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Too much of a hassle to order from that nut job. Plus, his power supplies are more expensive and that isn't even including his shipping cost.

Interesting. Thanks for the information. Yes, I kept the replacement PIA in the computer, and all is fine now 👍🏼 And the Sys-Check 2.2 is working great as extended RAM. I’ve been checking out quite a few newer demos and games that require extra RAM. It’s a good preview before I install U1MB 😁 What other extended RAM test do you recommend?

It's actually easier to mix graphics modes than it is to add a DLI to change colors, DLI requires extra code, while changing modes only requires altering bytes in the display list. Basically all the 8-bits of the era are very limited in resolution and color placement. RAM was expensive, the 6502 can only access 64K directly and graphics chips were not that good. A 160x200 mode that could put 16 colors anywhere on screen would require 16K RAM and 320x200 at 16 colors would need 32K ram. That's a big ask for such limited systems! Instead systems like the Apple II, Atari and C64 limited graphics memory to about 8-10K and used various tricks to boost on screen colors. The common Apple II high res mode was 280x192 with 6 colors. But it really was a 2 color mode and relied on artifacting to produce colors. That gives four effective colors, but they also used one bit of every graphics byte to swap between orange + blue and green + purple. This color bit use is why it's 280x192 and not 320x192 like Atari. Atari can get 4 colors with artifacting, but not the 6 that Apple could. But on Apple you can't put green and blue pixels next to each other in the same byte, or orange and purple. So you have to keep those limits in mind when designing graphics On C64 160x200 mode is 4 color and 320x200 mode is 2 color just like Atari, but C64 divides the screen into character-sized cells where you can change the colors of those cells (4x8 cells in 160x200 mode and 8x8 in 320x200 mode). 320x200 with 2 color cells is hard to work with, but if a game manages to pull it off, the C64 version will look better than Atari, because Atari's color use is more limited in high-res. Many C64 games run in 160x200. Instead of using color cells, Atari uses DLIs to define color regions That means colors can change line-by-line instead of cell by cell- each approach is good for kinds of games, and worse for others. I've noticed if a game was designed on Atari, it will look best on Atari, If designed for C64, it will look best on C64 and so on. Finally differences in ports could be due to technical limitations, but it could also be due to quick and dirty ports. I've never played Druid, but looking at the graphics, it looks like a better job could have been done on Atari, but it also appears to be tile-based, and the color-cell approach of C64 can better suit tile-based games than the Atari DLI approach.

That's part of the longer term plan, yes. ..Al

you need a crew of trained cart assembly chimpanzees.

Vacation? That man needs like a year off after all these games he's had to put together, pack and ship!

Here is another great source for a new Atari 7800 Power Supply ( and other parts ) ! I ordered one a while back and am having good luck . $21 + Shipping https://www.best-electronics-ca.com/New Best 7800 Power supply.htm

Wow and I thought my six was a lot! 30 or more in some lots! Holy Jumpin' Catfish that's a lot!

looks pliable, it's a possibility at least.

An explanation of what you could do: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/224020-games-with-more-than-16-colors/?do=findComment&comment=2965337

Paddle resolution is something that is being worked on. From what I've heard, the chip on the controllers board is update-able, so it's possible. No timetable on release for that though.

I thought there was at least one revision of the 1400XL motherboard that was designed for the combined Antic/GTIA chip (CGIA). I'm pretty sure that that design isn't the one people have, so it's very unlikely it would have been the released version. But if so, that would have broken VBXE, Sophia, and the like. While I can understand doing testing of the new chip on whatever the newest motherboard was at the time, a cost reduction like that would have made the most sense on the highest-volume system (i.e., the 800XL).

Hey, Handy DG, a few questions: 1. When you say that the original games.ini, when updated by AGSP Enhance, "doesn't work" when loaded up by the AGSP, what do you mean exactly? I assume the AGSP runs, loads, but with no new games. 2. After using the file contents copy "hack" extra step does that new games.ini work from that point on when adding new games, updating games via AGSP Enhance? (wondering if this is truly an original games.ini issue) Thanks, TJR

I´ve had this issue also a few times. Interestingly the "wrong" report of the extended memory size will only happen using XRAM 0.21. Maybe this is based on the fact that the software theoretically can detect 4 MB switched memory using Port-B, although I never seen or heard of such a solution in real. Background: Sys-Check doesn´t require a working PIA at least. As other external memory solutions it grabs the access to $D301 and latches the desired bank by itself. So it´s not dependend what the PIA itself is signalling at their port-B pins. I don´t know how the memory detection routine of XRAM is working, but it detects sometimes memory wrong. When you use other extended memory tests you will get a different result. Nevertheless it´s for sure that this PIA has a defect and exchanging it will cure the problem. But a wrong detection screen of XRAM can also be based on a simple software problem sometimes.

