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I just wanted to take this moment to say "thank you" to everyone that was so nice to me at PRGE. It was the first time I was ever there, and I am VERY appreciative. It was GREAT to finally meet some of you, and see others whom I haven't seen in quite a long time. So, again, thanks guys. You make me want to keep doing this. So once Stranger Things is done, I plan on starting my next 7800 game (or continuing one that I already started)

Going to update forum software later today. Mostly bug fixes, but will allow you to search your entire history of private messages, versus just one year!

Announcing a TI-99/2 on a FPGA. It uses an open source FPGA board, the Radiona ULX3S: The board has a GPDI connector that can be used to send video to an HDMI display and this is used by the TI-99/2 implementation. The USB2 connector is used to hook up a PS/2 keyboard. The TI-99/2 uses only a fraction of the board's capacity. It could easily hold a TI-99/4A, or a Geneve or TI-99/8. In fact, it can run a Minimig Amiga or a simple Linux. Unfortunately, the board is currently sold out, but a new production run is planned: https://www.crowdsupply.com/radiona/ulx3s The TI-99/2 code is written in Verilog and can be synthesised using the open source Yosys/NextPNR/Trellis tool chain. The full source code is here: https://gitlab.com/pnru/ti99/tree/master/ti99_2 Output is to the GDPI port and sends an HDMI compatible video stream in VGA resolution (the 256x192 pixel output area is doubled both horizontally and vertically, so each TI-99/2 pixel is 4 VGA pixels). Input is through a PS/2 keyboard (or a PS/2 capable USB keyboard) hooked up to the USB2 port. Cassette I/O and the HEXBUS interface are not implemented. The implementation is of the 32KB ROM version of TI-99/2. The system has been set up with 32KB RAM. All code is plain Verilog and should be easy to port to other FPGA boards. A standard (black&white) VGA signal is generated internally, so it should not be too difficult to run it on a board with a VGA connector. Many thanks to @mizapf and @speccery for their kind help in getting this done. Enjoy!

@Benheck, I don't know how closely you've followed the story or this thread, so forgive me if I'm repeating things you know. Atari claimed they only went to crowdfunding to "build a crowd". Here's a side-by-side of that tweet with a later Fred Chesnais (CEO) quote, when he was specifically talking about the VCS: We've had a couple of young folks (Millennials?) say they supported it because they wanted to support a company that wasn't big like Microsoft or Sony. Down with "the man", I guess. Some backers say they want a good looking media/games PC and not a box or laptop. A niche just wants a Linux box to tinker with. And of course, some people just put money into it because it will be "super valuable" and the "bomb-diggety": On the skeptic's side, this post is evergreen:

There is no path to success here. It's an emulator box at 3X+ the cost of the "mini" systems people like these days. In addition - let's be honest here - the "Overton Window" has long passed the Atari 2600 as the "nostalgia system of choice" Compare this to the Ouya, which made 4X in crowdfunding, selling a box 1/3rd the cost of this, with Android compatibility and it STILL flopped. Also 3m for development is chump change, and that's just for development. That 3m is also supposed to fund manufacture and delivery? Ha!

Forum has been upgraded. If you spot anything strange or flat-out broken, please let me know.

The best part of that video is where they show Borderlands 2 (released in 2012) running at a super smooth 12 frames a second on the lowest graphical setting. Really gives you hope about running modern games.....

Here's how many days remain in 2019. "Atari" promises delivery to its backers by December. SIXTY-FOOOUUUR!!! The Nintendo 64 promised to deliver SGI workstation type graphics for the home, and it kind of did, in a low-res, blurry way, anyway. It had a small library of games, but it included a bunch of critical and sales success stories, including innovative 3D updates to old Mario and Zelda. I liked that they put "The Fun Machine" on the box. The 4-player party and FPS games were awesome and still hold up today. Meanwhile, "Atari" plans to throw in what will be an 4-year-old compilation of 40-year-old games, and maybe let you run Steam if you bring your own storage, input, and operating system. That's after preordering and a lengthy wait, of course. And Intellivision Amico's showrunner says that 3D FPS games are too complex for Grandma to control, and split screen gameplay would drive up the price of hardware. This is where we must pretend that Mario Kart splitscreen is too "hardcore" for a mainstream audience, and that someone really needs to fill that family-friendly gap. 1996 was a good year for new consoles! 2019, maybe not so much!

