Gunstar

A very cool and different game. I'm a huge fan of Sergio Leone's spaghetti-westerns, even the ones made without Clint Eastwood. I love the music, it sounds great, but it makes me also think of how good it could sound using dual Pokeys and combining voices for 16-bit, as well as stereo gun-shots. I only loaded it up, and tried to play using the joystick, but nothing happened (from the ABBUC floppy-now I know why, I would have read the text file eventually), so I'll have to give it another go. Is the background graphic screen the only one? I think it would be cool to have a different background for each shoot-out, maybe one with a western town fading into the background for example. I clicked the link to Tombstones and I do prefer the graphic style of The Lady... Anyway, I'm off to go play it again now...

I did, you dragged me back in with your usual hilarious and idiotic comments, specifically naming me. But you just keep on making your noise, I'm getting a real laugh out of it all!

Unlike you, I reserve judgment on everything until I see it in completed form, and I stay within my knowledge boundaries unlike you. I don't know anything about it, just like you.

I also think this is the best single theme (AtariBlast! is a multi-themed tribute game) shooter on the 8-bit. I love almost everything about it. The only thing I don't care for is the music; not that it is bad, it's good music, but it just doesn't fit the game at all. IMHO. To be fair, I haven't gotten past the first level yet, so I've only heard the music from the first level.

I tried a couple of Emkays RMT releases and I could not agree with you more. They hurt my ears. I don't think anyone could possibly compose worse, except maybe for myself!

I had you on ignore for quite a while, but I found I actually missed your idiotic trolling to make me laugh, sort of like a troll mascot for AA,,,

Back then the machines didn't have the ability to do anything in space except for start fields and a few sprites! How exactly are you going to do a huge mother ship in 3D on 8-bit hardware? I don't recall any 3D mother ships you attack in Star Raiders. Besides, they are VIDEO GAMES you stupid git! Seen any Pac-man's roaming around the streets lately? It takes just as much imagination and suspension of disbelief to play River Raid as any other video game of the day. That being said, it would be great to see some new Star Raiders or Rescue on Fractalus type flying 3D shooter, in space or planet side...even some Rapidus/VBXE 3D would open my pocket-book to finally getting those upgrades.

Carrier Force. 85 colors. CarrierForce.xex

I finally had a chance to play Last Squadron for a bit yesterday (Abbuc #142 floppy disk), and I love it. Easily the best vertically scrolling shooter for A8's (besides AtariBlast!) in terms of graphics and game play combined, another new standard barer, IMHO. Not only do I think it makes up for a lack of a finished Xevious on the A8, but it is like an 8-bit Raiden in many ways. I have yet to make it to a first boss, however, but I've been really impressed thus far and look forward to a new addiction.

Thunderfox and The Last Guardian, IIRC also have spots where you can collide with the main ship, they are suppose to have longer shadows to help them stand out, or you just remember the next time what the object you hit looked like. But I do agree with you, I'd prefer not to have to deal with that either.

A new version, I believe with fixes (can't read German well) was just recently released on the latest ABBUC/Sondermagazin floppy disk/ATR #142/52. I don't know if it's available to the public or just members. I haven't really tried it yet. I loaded it and played for about 30 seconds. It was a more pleasing experience than what I remember from an earlier version I played. @Mclaneinc , I agree, Thunderfox is about as close as I've seen of a Uridium clone, but maybe the changes to Oxygene will make it a contender. But I'm a fan of all these similar shooters, including Mirax Force and The Last Guardian, etc. Speaking of shooters, the ABBUC disks have a brand new shooter, I believe maybe from the contest(?) called Last Squadron that looks great, I've had no chance to try it yet as my floppy got boot errors so I have to download the ATR. But it's more like a 1942/Screaming Wings/Tiger Attack or Xevious/Flak as it looks, with constant forward scrolling. More like 1942 type, with planes.

Too late, you just did...

That's pretty cool, though I never and will never do images that aren't 4:3 with a full 240; it's already really low res and I see no point in not cropping as those pics are far too low res without all 240 lines. But good for others who want too.

My first guess would be a failing PSU. But after making sure if it is or not, then a capacitor would be the next guess. Even a cheap $5-10 multi-meter comes in useful for these situations if you don't have one. Most likely it would be one capacitor only, but some like to swap them all out for newer ones these days. Most likely, if it is a capacitor, it will be C1-C4 on the 800XL, all located right around the PSU port and power switch. Off the top of my head without looking at the Field Service Manual-I'm more familiar with 800's and 1200XL's.

