CharlieChaplin

Nope, the game features 500 levels !! The extra level disk "Gauntlet deeper dungeons" features 500 more levels, ouch... Boot Gauntlet without Basic, however if you happen to have the level disk and want to play the new levels, then boot Deeper Dungeons first with Basic and then boot Gauntlet (no more need to disable basic then)... -andreas.

Well, if you merely want the program with fewer segments (or only 1 segment + RUN adress), try to remove the RUN adress and then save a copy. Next load the program without the RUN adress into RAM, then goto DOS and binary save it, using the first segment as start adress and the last segment as end adress. Then add the RUN adress again... Ok, most likely the program overwrites DOS, then try using a) a shorter DOS (with a lower memlo, like sparta, XL-DOS, etc.) or b) any kind of monitor to do so... Since I am not familiar with using monitors, I cannot help you here... but QMEG-OS and its freezer + monitor will help you to do so... -Andreas.

Well, how about the 1) tight flashpacker ?!? It packs unlimited segments into one packed segment + init adress. alas, this packer also has its limitations, meaning a max. size of 30kbytes for the program, the program must not use init adresses and finally the packed version has to be stored as a copy in RAM (there must be enough free space for the packed program, e.g. if a program uses adresses 2000-6000, one can use adresses 6001-BFFF or better 6100-BBFF for the packed copy; the copy must not use part of the original memory of the unpacked program)... 2) Magnus Cruncher 5.x (or older versions) also allows almost unlimited number of segments; alas, the packer does not allow init adresses and has up to 7 different packing processes (meaning if packing step 1 fails or the packed program does not run afterwards, try step 2, etc.) 3) Code 3 Cruncher 2.x or 3.x: unlimited number of segments, some kind of update to the Magnus Cruncher, now partially allows init adresses (if they work as final RUN adress it is ok, otherwise these inits will be removed or not be executed)... the above three packers pack the whole program, thus one can "save" some segments. There are also segment-packers, they pack every single segment and thus add more segments to the program: 4) Fast Packer by SRU: packs extremely fast (faster and better/shorter than T.Karwoth packers) but is not very efficient, compared to other packers (the same counts for the T.K. packers). Uses page 4 for depacking, so the original program must not use page 4. The packer can load very long programs, since it packs segmently, it can also split segments (that are longer than 32kbytes) and still depack & run them (good as a pre-packer for Superpacker and Dj-Packer, if the files or segments are longer than 30kbytes)... 5) DJ-Packer: exists in two versions, one uses PAges 1+4 for depacking, the other one uses Pages 5+6; the packing efficiency is equal for both packers (only the depacking buffers differ). The DJ packer packs segmently and thus adds more segments to any packed program. It crashes if a segment is longer than 32-37kbytes (have not found the exact length yet), therefore use the Fast-PAcker as a kind of pre-packer; example: Speedmatter, a Tron clone from the ABBUC PD library, unpacked 279 sectors, one segment + RUN adress; too long for Superpacker and Flashpacker; crashes when trying to pack with DJ-Packer; solution: load the Fastpacker and pack it down to 165 sectors, next load the DJ-Packer (version which uses page 5+6) and pack this shorter version into 120 sectors. The final version is now packed twice, more than 50% shorter and still unpacks + runs fine... All these newer packers are collected on one ATR image (older packers, shrinkers, compressors, etc. are collected on 3 ATR images), e-mail me if you are interested and/or need some short manuals (since the usage of some of these packers is not so easy) to help you get along... -Andreas Magenheimer.

Well, simply e-mail me and I will return a zipped ATR image with the Repair Station, as well as other Basic listing deprotectors... Besides, I have found some other kind of Basic listing protection: Normally a Basic screen has space for 38-40 chars. Some of my Basic programs appear to have only 20 chars (or less) per line. You can list them without any problem (though some of the lines are empty and there are more than 3 lines quite often). BUT, you cannot edit these programs in any way, meaning you cannot change them. I tried a Poke 82,x and Poke 83,x but this did not help, the program still listed with 20 (or less) chars per line. whenever I tried to edit (change) a certain line an Error occured. So, whats that kind of protection ?!? How can one remove it ?!? None of the Basic listing deprotectors I have could remove or alterr this kind of protection... -Andreas.

