electrohaze Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Hey guys, I am just discovering games such as Bomb Jack http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-bomb-jack_20831.html Titles like this make me want to upgrade my 130XE to 320k. I want to put new games like this on an Atari Max cart and play them on my 130XE. Thinking of getting one of these awesome devices: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/232856-ram320xe576-order-thread/ So here is the question. How many games currently available use 256k or 320k of ram? Does someone have a list? I would love to make up a 256/320k game multicart. (after I figure out memory upgrade) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I think many other modern games that use 256K+ of memory require PAL machines as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifthPlayer Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 That was my experience with most of the demos that require 256K/320K of memory. They didn't run properly on an NTSC machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrohaze Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) I think many other modern games that use 256K+ of memory require PAL machines as well. You know, I totally forgot about PAL and NTSC versions. I am just about to get my first set of AtariMax flash cart set. Was going to make a few multicarts. Now I am realizing that all the roms I have gathered might be mixed PAL and NTSC... What happens when you try to run PAL software, demo's or games on an NTSC machine? I have never tried. Do some work, and some don't? Or none work at all? Edited December 16, 2015 by electrohaze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 What happens when you try to run PAL software, demo's or games on an NTSC machine? I have never tried. Do some work, and some don't? Or none work at all? You'd get color and speed/timing issues if they work at all. If you're using RF on a TV the screen would probably roll too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 There are not many 256 or 320KB games. In my preferred list I found only those games: 256KB Crossbow 320KB Crime Buster Midi Maze Mean 18+ Bomb Jack Commando Airball If I am not wrong many if not all those games don't need 256/320KB if run from cart. However, 320KB are very useful to run demos. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 There are not many 256 or 320KB games. In my preferred list I found only those games: 256KB Crossbow 320KB Crime Buster Midi Maze Mean 18+ Bomb Jack Commando Airball If I am not wrong many if not all those games don't need 256/320KB if run from cart. However, 320KB are very useful to run demos. Agreed. But again, most good demos (and nearly all new demos) require a PAL machine. So glad I have a PAL and many NTSC machines to choose from. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrohaze Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 There are not many 256 or 320KB games. In my preferred list I found only those games: 256KB Crossbow 320KB Crime Buster Midi Maze Mean 18+ Bomb Jack Commando Airball If I am not wrong many if not all those games don't need 256/320KB if run from cart. However, 320KB are very useful to run demos. Interesting... This weekend I will have to try putting some of these games on a cart and try them out on the 130XE to see what happens. So excited to get back into Atari again... so much has happened over the years I didn't even know about! Boxes and boxes of Atari goods await for my arrival to the USA this Friday. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 (edited) There are not many 256 or 320KB games. In my preferred list I found only those games: 256KB Crossbow 320KB Crime Buster Midi Maze Mean 18+ Bomb Jack Commando Airball If I am not wrong many if not all those games don't need 256/320KB if run from cart. However, 320KB are very useful to run demos. You certainly wouldn't need that RAM to run it off cart since most of those original carts were made for the XEGS with stock 64K. XEGS Commando was 320K? And Crossbow was 256K? I have some serious doubts because I don't even think the 7800 versions were above 128K ROM. And if I recall from the 5200 thread, A8 Crossbow will run with 16K RAM because people were looking at porting it over to the 5200 before realizing it didn't have the light pen capabilities of A8 so a light gun was a no-go without some creative solutions... Edited December 17, 2015 by Lynxpro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 You certainly wouldn't need that RAM to run it off cart since most of those original carts were made for the XEGS with stock 64K. XEGS Commando was 320K? And Crossbow was 256K? I have some serious doubts because I don't even think the 7800 versions were above 128K ROM. And if I recall from the 5200 thread, A8 Crossbow will run with 16K RAM because people were looking at porting it over to the 5200 before realizing it didn't have the light pen capabilities of A8 so a light gun was a no-go without some creative solutions... Obviously Commando and Crossbow carts are not 320/256KB. File versions need 320/256KB to run. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrohaze Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 You certainly wouldn't need that RAM to run it off cart since most of those original carts were made for the XEGS with stock 64K. XEGS Commando was 320K? And Crossbow was 256K? I have some serious doubts because I don't even think the 7800 versions were above 128K ROM. And if I recall from the 5200 thread, A8 Crossbow will run with 16K RAM because people were looking at porting it over to the 5200 before realizing it didn't have the light pen capabilities of A8 so a light gun was a no-go without some creative solutions... There was a updated version of commando that requires 320k released, I have rom for it. Of course the original just requires 64k or whatever... as for the other ones I don't know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 There was a updated version of commando that requires 320k released, I have rom for it. Of course the original just requires 64k or whatever... as for the other ones I don't know... If you have an unreleased update/hack of that game, post it over at AtariMania because it appears they only have the cart version. It's listed as a proto by them but I could swear it was officially released. Maybe B&C did it a few years later after the XEGS was discontinued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrohaze Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 (edited) If you have an unreleased update/hack of that game, post it over at AtariMania because it appears they only have the cart version. It's listed as a proto by them but I could swear it was officially released. Maybe B&C did it a few years later after the XEGS was discontinued. Video 61 sells it. It's listed as "64k" http://members.tcq.net/video61/whatsnew.html I would get a copy myself, but I just ordered a bunch of