The!Cart Studio Update 2019-10-28 Released Executable files (COM,EXE,XEX) can now be added directly to the workbook. Previously they had to be copied to an ATR disk image or be included in an AtariMax ROM. For now, only files with a valid RUNADR ($2e0) segment will start, just like under DOS 2.5. The corresponding sections in the documentation have been updated with the advantages and disadvantages. Bootmanager by Mike Langer is now included in the The!Cart studio download and online help. While adding executable files direcly in the workbook is possible, adding them onto an ATR disk image with the boot manager first, and then adding the ATR disk image has advantages. ATR disk images work with sectors of 128 or 256 bytes. So if multiple file are copied to one disk, at most 127 or 255 bytes of space are wasted per file on a full disk. If you add executable files direcly, you waste 8191 bytes of space per file in the worst case. In addition to the HELP key, the ATARI/INVERSE key now also displays a built-in help menu that explains all controls. This solves the problem that there is no HELP key on the Atari 400 and the Atari 800. If the application detects that a new version is available, it prompts the user if the download should be performed. If the user confirms the download of the new version, the current application instance is now closed automatically, so it's files can be replaced. So now all mentioned file types work. And putting them on an ATR has been added to the recommended options.

Sorry if this offends anyone, but it's getting really old reading all these "when is it going to ship" messages especially since CollectorVision has already shipped (in August) a large number of Phoenix systems to the early adopters who paid an additional $100. They have repeatedly said shipping in October and that will be happening over this week. I missed the 1st run by one day (ordered on 8/11, cut off for 1st run was stated as 8/10) and I have to wait until the 2nd run sometime next year!! No complaints, even though it stinks having to wait, but it is what it is.

You might want to quickly skim over the past 900+ pages...

Updated with the second option. Moon Patrol redux (revision2).xex

Here's Turbo Freezer connected to my Incognito's PBI header some years ago:

This and Tempest 2000 are my favorite games on the Jaguar. Seriously a great game.

From the flea market yesterday, my twin brother texted me these pics with regards to a console + games lot at a non-game vendor: If you're more savvy than I was: Yes, that is what it looks like... http://imgur.com/a/MGt9Hky CIB SwordQuest WaterWorld in a random console/game lot. Fully complete, from what I can tell. Take a look at his texts to me in the photo gallery link. I literally did not notice when responding to him and could not look up any of it. I was at work, after all. We spoke on the phone about it and I told him that less than 2% of our 2600 games were boxed (could only recall Slot Racers and Pole Position) and I wasn't about to start buying a bunch of boxes... but I did want the manuals. We agreed that my bro would offer $35 for the lot with the console (just another 4-switch Woody) or $15 for the manuals if the vendor said no. The vendor said "yes." I didn't start going through it until today. I was almost done adding manuals to my existing Universal Game Cases, comparing dupes, and upgrading conditions when I got down to this one: Even then, I only realized that it was one I didn't have. I knew one of the games in the series was worth a lot but thought that was the fourth, unreleased, game and not this one. I felt like giving all three a run so I started reading the "WaterWorld Made Easy" guide and a few pages of the comic when I realized how crucial all that extra stuff was to the game (more than just manuals). This made me think about how my copies of EarthWorld and FireWorld have none of this, so I would need to buy those missing materials. This also got me thinking about archiving manuals and comics and such using an A3 book scanner I had previously seen at a salvage store. I recalled that it was half price ($30) until the end of the 27th (today). It was getting late so I met up with my twin bro to go grab that scanner. He was driving which left me to search eBay for the EarthWorld and FireWorld materials I would need to play through the series, but first I searched "Atari WaterWorld CIB" and noticed that there were no results. I toggled the "Sold" option and still had no results. I dropped "CIB" from the search and then my jaw dropped. WOW! Only bad news: Someone beat me to the book scanner.

This packaging is definitely not for SIDE2. I also patched OSS languages for SIDE2. These binaries may be found on @flashjazzcat's website. But the current binaries for SIDE2 are not compatible with Basic XE Extension disk. I made a new BASICXE.OSS file for SIDE2 which is currently in FJC's hands. So if you wait for the next FJC's release, you will get everything for running BasicXE and its extension in SIDE2. Both cartridges (the SIDE2 and the AtariMax 8Mbit) offer the same common features regarding OSS languages: You can use all languages under SDX and use BasicXE with its extension. But SIDE2 offers more features : - You can use SIDE2 without SDX (with the DOS of your choice). The package I offer is SDX only. - The OSS languages run without any code in the stack making the languages more robust than in this package. But I used this AtariMax package for several years (with Mac/65) without any problem. So to sum-up, if you have an SIDE2, wait for FJC's next release, if you have an AtariMax 8Mbit, use this package.

