pixelmischief

This port is my favorite Donkey Kong of all time. Definitely like it better thanthe arcade. The ColecoVision, NES, and 7800 versions come close. And while I'm love ranting, the A8 version of Joust is by far the best ever. That low, bassy buzz absolutely rocks on a system with loud woofers and subs. So awesome.

<vulgar_rant> Why the fuck am I EVER reading ANYTHING about the Commodore 64 here? For fuck sake man, GET OVER IT! </vulgar_rant>

I went over to your blog and read a few of the articles. I like the layout and I think you did some pretty good writing. Maybe you should apply your very obvious talents to CELEBRATING Atari, instead of bashing...well...anything!

Can I get in? I want one too!

Am I too late? I want one.

You know Candle, I really wanted to buy 1 of these. But now that I have read this thread, I think I'll buy 2. =). I am a fan and deeply grateful for what you continue to do to extend the enjoyable lifespan of my Atari computers. I would be eternally pissed at the one whose extended harassment resulted in your deciding that it is simply not worth the trouble to continue to do so.

Some name ideas: MAUI - promounced like the island in Hawaii, stands for Modern Atari User Interface MAGUI - pronounced like gremlins before they become gremlins, Modern Atari Graphical User Interface. OK. Moving on. 8-Blit - 8 Bit, but an "l" added in to make it...yeah, you get it FlashM8 - pronounced "flash mate", FlashJazzCat's Modern 8-Bit

Well, I don't know if such a sound can be generated programatically, but there is that famous demo of Van Halen's "You Really Got Me". The guitar sound on that was about as overdriven and distorted as you could want. =)

I went to Homestead Junior High, Homestead, FL. It was 6th grade and time to pick an elective. My choices were "Computer Programming I" and "Woodshop". My old man was a carpenter, so I had my fill of woodworking and I was just insane for video games on my Atari 2600. So, I decided to try "Computer Programming". The perimeter of the classroom was lined with 800XL's and 1050s. Each session, our teacher, Mr. Wurtz, taught us BASIC, lecture style, and then gave us programming assignments using the concepts explained. He insisted that we list our our programs out on pads and bring them up for his approval before we could sit down at a computer. This gave me an advantage because one of the things I picked up from pouring over my dad's construction blueprints was an impressive ability to write neatly and quickly in all caps. My lists were always the first and best-loved and I got more time on the systems than anyone. A year later at a church yard sale, an 800XL, 1050, and 1027 were up for sale. $100. I went positively ape S%&T begging my dad to get it for me; promising him I would work off the debt. We were poor. Five kids on a carpenters salary in South Florida doesn't leave much "discretionary income". But he did it. And my life started on that day.

I used to live in Homestead, FL, and would like to hook up with an old Atari person I used to know. My name is Danny and my girlfriend then was Cindy. Her brother Edgar had a best-friend whose older brother I did some Atari business with. He sold me my first XF551 and ICD MIO 1MB. Ring any bells?

OK. DO NOT format a CF with your Atari. "Format" in the PC world means writing a new file allocation table (FAT) to a partition, as partitions tables and allocation tables are managed in separate steps. First you partition, then you format. "Format" in the Atari world means low-level formatting the drive. This is useful for hard disks because it error checks every location on the disk and can mark bad ones as unusable. But for solid state disks (like compact flash) it has no function. As far as partitioning and the allocation table are concerned, this is managed in the one step called "partition". When you "partition" your drive on the Atari, you will write the partition table and also write file allocation tables for each partition.

Does anyone have a list of licensed, commercial, binary games, delivered on disk media and found exclusively on the Atari 8-Bit line? Later generation platform ports and emulations do not count as it pertains to exclusivity. If no such list exists, I am thinking about producing it by consolidating and analyzing the available data (TOSEC, Good, etc). Comments?

Definitely make sure you try all of the difficulty settings and variations of the games. The designers did not always implement an increase in difficulty as linear change in the quantifiable factors affecting outcome (player to enemy ratio, player to enemy movement speed ratio, starting resource level, etc). Sometimes, difficulty change results in a substantially different game (different enemies, changed board layout, etc). So make sure to really indulge in the every aspect of the design. And for God's sake, play Maze Craze. Play it early. Play it often.

Would anyone care to comment on what practical impact an FPU will have on everyday use of my Atari STe, TT, and Falcon computers? I play games, use some applications, do some tracking, and just generally enjoy the desktop.

