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NOTE: The first run of cartridges will be soldered and given out to attendees of Fest 99/4ATX in Austin on Aug 10. Hence the silkscreen logo! This is a 512k Flash cartridge with these special attributes: It has the ability to be erased or reprogrammed on the 4A. It is low-cost. Made for under $7. (assumes Qty 10). It is easy to build. All thru-hole components. 2 socketed chips. Bank switching follows the common non-inverted scheme used by existing mega-carts. Bank is 0 on power-up. The inexpensive TL866/XGecu programmer is used for one-time programming of ATF22LV10, or filling up the Flash. If using the SST39SF040, it provides 4K sectors, so programs can save data in the cartridge. Open source hardware. It supports the AT49F040 (found in UberGROM) or SST39SF040 and similar Flash chips. Fits in a standard cartridge case. Use cases Run the Don't Mess With Texas MegaDemo Run any other 512k cart image With the SST Flash chip, write a game to use a large amount of read/write storage in 4K sectors. Erasing/Reprogramming on the 4A The example code (below) shows how programming works. (Erase is similar.) The AT49F040 must erase the whole chip, with the exception of the first 16k which can be protected. The SST39SF040 is notable for its 4k sectors, individually erasable. When erased, the Flash is filled with 1s which can be written over at any time. It's easy to imagine a scheme where a game could append a little bit of data at a time, and later read from the latest save. Implementation The bank register has 6 bits of address plus two mode bits. It increases the address range to 2^19 = 512K in the usual way. M0 M1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 M0 M1 0 0 Read mode 0 1 Command mode 1 0 Program even byte 1 1 Program odd byte Command mode allows the 4A to write special byte sequences to the Flash, for erase, retrieve chip ID, or program a byte. Program mode allows 1 byte to be written to the Flash. Mode bits are cleared after the expected write is done. NOTE: This cartridge will not support GROM. It's simply not possible with the chips on board. Pretty Pictures Those giant parts are actually supposed to be regular size capacitors. I'm having some KiCad difficulty there. Code MYWS BSS 32 PGM DATA >0100 ODD DATA >0080 BAA BYTE >AA B55 BYTE >55 BA0 BYTE >A0 EVEN OPLWPI EQU >02E0 * instruction for LWPI OPLI EQU >0200 * instruction for LI,R0 OPCLR STST R0 * instruction for STST R0 which is better than CLR R0 JUNK EQU >AA55 * Program the flash: address R0, data ptr R1, length R2, bank number R3 (bank*2) * This self-modifying code takes advantage of the fact that LI does not do read-before-write. FLASHW MOV R11,R10 ORI R0,>6000 * ensure R0 in cartridge space * modify instructions for bank number SOC @PGM,R3 MOV R3,@FLSEP * for program even byte SOC @ODD,R3 MOV R3,@FLSOP * for program odd byte FLOOP * modify instructions for addresses and data MOV R0,@FLSEA MOV *R1,@FLSED MOV R0,@FLSOA MOV *R1+,@FLSOD BL @FLASHU DATA OPLWPI * Enter Program mode for even byte in bank R3 FLSEP DATA JUNK DATA OPCLR DATA OPLWPI * Write even byte to address in FLSEA. FLSEA DATA JUNK DATA OPCLR DATA OPLI FLSED DATA JUNK BL @FLASHU DATA OPLWPI * Enter Program mode for odd byte in bank R3 FLSOP DATA JUNK DATA OPCLR DATA OPLWPI * Write odd byte to address in FLSOA. FLSOA DATA JUNK DATA OPCLR DATA OPLI FLSOD DATA JUNK * next LWPI MYWS INCT R0 DECT R2 JGT FLOOP B *R10 * the inner loop is 20 words.. may be feasible to copy it to PAD. Or just 32K. * Byte sequence to unlock Flash for programming. Hardware masks out the read-before write of MOVB, and the unwanted even byte write. FLASHU * Enter Command mode with bank 2 LWPI >6080 bit >80 is for command mode STST R2 set cmd, bank 2 MOVB @BAA,@>7555 flash address >4000+>1555 = >5555 STST R1 set cmd, bank 1 MOVB @BAA,@>6AAA flash address >2000+>aaa = >2aaa STST R2 set cmd, bank 2 MOVB @BA0,@>7555 flash address >4000+>1555 = >5555 LWPI MYWS RT END Risks The cartridge has not been tested. It is being made at DirtyPCBs. It might not be ready by Aug 10. The 22LV10s might turn out to be misprogrammed by the XGecu. (I am verifying one now.)

