Bill Lange

http://www.lordbritishpresents.com/

I picked up a Popeye machine at auction last week. I replaced the three buttons with repro Nintendo buttons (blue/blue/orange). The joystick isn't working, but I ordered a bracket from Mike's Arcade so I can use a standard Happ joystick since new or repro Nintendo joysticks are a little hard to find right now. My current line up is: Popeye, Gauntlet (4 player), Ms. Pacman and Chicago Gaming Extreme Arcade. Bill

Through one of the links on this thread, I came across a .pdf version of "The Official Book of Ultima 2ed". I am only about half-way through the book, but it is a great read so far. This is more of what I was looking for when I purchased "Ultima: The Ultimate Collector's Guide: 2012 Edition" last year. Lots of information on how and why Ultima I - VI were designed and developed. Another great book I have is called "Sams Teach Yourself Game Programming with DirectX in 21 Days" by Clayton Walnum. Clayton begins the book by talking about playing Ultima on his Atari 400. This book is a step-by-step guide on how to build an Ultima like game in C++ and DirectX. Both books are a little dated, but have great information on designing and developing these types of games. Bill

I finished Ultima I tonight for the second time. The first time was over thirty years ago. I can still remember the first time that I saw Ultima. It was toward the end of eighth grade in the spring of 1982, I took my Atari 400 over to a classmate’s house. He’s parents had an Apple II. I showed him Star Raiders on my Atari. He introduced me to Ultima I. He spent the afternoon saving the galaxy by destroying Zylons. I wandered around the world of Sosaria. I was in awe. Back in the day, Ultima I was the game that compelled me to upgrade my 16K Atari 400 to 48K and to upgrade from the Atari 410 tape drive to an Atari 810 floppy drive. I don’t remember how long it was from the time I saw the game on the Apple II until I was able to purchase it for the Atari. I still have my original Ultima I floppy diskettes, the User’s Manual and the Quick Reference Card. The copyright date on the User’s Manual (Atari conversion version) is 1983. I may have had to wait for the Atari release or I may have had to wait until I could afford to purchase the Atari 810 which if I remember correctly, cost more than my Atari 400. When I finally saw that Ultima I was available for my Atari, probably in ANTIC, ANALOG or Compute!, I had one of my older brothers drive me to the “Program Store” at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, NJ. The “Program Store” was a Mecca of computer software. It had shelves and shelves of software for every computer back in the early 1980s. I loved going there and browsing through all of the boxes of games. I purchased Ultima II – Ultima IV there as well when they came out. *** Spoiler Alert *** Even though the game is 30 years old, I enjoyed replaying it on my PC. No disk swapping, no long load times. If I remember correctly, in Ultima I on the Atari, ship-to-shore cannon fire didn't give you gold or experience, but I could be wrong. I think I also remember that there were bugs in the dungeon in that you could walk through some wall. Both of these issues seem to be corrected in this new PC version. I did run into a small issue where I purchased a ship in the City of Poor and the ship was placed just North West of the city and I couldn't board it from that angle. Also, if the “Up Ladder” and “Down Ladder” spells were removed from the game, it would be a lot harder. On to Ultima II. Bill

I'm very interested in helping to fund this project. I'd really need to see what a Kickstarter would offer to contributors and a business plan. As I mentioned elsewhere, I'd like to see an "Atari Program Exchange" of sorts for home-brewed software and hardware project for all platforms (dedicated, arcade, pinball, consoles, computers) to make the projects official and help with the manufacturing costs (economies of scale). Bill

Whoever ends up with the brand, intellectual property and copyrights, it would be nice see an entity like the “Atari Program Exchange” make a comeback. Not just for the 8-bit lines, but for all product lines (dedicated, pinball, 2600, 5200, 8-bit, 7800, Jaguar, mobile, online, etc.), where Atari enthusiast could get official support and recognition of their homebrew (hardware and software) projects.

Nice! Maybe Nolan will buy it.

Back in the day, Beagle Bros produced some great poster sized reference charts for the Apple: http://beagle.applearchives.com/the_posters/ Did any companies produce similar posters for the Atari 8-bit line? Bill

Al Do you have any of this document online? This is the kind of material I was interested in when I purchased "The Ultima Collectors Guide" last year. I'll bet its a great read. Bill

Something tells me I should not have read this thread. I see a lot of wasted time in the near future! :-) Bill

Following...

I have two classics: Gauntlet (4 player) and Ms. Pac-man (upgraded to add Pac-man, Fast Pac-man and Fast Ms Pac-man as well as high score saves). I have a "Extreme Arcade" (with 50 games) from Chicago Gaming Company purchased at Sears circa 2007. Came in a big box and had to put it all together. I also have a PC running Mame so I can try different games that I might want to purchase. Bill

I received the posters. The Tempest poster is attached. They are from 1982 and have a grade school Halloween decoration look and feel to them. They are in nice shape. They will look pretty retro when matted and framed. Just need to remove the tab with the .79 cent price tag (the little white tag at the top on this particular poster). Bill

Al, Let me know what you think of the Ultima book. I bought it and "read" it about a year ago. I mostly just flipped through the pages looking at the pictures. I did write a review on Amazon. I wish it had more of the developers "stories" like "Atari Inc.". Bill

I'll let you know how they look when I get them.

Buy some of these posters to hang in my home arcade: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 261145783175

Just finished this tome. Wow. What a great book (even with all of the typos). I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it. It could have used some information on the opening and closing of the Atari Program Exchange. Bill

I would like one. PM sent.

I'm in Jersey as well. We currently live in Raritan, but are moving over to Franklin Township when our new house is done in a few weeks. Where are the Digital Press events? -Bill

I'm sure that they put in a lot of work organizing the event. But isn't the Portland Retro Gaming Expo not for profit? At least for the organizers, I would think it was about the social aspect and the love of the hobby, not necessarily about making money. -Bill

Looks like they were a lot of fun. To bad I wasn't in NJ at the time or I would have gone. -Bill

Did anyone attend the Philly Classic? Any idea why it failed? How was attendance? -Bill

I just moved back to NJ in April after being Denver and south Florida for the last twenty years and I've been looking around for a local event. I’d love to see an event be organized here in the northeast. It would be easy enough to start a local “retro gaming social group” and slowly grow it from there. -Bill

Cafeman, This really looks great. Can wait to see it in cartridge form. Bill

Al, I'd be interested in two CIB copies as well. Bill