WHAT!!?? OSF Motif was excellent! The API was clean and well organized and performance was rock solid on every platform. I loved it. Blew Sun's OpenWindows completely out of the water.

I went to 3.5" disks because I found them to be more available and physically robust, while still being modular and "flip through a drawer full of disks" nostalgic.

Oooooh. I like.

Well, what about things like SDX and an IDE drive with games on it? Or is there a way to make ATR's executable? Is there a good front-end or launcher on the Atari?

I would pay $100 for such a solution, given its elegance and containment. Jens Schoenfeld's device for the Amiga 1200 is an example of what I would call "a near perfect" implementation. The only drawback is that it does not bind itself very firmly onto the chip it piggy-backs. A "fair" external solution exists. Cons: The output does not look fantastic, it is an external device, and it requires a, ST to VGA cable plus gender-changer to work. Pros: it is "plug-and-play", scales internally, and costs a total of $60. 0) Connecting to a CRT or an LCD? - LCD. 1) If you use an LCD monitor, are you comfortable relying on the internal scaler for non-native resolutions? - No. Would need to scale to 640x480. 2) If you use an LCD, is it wide screen or 'square' - Wide screen. Willing to rely on LCD for horizontal stretch setting. 3) How important is the overscan area to you (on a vanilla ST, the white area around the green desktop)? - Directly proportionate to the likelihood that I will lose content in games or demos by not having it. 4) How important is 50 Hz support? - It is not. 5) Does your CRT or LCD support any 50 Hz timings? - No. 6) Do you have a 40 pin shifter (ST/Mega/Stacy) or a GST (STe) shifter? - STe. 7) How much soldering is too much? - Soldering directly to extremely small chip pins where a mistake may result in physical damage, more than 10 intermediate level soldering points.

I want to put together an Atari 8-Bit for gaming that represents the best combination of base system and available modifications and am looking for advice. Currently I have: Atari 130XE XF551 w/Bob's 3.5" Mod SIO2SD VBXE Anything that will help me more efficiently and elegantly manage, browse for launch, and play my games would be helpful.

Atari Falcon 030 - Wizztronics 14MB RAM Upgrade - 4GB Compact Flash Disk - NEC MultiSpin 3Xp

I am with you. Not sure what I can do with this. TOS?

First, let me say that this thing is incredible. Amazing, really. When I look at things like this and the Wolfenstein port, I am just blown away. Still, I've wondered, "Why are the best new releases for the Atari XL/XE ports of things done better elsewhere?" There is no debate that as demonstrations of platform mastery and programing skill, Space Harrier on the Atari XL/XE is a colossal achievement. But as a port of the game, it is merely average. We all know that "back in the day", titles on the Atari were handcuffed by the need for publishers to make similarly featured versions on less (or at least differently) powerful platforms. It seems now we are carrying that tradition forward by porting titles from more and more powerful OTHER platforms. Why? If technical skill at this level could be coordinated with similarly excellent creative faculties, we could have amazing NEW games on the Atari XL/XE; games designed from the start to take full advantage of the Atari's strengths. Is it a matter of Atari fans being an exclusively technical lot? Is it that the collaboration required would be prohibitively difficult? Is it that I'm missing the point and the game itself isn't really the important? You may be tempted to ask me, "Why don't YOU do something about it?" It's fair. The answer is, simply, that I am not a game designer or developer. Besides that, I do not wield enough influence around here to get it done. Many of you, however, know each other a long time and have collaborated on other things. What I AM that CAN be helpful is a technical project coordination, an accomplished writer and 2D artist. In addition, I could also provide some funding and facilities (server space, VM's, etc.). What do you say? Anyone have a design? Want to start a Basecamp instance? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

My wife and kids know I am insane about Atari computers and the 8-Bits especially. And while they appreciate it as the pursuit of nostalgia, they still can't quite believe there is any real practical reason for that love. I want to change that. To accomplish that, I am going to move my XEGS with SIO2SD out into the entertainment room and connect it to the home theater. That way, we can play together and they can see why I love these machines and how much real fun they can still be. Now, my thinking is that the best way to do this is with multi-player games. I can't have them sitting there, judging the graphics and sound, before the gameplay can capture their imaginations. Please respond with what you think are the best multi-players on 8-Bit. Things like Joust, Mario Bros., and Warlords are examples of what I'm looking for.

I can't believe these are A8. That's incredible.