lazzeri

Thank you, CatPix! I´ve found a few Grundig on German eBay. But for what I´ve found there is no direct RGB port (like SCART), right? There is still some gutting and soldering to do? http://circuit-board.de/forum/index.php/Thread/6302-Grundig-Super-Play-Computer-4000-Scart-RGB-Netzteil-Mod/ So for both Interton and Grundig there is some modding. The advange of the later over the first is that is RGB instead of composite, and you can use a regular PSU? Thank you once again, really appreciated it.

Gents, I once had an Interton and never managed to make it work (It´s 220v and PAL-G, I´m in Brazil, 110v and PAL-M wich isn´t compatible) so I sold it without ever turning it on. Anyway, I am deeply interested on getting another one and this time using it properly. My main concern is the lack of a proper A-V out so I just cannot easily get this baby running. I found an A-V mod for Interton. Have any of you nice gentlemen ever seen / tried it? Does you guys know another A-V / RGB mod for that purpose? http://circuit-board.de/forum/index.php/Thread/4486-Interton-VC4000-AV-Mod/ Thank you all in advance and best regards.

Forgot to mention: Yes, MSX now is VERY expensive to collect. The best, juiciest games sell for about 150-200 USD complete. Some Konami games can sell for up to 600 USD (Magical Tree) or even 1.000 USD (Konami Shin Sinthesyzer). But there is still a lot of nice loose games that goes cheap. But with a flashcart and a drive, there´s not a real problem. Just have fun!

Here´s a nice video with 100 MSX1 games. Most of them are really A+. You should check some MSX2 game videos.

May I jump in? :-) I am a dedicated collector of MSXs. They were HUGE down here in Brazil in late 80´s and early 90´s, all cool kids had one. Then Amiga came and destroyed everything. Anyway, I digress. As I was saying I am a dedicated collector. I do own about 300 assorted boxed games. They are spectacular, almost every japanese game feels like a "collector´s edition" with hard case and loads of interesting printed material, from stickers (even bumper stickers!) to 100+ pages, full color manuals. Spectacular, no less. About the best "intro" system... I was talking about it with an American last month on MRC. Was it the OP of this thread? Dunno. :-/ So... There are basicaly four different platforms: - MSX1: Simplest, common, cheapest. Some very interesting games specially when you look for the "MegaROM" ones. BTW, Opcode is porting those to Coleco + SGM. There is a lot of interesting games for it, a LOT of Spectrum ports, a lot of nice Japanese games - Not only JRPG! And forget about the language barrier, most of it you can play without any hassle. Bear in mind that MSX1 was a little limited (16 colous, 3 audio channels) so it might look like an NES with bad scrolling. - MSX2: Now things get interesting. More colors, more RAM. GREAT games, some very interesting software around. And the computer can still be easily found. - MSX2+: My platform of choice. 19268 colors, a special audio board (MSX-MUSIC, AKA "FM") and in most micros an attached 3.5" drive. With them you can play everything from MSX1, MSX2 and MSX2+, with nice audio. And since discs are compatible with PC all you have do to is create your discs directly on your PC an play, no hassle, no supernatural setups. There are 3 companies that made MSX2+: Sony, Panasonic and Sanyo. I like the Panasonics, they are gorgeous. Sonys are cute. Sanyo... Errr, nevermind. :-) If you choose to grab a MSX2+ just be sure to grab one with MSX-MUSIC! There is one Panasonic and one Sanyo without it. I think all Sony had it. Also you should look for a computer with 128kb of RAM, native or expanded. It makes a difference. The last one is TurboR. There are 2 models only. They are *EXPENSIVE*, hard to get, and since they don´t use Z80 but R800 for extra speed there are some compatibilities issue. I truly don´t think they worth the trouble. I do have one A1-ST boxed, complete (a TurboR model), but daily I use a MSX2+, Panasonic´s WSX. Also you DEFINITELY should look for a flashcard. Take a look at this one from MSX Cartridge Shop: It is an IDE + flash cart + drive emulator + memory expansion + it have an extra sound chip, SCC, for Konami games. It is a must. http://www.msxcartridgeshop.com/ With an MSX2+ and a SCC+ you will be able to play about 99.8% of everything ever made for MSX, including all of the best games. It´s hard to look impartial here, I am a HUGE fan of MSX. :-)

I am also interested in one. Are they still available? Thanks!

