Gunstar

I was youthful at the time, but at least about 20 by the time I joined AAAUA and did the articles. The art was done anywhere from '85 to '92. I'm pretty sure the art is lost forever at this point. I just have to start doing more.

Thanks! I asked in a thread here a few years back if anyone had AAAUA's PD archives as I sent in at least one disk of art work with each article I did, since my disk archives were lost years ago. I vaguely remember two or three of my pictures. I sent in some that were done in just about every graphic mode from high-res artifacting or monochrome art, Rambrandt, and even 256 color APAC using Technicolour Dream software. My favorite was of a green, one-eyed alien I did in APAC mode with his ship behind him and text in a bubble that said "take me to the Tramiels." Or maybe it was just a text line at the top or bottom of the page, I don't recall if Technicolour Dream allows text on the low-res screen now that I think about it...I remember a high-res picture of a Klingon ship using artifact colors too.

@Geister I do have plans to create a SDX batch file upon boot-up to play a S.A.M voice file of the 800 introducing itself, a brief history and listing all upgrades and modifications. Obviously I will only set it for autoexec.bat when showing it off to others, and once or twice to listen to myself. I bet I could tie-in the LED lighting with audio out to have them flash when it speaks. I was planning on tying them in with the SIO I/O anyway, since I'm haven't and don't plan on doing the ATR swap button and HDD LED's for the Incognito, as an alternative. I could just add a switch to change between SIO I/O and audio out.

I know what you mean. Sure the 800XL sold the most and is a solid machine, but back when I was young, the bigger the computer, the more it looked to me like a "serious" machine and not a toy or console (I never liked the cartridges out the top like a console), the Apple II was my standard since that was what I was introduced to in school. The 800 fit that bill for me, as did the sleeker 1200XL. And the 800 had the internal card slots to upgrade, like an Apple II. Even though these days the smaller the better is the going fad, and not being totally obsolete, I too have come to appreciate the smaller micros like the XL/XE lines and C64 line. But I still love my larger Atari's with larger foot prints and go out of my way to make the room and spread out the systems. But I also insist on still be upwardly compatible with the last Atari 8-bits and beyond, hence the upgrades and mods. Others choose to have expanded Atari's with modern upgrades in like the 1088's, I prefer doing it to original equipment. This computer may yet get more, like MIDI ports, My 1200XL still has a lot of upgrades planned for it as well, internally, even though it has a PBI now.

I did a lot of art back in the 80's and early 90's on several different Atari graphic art programs and input devices, but unlike @DrVenkman, 98% of my original disks were lost. I've been to busy with hardware that I haven't done any new graphic art for years, even though I've been meaning too. Converting images with Rastaconverter is all I've really done for years. This is great stuff so far... In the old days I generally used Rambrandt and a Koala pad, or later Diamond GOS Paint and an ST mouse. I still would use Rambrandt after since it had DLI abilities that Diamond Paint and other Micro Illustrator clones did not. These days of course I have Atari Touch Tablets which are much better than the Koala pad in size and cursor control.

Merry Christmas to you too, Paul, and thank you. There is far less square area in the old gal than one would imagine, as I imagined when I first decided to upgrade and restore her. But through some creativity I've managed so far. I still have a Sophia 2 to install once the 800 versions are ready to buy. That will probably be the last upgrade and modification for this machine, and there's no more room "on the ground floor" if I want to avoid ports out the sides. So the Sophia 2 port will probably have to be installed above the PSU board in the upper half of the case if I can't cram it behind the heat sink. There's still plenty room within the cubed area in the machine. But luckily with the Incognito having many upgrades combined and now a real PBI port, any further upgrading would be external via the PBI. But at this time there's nothing else I want, until either 800 memory slot or PBI version of VBXE and/or Rapidus become available.

Merry Christmas to all!

I've added a PBI edge connector port to my 800, as I did with my 1200XL. Although with the 1200XL a lot more work was involved with soldering as I didn't have a ready-made PBI board for I/O or an Incognito board with ready-made PBI I/O on it either. As I said before, much more detail can be found on my hardware hacking blog on Atari Owner's Club site, all of which will be copied to a blog here in my AA profile soon. That's the Turbo Freezer 2011 attached to the port with it's own pass-thru port using the XL board that came with it, The XE board that came with it became the 800's PBI connector. In the picture of the PBI port cut-out, it's still rough-cut only there, and I have since refined it to look even better. All new pictures will be taken of the final results of all modifications inside and out later in my future blog here. This is still a on-going upgrade and restoration project.

I was just playing Blue max the other day again, as well as BM 2001, which I'm getting the hang of the controls (sort of like Panther, but the isometric view is mirrored}. BM is also one of my all-time Atari favorites and among the first few games I had for my first Atari 130XE, I recall Blue Max, BC's quest for tires, Temple of Apshai and Forbidden Forest among my first cartridge and cassette games before I had a drive. I was working as a cashier in a Sears Outlet at the time and purchased all these titles from clearance software they had there. I got my first 800 there (after owning a 130XE) for about $25, IIRC.

