macgoo

Well, they did plan an ST-based game system at one point. I think this probably answers why it was on the ST, forgot about that. Clearly though the ST would not cut it as a console beyond around 1988 as even forgetting the NEC Turbo Grafx which had far superior games to even the Amiga for a very small price the Sega Genesis was imminent (1989 for Japan wasn't it?). To sane people like US cartridges were a crazy idea but don't forget those nobheads at Nintendo nearly went bankrupt trying to use carts on the N64 in the mid 90s (only their shitty Gayboy and millions of Pokeyourmom games saved them from the ass whooping the Playstation one was dealing them haha). So whilst the ST came out in 85 and soldiered on to around 89/90 carts carried on at least half a century later as a viable method of selling games (with zero piracy most of the time)

If it was a standard colour LCD like Pentium 1 onwards PC laptops you can butcher different LCDs to use parts from. The actual LCD matrix panel (if that's what it's called) has to use the same connector or work in the same way so you can adapt an existing cable but the rest of the stuff usually just works on PC laptops. However the ST Book and STacy are a lot older monochrome type LCDs so I don't think the technology mixes, here we go back further than even the days of DSTN/TFT types of screens let alone all the other million and one variables between screen panels.

I presume in 1985 when it was built that the cartridge port was there for more than just sound samplers or memory resident improved BASIC interpreters but I have no knowledge of a single prototype game on cartridge for the ST. Could it be they never intended to put games on cartridge for the machine and it was literally a fancy expansion port they just labelled as a cartridge port?

Hmm, while if possible, I'd recommend starting at the very beginning, if I had to pick a "condensed" set, it would be Ultima 3, 4, and 5. I have to /sigh on the Atari ST version of Ultima 6. It had so much going for it when it was announced, and I was so looking forward to it. Huge game, great storyline, new mouse driven interface, even hard drive installable... Then I actually played it...ugh. Graphics on the ST are horrible IMHO. It looks like they took a CGA version and just copied it straight across, not adjusting for palette or anything else. I've not played it on anything else besides the PC version. It was okay there with the 256 color VGA graphics. PS I guess Ultima 7 is my favorite of any non-Atari release - there is a game engine, Exult, that lets you play it under Linux. Very cool. ST version of Ultima 6 looks the same to me as the Amiga version, OK the game graphics are shit compared to Gauntlet 1 on ST but this is normal for RPGs, they're always a generation behind in sophistication graphically to arcade games. I'm going to see if I can find the VGA PC version now...... edit: OK more colourful, but in a gaudy sort of way. Cinemaware and Japanese arcade graphics artists would certainly not lose any sleep over those 256 colour in game graphics on the VGA PC version

Probably that super sprint clone from Codemasters (Formula 1 simulator?) that was pretty terrible. Also the driving level of Fire Chief is pretty damned hard!

Jose have you played Delta? It's nothing special, few fancy tricks with sprite multiplexing and sprites in the border but apart from the excellent music it is not that great really. Would be better if someone converted Nemesis or Salamander to A8. Plenty of host machines to take graphics from like Amstrad, Spectrum, C64 and MSX versions.

Initially it was VCS + A8 only I think but the did sell Amiga and ST later.

