Level42
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Posts posted by Level42
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I just installed the diode on my Sdrive Max.
So far I have only used it directly connected to my 600XL without external power.
Do I need to use external power when I daisy chain 600XL->1050->Sdrive ?
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Amazing.
Just had a look at the C64 version. That one has better car graphics, but the rest of the graphics are actually a lot worse than the official A8 version.
Geez, the art above looks delicious ! Can the other cars be made looking (about) the same ?
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Bumping the thread. I still have a few pieces of Atari 800 mylars (not XL) which need to be tested. I do not have such keyboard. Who wants to help me? Free shipping and tester can keep the mylar after tests!
I have a PAL 800 and willing to test this !
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Geez, that looks great....
Pretty weird that the A800 programmer said the 2600 and the 800 had the same graphics chip.......not even aware the A800 had 2....
This might explain why Activision was so lazy on improving graphics on their conversions ? With all respect, but all 2600 conversions have only very very minor graphic improvements.
I finishend Pitfall II 1 or 2 times BITD but I don't remember any 2nd level....mmm....since I just "finished" Henri's House for the first time, this might be a nice new challenge....
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This is based of 1.0b, and until it gets all accepted upstream I will do what I can to keep it updated.
As for hiding dotfiles, would you want a toggle or just automatically hide them?
Can't think of a reason to toggle...is people don't use OSX it doesn't hurt unless they use some very weird filenames....
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Sure! Basically, when I sent my 'no-diode' changes upstream, the concern was the the six bytes it added to the program were not worth it to remove the need to solder in a diode...
Plus I've heard other times that feature x can't be added due to so little free space..So I started an audit of the code. avr-gcc is not always so smart on optimization so by refactoring loops and things, the program gets smaller. Also, using various functions pull in large chunks of code from libraries, that for what's needed could be coded direct also saving memory. This is my current resulting code, which should have no functional differences at all, just freeing up code space to add more fun!
Mmmmm, so there would now be space for a "simple" if -then to remove the extra listed files that OSX creates ?
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Totale agree about Vroom. IMHO still the best home racing game I ever plaid....but the ST version was slightly beter than the Amiga this time.....becasue it was slightly faster.
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Ahum, did I give my permission to use my photo of the ANTIX demo set-up at the ABBUC JHV at the start of that video ???
Just kidding guys.....Im actually quite honoured to see my 600XL,1050 and B&O MX8000 there....such a great picture
Its funny because when I saw the Flimbos Quest demo I immediatly thought about if this could be done...than so could IM.
Now...aim not a fan of IM at all. IMHO it sucks. But I was always envy of that game because of the animation of the character. The speech didnt impress me, the A8 can do that easily too, but I knew that the A8 didnt have the hardware sprites to do that animated guy.....
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Love my MegaSpeedy. Maybe it’s time for a new run ?
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So take a stopwatch and make pressure on yourself
LOL
Well I played quite a few games last night and it even managed to attract my 16 year old son to play quite a few games too. This is indeed where games like this shine...you need to play this with at least more than one person
Really like the graphics...very well done and stylish...exaclty what is needed.
I also love the music, very nice POKEY rendition of the TV show music....it was quite a while ago when the show was last on Dutch TV so I didn't immediacy recognize it. Over here the program was called Lotto Weekend Millionairs because Lotto was the sponsor of the program.
And indeed.....after a few games I will admit the timer isn't really needed...
The only "complaints" I have is seeing the same questions too often (I played the version from the ABBUC floppy to be honest) and the worst thing of all.....all the money I won is STILL not added to my bank account.....harumpf !
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OK...true, there needs to be a deadline.
By the way, thanks for the support for AntiX !
The sad thing is that when someone votes against the suggested ranking by the jury, it is not clear wether one does that because he thinks the ranking it too low or too high
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Heh, it's just a 2600 without a TIA
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By the way AtariDuino.
What got totally snowed under by the discussion about the entry/documents is that the actual USE of AtariDuino was never really clearly explained.
I have started with Arduino's about a year ago so I understand the concept of what those cheap and great things can do.
What I don't see, not even after reading the article in the magazine, is what is the added value of connecting an Arduino to the Atari ?
Are you going to program the Arduino from the Atari ?
Will the Arduino work as a file server (a bit like Sdrive-Max) ? Will it provide f.i. RS-232 interfacing to a printer or something like that ?
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This project was submitted as "final product". In my opinion, it would be very unfair to PokeyMax and AntiX (and to all other "final products" in the past) to accept this. Since circuit and shematic are parts of registration, it was for no one a problem to give this essential documents. Both PokeyMax and AntiX comes along with detailed, comprehensive documentation, and ATARIduinos docs are simply not on the same level and not conformal with rules. So it was classified as "in development" to give the chance to improve the mentioned parts and do a second try as "final product".
....and finally won the same amount of money as AntiX....which is not exactly fair IMHO. AntiX was ready, a working unit delivered, all documents exactly delivered as required, a very detailed write-up done, good photos delivered (which weren't used, another....rather poor picture, was used in the magazine...why ?) even videos with demonstration of the product are available online and handed over to the ABBUC.
I had AntiX in development end 2017 but never thought about submitting it because I did not understand it was allowed to enter both, under development in one year, and "ready product" the next year ! At least I thought a prize (Note PriZe) won for "in development" would be deducted from a prize won when the same product entered in the "final product" contest....that would only feel fair to me... I would see the "in development" awards as an encouragement to get the product done...
Anyway, the current concept of "in development" and "ready" has two strange effects:
1) It gives an impulse to drag development so it can be submitted twice and win money twice. This could delay the availability of any product if a developer chooses this path.