They sell these on Amazon and eBay too, I have ads "suggestions" for them constantly popping all the time ever since I did a search for joysticks a year or so ago. I'm glad I never bought one, I figured they were cheap. I ended up buying a NOS Kraft Starmaster joystick from Video61 for $10-12. They are Chinese made, but from back in the 80's and are pretty good quality, especially for price, if you like or don't mind a pistol grip style. They use the same contact and board type as Atari joysticks (different design) and are a bit heavier duty. A button on base and stick. (a perfect candidate for a Joy 2B upgrade). They come with suction cups that work well on a smooth surface. I have two of these controllers and one I removed the suction cups (they just pull off and plug in) on one and kept them on the other. Either MyAtari (B&C) or Best Electronics sells re-engineered boards and contacts and sticks to put in original Atari CX40 controllers.

I found the game years ago and it's been a favorite of mine, even playing both sides myself. Another game, also by the same developer/publisher (A.K. Avalon?) is tank vs. tank, very similar, but doesn't require 2 players or more than 64K. But they added a lot more to T-34.

I've been running the audio out separately to stereo/surround systems or amplified PC speakers on all my computers, consoles and video equipment for three decades. Pokey has wonderful bass sound capabilities that you have no idea of until the audio is put through a good audio system. All sounds from the Pokey are richer and fuller. Of course I've had at least dual Pokey stereo for the last 15-20 years too (two L/R stereo outs and one mono out through monitor port).

I burned the .ATR to floppy disk with Prosystem when I first downloaded it, and have been playing it on my 800 loading with an Indus GT since. No problems what so ever. First in NTSC and now PAL, it correctly checks and adjusts for both. I wish all home brew games had .ATR versions, then I wouldn't have to make .ATR versions out of the .XEX's. I save the .XEX's to a FAT partion on my CF card, and eventually get most transferred to my HDD partions, but there is still nothing like the feeling of a new Atari game auto loading from a floppy drive on my Atari. I've been playing the game all afternoon today. I finally made it past the first boss & level a few days ago, and again today, but have not lived to the boss on the second level yet.

My situation is unique to most 1200XL owners who may want to install U1MB/VBXE/Rapidus combinations. Currently, my 1200XL was first upgraded to 600XL/800XL compatibility, as @DrVenkman mentioned, to the 16K 28-pin rom and internal Basic, and this upgrade also requires upgrading the MMU to XL/XE MMU. Second, all 74LSxx IC's and other IC's have been upgraded to more modern, faster versions, though I used 74HC series in my case, which have been working wonderfully for stability and PHI2 timing. Precision sockets on many key IC's. I make sure my PSU supplies ample amperage to handle all upgrades. I've done a DIY PBI buss upgrade, and I use a Syscheck XL for my extended memory and additional alternate OS's and this board actually helps with PHI2 stability on the buss as it has it's own PHI2 signal. I then use Dropcheck's Super SDX cartridge with RTC and MyIDE II piggy-backed for HDD and much more, it has full PBI compatibility/abilities too. I did have some initial issues when I first upgraded all of this, but it turned out to be a bad, but mostly working MMU that I replaced and it's been rock-solid for me in every way since. I've had IC's and basic components fail over the years that needed replacing, but that's normal for any vintage machine, but zero stability issues as long as all components are in working order. I still intend to install a Rapidus in it first, and I'll see how that works with my ad-hock upgraded system, which has all worked like a charm with each other except a couple of occasions that were issues with GAL chips failing and replacements solved the issues. I never intended or intend to use U1MB/SIDE2 in it, I have the equivalent of that with my Incognito 800 now anyway. Just VBXE and Rapidus. If Rapidus works well enough for me, and I ad a VBXE and issues arise, I'll remove the VBXE and sell it and either stick with just the GTIA there, or get a Sophia 2 and see if it gets along with the Rapidus. If Rapidus, is too unstable I'll remove it, and maybe just go with VBXE upgrade, but I'd rather have Rapidus over VBXE if it's stable enough for me in my system (I don't mind power-cycling if resets and cold resets screw things up). I appreciate the warnings and heads-up from people. but I do have an associates degree in electronics (which I went to school for solely to be able to fix and maintain and upgrade electronics as a hobby), the right tools and equipment and 25 years of both hobby and restore/refurbish and reselling I did for a few years a decade ago for extra income on all kinds of electronics, computers and consoles. DIY mods and upgrades and maintenance on Atari 8-bits, ST's, Jaguar, 2600, 7800 and other vintage brand consoles and computers. And I can figure out issues and fix them myself, I don't have to rely on others to install, troubleshoot, diagnose, repair. So it's no big deal to me, if I have to reverse an upgrade because of compatibility issue with other upgrades, etc. This isn't to say I never need help, advice, etc. I don't know everything about the engineering design of computers, or much at all with machines I have no experience working on before, like my 800, and so I didn't know for sure if I need a main board PAL crystal too or if the CPU board one was enough, even thought I suspected not from my knowledge and experience, or if might be more to it, like, for example, when I converted my 1200XL to PAL with Dropcheck's board, there was also a wire that runs from the board to the CPU, and I didn't know if something similar might still be needed on an 800, which I found out from the great people here, I did not. I knew other NTSC Atari's needed two crystals for PAL conversion from experience, but the 800 is a much different beast with it's buss and interchangeable cards, that I'm not 100% familiar with yet. My 1200XL I know inside and out, upside and down, and like the back of my hand.

