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About this blog

Mostly Atari-related projects, and other ramblings. Home of the Artie the Atari comic strip.

Entries in this blog

 

Not for the squeamish

Here are some photos of the "real" Artie's surgery:   The new CD4050 was taken from a donor. In this case, an unused video mod:   The old chip didn't say CD4050 anywhere on it. But Albert pointed out that this is indeed the same as a CD4050:   If you do any of this kind of stuff, the best $11 you'll ever spend (and one of the few useful things Radio Shack still sells) is on a desoldering iron. It makes removing old components like this much, much easier:   After desoldering, the new
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

2
 

Getting Squished

When coming up with a label for Bob's port of Squish 'Em, I ran into the artist's equivalent of writer's block.   Y'see, I thought it would be funny to send Bob this for a label design: Just as a joke, of course.   Unfortunately - that idea stuck in my head, and I couldn't get it out! But what I wanted, was something that implied some of the ideas in the classic Popeye cartoon A Dream Walking.   So, as is often the case, I pestered Dave Dries for some ideas. We'd been planning to colla
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

15
 

To do do do, To da da da

Well, it's time once again to completely re-write my To-Do list, as the last one was originally written last April, and is now a hopelessly jumbled mess.   In order to keep this stuff straight, unannounced games are getting code-names (which will be in italics). I'm putting these in approximate order of priority. If you're a programmer and don't see your project here, it's probably been given a code name. I don't think I've left anything off.   So, game sprites: Calidac - Early developmen
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

12
 

Tales from... THE FUTURE! (revisited)

So, it's January. Funny, it seems like it was January just a few weeks ago.   The MacWorld Expo (Apple's big annual show-and-tell) is coming up in a couple of days. They almost always announce some new product at it. The question is - what will they release this year? (That would be 2008, by the way. I don't know about you, but I find that rather hard to believe.)   With that, I'll once again display my incredible wealth of ignorance, by making Technology Predictions for 2008. But first, it'
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

42
 

The end of MacMAME.net

For nearly ten years, I ran a website originally called MacMAME News and Info. After a couple of years, I bought a domain name, and it became MacMAME.net.   MacMAME was the Mac version of MAME - the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. A fantastic piece of software that allows you to play thousands of classic (and not-so-classic) arcade games on your home computer. I say "was" since even though MAME is certainly still around, MacMAME hasn't been updated in two years. The project, by all accounts,
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

1
 

Homebreviews - part 20

Well, my blog got bumped off the main page, so I guess I should start on the next batch of Homebreviews. How long will it take me to reach 122?   So here's an early holiday review (based on the NWCGE release) of:   Gingerbread Man 5/5   Run, run as fast as you can, they can't catch you - you're the Gingerbread Man now, dog! In Gingerbread Man, you control a cookie come-to-life, and must escape from different settings and enemies based on the classic children's tale. You start out trapped
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

12
 

More Holiday Treats

Well, since Fred just posted an announcement about selling off his remaining NWCGE copies of Gingerbread Man, and included a nice picture of the label artwork, I figured this would be a good time to post "the making of" blog entry for it.   First though, I want to recommend that you pick up this game. Directly from Fred, if possible. First of all, it's a really fun game (full review coming later). But also, Fred did a really great job of printing the manuals and labels. They're the best I've
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

7
 

Holiday Treats

Here's a sneak-peek at a couple of projects I'm working on. They're "mostly done".   First, a label for a new homebrew release. The name has been left off of this picture, although some of you may find the imagery a familiar refrain.   This is a bit of a departure for me. No cartoons. No space ships. Just pure graphic design, meant to convey abstract shapes and rhythm. There's also an intentional division of the label into fourths; and a suggestion of the four directions of the joystick, an
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

8
 

Homebreviews index - part 1

Here's an index of all 61 Homebreviews to this point, arranged alphabetically, by score.   And based on the number of games slated for release this December, this isn't the end of it.   Not even close.   5/5 2005 Holiday Cart: Reindeer Rescue 2005 MiniGame MultiCart Conquest of Mars Fall Down Four-Play Hunchy II Krokodile Cartridge Lady Bug Medieval Mayhem Oystron Pac-Man Collection (Atari 7800) Power Off! Qb Seawolf Star Fire
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

6
 

Quart is in session

Well, it's almost the end of October.   And it's taken all month, but finally, it's here.   Baskin-Robbins Pumpkin Pie ice cream. My annual addiction, as I've mentioned a couple of times before in this blog.   So I've stocked up. I've got a quart of it in the freezer.   Which should last me about one, maybe two... scoops.   Well, they're open again tomorrow.     Speaking of food... I haven't really posted anything from the finished Gingerbread Man manual. I'm kind of holding off o
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

6
 

b*nQ bl*G

Well, I was working on something completely unrelated... and decided to throw together another entry (or two) for the Q*bert b*nQ contest.   The other project I'm working on (another label and manual) is much more abstract, and uses flat, geometric shapes for the most part. So I decided to try that for b*nQ, seeing as how the approach is pretty much the opposite of what I already submitted.       The colors aren't as intense as in my earlier entry. Also, with a lighter background, ther
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

7
 

Homebreviews - part 19

Believe it or not... this entry includes my 60th Homebreview! To mark the occasion, I'm reviewing a couple of games that were released at the Classic Gaming Expo this summer. The ROMs aren't available, so I've posted movies of them, to show you what they're really like (sorry about the quality - they were shot off of a TV screen).   Actually, I would have rather reviewed a really good game instead, but these are the last two unreviewed games that I've got. So there you go.   Although these r
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

27
 

Homebreviews - part 18

Dark Mage 4/5 You are facing a blog entry. > Look You see nothing special. > Scroll There is a game review here. > Use You can't use this item. > Eat You can't eat this item. > Read Dark Mage is a text adventure, in the classic style of Zork. I spent many hours in the early 80's at my friend's house, with the two of us logged into the University of Washington's VAX, playing Zork through a modem hooked up to his TRS-80. I don't recall how long we played it, bu
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

3
 

Roughin' it

Well, I wasn't originally planning to enter the Q*bert b*nQ label contest, for a couple of reasons. First, because I felt that Q*bert had been done to death. Not the original game (see also here) - which I've always liked - but the property. Q*bert was everywhere in the early 80's, even having his own TV show. So he's been drawn on various advertisements, products, game re-makes, and quilts for 25 years, and I didn't really think I could come up with anything particularly different. Second, I'd
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

6
 

Feelin' blue

It's been awhile since I posted some Photoshop hints, so I thought while I was finishing up the Gingerbread Man manual (Gingerbread Man-ual?) it was as good of a time as any.   The more I draw, the more I keep exploring different ways to draw. In the last year or so, I've really gotten back into drawing on paper, as opposed to starting off in the computer. Using paper and pencil is just infinitely more manipulatable than even the best computer drawings programs. I still use computers for what
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

2
 

Homebreviews - part 17

Climber 5 4/5   Climber 5 is an adaptation of a game (also called Climber 5) originally created for the Atari 8-bit computers. I downloaded and tried out the original version prior to writing this review. The object of the game is to climb up a building that's under construction, and retrieve a baseball that's been hit up there. You have to climb ladders, and avoid girder beams moving back and forth. That's about as far as the original game went, and an adaptation of that version is included o
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

5
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