atx4us

Thanks for the suggestion. Added.

There has been some controversial issues here at AA over the years and I hope that's not the reason why Fandal is not active here anymore. He is very talented and is a big contributor to the Atari community. I surely appreciate him. Next time you communicate with him, please mention that we missed him here at AA and would love to hear from him again. Thanks.

I got it guys! Since your program made me feel older now, can you please release a version that can make me feel younger again?

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take a look at your suggestions. You mentioned Fandal. I don't recall seeing any recent postings from him. Is he still around in the Atari community?

Great! I'll add it to my collection. Strangely, are the objects supposed to be so microscopic? I'll send out an updated .zip file of the collection once I get more responses. I also noticed that there is a large .pdf file of the Turbo Basic Manual that I'll take out to reduce the size of the .zip file. Thanks.

Hello Everyone, Over the years I've collected quite a few Tetris versions and variations for the Atari 8-bit computers that I want to share with you. I welcome your comments and please let me know if there are other versions that I may still be missing. Thanks. Atari Tetris Versions & Variations.zip

Thanks guys for your help and for the excellent explanations.

Hi guys! I've been messing around a little bit more with the VCOUNT register and I found an efficient way to get the maximum VCOUNT value. I was expecting a value of 130 for NTSC and 155 for PAL video systems. However, if I keep rerunning the program, I sometimes get 131 for NTSC and 156 for PAL video systems on the Altirra Emulator. How can this be? Can the number of video lines vary this way? (and even on a real computer?) Thanks, Hayden Action! Program: Proc Main() Byte VCtr, VCount=$D40B ;54283 ; NTSC = 130/131 ; PAL = 155/156 ; Do VCtr=VCount Until VCount<VCtr Od PrintBE(VCtr)

You can copy and rename the "AUTORUN.SYS" file to "ACTris! 1.2.xex". But, the program also needs the "ACTRIS12.FNT" and "HSC.DAT" support files. All three files must reside on the D1: drive for the program to work properly. On the Altirra Emulator, you can also map the H1: drive as a D1: drive in the Devices Option.

