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... and I think we're all getting sick of pushy, rude collectors who demand that independent/homebrew publishers conform to their personal preferences, even though they evidently understand nothing of the economics of production or distribution. We could use a lot less of that.

Cartridge now available for purchase at the AtariAge store! Demo available: This demo goes to stage 6-1 and has the stage select automatically enabled. A "tour" build meant for folks to check out later parts of the game - so high scores are deactivated, and the final stages are kept for those curious enough to buy a physical cartridge for now DragonsHavoc_Dec_2022_Demo.bas.a78 DragonsHavoc_Dec_2022_Demo.bas.bin (Demo that goes to stage 4-3, testing full score and lives counter onscreen) DragonsHavoc_2_20_2022_Demo.bas.a78 DragonsHavoc_2_20_2022_Demo.bas.bin DragonsHavoc_2_17_2022_Demo.bas.a78 - Demo to Stage 4-3, sfx changes, minor bug fixes DragonsHavoc_2_17_2022_Demo.bas.bin DragonsHavoc_2_13_2022_Demo.bas.a78 - This demo goes to level 4-3, adds shield mechanic DragonsHavoc_2_13_2022_Demo.bas.bin - binary of above DragonsHavoc_2_4Demo_2022.bas.a78 - Various little adjustments to controls and graphics for rage/fury feedback DragonsHavoc_2_4Demo_2022.bas.bin DragonsHavoc_1_18_2021_Demo.bas.a78 - Bug fixes DragonsHavoc_1_18_2021_Demo.bas.bin DragonsHavoc_12_31_2020b_Demo.bas.a78 - Start of a rage/fury meter DragonsHavoc_12_31_2020b_Demo.bas.bin - binary of above file DragonsHavoc_12_31_2020_Demo.bas.a78 DragonsHavoc_12_31_2020_Demo.bas.bin That's right - As I finish Dragon's Descent and Dragon's Cache, I figured why not make them part of a loosely connected thematic trilogy of games? Here's a build - this is just a tech test at this point, "as is", but I'm curious to see how it runs on different machines (and 7800 hardware). Press the joystick button to transition from the parallax to the tile level: DragonsHavocSunset_5_19_2020.bas.a78 DragonsHavocSunset_5_19_2020.bas.bin I've been sitting on this one for a while, working on it when I'm not occupied by other things. Some other folks have been posting the awesome stuff they've been working on recently, so I'm giving in to implicit peer pressure I'll warn everyone that there is a looooong way to go before this one is ready - One reason I didn't post this sooner is the fear that it will draw attention away from the other games I'm close to completion on. I'm still not 100% sure I'll be able to pull off all the features I think I'll need/want, but that's why I'm doing these tests. This particular demo is trying to juggle parallax scrolling, data-based tile scrolling, strategic use of sprite flicker, swapping graphics blocks, two simultaneous players, targeted projectiles, and some other stuff... The video capture seems to have not captured the full framerate - I'm using flicker for the projectiles, rendering half of them every other frame, so there are roughly twice as many projectiles during actual gameplay, at least in emulation - I'm curious to see how this looks on physical hardware. MAME A7800 seems to stutter every few seconds, while BupSystem and RetroPie have a nice, steady framerate that makes the projectiles look OK. I'm usually dead-set against using flicker normally (some folks make it work, I usually can't), but I can make an exception for projectiles if I can get them to look semi-decent. I'm totally using the double buffer for this, and working on ways to manage multiple graphic blocks (which is why the background glitches midway through, I'm switching blocks as I switch scrolling modes). I'll likely have a ton of questions on the finer points of juggling multiple graphics blocks, performance costs for various things, etc. The big things/questions I still need to implement/answer are proper collision detection, and implementation of enemy placement throughout a level - to say nothing of specific game features! I have the mechanics sketched out, but I want to see what my technical (in terms of the machine and my own skill are). These are things I more or less know how to do, the trick is to make sure they work on top of everything else going on... ...oh yeah, and the mechanics, levels, and story! *These* I actually have a pretty concrete ideas for, but that's why I'm stress-testing the 7800 (and my own coding skills) at the moment, to see if I can do this particular game on this particular platform. Special thanks to a ton of sources, particularly RevEng and others involved with 7800 homebrew and 7800Basic. Also, in this particular case, some code I fairly shamelessly took from this forum thread to start my experimentation with shmup projectile aiming.

