Darius Nefarious

(1) Oids--I can't believe only one other person has mentioned this game. Hours and hours of fun to play, and endless fun to create new worlds with the editor. (2) Virus--There were different games with this title; I'm talking about the one by David Braben. Beautiful landscape, excellent game play (once you master the controls). (3) Goldrunner--Speed and innovative scrolling up and down. (4) Carrier Command--Those were the days when I had time enough to play a real-time simulation...

This is a little off topic: I read that there was a boot-up graphic on the 260ST--similar to what the Amiga had--while loading TOS from disk. Is this true? If so, does anybody have a screenshot? I'm just curious, since all my STs have the TOS in ROM.

Thanks so much for the info, jsoper. This prevents me from having to go through the pain of diagnosing. I'll try swapping the RF modulator. If there is a hardware FAQ out there, jsoper's information should probably be included...

I own an Atari heavy sixer. After I switch it on, the picture looks great for about a minute. Then wavy lines appear (it looks like interference). This happens every time I use the system. Switching it off and quickly on again gives a clear screen, but it again lasts for only about a minute until the wavy lines reappear. Has anybody encountered this problem before? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm too lazy to set up a C64 emulator. If you posted screenshots, I'm sure more people would be interested.

I created an Access database. The advantage is that the DB can contain images. For each of my games, I inserted a box scan, a screen shot, a cart scan, as well as the text of the manual. Needless to say that the file is huge (the images take up much space), but since the DB permanently resides on my HD which is large enough, I don't really care.

quote: Originally posted by Mindfield: It's sort of like trying to commission Oscar Mayer to create a new wiener you've just thought of. Oscar Mayer's business is wieners. There's probably a good reason the wiener you just thought of hasn't already been done. That's right. Everybody should just shut up, because: If you have an idea, don't even think about pursuing it--if it's not out there already, then it MUST be garbage. What were you thinking? Individuals with their own ideas?! Nobody would want that.

Why all the harsh negative responses? Let them try. If ten have failed, maybe this one can prevail. The more people are keeping the spirit alive, the better!

NB is a truly smart person. Here is a quote from a 2001 interview with LA Times: "One of the things that happens when things cost so much is that innovation suffers because the risk is so high. ... We [uWink] have blackboards here on the walls, which increase creativity by dropping the risk of writing on the wall. Paint would be too risky because it's considered too permanent. Chalk is OK because I can erase it. What my companies generally have in common is a highly creative atmosphere, because we block the cost of failure. I want to see new stuff. If you're not making mistakes, you're going to fail."

I need to replace the game select switch, and some other switches are getting old. Where did you find the replacements? Do they look like the original switches?

The x and y keys are swapped because they are on German keyboards (you mentioned the emulator was German). Some other keys are different also.

I own a six-switch 2600. Unfortunately, the spring on the game select switch broke. Does anybody know of a source where I could purchase an identical switch (or just a spring, for that matter)? Thanks, DN®