CharlieChaplin

Well, err - and what about Jakub Husak ?!? Author of many good games and demos. Some examples: sample demo "Music Non Stop" (by Kraftwerk), sample demo "Your body, my body" (original title: Lets all chant by Michael Zager Band or so), sample demo "Schlecht korrekt" (or sth. similar by Kraftwerk), sound demo "Axel F" (originally by Harold Faltermayer), sound demo "Crockett`s Theme" (originally by Jan Hammer) and many other sound demos... Where is Jakub nowadays ?!? Besides, what about Bartman (Bartosz Kalinowski), he seems to have died - anyone knows more (desease, accident, ...) ?!? greetings, Andreas Magenheimer. P.S.: Just got an idea - how about a top 10 of your favourite A8 sound programmers / composers ?!?

Well, concerning Yie Ar Kung Fu... the game could only take part in the software contest if it were for 64k or 128k Atari computers (the current version requires 320kbytes RAM which is not allowed)... But, if one day a new version for 64k / 128k Ataris appears, you are allowed to send in this new version and take part in the software contest... greetings, Andreas Magenheimer

Well, another question, another answer... - ports/conversions: we accept any game, no matter if it is a port/conversion or a completely new game. But the game should be self-programmed on an 8Bit Atari, no ports or hacks/cracks of (most likely not self-programmed) Atari 5200 games, please !! Other ports/conversions from different systems are always welcome !! So, if you wanna port (former unavailable) games from Sega, Nintendo, Spectrum, Commodore, Amiga, ST, PC, PS, PS2, DC, GB, MSX, etc. etc. etc. to the A8 you are allowed to do so... greetings, Andreas Magenheimer. P.S.: And if you write an emulator to load&play a certain game (of a different platform) on the A8, we count the emulator, not the game(s)...

Hello folks, just to answer some questions here... we tried to do the rules as simple as possible, so that really everyone can take part in the ABBUC software contest... 1) copyright / right of a premiere release: as the rules say, ABBUC does NOT! get the copyright for the programs; when writing the final rules, some members of ABBUC suggested that ABBUC should at least have the right of a premiere release on the magazine, but later we dropped this idea. Alas, some translations into other languages were already done and they (still) mention this idea. Well, to make it short: ABBUC does not mind if a program already appeared on someone`s own (private) homepage, ABBUC also does not mind if a program already got published in a foreign magazine using a foreign (non-english, non-german) language (like those czech, slovak and polish magazines). We know that most of the ABBUC members do not read/understand these magazines and thus they most likely never get these programs... BUT: we want to avoid programs taking part in the contest, that have been published widely already (for example programs that have been posted for download in some atari forum, like atari-age, atari-area, etc.) - except if the programs sent in are new ones or updated... 2) quantity of programs: one may send in as many programs as he wants; there is no limitation regarding the number of programs by one author; so if you like to program all missing C64 games for the A8 at once, you are allowed to do so... you can also send in educational programs if you like (we count them as games or tools, depending on the program)... but don`t try to impress us with the quantity of programs you send in, it is the quality that counts. No-one will win a prize, merely because he did send in the most programs... 3) tape?!? well, if you really want to send in your program on a tape, you are allowed to do so, BUT: please use standard tape format (not a turbo tape format, since we do not own a turbo tape) and most of all make sure, that the game can be converted / loaded from disk afterwards (don`t use memory areas like e.g. 0400-CFFF since no DOS and no gamedos will load such a program; try to keep the memlo higher than 0C00 for a gamedos and highrt than 1F00 for a DOS)... 4) filenames: if your program(s) uses the filename Autorun.SYS or Autorun.BAS please note, that we will rename it... ABBUC magazine uses DOS 2.5 and it allows only one Autorun.SYS or Autorun.BAS... (yes, last year we had one complaint, because we renamed one program from Autorun.BAS to something else... weird...) 5) pgm. languages: the rules say, that one can use any pgm. language, etc. etc. (read it!) BUT: please note, that we will NOT publish any of the standard Basic languages (Atari Basic, TB XL) nor the CTB-Runtime on the ABBUC magazine to save space... (last year the same guy complained this as a big disadvantage of his TB-XL program and the voting, since there was no TB XL on the mag. and one had to load it from another disk)... 6) release / download: this is a hot subject. Of course all Atarians want to have the programs of the software contest for free download. Alas, this is not possible! You may get the programs from the authors themselves after the contest, but as of yet there can be no download page for all the contest programs. Why ?!? simply because a) ABBUC spends money for the software contest (as prizes), b) ABBUC members have to subscribe the ABBUC magazine and pay money for it... So, since ABBUC members have to pay money to get the magazines and the contest programs, we cannot make these programs available for free (otherwise think of the angry reactions of our members...) Currently we are thinking about the idea of releasing all contest programs on the ABBUC homepage for download (= for free!) for everyone - one year after the contest. So, if you are not a member of ABBUC, you have to wait one year to get (download) these programs - or if you do not want to wait for the contest programs to download them, become a member of ABBUC and subscribe the magazine... but as already said, at the moment this is just an idea... we have to talk about that at our next meeting in October (all members have to agree about this)... well, I would like to do it differently, but I am not the only ABBUC member (ABBUC is a club with approx. 400 members)... More questions? Fell free to post here or e-mail me at: software[at]abbuc[point]de But please do expect approx. one week for a reply since I do not have internet at home... greetings from ABBUC - Andreas Magenheimer.