Yep, this is how I have been looking at the new VCS; I don't care about any "modern console" side of it, if it succeeds with new innovative games, fine, but when I buy one it will be used as a set-top box in the family room for playing their classic vault games and emulation, and family room internet surfing and streaming video. Of course I'll be waiting until either it's out for a year or two and the price drops a couple hundred dollars, or more likely, it's a complete failure and six months later I can get this new PC/smartbox for an incredible bargain-bin price and since it's a PC, doesn't need support from Atari. I wasn't interested in the new VCS in the slightest until they announced it would also be a PC with a sandbox mode, that changed everything for me. The same feature that all the nay-Sayers pooh-poohed and laughed at.

I was begging for a 400 in '80/81, even a VIC-20 when they came out, finally got a T/S 1000 in '83 on clearance, after they were discontinued*, and bought my own 130XE with paper route money I saved up in 1985. Though these days I own an Incognito 800 and maxed-out 1200XL with PBI now, my 130XE long sold, and I would never go back due to the cheap build quality and mushy keyboard (compared to 800 and XL line), but if it weren't for the under $200.00 price point of it in 1985, I wouldn't have gotten an Atari. Even a reduced 800XL. I wanted a 128K computer since that was the new Apple IIe/c standard I used at school by '85, and wouldn't have settled for less. So I would have saved up for a Commodore 128 or an Apple IIc. That was the plan until I read an article about the "new" Atari and Jack Tramiel taking over, and their new 128K 6502 machine (the same as the Apple Ie/c and Microsoft BASIC available as well). I could afford it right away! And so I thank God that Jack released a cheap, 128K version of the Atari 8-bit line, otherwise I would have settled for less in the more expensive machines, IMHO now, and never known, probably, just how great Atari 8-bits are and I've always felt I made a wise choice, I think it;'s the best 8-bit ever. Even if it didn't take over the market like I thought it was going to do, with Jack destroying his old computer and company in sweet revenge...that part I didn't get right... *It was my birthday and my parents gave me $100. We went out shopping for me, and I came across the T/S 1000, the 16k ram pack, and about a half dozen programs for less than I had on me, in a clearance bin. Already having dreamed of my own computer for years, in '83 even a Timex/Sinclair 1000 was a dream come true, since my parents refused to buy me a computer. I had never heard of it before, but there it was, a genuine computer in my current price-range! I couldn't pass it up and I loved that computer more than it deserved, until the 130XE came into my life.

I am playing The Rescue Expedition on my ntsc Incognito 800, though you have to force the cartridge in for it to work so I'm using @Dropcheck 's 1200 XL cartridge extender which I put in an early Atari cartridge case luckily I bypass the door power switch.

I wanted to thank everyone for the files again, I finally have had time to set all my Incognito settings the way I want, though I did notice that while stereo pokey is detected by Incognito, Covox doesn't register with Incognito even though it's supposed to be a default plug-in too. But I just use APE & SIO2PC to try out the Digital XL demo. set at the appropriate address and my Covox is indeed working on my Pokey Max Quad+Covox! Anybody have some Pokey Quad players or demos? I still need to test it out.

Well, originally I payed full retail price for a 130XE in 1985, so compared to those who got Atari 800's and XL's it was still cheap, after Tramiel took over and decided to compete against his own C64 in the low-end market and give up trying to compete with Apple in education and business. And most peripherals were a bit cheaper by then, especially if you went with XL line that was discounted (and no XF551 to buy yet anyway). But by 2000, just before I joined here, I was still using my 130XE, I only had a few years in the late 90's when it was in storage otherwise I've been an avid user and enthusiast since 85'. I got a 1200XL for $25 sometime in the early 2000's (I bought a second for $50 a few years later) and once I upgraded it with Rambo, and fell in love with the keyboard and styling (and controller and cartridge placement), I sold of the 130XE and said good-riddance to it's mushy keyboard (even after upgrading it with Best's ST Megatouch(?) spring upgrade). around 2005 I got my first 800, which I had for a year or two, but ended up selling it because I rarely used it as 48K just held me back from using it more. Then, soon after, Incognito shows up and I'd been longing to get an 800 back, but due to a chaotic life for a few years with multiple moves, I didn't even have the time or space to use my 1200XL for about 4 years. Then in 2015 I was able to set it all up again, started visiting this forum again and joined another where I met and became good on-line friends with Timothy Kline, and was talking to @Timothy Kline about the 800 a year or so later, and mentioned that I had been wanting one for a while, but now was waiting to see if I could get my hands on an Incognito first, otherwise I wouldn't bother. Well, he surprised me with a gift of an 800 and 810 that arrived in a large box I was told had some extra Atari books of his he was sending me (which he already had given me about a dozen)! Now I have an Incognito 800 with Pokeymax Quad+Covox, and other mods, and will soon have a Turbo Freezer 2011 (I have it now) installed internally, behind the Incognito and the extra XE adapter w/pass-thru PBI I got with it will be modified and used as a PBI port on the back of the 800, connected to the Turbo Freezer's pass-thru internally. So now I have fully upgraded 800 and 1200XL and a stock 1200XL (except for mods like S-video fix, etc.) all for cheap or free that I've fully restored and upgraded for far less than the cost of any of these machines, stock, for sale today.

