Jump to content
Have You Played Atari Today?
2600|5200|7800|Lynx|Jaguar|Forums|Store  

e5frog

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    1,193

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by e5frog

  1. Posted · Edited by e5frog

    SOLD OUT!

     

     

    There's a cart reserved for sale on eBay, all money from that auction will be used to make the Multi-Cart box.

     

     

     

     

    I promised to start taking pre-orders on Pac-Man after the first working prototype -

     

     

    so let me know if you want one.

     

    post-10242-1231854043_thumb.jpg

     

     

    I guess there are two types of pre-orders, pre-paid and then simply a queue

    (line) of interested people. Those who are pre-paid are considered pre-orders

    here and others are put on a list of interested people.

     

    All pre-orders will of course be shipped in order of made payments

    and the queue will be handled one at a time from first one on the list to the last.

    I will offer the first person on the list a cartridge at the best price I can currently

    give and if declined at that price I'll ask the next one.

     

     

    All pre-orders will be shipped, but I make no promise on those in queue.

     

     

    I'm just adding up a number out of my head, an approximate amount of what

    all parts cost and what the postage is outside EC (as I imagine most of you are).

     

     

    For a pre-order I currently charge $120, that includes postage

    to anywhere in the world and all other types of fees that I might come across.

    Price is subject to change if there are additional costs or changes in currency

    conversions etc.

    If you have made a payment of the current charge you will however not be asked

    for more money - I'll take that loss.

     

     

    I'll also issue a part-of-the-money-back if I am able to build them at a significantly

    lower price, let's say $15 lower or more. The more orders I get the more parts I

    can order at the same time and the price will of course be lower - I'm sure you're

    familiar with the concept. ;-)

     

     

    No cartridges will be sold until the current two "raise-some-money"-carts have been

    sold or until I have two pre-orders. I need that money to order parts.

    Here's the first one auctioned out:

    http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=137441

     

     

    Box and instructions are currently not included, if I do decide to make instructions

    and/or box I will send these out asap to all buyers (give-away).

     

     

    Payments are welcome via Paypal.com, just click below to make a pre-payment:

     

     

     

    Other payment options are perhaps welcome as well, send me a message.

     

     

    If you need to read more about it, there's a thread here.

     

     

    Answer here and I'll make a list below.

     

     

     

    Pre-ordered:

     

    Two Pre-orders (paid) - gets Pac-Man #6 and #7.

     

     

    "Interested in buying"-list:

     

    * Cart has been sent

    + Payment has been received

    - Denied current offer

    . Have been asked but no reply/ no payment

    ~ Finished but not shipped

     

    * chuys450

    * retrogmr

    * Godzilla

    - BassGuitari

    * Numan

    * cvga

    - Segataritensofti...

    * toymailman

    . jeffgamer

    * Bill_Loguidice

    Crazy Climber (at a price around $50)

    * AtariRx

    * Disco Scottie

    * j_eits (not on this forum)

    . FABombjoy

    . brucebidder

    * Nick Frazee (not on this forum)

    doug0909 (at a price around $50)

    - Atari2008

    . Rob Mitchell

    * swlovinist

    * Howard Frazee (not on this forum)

    atarinut76

     

    Update, the whole owner's list:

     

    Made from SABA #20 carts:

    1 Conny

    2 Dennis

    3 Ian

    Made from large home made PCBs:

    4 Claes

    5 Rikard

    6 Jose

    7 Larry

    8 Mikael

    9 Mark

    10 Kai

    11 James

    12 Charles

    13 Peter

    Professional PCBs

    14 Kevin

    15 Bill

    16 Scottie

    17 Jens

    18 John

    19 Nickolas

    20 Howard

    21 Matt T

    22 PingvinBlueJeans

    23 Jose M

    24 Jeffrey O'C

    Smaller PCB, prototyped version, SMD circuits where possible

    25 Kevin C

    26 GreatGuy

    27 Freiztan

    New pro PCB, similar to the one above

    28 Rob

    29 Jeff R

    30 Emmanuel D

    31 Jason S

    32 Anthony W

    33 Luke S

    34 Michael C

    35 Jason B

    36 Russ P

    37 Dennis

    38 Scott S

    +39 Rick M

    40 Christopher W

    41 Mattias P

    --------- End of 2010 ---------

    +42 Kimmo P

    +43 Lance B

    +44 Jan-Erik

    +45 T.B.C.

    46 VGE

    47 Zeela

    48 -reserved-

    +49 Tim Ryan

    +50 For myself, I think I'll call it #0 though.

     

    END - no more Pac-Man carts.

  3. Posted · Edited by e5frog

    I have finally managed to build an entire Fairchild cart from scratch,

    new PCB and new (well, NOS at least) circuits.

     

     

     

    I'm selling the first of these as an auction to raise money to buy parts

    to be able to build more carts - also for other future games.

     

     

     

    This is the first release of a Fairchild cartridge not built from a

    modified Chess-cart since I don't know when - 1982 or something!?