* ACTris! 1.2 by Hayden Doan * Introduction: Finally! It has been quite a few years since I have been able to get back to programming on the beloved Atari 800. During a brief moment of inspiration, I continued working on my CTetris program. I think that the new name ACTris! 1.2 is the most appropriate for the program. It's short for Atari Tetris in Action! (my favorite Atari language). Since the program already has one of the best and most responsive gaming engine (IMHO) for the Atari 8-bit Computers, I concentrated on making the refinements that have been on my list for a long time now. There are quite a bit of history in the previous release notes below. But, I'll highlight the important points here for quick reference. So when you have the urge to get into some solid Classic Tetris action and stack endless falling Tetriminos to set a new high score, please give the new ACTris! 1.2 a spin for a fun and exciting challenge Thanks: ACTris! 1.2 was developed on the excellent Altirra 2.80_test38_x64 Emulator which substantially improved compilation time with the CPU = 65C816 (21.48MHz) and other various acceleration options. Thank you, phaeron for your dedication to the Atari community and for your great support. You're the best! Thanks to pps for his suggestion to adjust the Game Speed to NTSC/PAL computer systems way back in 2009! http://atariage.com/forums/topic/147244-ctetris4d-release-pre-final-version/?do=findComment&comment=1794690 And, thanks to flashjazzcat for his prompt help with my PAL detection questions. What's New in ACTris! 1.2: * Improved the Title Screen * Improved the High Score Screen * Muted the Bass Pedal Notes which can cause disharmonies with the Bass Lines * Two consecutive identical Tetriminos are now allowed by the improved Random Generator * Adjusted Joystick Auto-Repeat Delay and Repeat Rate for a faster response * Added some new Sound Effects for even a better gaming experience * 2x Draw Speed improvement of the Game Screen & the Atari Fuji Logo Segments - Nothing will slow the game down now! * NTSC/PAL computer detection for automatic Game Speed adjustment - It should work for standard build computers by reading the PAL Register at address $D014 - You must restart ACTris! for the program to recognize an NTSC/PAL system change - Speed adjustment is not perfect since PAL systems are by design 12% slower than NTSC - I learned from flashjazzcat and phaeron that a more robust method is to use VCOUNT - But, I'm not going further with the VCOUNT method at this time * The Atari Fuji Logo Segments can now only be completed with the exact number of Lines - For example, if there are three segments left on the Atari Fuji Logo, - exactly three lines of connected Tetriminos will be needed to complete the logo. - If Sound Effects are On, a "Chirp" alert will sound when the Atari Fuji Logo is four or less segments within completion - A Bonus of 500 points will be awarded for the completion of the Atari Fuji Logo - Once the Atari Fuji Logo is completed, the (P)ause command will display a "Rainbow" effect for the Atari Fuji Logo - If Sound Effects are On, a "Warble" sound that I borrowed from "Fill'Er Up" by Tom Hudson will also play - The "Rainbow" effect is one of my favorite graphic effects on the Atari - Also, the "Warble" sound is one of my favorite sound effects on the Atari * Fixed the memory reservation for the Custom Fonts which may have caused a program crash * Please experiment with the Color Palette Presets (on Emulators) for the best color results - I prefer the "Authentic NTSC" Palette Preset on the Altirra Emulator Key Features: * Ultra Fast & Responsive program written mainly in OSS Action! with emphasis on game playability * Some graphics subroutines were written in OSS MAC65 Assembly for optimum speed and performance * Automatic High Scores Load & Save (Please leave disk in drive for updates) * Full Color with Sound Effects & Background Music * "Dissolve" graphics effect for connected line(s) in the color of the last played Tetriminos * Keyboard Commands for Program Options * Automatic Joystick recognition (by Joystick movement detection) for additional Joystick Configurations * Automatic NTSC/PAL computer detection for automatic speed compensation * Game Pause / Resume feature * Custom Fonts Minimum System Requirements: * 48KB RAM Atari Computer with GTIA Chip for Graphics Mode 10 support * Disk Drive for saving High Scores * Joystick (Recommended) Controls Summary: Move Left - Keyboard: 'Left' | Joystick: Left Move Right - Keyboard: 'Right' | Joystick: Right Rotate - Keyboard: 'Up' | Joystick: Up SoftDrop - Keyboard: 'Down' | Joystick: Down (Configurable as 'Hard Drop' or 'Soft Drop') HardDrop - Keyboard: 'Space' | Joystick: Fire Button (configurable as 'Rotate' or 'Hard Drop') HardDrop - (Continued) | Joystick: <Down & Fire Button> (at the same time) Joystick "Rotate" is user configurable as 'Single' or 'Auto-Repeat' Pause - Keyboard: 'P' or 'Esc' (Toggles Pause / Resume) Next - Keyboard: 'N' (Toggles Next Block Display) Quit - Keyboard: 'Q' Drop Sound - Keyboard: 'D' (Toggles Object Drop Sound On/Off) Sound Effects - Keyboard: 'E' (Toggles Sound Effects On/Off. A 'Chirp' sound indicates Sound Effects are 'On'). Background Music - Keyboard: 'M' (Toggles Background Music On/Off.) Notes: 1) The Default Sound settings are: Music ('On'), Sound Effects ('On'), and Drop Sound ('Off'). 2) Setting Music 'Off' will also turn both Drop Sound & Sound Effects back to 'On'. You can still use the "D" and "E" keys to individually set your sound effects preferences. 3) The user input cursor will wrap around from End to End (instead of remaining at the End positions). 4) The "Next" object window is defaulted to 'On'. Use the "N" key to toggle the "Next" object display window On/Off. 5) The High Score Screen will flash the "HALL OF FAME" text ONLY if the the player sets a new High Score. Scoring Summary: Maximum possible points for the Tetriminos: |Levels | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9| |Points | 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42| One point is subtracted for each timed drop (Beep) and also for each SoftDrop. Therefore, the sooner you HardDrop the blocks into place, the more points you'll get for that block. Bonus Points: When three or four lines are connected at one time, you will hear chime sounds counting the number of connected lines and receive the following Bonus Points: Three Lines - 50+50+50 = 150 Bonus Points Four Lines - 50+50+50+100 = 250 Bonus Points Also, the completion of the Atari Fuji Logo will yield 500 Bonus Points. Level Changes: |Levels | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9| |Lines | 0 10 10 10 15 15 15 20 20 20| The number of connected lines needed for the next game level is displayed within the "[ ]" brackets. Have Fun! Hayden ACTris! 1.2.zip

I wonder if there is any possibility that just even one copy of this version escaped destruction. That would be an awesome find!

Tetris was very popular at that time and it still is one of my all time favorite games. I don't think that there ever was an official Tetris release for the A8.

Thank you for the much needed clarifications and for the additional details. The documentation wasn't entirely clear to me. But, now I know. I'm still learning more about the Atari 8-bit computers after all these years!