Honestly? Because I wanted it there. Popeye Pac-Man has personal history with me. The first time I saw any bootleg of Pac-Man, it was the Popeye Pac-Man (with the Hangly-Man mazes) in a cabaret cabinet at a corner Stationary Store. Plus, I wanted *something* to be exclusive to this version. I originally also wanted 'Largest Pac-Man' in there to have something else exclusive, but that game keeps track of everything separately (the dot total points, energizer total points, blue monster total points, etc. and I was already starting to have issues with cycles so I didn't want to add to it by counting everything separately. As it stands, having the actual Ms. Pac-Attack, Popeye Pac-Man, and having a real random maze generator end up being the three things exclusive to this version (other than better TIA sounds and XM sound).

The box artwork was finalized this morning. I am feeling indecisive on the layout / arrangement / palette for the box and logo, but will try to get that determined as soon as possible. There have been five different sketches and dozens of different mock up designs over these past months, but this last one I am very pleased with. The artist is Rudy Wilde, and I really think he has done fantastic work. Below is a mock up for those that are interested.

I decided to reflow every chip with my reflow heat workstation. Now I am able to see all 4 partitions I created within DU2K I was able to Initialize the partitions and see them in DM2k. I then tried to create directories to see if the solder reflow solved the issue with the directory names changing if >3 characters. It did. But.... whenever I created a directory I would get a error 0 in DM2K although the directory would create correctly. I decided to pull my partition size down from the max to a bit smaller. Now no errors. I have tested copying, loading, saving all successful, but I want to do more testing. All this is using Fred's latest DSR with the new BQ4802 clock chip. Also verified DSR headers show correctly within DU2K: I have tested all the CALL commands from Basic for Fred's DSR and all function correclty. And some of Fred's utilities on my fresh IDE partition #1. All my testing I am using a IDE to SD card adapter:

Had some unexpected play time this weekend. Thanks to M@ for answering a few questions along the way. Pictures are the TIPI operating with my Geneve, in GPL mode, without the need for rompage. Level 3 is about 95% operational. I haven't sorted out how to deal with level 2. Don't even ask about native MDOS mode ...

Can't find any commercials for this one, but the original got a sweet ad. Enjoy!

This is pretty much complete ! the jump frame couldn't be better, because it's shared as walk second frame.. other than that I'm pleased with it, and it renew my interest for other small sprite hacks if only I could slow down the @#$ing timer....? Enjoy Snokie - but better v1.xex

The introductions *are* there. There are 8 'intermissions' during the attract mode that are randomly chosen. One of them introduces one of the four monsters at random. Another one introduces Pac & Ms. Pac (together). Regarding Piranha - I *hated* that game. No mazes (even partially) = monster unfair advantage. Hangly man is different in that there actually is an (invisible) maze that the monsters follow. The player has the freedom to go wherever. Regarding the kill screen... I'm not saying anything.

Sorry, this time no "cover" ?... 39 Colors PurpleBeach.xex

(very beta + sio diy mod needed)

Bluff view. 56 colors. BluffView.xex

The fact Atari gave the green light for this thing, knowing it would interest the same group of people the VCS is targeting seems to be more evidence the VCS is no where near completion. Afterall, it wouldn't make sense to sell a 99 dollar model when you supposedly are going to release a 300 dollar model that is only marginally better. It kinda reminds me of the 32X debacle, except in reverse.

This is a quick video showing file upload to FTP using the N: device courtesy of SpartaDOS. #ATARI8BIT #FujiNet

Hello all, first time I'm entering (might try again for a higher score). Is Javatari alright for these? If not, will Stella take this PS4 stick? All the best. 23,600

Two years later, but I took darfpga's LPC vhdl code and hooked up some extra code for the TMS5200 and added speech ROM code. Parsec is finally now less confusing on my MiSTer port of speccery's core. To try for yourself, just add the speech ROMs to your file to load and switch the speech OSD option to 5200. "Press fire to begin."

Great demo so far. I 3d printed a simple dual cx40 holder and bolted it to a piece of particle board. Put some big rubber feet on it so it can't slide around.