     

    I'm offering one of these - Pac-Man:

     

    post-10242-1231847769_thumb.jpg post-10242-1231847959_thumb.jpg

     

    The buyer can have his/her name (or a name of his/her choice) on the back label:

     

    post-10242-1231848154_thumb.jpg

     

     

    Screenshots:

    post-10242-1231848288_thumb.png post-10242-1231848360_thumb.png

     

     

    It plays something like this in MESS or on a Channel F II (or other generation 2 Fairchild console):

     

    This is from a real system playing:

    (Pardon the video quality and that the sound gets out of sync near the end)

     

    On a Fairchild Video Entertainment System (Channel F, or other first

    generation Fairchild consoles) it plays just the same but audio is not as good.

     

     

     

    There's ofcourse already a thread about it and the progress:

    http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=132055

     

     

    If you would like to test it in MESS, please download this version:

    http://w5.nuinternet.com/s660100106/files/...elf/pac-man.bin

    ... and use this version of MESS that has proper audio:

    http://veswiki.com/images/3/3a/Devel.zip

    If you already have MESS it will play fine there as well, but with less

    than perfect sound...

     

    BTW, this is Pac-Man cartridge #4 of 5 so far, but as I mentioned, the

    first one built from scratch - not by modifying a Chess-cartridge (SABA#20).

     

    Cartridge #5 is currently on eBay.

     

     

     

     

     

    I'm going to use the money to buy more parts to be able to release

    other games as well, I've already started working on "IK":

     

    Downloadable and playable binary for MESS:

    http://w5.nuinternet.com/s660100106/files/...f/IK-test_5.bin

     

    The thread:

    http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=129210

     

     

     

     

     

    Bid here or bid via message to me or e-mail, I will update the thread with the highest bid.

     

     

    I suggest the bidding starts at $40, feel free though to start bidding where you feel comfortable. ;-)

     

     

     

    Current highest bid: From other forum $120

  4. Posted

    Are cart shells easy enough to obtain for a homebrew release?

     

    There are loads of low-value, worn and ugly looking carts out there, stuff that noone would be interested in buying even for a penny (because the postage would be more than it's worth).

     

    So for now I'll settle on using that types of carts as donors, if I run out I might consider manufacturing new cart shells - but I probably need to sell a whole lot of carts to be able to afford that...

     

    Especially SABA-carts with their paper-only labels are often in very bad condition...

  5. Posted

    Are RPGs (simple ones) possible on the system? Or is there enough memory?
    So the only RAM you have (unless there's extra RAM in the cartridge) are the 64 bytes that are internal to the CPU. Which is not very much.

     

     

    Found this old quote and I just wanted to add that Pac-Man has 2kB extra RAM, and without using bank switching you can have 63487 bytes of RAM on a cartridge, not that it would be useful unless you already had something programmed into it.

     

    But let's say you have a game of 16kB, you could have as much as 47103 bytes of RAM if you'd like to.

     

    Why? The first $0000-$07FF is used by BIOS, so there's "only" $F7FF left for ROM and RAM of your choice. But as demonstrated in Sean Riddle's Multi-Cart build - it's quite easy to add a bank-switcher to use even more memory for a game, a whole '040-circuit could be used using the proper switching (that's 512 kB)!

  7. Posted

    First working prototype:

     

    Pq2rMrbJ.jpg

     

     

    Now there are two finished PCB:s that I'm going to build Pac-Man cartridges of, I'm planning on getting as much money for these two as possible to be able to buy parts to build more.

     

    Pq2rOiqr.jpg

     

    The first and second all-new Pac-Man built from scratch!

     

     

    Are you interested in buying one of these, please reply in thread or via message/e-mail with your bid.

    I might put them on eBay or similar but I thought I should ask here first.

     

     

     

    In the total series so far this will be #4 and #5, and as before I'll add the buyer's name on the back label (or any name the buyer prefers), see previous posts.

  10. Posted

    Sean Riddle built a dumper for the Channel F carts and also the 3851 program storage units that are usually used with the CPU-circuit. I'm guessing the Videobrain has at least a CPU and one of these 3851-circuits unless they have a 3850 (CPU), a 3853 Static Memory Interface and plain Eproms...

     

     

    I have looked into making a manual and box for the Pac-Man game as well. We'll see how it comes out. Main priority is however to make the PCB.

  17. Posted

    First off, this is very cool - I would have never thought that the Channel F could do this.

     

    That said, and don't take this the wrong way, but if the posted video is accurate, the game plays slower than the arcade. I compared it against MAME running Pac-Man, and my unscientific estimate is that the arcade runs roughly 50% faster. Assuming my observations are correct, is the Channel F simply running as fast as it can, or is there a delay loop in your code that can be modified to speed up the game?

     

    Also, I'm curious what it takes to build a cart. Do you need some of the original Fairchild chips, or did you manage to replicate their functions with modern hardware?

