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Just a heads up to say the c64 conversion of Frostbite has been released and is now available free from: https://csdb.dk/release/index.php?id=183742&fbclid=IwAR0iXZVo1MwnarlpjWA5XhTs5iMM_Mp-5nq9VBOH5GTOfpXgCHwbeE65sXw

Back in 83, I was learning all I could about my nice new geaming Atari 800, as an exercise I decided to write a game. The program is in BASIC with machine code for DLI and VBLANK routines, it uses player/missiles, custom display list etc. Try it out if you want, all comments gratfully accepted, I did most of this before I got a disk drive, all that cassette saving/loading :(( A friend saw it and said he thought it might sell a few copies, hence the intro screen and cassette photo, but it never really happened. Also it was written to run in 16K (without DOS), which I believe it does (only just). The machine code is held in strings and copied into Page 6 by a small USR routine. It was done this was to speed up start time and save memory, initially it was all DATA statements, but it took forever to initialise the game. Please excuse the lack of logical program layout, remember this was my first real attempt at something difficult. Forget to say, START = Spin the Reels G = Gamble when offered or just press START to take the win 1,2,3,4 = Hold appropriate reel(s), then START to SPIN C = Cancel Hold FRUIT MACHINE.atr

It would be nice if we could make unlimited copies of Defender of the Crown and satisfy all current demand and have a simple to use website to order from as well. Unfortunately, the only materials that I could bring back to Thailand were all in two suitcases. IntvMike saw how much 'stuff' goes into making hundreds of copies of a game, let alone other titles. Rather than delaying the release of Defender of the Crown and working on a website, we made the choice to do ordering through email. No, it isn't ideal, but it allows the game to ship before Christmas. We aren't just trying to be 'difficult'. Elektronite manufacturing and distribution is now totally 1 person for everything. Also, materials need to be brought or shipped to Thailand. So, please be patient. Everyone has different skill sets and making websites is not one of mine. It isn't a day or two job for me. I appreciate your understanding and support.

I have sent out the announcement and links to the beta testing team!

Speaking of hands in the pants, can you guess who this is, without checking the URL?

Latest news! The ColecoVision Club game has been sent! (along with the Membership Card) So it's on the way! As for the Intellivision one, we're just waiting for the PCBs We'll ship those as soon as we get the PCBs

Or they'll give them the Weird Al version. Just rename it as "I lost on IGG...baby" (the line about making yourself bringing shame onto your family for generations to come definitely applies to the Wanker Bros.)

The image I've uploaded is preloaded in Assembly Language Storage mode(>7000=>A55A) with LINE BY LINE ASSEMBLER and the LINES demonstration program on PAGE 1(use NEW,OLD,LINES from MINI MEMORY option 2 RUN), (see MINI MEMORY pamphlet page 74). Using SAVE MINIMEM from TI BASIC will force the current PAGE's (>7000 to >5AA5) TI BASIC Files mode(see MINI MEMORY pamphlet page 73). Each RAM PAGE can have it's own mode. Using the SAVE option after the TITLE SCREEN will save the current page to the SD card's image file. I believe the main difference between the two modes is that in TI BASIC Files mode, you have no REF/DEF table. I tend to use absolute addresses anyway and keep tight control over all program/data sections/pages, loading from tape or by using EMU and a HEX EDITOR on the SD cards image file, rather than by using REFs and DEFs. But once again, each PAGE can have it's own mode. One thing of note, might be, that when you LOAD, RELOCATABLE TAGGED OBJECT CODE from MINI MEMORY option 1, the loading destination is controlled by the following addresses: >701C first free address in MEDIUM MEMORY (>7000-7FFF) >701E last free address in MEDIUM MEMORY >7022 first free address in HIGH MEMORY (>A000-FFE0) >7024 last free address in HIGH MEMORY >7026 first free address in LOW MEMORY (>2000,3FFF) >7028 first free address in LOW MEMORY The single REF/DEF table goes downward from >7FFF. When the 32K memory pointers are not >0000, TAGGED OBJECT CODE will try to load in 32K, rather than MEDIUM MEMORY! So Best to ZERO these manually, So as to force code to load into MINI MEMORY. From MINI MEMORY use option 3 RE-INITIALIZE to clear/reset MEDIUM MEMORY before starting your project. Be aware that this will only RE-INITIALIZE the current PAGE! ROM pages are switched by writing to: 6000=page 1 6002=page 2 6004=page 3 RAM pages are switched by writing to: 6800=page 1 6802=page 2 6804=page 3 Page switching can be done from EASY BUG or by way of CALL LINK combined with a small assembly routine, either copied to all pages or stored in an non-paged RAM address range. So far I'm using this exclusively to run machine code, and to store data. Expecting the application(HOME AUTOMATION CONTROLLER) to grow as it is developed! But I'm certain that there are other uses as well. Alex. 256k Banked Minimem.zip