I think it's like..."Succeed deliberately. F%@K Up all at once." So their own best estimates had manufacturing completing in one quarter, shipping in the next quarter, and pre-orders arriving the quarter after that. That can mean only one thing...... Congratulations Backers!!!! Your Atari VCS is in the mail!!!

Boxes!

LOL. "Worst case". And 1996 did kick butt for games. I went the Saturn route, and never regretted it. It was the wrong piece of technology for the time, but I would argue its 2D games like Dragon Force have withstood the graphical test of time much better than most of the N64 and Playstation's 3D games.

After getting the DSR routines working in Force Command, as promised I paired the app down and restructured the linking for 32k ram expansion... ForceFTP v1.0 - ForceFTPv1_0.zip Seems to work fine on the 4A. I haven't had success with it on the Geneve in ROMPAGE mode ( Only mode I've tried ) -- fails on 'get' somewhere in writing the file... haven't had a chance to debug... Source is on github: https://github.com/jedimatt42/ti99-ftp -M@ Edit: It supports 40 column mode, server commands: pwd, cd, dir, get local commands: lcd, ldir

Wait a moment! Halloween is approaching!!! *stopping all the work to do a Halloween game* ?

Rikki & Vikki for Windows v1.0.1.0 is now available. This fall update is best enjoyed with an 8Bitdo M30 and the rich taste of Pumpkin Spice. If you bought the standalone version through our Humble Widget, you'll have to pull down the update manually. Don't forget to copy over Scores.sav and Snapshot.sav from your previous installation! Wow, look at all those uncomfortable joysticks we support! Ah, wait - but this isn't a Windows forum. Which means there's also good news for Atari 7800 owners, the remaining cartridges will be available for purchase before the end of November.

I was working on a CPU piggyback, but it was based on an earlier version and soon became obsolete. Here is what that endeavor looked like... I should probably revisit that project at some point.

They seemed to be in such a rush to collect funds, but want to take their time with delivering on their promises. Is that like, "sin in haste, repent at leisure?"

Nice. This is what I made for Thom to use as a test rig. He should be getting it this week.

If Atari is just going to use a 3rd party videogame streaming service to deliver games through a subscription, does that mean they are going to stop releasing those plug & play At-games systems at nauseum? Atari Box connecting to internet only to get games, this reminds me of thatTIGER NET JET product, as soon as servers go down it made those keys worthless. So when the servers will no longer authenticate the AtacoBox, what will be left? I hope Atari will release some permenant games for this consola. From ANtStream website first page: PLAY HUNDREDS OF RETRO GAMES Our ever-expanding arcade games library includes classics of all genres. Stream retro games to your computer, console or mobile device. No downloads. No faff. Just pure instant fun. =TIGER NET JET?

The discs are from the luckybuck (Roland). SynTrend_Graph_Disk_DX5066__synapse.zip SynTrend_Sata_Disk_DX5070__synapse.zip

Impressive score by ZilchSr, over 1,400 points higher than the current Twin Galaxies record. I probably could have pushed my score a bit higher after discovering a few things in the game, maybe pushing low 4,000 points. But all things considered coming 2nd to a world record i'm pretty happy. Congratulations again.

My times for the week: Game Boy: Navy SEALs - 426 min. Tetris - 122 min. Beat Navy SEALs, while in Tetris, I cleared 200k points in Type A, which is enough to get that mode's best ending. In Type B, after beating Level 9, Height 5 earlier this month (which gets that mode's best ending), I decided to try Level 9-heart (aka Level 19, more or less). I was able to clear Heights 0-3 relatively easily, but Height 4 is extremely difficult, and I'm not sure if I'm capable of beating Height 5. I'm hesitant to say that I've "beaten" Tetris until I can clear those modes, and there are people online who have cleared 9-heart/5, but...

Tutankham: 6,794

When you look at the numbers on the verical axis, it's not like they'd be doing well if the line was trending upwards either.

While prepping through holes I caught glimpse of what looked like a hairline crack in the diode directly below U37. When I unsoldered one of its leads the diode 'fell apart' i.e., it had cracked in half. This diode is connected to RDBENA. With a new diode in place, the LS245 data line repaired, and all chips in place I checked continuity and ohms across the capacitors and regulators. Finding no shorts and resistance at expected levels, I performed a successful smoke test. The card powered up and the EPROM was readable. I then connected my test MFM drive and successfully loaded MDM5. Both the floppy and hard drive catalog successfully. I still need to put the card through its paces and check it after a few hours of operation.

