dudeydude

Appreciated and understood. I am hoping that common sense can be thrown out of the window for the purposes of getting a disk to work... I am hoping that I can do something with the items and the hope I have... I am hoping I do not have a weighty brick.... If I try the Steem method am I just gonna hit a brick wall?

This is mind blowing news... I work nights so after 1am its pretty much party time. I would always take my Lynx or Game Gear with me to work. My GG has an Everdrive GG so of course, all games are on the SD Card... So its just GG and PSU... My fellow staffers all look at me like I am crazy when I break out the Lynx/Sub notebook/PSU/Flashcart combination. lol... But this is the price I pay to enjoy the fruit of the Lynx. Now I can enjoy Lynx a little more freely shall we say? :) :) I am there like swimwear! Many kind thanks for this amazing work!!

You use 2700's ok????????? Wow thats pretty awesome. I always thought that 2700's would be too much... The PSU was getting annoying to be fair... lol... Excellent!

Rampart I decided I wanted to play the Lynx version of the great game for a while now. I have enjoyed the Arcade/SNES/Amiga versions of this classic title for some time. I hold the SNES version in very high regard and assumed initially that the Lynx version would be a cut down 'Game Gear' esque type game. Imagine my surprise then, when having booted up the game I get a great rousing intro tune and a slickly presented intro with a strong medieval feel. As I pressed the buttons and selected my difficulty, starting castle location and cannon emplacements I found out theres quite a bit to this conversion of a great, addictive game. Excellent Stuff So my first round with the game was quite a pleasant surprise. Some really well drawn and rich graphics which capture the spirit of the arcade original beautifully. The colours really popping on the Lynx's humble screen. Vibrant greens from the land, and deep, rich blues from the sea. The boats animate on a par with the arcade original(That is to say fairly averagely) and the control system is somewhat simplistic (Cursor movement controlled with the D-pad... Straightforward really... lol...) but very acceptable and workable. I found that my first round was over very quickly because I had not worked out the speed of the cursor when moving and the layout of the area I was protecting. The fighting phase of the game was very well done, capturing the feel of the arcade superbly. The sampled speech snippets are very well done and made me feel like I was enjoying the original game. Ready. Aim, Fire and that sorta thing. My initial frustrations were with the between-level rebuilding phase. The graphics switch to a blocky Tetris-like square grid and then random wall pieces are given to you to place down and rebuild your castle's defences with, maybe even attempting to surround another castle and get the opportunity put more cannons in a wider area for mass destruction. The turning of the pieces are handled by the action buttons. The controls are slightly slower than what I am used to and seem a touch sluggish. This may be to taste rather than an actual hardware/programming issue so although frustrated by my lack of progress I forgave the game and pressed on. I must mention at this point the beautiful static pictures depicting the progress of your campaign which appear in between the building and fighting phases.. Guards rebuilding. Cannon's firing. That kinda thing. It just injects a little something into the game and gives it that bit more atmosphere. An atmosphere that was not overly apparent in the Arcade version. The overall presentation and game path is very much arcade inspired so this plays very quickly and initially comes across as having limited depth. Arguably this is an arcade conversion so naturally there will be some shallowness to the gameplay. This, in my mind, gives the game a certain addicitiveness as the concept is basically very straightforward and the two phases are basically condensed versions of the things we used to do as young boys (Build castles with various material/boxes/whatever, have pretend wars, knock them down again, then rebuild with a view to making them even stronger and bigger than before...) so long lasting appeal is assured to some extent. HIgh score chasing increases the lastability of the game as well. Finding like minded people to enjoy this game can be difficult but its worth taking turns with a friend and racking up an impressive high score table. My only gripe on this front is that you cannot keep your scores saved. This is a crying shame and adds a level of annoyance and frustration, especially when you score big and bag; what you believe to be; an unbeatable score. If you