If you intend to have several upgrade boards in your Atari, I recommend something with more than 1 amp. That's why I prefer the Atari "universal" PSU's rated for 31VA (3.4A), as there's still plenty of amperage left for upgraded machines. One day soon I'll be adding more upgrades to my 1200XL, including a 3.5" internal floppy, and I'll be forced to lose the 1200XL's power circuitry and heat-sink. For example: https://www.amazon.com/ALITOVE-100V-240V-Converter-5-5x2-1mm-Security/dp/B078RXZM4C/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=5vdc+3a+power+supply&qid=1603715564&sr=8-6

This past August I was looking for another brand of vintage computer to sit along side my 1200XL and 800 as a birthday gift to myself. At the top of my list was a C64, but I'd also like a Coco 2/3, BBC micro or TI-99/4A. After seeing current eBay pricing on vintage micros I ended up buying more upgrades and software for my Atari's instead as I could get much more for my money. I won't be owning any other vintage computers unless I can find them in the $50-100 range, which is unlikely these days, but I can be patient. In my case I can buy the "untested" or "for parts and repair" machines since I can fix them, but they at least need to have decent cases and keyboards. I don't even attempt to look for working machines in good order anymore as I'd never pay what asking prices are for them these days even if I had the money to burn. I'm just glad I got my Atari's years ago for cheap or as gifts. If I was just starting out, I wouldn't be getting into the hobby at all anymore.

XEGS carts were pretty easy to find in the Chicago suburbs back in the late 80's. I purchased them from Toys R Us, a small-chain computer dealer and a mom&pop computer dealer named Mars Merchandising that focused on Commodore and Atari computers. Though I didn't buy any of the games that had been previously released on cartridge or disk formats, as I already had most of them on original commercial carts and disks, so my eyes would have passed over those titles when searching for the rare new production. Though if I had known that some of the classic arcade games had been redone, and not just re-released as I thought, I might have bought a couple of them. I lost all my Atari software in a move from the Midwest to California (all in one lost box except for a handful of titles), but I do remember I had: Into the Eagles Nest, Airball, Thunderfox and Battlezone, I guess that is it. I didn't get any of the light gun games because I didn't have a light gun. Other titles new to the 8-bit, like Desert Falcon and Dark Chambers I purchased the 7800 versions, along with Commando, Xenophobe, Tower Toppler and Ikari Warriors that never officially made it to the 8-bits. Now the only XEGS games I own "in the flesh" are the proto-types Tower Toppler, Commando and Xenophobe.

I actually met Lemmy and the rest of the band back around '97-98. I was living in Huntington Beach SoCal, and had a friend who was lead guitarist and singer in a band named Sidedog. Anyway, after a show at one of the Hollywood venues, either Coconut Teaser's or the Rainbow Room or Whiskey Go-go, whichever one it was that had a Pizza joint in it. And the band and I were having piizza in a booth when we noticed the entire Motorhead band across the room in another booth. I was the only one that had the guts to go introduce myself and tell them I was a fan. We chatted for about 5 minutes about them and my friend's band. Lovely blokes, down to earth and appreciative of their fans. The only other famous person I met while out there was Slash from Guns and Roses. Again, I was with my friend's band after the show at one of these same clubs, though I'm pretty sure it was the Rainbow Room this time, which has an upstairs bar above the stage(s). Slash was down at the other end of the bar from me, dressed as you would expect, hat and all. I waved, he waved back, I bought him another of what he was drinking and he got up and came and shook my hand, we talked for a minute or two. I was drunk and don't remember what about, but I'm sure just some small talk.

I love them both @drpeter ! Excellent conversions. @amarok 's butterfly is amazing too!