     

     

    It's running as fast as possible, I've put a lot of effort in trying to shorten code and speed things up (counting cycle times of routines) and currently that's the best I could do. The most time consuming are the necessary delays in graphics plotting, these have been shorten as much as possible. In MESS there's no need for them, but a real unit will get distorted graphics if it's set to small.

     

    For a "professional" Pac-Man player it should be no great effort to play through all levels... A mediocre player like myself runs out of lives after a few levels and set high score around 50000 perhaps. ;-)

     

    To be able to run your own programs you need a memory interface circuit, it's a co-processor of the F8 that gives you a full address bus that the F8 processor system doesn't originally have. Communication between CPU an co-processors uses five control lines and an 8 bit data in/out-put, the control lines makes the built in registers (like the program counter) in all co-processors change according to set rules. Sending 00000 on the control lines makes something happen in all chips and so on up to 11111... There are fairly detailed information about this on http://www.veswiki.com in one of the pdf-files.

     

    You could of course get a "Program Storage Unit"-chip and thereby eliminate the need for a memory interface, but I don't think these exist in a programmable version, only as "masked roms". Another option is to use a FPGA-circuit or similar to emulate the function of the memory interface, a large enough FPGA-circuit will probably hold all available programs as well. As there aren't any detailed information (in the pdf mentioned above) what exactly happens at all control line states this option is a bit tricky - not that anyone tried it (yet) as far as I know.

     

     

    It's a little tricky. ;-)

  20. Posted

    The µPD2114LC that are on that SABA#20 pcb are apparently 450 ns (delay time I guess is more accurate than "speed"). So there should be no problem speedwise with the slowest and cheapest 6116 - which are 150 ns.

     

    If someone has a broken VIC 20 of the C(ost)R(eduction)-version there's apparently 6116 circuits in that one...

  21. Posted

    They had some, yes...

     

    I was also tipped about: http://www.futurlec.com/ICRAM.shtml

     

    About the same price, question is how much shipping to Sweden is? At Jameco you're supposed to just pay and not get information about the shipping until they bill your credit card... not a very good system for the customer...

     

     

    I don't know what speed I need... can you tell from the blue dotted (and one yellow) 2114:s in this picture?

     

    post-10242-1223321218_thumb.jpg

     

     

     

    How can I know if 150 ns is fast enough? As the whole unit is clocked at only 2.22 MHz or slower maybe there's nothing to worry about?

  22. Posted · Edited by e5frog

    Well, I'd hate to see it go to eBay for purely selfish reasons, as I know I could never hang with the big bidders there, but that sounds like a great idea to raise the most money with the least hassle. As for Namco Bandai being sensitive about it, I have a hard time believing they'd have any interest in a one-off like that, particularly since AtariAge and Opcode, et al., have put out unofficial COLLECTIONS based on the property. Certainly those haven't been kept hush-hush, and even at your peak of sales you'd never be anywhere near the same volume.

     

    If you were really concerned, you could call it a "Pac-Man clone" or "Pac-Man homage" or something if you want to avoid calling it "Pac-Man" directly.

     

     

    I could perhaps make it a long auction and not write in the auction that it is Pac-man - only a well known homebrew - but spread the word on forums like this and answer e-mail questions truthfully.

     

    Perhaps I could write something like "It's the first Channel F homebrew released on a dedicated cartridge."

     

     

    I don't know.

     

    I need to find a pair of SRAM 6116 (2kbit x 8) circuits first, the rest has already been found, I think that will be easier than to use four 2114 (1k x 4) as they do in the SABA#20 (popular for Multi-cart builds).

    I put an add in the Marketplace, but if anyone has a pair or know where to get a pair cheap, let me know.

  23. Posted · Edited by e5frog

    Hi there.

     

    I need some SRAM circuits for a small project.

     

    I'm going to need 2kB and that's why I thought of the rather cheap 6116 that's 2k x 8 bits.

     

    Other circuits might be of interest as well, as long as it is 5V SRAM.

     

     

    Perhaps someone has spare circuits for an old computer, pinball machine or something like that.

     

     

    I need 2 or 3 6116, if you have anything else - let's discuss it.

  25. Posted

    Looks good, I'll take it!

     

    You actually have all three that's on your page? No wonder there's a shortage... ;-)

     

     

    Not any more Just traded one set ;). I do still have 3, The other one I had

    bought sealed, seems some retailers were self shrinkwrapping these games

    and a few have re-surfaced over the years.

     

    Thanks again I am happy to add this special edition #27 to my collection it

    looks great BTW nice job and attention to detail.

     

    Now I just need to talk you into building me a Multicart :D

     

     

    Lucky you! Four of these has passed your domains, I've only ever seen one before!

     

    I updated the first message in this thread, I hope someone has got a #19 for trade also.

     

     

    About a Multi-cart, if you've got a SABA#20 left over I might be able to do that as well in the near future.

AtariAge
Forums
Store
General
Follow AtariAge

Copyright ©1998-2021 AtariAge

×
×
  • Create New...