2) If the developer estimates that his product will not have a big "market" because it's use is only useful for a very limited amount of A8 users (a niche market), this would be the way to go (competing twice) to get the most out of a project.
One more note about AtariDuino:
I talked with Freetz after the official part of the JHV.
I had not seen what documents he had submitted and thus I withheld from voting about his product. In essence I totally agree that the docs should be as specified in the rules and should be clear to read and understand for everyone.
However, I can also understand from Freetz the following:
The jury noticed docs were not clear, incomplete or whatever. Why didn't they send Freetz a message, or call him to ask for better docs ? There is plenty of time between Fujiyama and JHV to correct this. It would have saved a lot of frustration from both sides.
It is a little bit how I felt when I read that the test set-up of AntiX showed some jitter on the lower part of the screen. Why wait and write that in a magazine that is sent out to 450 or so members ? Why not simply give me a call (you had my number) or send an e-mail to notify me of it (send a picture how it looked) and I could maybe have done some suggestions.
Because now, 450 people _might _ think there _might_ be a problem with AntiX.
Yes I know the text already says it was likely the TV/monitor used but still.....does ABBUC really have only one monitor/TV to test such things. (apropos....it totally baffled me that the Pokeymax was not tested with Paddles because they were not available......I mean ....really ? 450 members and we can't arrange a set of paddles for some testing ? With the amount of money on the bank account of ABBUC they should have everyone's blessing to buy a set of (used) Paddles for something like 10-20 euro. I'm focusing on this because Paddle response is quite essential for games like Kaboom ! so this is one aspect of Pokeymax that is actually very important....but didn't get tested...
In the end, as in so many cases, communication is the key here.
Now....let me state that I think ABBUC is a great club of people, they do great things for the Atari community and I actually know what it is like to be in a commission or board of a club like that and get loads of criticism. It's not fun. And people do this voluntarily and for fun.
The other side of the medal is that a good board should always be open for positive and constructive feedback.
So....please let anything I've written be felt like that. I am not the kind of guy to go talking behind people's backs and since I think this is of concern to all ABBUC members and in fact all A8 users, I chose to communicate it on the forums. I have nothing to hide.
I understand it is impossible to please everyone because opinions differ and I accept that, but I hope ABBUC can further improve the contests so that people who have decided not to participate anymore will return, which will be beneficial for both the ABBUC, the contest and all A8 Users.
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As long as you don’t put it onto overpriced cartridges,,,,
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Just a little hardware update. Prevents sliding, makes it look better because it sits a bit higher and protects the paint of the bottom and costs close to nothing.
Now I still need to find two extremely tiny screws....
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Im not a programmer, but as far as I know the A8 has hardware scrolling too.Just sprites?
- Fine Scrolling
The c64 has finer horizontal scrolling, see games like Uridium. On the c64 you can scroll the sprites and bg 1 pixel at a time 320 pixels in all video modes. It's something the c64 does very naturally and other machines struggle to do.
They both use graphics and sound differently. How many dlists would you need to put the entire 256 on the screen and how much memory would you have left over for a game ? Not much. Thanks to the raster interrupt, the c64 seamlessly pushes 16 colours to the screen with audio and game logic.
Both machines have their strength's and weaknesses. Have both and enjoy the best of both worlds
About the colours: Its not so much that I need to see 256 colours on screen.....but having EVERY game produce the SAME 16 colours is what totally turns me off from the C64. And what colours.....youd say the Atari people were smoking weird stuff but what did the VIC developers use when decided on those colours ? Maybe they just returned from the toilet ?
Anyway, its refreshing to see different (and vibrant) colours on different games. Take a look at Mr. Robot and Bounty Bob.....I love how those game use colours on the A8....
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A few other things:
1) The Ghostbusters symbol that you move around looks quite a bit better on the C64.
2) I get what you're saying with it shouting "Ghostbusters" all the time, but Atari is also missing the laughing, which sounded great.
3) Marshmallow Man at the end looks way better on the C64.
All moot points for me though, since I like the SMS best (except where are the voices, arrgh!).
1) That is called a sprite. As I said, that was the point (and only point) where the C64 was better.
2) uhhhhhh....the laughing is definitly there in the Atari version...... The “Ghostbusters” shouting when you catch a ghost could easily have been implemented in the A8 version as well, it is simply triggering the sample which is already somewhere in memory because it is shouted on the intro as well. IMHO it’s good they left it out....it gets annoying really quick.
3) see 1)
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Such objective posts are the reason why these threads never really work :/
Thank you for stating that my observations are objective. I totally agree.
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Atari 8 bit is better at the following points:
-Custom VLSI Chip quality (they don’t burn)
-overall build quality
-keyboard
-design (looks)
-speed
-colours
-sound (POKEY)
-BASIC
-Floppy Handling / DOS
-Floppy Speed
-convenience of connecting peripherals (SIO)
-1000S of cartridge titles
-best classic arcade conversions
The C64 is better at the following points:
- sprites
That’s it.
I know many will say SID, but I can’t stand it’s muffled and forced sound, plus it sucks at effect sounds and has one channel less.
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True....but the host keeps the pressure on...this is not happening on the A8
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I mean general large brands. They're even worse than our Heineken....which is horrible.
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I like the game, and it looks very polished. The only thing I don't understand is that there is no time limit to answer the questions. This removes a lot of tension....
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Tapper is simply very well done.....very little to complain about really...although I'd love to see the stupid Mountaindew and "Soda" to be replaced by the Budweiser and Bar. Not that Budweiser is a good beer. Americans can't make decent beer. But it's more like the arcade.
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SDrive-MAX ATX support
in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Posted
Weird....it’s absolutely dead when connected to the 1050, but working fine directly.
Maybe it’s because there’s a MegaSpeedy in my 1050 ?