score well you can put your name on the high score table, three initials and then its just rinse and repeat, this time wanting to do better. The addictive quality of the arcade original is present and correct. The spirit of the game is intact. The static pictures adding to proceedings well. Summary & Verdict I am happy to report that on the whole I enjoyed my experiences with Lynx Rampart. Its an inspired conversion which gives the player a real handheld treat. It utilises some of the strengths of the Lynx well and it also captures the spirit of the arcade on many levels. I find certain things frustrating and feel that the controls are not perfect but any means. If you are a avid player of Rampart this will certain be irritating but not entirely off putting, especially when you see the graphics move and the speech kick in. The lack of high score saving is a total bummer and has frustrated me many a time. If you can pick this game up fairly cheaply then I would say take the risk. The qualities and subtle nuiances in gameplay are not immediately apparent but are worth sticking with. The graphics are impressive and the sound, althought sparse is more than adequate and in some cases are very well done. I had fun with this game and think that lot of people would enjoy what this great game has to offer on the Lynx. Scores Since this is my first review i'll explain my scoring methodology. I rate the game based on four primary categories. They are: Graphics: Are colours used well? Are the characters well animated? Is the conversion graphically accurate? Any flair above and beyond the stage design document. Presentation also plays a part. Is everything easy on the eye? Sound: Good use of sound? Atmospheric? Maybe the sound is pants and does not immerse you? Good technical knowledge to get the best sonically on the Lynx? Playability: Is the game easy to pick up and play? Are there any controller quirks? Any spikes in difficulty? Any issues reducing or diminishing your ability to enjoy the game. Anything improving it? Lastability: Long lasting? Good value for money? Plenty of feaures or game modes? Difficulty? Options? Variations? I give a mark out of 100 for each of the four categories. I summarise the reasons for the mark then go for a final score. The final score is not a mean average although the starting point is an average. I rate average as 50 and not 70% I mark strictly because i have a lot of games and so they have to be really truly worthy of my attention So now onto my verdict. Graphics: 92% Capturing the spirit of the arcade version with great use of the Lynx's colour palette and great static shots between rounds. All the flaws and animation quirks of the arcade game are also reproduced. Which, depending your thoughts, hinder or help the game. I wanted an accurate, hand held version of Rampart so for me this has never been a issue. Very impressive. Sound: 80% Very sparse use of sound in-game with only beep, blips and bops singifying anything of significance but fantastic speech and great music. Not very accurate sounding to the original but very much classic Lynx noises coming from the speaker here. Playability 89% Captures the quirks and fun of the original well however to me a touch slugglish in control. Easy to pick up and play, later levels providng more excitement as it becomes hard to rebuild and stop the ships from dropping off their troops. The stakes get high very quickly on this game in later levels. The earlier levels are fun and give you something to aim for. Lastability 71% Disappointing lack of high score saving. Two difficulty levels and random selection of land mass to lay your castle defenses down onto. Gameplay flow and option selection are all done at arcade level so this affects lastability are there are no obvious improvements or additions to the gameplay. The static pages that have been added give you something to gawp at for a bit between levels hence why I gave Lynx Rampart an extra 1% for lastability lol. Overall: 85% This game is very well done but some annoying little issues have stopped it a attaining 90%+ score. All in all a worthy addition to any Lynx collection and an addictive game in its own right. Arcade games don't usually last a long time and this is reflectant in Lynx Rampart also. If you want a pick up and play game then enjoy Lynx Rampart with a big smile on your face. Basically regardless of your tastes in games you could do far worse then not give this title a go. If you like depth to your gaming than you'll find yourself feeling shortchanged. For me personally being able to play Rampart on the move is what impresses me the most at this present time. Happy days and hope you get as much out of Lynx Rampart as I do. Borrow/Buy/Avoid?: BUY