YES! Mine is #55, I was getting quite anxious!

Hi there, Is there still room to order a cart? :-) Regards, Marco

In the letters to the editor in issue #8, no mention of the name was made. Here is the letter: Whoa, wait a minute: "A box that opens like a book"? That´s completely different from the auctioned box, isn´t it?

Gentlemen, Me and a bunch of friends were discussing the recent Boxed Air Raid extravaganza and there´s a few question that neither one of us (nor google / AA) could answer and I was wondering if any of the pros in here could enlight us. Since that´s the first box ever seen and no manual has ever surfaced, how the heck the name AIR RAID (or its manufacturer MEN-A-VISION) was found? Is there any printed catalog / magazine ad / magazine review regarding it? I mean, there´s no logo in the cart or in-game, so how did you guys found out that it was called like that? Secondly, how did you guys knew it was officially distributed (even poorly) in US? It seems that its scanlines are not 100% NTSC-compatible so how did you know for sure it was not a pirated / "chinese ripoff" of some sort that were never officially sold in US? Thank you for any help on it. Regards, Lazzeri

Actually things are going one almost flawlessly... Almost... I've been working like hell lately (heck, i was hoping that i could take a week off but... Nah!) and i'm not having many time to work on it plus i've faced a bug that is being quite hard to solve but i still haven't quitted! Seriously: Expect v. 0.2 on mid august - it will be ready - i guess... Regards, Lazzeri

Stupid me... Here it is... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...gory=27181&rd=1 Regards, and sorry about the fiasco Lazzeri

Gentlemen! Did i got a fair price on this Double Dragon for A2600? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...gory=27181&rd=1 (now fixed link! ) How much do you think an Activision NTSC rarity 5, complete, game (Kung Fu Master, Ghostbusters, Rampage and so) worth? Regards, Lazzeri

Gentlemen! I was quite busy lately so unfortunately i've disappeared for a while... But please keep in mind that i'm NOT abandoning the development of AHD OR this forum... First of all, congrats for the new hacks made by Dan Iacovelli (great job with the plane / missile!) and Dr. Dwack! It's good to see that you guys are actually using the AHD... :-) For the news: 1) I'm finishing the ".AHD how to", it will be posted on this forum this afternoon; 2) Dan Boris allowed me to distribute 2600gfx together with AHD... YEAH! 3) The creation of new .AHD files is "on hold" for this week, but i've already prepared 3 new ones and i'll finish a little pack for the next week 4) The ".AHD auto generator" will take a little longer to develop, i'm currently working on a bigger thing for AHD... 5) What in hell is Pele doing on Donkey Kong? Does it suggests that AHD v. 0.2b will have some basic color changing?!? YES! I'm finishing basic color changing on AHD... Can't wait to release it! Regards, Lazzeri

Probably because he is using an old DOS based (BASIC?) compiler. Maybe there aren't any libraries that support 256 or more colors. As i've stated on AHD forum, i'm not a real programmer... Seriously: I'm stuck with the 16 colour pallete on 640 x 480, and if my aim is to use 256 colours i'll have to reduce resolution to 320 x 480 (impossible) OR use a dual-pallete system... I don't thing it would be of any use... Anyway, i guess i still have lots to thing about... Thanks again Thomas, Lazzeri

Actually Thomas got it right: It is DOS based... I can easily (using RGB) program all the 128 colors Stella can generate, and even display them on a low-res screen (320x200). Problem is that i do use hi-res screen (640x480) and i'm stuck with the 16 simultaneous colour limitation... I could even use 2 separate display modes, but i'll have to use one with full palette (color change) and one with reduced (sprites display / anim / edition), and the colours wouldn't match. So it do NOT seem viable to use a wider palette... Sh*t... Thanks, Lazzeri

Wow, you just saved me... I've already seen that particular table elsewere but this time it have both hex and RGB info so i guess now i'll be able to finish the job... Thanks Thomas! Regards, Lazzeri