Just about to start shipping these! ..Al

Things are falling apart in the Indiegogo comments section:

You probably have to give more back than pictures of food (amusing as that is) to get participation. There are no shortages of challenges out there, and a lot of us assumed that you would be participating, not just judging. In addition, you probably need to consider the difficulty of your challenges. To get maximum participation, you want to start with a simple challenge that a lot of people can do, and step it incrementally. Plotting a sine wave isn't bad, actually - even a beginner in TI BASIC could have plotted a sine wave using asterisks or the like. But then you made a very tight specific requirement for the plot, which is actually difficult to achieve on the TI platform. The only reason I played along is that I like playing with my old TI BASIC plot function. Even so, there are a few languages that can access bitmap and it's not too hard there, so you got a few bites. But then you moved on to writing a generic function parser - and THAT is a non-trivial task even for skilled programmers. I wasn't interested for two reasons: I've done one before and I know how much work it is, and the result would be unlikely to fit in the memory limitations of TI BASIC alongside my plot function (which is restricted to roughly 12k of RAM, even on an expanded system). (Although, the suggestion to just tell the user to enter it as a line of code and then run the program was pretty brilliant!) People need to be able to see the path to the finish line for this sort of thing. If challenge 2 had simply been to specify the ranges, that alone might have motivated some people. If it had been an incremental step towards the function parser, like selecting values for a fixed function, that might have worked. If you had provided any kind of reference, like pseudo-code, you might have been able to spark that input you were looking for. But even then... when the ultimate program was complete, I don't think very many people would have had a use for it. You need a target that's a little more appealing. I dunno, just my two bits. If you try again - see if you can have a suggested answer for each step to compare against what everyone else builds. That will help you understand the difficulty of the step before you propose it.

One step ahead of you. ?

So an update was just posted from Prof. Abrasive and he states that he has 20 completed prototypes, this is great news. Progress seems to really be going in the right direction and at a good pace. I am not going to post his whole update as that would not be fair to the people that are paying to support the project (and therefore pay for the updates) But I had to rip off this photo and post it, cause well completed prototypes!

Maybe they should add that ceramic dog from the old Wheel of Fortune ? ... Remember that thing? Whenever anybody got through with buying the prizes they wanted, they always got stuck with that stupid dog!

I'm thinking "Atari" will be sending out "parting gifts" when it comes to not fulfilling their promise of an Atacobox.

Atari making a new system, is like them playing RCT...

ok, I've now fixed the mistake. There was just that one occurance of a possible position that wasn't covered in my check. I'll get on with preparing the final PAL and NTSC release now.

Centipede - 207,847

If they admit they need time to "craft" another update... I guess they also own a brewery so they like that term... I think that means another delay. Even though I gave them money and I regret it, part of me wants this to completely go bad and nobody get anything so the die-hards get nothing. I guess this whole thing has left me cynical. I think John P is the only person I will feel bad for when they finally admit this has become a scam.

I will say, for the record...When it comes to their supporters...wanker bros, = YEEEESH! (Scary)...Brandon Harris (not sure if real)...Only ones I'd have a beer with would be John Phelan, and our own TacoDon and Lodmot. See ya there fellas, I'm buying!

OKAY. Third approach to PCB. Previous board did not fit due to U29 chip height. Connections checked twice. In the previous diagram there is an error in CPU pinout. I did not find any more problems. But more eyes will look, the better. Here is the version for Atari 800XL. I don't think it will interfere with any other extension (e.g. VBXE). In addition, I've derived signals for U1MB. Thanks to that you will not need to solder cables to CPU or vias. I think the project is ready to send to the PCB factory and make the first prototype. BOM is identical to XEL-CF (+ DIL 40 precision socket, of course). If someone wants a bare board and try it, please write a private message. The project will be on my github soon. Please tell me what you think.

