[What games are better on AppleII/MSDOS over Atari800/C64?]

...

Besides, since I'm answering to a post that got posted using an Amiga 500, I seem to remember that AmigaBasic has got much worse limitations for code space when compared to the amount of RAM an Amiga really has - and the 512K expansion didn't help there!

 

Oh, AmigaBasic was utter crap! I went through hell trying to write code for that piece of garbage. That was by far the buggiest, slowest, most tedius to use BASIC I ever used. It was written by Microsoft. That ended my BASIC coding days forever. (...and started my Microsoft hatred)

[What games are better on AppleII/MSDOS over Atari800/C64?]

I remember writing a BASIC program on the C64 (...for a highschool computer project) and I ran out of memory at around 38K. I only needed about 45K. I remember being disgusted because it was supposed to be a 64K computer. The way I managed to get around that limitation was to have a "load" and "run" statement in "invisible text" (same colour as background) and tell the user to "press return" so that it would load and run the next part of the program.

[A retro classic - Spectrum]

Oh, just to correct a little fact; the Spectrum has fifteen colours and not eight, there are six hues, black and white but two luminance levels for each (black is always black, although it's possible to tell them apart on some models). Appreciation of them is down to personal taste, but the attribute system made it possible to throw colour around like a loony. =-)

 

The Spectrum palette looks like the old EGA(CGA?) palette - 8 (ugly) colours with another 8 of the same hue but half luminance. Oh God, how I hate that palette. I remember when I first started MS-DOS assembler and those were the only colours available. That was many years after I already knew of the glory of 4096 Amiga colours.

 

You can still see that sick palette today in many Windows programs. I remember in 2005 being disgusted when I tried to select a label colour, the Office program (can't remember which) still only allowed selection from that disgusting 16-colour palette.

[Most popular classic computer of your country?]

I think Canada was a bit different from the US. I never saw an Atari ST anywhere and only saw a single Apple II once in a clearance sale.

 

I'd say for Canada, it goes like this:

 

Commodore 64/128

Atari 400/800/XL (XE was not popular)

TRS-80/CoCo series

Amiga series (mainly pre-AGA)

TI-99

Apple II+,IIe

Timex Sinclair

Atari ST series

 

 

It's shocking I know, but I think TRS-80/CoCo sold more than the later Amiga - probably because of the TRS-80's low price and the fact that Radio Shack stores were everywhere.

[A retro classic - Spectrum]

I think this article is saying that it started a "revolution" in the UK computer industry, not the whole world.

 

Being in Canada, I never even heard of a Spectrum until around 2002 when I stared reading UK forum posters going on about their "Speccies". I then did lots of research on Spectrums and even played with Spectum emulators. I wasn't impressed. (...only 8 colours and damn ugly ones too)

[What's Your "Collecting Fetish"?]

I'm currently collecting every single bit of Atari XL hardware and software I remember my friend owned in 1984. Back then, his 800XL's vast superiority over my pathetic CoCo2 left me with a kind of psychological damage - an empty "cartridge slot" in my brain. I desperately wanted an Atari, but couldn't afford one.

 

"Well who's laughing now, eh 1984 friend?? I've got everything you've got, so there! That'll teach ya!"

 

Of course, I have to taunt the imaginary 1984 version of that guy because in 2007, he's probably fat and old and concerned with more important things in life, like mortgage payments, a nagging wife and many ugly children.

[What games are better on AppleII/MSDOS over Atari800/C64?]

But how do you emulate Burger Time on an Amiga 500?

 

There's a pretty good Apple II emulator for Amiga, called Apple2000e. I even emulate MacOS 8.1 on my Amiga 500 (using ShapeShifter) and play Mac games.

[What games are better on AppleII/MSDOS over Atari800/C64?]

BurgerTime is better on the Apple II. Of course, I'm comparing emulations of it (on Amiga) and I don't even know if I found all available versions to compare properly.

 

That's actually the only reason I use the Apple II emulator.

[Blue Max: only game to deliberately cause a system crash?]

Yes, I know an 8-bit file for the 5200 Centipede exists. I played it on the Amiga ACE emulator. I was wondering if any physical carts were made so I could use it in a real 800XL. Maybe it doesn't matter as long as it will run from MyIDE CF.

[A8 users... Where do you live]

Am I the only Canadian here?

 

I'm in my mid 30's somewhere. (didn't bother to count )

 

I saw the 800XL first in 1984, but only just got one last month.

 

My computer history goes:

 

1983 Colour Computer 2

1987 Colour Computer 3 (...only because it was dirt cheap)

1989 Amiga 500

1997-1997 *cough* crap Windows 95 computer (quickly disposed of)

2007 Atari 800XL

 

... and that's it.