Hmm, a sound-demo by the BSS-Crew if I remember correctly ?!? Afaik I have 3 sound demos from them in my collection. In the 90s they wanted to teach Atarians how to write good music and do some good samples on the A8 in the (newer) german Atari magazin. Alas, only one article (or a declaration of many articles coming) appeared... but at least they did those 3 demo disks... -Andreas Magenheimer.

Hello folks, ABBUC decided to do another software contest 2006. There is only one change to the rules of 2005 - the deadline has been set to the 15th of august (same deadline as hardware contest 2006)... ABBUC Regeln für den ABBUC-Software-Wettbewerb 2006 Rules for the ABBUC-Software-Contest 2006 Pravidla pro ABBUC-Software-Contest 2006 Zasady ABBUC-Software-Contest 2006 Reglamento del concurso de software ABBUC 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Regeln für den ABBUC-Software-Wettbewerb 2006: 1) Allgemeine Regeln: Der Abgabeschluß für den Software-Wettbewerb wurde auf den 31. August 2006 festgelegt. Folgende Preise werden vom ABBUC vergeben: 1. Platz: 500 Euro 2. Platz: 250 Euro 3. Platz: 125 Euro 4. Platz: 75 Euro 5. Platz: 50 Euro Der ABBUC erhält für die angemeldeten Programme das Erstveröffentlichungsrecht für das Magazin bzw. den Software-Wettbewerb; das Copyright bleibt jedoch weiterhin beim Autor, der sein Programm nach dem Wettbewerb frei verwenden kann. Die Präsentation der Programme wird auf der Unconventional und im ABBUC Magazin stattfinden, die endgültige Entscheidung und Preisvergabe hingegen auf der ABBUC-JHV in Herten im Oktober. Der Autor muß bei beiden Veranstaltungen (Präsentation, Preisvergabe) nicht unbedingt anwesend sein, er erhält den Preis dann trotzdem zugesandt oder überwiesen, sofern dem ABBUC dafür die Postadresse und/oder Bankverbindung vorliegt... 2) Programm Typen und Größe: Bei den Wettbewerbs-Programmen darf es sich um folgende Programmtypen handeln: a) Spiel/e, b) Anwendung/en (auch Tools, Utilities, etc.) und c) Betriebs-Systeme (DOS). Nicht erlaubt sind jegliche Formen von Demos oder Intros, sowie Beta-, Vorab-, oder Pre-Versionen (die Programme müssen fertiggestellt sein). Bei der Kompatibilität ist zu beachten, daß die Programme mind. auf einem XL oder XE Rechner laufen müssen, d.h. auf einem Standard 64k oder 128k Atari XL/XE. Es darf zwar Zusatzhardware unterstützt werden, diese darf aber nicht die Voraussetzung zum Laden oder Laufen des Programmes sein. Und ob man es nun glaubt oder nicht, das ABBUC Software Ressort (und auch alle ABBUC Mitglieder) wird (werden) einen “Qualitäts” und “Kompatibilitäts” Check aller angemeldeten Wettbewerbs-Programme durchführen... 3) Format und Sprachen: Das Wettbewerbs-Programm kann auf 5,25” Atari-Disk(s) oder als ATR-Image(s) eingereicht werden, es muß als 90k (SD) oder 130k (ED) Disk-Format bzw. ATR-Image vorliegen. Zu dem Programm muß eine kurze Anleitung vorliegen, diese kann entweder im Programm (intern) enthalten sein oder als Text-Datei (extern) dazugefügt werden. Wichtig ist hierbei, daß entweder Deutsch oder Englisch verwendet wird (und kurz erklärt wird wie das Programm zu laden ist), damit auch jeder das Programm bedienen kann. Es sind übrigens alle Atari 8Bit kompatiblen Programmiersprachen erlaubt, jedoch am Ende nur Kompilate, damit jeder das Programm laden kann. Ausnahmen sind lediglich Atari Basic und Turbo Basic XL - hier sind auch Sources bzw. Listings erlaubt, da diese Sprachen ja jeder Atarianer besitzt. Zu den Programmen bzw. Kompilaten muß keinerlei Sourcecode beiliegen, das fertige bzw. lauffähige Programm ist schon ausreichend... Also dann, viel Spaß beim Programmieren - euer ABBUC Software Ressort. (Charlie Chaplin / Andreas Magenheimer) Mail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rules for the ABBUC-Software-Contest 2006: 1) General Rules: The Deadline for the software-contest has been set to 31.August 2006 (until midnight). ABBUC will therefore spend the following Prices: 1st Place: 500 Euro 2nd Place: 250 Euro 3rd Place: 125 Euro 4th Place: 75 Euro 5th Place: 50 Euro For all registered contest programs, ABBUC will get the right of a premiere-release on its magazine; the Copyright will still remain by the author, who can use his program freely after the contest. The presentation of the programs will take place at the Unconventional fair in September and on the ABBUC magazines, whereas the decision and pricing will take place at the annual ABBUC meeting in October. There is no need for the author to be present at any of these events, the price will still be send to the author’s postal adress or his bank account, provided that ABBUC has these adresses... 2) Program Types & Size: The software-contest programs must be one of the following program-types: a) Game/s, b) Application/s (also Tools, Utilities, etc.) and c) Operating Systems (DOS). Not allowed are any kinds of demos or intros, also not allowed are any beta- or pre-versions (meaning the contest programs must be finished). For compatibility reasons one must make sure, that the programs work at least on Atari XL or XE computers, which means standard 64k or 128k machines. Additional or extra hardware can be supported, but it must not be a requirement to own this extra hardware to load the program. Believe it or not, the ABBUC Software Ressort, as well as all ABBUC members, will do a “Quality” and “Compatibility” check of all registered contest programs... 3) Format and Languages: The software-contest programs can be send as 5,25” Atari disk(s) or as ATR-image(s), but they must use Single (90k) or Enhanced (130k) density. Furthermore, the program must have a short documentation, this can be included in the program (internally) or as a separate text-file (externally). It is therefore important, that one uses german or at least english language (and explains shortly how the program has to be loaded), so that everyone can handle the program. All Atari 8Bit compatible languages are allowed as programming languages, but all of them have to be compiled in the end, so that one can load the program without having to own a certain programming language. The only exceptions here are Atari Basic and Turbo Basic XL source listings, since every Atari user owns these languages. Lastly one needn’t supply any source-codes for the contest programs, the finished loadable or executable program is enough... Happy programming wishes the ABBUC Software Ressort !! (CharlieChaplin / Andreas Magenheimer) Mail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pravidla pro ABBUC-Software-Contest 2006: 1) Hlavní pravidla: Uzávěrka soutěže je 31.srpna 2006 (o půlnoci). ABBUC bude udělovat následující odměny: 1.místo: 500 Euro 2.místo: 250 Euro 3.místo: 125 Euro 4.místo: 75 Euro 5.místo: 50 Euro U všech programů registrovaných v této soutěži si ABBUC vyhrazuje právo premiérového zveřejnění v magazínu Abbuc. Autorská práva zůstávají autorům, kteří mohou s programem nakládat libovolně po ukončení soutěže. Prezentace programů proběhne na akci Unconventional (bude se konat v září) a v magazínech Abbuc. Vyhlášení výsledků a přidělení cen se uskuteční na výročním setkání Abbuc v říjnu. Není nutné, aby autoři soutěžních programů byli osobně přítomni na kterékoliv ze zmíněných akcí – odměny budou poslány na jejich adresy nebo bankovní účty, které sdělí organizátorům. 