Ok appreciate the awesome responses guys. This is pretty amazing really and definitely something I will consider however for now I am outta luck as money is now very tight. So I am looking at what I have at the moment. Heres the list: USB Floppy Drive VIsta PC XP PC Shedloads of Floppy Disks WinImage Steem Above average technical knowledge I got my fingers crossed too... So let me develop my notion: I have read on the AtariForumWiki about transferring files from PC to ST. There seems to be a solution involving the creation of a HDD image within a Steem environment and using the USB Floppy Drive(on the PC) as the ST floppy within Steem. Is there a way to extract the files from a .st image and put them on the HDD and then use something on the emulated ST to do a floppy copy that way? For the sake of argument can someone give me a quick breakdown of how to do this within Steem? I don't care about how difficult it may be or if its a time consuming process. Basically I just wanna play something to test the floppy drive out. If I cannot play games, is there something I can do to test that the floppy drive works ok on my ST? Any kind of procedure with the disk or something...? Basically long story short, this ST I have got is a total mess. It was covered in mud and looked like it had been used as a lawnmower cover. No structural damage, just stacks of dirt. The mouse is an abomination. It looks like I could catch some kind of 18th century plague off it if I go near it. I have cleaned it to near perfection with only a slight discolouration to the casing now present. The mouse I feel is a lost cause but thats another matter. Basically I wanna test the thing because I have my doubts it even works correctly... I am just looking for some kind of solution that gives me access to the floppy drive and its performance. Be it games/apps/whatever. So there you have it. Appreciate the kind advice so far!!

This SD card business appeals greatly...!! So could we be looking at the possibility of say a game using streaming video? Is something as insane as Dragon's Lair a possibility on the SD prototype...? Sounds like a plan to me anyways...... :-)

I appreciate this may be a difficult subject to broach and of course if this is inappropriate then please accept my apologies. I would like to be able to use a selection of .st images on a real 520ST. My question: Is there a universal program/solution to do this on a Modern PC with Vista? I have a USB Floppy Drive and the correct disks... Just obviously curious if its at all possible......? Once again I appreciate that this maybe a touchy subject so please delete/warn as appropriate. Hopefully though someone maybe able to help. Thanks for your consideration!

Much as I am a fan of the female form. I have to disagree with the babe... Chip from Chip's Challenge?? Bentley Bear really appeals to me even though its a bit of a fail... One of my all time favourite games is indeed Crystal Castles and the thought of any kind of Jag updates is exciting... BB's sexy twin sister???? er..... Maybe.....? Seriously though BB all the way! Hes the dude!!

About the Heroquest progress: Isometric all the way. two frame animation would give it a classic RPG feel. Some design choices that limit palettes in favour of some cool video effect or hightlight cleverness with the GFX hardware/software would give the game a 'lynx feel' which would be highly desirable. Has anyone played the Amiga/C64 Heroquests? Love the C64 HQ as it shouldn't be possible in my mind but its perfectly playable and enjoyable. Amiga HQ has some pretty good music/sound considering the limitations brought on by the genre. Looking forward to the progress!

NDS is a good system for RPG fans and some classic franchises have found their way onto the system so obviously if you are a gamer you owe it to yourself to track down a phat/classic DS and get playing. A lot of 'casual' games are on the system but this is never really a bad thing if you mix it up with the quality titles that are out there. Crystal Mines is a pretty neat game. I do not have the ability/brainpower to conquer some of the more tougher levels (perhaps I should get my act together) but i've always been a fan. Appreciate the heads up on this title! Many kind thanks!

Ok so I have used Borland Delphi and Visual Basic extensively in the past. These skills can be applied to Lynx Programming???? I am no good at artwork so my intentions are small and humble but I was hoping to write useful 'apps' for the Lynx... Any starting points of reference or programs you recommend???

Ok so I have been reading this with interest... I am very much like AtariLynx Lover in that I am very keen to get some new content for the Lynx. Appreciate the words of the 'pros' and the fact that these things cannot be rushed. I have asked/mentioned/begged about this before but I need some clarity: Are there any tools/codesets/codebases/conversion tools/other computers and hardware that give the Lynx programmer a fighting chance or speed up this process? Any games/projects that are dormant at this time? Are there anyways to 'cut corners' or can you use assets/gfx/sounds from other Lynx games unreleased? I admire the ambition of a programmer who writes something completely from scratch. See, the extent of my programming/game design skills are the SEUCK on the C64. lol... Shall I make a game on that and get you guys to convert it across!?!? lol.... I am personally sorry for my contribution to this 'Hurry Up' mantra. Its an excitement/frustration thing... Now back to Robotron 2084.....

