zektor800

Sweet find! There's a whole lot of fun there! Enjoy!

Up there you said that "the A8 games" feel much more responsive than "the C64 games" which is not true. There are good C64 games and there are bad C64 games, much like: There are good A8 games and there are bad A8 games. Usually you can say that 95% of the games available for a system simply suck, no matter what system. Maybe responsive is not the word. Perhaps faster paced? Again, it is extremely hard to explain. Don't get me wrong, absolutely NO C64 bashing here (I am a HUGE Commodore freak), but most of the games feel like "computer games" so to speak. These Atari computer games feel much more like console games. Maybe because it is basically a console (5200)? All I do know is that I get that same kind of excitement as I do on a classic console while using this computer. That is a good thing!

The only new version of "Burgertime" (as that being it's name) is the beta of Beef Drop above. The final complete new version is named Beef Drop. It's a great game, what's in a name?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Magicard-Atari-2600-Au...1QQcmdZViewItem Just checking ebay when I came across this. I am friends with Joe (DP)....I should ask him why he ever sold this. But, is it worth this much?

Do a forum search for Beef Drop. There are many previous versions posted in that thread.

I have had my eye on it for awhile now, and decided to finally place the order. I played the original disk version today, and well, it certainly did NOT give me my Burgertime fix I tried the Beef Drop demo, and it looks and plays fantastic. I decided this is something I *need* on cart. Only sad part is that this is the only Atari 8-bit homebrew cart game available. Anyone else (or kenfused) working on other 8-bit cart based games? I would absolutely die for a "Galaga" port/clone....my favorite game of all time.

I think those FB2 sticks look cheezy honestly. New technology? From the looks pf the pics they seem to have been manufactured to work for a short term...and that is most likely what they were thinking. I guess since it is a way to get replacemnet sticks in a store TODAY, it is not all that bad. But, gimme the original design anyday over these! Quick edit. I went to Walmart and purchased the FB2 unit today, just to see how the sticks are. Not bad, they function perfectly fine, but definitely not the feel of the classic sticks of course. Still, another set of joysticks (brand new) is always a good thing. The fact that the sticks seem to "unscrew" occasionally during play and that they are a very tight fit while connecting to a vintage console are major turn offs. But, they were never advertised as being classic replacements in the first place, so I cannot complain.

As soon as I get more time (that is the biggest issue for me lately) I will scour these disks for anything missing. Hopefully there is more in there!

Not an educational title for sure, just seems like a pretty cheesy game At least it is one that can be checked off from the MIA list. It boots and plays fine as ATR and PRO, so chances are there was no protection scheme. But why the file size difference? Question about the MIA list tho. How do you know that these are the only titles left missing?

Welp, got my disks in today. Did a quick look and almost immediately found one on your list: Wargle! / Hayden Software It is an original disk, so I was not sure how to handle the dumping. I was under the assumption that all retail disks are write protected in some way, so I ripped it to PRO format. Then, I tried standard ATR format. Both seem to work, although the PRO version is a few bytes larger. How to tell if something is protected? Will it simply not boot if copied? Or will it boot and at some point in the game crap out because it is a backup? Anyway, here it is, in both formats. Wargle_.zip

Well, I came home from work with a *little* bit of energy left, so I decided to take apart these Wico Command Controllers and Trakball Controller I purchased on ebay a few weeks ago. Not like the Wico controllers really needed any major cleaning, but they did sound slightly crusty in movements. Tooks em apart, performed the usual detailed cleaning, and used some of my trusty friend...TV tuner cleaner/lubricant. Did the same for the trakball controller. Everything is just so damn smooth now, better than new! Well, I played Millipede with the joysticks for about an hour. Works beautifully. BUT, the Trakball control really hit the spot. It's like arcade Millipede right here in the living room I know Millipede and Centipede utilize the trakball controller, but does anybody have a list of every game (or at least the fun games) that utilize this controller?

I am still waiting on these disks...ugh. Anyway, hopefully there are unreleased goods on them. I have a bad feeling that they will all include pirated games...all already ripped...but who knows. If there is nothing new on them, I will probably sell off my Happy 1050, two 810's and the disks myself, as I do not see myself hunting down rare/unripped disks either. I am mostly about just playing the games, and the SIO2PC interface and my growing cart collection is MORE than covering that!

