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On Tuesday September 28th, 2021 ZeroPage Homebrew will be honouring Nukey Shay/Kurt Howe's work on the Atari 2600 by playing a number of his games on the stream. Let me know what your favourite games of his are so we can play the best of the best of his work! Some already mentioned: Missile Command Arcade Hack'em! / Hangly Man Pac-Man 8K 2 Player Berzerk Another Adventure EDIT: Here's the stream linked below: (WATCH AT 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY)

I am pleased to announce that, after laying dormant in a scrap book for more than three decades, the original idea for my third game in the Digger Dan Trilogy -- Return of the Fungi -- has been dusted off, developed, and has now been released as an Atari 800 48K binary (.xex). You can download the game as part of a Bundle that includes all three games (Diamonds, and Dan Strikes Back being the other two), in addition to full documentation for all three games that you can load into your web browser. The bundle is being hosted by RetroUnite here: After 35 years, Return of the Fungi finally completes the Digger Dan trilogy

Done! We will have a full show dedicated to Kurt Howe's work on Tuesday September 28, 2021. - James

And I was indeed correct! So this is another problem solved it looks like In this edit, I changed few things in the .exe: I changed the JMP $3576 to $3596-- else things were broken, as expected. Then I NOPed the entire part doing ORG $35FC, RTS, since I had assembled the block with a RTS at the end. Then I assembled the .obx with an arbitrary amount of NOPs in the middle of the code, just after a JMP, which just added padding, essentially, moving addresses around. Things work exactly like they were just before as far as I could tell. I also edited the .dll to not write a RTS at $35FC, so that's something, now I know I can safely hack the code a bit deeper Also the rmtplayr is the same Command 7 hack I did earlier today, so now I have a good base to try doing some bigger edits to work around my "1 frame late" problem Now I know I was mostly rambling so here's a simple test tune I did testing the AUDCTL "envelope" hack: By the way I recorded the video from that "memory hack" .exe. doesn't seem to sound any different from the same old version I was using a moment ago when I did this test tune. It probably does not look like much in video, but trust me, the AUDCTL was updated in several key moments in a bunch of instruments. I also included the .rmt so it makes a little more sense, make sure to run in NTSC speed too! Please don't mind the random patterns unused in song, I was experimenting with other stuff a bit earlier yesterday, hehe. Despite that 1 frame of delay causing few artifacts, things usually get lost in the mix so it seems work fine in most cases, thankfully RMT STRIPPED OFF BINARIES NOPED 35FC ORG AND JMP EDIT.exe sa_c6502.dll tracker.obx filter test.rmt

I have a floppy disk with the game. I got it pre-release, since I knew people who worked for TI in Sweden back then.

Kurt basically wrote the kernel for my game 1 vs 1 Basketball, which was my first 2LK and opened up that world to my programming thereafter . He also instructed me on how to do write the start vectors for bank switched games and how to make these compatible with Flashback . He was generous enough to do much of this through personal message . He directly touched my life for sure .

I know little about this. I found it in a box of my dad’s TI stuff from before 1986, mostly related to assistive technology (Vocaid, prototype Magic Wand Speaking Reader, and correspondence with schools and conferences.) I guess that this is a keyboard guide for use with a mouth stick. The holes guide the stick to prevent hitting two keys at once. It almost fits the 4A keyboard. There are rails on the sides to keep it in place. I estimate that it shrunk 5% from its intended dimensions. It feels like UV or epoxy resin, but I can’t decide if it was machined from a block, or if there was a mold. Some evidence either way. I had fun trying to deduce this... I guess it is 2-part epoxy, which is cast in a silicone mold, for making a prototype. The big giveaway is that the whole piece is warped. 2-part epoxy is prone to shrinkage and warping as it takes 24 hours to set. The left and right sides are cut off crudely. A silicone mold would have copied an original. Original probably milled out of a rectangular metal bar. There was one goof, which could only happen if a round cutter was creating an original (not cutting channels into a mold directly.) Signs that it was designed for later injection molding: There is a big sprue on one end, which is where the plastic enters in injection molding (TI had a large plastics factory in Lubbock.) There is mold flashing below every key hole. The holes have a slight taper for mold release (perfectly vertical surfaces would create friction and the finished part wouldn't come out of the mold). An injection mold is made from two perfectly planed steel surfaces. The bottom half would have channels cut into it for the plastic to flow into. The top half of the mold would press down flat to meet the bottom face. Only the keyboard guides and sprue are cut into the top. The parting line is where they meet. You want maximum contact here, as about 70 tons of force are applied. The force prevents "flashing" where the plastic pushes the mold apart and seeps out a little. Anyhow, I had fun trying to deduce this.