2) Typy programů a jejich velikosti: Programy přihlášené do soutěže musí být některého z následujících typů: a) Hra, b) Aplikační program (nástroj, utilita, atd.) nebo c) Operační systém (DOS). Nejsou povoleny jakékoliv druhy demonstračních programů nebo inter, jakožto ani žádné betaverze nebo nedokončené ukázkové verze programů – programy musí být ve finální verzi. Z důvodu kompatibility je nutné, aby program fungoval na standardních počítačích Atari XL nebo XE (velikost paměti 64KB nebo 128KB typu Atari 130XE). Rozšiřující úpravy počítače mohou být podporovány, ale nesmí být povinně vyžadovány aby program běžel. Prověření kvality a kompatibility všech soutěžních příspěvků bude provádět ABBUC Software Ressort a všichni členové ABBUCu. 3) Formát a programovací jazyky: Programy do soutěže mohou být posílány na 5,25” Atari disketách nebo jako ATR-soubory, ale musí být v Single (90KB) nebo Enhanced (130KB) hustotě. Krom toho je vyžadována stručná dokumentace, která může být obsažena buďto přímo v programu, nebo jako samostatný textový soubor. Je důležité použít Německý nebo aspoň Anglický jazyk a v krátkosti vysvětlit jak se program spouští a ovládá. Program může být napsán v jakémkoliv Atari 8bit kompatibilním programovacím jazyce, ale nakonec musí být zkompilován tak, aby šel spustit bez nutnosti mít k dispozici cokoli dalšího. Jedinou výjimkou je povolení programů vyžadujících Atari Basic nebo Turbo Basic XL, neboť ty jsou používány všemi uživateli. Není třeba dodávat jakékoliv zdrojové kódy soutěžních programů – zcela stačí jen spustitelný soubor. Příjemné programování vám přeje ABBUC Software Ressort !! (CharlieChaplin / Andreas Magenheimer) Mail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zasady ABBUC-Software-Contest 2006: 1) Zasady generalne: Ostateczny termin składania prac do konkursu został ustalony na dzień 31 sierpnia 2006 (do północy). ABBUC zapewnia następujące nagrody: 1sze miejsce: 500 euro. 2gie miejsce: 250 euro. 3cie miejsce: 125 euro. 4te miejsce: 75 euro. 5te miejsce: 50 euro. ABBUC będzie miał prawo do publikacji programów zgłoszonych do konkursu w wydawanym przez siebie magazynie; prawa autorskie pozostają własnością autorów, którzy mogą dowolnie dysponować swoim dziełem po zakończeniu konkursu. Prezentacja prac będzie miała miejsce na imprezie Unconventional we wrześniu, oraz w magazynach ABBUCa, zaś decyzje i rozdanie nagród będą miały miejsce podczas dorocznego spotkania ABBUCa w październiku. Autorzy prac nie muszą być obecni na żadnej z tych imprez, nagroda będzie wysłana zwycięzcom pocztą lub na konto bankowe, zakładając, że ABBUC będzie posiadał te dane... 2) Typy i Rozmiary Programów: Programy zgłoszone na konkurs muszą należeć do jednej z kategorii: a) Gra, b) Aplikacja (również: Program Użytkowy, Narzędziowy itp.) lub c) System Operacyjny (DOS). Wszelkiego rodzaju dema/intra nie są dozwolone, nie są dopuszczalne również wszelkiego rodzaju wersje pre- i beta (program wystawiany do konkursu musi być ukończony). Dla zachowania kompatybilności program musi się uruchamiać przynajmniej na komputerach Atari XL lub XE, co znaczy: na standardowych maszynach z 64 lub 128 KB pamięci. Rozszerzenia sprzętowe i sprzęt dodatkowy może być obsługiwany, ale nie może być warunkiem uruchomienia programu. Wierzcie, lub nie, ale ABBUC Software Ressort, jak również członkowie ABBUCa sprawdzą "jakość" oraz "kompatybilność" wszystkich zgłoszonych prac... 3) Formaty i Języki: Programy zgłaszane na konkurs mogą być wysyłane jako dyskietki 5,25" lub pliki ATR, ale dopuszczalne są tylko gęstości pojedyncza i rozszerzona. Co więcej, praca musi posiadać krótką dokumentację, która może być umieszczona w samym programie, lub w dołączonym pliku tekstowym. Ponadto istotne jest użycie języka niemieckiego (lub w ostateczności przynajmniej angielskiego), oraz krótkie objaśnienie sposobu uruchamiania programu, żeby każdy mógł sobie poradzić z obsługą. Dopuszczone są wszystkie kompatybilne z Atari języki programowania, ale produkt ostateczny musi być skompilowany, aby można było program uruchomić nie posiadając tego języka programowania. Jedynym wyjątkiem są programy napisane w Atari Basicu oraz Turbo Basicu XL, które to posiada każdy użytkownik Atari. Dołączenie kodu źródłowego programu nie jest wymagane, wersja skompilowana i uruchamialna jest wystarczająca... Miłego programowania życzy ABBUC Software Ressort !! (CharlieChaplin / Andreas Magenheimer) Mail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reglamento del concurso de software ABBUC 2006 Reglas Generales: El plazo final de entrega es el 31 de agosto de 2006 a la medianoche. ABBUC entregará los siguientes premios: Primer Lugar: 500 euros. Segundo Lugar: 250 euros. Tercer Lugar: 125 euros. Cuarto Lugar: 75 euros. Quinto Lugar: 50 euros. Para todos los programas concursantes, ABBUC tendrá el derecho de publicarlo en su revista; los derechos seguirán con el autor, quien podrá usar su programa libremente después del concurso. La presentación de los programas tendrá lugar en la Feria No-Convencional de Septiembre y en las revistas ABBUC, donde la elección y premiación se realizará en la reunión anual ABBUC de Octubre. No hay necesidad que el autor esté presente en alguno de dichos eventos, ya que el premio puede ser enviado a la dirección postal del autor o bien a su cuenta de banco, siempre y cuando ABBUC tenga los datos correspondientes… Tipos de programa & tamaño: Los programas del concurso pueden ser de alguno de los siguientes tipos: Juego/s, Aplicación/es (como Herramientas, Utilitarios, etc.) y Sistemas Operativos (DOS) No se permite ningún tipo de demos o intros, así como ninguna versión beta o preview (lo que significa que dichos programas serán descalificados). Por razones de compatibilidad, el autor debe asegurarse que su programa funcionará en al menos en un computador Atari XL o XE, lo que significa máquinas estándar de 64 ó 128 kilobytes. Hardware adicional o extra puede ser utilizado, pero no debe ser un requerimiento poseer dicho hardware extra para que el programa funcione. Créanlo o no, pero tanto el organizador del evento como los miembros de ABBUC realizarán pruebas de "Calidad" y "Compatibilidad" para todos los programas concursantes… Formato y lenguajes: Los programas concursantes pueden ser enviados ya sea en disco(s) de 5¼ como en imagen(es) ATR, pero deben usar densidad SIMPLE (90k) o Aumentada (130k). Es más, el programa debe llevar una pequeña documentación, la cual puede ser incluida en el programa (internamente) o como una archivo de texto separado (externamente). Es importante que dicho texto se encuentre en alemán o al menos en inglés (y que explique brevemente cómo el programa debe ser cargado), de manera que cualquiera pueda utilizar el programa. Todo lenguaje de programación compatible con Atari 8bit está permitido, pero todos deben ser finalmente compilados, de modo que se pueda cargar el programa sin que se necesite poseer cierto lenguaje de programación en particular. Las únicas excepciones aquí son los listados programados en Atari Basic o Turbo Basic XL, dado que cualquier usuario Atari posee dichos lenguajes. Finalmente, no es necesario que nos envíen los códigos fuente de los programas en concurso, basta con se envíe el ejecutable final. ¡Mucha suerte en su programación! Les desea el equipo ABBUC. (CharlieChaplin / Andreas Magenheimer) ---------------------------------------------------------------- questions? mail to: software[at]abbuc[point]de greetings and thanks - Andreas Magenheimer.

