly, fairly recently...my father, Jason Smith, made a discovery about the original film concerning the SPACE PARANOIDS arcade cabinet prop that Disney used in the original film from 1982...specifically in the Flynn's Arcade scene when Flynn is setting the 999,000 point record. He and I spent quite a while tracking down what could possibly be considered the cabinet Disney modified for SPACE PARANOIDS....The 1976 SEGA "Fonz" arcade game...here's his Facebook post on it:

"TRON ARCADE ARCHAEOLOGY… I think I may have identified the original Space Paranoids cabinet...(apologies if this is already known, but I dug for a while and couldn't find any solid info)

Since my son recently released his online version of Space Paranoids, we have been trying to figure out what existing arcade cabinet Disney repurposed to create the Space Paranoids machine Flynn plays in the original 1982 film.

You never really get a clean look at it. There’s always a crowd around Flynn, and most of the cabinet is obscured.

But while digging through images, I came across something that really caught my attention: SEGA’s FONZ cabinet from 1976.

Take a look at the pictures I’ve attached and tell me if you see what I’m seeing.

There are several details that make me think FONZ may have been the donor cabinet:

• The upper rear profile. FONZ has a very distinctive angled break at the back/top of the cabinet. That same unusual silhouette appears to be visible on the white Space Paranoids cabinet.

• The marquee/display geometry. The upper portion of FONZ comes forward and then angles inward toward a deeply recessed, sloping monitor. The glimpses we get of Space Paranoids appear remarkably similar.

• The control deck. This one may be the most interesting. Watch where Jeff Bridges' hands are while he's playing. The controls appear to be on a separate, lower surface that is stepped down from the monitor rather than directly underneath it. That's exactly how the FONZ cabinet is constructed—the original motorcycle handlebars sit on a lower projecting control deck.

• The overall width and proportions. FONZ is a fairly substantial cabinet—roughly 65.5" tall, 27.5" wide and 39" deep—and the Space Paranoids cabinet appears to have similar proportions.

And the timeline certainly works. FONZ was released in 1976, making it five-year-old arcade hardware when TRON was being made in 1981. It would make perfect sense for a prop department to take an older cabinet, strip the controls and artwork, reskin it and turn it into Flynn's game.

So I'm throwing this one out to the TRON hive mind:

Could the original Space Paranoids cabinet actually have started life as a SEGA FONZ?

I'm definitely not calling this confirmed yet. There could be another cabinet from the period with the same geometry, and I'd love to find a production photo that gives us a clean side view.

But the more I compare the silhouettes, monitor angle, upper-rear geometry and that distinctive stepped-down control area…the more interesting this gets.

I've included several movie frames along with photos of surviving FONZ cabinets so you can compare them yourself.

What do you guys think?

And if anyone has behind-the-scenes Flynn's Arcade photos, production stills, Disney prop records, or another candidate cabinet that matches these features, PLEASE post them. I'd love to either prove this theory or kill it.

After 44 years, it would be pretty cool if we could finally put a name to the machine underneath Space Paranoids."

Any thoughts?

https://preview.redd.it/8vtv24uyl3rh1.jpg?width=387&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5515deecfc4d4cdcb2701409a71a7c9318e7e745

https://preview.redd.it/m8793t10m3rh1.jpg?width=1368&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=768a229920798f0be52a63c33084006b9d3b29c2

https://preview.redd.it/7x52w3gzl3rh1.jpg?width=1916&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e4a0afb3f0d2a8b064de3cb39bcd654b6ccc26e1

https://preview.redd.it/yfc27ygyl3rh1.jpg?width=850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d116548c867cc0960f67107017dcffc4f7b91f76

Hi everyone!

I've gotten a lot of emails lately about ports of my Space Paranoids game to consoles and mobile....(And as such I've made several posts about a mobile port already here! :-) ) This is a native iOS application, running on iOS 18.x, iPhone 15 Pro. I have also tested this on my tenth generation iPad, and both versions of the application work wonderfully so far. I've also been having people test it, and the early testers have been very happy with the latest builds. Currently has color/monochrome graphics modes, full touchscreen compatibility, along with bluetooth gamepad support! That said, I personally think the touch controls need a little work, but I thought you guys would like the latest progress on the port!

(Also, just a small note for the curious: Both Space Paranoids mobile, and my website version are completely human programmed. :-) )

While I'm working on the mobile version for iDevices, you can play the web version on:

https://landonjsmith.com/projects/spaceparanoids

End of line.

Greetings once again, programs.