#FujiNet #Atari8bit Continuing the march of adding protocols to the N: device, FTP starts to work, shown here showing directories, copying files, and running software!

F1 number 5. 45 colors. F1Number5.xex

I've said this previously, but bears repeating - Atari should have begun manufacturing at the end of 2018/early 2019 to meet their originally promised dates (sooner than that for the Spring 2018 dates they first promised). When July 2019 came and went (remember how they promised big updates that Summer, then after they were pressured, announced Antstream?), they pushed it back to December 2019 for backers, March for everyone else. To have met those dates, they should have been mass producing these things throughout Fall 2019, well before any virus was causing any sort of disruption to manufacturing. But as we found out from Rob Wyatt's lawsuit, Atari doesn't pay people it hires, and the work that Wyatt had done had not really been completed for his part until the end of the summer. After Wyatt left, they had to find a 3rd architect to work on this thing and figure out the rest, but they won't fess up to anything about these troubles, as they know it would unveil them to be the incredibly incompetent company that they are. To Mikebloke's point, Konami on the other had still has an active arcade division in Japan, who creates both hardware and software for their latest music machines and whatever else they throw out. They actually have experience with hardware that they can go to within the company, as opposed to modern Atari, who only has experience in lawsuits, sending out press releases and playing games with stocks. But even though Konami doesn't have console machine experience, they've still managed to announce a product, polish it, and get it to market despite a temporary shut down in manufacturing in China. Atari on the other hand, has missed three high profile release dates, lost two of their system architects because they are such tightwads that they refuse to pay out what they promise, and we're now five months past when backers should have had their product, and there is still nothing they can grab. Except for tacos. Tacos are available, even in quarantined districts, so Tacos win again. On another note, is this new? I don't tend to hit up Atarivcs.com very often, but look at how they're branding the Box now: I love how they wrote that line in their blog, to make-believe that there are 500 individuals or companies out there working on their awesome unconsole. If I had to wager, I'd say that's 495 units over-the-mark. I think we've talked about this a few times, but yes, it's absolutely bizarre that a $300+ gaming device that's been known about for 3 years and counting, still has no developers announced for it apart from Antstream and the implication about YaK porting T4K to Linux. They used to list out their Atari partners on the VCS site, but that's since been scrubbed. Last time I think they were given heat about it, they ducked by using the NDA/contractual obligations excuse, until they realized that they could just claim that everyone making something for a PC can count as one of "their" developers, so take that haters! In RealityLand, when things like this are ignored by the producer, it means that it's too embarrassing to talk about, so you just don't mention it. It would be laughable if they only had devs in the single digits for this, so just never tell anyone and problem solved! Also to the point that the PS5/XSX (and maybe Switch Pro) will be out by the end of the year, the best that Atari can hope to attract is an indie dev who is worried about being lost in the sea of Steam/Epic Games/GOG/PS/eShop/XBL stores. But the number of devs who would find that worthwhile to take the risk on, for a console that will have a laughably minuscule user base, is extremely small. I don't say that to knock indie devs, as there are some who can create some great games. But if anything awesome was headed to the VCS, why would Atari be muzzling the developer in the first place? The oddest thing about devs on the VCS for me is how Atari has released a few different games to mobile over the past few years (Night Driver, Pong Quest, Ninja Golf, etc), and yet none of these games have mentioned the VCS as being an intended platform to play them on. I also think it's telling that they never have mentioned RollerCoaster Tycoon as coming to it, given that RT is Atari's star money-making IP. If anyone over at Atari HQ had a brain, a VCS-exclusive RT would have been the first game announced for it. Instead, enjoy those games that you already own several times over with Mega Vault! And here I thought that Super Breakout being the pack-in title for the Atari 5200 was one of the dumbest launch moves ever...