Garfield warned us about this certain coffee.

Earlier there was a discussion over on the 64K Card thread talking about where data and address buffering would do the most good on the PBI connection, and I had mentioned that something on the computer side made a lot of sense, not realizing that apparently this was how the 14xxXL series systems were designed as talked about in this post... So it appears that the original plan was to have buffering both in the computer and at the 1090 as well, which really makes good sense. It also suggests that the 1090 was never really intended or designed specifically for the 600/800XL series. Unfortunately the computer-side buffering was not retained in the products that followed the never released 14xxXL series. However I was thinking that perhaps it can still be done by making a small PCB that would directly plug into the PBI using a card edge connector and provide the missing data and address buffers prior to feeding the ribbon cable. It would take 3 octal buffer chips and likely an additional smaller chip to buffer some of the control signals phi2, R/W, ect., and would add a lot of robustness and the ability to have a much longer ribbon interconnect cable between the 1090 and the computer. This same PCB could be made in two flavors, XL (PBI) and XE (Cart/ECI) so would also act as a bridge for the interface differences introduced in the XE systems. Just a thought

That's just not how this works. The Internet, F.B., forums, all of it, are public spaces. If the dev posted a ROM and solicited for feedback publicly, then all public responses are fair game and not out of line. If the dev wanted private feedback then they should have found some beta-testers, given them the ROM privately, and asked them to keep their feedback private, as well as the ROM and all other communication about the game. Don't ask for public feedback and then start whining because you don't like the answers, especially on the Internet in 2021. I also don't see TPR on a social media barn-storming tour. But in saying something like that, it looks like you are just trying to stir the pot. My opinion, and like you said, you don't have to like it. I think the OP's write-up looks like a fair assessment of the game in its current state. What the dev decides to do with the feedback is up to them.

High Cupgill Pennines, east Cumbria, UK. Area in view: https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/54.60925,-2.44089,14, looking SW 36 colours. drpeter_High_Cupgill.xex

Yes, OK, you win. Better to say that now than have you fill this thread with 50 pages of argument.

Dear All, almost finished ! finally the gamemusic is "on" ... and everything is still working also after music addendum ... here enclosed the semi finished version... music start at opening and every gunman bonus ... any suggestion is welcome... I kindly ask you if by chance do you have a good sound list (I mean real sound list for CALL SOUND statement) for the boothill slashscreen ... like the one attached .m4a Thanks a lot for your patience and help for XB : Image disk GUNSMOKE in DSK1 OLD DSK1.GSV16-AL RUN DeathMarch1.m4a GUNSMOKE.dsk

New games: - Eggs: read the description on TI99IUC page (Eggs); - Strategiko: a checkers like strategy game (Strategiko); ------------------------------------ Total compiled games: 382. [GAME] Eggs (1983)(Luca Brentaro)[Compiled by TMOP].zip [GAME] Strategiko (1984)(Luca Brentaro)[Compiled by TMOP].zip

@apc has been hard at work on both the FujiNet over UDP tunneling protocol, and the Altirra device server for said protocol. With this video, you'll see two instances of #fujinet started and connected to two instances of Altirra. (Yes, this protocol is being checked into the ESP32 version as well in parallel)

I’m hoping it happens and it would be nice if it was August this time as the weather would be great and maybe we could drink on the roof top patio at the Hotel Eastlund. ??? Edit: I just realized that hotter weather means that Rev would wear his super short jean shorts the whole time so maybe October is the better choice

Legend of Success Joe is now up:

Some names, to me, defined AtariAge and what community meant. Nukey Shay was one of those. I think we should all be required to post to the forum a "proof of life" photo holding the day's newspaper, at least once a week. Two years is way too long for us to have noticed this.

Just got a good deal on an original Battle Sphere for the jag, still can’t believe it.

Congratulations on completely missing the point of this thread while utterly failing to grasp the meaning of the word "underrated"

Will we get $ 750,00 by mail? ?

No, we don't need our already small user base fragmented any more, especially with an incompatible device. If you want to do things like this, I suggest looking at the Falcon where it doesn't seem to matter if only 3 people on the planet can run your app Wait for a MiSTer FPGA core.

Zoom is a good thing. I can conduct business and fart and fart and fart totally carefree!

Well one and done I guess.... ? I won 2 Exacta races and won 2 Straight Up races... Bet on the orange horse baby!!!! ? HORSE RACING $9,999 I get the feeling this contest is gonna be alot like bowling with 4 or 5 people hitting the max. ?

