Wayne2072

First of all, thank you everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. Also, there have been many good questions. Let me explain a bit of my thought process. Currently, I have an Atari 7800, with the Harmony Cart full of 2600 games, and I have most of the 7800 library. The 5200 interests me for a few reasons: 1) Quality of the video and sound on most of the games - very nice! 2) A smaller library, but most games are good, and there are many spot-on, or very close to it, arcade ports. 3) There are many games, including XE conversions, that just aren't available for the 2600 or 7800, and are fun to play! 4) I like quite a few of the arcade ports better than the 2600 and even some of the 7800 ports. 5) I've been emulating the 5200, but want to play on an actual machine. As for other consoles, I have a working NES system, as well as a Nintendo DS, DS2, an XBox 360, and a Nintendo Switch. I still find myself gravitating toward Atari, as it's what I started on, and played for years before the NES even came along. I saw the 5200 when it first came out. A few problems with getting it back then. I was a kid - I think 11 when it came out? I already had the 2600, so it didn't fly with my parents to get the 5200, too. Plus, I saw the initial game offerings back then as being repetitive compared to the 2600. I didn't realize just how much better the graphics and sound were. Most stores like K-Mart, Sears, etc. had the 2600 set up to play on. I don't recall the 5200 being set up similarly, but it might have been. Instead, I wound up with a Commodore VIC-20, as my second "system". ? Wayne

I am considering picking up a 5200 system. I've checked out screenshots, and have emulated a few games. I have to admit, the arcade quality video and sound is impressive for a system from that time. I wish that things could have been different for the Atari 5200 (not released so close to the crash, had better controllers, etc.). Still, it has a nice library, and more games are being produced even today. There are a ton of consoles on eBay, but I would want to make sure it's one that is definitely operational. There are some which have AV mods and rebuilt controllers. However, I've read some threads that "rebuilt" doesn't necessarily mean much, in terms of the controllers on eBay. I'd probably be better off either buying the Best Electronics ones outright, or sending Best the ones that I get from a system on eBay. From what I've read, it sounds like Best does an incredible job with the controllers. Anything else I should consider? A TrakBall, certainly. Atarimax cart, definitely! Some of the Homebrews in the AA store? Absolutely. Anything about the system itself? 2 port or 4 port? Can I trust the AV mods on eBay? Or, would I be better off just getting a system with no mods but works? I'd appreciate any insight from those of you who have faced this same decision in the past.

Thank you for responding. It's hard for me, with a game like Galaga. It's been my favorite game for what is getting close to 40 years now. My first memory of it was in a little convenience store in the neighborhood I lived in when I was a kid. I spent many quarters there. Now, Centipede comes in a close second, but that is another story for another time. I am sorry if my post came off harsh in any way. There can be differences - it's your game, certainly - and they can be gotten used to. I do think that it's incredible to see Galaga on the 2600! I wanted that title to come out so badly way back when! I do like the high score screen, as well as the faithfulness of the intro screen showing the ship values. The enemies are drawn very well, too. It's nice seeing the "scorpion" triplet in level 4-6, and the green triplet in level 8. I'm guessing the fast dive triplet will be there in stages 12-14. So much of what I have seen is a faithful reproduction of the original. I am sorry that I focused so much on what was different. Best wishes! Wayne

For anyone who has played the demo and the full cart, are there any differences between the two? There are a few things that I noticed in the demo. First of all, getting Galaga on to the 2600 is a monumental release. But, there are some things that are different from the arcade version. I am a bit of a Galaga "purist", if you will. :-) 1) The enemy ship wave introductions in stages 5 and 6 are reversed. 2) The enemies go to a rapid descent in stage 4 and later all of the time, when it normally would begin in stage 8, when there are few enemies left. 3) Some of the descent patterns, particularly for the Galaga "boss" ships, are off. They alternate side to side, instead of just keeping the same side, and the descent pattern is a bit different. 4) If you are captured and free your ship right before a Challenging Stage, you are not lined up to get a perfect score without moving, as you normally would be in the first two challenging stages.

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Thanks! Order was placed this afternoon. Wayne

Thanks. I am going to order hacks of Scrapyard Dog and Tank Command. Are these two doable currently?

Hoping to place the order tomorrow, unless that is not possible with the megacarts.

@CPUWIZ @Albert So, if placing an order in the store for two 32K carts, and two megacarts, I would select four custom carts, pay, send labels/bins.....What else would I have to do to get the two megacarts?

Store?

Is there a way for carts greater than 32K to be made, either in the AtariAge store, or any other means? I am getting ready to place an order which will include making carts of three or four hacks, but a couple of them are 128K.

Kindness, definitely. Thank you! I was not ready for a bankswitched cart yet. :-) I didn't know that these changes could be made/tested on MAME, either. That's slick. I'm going to check out the version of SD you created, and test my version of Galaga somewhere other than ProSystem13 (this version of SD didn't come up on ProSystem13). And, how much do I owe ya? :-) Also, on another note, I am really enjoying playing Salvo. Awesome game!

Anyone? I've completed my changes to Galaga, but am finding Scrapyard Dog more challenging. Would pay for your time to change the "death" code to add back the life, instead of taking it away in Scrapyard Dog.

Thanks. The copy command and the ORG values make sense. I performed all of the copies and then started the disassembly with distella. All of them worked, except for scrpdog.05. I am not sure why, but regardless of the parameters I supply, distella makes its first pass, and then dies, with no indication of why. I am attaching the scrpdog.05 and the bank 5 and 7 files. bank.005.txt bank.007.txt scrpdog.05.txt

Thank you for sharing this. I have SD split into 8 bank ROMS now, thanks to 7-zip. I have two questions, please, from the above. I think I get the process, with two exceptions: "Combine the bank roms into 7 new "address space ROMS" that represent only what the 6502 sees when each bank is switched in. e.g. scrapdog.00 (bank.00+bank.07), scrapdog.01 (bank.01+bank07), ..., scrapdog.06 (bank.06+bank07)" So, for example, am I copying the contents of bank07 to the bottom of the bank00 file, and saving it as scrapdog.00, bank07 to the bottom of the bank01 file, and saving it as scrapdog.01, and so on? "Add lines "ORG = $8000" and "RORG = $8000" to the top of the first disassembly. Use "ORG = $C000" and "RORG = $8000" for the second, "ORG = $10000" "RORG = $8000" for the third. Continue the pattern for the rest of the disassemblies." I must admit that I am clueless about how to continue the pattern. Looks like RORG stays the same throughout. But, I am not sure how to continue ORG from $8000 to $C000 to $10000, to......the rest of the values. Not sure what they'd be. Sorry, this entire 6502 programming is still fairly new to me. I appreciate your patience and help.