I’m working on it....

Well, some nice paint programs: - BBK Artist (Gr. 15): ST-mouse ? http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=BBK Artist%2C The#BBK Artist%2C The - Digi Paint (Gr. 9+11): ST-mouse http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=Digi Paint#Digi Paint - Escal Paint (Gr. 9+11?): ST-mouse http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=EscalPaint#EscalPaint - HIP painter (Gr. 9+10 greyscales) - not at atarionline, but in my collection... - CIN 1.2 (Gr. 15+11): http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=Champions' Interlace#Champions' Interlace (160x192 pixels, 132 sectors) - Lepix (CIN, HIP, TIP, etc.): http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=Lepix#Lepix (CIN, HIP with 160x200 pixels, 129 sectors length, thus CIN created with Lepix is not compatible to CIN 1.2) - Fun with Art (Gr. 15 + DLI): http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=Fun With Art#Fun With Art - Koala Painter or Koala Micro Illustrator (Gr. 15 compressed): http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=KoalaPainter#KoalaPainter http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=Koala Micro Illustrator%2C The#Koala Micro Illustrator%2C The - Micropainter (Gr. 15 uncompressed, 62 sectors): http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=Koala Micro Illustrator%2C The#Koala Micro Illustrator%2C The - PD Paint (newer version of Micropainter?): out in the wild and in my collection - Mc Painter (Gr. 15? 16 colours ?): http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=McPainter#McPainter - Paint 256 (Gr. 9+11): a) by Happy Computer magazine (length 123 sectors, flicker), b) by SAG (length 62 sectors, no flicker); version b) by A.Slaager (SAG) is here: http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=Paint 256#Paint 256 - Rambrandt (various graphic modes) ST-mouse? http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=Rambrandt#Rambrandt - RGB painter (Gr. 8, 9 or 15 RGB modes?): http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=RGB Painter#RGB Painter - Vidig Paint: ST-mouse ? http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=Vidig Paint#Vidig Paint - XL-ART (originally by Compyshop for Gr. 15 and maybe other modes):http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=XL-Art#XL-Art - XL-Paint (Gr. 15, flicker): a) up to 7 shades of one colour - XL-Paint: http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=2. Grafika&tg=XL-Paint#XL-Paint b) 4 col. combined with 4 lum. for up to 16 colours - XL Paint Max: http://madteam.atari8.info/uzytki/xlpaint.7z (XL Paint Max uses PAL blending mode, most likely does not work on NTSC) Enough I think...

Hey folks look what I found!

Interesting analogy Pac. Now if we apply that to Atari ............... - Farm Bushnell sells the latest quality meat and produce, with stock flying out the door. - Farm Chesnais doesn't quite understand the concept of a profitable and efficient farm, selling lemonade and faux-woodgrain laminate sheets. No signs of real animals or farm produce anywhere.

@DracIsBack Damn sorry to hear that mate. Hopefully this might life your spirits ?

While getting ROMs together for Nathan for his RetroN 77 contribution to the Stella-thon 12 Hour Gaming Marathon Fundraiser! event I realized I've yet to publish the final ROM for Draconian. ROM: draconian_20171020_RC8.bin NOTE: newer versions of the Harmony Cartridge use a different chip that does not work with the above ROM. batari posted this patched version of the final ROM in this topic where he explains why the patch was needed: Draconian_Harmony_fix.bin Source*: draconian_linux.zip * linux is in the zipped directory name because I used my Linux laptop to finish Draconian on the way to PRGE.

Oh, I already uploaded the type-in listing of SAM at AA forum several times. In case someone still does not have it (it includes SAM painter for Gr. 15 + DLI, uses ST-mouse in port 2), find it attached here... SAMGUI.zip

Come to think of it, there is one farming venture Farmer Cheesenais would likely make a tidy profit in.

Ok , I now have 2 playable holes with putting. Also fixed some bugs. Still some kinks to be worked out , but I would not embarrassed if this were on the show. For the first person portion, it now shows the green if you are close . I will probably have more holes added before Wednesday . The logic is basically the same for each hole. I am currently using a symmetric playfield , so the graphics for each new hole only require 200 bytes per hole. Putting just works by executing the backswing and forward swing ( joy down /up). Button not needed ( currently). The bottom right number is the distance to pin . Roughly 1 strengthmeter unit = 1 foot , but you can get the feel for how hard to put . Put a little harder than you think you need to. For now left/ right action not in play for puts ( it's hard enough to get the distance right).