Well, I do also own most of the mentioned UK based menus. Besides I do own some DOS 2 compatible gamedos versions (menuloaders), like Nanodos, micro-DOs, Picodos, MypicoDOS, US Init., and many others. if interested e-mail me and I will return some zipped ATR images to you... Andreas Magenheimer. P.S.: ABBUC also has a disk in their PD library full of ML and/or Basic menu loaders. visit www.abbuc.de (als, I cannot remember the Pd number)...

Well, would "The Repair Station" help here ?!? It can unprotect list-protected Basic programs and also replace variables... -andreas.

Hello Chris, below is an example of a DOS with internal ultraspeed drivers. I also added MyDOS with external ultraspeed (and XF highspeed) driver. These external drivers can be used under any slow DOS as well (DOS 2.0, 2.5, etc.) but: they require RAM under the OS and they do not like Ramdisk drivers or software that manipulates $d301 in some way... -Andreas.

Well, as already written on atari-area site the ABBUC demos you mention require only 320k RAM. They work ok on an original Atari with 320k RAM and Compyshop (or compatible) RAM upgrade. alas, these demos seem not to work correct on the emulator, when set to 320k RAM, but thats a bug of the emulator, not of the demos... -Andreas.

Well, I would limit the program to playback only 8bit waves (one can convert the 16 bit waves on the PC a little faster) on the A8 with 6bit quality. Concerning DOS 2 ultraspeed, well there are several DOS 2 versions out there, that have already US built-in. Next there is a file called "ultraspeed.com" or so by Bob Woolley which installs US for any DOS 2 derivative. Alas, this little tool uses RAM under the OS and will only work on XL/XE computers and programs that do not use the rAM under the OS... -Andreas.

Well, I guess this also depends on the game and if it uses full screen gfx or only part of the screen. I do remember "Wall Tetris" which uses Gr. 15 RGB mode. The game flickers, but since it only uses part of the screen (and the tetris tiles/icons are relatively small) the flickering is not so heavy and in my eyes acceptable. I guess such a flicker mode could also (have been) done to Jelly Beans, since it also uses only part of the screen... On the other hand, graphic adventures with full screen gfx and flickering would hurt the eyes... just my two (euro-) cents... -andreas.

Well, and here are some CIN sample pix to enjoy. Maybe with the help of Lepix one could correct the one or two destroyed/corrupted CIN pix... -Andreas.

Hello folks, here are some INT and INP sample pix - most likely not painted with the Lepix program. Anyway enjoy them... -Andreas.

Hmm, alas I cannot comment on the 1088k upgrades, since I merely have a 576k upgrade... Well, 512k XRAM means that the selftest and built-in Basic are still there and there is no need to worry about them... So, maybe it would be good to support the following upgrades (assuming OS is on and Basic is off): - 48k or better 64k based machines (800/XL/XE), - 128k computers (like 130XE) with banks E3,E7,EB,EF; - 192k computers with banks A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF; - 256k computers with banks A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,Eb,EF; - 320k computers with banks 83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF, E3,E7,EB,EF; (Newell, TOMS, Atari mag., Buchholz, Rambo, etc.) - 320k computers with banks 23,27,2B,2F,63,67,6B,6F, A3,A7,AB,AF, E3, E7,EB, EF; (Compyshop XL, Compyshop XE, Megaram 1, 2 and 3) These six settings would be more than enough. Keep in mind how long it takes to load a 200k sound from disk... and it requires a DSDD drive; thus 320k total memory and 360k disk density would be more than enough for me... It looks like the Compyshop (and Megaram) RAM upgrades are the most common here in Germany, whereas Newell (TOMS and Rambo) are the most common upgrades elsewhere... -Andreas.

Oh, for those that are interested, here is "The sound Utility" program (a *.WAV and *.DIG player) by Tom Hunt and some sample WAV files... in Sparta/Bewe-DOS format... -Andreas.

Alas, it looks like all your disks are manipulated (or corrupt) in some way. When booting the disk, one will not notice it, the program loads, stops after a while and then plays the PCM/WAV sound. but when trying to copy the files to another disk you get an error 164. When fixed with diskfix, you soon find out, that the soundfile has a length of 580-600 single sectors... well, I did this fix, so now you can load the whole sound and/or copy it to another disk... Next question, how about programming a universal PCM/WAV player ?!? Meaning with input/load routine, a directory option and of course a playback routine (and maybe also a quit to menu / dir. function and a exit to DOS/DUP function)... That would be very nice. A similar program, called "The sound Utility" by Tom Hunt already exists, but it works only bug-free under sparta or Bewe-DOS (and has many bugs under DOS 2). Last not least it is only 4bit playback... -Andreas.