Alas, the SAP-XE player by EPI is good - but not perfect... 1) memory usage: the PC program to generate & play SAP files assumes that on a 64k Atari all 64k are available for the sounds; since this is untrue, some SAP sounds use memory locations that are unavailable on a real Atari (e.g. the I/O-ports) and thus cannot be played with the SAP-XE player (you simply cannot use all 64k on a real A8). Next the SAP-XE player requires some RAM itself and thus a few more sounds will not playback... well, you have to live with that !! 2) DIRectory: the SAP-XE player does not have a directory option; since there are approx 2000 SAP files available, try to remember all their filenames !! Well, it would be nice to have an update with a dir. option included... 3) memory requirements: the doc. file of the SAP-XE player says, that the program requires 128k RAM - untrue !! I tested this on a real 130XE computer with 128k RAM and the SAP-XE player does not work there !! In fact, the program requires 128k XRAM or a total of 192k RAM (64k RAM + 128k eXtra RAM)... Well, it would be nice to have a player for 64k or at least 128k computers (192k is a little too much)... At the moment I am converting 1800 SAP files to the A8. so far I have downloaded all of them, renamed all of the SAP files to 8.3 filenames and tested / checked approx. 1200 files if they play correct on a real A8. Think that less than 100 files did not play (and most of them were long files, especially digitized/sampled sounds)... So, Epi`s player is really good, but I would still like to see a small update for 128k machines and of course a Dir. option included... -Andreas.