* All product specifications are subject to change. Final specifications may differ. * Dates and schedules are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. The VCS team believes in freedom for developers and players, so as such are not imposing restrictive policies. (all direct pastes from the "locked" IGG campaign page)

Fake! I've seen a few photoshops in my day... ? Actually these are 100% real. I'm quite jealous. I hope the rom can finally be released now.

Looks like there is another third party dependency that has broken out from under the TIPI upgrade process. People should hold off on upgrades, or take the latest SD Card image, until I can post a fix. -M@

TheNameOf...: thanks! Hello Friendly Friends! I wish to keep you updated with the game progress- the basic engine is ready, there are two bugs that I will remove tomorrow, but apart from that everything works ok. Today I'm finishing the game editor since there will be possibility to make one's own levels. Caruso, the musician is already working on some tunes. The game file has 14 kb so far, so there's probably enough space for music and graphics.

After a few weeks inactivity due to a busy real life, at least I have gameplay to report. Not much, but that's how it is. Atari 2600 Moon Patrol: 8 min NES Chip 'n Dale 1: 10 min Trog: 6 min All with my son. We probably would have logged some more time, but real life interfered once more...

Hi everyone, another new build is now available with the following changes: Vaus animations are now complete - the vaus can transition between normal, laser and enlarged (whatever combination). This system is also now taking care of the intro and explosion animations Music!!! we now have an start tune (title screen for now) and the level start tune play as needed Couple of minor changes around capsules and the system generally Want to provide a special thanks to @Synthpopalooza and @RevEng for their support and patience with the pokey music system - because it's all assembly I've had to ask a few questions ??? Synthpopalooza is doing some great work with the music - can't wait for the next lot of tunes and sfx to arrive! The game is slowly coming to life - very happy!

Hi all, So I'm cleaning up my basement and I find these relics... anyone else attend this? Besides Rich, I remember you were there! Adam

Taking advantage of the long weekend to continue to get some gaming in... Atari 2600: Crypts of Chaos - 12 minutes H.E.R.O. - 11 minutes Ms. Pacman - 7 minutes SNES: Castlevania X - 8 minutes Space Invaders - 10 minutes Earthworm Jim - 15 minutes

yea lets be more realistic, its really more like this PS: I am so glad I recently bought the most powerful computer I could afford, then custom modded every single part of it to bring you quality like that

That does indeed! Thank you!

Sorry but discussions elsewhere in public and private have made me rethink what I was going to do with this design. I will be releasing it into the public domain but I don't see why I should rush to get it out so that it can be used by greedy people to make a profit from. They will get their money eventually but not until I've enjoyed my creation myself first. Thank you for the offer, I don't think anything I just said includes you but I'll wait until I'm ready to release it. In the mean time I can get on with designing a 1010, XF551 and 810 Models, they don't seem to be available online so I'll draw those from scratch. If you have any of that hardware, I'd appreciate measurements as the designs progress, I'd like them to be right but I don't have the real hardware to measure myself.

In Nutmeg, my entry for the Lynx competition, I need to play a PCM sample without stopping the game (like I do in Xump). This is a feature in HandyMusic that plays the sample directly from the cart using the interrupt linked to COUNTER3. Karri ported the HandyMusic code to CC65 (not yet public I think), but I already started my game using Chiper, so I decided to adapt the playPCM code to be in a standalone file and be somehow compatible with Chipper. All the credits for the code goes to @TailChao for HandyMusic and to @karri for it's CC65 port. I only changed some registers to play on Channel3 (that I prefer for SFX) and to use the COUNTER5 that is not used by chipper (the same I did to make the fadein and fadeout compatible with Chipper) To use it from C you need to declare three functions: void __near__ __fastcall__ openn (int); // selects the SAMPLE File in the CART directory void playPCMSample(void); void stopPCMSample(void); than you can play the sample with: stopPCMSample(); // use this if you need reading cart while playing openn((int)&SAMPLE0_FILENR); playPCMSample(); the stopPCMSample() call is not strictly needed if you avoid playing a second sample (or trying to read something else from the cart) while the sample is playing. the PCM sound needs to be a raw streem of 8Khz 8bit signed samples. The code doesn't interact with the Chipper driver: simply avoid to play something in channel 3 with Chipper if yo wan to play a PCM sample, and everything should be ok. Enjoy your coding. playpcm.zip

UPDATE: During last night's ZeroPage Homebrew livestream, @Nathan Strum let me know that he talked to Chris Walton and Chris' homebrew games (Chetiry, Juno First, Star Castle Arcade, Hunchy, Hunchy II) will now also be pre-loaded on the amazing Retron 77 auction item!! The items keep getting better and better! Thanks Nathan and Chris! LESS THAN A WEEK UNTIL THE 12 HOUR STELLA-THON!!