Hello folks, this year ABBUC is also doing a hardware contest. And here are the rules... -Andreas. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABBUC e. V. “Hardware Contest 2005” Name of Participant: _____________________________________________________ Street, Nr.: _____________________________________________________ Zip-Code, City: _____________________________________________________ Country: _____________________________________________________ Phone Number: _____________________________________________________ Email: _____________________________________________________ Hardware description: _____________________________________________________ (brief & short) _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ My hardware should be registered for the following contest (please mark): • ”best Hardware 2005” • ”best Hardware in development” By signing the registration sheet, permission is given to publish the delivered documents for the purpose of distribution to all clubmembers (in the clubmagazine). The participant declares his acceptance, that his name, his adress and all belonging hardware documents and files of the contest will be released club internally for non-commercial purposes. He declares hereby, that no rights of third parties (of the contents), the delivered product respectively will be violated in any way. Any offence leads to the exclusion of the contest. The participant sets the organizer (ABBUC e.V.) free from any juridical claims of possible copyright violations. With this sign, the participant confirms to have read and understood the following contest rules. Furthermore, the participant accepts the following contest rules and verifies his notification for the contest: Date/Sign: _________________ / _______________________________________________ Please print this contest sheet and send it (filled-in and signed) via mail or fax to: ABBUC e. V. Ressort Hardware c/o Andreas Mischka Pfarrstr. 7 D-89165 Dietenheim GERMANY E-Mail: [email protected] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1 Contest: To promote the development of new hardware for the Atari 8Bit systems, ABBUC e.V. organizes a hardware contest. The rules and conditions for an unconditional german capitulation, err, for the participation at the contest are fixed in the following points: 1.2 Awards/Prizes: (Emmies, Grammies, Oscars & Golden Globes) The following prizes will be given at the annual ABBUC meeting (JHV) 2005:  main prize "best hardware 2005"  extra prize "best hardware 2005 in development" 1.3 Contest Rules: 1.3.1 Quality check: The hardware which should participate at the contest must be given to the hardware ressort leader to make some pre-tests for admission to the contest. The tests will check the documented quality of the hardware that is ready for production. The sending of at least one fully-functional product must take place after an agreement with the leader of the hardware ressort. After the contest / the annual ABBUC meeting (JHV) in October, the hardware will be returned to its owner. 1.3.2 Preliminary Conditions: Allowed for the contest is/are only hardware/upgrades for the Atari 8Bit computer family (600XL, 800XL, 65XE, 130XE). We do allow a) any hardware/upgrades for the computers and b) independant hardware peripherals. Modifications of already existent (hardware-) developments are excluded from participation. Furthermore, the participant must guarantee, that special software (operating systems, computer languages, applications ) is not absolutely required to use the hardware, except that the software is included with the contest hardware and free of any rights of third parties. In special cases the leader of the hardware ressort (in collaboration with the chief of the club) will decide of an admission or exclusion. 1.4 Notification / Admission conditions: • sending of a fully-functional hardware / upgrade and complete documents, schematics, manuals, etc. for admittance to ”best hardware 2005” (see also 1.5 deadline!) • sending of complete schematics and documents and manuals, etc. (e.g. a prototype) for admittance to ”best hardware 2005 in development”. • readable + understandable documentation and manual of the hardware in german or english. • min.3 photos in digital form (with a min. resolution of 1024*768dpi, 24Bit color - a little bit more than the Atari 8Bit can do...) • The delivered hardware (respectively software) must be free of any rights of third parties. Any sendings, where a violation of copyright can not be excluded without doubt, will NOT take part at the contest. The (hardware-) models that are allowed for participating will be shown to the club members with a functional description and photos in the ABBUC magazine. 1.5 Deadline: The participating contest hardware and/or schematics, documentations, manuals, etc. for both categories (“best hardware” and “best hardware in development”) must be sent in to the leader of the pack, err, the leader of the hardware ressort until August 15th, 2005 for testing / checking. Any hardware and/or schematics, documents, manuals, etc. that has/have been sent too late for testing / checking will NOT take part in the hardware contest. 1.6 Presentation of the Hardware: The hardware / upgrades will be presented at the annual ABBUC meeting (JHV) in October by its author/developer or a representative. If the author/developer is absent at this meeting and did not name any representative, then the leader of the hardware ressort will present the hardware instead. 1.7 Publication of Winners: The winners will be found (out) at the annual ABBUC meeting (JHV) in October. The voting will be made with a voting sheet. It is also possible to vote via post/snail-mail. The voting sheet will be given to every club member with the ABBUC magazine that is published one month before the annual meeting. The Deadline for the voting via post/snail-mail has been set to October 20th, 2005. 1.8 Prizes: The prize for the ”best hardware 2005” has been set to EURO 500,00 (five-hundred). The special prize for the ”best hardware 2005 in development” has been set to EURO 100,00 (one-hundred). 1.9 Final Conditions: Any juridical way is excluded. A right of the participant(s) to perform the contest does not exist. Should one category not get a prize, then the prize will go back to ABBUC e.V. Alterations and Errors reserved or better: All rights reserved ! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, the game "The Brundles" was a great Lemmings clone by KE-Soft in 1994 with 100 levels (and 3 ED disk sides). Afaik, there exist several Lemmings demos, made by Datri, HMC and probably K-Soft. It is very nice to see that the final version is now available. More Lemmings clones ?!? Grab the game Tommingi (file version by Tomek Boriego or so; uses only grayscales, but original PC levels!) and Lemmingi (a boot disc with approx. 20-25 levels) made by some demo coders... And er, just as a good joke, with some fantasy, the Mastertronic game "One Man and his droid" can also be counted as a kind of extremely simple Lemmings clone... -Andreas.