Here's some early footage of SPACE PARANOIDS running as a native iOS/iPadOS application on my 10th generation iPad. I've also tested it with an iPhone 15 Pro...currently the screen size seems to be more so fitting to that of the iPhone scale. As such, I'll adjust accordingly for both device types. This build does have full sound, and variable speed, along with gamepad support, but does not yet have a color screen option ( it's in the code, I just haven't added a toggle yet. :-) )The touch controls haven't been finalized yet, however, from a few select people that have been testing it for me, results have been very positive. What do ya'll think? Let me know!

Cheers,

Landon

Greetings programs!
I've finally finished up Space Paranoids. You can play it on https://landonjsmith.com/projects/spaceparanoids

Since the last time I posted, I've made many improvements and added some special goodies to the game. I suggest you see the video attached! :-) Enjoy!

I likely won't finish or release this. There's already enough NES emulators on the internet. This was a fun programming exercise though! I'm happy with how it's looking. (Yes, I'm aware some games are running a bit too fast)

(Reposted due to some technical difficulties with the YouTube link. Apologies! :-) )

UPDATE: As per popular demand, I *will* be adding speech synthesis to SPACE PARANOIDS. It will be for the MCP Directive readout. The synthesis system I've worked out is very similar to BERZERK. :-)

Hope this works for those that wanted it!

Greetings once more, programs!

So, the past day or so has been extremely busy... I posted about SPACE PARANOIDS here, and on YouTube and that specific "Beta Cabinet" video I've posted got much more attention than I originally expected. It's very close to hitting 4K views on YouTube alone, and I've posted it to several other sites and forums, where it's getting much attention elsewhere as well... That said, thank you! :-)

Concerning the game, I've had a lot of people sending me emails asking about when it will be released...and I would like to instate once again that SPACE PARANOIDS will be released this coming week on landonjsmith.com

As per some user suggestions, I have also started backing up files to the internet archive, should Disney come knocking on my door... ;-) ...I honestly doubt such a thing will happen, but one can never be too careful.

I've also had an influx of folks asking for a port of the game to the 1982 VECTREX hardware.
This is something I'm not entirely sure about, as I've never worked with the hardware, and I am unsure of how well it (the JavaScript game) would translate to an MC6809. If anyone here has any idea, please feel free to comment.

Also, with the latest build, as you'll see in this video, I've added a few small pieces of "eye-candy" to the game. An example of this would be the new additions to the WAVE screen. When it's loaded, you can now see the grid floor and the sector walls forming before you are thrown into the respective wave. Also, I've made it to where if a recognizer spawns in your field of vision, instead of "popping" into existence immediately as it did before, each recognizer will gradually "draw" its own vectors in. Said animation is very quick, only 1.3 seconds, but it gives the spawn system a more realistic 80s hardware feel, and doesn't impact the gameplay, as it takes the player the same amount of time to fully spawn in as well.

That's about all for now. If you have suggestions before release, please let me know!

Cheers,

Landon

Greetings, programs!
I've added further updates to my upcoming SPACE PARANOIDS video game.
In this video, you'll notice that I've added "pools of regeneration", (directly inspired by the cave pools from the original TRON) and grid floors on the title screen and actual game grid. I've also improved the hit-box system on the Recognizers so it's a tad easier to shoot them, but it still gets really difficult the longer you play! I've also made it to where if you happen to land a shot right into the "eye" of a Recognizer, it will explode on impact. More to come soon!

I've also been receiving many emails about where this is available for play:

SPACE PARANOIDS will be available on landonjsmith.com this coming week.

I will announce it here on the TRON subreddit when it is available. :-)

I've seen some listings on the TRON Wiki, but I'm not entirely confident in them. I know Space Paranoids was one of the games. Thoughts?

Hi folks!

I've been working on updating my Space Paranoids game that I posted about on this sub yesterday...The improvements I've made make it feel even *more* like a real arcade game...I have a video published (linked) on the updates I've made. Please let me know what you think! Thanks.

I plan to have the game fully out on my website, landonjsmith.com, within about a week.

(EDIT: I forgot to mention that this video does feature two new renditions of "Son of Flynn" and "End of Line" that I wrote up in Logic Pro on my Macintosh. Also, for those who are curious, the game has been written in pure JavaScript. :-) )

Cheers,

Landon

Hi folks, thought I might share a small side project I’m developing in Javascript.
This is my take on ENCOM’s “Space Paranoids” had it actually been released in 1981…

To ensure accuracy I primarily modeled it after Atari’s BATTLEZONE. (1980)
This is just prototype gameplay. Please note: No generative AI was used in the programming of this game… :-) Also, there is currently no sound… The music is my own version of “The Grid” from Legacy I wrote up in Logic Pro.

I‘d love any feedback/suggestions.