Oh yeah because the Amiga games Super Stardust 1200 AGA is soooo compromised running cutting edge 3D graphics whilst playing 4 hardware channels and 2 software channel (6 channel) DAC sound. I guess the Archimedes also is a piece of shit even though the 1987 machine has 8 stereo DACs AND is still more impressive than an Atari Falcon from 6 years later? Oh yes that told me, old computers really could not make music with sampled instruments using DMA'd DACs as sound chips, let's all go and buy some complete shit sounding MT32 and play our bollox PC games with sounblaster scratchy sampled FX and dirt shit elevator music that grates on your ears from the LAPC1 or MT32 sound module selected in the DOS set up. A stock 14mhz Amiga if set to 72hz VGA output actually can drive the DACs at 56khz through some freak of circuitry using a 30khz horizontal sync for the VGA non-interlaced video output. Like I said already the only restriction was sound channels (because nobody improved Jay Miner and co's 1983 prototype Paula/Portia soundchip) but 8 stereo channels of 1987 Acorn Archimedes is more than enough to make any music of commercial quality. And these are machines using CPUs probably 5x more powerful than even the Archimedes haha great stuff. This my friends is people who played Day of the Tentacle or Lotus III on PC with such JUNK and somehow decided this is our history, this is the same kind of morons who think Nintendo had any part to play in the cutting edge of gaming technology. No my friends it goes from VCS to 8bit machines to Archimedes/Amiga and then back to consoles UNTIL PCs had multichannel DAC based windows sound cards with software multiplexing via the sound device hooks and a Pentium CPU. And finally I don't think Betty Boo used an LAPC1 or MT32 to make her demo tapes before becoming a music sensation topping the charts. No I think you will find she made her millions using an Amiga 500 and a sampler. Now when Poo the musician has 3 UK number one singles topping the charts rather than playing cheesy shit wedding music that sent you to sleep in the 80s or 90s I might bother to read his replies to me. Clearly the two of you have zero understanding about sound hardware of the 80s or 90s

Yes JUNK, your imagination as a musician is restricted to those crap general midi type sounds. DACs mean you make any sound possible. Sure it was 16bit quality for the instruments provided but the tunes all sound like 99 bucks synthesizer demo tunes. Give one to a real musician and he would flush it down the toilet. Rob Hubbard said such devices were stunting his creativity when he moved to PC infested USA. As someone who has been paid to perform music for a crowd during the heyday of the MT-32, I humbly suggest that a) That certainly qualifies me as a 'real musician', and b) You have no clue what you are talking about. The MT-32 was a versatile, good quality device, used by many professional musicians, though some mods were necessary to get clean sounds out of it. I used it with an ST, an Octapad, a Poly-800 and a DX-7. Devices don't stunt creativity, in fact it takes creativity to get exactly what you want from older devices. Those who can't are lazy or uninspired. I see multiple threads where you rag on any sound device that isn't a DAC, so I will let that bit of fanboy-ism speak for itself. AMY is a fundamentally different technology then the MT-32. Trying to directly compare them is not useful. Could Atari have chosen a better sound chip for the ST.... absolutely. Bullcrap. Recreate the following 5 pieces of music on an MT-32 perfectly and we will see.... Capella's 1990s chart hit You Got to Know Jean Michelle Jarre's Zoolook Ridge Racer 5 track Rare Hero Enya's classic Boadicea including her voice humming along A reasonable rendition of the SID game soundtrack of the game The Last V8. Oh dear don't have the instruments built into your shit restricted set instrument model sound module? Shame. Never mind you could always make elevator music style general midi renditions of the tracks so we can all laugh. A musician indeed, when you have posted on Remix.Kwed.Org a highly rated remix using your so called awesome MT32 I will change my mind, until then please keep your cheesy elevator music to yourself thanks

I've started recording the games, going to do a few of each machine format at a time in fairness

But how does a 1972 game have better engine noise than an Amiga racing game. What kind of technology is it?

It's an OK game but nothing like the ameplay of the arcade. Playing Asteroids on a 2600 is always going to be like playing Afterburner on the ST. The hardware is not even close to the arcade game so it's a compromise. The only nice 8bit home version is Meteors for the Acorn BBC micro. I only play it on MAME in 1920x1200 myself tbh.

MT-32 junk? Sigh. Yes JUNK, your imagination as a musician is restricted to those crap general midi type sounds. DACs mean you make any sound possible. Sure it was 16bit quality for the instruments provided but the tunes all sound like 99 bucks synthesizer demo tunes. Give one to a real musician and he would flush it down the toilet. Rob Hubbard said such devices were stunting his creativity when he moved to PC infested USA.

What would be great is a mod to make the icons in 320x200 a lot smaller, ie half the width and height

That sounds horrible on both. I would agree with most NES music. But some tunes weren't "soulless". Particular this Robocop tune, surprised me. Castlevania .... Batman.... Journey to Silius... outstanding stuff. C64 sounds like Arpet/Minimoog/MS-10. NES just sounds like cheap non-MIDI synths under $99 from home shopping catalogues ergo rubbish IMO. Depends what kind of music you prefer....cheesy Japanese FM synthpop or early 80s pioneering experimental analogue synth music that lead the world for a decade http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAPDTRhNd3U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BYv4DCqL0c

How could I forget Gyruss!!