You're right! I just wasn't thinking straight. It's been a very long time since I've been back to the Atari 8-bit computers and it really shows. Thanks for the help to get me thinking Atari computers again.

Altirra OS is a bad example on my part! It seems to return the correct values. But, I think my concern is still valid because I'm sure there are other OS options out there that I'm not even aware of and what values will they return? Is there another way to determine NTSC vs. PAL without relying on just memory locations. For example, running a test loop? Thanks, Hayden

Hello FJC, I don't think the results depend as much on the version of the emulator as the selected OS ROM files. With the many OS ROM files are available for the emulators today, (eg. Altirra OS), I'm not sure if I can detect NTSC vs. PAL reliably in my program. So the key question that I have is, is there a reliable way to detect PAL computers and not to depend on a the value from a single memory location? Thanks, Hayden

Hello everyone, According to the Mapping the Atari, I can determine a PAL vs. NTSC computer by reading the value at address 53268 (below). However, in Altirra, I'm not seeing these values. Am I missing something or is there a better way to tell between a PAL vs. NTSC computer? Thanks. "53268 $DO14 COLPM2 (W) Color and luminance of player and missile 2 (706). PAL ® Used to determine if the Atari is PAL (European and Israeli TV compatible when BITs 1 - 3 equal zero) or NTSC (North American compatible when BITs 1 - 3 equal one; 14 decimal, $E)."

Custom keyboard layout Import/Export is working! Thanks

Avery, You stated here that H5: - H8: are supported. But, in the program, it's actually H6: - H9:. What happened with H5: (e.g. reserved for a special functionality)? Thanks, Hayden

Avery, "The hover popup issue is really strange. It should only be appearing if the Shift key is held after the mouse is moved and for the quarter-second before it auto-hides; before or after that it shouldn't pop up. Are you getting the mouse cursor auto-hiding when not moving the mouse? There was a problem with other programs injecting mouse moves to suppress screensavers and making the emulator think the mouse was constantly moving (MPC-HC, to be specific), but I put in a workaround for that a while ago." Now that you've explained how the help popup is invoked, I noticed that I'm triggering the popup by frequently working the Action! Shift-Ctrl commands and moving the mouse around. Can you please add an option to disable the popup? Thanks, Hayden

Avery, No problem. I'm glad to help. I'm currently using the latest Altirra 2.80-test 37. "Are you saying that Ctrl+Shift+Insert doesn't work in the default mapping, but you were able to custom bind it? Would you mind exporting your custom bindings from the keyboard customization dialog and posting it here or PM'ing it to me? It could be that there's an alternate keyboard encoding for Ctrl+Shift+Insert that I need to add to the default mapping." The Ctrl+Shift+Insert doesn't seem to work in the default mapping - at least with my computer keyboard which combines Delete (Shift) / Insert functions. I think I found an issue using the following steps: 1) Exported the Custom Layout, 2) Clear the Layout Mappings, 3) Import the Exported Layout, 4) and the Imported Layout is completely wrong! Please see the attachments. I included the Custom Layout exported file per your request. Hayden Action!.zip

I also dabbled with the Altirra BASIC. I may be missing something because it does not seem to have a line renumbering command (with re-referencing). For me, that's a big feature.

Thanks, Avery. As you may know, just about all of Action!'s keyboard commands include the use of the Shift key. Is there a way to disable the hover popup? It's not being very helpful to me right now. I tried Ctrl+Shift+Insert and it does not seem to work on Altirra for some reason. May be it has something to do with my computer keyboard. That's what I used to use with Atari800Win Plus - I just tested it and it still works. I remapped in the Altirra Custom Layout to Ctrl+Shift+< and Ctrl+Shift+>. It's working just fine now with Altirra. BTW, the 65C816 (21.48MHz) CPU just breezes right through the compilation

Nevermind about this question. I kept playing some more and figured it out by using a Custom Keyboard Layout.

Hello All, I apologize for the strings of simple questions tonight. I've been trying to figure it out on my own before reaching out for some help. I hope that this one is the last one of the day. I'm using the Action! Editor. To move to the beginning of the line on the real Atari 800, the command is "Ctrl+Shift+<". I found that I can do the same thing in Altirra with "Ctrl+Shift+Home". Great! But, I've tried many keys combinations to move to the end of a line but I haven't been able to figure it out yet. On the real Atari 800, the command is "Shift+Ctrl+>". Can anyone please help? Thanks!