Hello all, I´d like to inform you, that Holger Bommer (holgibo) took over the software ressort from freetz. Thanks to freetz for all his work and welcome aboard holgibo. This is especially important for the participants of the software competition 2019. Holger will contact you and ask for your bank details to send you the price money (all 10 entries won cash). Best regards, Sascha President of the ABBUC e.V.

If you like the classic arcade games, this is pure heaven! My favorite game (passed T2K for me).

More will be coming. ..Al

This old cartridge has been replaced by more powerfull or more modern cartridges but I wanted to give it a second life for those of you who still have one. The ROM file from this ZIP file offers these features: - SDX 4.49 full with manuals - All 4 OSS languages that you can "virtually" plug in your computer with a command: BXL, BXE, M65 and ACT. Then you can type CAR to enter the cartridge. - Dynamic configuration selection (BANKED or OSRAM) depending on the availability of extended memory. The OPTION key can be used during boot to force OSRAM - Pressing the START button during boot displays a menu full of game cartridges. The ZIP file contains also the Basic XE Extension disk with a special version of BASICXE.OSS that is working with this version of Basic XE. The file has been renamed BASICX8.OSS to match the filename expected by this version of Basic XE (renaming the file prevents Basic XE to load an incompatible BASICXE.OSS file). As you can see, SDX has been setup to boot from drive C (D3:) so that you can have a real floppy as D1: and have a 16MB ATR file as D3: for SDX. On D3: you can have 2 files to load your own drivers: - When SDX is in BANKED mode, CONFIG.SYS ends up merging with D3:>CONFGI.CFG (NOTE the swapped letters I and G - GI like GIant config) - When SDX is in OSRAM mode, CONFIG.SYS ends up merging with D3:>CONFIG.CFG (this time letters are not swapped) It means that you can easily load additionnal drivers depending on the memory configuration. Technical note 1: OSS languages need some code placed at the bottom of the stack (starting at $0100). This code is overwritten by the FORMAT command. If you use FORMAT, you must turn the machine off and on again to reinstall the code at the bottom of the stack. Technical note 2: The content of the bin file has been hand-crafted so do not try to change the content with SDXImageUser.exe. It would destroy the OSS images and some patches. Technical note 3: To use the Basic XE Extension, you need to run SDX in BANKED mode and have more than 128Kb so that SDX and Basic XE won't use the same memory banks. My8MbitFlash_SDX449c_OSS.zip

Hello dear Atarians, after founding the ABBUC e.V. 35 years ago and being its President since then, Wolfgang Burger and the whole board stepped back. Please read about the new board, that was elected today at the official ABBUC forums: http://www.abbuc.de/community/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10103 Best regards, Sascha Kriegel President of the ABBUC e.V. (since today)

Here’s some pics...

something may come out, but consider that this thread has been running since 2017 and now up to "mear moments" until already delayed 3 times release ... I wouldn't ignore the burgers on the BBQ and no I would not say engineer, I would say architect, aka the putz that makes it look pretty, not the sap that has to make that design actually work

Improvement: 3,215

I can't believe it's almost been three years since I started collecting.. the time flies.

Frankenstein's Monster: 440 (Those bats drive me batshit crazy!) Halloween: 10,350 (Just getting warmed up)

That's a photo of one of the original boards. I think he would say this is "for reference only".

Hi, I'd just like to say a big thank you to all the members of the ABBUC Board (past and present) for organising the software competition, and to all the ABBUC members that voted or tried out ATR Maker Deluxe. This was the first software competition I have entered, and I found it very exciting. Naturally I am very pleased to have come fifth on my first attempt! I have uploaded the original (version 1.0) sources (and disk images) to https://github.com/e474/ATRMaker - at the moment I am part way through converting ATR Maker Deluxe from screen writes to using the S: device editor, and adding additional features, so I don't have any updated sources to share. I did identify a couple of bugs (random/garbage characters sometimes appear on the lowest text line, and you can only enter a maximum of 7 characters for a file name - 8 causes the program to crash!), I will upload a fixed version in the next couple of days, but I would like to make the original version available for anyone who has not had access to it. Thanks again, and I would welcome any feedback on ATR Maker Deluxe!

Their video of "production" didn't mean much, IMO. You can send a lot of different places your PCB files and bill of materials and they will assemble it for you. There's dozens of them in China and even many in the US and around the world for that matter. What counts isn't video of production, but video of real hardware working, with footage of them showing the guts working, with a cable running to a TV and controllers.