Hi all, I forgot to post here that i'm currently working on a lib based on works of newcoleco (Amy Purple). The lib uses last sdcc version, is fully functionnal and i'm now going to do the wiki page to help people to install it and doing games with it It is available here : https://github.com/alekmaul/pvcollib Next step will be to add SGM support (how to detect it, to use it) and also F18A support (same functions). If you want to help me with the lib, you're welcome !

I'm currently working on a relatively small update to my CV ROM Update Project part of which is to tidy up a few loose ends from the past. One of these loose ends was around the ground colour in the game Front Line and if two different ROMs were released in cart form, or if it was only one ROM as I had so far found. This was first discussed way back in April 2013 when Pixelboy mentioned that he believed that there were two versions of the Front Line ROM. Pixelboy stated that "They are identical except that in one of them the ground is yellow when you start the level, while the ground is green in the other version of the ROM. I actually own both versions of the cartridge." This was then followed up by NIAD checking four different ROM dumps that he had and he found that "two have the green background and two have the yellow background." 21 months later and NIAD did some further testing with blueMSX and concluded that the ground colour was dependent upon the controller that was selected, "Standard Hand Controller = Yellow ground" and "Super Action Controller = Green ground". NIAD also posted a ROM file (Front Line (1983)(Coleco)[b1].zip) "where the ground color is green no matter what controller is used". At that time NIAD tasked me with getting to the bottom of this due to my work on the CV ROM Update Project. Well, real life got in the way and I never did get round to digging into this, that is until now - nearly five years later ? Well, I'm pleased to report that I have the answer. In a nutshell, there is only ONE version of the Front Line ROM as published in cartridge form (i.e. excluding ROM hacks and bad dumps). The ROM of this game contains two different colour tables, one with a yellow background and the other with a green background. When starting a game it randomly (50:50) chooses one of the colour tables. So, every time you start a game of Front Line you have an equal chance of seeing either yellow ground or green ground. This is completely independent of the controller selected in an emulator or plugged into a console. Try it yourself, start a game of Front Line and note the ground colour. Reset the console and start a game again, note the ground colour. Repeat say 10 more times and you will see that the ground colour may be either yellow or green when starting a game and that the frequency of occurrence of each colour is basically the same. So, why does the ROM file that NIAD posted only show the ground as being green. Firstly, looking at the filename, there's a clue there. It is appended with [b1], with the 'b' here being critical as it means that the ROM dump has been flagged as being a "bad dump" which means that it isn't a perfect dump of the cartridge and contains errors. Secondly, analysis of this ROM shows that there are 22 bytes of errors, some or all of which contribute to the ground being fixed as green. This is one of the reasons I started the CV ROM Update Project, to provide a clean, accurate set of ROMs free of the bad dumps that have plagued the CV community for decades. There is another clue that the two different ground colours are by design. Checkout the back of the North American box for this game. Two of the screenshots show the ground as being green while the other two show it as being yellow. In conclusion, the ROM file that is contained in the CV ROM Update Project is the one and only correct ROM for this game. If you would like further technical details then below is the analysis of the game code that nanochess did for me. Huge thanks to nanochess for his invaluable help with this.

just a heads up to say and c64 users amongst you can now get Frostbite for that machine from here free. https://csdb.dk/release/index.php?id=183742&fbclid=IwAR0iXZVo1MwnarlpjWA5XhTs5iMM_Mp-5nq9VBOH5GTOfpXgCHwbeE65sXw

I don't know that there is "a list". There have been quite a few different publishers of games, but there tends to be a lot of helping-each-other-out in all the phases. Elektronite (already heavily invested with a cutting die for their gatefold boxes, likely not looking for variations) Intellivision Revolution - potentially interested, given a recent new thread on this forum Collectorvision - they've done a couple gatefold boxes and other variations, unsure on their source 2600Connection - not sure; they may work with Intellivision Revolution and Steve Jones and the1hatman Freewheelin' Games - not sure; they may work with Intellivision Revolution Inty-Home- based in Italy; no idea, but they source everything in Italy Blah-Blah Woof-Woof - not sure; only release was unboxed Intelligentvision - last couple releases were boards only; Steve Jones and the1hatman worked out boxes IIRC Left Turn Only - works with Elektronite though only few releases There might be others, too ... the Maria game is a special box, and I'm not sure what their plans are. INTV Prime may be looking for something, but not sure what their plans are.