Alas, YAKF does not work on a real Atari !! tested it on a 320k and a 576k Atari and it always crashed while loading... looks like this version merely works on an emulator... oh well... IK+ is dead. The authors are no longer coding that game (ripping the gfx was easy, but implementing the AI was not, so they gave up)... -Andreas.

Heya, this sounds great. Once upon along ago there already was a *.WAV player by Tom Hunt (called The Sound Utility). but it was made especially for Sparta DOS and did not work well under DOS 2.x types. Next one had (and still has) to convert 16bit Wav`s into 8Bit (otherwise the program would not load them) and when listening to them on the A8 they were played with only 4Bit of course... So, I am gonna test your program at home and see if it works better and easier for me. By the way, Tom`s program supported up to 1088k RAM, yours too ?!? greetings - Andreas.

Well, attached are the games Boing, Jump and Let`s Hop so everyone can compare these games to Boinxx... -Andreas.

ooops, a while back someone said "RMT -share your works". Well, I have not written any RMT sound, but collected everything I found so far. And here is my small RMT collection... -Andreas.

Well, afaik Compyshop and Frankenstein of the HTT released Mouse drivers that work in the VBI... have them at home... (maybe with sources too)... greetings, Andreas.

Yep, some ABBUC members (HiasSoft for instance) are working on a re-release of the Turbo-Freezer, with new features like an approx. 32k Eeprom and 512k Flash-Eprom... ABBUC will announce it when they are ready to order... -Andreas.

Well, at least SCRAM is also available as a german version by Atari Deutschland. When Atari was situated in Hamburg they also released many other A8 games, which are well known here in Germany but almost unknown in other countries (games like Karriere, Schloss des Grauens, Olympia Lexicon, etc.). Looks like Atari France just did the same... -Andreas.

Well, sorry if I sound a little negative - but we already have some games of this genre (games with the same gameplay). As far as I can remember they are: Jump!, Spaceball, Hyperball, Boing (all Public Domain) and last not least Boing 2 (commercial)... Looks like Atari programmers always do the same kind of games... the 1k mini compo featured micro-dash, lets see how many boulder dash games and clones I already have in my collection. Maybe your next game will be a clone of Pong, Break Out, Pacman, Boulder Dash, Tetris, Dynakillers / Dynablasters or some other game we already have dozens of clones and conversions of... -Andreas. P.S.: As of yet there has not been any conversion of Space Harrier, so Sheddy was/is really doing something new on the A8... the ABBUC software contest 2005 (and 2006, 2007, ...) is waiting for you Sheddy...