Looks like I missed adding the Homebrew Discussion forum to the list of forums where authors can indefinitely edit their posts. I have now fixed this, so you should now be able to edit the first post in this thread. Sorry about that. ..Al

Hi!, I've done a video with my favourite demo effects captured from my atari 65xe. I hope you like it. I'd like make a second part, so if you recommend some effects for it, please tell me it. btw, you think that has been a good idea no keep the original songs?

mksmith, Fantastic! The game is shaping up beautifully, and love to read about the collaboration among our most excellent and helpful devs. One thing I noticed with the sound is some popping/static noise being heard. I recall early Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest builds had a similar issue. I think the problem lies with the POKEY volume cannot be set to 'zero' when a bar or section of the melody is about to change key/note. The POKEY volume can go as low as 'one' during the transition and effectively to the listener it sounds perfect. If the above doesn't make sense, my apologies. Hopefully, someone may be able to shed more light on the matter and either correct or clarify what I am trying to relate. Regardless, keep up the awesome work! I'm really enjoying watching this develop. -Trebor

A long over due update... see first post for download. Uh oh, looks like I'm unable to add download to first post, so I've attached below Developement details (and downloads) here: chaoticGrill-2019-07-05--PAL60.bin chaoticGrill-2019-07-05--NTSC.bin

Time for an update. Long overdue... I've done major work inside the burger logic code which mainly involved merging two "active" burger lists into one. When I originally added the bounce effect to the burgers, I used a separate list to be able to spread the logic across two frames: one frame dealt with the falling burgers and the next one dealt with the bouncing burgers. This turned out to be a bad idea since this caused a few rare, odd ball bugs: burgers getting replicated (had to patch around that) and burgers getting stuck mid-flight (very rare, yet annoying BUT it was something the burger count logic could 'magically' deal with). It appears these have been eliminated with the list merger... So I'm hoping the burger logic is good to go now... Fingers crossed Utilizing the TIA Tracker files provided by @Kurt_Woloch I've been able to get the musical cues very close to the arcade... and the sound effects have been improved a bit too. Minor patches have been made to realign the pepper spray and to hide the "wrong sprite displayed" error that occasionally happens.... I'll have to revisit the sprite flicker management. Related to that, I started looking at a way to do the LumaBoost suggested by @Thomas Jentzsch but I'll probably wait a bit on that since I want to work on improving the player/enemy code first. Also... I've added in the ability to more easily build a PAL60 version for those who want it. It's not complete (AA logo and title screen still have the wrong colors), but it's a start. Enjoy. chaoticGrill-2019-07-05--PAL60.bin chaoticGrill-2019-07-05--NTSC.bin

Time for a photos thread! Went to the grocery store earlier today and took a photo of my car and a Porsche next to it. The only reason I took a photo of the Porsche was because of the great license plate.

We'll have demos of games for several different systems running in our booth at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. This thread will highlight some of those games! If you're currently developing a new homebrew game for the 2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar or Atari 8-bit Computers and would be interested in having your game demoed at the AtariAge booth during PRGE this year, please send me a PM and we can talk!

I believe this falls into the programming section: 30 to 35 years ago I wrote a program for Hardball, the Baseball game, that allowed a person to replace the original baseball teams with modern teams in Hardball. I was much younger then and smarter than I am now so looking back at this program written in Atari Basic, What the heck did I do to write this? I don't even remember doing that , but it was in the KWEST library, so I am including it first. Once I figure out exactly what I did I will recreate the teams with 2019 teams, there may be some users on here that can look at my basic programs and tell me what I did? Because I am having a senior moment when it comes to remembering what I did 35 years ago. Here is the three programs in one zip file, Hardball Creator Disk, Hardball Creator Docs Disk, and of course Hardball itself. I may have changed the information with a sector editor and copied the text to data strings in the program. And from what I can see I wrote to specific spots on the COPY of Hardball itself, but beyond there? Russ Hardball Team Disk Creator.zip