Gentlemen! I'm currently working on a tiny project called AHD - Atari Hacking for Dummies. It is a hacking tool / sprite editor for A2600 that allows sprited editing with a easy-to-use, dumb-proof interface. Detais can be found on the "Hacks" forum. Anyway, i've just finished the routine that allows color changing on some sprites. I mean, with that you'll be able to change individual color of the sprite's line (in some selected sprites only, unfortunately). The problem is that for practical reasons i'm willing to limitate the pallete that can be used by the user for a standard 16 color pallete. And i need some help with the hex codes for some colors I still got 3 color with no match, one that do not seems appropriate and a few others that i would like your opinion. With that in mind i've builded the following table: Black &0 Dark Blue &a6 Dark Green &d6 Dark Cyan ???? HELP! Dark Red &46 Violet &36 Brown &12 Light Gray &6 - SEEMS TOO DARK Dark Gray ???? HELP! Light Blue &88 Light Green &c8 Light Cyan ???? HELP! Light Red &48 Pink &5a Yellow &1e White &e What do you fine gentlemen think of that colour selection? Thanks in advance, regards, Lazzeri

Well so you managed to use it? Congrats... It seems a shitty program... Great work! I mean, i love the bunnies you've created, and the their little feet moving up'n'down made a cool effect... And the ZAP! was pretty cool also... Congrats! Don't you go all modest on me... It IS a great job... Regards, Lazzeri

I don't know if you guys had already downloaded it but i just added 4 new .AHD files: Pacman, Ms. Pacman, XMan and Air-sea battle. Take a look! http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28523

OUCH.... Anyway, i'll try to solve the problems on the "simple ones"... And they're already freaking hard enough, you know... I mean, i know that there's a lot of things that i just can't make due to my own limitations as a programmer / "debugger". For instance: Interleaved sprites on RR. I might have to rewrote huge parts of my software for that and i don't know if i'll be ever able to... But i'm always trying to find a way! Regards, Lazzeri

OUCH.... Anyway, i'll try to solve the problems on the "simple ones"... And they're already freaking hard enough, you know... I mean, i know that there's a lot of things that i just can't make due to my own limitations as a programmer / "debugger". For instance: Interleaved sprites on RR. I might have to rewrote huge parts of my software for that and i don't know if i'll be ever able to... But i'm always trying to find a way! Regards, Lazzeri

Wow, it really would help a lot... Thanks, i guess... Now seriously: Thanks Raindog! And any help would be greatly appreciated...

True... Anyway, it is actually a little easy ;P and i'm getting the hang of it so i'm getting faster everyday. For instance, i took 15 min to map the ROM and an extra 15 to create the .AHD for Frogger - and man, the sprites were well hidden... Actually my main problem is time: Working my a** out lately, so not so many free time... But i'll keep trying to finish paint-a-sprite, and also try to make one new .AHD file every day or so... Let's see... Also true... I'm actually enabling on paint-a-sprite that every sprite's line (scanline?)can be changed to any color on the 16-color pallete. I'm not shure but i guess that if a user "overpaint" the sprite the game might crash, right? The fact is that colored sprites can be "easily" mapped on the game ROM - sometimes. Again, i'm NOT a ASM programmer, not to mention that i know d*ck about how the Stella works... Sad but true... I only know what to do when it became obvious for me. For instance, the above is the color info for the Walking / Standing Mario character as it appears on DK: 0b3f |10100110| 0b40 |10100110| 0b41 |01000110| 0b42 |01000110| 0b43 |01000110| 0b44 |01000110| 0b45 |01000110| 0b46 |01000110| 0b47 |01000110| 0b48 |01000110| 0b49 |00001111| 0b4a |00001111| 0b4b |00001111| 0b4c |00001111| 0b4d |00001111| 0b4e |01000110| 0b4f |01000110| (changed to binary to avoid formatting problems...) So it's based on that that i'm changing color info... When i see a "big cottonstick" laying on the ROM, i bet that that's some sort of color info... If any of you fine gentlemen knows something that can make the process less painfull, i'll be really thankful... Regards, Lazzeri

You see, i'm actually seeking for the color info on binary form, inserted in the middle of the code... Madman's job but worth it... Actually is quite "easy" to find it if we're talking about long, colored sprites. But for the little ones, or for the single-colored... I truly need help on it... Anyway, i'll try my best on it and any help would be greatly appreciated... Regards, Lazzeri