ZeroPage Homebrew is playing Ms. Hack in tribute to Kurt Howe on tomorrow's (Tue Sep 21, 2021) stream LIVE on Twitch at 4PM PT | 7PM ET | 11PM GMT. ZPH Twitch Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/ Games: Pengo (2021 Exclusive WIP Update | 7800) by Darryl Guenther @darryl1970 @darryl1970 Graze Suit Alpha (2017 WIP | 7800) by Mord @Mord Meteor Shower (2012 Final | 7800) by Bob DeCrescenzo @PacManPlus Ms. Hack (2009) by Kurt Howe @Nukey Shay (Hack of Pesco/Hack 'Em)

I’m so saddened by this news. Kurt helped me on so many early projects, was such a great guy, and contributed so much to our community. A tragic loss for everyone who knew him.

It's sad that he's gone, but if you have to go out that way, at least it has a video game connection. youtu.be/EvU3LewUnZM?t=239 I'll probably go out in some boring, non-video game way and that's no fun. Some Dead Guy: "How did you go out?" Dead Me: "I sneezed and banged my head on the sharp corner of a shelf." Some Dead Guy: "Damn, what a boring way to go." Dead Me: "I'm sorry, I'll try to get hit by an asteroid or eaten by an alligator next time."

C64 rainbow walker should be renamed Mud Walker

@Al_Nafuur Under Public Roms/Hacks I've created a Nukey Shay Tribute folder with all of his work that I could track down. Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

I found a definite difference betwen my 2 VCS systems which seem to be on the same firmware. They are both run#1 collectors editions, before anybody suggests it's a hardware difference, btw. System 1 (not working) System 2 (still working) Both have the same firmware and BIOS, so it must be a Chrome settings issue, as both systems also of course have the latest Chrome 93.x installed, from Atari, possibly because the first system was in use since January, and the 2nd, only July. By July, there were signficant improvements, to the system, when clean-installed. You can verify the OpenGL functionality also on this website. https://get.webgl.org/

Hmm, interestingly I also happen to come across this on Ebay relating to the aforementioned The Last Starfighter: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140951863831?hash=item20d162c217:g:rpIAAOSwRBFd~U7B Here is the listing info, very interesting: "Game Cartridge Last Starfighter 8-bit cartridge for the Atari 800/XL/XE. This game was never released by Atari. New label. I found Last Starfighter along with many others unreleased games in desks at Atari after one of their famous layoffs. We are producing this un-released game for others to enjoy. We are selling this as a UN-released cartridge but believe it is complete. The original had no label or case so we have made a label and added a new original Atari made case and backing. The EPROM proto board is original Atari made. This game is identical to the original UN-released game I found at Atari. IT IS NOT THE ACTUAL GAME CARTRIDGE I FOUND AT ATARI but a reproduction of it using original Atari parts!!! No manual or box. This game was originally planned to be released as "The Last Starfighter" but Atari had to make changes after they decided against a license agreement for LS. Here is a good Review of the History Comments by Pierre-André. See full comparison at link listed below. THE LAST STARFIGHTER / STAR RAIDERS II VOCABULARY I - Spaceships Mainly, there are three types of ships: The Deckfighters which act as the easiest targets (they really are our tie fighters), The Xurian ships too rare in the movie play the destroyer role in the game and protect the final ship, the Command Ship. The names change between the two "versions" so here is a table of conversion if you wish to find the "spirit" of the movie in your game. THE LAST STARFIGHTER STAR RAIDERS II Ko-Dan Ships Zylon Ships 1- Deckfighters 1- Zylon Fly Fighters 2- Xurians Ships 2- Destroyers 3- Command Ship 3- Commands Ship (only one by level, exactly like in the movie) (one by squadrun, 5000 points each) 4- "Little" Command Ships 4- No Equivalent (those attacking the frontier) (the frontier plot is totally lacking from SR II) Your Ship: . - The Gunstar - The Liberty Star II - Planets Virtually identical, ATARI had to make a few changes due to to the names copyrighted by the original movie, The Last Starfighter. THE LAST STARFIGHTER STAR RAIDERS II Celos IV System . 1- Rylos 1- Teris 2- Galen 2- Imbri 3- Seridus 3- Seridus 4- Arcanum 4- Arcanum Procyon System . 1- Ko-Dan 1- Zylon 2- Gaon 2- Gaon 3- Morkoth 3- Morkoth Finally, to all the "raiders" who have never tried The Last Starfighter, I just would like to communicate them their order of mission if someday, they wish to become starfighters: "Greetings Starfighter..... You have been recruited by the starleague to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada." Don't forget that in bonus you'll have a 1984 fantastic intro so don't hesitate: To try it, it's to adopt it! Some will always say that Raiders II is faster but Starfighter is really "the movie in your Atari" so have a wonderful experience. Let me say it a second time: Too bad, they never released it officially! Newsflash! We now have brand new original mint Atari Released version of Star Raiders II on disk for sale in a separate Ebay(also on our web site) auction. Last Starfighter 8-bit cartridge for the Atari 800/XL/XE. New label

{rust programmer} ∩ {jaguar programmer} = ∅.