Ok, ok... If you want flashcard goodness then its a Lynx II all the way. Love the Lynx I of course... Fantastic shape and everything however totally not recommended for the flashcart and the 'mod' for removing the cover is just bad if you want to resell or keep in good condition etcetcetcetc... As for the game. I am keen to see any progress made thus far if at all possible. Any gameplay shots/vids etcetcetcetc......????? Can a donation be made to perhaps encourage this project to completion??????? Just noticed something: AtariLynx Lover, just out of curiousity you understand but why are you going to get a few FC's for the Lynx??? Whats your grand plan?? lol......

Can't you just call it: Froggy/Froggler/Frog'n'Pop/Hop'n'Pop/FrogPop/FroggingHell/DasFrog/FroFrotheFrog. Call the Frog Squish or Splat then the game name is: Squish the Frog or Splat the Frog. Who knows...? Anywho any news, availability, screens, development progress????? @108 Stars: Lame US naming conventions are the pinnacle of gaming!! Frog4Lynx is the best name EVERRRAGHH etcetcetc....

Some wishful thinking/ideas: Simplistic FF style RPG's, 2600 games(compilations???), Single disk Amiga conversions, Football/Soccer Manager games, Music/Media player, Light show(Atari Video Music style). Level packs for Chips Challenge, Micro Machines conversion. Just the usual type of stuff really... :-)

Can you purchase images of the games in question to use on an emulator or the flashcard??? Is it all from the author's websites???? I wanna get (somehow) Alpine Games as everyone I know says its pretty amazing stuff...

Yes. I gotta UK/European Lynx II and I am playing US games on it no worries. Also consider the Flashcart as that lets me play anything Lynx-related and no issues with region there either. All good!! :-)

Believe it or not I actually don't mind Pit Fighter. Its mindless yeah sure but not completely without merit. The Lynx rendition is interesting and intriguing though I have found certain moves difficult as well. Definitive moves list anyone? Gotta admire the OP for 'coming out' and expressing his love for PF. Isn't that similar to 'coming out of the closet' so to speak..??

Pixel art really is pretty amazing stuff really. Great to see something potentially brewing :-)

I just would love to see some more games given a modern twist maybe or possibly just some retro fun in maybe a collection or something?? Platform games/RPG's/Retro all appeal to me. I see some of the complexities and 3D that John Sanderson did for the Lynx and I wish for more of that. Of course, wishful thinking but still... Nice to dream right? There is nothing in the current video game climate that excites me anymore. The Lynx has always given me that 'schoolboy excitement' factor, if that makes sense. Its something I am passionate about. I care about games again. I am not talented and all I got is money and words. I am hoping I can use them in the right combination to get something positive happening on the Lynx for 2012 and beyond. +1's to all the programming/artistic talent that has aided in the fun! Oh and +1 with gold flakes to the awesome Cammy avatar. Good work!! :) :) :)