[Blue Max: only game to deliberately cause a system crash?]

Awesome. Thanks Urchlay!

 

It's very satisfying and strange to finally see those couple rooms properly after all these years. That thread you linked also helped clear up the confusing "Montezuma history". I always thought the Utopia version was the released disk version. I didn't know that the Utopia version was never released and that the released disk version was basically identical to the unreleased cartridge. I never liked the Utopia version anyway. I don't like the time limits (bat, burning ropes) and the delays when gaining/losing men or entering rooms.

 

You say you made this binary load from the "released cartridge"? Do you mean 5200 cartridge? If 5200 cartridge games work on 8-bits, I wish somebody would make an 8-bit cart of 5200 centipede.

[Blue Max: only game to deliberately cause a system crash?]

I've just been doing some "hangar bombings" and it looks like it's different each time. One time, I had severe graphical corruption and lockup and had to reboot. Another time, the background just went black, but planes are still visible, the score was at the top of the screen and I could keep playing (sort of). Another time, while I was refueling, the enemy plane bombed my hangar and it just "turned to dust" like regular buildings with no "weirdness" happening. So it's inconsistent.

[Blue Max: only game to deliberately cause a system crash?]

Another bug I know of (probably not deliberate though) is the "fire pit" in the 16K version of Montezuma's Revenge (Preliminary Monty16K or Parker Brothers version)... another one of my all-time favourite Atari games. At the far left of the game map is a room that has a fire pit you can't cross and it causes graphics corruption. If you come up from the bottom (climbing the rope), you can't escape - any jump will result in burning.

 

Anybody have more info on this bug?

[Blue Max: only game to deliberately cause a system crash?]

I just played it yesterday on my 800XL and the "Start" and "Reset" buttons did nothing. I had to switch off and on again. (...sounds like a crash to me)

[Blue Max: only game to deliberately cause a system crash?]

I think you're looking at it backwards. The "never bomb friendly airplane hangars" clause in the manual was probably put there because somebody discovered that there was a bug in the game after it was too late to fix it, so they decided to document it and call it a "feature."

 

Yeah, I think you're right. It's sort of like how Microsoft operates: call bug a "feature", then keep bug around for 20 years to ensure backward compatibility. Windows is full of such "features".

 

Blue Max is one of my favorite games of all time.

 

And the C64 version sucks compared to the A8

 

Yes, it's one of my favourites too and yes the C64 version does suck (Spectrum version is even worse). I didn't realise until just last year that all of my favourite 8-bit games are way better on the Atari. Of course, all my favourite 8-bit games are 1985 and earlier and I think C64 games only started getting good after 1985 (when C64 became the dominant 8-bit). By that time, I had already moved on to 16/32 bit Amiga games.

 

I always wondered why they never made an Amiga version of Blue Max. It would have blown away all the other crappy "shoot-em-ups".

[Blue Max: only game to deliberately cause a system crash?]

I remember when playing Blue Max in 1984 on an 800XL, I bombed my own hangar (...just for the fun of it ) and was surprised that the computer completely crashed, forcing me to reboot. At the time, I thought I just had a buggy copy of the game. Later I played it on a C64 and got the same system crash when bombing my own hangar and I thought that the port contained the same bug.

 

I just recently bought the XL/XE cartridge version of the game (brand new!) and got the same computer crash when bombing my own hangar. The manual says "Never bomb friendly airplane hangars." So that means this crash was deliberately put there. Is this the only game in history that deliberately crashes your computer? Or are there others? (not counting the ones that crash due to bugs...or crappy OSes they run on )

[What's the latest Atari related thing(s) you've bought on ebay?]

I just bought my first ever Atari related thing: an 800XL in original box. I couldn't believe how thin the box was, especially compared to other computers I've got. The 800XL was in amazing shape. It looks brand new except for tiny scratches on the cartridge slot metal. Unfortunately, it appears to be dead - power light doesn't come on. It's a bit annoying considering the eBay description said "unit powers up". Still... it's a beautiful paperweight.

 

I actually bought another 800XL first (last month), but I'm still waiting for it to arrive. This one comes with:

 

800XL owners manual, BASIC book, Atari product catalogue

1020 printer in original box

2 joysticks

Berzerk cartridge

Ballblazer (new, unopened!)

Rescue on Fractalus (new, unopened!)

Montezuma's Revenge (new, unopened!)

Blue Max (new, unopened!)

[600/800XL Keyboard variants]

This is an excellent and helpful thread. Thanks Beetle.

 

I just got my first 800XL after wanting one for 23 years (my friend had one in 1984). When I got it, I was surprised that the keys had a rough surface because I didn't remember them being that rough. Now I know it's a "type 4" and my friend's 800XL must have had a different keyboard.