Yesterday's (4/25) totals: PC Modern 1) Bang Bang Racing - 20 minutes 2) What the Golf? - 5 minutes Android 1) Horse Racing Hero - 10 minutes 2) Retro Bowl College - 45 minutes 3) Snood - 10 minutes

Thanks for the effort. I think it looks pretty good; maybe the sunrise needs a little fixing.

No it's not, because it was in the logotype from day one, in 1951, when it changed name from Geophysical Service Incorporated. There were no calculators around back then. Regarding the external video, as far as I remember it's only in the NTSC version, TMS 9918, not in the other versions 9928 and 9929.

That's right - and appears to use PM objects for the vertical supports either side of the gongs. It's using Antic 6 (aka Gr. 1 ) which is only 1 colour per character cell vs 4 of 5 in Antic 4. But has the advantage of less DMA which allows the kernal to do that much, also badlines don't totally halt the CPU so there's also sufficient time to do the colour changes there as well.

Hi guys, Great article regarding Gladmort for the Neo-Geo from Time Extension. Chipsonsteroids gave us the heads up yesterday. Time Extension @timeextension64 PixelHeart Teases News On Its Ghosts n' Goblins-Esque Neo Geo Game 'Gladmort' https://timeextension.com/news/2024/04/pixelheart-teases-news-on-its-ghosts-n-goblins-esque-neo-geo-game-gladmort… #Repost #News #NeoGeo #Homebrews From timeextension.com 7:20 PM · Apr 25, 2024 PixelHeart Teases News On Its Ghosts n' Goblins-Esque Neo Geo Game 'Gladmort' More information to come in the next few days by Jack Yarwood Yesterday, 11:30am https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/04/pixelheart-teases-news-on-its-ghosts-n-goblins-esque-neo-geo-game-gladmort The publisher PixelHeart seems to be gearing up to make an announcement about its upcoming Ghost 'n Goblins-esque title Gladmort, putting out a video today asking for the community's help to take the Neo Geo game even further and promising more news shortly. Gladmort, in case you've never heard of it, is a promising run 'n gunner that is scheduled to come to the Neo Geo MVS, Neo Geo AES, and Neo Geo-CD in 2024, and is being developed by Chips on Steroids — who previously made Neotris. It was originally announced back in May 2023 on Twitter and was later shown off at a couple of French gaming conventions, including Stunfest 2023 and Retro Gaming Play 2024, with some videos and images from the game surfacing at these events. PixelHeart itself hasn't shared much about the title on social media in terms of official screenshots or trailers, but that all seems to be about to change, with the company posting a video that seems to indicate some official news is finally on the way. The short message featured in the video reads: "Our bad guy needs your support in 2024. Help us take the game further. May 2024. Neo Geo." As you'll no doubt notice, Gladmort isn't explicitly named in the video — likely in an attempt to add a further bit of mystery to the announcement — but one of the characters that is displayed in the background seems to be a 1:1 match the protagonist as shown in some of the public demos. We're not entirely sure what this announcement will be, but judging from the reference to "support" and "help", we suspect it may have something to do with crowdfunding. Anthony...

For a joystick, yes, but if we're talking about reading a mouse, a VBI is totally insufficient. The mouse is sampled at 1KHz (twenty times per frame using evenly spaced interrupts down the height of the screen) in order to ensure smooth motion.

Getting off topic... Back on topic. Wonder if an aftermarket modern screen will come out for the Supervision like nearly every other old handheld. Probably not as so few sold

I have added V0.95 to the first post, which shows the revised title screen. No other changes.

One way to present a separate game system menu without replacing the existing GSP app, could write a secondary app you would launch like a game in the GSP menu that would have it's own separate menu system for other platforms (for someone like myself without the know-how to replace the GSP app or modify the firmware). Not something I would have the means or experience to attempt though currently. If I did have the proper linux dev experience, I could attempt to contribute more there.

Ahh ok, that makes total sense, thanks. Figures D/R -- T+B would set that off all things considered even as a quote I guess. I didn't think I had a restriction since I keep away from that bs here, it's a huge reason I like this place as it is because you can't get into the weeds without chugging weed killer as a punishment which is deserved. Games and that don't belong on the same forum, it's an escape, not a horrific reminder.

Yup. Correct. You have 16 dark and 16 bright colors you can combine. The contrast should be fine for all combinations. I like them all. I chose the blue one, because it is a bit less busy than the red one. And it some good vibes and rhythm. Yes, I noticed that too. Thought you might have a reason for it. I think they form some kind of anchor. Yes, the red one is also nice, but I am not sure if it work well as a title. Too many PADDLEFIELDs! Don't worry too much, I never saw an 'i' there. This would require way too much storage space. This would be a bit better, but still need much more resources than the static version. And I think it is best to present the player the current game selection (incl. its board design). So prefer to limit this to the title screen. This is IMO too busy. The other version has some rhythm, these just follow a strict pattern.