stuff from him, and a little over my budget as it is. Never posted over at AtariMania before... I'll have to look into that. I decided put the ATR's on my server: Commando 256k: http://electrohaze.com/atari/Commando+_(256)%5b1%5d.atr Crossbow 256k: http://electrohaze.com/atari/Crossbow.zip Maybe I'll just start dumping all the 256k and 320k games I find on my server.... Might be a good place to start a list/collection of 256/320k games. Edited December 17, 2015 by electrohaze 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a8isa1 Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 (edited) You certainly wouldn't need that RAM to run it off cart since most of those original carts were made for the XEGS with stock 64K. XEGS Commando was 320K? And Crossbow was 256K? I have some serious doubts because I don't even think the 7800 versions were above 128K ROM. And if I recall from the 5200 thread, A8 Crossbow will run with 16K RAM because people were looking at porting it over to the 5200 before realizing it didn't have the light pen capabilities of A8 so a light gun was a no-go without some creative solutions... Most if not all of the games listed above were converted from cartridges to run in expanded memory machines by our own Fandal. (If I never said so before, great job Fandal!) A 256K version (64K+192K extended) of Commando exists because I begged Fandal for it. It was found to be doable if the fancy title screen of Commando+ (320K) was removed. I don't know if anything else was necessary but _fandal got it done! -SteveS Edited December 17, 2015 by a8isa1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 On Fandal website you can download all games, including 256/320KB ones. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrohaze Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 On Fandal website you can download all games, including 256/320KB ones. Awesome! I am checking it out now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Try this: http://a8.fandal.cz/search.php?search=256&butt_details_x=x (file versions of XE / XEGS carts) and that: http://a8.fandal.cz/search.php?search=320XE&butt_details_x=x (Air Ball fileversion, Bomb Jack fileversion and Yie Ar Kung Fu) These are games (and demos) that require 256k or 320k RAM, there are a few others, e.g. - The Brundles (will still work on a 64k system but with 320k, it will copy the main program and all 100 levels into XRAM) - Kaiser 2 (german Hamurabi type game, available in three versions - one works with 64k RAM, the other with 128k RAM and the third version works with 320k RAM; with 320k RAM the whole game / both disksides will be copied to XRAM) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Most if not all of the games listed above were converted from cartridges to run in expanded memory machines by our own Fandal. (If I never said so before, great job Fandal!) A 256K version (64K+192K extended) of Commando exists because I begged Fandal for it. It was found to be doable if the fancy title screen of Commando+ (320K) was removed. I don't know if anything else was necessary but _fandal got it done! -SteveS But what's the actual advantage of doing that? It's not like cartridge load times take forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 (edited) But what's the actual advantage of doing that? It's not like cartridge load times take forever. Hmmm, maybe for people that use flags with white skull and bones on black background... Or for harddisk users (where the harddisk-interface occupies the cart-slot and ECI)... Edited December 19, 2015 by CharlieChaplin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifthPlayer Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 But what's the actual advantage of doing that? It's not like cartridge load times take forever. Because then you don't have to have a cartridge to burn the game to. I have a few AtariMax carts, but they're already full with other stuff. Plus, I don't even know if the cart versions of these games will work on AtariMax. maybe for people that use flags with white skull and bones on black background... Are all these games "pirated"? AtariMania says the license on Bomb Jack says its freeware for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Are all these games "pirated"? AtariMania says the license on Bomb Jack says its freeware for instance. For us Atarians they "appear" as freeware because we can download them for free. But for the copyright holders these are simply un-licensed, illegal and pirated versions and they have the right to take legal action and sue - if they want to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a8isa1 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 But what's the actual advantage of doing that? It's not like cartridge load times take forever. The advantage of the original cartridges is they run on a stock 64K 800XL. Some even run on a 48K Atari 400/800. Squeezing a converted XEX onto a cartridge offers the convenience but still has the RAM requirement. The 256K and 320K XEXes need than much RAM in the machine to run. A fairly recent development is The!Cart. This huge cart (up to 128 MB?) can run images of most known production cartridges. No extended memory needed. Just the requirements the game manufacturer intended, typically 64K. Sometimes 128K (not often. Gato might be one of those). And sometimes only 48K. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 The advantage of the original cartridges is they run on a stock 64K 800XL. Some even run on a 48K Atari 400/800. Squeezing a converted XEX onto a cartridge offers the convenience but still has the RAM requirement. The 256K and 320K XEXes need than much RAM in the machine to run. A fairly recent development is The!Cart. This huge cart (up to 128 MB?) can run images of most known production cartridges. No extended memory needed. Just the requirements the game manufacturer intended, typically 64K. Sometimes 128K (not often. Gato might be one of those). And sometimes only 48K. Nice. That explains it. As for GATO, that would be pretty weird if the cartridge version required 128K since it was made for the XEGS. Perhaps a custom in-house version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZuluGula Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 I may be wrong, but I think I had a cracked version of Commando loaded from cassette which run on stock 65XE. It was in late 80's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
José Pereira Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 I may be wrong, but I think I had a cracked version of Commando loaded from cassette which run on stock 65XE. It was in late 80's. Hey no, that one is for sure a similar, a copy named Gunlaw and was a budget game released by Mastertronic (there was also a similar one, original in other computers by Alligata and ported to Atari 8bit by Tynesoft named Who Dares Wins II): 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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