Wow, that's not good. Are there any power supply alternatives that anyone knows of? Perhaps a newer power supply with newer technology?

That is awesome man! Neat story...I was not aware that Dave would continue work on the title! Maybe one day we will have a full version reproduction (or simply *production*?) cart!

I will compare what I get to the MIA list. Hopefully I can help

In easy terms, if you have serial ports on your PC already, give it a shot. If it does not work OR you do not have these ports, get yourself a PCI SIIG card with 16550 UARTS. I like the card route myself, as no matter what PC I upgrade to down the road, it'll still work...that is as long as PCI slots are still there! There will be a USB version released eventually, and life will become a whole lot simpler for people with newer PC's.

I am *still* waiting on my 400+ floppies to come in the mail. While all of my other goods were shipped UPS, the seller shipped these to me media mail Anyway, I did have four disks here that are game compilations, and I had the time today to finally test my SIO interface with Prosystem. I successfully copied them, and here they are. Does not look like anything here is unreleased game wise, but maybe these compilations are unique? Anyhow, enjoy! Game_Compilations.zip

More responsive? This leads me to the impression that you compared the real A8 to the C64 emulator Vice. Indeed, emulators are less responsive since they first have to emulate the stuff before they can display it, and in addition with tripple buffering and sound buffers there is a quite big delay between input and reaction of the emulator. No, I actually own a C64 (brown), C64C, & C128. I have tons of disk based games, as well as a few cart based games. It's not that they are all "unresponsive" or "laggy", but some games just do not feel like an arcade game....it is quite hard to explain.

The PC itself does not have to be old at all....I am using it on a 3.4Ghz Pentium 4 HT. It is the serial ports/card. Newer PC's (mine included) do not even have serial or parallel ports. Everything is USB or Firewire nowadays. I did not even realize I did not have serial ports initially as I automatically assumed I did! All you would need is a serial card, but one that has a TRUE 16550 UART. Almost all newer cards are emulating the 16550, and these cards will not work. I got ahold of a SIIG PCI plug-n-play serial card with a true 16550 UART, and it now works great. Because of the nature of WinXP and PNP, the OS was forcing the card on an odd base address....and that needed Steven's adjustmet of the software to be able to see the card. Yes, an initial rocky road, but all well worth it. It is working so well now, and I am completely enjoying it. The best investment in time and money I think I ever spend in regards to retrogaming. This is the card I purchased: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=320026786366

Hehe, "Ninja" was the first game I booted with the SIO adapter It was one of my favorite C64 titles, and it's awesome on the Atari 8-bit as well. I believe I actually played a vamped up version of this same game on the Amiga 500 as well.

While I am enjoying the amazing SIO2PC interface, I am also enjoying the collecting aspect of the system as well. I have already acquired some choice carts...including some rares such as K-razy Kritters and Bounty Bob Strikes Back. I am up to 40 or so carts for the unit thus far. This is like having the best of both worlds. Tons of games to play through the interface, and a very collectable console.

Thanks for the game tips! I will certainly be playing all of these as soon as I get more time. I cannot wait for my vacation (in a month), which will be a week filled with gaming goodness I finally found my personal ultimate gaming machine!

I got both too. The 800XL on my end is perfect...looks almost new and works the same way. The 800 is the one I was referring to which needed a little cleaning. Still it great shape tho.

If it were a traditional serial card with jumpers (so I would be able to force 3f8/2f8 IRQ 3/4) I would have had no problems from the get go. But those cards (in PCI form) are pretty hard to come by. Most of these are plug & pray, and Windows XP decides the address....and in most cases (including mine) it is not changeable. I guess it was considered progress in the ease of computing...never running into IRQ conflicts again. But the user that *wants* to configure is screwed in the process. Thank god Steven got it going for me. The guy REALLY knows his stuff. I'm just giddy about playing around with the few thousands of images I have archived

And a little tip (although many many know this already), for a crusty, semi non-responsive keyboard, stereo contact cleaner works wonders! A quick spray (and drying of course) made the Atari 800's keyboard function and look brand new. When I have more time I will give it the complete restoration treatment, but it is now looking about 95% new, and functioning like it is 100% new. The versatility of these old computers still amazes me. You'd be lucky to get 5+ years out of today's electronics...