As part of a LFSR development tool I put together recently, I put together a version of the bB rand lfsr that runs backwards through the usual bB rand sequence. I'll leave this here, in case anybody is interested... asm .unrand LDA rand ASL BCC unrandnoeor EOR #$69 unrandnoeor: STA rand STA temp6 RETURN end Just "gosub unrand" to run rand backwards. In the code above I stuffed a copy of "rand" into temp6, which you can use to read the value. (if you don't read temp6, when you try to read "rand", bB will call it's rand routine, which will undo the work the unrand routine did. What's this good for? Well, this is more or less how pitfall creates algorithmic level data, since it can be reversed when the player backtracks. There are other ways to do this without reversal (e.g. stuffing your own data into the rand seed) but this is one more tool for the kit. I took a crack at reversing the rand16 lfsr, but no luck on that. It's not entirely clear to me if it's actually trivially reversible.

For @_The Doctor__ a cover of the real deal Leonard Cohen - The Essential 9 colors ivop_the_essential_leonard_cohen.xex

Thanks Beery. So far what i have learned is that watching the TIPI log is very useful to determine what is happening with file access/file IO. I was able to squash a few bugs in my own code that way. Now I keep a PUTTY session open to watch the log in real time I'll describe what I'm doing in another thread for the Geneve/TIPI code once I get further along. Right now it is more proof of concept stage though I'm pretty confident most of the TIPI support can be handled within GPL while at the same time not losing access to the other peripherals the master DSR manages.

Thanks @Revontuli. To be honest, I look at the work you and @mksmith, @PacManPlus & others have done (both new and old) and that motivates me to do my best work. The bar was already high, you guys constantly set new levels of awesome

Both are excellent games. Now that you’re becoming familiar with the thread (and hopefully the Store Reviews), I dare you to not catch the bug and order more home brews. ? <Edit> Not responsible for future “In$piration” Btw, ZeroPageHomebrew is a good way to keep up with the latest homebrew intel. (Just in case your not aware of this). Have fun playing Atari today!

Here's a mockup I did some months ago (uses a 32 pixel width tile) less busy, yet still dungeony ?

Just a quick one this time- lovely clear crisp 480dpi tif images all zipped up for you to read, pdf, ocr or simply read for: TI RUNNER from EB Software. I am seeking more information for 3D-World but will in due course recreate the docs for it and include a dsk file (the Amerisoft version). So the next here will be the multi-language Milliken games, starting with Dragon Mix- a fat manual so it will be a few days/weeks. Somewhere in the period I'll update the manual lists too as we have quite a few new ones. s TI_Runner.zip

Went ahead and compiled all these into a single video.

That's the one Seller found a "INFO/SOFT" OPERATING DISK and has sent that today Can't wait to see what is on it...

I certainly agree something does not add up. You would think for the number of dev kits they are building and sending out, that there would also be something out there about who is working on it and what they are making. It is not like it needs to be a secret after all. Pure speculation and personal opinion on my part here (so don't sue me Arzt), but seeing that Atari is already almost a year and a half behind schedule on their Atari Box and Corona is now making the needed parts more expensive; I am wondering if at this point Atari simply does not have the money needed to produce the Indiegogo backer units. So with that in mind it is possible that the silence around the 500 'dev kits' is because they are going out to potential investors in an attempt to raise needed funds, and not to actual software developers for the console. It would explain why they need so many units, and yet refuse to say anything about who or what they are being used for. You would think Atari would be promoting the hell out of any actual development taking place; seeing that Antstream seems to be the only one so far. Contrary to the opinion of Atari, no news is not good news. No news makes it look like you have nothing to offer; and/or something to hide, either of which is not exactly a big selling feature.

Important: Before shooting targets, "MUTE" the Carnival music by hitting that note on the far right side of screen. The game will become 100% more enjoyable on mute lol.

Well. Er. Ahem. That explains a great deal of how folks are getting better scores and will be far less annoying when I'm on a collision course with a bandit. RTFM! Reading is fundamental! Stay in school, kids!

Hey everyone, Here is my new retro computer desk that I just built! I very happy with it, but it's already to small! I'm going to add two sliding keyboard trays to it, so I can add a few more systems

These arrived today. I'm just overwhelmed by how this community supports hardware more than 40 years old with software that's lights out. And AtariAge box and packaging is first rate as well. T:ME Salvo Juno First Squish 'Em Berzerk Voice Enhanced

No Lara Croft this week... Jaguar Tempest 2000 - 150 min (Played through some more Tempest. Got some a new score on the Top Ten (409988, 8th spot), but still haven't broken the 500,000 point barrier. One day...) Raiden - 45 min (I need more practice to get back to where I was when I was playing for the Jaguar High Score Club. I didn't get past the second level this time around. If this game had an autofire option, the first loop would probably be a breeze.)

