Marius Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Wow... that Alpha Shield game is amazing. I love it. It is a real achievement that is uses that little ram. 99675 points The Carnival game and the Crab Nebula are pretty cool too. Escape didn't want to run on my 800XL... (did not read the entire thread, sorry; but is this known yet?) The Caverns of Callisto did not feel as a cool game. But perhaps I need more practice. Collision Course also felt a tiny bit boring... but perhaps I did not get the clue. My favorites of this "Zylon mixed bag" are: 1. Alpha Shield (fabulous game) 2. Carnival (it has some really cool strategy things) 3. Crab Nebula Is it ok that I limit myself to these games? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Are there more people here who have the issue that in Carnival sometimes the firebutton does not work at all (most of the time this happens on the 2nd run of the game) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Looks like folks're enjoying my lil' games. Here's the Escape I run on a stock XEGS(65XE) Escape.xex 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Crab Nebula (this is actually pretty challenging too...) 5755 ... oh it is really getting more difficult when you get further. And The Carnival game... 3330 These two games, and the Alpha Shield... what a lot of fun! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 (edited) Escape didn't want to run on my 800XL... (did not read the entire thread, sorry; but is this known yet?) Same for me, the one from Fandal doesn't boot on my 130XE but I'll try the version Zylon uploaded. Are there more people here who have the issue that in Carnival sometimes the firebutton does not work at all (most of the time this happens on the 2nd run of the game) Yes, it happened to me once. I had to reboot and load the game again. However on subsequent attempts the fire button keeps working on multiple games in a row. Since we're using different Atari models and experience the same problems, I don't know what to blame. If it would be an OS issue, it wouldn't work at all, right? Edit: Nope, the Escape XEX posted by Zylon made no difference. I'll try my XEGS some other day. In the mean time, I downloaded the BAS from Atarimania, booted an ATR with DOS that puts me into BASIC, mounted the BAS file, loaded manually and ran. It is not as convenient, but it works at the moment. Escape - 181 pts Edited March 12, 2019 by carlsson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Same for me, the one from Fandal doesn't boot on my 130XE but I'll try the version Zylon uploaded. Yes, it happened to me once. I had to reboot and load the game again. However on subsequent attempts the fire button keeps working on multiple games in a row. Since we're using different Atari models and experience the same problems, I don't know what to blame. If it would be an OS issue, it wouldn't work at all, right? Edit: Nope, the Escape XEX posted by Zylon made no difference. I'll try my XEGS some other day. In the mean time, I downloaded the BAS from Atarimania, booted an ATR with DOS that puts me into BASIC, mounted the BAS file, loaded manually and ran. It is not as convenient, but it works at the moment. Not sure if it would make a difference, but I'm running all these from a flashcart in the cart slot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 (edited) Hm, so Atarimax would be better than SIO2SD in this case? I've got both, and with a little bit of trouble got the latter to boot on my XEGS so that is what I'd try first. However my XEGS lacks the keyboard, so certain programs expecting a keyboard, even just polling for its existance, won't start without it. Of course I could just as well try my NTSC 800 since I managed to get it to play with the SIO2SD as well. Edited March 12, 2019 by carlsson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graywest Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 Alpha Shield: 109,200 Whew! I barely managed to squeak through level 22. Getting through the shield is something of a miracle at that point. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 Looks like folks're enjoying my lil' games. Here's the Escape I run on a stock XEGS(65XE) Got a report that this won't run from the SIDE loader, and the reason is that the game loads at $0700, which also means it cannot be loaded via DOS. Is there any specific memory constraint which necessitates this low load address? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 Got a report that this won't run from the SIDE loader, and the reason is that the game loads at $0700, which also means it cannot be loaded via DOS. Is there any specific memory constraint which necessitates this low load address? It is probably a compiled basic file. Why in the world would basic put it this low in memory? I can only think that it is created to be booted from tape or so. Anyway, since MyIDE fat loader does not use $0700 for this single file I use the FAT32 loader from MyIDE. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKong Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 (edited) Games in order of preference so far! Carnival 25215 Alpha Shield 106700 Escape 648 Crab Nebula 8535 Collision Course 26780 Caverns Of Callisto 2680 Edited March 15, 2019 by McKong 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 Got a report that this won't run from the SIDE loader, and the reason is that the game loads at $0700, which also means it cannot be loaded via DOS. Is there any specific memory constraint which necessitates this low load address? I'm using the flashcart system from Atarimax, not one of the card loaders. I found that more programs will run from them and switched over last winter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted March 13, 2019 Author Share Posted March 13, 2019 Had my first session on the games today (not read any instructions yet! Caverns of Callisto 400 1200 1520 2000 3200 I usually like these Apple ports (I'm guessing it is one) another fart simulator game! Seems to turn around when you fire, sort of, not mastered it yet, got the shield bubble and collected 4 of the 8 things. Press [space] to play, lots of disk loading so probably will need disk read/write, ATR I had worked ok on my PAL130XE with 1050 drive. Collision Course 16,740 skill 1 (has levels 1-4) seems a bit easy but it does end after three rounds when you get back to earth, not as fun as the BASIC game Rearguard ? Carnival 12,915 Crab Nebula 3933 8330 level 5 Escape - didn't load will try and find the BAS file and see if can fix this. Forgot to play Alpha Shield So we have a few easier games in this round (for a change) so I hope you all find some that are fun to play. atarionline.pl may have other versions of the games. Crab people... Crab people... taste like crab... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 I'm using the flashcart system from Atarimax, not one of the card loaders. I found that more programs will run from them and switched over last winter. That's great, but I was really appealing to authors not to use unnecessarily obnoxious load addresses. Then everyone could run their games regardless of which loader they liked to use. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 Collision Course 16,740 skill 1 (has levels 1-4) seems a bit easy but it does end after three rounds when you get back to earth, not as fun as the BASIC game Rearguard ? I believe my game continued past Earth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 Forgot to play Alpha Shield You did? Well then you missed by far the most addictive and thrilling game. This one is a true masterpiece. It is really a funny game, and it gets harder the further you get. Lots of fun! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 I must say... who would have thought that... I very recently got back my interest in games written in BASIC. Haha... Of course it is another 'standard' but, this does not mean by default that you can not have fun. There are quite some old fashioned funny games. I now play Escape... in basic (so not the xex version). And although it is a real BASIC game with all it's flaws, it is still a game that when you are dead, you want to try it one more time (and another one more time lol). I have to admit with all the development in games, demo, hardware, firmwares, tools... I kind of had lost my nostalgia feel with a8. It was just a fabulous 'modern' computer to me. But now with BASIC titles... this is true nostalgia. I love it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted March 14, 2019 Author Share Posted March 14, 2019 I believe my game continued past Earth? That thing with the nappy is not earth, I think it's the one after the imperssive looking Space Pretzel - though might have been out as I had no ships left to guard, my bad You did? Well then you missed by far the most addictive and thrilling game. This one is a true masterpiece. It is really a funny game, and it gets harder the further you get. Lots of fun! OK played it now. 60,820 (level 13) I started going inside the beams Improved on C.O.C. to 3.650 5 pieces of importany space stuff recovered. Press fire twice to turn around. I must say... who would have thought that... I very recently got back my interest in games written in BASIC. Haha... Of course it is another 'standard' but, this does not mean by default that you can not have fun. There are quite some old fashioned funny games. I now play Escape... in basic (so not the xex version). And although it is a real BASIC game with all it's flaws, it is still a game that when you are dead, you want to try it one more time (and another one more time lol). I have to admit with all the development in games, demo, hardware, firmwares, tools... I kind of had lost my nostalgia feel with a8. It was just a fabulous 'modern' computer to me. But now with BASIC titles... this is true nostalgia. I love it! Please can you want to post the .BAS file here or the link, thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 The entry on Atarimania has the BAS file as the sole download of Escape. Fandal has the XEX that is troublesome. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 (edited) Yes: much became clear when I assembled a contrived version of the SIDE Loader which is able to run the Escape XEX and noticed it producing an 'Error 12'. The problem was that I had Altirra BASIC installed, and I guess the XEX makes direct calls into the Atari BASIC ROM to run the game. Since the SIDE loader has no problem whatsoever launching tokenised BASIC programs directly, perhaps the Atarimania version would be the best one to use. Edited March 14, 2019 by flashjazzcat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mangia-Boy Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Alpha Shield: 31,900 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 The entry on Atarimania has the BAS file as the sole download of Escape. Fandal has the XEX that is troublesome. Improved on... Caverns of Callisto - 4,560 - still missing 3 of the 8 items that need collecting, I did find a key - it's after that "Death Ray" machine or should I say "Deadly Death Ray" machine Alpha Shield 89,275 (15) not sure if it's flawed or is programmed in to stop this but you can camp out on some of the screens and keep firing with little chance of the aliens getting you - you do hit the core several times but I don't know if it is only destroyed after a total number of hits or a busrt of so many in a period. Either way I got fed up waiting and moved about - any thoughts McKong? Collision Course 50,470 (4th level completed, sadly no other planet graphics) I wasn't looking forward to playing this again but it was just about ok, you are out when you reach an end of level with no ships left, don't really see the point in this, you should just be out, perhaps we should play on a harder difficulty? Updated Season 16 Current Standings. Will do tables for this round at the weekend Hey RT read that mail another one coming soon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKong Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Not sure about Alpha Shield, I did notice that the meter at the bottom seems to go up sometimes if you shoot the shield 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 first tables Zylon's Mixed Bag 1st McKong 44 12pts 2nd therealbountybob 30 11pts 3rd carlsson 24 10pts 4th slx 18 9pts 5th graywest 17 8pts 6th zylon 14 7pts 7th Marius 13 6pts 8th Deteacher 10 5pts 9th jblenkle 3 4pts 10th Mangia Boy 3 3pts 11th slx Jr. 2 2pts Alpha Shield 1st graywest 109,200 7 2nd McKong 106,700 6 3rd Marius 99,675 5 4th Deteacher 75,000 5 5th carlsson 61,700 4 6th therealbountybob 60,820 4 7th Zylon 41,900 3 8th Magnia-Boy 31,900 3 9th slx 23,125 3 10th slx jr 16,325 2Carnival (instructions in game) 1st McKong 25,215 7 2nd therealbountybob 12,915 6 3rd Deteacher 7,330 5 4th carlsson 3,460 5 5th Marius 3,330 4 6th Zylon 2,470 4 7th jblenkle 2,420 3 8th slx 900 3Caverns of Callisto (press Space to start) 1st therealbountybob 4,560 7 2nd McKong 2,680 6 3rd RedThunder 1,020 5Collision Course 1st therealbountybob 50,470 7 2nd McKong 26,780 6 3rd graywest 24,780 5 4th carlsson 18,380 5 5th Zylon 14,010 4 6th slx 1,220 4Crab Nebula 1st McKong 8,535 7 2nd therealbountybob 8,330 6 3rd graywest 6,020 5 4th McKong 5,840 5 5th Marius 5,755 4 6th carlsson 4,725 4 7th slx 3,230 3 8th Zylon 3,146 3Escape (use BAS file from atarimania if xex doesn't run) 1st McKong 648 7 2nd carlsson 181 6 3rd slx 93 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 Not sure about Alpha Shield, I did notice that the meter at the bottom seems to go up sometimes if you shoot the shield Ahh I was thinking that was the shield expansion thing will read the manuals now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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