I had a guy make me a custom XEGS OS, he took out Basic & Missile Command and put in Galaxian & Star Raiders!

This one hurts. So many of his hacks are what drew me back into 2600 gaming after a long hiatus. He was always kind, and clearly had a real love for this hobby. He was a real asset to this community. I’m glad that his posts and roms will live on here at Atari Age. Condolences to his family and loved ones. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

10-11 years ago I gave my brother my old outside 'fire pit'. I was visiting his house today and saw the logo on the cover. Check this out! Hah!

I missed last week but I didn't play as much as I usually do this week so combining them doesn't really skew my totals much except maybe how consecutive things could have been. Diablo: Hellfire for PC - 430 minutes Pokemon Red Version for Game Boy - 155 minutes Diablo: Hellfire has been completed. That was interesting seeing the two extra dungeons for the first time. My favorite part was being able to walk faster in town. That took up so much of my time in the original version. In Pokemon Red Version I am currently working on leveling up Jigglypuff until it knows all the moves I want before I evolve it.

Maybe someone posting in the 2600 Hacks forum for some "best of" suggestions might be good?

Disneyland removes Jessica Rabbit from Roger Rabbit ride because of her body.

Fujinet fully functional!!! Notice I was having issues with some of the images crashing when running them. The larger games consistently failed. Swapped out the last ram board and BOOM!!!! Everything worked!!! Thanks everyone for the assist!!!

What about Alien. The strategy one from the first movie. That looks like good one.

Well, today is my 13th anniversary. I am surprised we made it this long. I must be a saint.

Every reply to this thread has me hoping it’s Kurt to say he is actually alive and well. My heart sinks again with every reply that is not him. It’s time for me to face reality. He will be missed here…by his other family. ?

I noticed the menu said "2 for ZXQ-ONE" instead of "2 for ZQX-ONE". That has been fixed in this version. zqx-one-8.bin

So I have been playing with TI Basic integration in Stevie. Really think that TI Basic needs some love, and it's fun to mess with. Not sure where this is heading to, but I'd like to make a good TI Basic integration. That means that I can jump from Stevie to TI Basic while retaining both the Stevie editor buffer as well as the TI Basic environment. Part 1 (keeping the Stevie editor buffer) is in a working state now. Let's see how far I get with part 2. Anyway, here's a short video: js99er-20210920201435.webm

This is one of those things that you read, and re-read, and still can't believe it. Nukey was such a fixture here. Contributing to so many projects. Elevating games to new heights. Fer cryin' out loud - he actually made a version of the original Pac-Man that I liked. That takes talent. He'll be sorely missed. My most heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends.

I found the mention of Radofin Electronics (Far East) Ltd. (the manufacturer of Intellivision games, consoles and accessories in Hong Kong) in "International Electronics Directory '90: The Guide to European Manufacturers, Agents and Applications" (C. G. Wedgwood, Elsevier, 22 Oct 2013) and, surprise!, their headquarter had the same address as Ciro Investments Ltd. The mysterious Ciro Investments Ltd. was very probably nothing but Radofin Electronics (Far East) Ltd. operating in the local market under a different business name.

While not an Atari exclusive, I still go back to Wavy Navy. One of the deepest fixed screen shooters with lots of variety, plus some great nautical tunes after every level.

"Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle" has been modified for the PlusCart High Score Club. Thank you @DEBRO for the perfectly labeled and commented disassembly. The source code with the PlusROM functions for the HSC backend added can be found at the new PlusROM example/hacks github repository here: https://github.com/Al-Nafuur/PlusROM-Hacks/tree/main/High Score Club hacks/Smurf HSC As always, PlusCart user/tester can find the PAL, PAL60, and NTSC versions in the PlusStore directory "Public ROMs\PlusROMs\High Score Club" The NTSC version can be played online in javatari.js. The ROM-file can also be played with Gopher2600. The "PlusCart High Score Club" page for "Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle": https://highscore.firmaplus.de/?game_id=44

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