Bill Lange

I guess this should be moved to the programming section ....

Here is my joystick reading routine - Seems there should be a more effcient way of handling it. Also, since I change my bitmap depending on the JS direction, I need to check to see if the direction changed since the last time through ... if it hasn't, no need to re-image the bitmap. What do you think. 1390 ; READ JOYSTICK 1400 ; 1410 RDSTIK 1420 LDA #4 1430 ORA PACTL 1440 ; 1450 LDA STICK0 1460 CMP #$F; stick centered 1470 BNE JSRIGHT 1480 LDA #$0 1490 STA EYEOFS 1500 JSR DRAWPL 1510 JMP RETURN 1520 ; 1530 JSRIGHT 1540 CMP #$07 1550 BNE JSLEFT 1560 LDA #$14 1570 STA EYEOFS 1580 LDX HRZPTR 1590 INX 1600 STX HRZPTR 1610 STX HPOSP0 1620 JSR DRAWPL 1630 JMP RETURN 1640 ; 1650 JSLEFT 1660 CMP #$0B 1670 BNE JSDOWN 1680 LDA #$F 1690 STA EYEOFS 1700 LDX HRZPTR 1710 DEX 1720 STX HRZPTR 1730 STX HPOSP0 1740 JSR DRAWPL 1750 JMP RETURN 1760 ; 1770 JSDOWN 1780 CMP #$0D 1790 BNE JSUP 1800 LDA #$A 1810 STA EYEOFS 1820 INC VRTPTR 1830 JSR DRAWPL 1840 JMP RETURN 1850 ; 1860 JSUP 1870 CMP #$0E; 1880 BNE RETURN 1890 LDA #$5 1900 STA EYEOFS 1910 DEC VRTPTR 1920 JSR DRAWPL 1930 JMP RETURN

I was bored at work today and wrote a few hundred lines of assembly code with the Atari Assembler/Editor cartridge that copies the "eyes" from the 2600 game Haunted House. Is anyone willing to look at the code and critic the Joystick routine and the code that changes the "eyes" bitmap data when the direction of the joystick is changed? Basically the joystick code reads the joystick and if its $F, it centers the eyes, if not, it JMPs to check to see if left ... then right ... then up ... then down. Seems like I should use a table indexed by the joystick position value or something more effiecient.

www.keegames.org and www.swordquest.org are both available. Neither keegames.com or swordquest.com are though. Isn't there a way to check who owns a website? And is the U.S. Trademark Office online?

quote In the mid eighties, I used to call a BBS in south Jersey. I met a bunch of people and we used to meet for breakfast at Denny's once a month (except in the summer as the beach traffic sucked big time) for a couple of years. For some reason, I stopped going when the SYSOP had a sex change ... not that there is anything wrong with it ... just felt weird to me. My girlfriend and I are planning to go to Vegas Aug 10-12. Anyone else going?

If you don't want to re-wire the 2600 into the tv power cord, just put the tv and 2600 power cords inside the tv, plug them into one of those little extension cords that have two or three outlets and then fish the extension cord out the back and plug it in. Once you get it all working, you can go back and rewire the circuit.

How about a contest to design a web site (just main page) that would represent what Atari would have had for it's main web page as if the web exsisted as it does today in 1980. Should include 2600, 400/800 and coin ops. I'd bet you get some great entries from this group.

My girl friend and I will be in the UK from the 18th to the 27th of Jan. We are going to go visit Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We are thinking about enrolling. Anyways - Are there any good Atari dealers in the greater London area? Also, is a "Boot Sale" the same as a "Flea Market"?

I haven't even heard of some of these games! Albert - I remember when I was a senior in grade school - better known as 8th grade, I brought my shiny new Atari 400 over to a friend from schools house. He or should I say his father had an Apple II(something). I hook my 400 up and he was playing Star Raiders on it. He showed me Ultima I on the Apple. I couldn't wait for Ultima I to come out for the Atari ... of couse I had to buy a disk drive to play it. I also remember playing Track & Field for hours trying to beat my brothers. Of couse we broke a couple of joysticks on that one.

Well, I dusted off my 1050 and booted up the APX BBCS disks. I have one double sided disk with BBCS documents on it and another with the BBCS software it self. I'll try to make images of the four sides this week. I am also going to check with Kevin who has the Antic and APX sites if he wants the diskettes.

I found four 5 1/4 floppies that have APX Classic by Antic - Bulletin Board Construction set. Still looking for the AMIS BBS software. I need to break out my 1050 to see if these floppies load. Do you guys use the SIO2PC cable and APE to make ATR files?

Since AtariAge doesn't yet have one, I was wondering if there is a list of carts that were made for the 8-bit line somewhere.

Anyone get any Atari related items for Christmas? I got Ms Pacman & Caverns of Mars for the 8-bit along with two of those so called DELUX joysticks. I really need to get some new original joysticks.

There is a shop in Howell that sells them. I meant to stop there last time I was in Jersey, but never made it. Their in the yellow pages, but I don't remember the name.

Pick up a TV/GAME switchbox from your local Radio Shack for about $7. The switchbox will hook up to either cable ready tv or older tv with screws. The cable from the 2600 plugs into the switchbox.

If I have the diskettes, I'll just send them to you. Their just gathering dust in the basement and I rather have them somewhere where others can enjoy them.

I might have AMIS and The BBS Construction Set from Antic, I think. Are you insterected in those?

What was your favorite game on the 8-bit line? My favorite was Ultima III. It took my brother and I two months to finish during the summer of 83. After that, I tried playing Universe, which I liked, but the disk swapping got to me and I never finished. I also like the Enchanter/Sorcorer/Spell Breaker series. I just got the Caverns Of Mars box/cart/man from Best Electronics. I can't wait till Christmas so that I can open and use my new joysticks.

quote Gunstar - If you make a file of it, I'd be glad to test the APX version in an emulator to see if it works. I don't know if the PB version is complete as it looks very dark.

I wasn't able to download a good copy of King Tut's Tomb from either XL Search, Antic Mag or APX. XL Search had copies, but the links either didn't work or the download DCM file was bad. Neither Antic or APX had the file.

I downloaded TUTTANKH.EXE from XL Search. I ran it in the Atari800Win Plus emulator. Look here - http://www.geocities.com/billlange1968/tuttankh.html

I believe that it is 9v. You can get a new power suppy from Best Electronics

December 13, 2001 Atari Hit on Xbox Creates Demand On Other Consoles LOS ANGELES - Dec. 13, 2001 - PlayStation®2 owners will soon be able to hang ten on the same gnarly curls that until now, only Xbox® owners have enjoyed. Infogrames, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFGM), a global publisher of interactive entertainment software, announced today that the genre-defining action sports game, TransWorld Surf™, will make its Playstation 2 debut in Spring 2002. Falling under the newly reinvented Atari brand, TransWorld Surf for Playstation 2 will include an exclusive new location and multiplayer mode as well as updated surfer licenses. There was talk a few months back about Infogrames renaming the company Atari ... has anyone heard anymore on this?

quote Some people might say that its absolutely ludicrous to pay $150 for a 20 year old game cartridge. To each, their own! Did Atari before Warner Communications have stock certificates or was Atari privately held by Bushnell and friends?

Hey guys ... When are you going to put up an 8-bit section with ROMS, manual scans and so forth? I have some manuals and boxes I can scan. :-)