Hmm, my suggestion to Atarimania (or any other Atari stuff page / A8 database): Why not give a hint or a list of similar games ?!? Meaning, one may search for "Vanax/Vanadium" (or whatever it is called) and somewhere in the database he not only gets the download, scans, etc. but also an info for similar games, like Mirax force, The last Guardian, Oxygene, ... Factor, Thunderfox, etc. Ok, for some games / titles this list would get very big (think of Pong, Breakout, Tetris, Pacman, ... clones and conversions) but other titles would be quite small. Maybe one should list only similar commercial games (and not all the PD versions, but only well-known (ML) ones) then... just a thought. You know, sometimes a) someone likes a game or a game-style - and then it would be nice to find similar games (of the same style)... b) someone is searching for a game he played in the past (quite often here at AA) and gives some description - forum readers give some answers, he then can search for one or two games and download all similar games to test (for himself) which one matches 100% his description or memory... Beware - I am not talking about genres here, because they usually tend to grow much too big (genres like: arcade, action, platform, jump and run, shooter-games, sport-games, board-games, text-adventures, graphic-adventures, role-playing-games, thinking/logical-games, ...), my idea has more to do with similar game-styles, like the mentioned Pong, Breakout, Tetris, Pacman, Uridium, (real) Chess, Checkers, Action-Chess, Boinxx/Boing, Boulder Dash, Kaiser / Safry-Land, Marble Madness / Mad Marbles, Lemmings, Dynablaster, Reaxxion, etc. with a few exceptions of small genres, like Olympic Games, Racing games, Soccer games, (Ice-)Hockey games, Football games, Baseball games, Soccer Manager(s), etc. Maybe I can put together some list in the next few days or weeks, just to make a start... but only if you are interested (or if you think this is a good/useful idea)... greetings, Andreas Magenheimer.

Well, beware - there is another game from Tynesoft called "Winter Olympics". This is not the same as Winter Challenge / Winter Olympiad 88. where the latter has great gfx, Winter Olympics is programmed for a 32k Atari (most probably a 400 or 800 Atari in mind), uses simple gfx and recycles background gfx for several events... Otherwise said, WC / WO 88 is great, Winter Olympics (32k) is not... Last not least one question: Was Atari Olympics an official / commercial release (or planned as a commercial release) ?!? Maybe stolen by pirates / hackers / crackers (and thus never finished) ?!? Or was it a program made just for fun ?!? Well, the game is unfinished, crashes at the end and so far it is the only olympic game for max. 1 player and last not least it does not save any scores... On the other side the game is funny, playing with a baby or a robot or an alien or a grandpa (with a stick) as a main character... -Andreas Magenheimer.