Hey. Two mini-type disclaimers: I appreciate that I am a 'noobie' and also that I may be posting in the wrong subforum. Hopefully these two things may not distract from the purpose(s) of the thread. This is essentially a thread that hopefully will serve two purposes. The first is an interest check on some ideas I have floating around and the second is to encourage programmers/devs/talented people to hopefully share their thoughts/feelings and hopefully chip in with their help/advice/whatever. My ideas come from a standpoint of (hopefully) realism and the obvious time constraints that programming brings. I hope that my 'dreams' don't foil any potential project ideas. I am conscious of the fact that a lot of people will be busy with their own bits and pieces and of course 'life' will always play its part. My fervent hope is that I can 'gently encourage' more content for the Lynx. So I am thinking about the Lynx/Amiga similarities and I read somewhere that the Lynx Dev Kits were essentially Amiga-based-type computers. (See how technical I am!! :-) ) Has anyone considered a 'conversion' or 'translation' of say a one disk Amiga game? Is that feasible? I would pay/support/whatever if someone did say a version of Amiga IK+ or whatever. I am thinking about memory etc... So obviously Mutli-disk games would be out. However the thought of a single disk Amiga game seems like a realistic notion. I like shoot 'em ups. One of my favourites is Space Harrier. The nearest game to Space Harrier on Lynx is Turbo Sub. I love Turbo Sub. Can TS essentially be 'hacked' or 'reworked' with fresh graphics/sounds/gameplay tweaks? Love Dropzone too. Can the Atari 8bit version be chucked on an EEPROM 'as is' in effect no tweaks or additions or anything like that? Just the standard game. I actually don't mind the Sega Game Gear version of Dropzone, my only reservation being the 'bloated' central character, why did they have to change it? However could that be 'reverse engineered' to work on Lynx? Are 'hacks' worthy of anyone's attention? On the NES, Super Mario Bros has been hacked to death essentially making a community in itself. These hacks are, on occasion, so clever/unique/special that they are essentially new games in themselves. Again I would not be 'tight-fisted' about this if someone 'revamped' an existing Lynx title and put it out there. The reason why I am putting so much depth into this is because I am not usually passionate about anything really. However the Lynx is my most favourite item in the whole world and personally the Lynx has been a total lifesaver for me. I have nothing but happy times with the Lynx at my side. I see some of the projects on AA and I am overjoyed and a bit weepy too as for all the love of Lynx, real life seems to stop the fun. I really love 'Qix' on the Lynx. Now how simplistic is that?!!!??! Keeps me happy :-) For the retro fans. What about a '2600 pack' of say four games? Easy or difficult to implement? I am sure that most of the above has been considered of course. However I am keen to see more content and more finished products. Again this has probably been discussed to death on the Forums here however I would love to know more about the possibility of bringing more content to the Lynx in a timely manner. Respect to all the talented people involved! Many thanks!

I would love to see and happily pay good money for the privledge of playing a good RPG in the classic FF/Zelda styles on the Lynx. A side note: I love playing the Lynx and find it a real joy to use. Its a shame there are not more games for the Lynx. Something that I have discovered is that i find it much easier to play Lynx left handed unfortunately none of the other consoles/handhelds allow me to do this. The exception being the SMS with its "Arcade Stick" type thing. Oh and some early Atari paddles and such. Back on topic: Is there anyway we can support the developers of the projects that are considered in 'Development Hell'? It frustrates me to think something close or near close to completion is sat not doing anything. I am happy to pay hard earned to get these titles moving forward. Also it excites me to think that there are still games being made. My personal dream would be to see something such as a classic JRPG on the Lynx. Something with a large amount of depth. Thats always been my 'beef' with the Lynx. Everything is mainly quick fix arcade-style type stuff. This is fantastic of course but just wanna be able to enjoy something 'uniquely special' on the Lynx. To the hobbyists, funsters, semi professionals out there who keep the Lynx going. Many thanks! :-)

Really looking forward to this. Have you ever considered the possibility of asking the members for content such as mini story/mini games this kinda thing? Anything graphically or sonically that utilises the Lynx capabilities? Regardless looks very retro FF-ish and I like the idea of that! :-) Incidentally. To love Lynx is to love BOTH versions. These are the facts of life! :-)

Was the conversion handled by Gremlin Graphics(The games creators)? If yes then its bound to be an oversight because Gremlin make later levels and bosses HARD on other titles. If no then I genuinely have no clue...

I too have a near new Atari Lynx II with Electrocop which is awesome, Robosquash and Batman Returns. I wanna play Dracula next but I am keen to play the Lynx's fantastic library of Arcade conversions and am keen to enjoy the programming talents of John Sanderson (Steel Talons and Hard Drivin). There is so much to enjoy on the Lynx. I love it!