This seller is fully aware of what he's offering; the "estate sale" explanation is a ruse (I've received that same reply). It doesn't fit with his labels that take liberties with the originals ... and he's recycled several cartridges purchased from me in this way for resale on eBay, so... caveat emptor, indeed. Knowingly misleading the uninformed is good for the bottom line, I guess, which appears to be the most important thing here.

it looks like he was unable to load the atr's to update the firmware on his other gear that also would not load atr's because it needed uflash or some other such program to update it from disk. My assumption is he played with respeqts' settings till he found he could load the flashing software to do the updates that now allows him to load atr's with his side u1m combination. You are correct, it was all clear as mud... but this is my guess as to what the quandary was..

that's cool! i'll probably have to get one of my friends to help, as likely if i held the joystick the way he did in the video i'd end up with the screw in my palm, like on Beavis and Butthead. lol

I don't believe there will be an issue with Twitch storing all 12 hours of the stream in one video. For the YouTube archive I will be dividing the Stella-thon into 4 sections of ~3hr blocks.

Yes testing and some fun! The no win scenario happens if you make a mistake the second time through with the extending floor constantly cutting ecurb in half as he spawns and falls. The game is different playing it backwards as the location of climbing terraces etc are located differently so you can make it back out of screens etc. The first time through is easy is reverse, the second level is much more difficult in that things happen faster and ecurb can run faster than certain items causing you to have to regulate your run, and he must be perfect to clear some screens...

I think they this new backwards version is a rewrite and demo and not from the actual game. Just testing the engine they are using to create the game Return of Fury.

Ok this mid-western boy has had enough of this earthquake crap.

Changed the life system. Now you get 3 chances to complete the level on every level, so the lives don't carry over to the next level. I thought it would be better since some of the levels with the shark are kind of difficult and it wouldn't be fair to the player. I added two new levels so I'm up to 16 levels now, and 7,366 bytes left for more. gosub2019july5.zip

While going through the list of boxes in my variation list, I have listed 4 boxes for Sears Black Jack. I believe my box 2 and 4 are the same box. First box is the gatefold. That is easy. Second box is the one with a 6 in front of the product #. It says no warranty or game options on back. Can anyone verify this? Third box has the 49 in front of product #? Has Blackjack as one word. The fourth box reads like this and the scan I have describes the 4th box. It has the 6 on the side like description #2. 2) Box no ©, black standard style opening box with green letters, no warranty or game options on back, #6-99805 on side. 4)* Box no ©, black standard style opening box with green letters, Black Jack (two words), illustration same as picture label, warranty info on back, game options in middle, no printed I'm going to post the 3 box scans I have.

It's not that Farmer Chesnais doesn't understand the concept, it's that he'd rather make a quick buck by selling magic beans to rubes than actually grow crops.

Yes. The XE's are not built as well (but are okay). No socketed chips makes upgrading and fixing (much) more difficult. Only composite video out. XL's it's not difficult to patch the chroma line for s-video. XEGS footprint is large with the keyboard. The XEGS keyboard is mushy. Maybe 1/3rd of 800XL's have a great mechanical keyboard. The case styling is very different. The XEGS function keys are awkward to use comparatively. Joystick ports have more difficult insertion. Cart slot doesn't have dust cover. XEGS advantage is the detached keyboard and more console styled case more appropriate for living room. edit: beaten by SS!

It's kind of HUGE with the keyboard attached and the keyboard is somewhat "mushy" feeling in comparison to most XL keyboards. The motherboard has fully soldered chips too, which makes it more difficult to upgrade.

OK I think this is about finished.

It may not load CD titles but it will load CJ titles.

I don't know... There are an awful lot pf people out there associating "Atari" with Atari.

Not sure if/when I'll take my C64 mini out of the box to actually use, but if I did, this joystick mod seems to be the thing to do:

Either way a serious collector knows their collection is not complete without the original INTV spiker.

I got these today at Florida Supercon: These I got in the mail this week:

Took the day off work and loving the long holiday weekend here in the U.S. The 13 y.o. and I have been playing a bunch of Thunder Castle AND we've started our Final Fantasy II quest with my brother. FF2 is going very well as we've played for nearly 4 hours in the past two nights. I think we've already covered 20-25% of the game although I've read that it's the second easiest in the series. Hopefully this one won't take us 6 months to complete! Intellivision: Thunder Castle - 385 minutes SNES: Final Fantasy II - 220 minutes