Hmm, my sport favorites on the A8 are: - Summer Games (cart.) - Track & Field (cart.) - Decathlon (cart.) - Winter Challenge / Winter Olympiad 88 (disks) - Major League Hockey (Thorn EMI cart.) - Soccer (Thorn EMI cart.) - Leaderboard Golf (disk) - Slingshot (Atari UK tape) - BW Golfer (PD game by Bewesoft) - Atari Soccer / Realsports Soccer (converted from the 5200) and about motor sports: - Pitstop (cart. by Epyx, simple gfx, great gameplay) - GACCRR (disk by Activision, in the UK on tape by Silverbird) hmm, some call Chess a sport game, so here are my favorite chess games: - Colossus Chess 3 and 4 (disk and tape) - Chessmaster 2000 (disk) - (Odesta) Chess 7.0 (disk) - Parker Chess (cart) - Sargon 1, 2 and 3 (cart and disks) - Querg Chess (a PD program in ML) ---------------------------------------------------------- Some uncool sport games: - Olympia (an olympic game progr. in atari Basic, very slow, very simple, bad controls, bad gfx, etc. - just a type-in listing) - Winter Olympics by Tynesoft (tape and disk, simple gfx, recycling of gfx for many events, etc.) - Atari Olympics (a somehow funny but unfinished game, one player only, no scores, looks like a pirate copy of an unfinished and never completed game...) - many soccer games (European super soccer, fantastic soccer, kick off, ... because of their simple or sometimes bad gfx, bad controls, etc.) - Speed Ace (a motorbike race, cool gfx, bad controls and much too slow) - Atari Chess (oh well, what a bad/stupid computer opponent) - Mastertronic chess (also a bad/stupid computer opponent) - Chess from Compute! Mag. (a type-in-listing, it does not check for illegal moves and has a stupid computer opponent; funny: the gfx look similar to Parker Chess!) - Death Race (oh well how bad this was...) - Speed Run (good gfx, but boring) - ... Taladega (bad gfx, bad controls, simply a bad game!) - Pitstop 2 (great gfx, but extremely slow and a stupid computer opponent that never reaches/drives the highest speed and thus always loses...) - Flight Sim. 2 (good gfx, but a very slow program, dozens of keyboard commands and alas the reactions of keyboard commands are very slowww...) -------------------------------------------------------------- more than enough said... -Andreas Magenheimer.

Well, I am talking about a dream here... maybe someone (Songbird ?!? anyone else ?!?) can make it come true. Since a lot of Jaguar owners don`t have a CD-ROM unit, it would be very nice to have some Jag-Cd games on cart. IS 2 is a good example of what is possible... I am thinking about the following games: - Hoverstrike U.L. (better than the original cart!) - World Tour Racing - Blue Lightning - Battlemorph - Baldies - and maybe some more games... If one (really cool programmer) could a) remove all movies / cinepak sequences / animations and b) remove most still pictures (especially in WTC) and maybe c) reduce the levels or missions (especially in Hoverstrike U.L., maybe also in Blue Lightning) this would *maybe* be possible... Think that the mentioned five games are not that big in size (or resolution) that they would not fit on a cartridge... Of course none of the Adventures (Myst, Highlander, Dragons Lair, Braindead 13, Space Ace) nor the music-video-puzzle-game (Vid Grid) would fit on cartridge... Now the question is: a) is it possible to convert these five (or more) CD games to cart. and much more important b) who can do it ?!? greetings, Andreas Magenheimer.

Hmm, I would like to see: - Super Mario Bros. clone - Sonix clone - R-type clone - Prince of Persia clone (meaning part 1 for the old 386 and 486 Pc`s, programmed by the same guy as Karateka) - some F1 racing game (maybe like a "checkered flag" type from the Lynx) with realistic/realtime opponents (no random computer opponents), tournement mode, approx. 8 tracks, point system (like in a F1 race) greetings, Andreas magenheimer.

