All Activity

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.

You quoted a post that had the word "Trump" in it. There are a small number of words that, when used, sill automatically put a post into the moderation queue. Really just to alert mods that a discussion may have veered into politics. This post of mine will also be flagged because is that. ..Al

When I get to around 30,000 points I can't figure out how to get past the "hot dogs". I will try again and try some new stuff.

I think he said Coleco wanted it out by September for the Christmas holiday. I do not necessarily understand why it has to be that early for Christmas, but I guess 3 months prior was considered the standard. So an August release date may have meant that they were able to get some production elements done quicker than expected.

My post is approved?? Since when do I need permission to post? What happened?

This one (Master of Lamps) had always fascinated me because it shows 9 different colors on the lines where the gongs are + the Sprite for the player on top of them, and this is at a 160-width res. I always wondered how this trick was done since it's obviously not DLI'ss, and can't be using PM graphics to add colors (not enough). I think the CPU is counting cycles and swapping out the palette mid-scanline.

I am working on a program - Tape Self-Extractor. This self-extractor is a binary load file that holds a collection of data blocks. After pressing START, all blocks will be written to tape. There is also a block table, for each block, it holds the following information: 1. Block buffer range (2 16-bit addresses) 2. Block flags byte - the bits indicate how long the IRG before the block is to be - 20s, 3s, or 250ms. To write a block, I would like to use the following code (SIOV) ;Now prepare the SIO call lda #$60 ;Cassette sta DDEVIC lda #0 sta DUNIT ;Zero unit sta DCOMND ;No command sta DUNUSE ;Zero unused byte sta DAUX1 ;Zero AUX1 byte lda #$80 ;Indicate Write sta DSTATS lda ZP_SIO_BUFRLO ;Set buffer address sta DBUFLO lda ZP_SIO_BUFRHI sta DBUFHI lda ZP_SIO_LENLO ;Set buffer length sta DBYTLO lda ZP_SIO_LENHI sta DBYTHI lda #$00 ;Short gaps between records sta DAUX2 jsr SIOV ;Call SIO I observed that: For DAUX2==$00, I will get 3 seconds IRG For DAUX2==$80, I will get 250 ms IRG Unfortunately, I have no idea, how to tell SIOV to generate 20 s IRG for a block. Is that even possible? Or will I have to copy/paste more OS ROM code to get 20s IRG? P.S, I cannot use CIO, it is inflexible for my needs.

Does anyone have a working version of "Spare Change"?

Thanks

As I replied to the other comment, I did not know you could mix graphics modes on the fly. I thought you could only do this with colors within a chosen graphics mode. Interesting.

I admit I had no idea the graphics modes were also changeable. I thought you could only change the palette during drawing .. not that you could change the resolution/ graphics mode!!

Are you guys actually reading old VAXVMS tapes with your own equipment somehow? If so, How does that work?

Above games and most Atari games run at 160x200 resolution like on C64. Not many games use 320x200 resolution because it is very limited on Atari (2.5 years older machines). There are other graphics modes and sometimes graphic modes are mixed (for example Bruce Lee, top line has a 320x200 resolution, remaining screen is 160x100, sprites have 160x200 resolution). Mixing graphics modes is not a trick, it's a feature, you only have to change the display list. Modifying display list you can easily extend default 192 pixels height to 240 pixels (full vertical PAL overscan). With Display list interrupts you can have many colors. It is not a trick too, it's mentioned in The Re Atari official manual, but it costs cycles. I don't know if Altirra shows graphics mode. But on Altirra you can save a screenshot. It is saved in 320x200 resolution. If you open it with a viewer (for example FastStone) you can check pixels size and ratio. You can count colors too.

The A8's display list is a unique concept. Each scan line can be a different graphic or character mode. C64 doesn't have that. The A8's indirect color registers allow dynamic color changes from a wide palette without rewriting bitmaps. C64 doesn't have that.

I was going through my mess of consoles and realized that I have a bunch of 2600s. I've got a heavy sixer, light sixer, 4-switch Woody, Vader, and Junior. Is there anyone who has all these plus the Sears consoles? Do you have one you use more than the others? I'm using the heavy sixer the most right now.

Haven't you been around here long enough to realize that patience is required for all of these kinds of projects? Subscribe to the topic by clicking the box at the top and you'll be notified of any updates.

While I don't know of any ready made converters, there are a few GG games that have been converted to the SMS. I've got a folder for my flash cart with quite a few of those conversions. So there are folks that have done it at least.

Can I just say that this is a really out there choice for a homebrew? It's like you were making... game dot com games or something.

We don't have a case yet. This is all a chicken/egg scenario. The 1090XL, without cards, is useless. Re-creating the 1090XL was a major project. The cards, without the 1090XL, is useless. Creating cards is a major project for each and every card. The 1090XL also needs a case. Designing and building a case is also a major project. The very few people, who have created or re-created the cards and main board don't have a case. Somebody, who has a case, is supposed to be getting all of the dimensions. Hopefully, somebody will also soon release a 3d printed case. The work that has been done, in a corporate scenario, most likely takes a team of at least 10 people and includes sub-contractors.

Interesting! It never even occurred to me there might be more than one pattern. I just assumed it was the same every time. I'll have to pay attention next time to see if I can determine if it's one layout for every run, or if it changes randomly.

Definitely going to do a full voltage test on the board before I install the ICs.

Yeah it's better, it's also a 16bit release. I was thinking just 8bit and comparisons are easy enough to find. NES has a few less colors than the SMS one and a slight knock down on the graphics, more like some background details again over coloring too, but that's about it. It has the stages most intact, the mechanics are there, the warps are there, end boss fights including the whale eating you (vs just appearing inside it) and other nice touched were left in place. You can also continue your game and gain lives. The SMS one though that's more colorful, more details present, and depending on taste of audio nicer too (nes/sms toss up) but the game has a good bit of cut content, made it overall harder, and took out all extra lives and no continues so it's 3 chances and go back to stage 1 again sucka!

Yeah - there was absolutely no way those 2 caps would fit. I did insert both before soldering, and there was about a quarter inch of "overlap". Both caps would have been at an angle, or damaged if I forced them in place. Not a big deal, I just wanted to mention it in case you were going to do a large order of parts. My OCD will probably get the best of me, and I will order smaller caps but for now, this will suffice.

You can always pause the game (F9) with the debugger enabled and have a look at the display list and DINDEX ($57). But remember there is no fixed resolution, what is on screen in most games is highly likely a mix of character/graphics modes. So pausing may not show you the entire picture (excuse the pun ) , this is one aspect of the Atari that sets apart from most other computer of the day. The screenshot I posted earlier uses a dynamic display list which changes every vertical blank, so depends when you pause it Even the screen memory does not have to be contiguous, again in my example, the top of the screen starts at $B800 the middle sections are at $8000 and $B018 and the bottom portion is at $3000