This is my best work yet. 1 iteration, normal distance 1. Stephen-White-Album.xex

So yesterday I finished up the build on the IDE card. I triple-checked everything with my great magnification goggles, then over a light box and finally under a USB microscope. I verified I did not have any solder bridges. Everything looked great. I used solder paste and my reflow workstation. I set the CRU to 1000 and promptly installed the IDE card, with no IDE to CF card adapter yet, just to see if the system will recognize it. Loaded up the ROS Configuration program and it sees it of course at >1000 as a Unknown Card, which is correct. So far so good. I then loaded up Fred's IDETEST program and initiated the test. I see it go through test 1 through 5 without a hitch, but it hits the paging test and starts failing.. as Doc would say DAMN! DAMN! yanked the card and starting tracing and using my continuity tester and things were not testing for continuity when the solder joints were there. hmmm.. So i mad a drastic decision. to desoldered all the chips and removed all the components. I unsoldered everything and cleaned up all the board pads for all the chips. I then spent most of the evening yesterday and part of the morning today resoldering the chips by hand. Placed the card back into the box and came ran the IDETEST again. This time I only had 2 pages fail the page testing. I can feel I'm close and I know it's the SRAM, i decided to swap the SRAM for a different manufacture. (good thing I ordered 2 different ones!) Installed the card back and powered the system up. And nothing but a blank CYAN screen. It's hung.... Fred found issues some years back with the clock chips setting an interrupt on power up and he found a solution. "In some cases the TI99/4A system immediately looks like it is crashed when powered up with the IDE-CARD in the peripheral expansion box and no DSR is loaded yet. I found out that the clock chip can generate interrupts when the peripheral expansion box is switched on. To prevent this from happening and to be able to load the DSR, the interrupt pin of the clock chip must be left outside of the IC-socket. For the BQ4847 clock chip this will be pin #5 and for the BQ4852 clock chip this will be pin #34. After the DSR is loaded successfully the interrupt pin can be placed back but this is not necessary." Since the clock chip I chose (BQ4802-YDW) is compatible with the BQ4847 clock chip, I decided to sever pin #5 for the Interrupt as Fred found before. Now I booted to the Title screen! I'm excited now and I'm sure you are too! I loaded up the IDETEST program and everything passed! Now i'm really excited... I run the Fred's IDE DSR Load program from the FG99 cartridge and successfully load the DSR! I then run Fred's DU2k to show the IDE devices and they all show up! I create a partition table for 260mb IDE1 via the DU2k and proceed to Initialize the IDE device. SUCCESS! I go into DM2k and I can see IDE1 and successfully create a directory.. time to do more extensive testing. copying, creating, accessing.. etc... Finished build:

I've kept an eye on this, but hadn't taken time to play it until now. It's coming along VERY nicely. These kind of games are difficult to get right and be fun. I like Tetris, but don't care so much for Columns. This is fun. You've got a much better formula here than I was expecting. I look forward to seeing this finished and buying a copy. Great work!

yep its ready to go...

It's hilarious anyone actually thinks they've "entered production" in any meaningful way.

Well, been working lately on exploring Incognito's PBI via its 50-pin IDC connector. Only PBI (and VERY nice) device available is my SysCheck-II copy, but it connects with 50-pin CardEdge connector, to XL PBI bus. So eventually built an adapter, that looks like this (for universal operation in 800XL and 800/Incognito): But, MOST IMPORTANTLY, also fine-tuned a machine-cut adaptation to the top-cover's under-shield panel (which is fully modular and detachable). Now we can comfortably extract the ribbon (and even Bit3's video out) through the 800's back with ZERO modifications to top-cover's plastic case itself, and minimal or negligible structural stress (there are four plastic-posts where the top-shield cover attaches to the plastic-cover, and could fracture if over-stressed due to misalignment between shield-cover and shield-frame): A testament to the 800's tolerant and flexible design. But what REALLY caught my attention during machining (precise-cutting) my "trainer" cover's top shield (from an older 800) was what I found: LEFT is my 800's (USA-made) '83 cover and the right is what came off during machine-cutting my '80-'81 trainer: a DOUBLE-LAMINATE (compound) top-shield (!!!) What's is left attached is the cleaned, primary layer, and what's detached was the crap that came-off after precise-cutting... Holy-crap... that's shielding taken way too far, I guess... BTW: to effectively clean all GUNK residue (even from the front-side shield plate), all you need is GOO-GONE and a couple of wooden tooth-picks.. Just plenty of goo-gone and a bit of patience, and you will end up with spot-less plastics, with zero damage to factory finish.