I feel bad for ole @Max Ivi. As much as I laugh at all of this I do hope they pull some type of rabbit out of their butt. It is sad to see Atari like this (no matter which version of it).

Perfectly valid point, it's something I want to do. I don't have a simple way of doing this, however, and it takes time to implement features such as this. The biggest issue for me is that I'm a single person doing a hundred different things. Unfortunately something has to give, and some of the things I consider less essential from my point of view, are perhaps more valued from a customers point of view. As I say, it's very difficult as an individual having to deal with so many things at once, hence the reason I'm trying to resolve this by involving more people in the chain.

It's a custom from Extreme Home Arcade. Every suggestion I gave them, they were able to incorporate. Here are all the design elements. Now back to high scores.

First rule of secret club game is don't talk about secret club game. Probably best to not even reference where the game came from if you do talk about it later

Am I the only one here jealous of this guy with this fantastic rig? LoL!

same as last week, crazy slow week for classic games because crazy busy week with life. Arcade: Dig Dug: -- 82 minutes C64: Lode Runner -- 17 minutes

Zipped clean hi res tif files (480dpi) for you to read, print, ocr or pdf for: M*A*S*H PHM 3158 Prog by Paul Munsey and Flora Ng, Prog (c) Fox Video Games, (tm) 20th Century Fox Corp, Manual (c)TI 1983 Voice- Cliff Easthom 1 or 2 players, Speech optional Essentially two games- rescue and operate mash.zip

I'm a huge fan of the arcade version and now of he new A8 version and I'd really say that is not a good idea. The fast up-fire and the slow forward-fire (that often lets you die on a rock although you fire constantly) belongs deep to the tactics and the rhythm of the game. Sure you could keep the slow forward-fire, but it's still of no use to separate both IMHO. Cheers Bern

Still having fun with my Phoenix. Adding the HDMI switch eliminated the HDMI issues. I received the 8bitdo SN30 Retro kit SNES wireless controller today and it works very well. The love of the ColecoVision by the CollectorVision team is so evident. The manual looks so much like the original CV manual... it is really cool to see those little details. Definitely was worth the wait!

Times for the week are all Atari 2600 bowling 3 mins centipede for HSC 65 mins eggomania 9 mins polaris for HSC 12 mins solar Fox 163 mins tutankham 46 mins all fun.

Ultimate Doom - PC (DOS) 165 mins Tempest 2000 - PC (DOS) 25 mins (yes it was also on DOS, never played the Jaguar version). This was the first time I've ever played Tempest 2000 and I loved it! It took a while getting used to it. Loving the soundtrack as well!

7398

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My times for the week: Game Boy: The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Juggernauts - 134 min. Tennis - 38 min. Beat Tennis on the highest difficulty (for the third time), and relearned Bart vs. the Juggernauts, a game I beat back in 2012, in which you can win every challenge and still lose at the end.

Update: Tests have confirmed that now everything is back to normal and the latest version with automatic detection of the "XEX" content types works just fine. Thanks to Biobern and Holger for testing!

You tried a modern source port? I use one to play it on Win7. You can even blow up the resolution. https://www.yamagi.org/quake2 I use this one.

Atari 8-bit: Action Quest - 12 min. Phantom - 26 min. Both games obviously as part of the HSC.

It's always great to hear someone is able to save some of our beloved computer items and members having the dedication to go out of their way to ensure it happens. Great job Greg!

He needs someone to translate whatever the hell he's saying into english

cas in point

I think it will take a very long time, once their denial sets in. The most vocal of them have now gone from "investors" to "true believers." Both financially and emotionally, they're heavily invested in the illusion of "that Ataribox?", especially after all this time digging in and making excuses and hurling ridicule at the "haters" and "nonbelievers." If they were ever to reassess the past, too much would collapse, so they'll stubbornly resist and keep their heads in the sand no matter what happens. "Atari" could ship them a carton of Ramen noodles with an apology scrawled on a Post-it-Note, and they'll never say a word about it, because they'd rather lose every penny than admit publicly that they were so spectacularly wrong, or that the "haters" were right all along.

Atari's Blockchain...

You're just on a whole different level than the rest of us.