Specifically looking for game soundtracks not demos as such. Have the full SAP archive to dip into but as Rybags says not easy to link back to games sometimes. Like the 2nd tune here, first is Panther I know. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfouuznWOUA

I don't know the tunes well enough to recognise them, there is one on a Youtube video that has a Pokey game soundtrack on one of those 60 best Atari 8bit games videos I like. So what are some nice ones? Please add a link to Youtube if possible so we can hear it

This really does not make any sense. Ofcourse: when you are going to ask someone who is doing this for a living... yes. But here in the community there are a lot people who would want to do it. I would do the job for free. But I'm in The Netherlands, which will be a lot of shipping, which is a waste of money. So I'd say: ask around here... if you are not in a hurry, I'm sure there will be someone available. Greetz M. That post is on the basis that he has to take it to someone to fix at market rates for engineer time per hour I have a 7800, we couldn't get it working again between us so I just kept it for parts because it is not rare enough to blow £50 on having it looked at and fixed when I can replace it for £25+postage. Assumed this is the same situation

Only because gameplay videos of someone playing an Infocom adventure or some SSI strategy game with ROM graphics is not interesting to watch I'm just hoping for things I can record and people will go "that looks fun!!" and either seek out real hardware on e_shitonyou_bay or via emulation or something The Games Retro Section magazine covered just about every obscure machine as well as well known machines EXCEPT the A8, I think this is just so wrong. How can people not bother to do a top 100 for this machine? There are 1000s of games in the A8 library, and some are only available on the A8 too like Star Raiders. I want to have the most unbiased retro website compiled

I think soundtracks for games started going down the general midi tune sounding crap from the SNES days. And then we had CDs and so the music was again like rubbish demo tunes built into cheap synths playing in the background. I think the last game that really did impress me in the soundtrack area was Oblivion, OK it is very traditional BUT it is done just so well it could have been the instrumental soundtrack of 100 million dollar dungeons and dragons movie from hollywood. There is just no experimentation today generally, most PS3/360 original music tracks make me cringe today, FS David Whittaker should be chained up in a music studio not retired!

For my taste, the NES version keeps better to stand in tune. I don't like that guy's SIDs to be honest. Compared to Grey/Hubbard/Tel/Galway/Whittaker he is kind of so-so quality. All his tunes are a bit too much like demo tunes on CASIO cheap synths from mail order catalogues for me. Obviously that's just my opinion but it sometimes goes that way. Some people like Gameboy Robocop1 title soundtrack some like SID. NES soundchip is pure soulless trash IMO, like cheap general midi songs today or crappy PC Roland music in the time of Amiga. DIRT! There is just no decent feel to the sounds, unlike with stuff like Pokey or SID or Apple 2GS soundchips.

It will cost you a lot to pay an engineer to desolder and resolder 16 RAM chips in, sell it for parts and buy one with pictures of it shown working fully on ebay. Don't throw money down the toilet, fixing is only for engineers with spare parts laying about that cost them nothing. I have a few dead machines but screw paying someone to fix them. They can stay in the parts bin for cannibalisation

I'll download the roms and spend the saved cash on a sports car

Agreed - there's a lot of potential there though. You need to be careful converting Amiga music because often the samples are detuned (either by accident or to account for the limitations of the tracker) and the notation is then 'off' to compensate. The result is it sounds okay, but the notation isn't an accurate representation of what you are hearing. as for 'Rotz'... well.. at least it's a new take on the Rickroll pretty well done, although I don't really like the song so even if it was 110% perfect it still wouldn't grab me - not a criticism of the cover though. Have you tried robocop 3 yet? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA4qyr729ag I thought it might be a bit on the challenging side, but then I heard the NES version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z754_a_aAHA The C64 version is a better (just for the ringmod sounds at the beginning and the arpeggios are smoother), but suprisingly the NES soundchip pulls the lead off really nicely considering it only has 4 pulsewidths and no filters. Maybe the pokey can pull it off after all with some of the instruments kicking around in these experimental threads? Better drums on C64 too.