Yep, but new drivers for other devices like floppy, HDD, etc. will not be available for the USBcart. Instead the USB team is working on another project: the SIO2USB... For this project they will connect an USB device to the Atari SIO port. It is similar to the SIO2IDE project, but it will be much cooler. There will be no need (unlike SIO2IDE) to always defrag the harddisk when adding a new disk image (and complete defragmentation of the SIO2IDE HD can only be done on the PC, thus SIO2IDE is a little *awkward*). The SIO2USB will use a small pcb with a LCD on it, where one can choose any kind of ATR (or XFD) image. This image can have any size, up to the maximum 16megabytes. There can be as many images on the USB stick, as there is storage-space (memory) available. And the SIO2USB will not use any memory of your A8 computer, it works on any A8 computer and every disk image can be booted with it, no matter if the image is a bootdisk or contains any files. Also the density (SD, DD, HD, Hd partition) does not matter and the DOS format (DOS 2, 3, 4, Sparta, etc.) also does not matter. In other words: The SIO2USB works like APE or SIO2PC, but this time all your images are loaded directly from/to the Atari and the PC is not required any longer... At the moment, the USB team is using an USB-stick with the SIO2USB device, future plans are to use an USB harddisk (and maybe also an USB CD/DVD-ROM) with it. Of course the USB device uses FAT-16, so it can be read and written with the PC, but the provided pcb makes it usable for the A8 (the LCD is there to choose a certain image and to avoid using any memory of the A8). Besides, the USB device can contain any data (PC data, ATR images, etc.) and it still works ok for the A8 and the PC... So, in my eyes the USB cart is not that useful... it looks like there are no other plans than using the USBcart to connect PC joysticks, pads, mice, steering wheels, etc. to the A8. For me, the SIO2USB project is much more interesting, alas, they are still alpha - or beta testing... -Andreas Magenheimer.

Nope, a friend of mine bought the MIO at a local flea market, alas with no software. Since I also do not have any software for the MIO, that`s the reason why I ask... -Andreas.

Well, think I already described the problem (of not releasing the ABBUC Software contest programs) here... it`s as easy as that... ABBUC members pay money for their membership. a part of this money is used to pay the prizes for the ABBUC software contest... so, the programs appear on the ABBUC magazine... As of yet we do not upload all the contest programs, since we would get a lot of complaints from ABBUC members who pay money for their membership. (something like "Why do I have to pay money for these programs, when Internet users can get them for free...?" ). On the other hand we do allow the authors of these programs to publish, upload or release these programs where-ever they want... But please understand, that we cannot make a homepage where one can download all software contest programs for free (except the ABBUC download page which is restricted to ABBUC members only)... greetings, Andreas Magenheimer.

Well, afaik BW tape was only? used to convert BW-DOS (yes, DOS - Disk Operating System) onto tape and load it from there with some added / changed functions... another tape copier / tape converter mentioned here might be the Happy Turtle Copy... (I never used it, but it might be useful too)... -Andreas Magenheimer P.S.: PPS - can you send me a copy of this Happy Turtle Copy, please ?!?

Well, in my opinion the DJ packer(s) and Code Cruncher(s) are the best packers up to date. But afaik, Numen and other demos used even better packers (ZIP or similar routines)... If you wanna use turbo tape loaders via software only, I know of three programs that can do this: 1) File Copier 3.x - copies a diskfile to tape (and vice versa); has a 37kbytes buffer; can use standard 600 baud or "faster" 800 baud; The tape can be loaded in the normal way then, e.g. with a standard tape loader for *.COM / *.EXE / *.XEX files (non-boot-tapes), like BLC or COS or other tape file loaders; 2) Speed Tape by german magazine Computer Kontakt; this is a basic program that converts a diskfile into tape format (don`t know if it still uses file-format or if it produces a boot-tape); the manual says it saves with approx. 1000 baud but leaves the gaps unchanged; since it uses Basic, I guess the buffer is <32kbytes (minus the program)... 3) CBAUD: another type in program by german Atari Magazin; uses a Basic program to convert a normal tape from 600 baud into 1200 baud format and a *.COM / *.CAS file to load in the 1200 baud turbo tape; afaik the maximum program length (for loader and converter) is somewhere in the 30-37kbytes range ... (Or another tape copy/tape converter program that was mentioned here...) So, let`s imagine you still wanna save some A8 game onto tape today and load it with a software based turbo, you can a) pack the game with a good packer (and append the depacker to it) and also b) save it with 800, 1000 or even 1200 baud and load it with a normal or special loader. there is no hardware upgrade for the tape drive required then... But as always: We western Atarians prefer disk-based software !!! -Andreas Magenheimer.

Hello Raster, your Ramcart won only the 3rd place, sorry for that. But I guess this happened, because the completely new Turbo Freezer not only has the well known freezer abilities but is also able to emulate various Atari carts (4k, 8k, 16k, OSS bankswitching, Sparta X cart, Atari S/XEGS bankswitching). The new Turbo Freezer will be available as an XL PBI upgrade as well as an XE PBI upgrade (meaning CART + ECI port; there is another cart. port on the pcb of the XE version available). And last not least there will be a 128k and a 512k version of the turbo Freezer and one can order it soon. So, as far as I can see the new Turbo Freezer has all your S/XEGS Ramcart options plus more (but I might be wrong)... I do not understand, why the USB cart made the 2nd place. As of yet it is only a stupid cart., useful to connect some "PC joysticks" (sticks, pads, wheels, etc.) to an XL/XE computer and play a few patched games (Pole Position, Boulder Dash, etc.) with it... Nevertheless I do hope you will get a Turbo Freezer for free from ABBUC (or I will buy one for Krupkaj and one for you!) - and maybe then you will be so kind and write/patch some software for it, to use the extra RAM as a kind of Ramdisk (since as of yet one can only use it to freeze programs and/or emulate normal and bankswitching carts)... greetings, Andreas Magenheimer.