But it looks so impressive!

B works as well, but you either have to add the 5V jumper through speech or power the TIPI externally. I go console > TIPI/32K > speech, which requires no HW mods.

All legit and legal games this week! Honest! PS3 Dragon Age: Origins - 615min (Played a good bit more in the game. Got to a town and did some quests, went to the woods and camped and found some elves and werewolves and killed a few trees... it's keeping my interest pretty well. Not too sure how long I'll stick with it, though. I tend to get bored and quit these longer games before I get to the end. We'll see.)

Thanks Dionoid - the team has done a great job! Going to pickup ToR and Fools Gold when your done too - looks absolutely brilliant!

Actually, I am using all 16 variations that I have reserved for this title. Same with the round selection. I am keeping it to 16/8 (respectively) as this is meant to be XM enhanced and I wanted to only use one HSC entry for it. As it stands now I'm not taking into account all variations a player can have: HSC ID: 1 byte - SPEED (NORMAL OR FAST) [7], STARTING LEVEL [6..4], GAME TYPE [3..2], PLAYERS (RESERVED; I CAN'T CHANGE THIS ONE) [1..0]. Game type is split into 4 categories: - Pac-Man Series (Pac-Man, Hangly-Man, New Puck-X, Popeye Pac-Man, Ultra Pac-Man) - Ms. Pac-Man Series (Ms. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Plus Arcade, Ms. Pac-Attack) - Pac-Man Plus Series (Pac-Man Plus, Ms. Pac-Man Plus, Hangly-Man Plus, New Puck-X Plus, Ultra Pac-Man Plus) - Random Maze Series (Pac-Man Random Mazes, Ms. Pac-Man Random Mazes, Pac-Man Plus Random Mazes) - There are 8 selections for starting level (which I believe are enough anyway) There is no provision for starting lives (3 or 5, set with left difficulty switch), nor when the opposite player controls Blinky in 'chase' mode (right difficulty switch) As such, at this point I believe I am keeping the game as it stands now, save for any bugs that are found. Thanks! Bob

Very good topic. I was also very frustrated to find out that neither Visicalc nor Syncalc worked on a typical SDX+HDD setup. I wonder if one of our machine code & system heroes could have a look on Visicalc binary. It used to be a very high rated productivity software. A pitty that it does not run on SDX. Today a few 30 years later we have Software-80 column E: drivers and/or native VBXE 80 columns support, >128KB RAM and harddisks with subdirectories. In 2020 it would be quite something to have a nice spreadsheet productivity software with support of those "advanced" possibilities. Maybe another approach is to have a look on other platforms too. Maybe there is text-based spreadsheet software for CPM, BBC Micro, C64, Apple2 that would be worth to port? On first look it is maybe much easier to port productivity software than those "crazy" game conversions like C64 Stunt Car Racer or BBC Prince of Persia. grüße \twh

I saw this game on ZeroPage Homebrew; an amazing conversion to the 7800 and an insta-buy for me!

Me thinks perhaps you should whip up a small batch for sale.

Here's what I have. I bought most of them directly from the AtariAge store and a few from eBay or AA members. I wish I was a member here when Princess Rescue was originally released. T:ME Salvo, Juno First, Squish 'Em, and Berzerk Voice Enhanced are in transit from the AA store. I will soon have over 30 homebrew carts but so far have only played Jump VCS, Super Pac-Man, Galagon, and Amoeba Jump. 2020 was the first time I plugged in an Atari cartridge in nearly 40 years and rekindled my first console love, and it's all due to the amazing homebrew scene and AtariAge.