Hans Kloss, Fred, Misja and Kult I play on occasion. All good.

With my spare MB and PSU, and the NTSC CPU board I just removed, plus the OS and memory boards removed when I installed the Incognito, I can actually assemble an entire 800, less keyboard and case, for an absolute fraction of what they sell for now on eBay these days!

I understand. I wasn't trying to knock your using both SCCC and Sophia 2. I myself was strongly thinking of getting a SCCC board myself, since, IIRC, like the Sophia 2, has the ability to output in either NTSC or PAL, but since I had already improved the video out with a luminance resister mod, and IIRC, the PAL CPU board was cheaper. I payed $20 for it from MyAtari (B & C) and included all the chips (spare IC's) I decided to get it instead. I also just recently purchased both a MB and PSU board as spares, I found them for dirt cheap on eBay, a miracle in itself. I could not believe the incredible buy-it-now prices and instantly purchased them. They both work great and look like NOS equipment. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-800-Main-Board-Motherboard-POKEY-CHIP-NOT-INCLUDED-1/174434476217?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-800-Parts-Power-Board/174451658668?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 I agree about the keyboards. I have the Hi-tek keyboard in my 800 and I actually found a Hi-tek brand AT keyboard from 1982 on eBay that I purchased for $17 + $9 for shipping, that is on the way, in hopes that it uses the same type of wings, and plungers as the Atari one, I've no idea if it does, but since it was so cheap I thought it was worth taking the chance to have so many spare parts, since MyAtari only has the Stackpole type left for sale, for $100 and it's the worst of all for breaking and MyAtari warns they are sold as-is and may already have cracked plungers. It should arrive within the next week, and I'll see. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-HI-TEK-Clicky-AT-Keyboard-RT101-NEC-Technologies-Tested/402390804119?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 The PAL crystal did arrive today, and I just finished installing it and re-assembling my 800 enough to test it. And I now have a working PAL 800 with excellent S-video out to use until I finally get the 800 version of Sophia 2. The image on-screen in real life is sharper than the picture I took, by the way. As a matter of fact, my wanting a Sophia 2 has absolutely nothing to do with the DVI output, I'm perfectly happy with my 800's S-video which feeds into an Ambery video-to-VGA upscaler/converter (the image below is VGA). The only reason I want it is the upgraded GTIA replacement with the new graphic modes.

I failed to mention that the extra ram also allows buffering for much faster speeds, so even if you don't care about CP/M, if you still like to use floppy drives, you might be interested.

They are both very good, The second one I think is 1% better just because the blue shading of the inside collar looks a bit better on the figures right side (his right, not the image), that's all the difference I can see, until I view it full-screen.

Ah, yes, a brief mention from @Lord Thag . He seems to like it...I missed that one while the thread was going on, or at least forgot about it before I went searching. I'm glad I ran across it again.

Has anyone else ever played this game? While looking for an old classified ad for another thread, I came across a classified ad for this game (January 1989 Antic) that I had circled years ago but I never inquired further, but being a fan of Telengard and Dunjonquest games I decided to see if the game had been archived at Atarimania, and sure enough, there it was! I downloaded it and will try it out later, but I suspect it's a rather unknown title to many Atari users, so I thought I'd share. http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-fountain-of-the-gods-_2063.html

This might lead to some answers of whether the Sid M. that I got pirated software from is the one of Civilization fame. I found the old ad I answered in April/May 1990, volume 9, number 1 issue of Antic.

It's for CP/M compatibility. Here is the thread about it: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/281467-sram-charger-for-indus-gt-interest-poll/#comments

I may be misspelling the name, it was over 25 years ago. And until you just wrote it, I also didn't remember the Civ guy's name spelling either.

I might have missed that bit, but all the issues seem to be centered around resets, and I have no issue power-cycling the machine, I've done it for decades without issue, and only just started using cold resets instead of power-cycling since I installed the Incognito in my 800. It's all a non-issue for me.