Well, does anyone have some software for the MIO ?!? I mean original software (drivers and such) by ICD and/or PD software ... ?!? If so, please send me a copy... greetings and thanks - Andreas Magenheimer.

Heya Folks, what about some downloads of your mentioned A8 games here ?!? And err, Wrathchild - have you ever continued your work on the A8 version of Elite ?!? Well, I never programmed anything since I cannot program. When my brother and me "bought" an 800XL in 1984 (it was meant to be an XMAS gift, but since it was so expensive we had to pay a little extra money), my brother programmed or re-programmed some games in Atari Basic. Afaik he changed "Magic Fire" in such a way, the player got invisible when walking downwards (which made the game easier to play). He updated an adventure-action game by correcting some print errors and adding two or more screens (in that game one had to move from the begin of the screen to the end; in the screen there were one or more invisible traps, so you got killed when you entered it for the first time; it was some kind of brain-trainer: remember the invisible traps...alas, I do not remember the name of this Basic game anymore...) Last not least he started programming a text adventure. It was based on tales (or ferry tales), like Cinderella, Snowwhite and such. One had to walk through a magic forest and help to correct "bugs" or mistakes of a certain tale. Or one had to help the main (tale-) figure to fullfill his/her task... Alas, all games were saved on tape and got lost due to defective tapes (all tapes were defective after approx. 5 years - even the backup tapes)... -Andreas Magenheimer

Well, it's not like the XL/XE's can't do smooth diagonal scrolling (take Blue Max for instance). Were they in such a hurry to get it done, or what? I can't imagine that they would look at this game before sending it out for production, and think that everything was fine. Were they on drugs? It seems like you would have to be on drugs to actually play it. This can be safely filed under the "headache-ware" section of the Atari library. 960965[/snapback] Afaik, the programmer(s) did send a lot of (alpha, beta, ...) versions and a lot of updates to Atari. Alas, Atari was so stupid to burn the wrong version. When the programmer told them, the ROMs were already burned, so Atari did not care anymore... -Andreas.

Hello Folks, here are the results of the ABBUC software contest 2005... 1st place: Cubico by Fandal, points: 383, prize: 500 Euro 2nd place: Monex by Mato Simi, points: 364, prize: 250 Euro 3rd place: Laser Blaster by Mato Simi, points: 357, prize: 125 Euro 4th place: Joe`s Adventure by Piotr Wisniewski, points: 337, prize: 75 Euro 5th place: Stroq by Carsten Strotmann and Winfried Piegsda, points: 323, prize: 50 Euro --------------------------------- 6th place: Cervi 2 by Raster / Radek Sterba, points 321 7th place: Xunzip 2.0 by Epi, points 309 8th place: Inglenook Rangier Puzzle by Florian Dingler, points: 266 9th place: Outside Adventure by Thorsten Helbing, points: 245 10th place: Französische Wörter 2 by Dieter Gretzschel, points: 234 11th place: Waseo Inhalts Kreator by Thorsten Helbing, points: 216 12th place: Fly over Floor by Thorsten Helbing, points: 203 As one can see, the czech and polish atarians reserved good places. And it was (and still is) allowed to send in more than one program for the contest. ABBUC decided to make another software contest 2006. The deadline has not been set yet, but we will inform everyone as soon as we know. The rules will be still the same (only the deadline will change)... greetings and thanks - Andreas Magenheimer.

Well, so now I have to bomb you with dozens, err, hundreds of e-mails every day, just to give enough feedback to you... alright, just joking. Still I am gonna miss you and I would have liked to see SMB being finished, it was such a promising project. I never was very interested in that "Hardsynth" subject and I am still not interested. But maybe, besides my disliking of emkay`s sounds, it is just that nowadays sound-makers create only two genres of sounds: 1) conversions from "then" popular games/demos/computers (like C64, Amiga, ST) and 2) awful techno, rave, house, acid sounds. Me, I would like to hear some good A8 conversions (done with RMT, MPT, TMC or whatever) of old Rock and Pop music from the 60`s, 70`s and 80`s. Maybe other Atarians would favorize classic, jazz, ... music, I don`t know... Besides, I guess, that the polish coders do mostly ignore the A8 scene outside of poland. They simply don`t care much about coders outside of poland and they usually do not give a lot of feedback. For atari-area it is quite usual that someone writes something in english language, gets 1 or 2 answers in english and 10-12 non-understandable answers in polish language (and quite a lot of them are rude). E.g. when I informed the polish scene about the ABBUC software contest, lots of people replied with "something" negative about ABBUC and its stupid / amateurish programmers, etc. (only a few really cared about the subject)... so I guess, unless you make a cool megademo with lots of graphical effects and lots of cool sounds, you will not be registered in the polish scene as a good A8 programmer... but that`s just my point of view... Nevermind, life goes on, Atari life goes on... life seriously, Atari life as a hobby... -Andreas Magenheimer.