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CharlieChaplin

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Posts posted by CharlieChaplin

  2. Posted

    Well,

    I guess that AR - The dungeon works on Atari 800. It is only a guess, since I do not own an Atari 800, I have an 800XL with a) original 800XL Os and b) good old Atari 800 OS. When I load AR the Dungeon with the XL Os, it says something like "64k mode" and loads the game. When I switch to the 800 OS, the screen says something like "48k mode" and also loads the game... and if you happen to have a 128k machine (130XE or compatible) it will show "128k mode" and also load the game.

     

    The difference between the 64k and 128k mode is clear: in the 128k mode the main program is loaded into the extra RAM (or Ramdisk) and is always there after a disk-swap. Whereas in the 64k mode the main program has to be loaded from disk, meaning when you leave a shop (or something) you have to swap disks again, to load the main program from disk... Have not found out yet the difference between the 48k and 64k mode though... -Andreas.

  3. Posted

    well,

    I guess this program describes what Gamelink 1 (by dataque) does. It links two Ataris together via the Joystick ports. One atari acts as the master, the other Atari as a slave which boots (very fast) from the master system. alas, only two games were made for Gamelink 1 (Tic Tac two and Battleships). Later Dataque developed a new Gamelink-2 system which works via the SIO ports and links 2-8 Ataris together. For this technique we already have 4 or five games available...

     

    Alas, the gamelink hardware has one big disadvantage: the software must be programmed in a special way to work with the gamelink network, i.e. the program must contain code to boot from another Atari computer which is not very easy to make... All other software that is not programmed especially for the gamelink network simply will not work with it - and concerning the printed program here, I guess it has much likely the same problem... -Andreas.

  4. Posted

    Well,

    your screenshots look great...!!! hopefully the game will once be available for the A8... Besides, there once was a Battlestar Galactica ML file in a german magazine (by Tronic Verlag). It was programmed by Carsten Reitz, the game is PD now, but in my eyes it is quite awful and unplayable. If you are interested in a copy, let me know... -Andreas.

  5. Posted

    Em er,

    well - can somebody please send me a copy of the color version (gr. 15 / PAL) of PCS ?? It looks like the boards created with the color version of PCS cannot be loaded with the mono version (I always get Error 136 or Error 164)... And as you all know, the color version (Gr. 15) is only available as a pirate copy (there exists no original version of it, e.g. the original version is only mono)... greetings, Andreas.

     

    P.S.: Send the color version of PCS to amp#abbuc*de (where # is @ and * is .)

  6. Posted

    Hello folks,

    here is a little Atari Ramdisk / extra RAM overview (still incomplete) and some examples,, what programs support or require a Ramdisk / extra RAM:

     

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

     

    Subject 8.10: Atari 800/XL/XE extra RAM / Ramdisk Overview:

    (Version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.)

     

    A) Atari 400/800 Ramdisks:

     

    - Size: 64k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

    Banks: 0 thru 3 (total memory = 96k RAM)

    Types: Axlon (=Atari) and compatibles;

     

    - Size: 128k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

    Banks: 0 thru 7 (total memory = 160k RAM)

    Types: Axlon (= Atari) and compatibles;

     

    - Size: 256k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

    Banks: 0 thru 15 (total memory = 288k RAM)

    Types: D. Byrd and other selfmade / Axlon-compatible RDs;

     

    - Size: 512k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

    Banks: 0 thru 31 (total memory = 544k RAM)

    Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;

     

    - Size: 1024k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

    Banks: 0 thru 63 (total memory = 1056k RAM)

    Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;

     

    - Size: 2048k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

    Banks: 0 thru 127 (total memory = 2080k RAM)

    Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;

     

    - Size: 4096k XRAM (+32k RAM)

    Banks: 0 thru 255 (total memory = 4128k RAM)

    Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;

     

    => Note that all so-called Axlon "compatible" (256k-4096k) Ramdisks

    normally do not homebank when RESET is pressed (a fix should be

    available somewhere), whereas original Axlon Ramdisks do homebank

    properly !! (Special thanks to Lee Barnes for this note !!)

     

    B) XL/XE - 64k base RAM plus XRAM:

     

    - Size: 64k (total = 128k RAM, 4 banks)

    - Banks: E3, E7, EB, EF (block E = 1 block * 4 banks)

    - Types: 130XE-Ramdisk, Turbo-Freezer-XL + 64k, selfmade-ramdisks...

     

    - Size: 128k (total = 192k RAM, 8 banks)

    - Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF

    (blocks AE = 2 blocks * 4 banks)

    - Types: Compyshop 600XL with 192k, Turbo-Freezer-XL + 128k,

    selfmade-RDs...

     

    - Size: 256k / 26AE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)

    - Banks: 23,27,2B,2F,63,67,6B,6F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF

    (blocks 26AE, = 4 blocks * 4 banks)

    - Types: Compyshop 800XL RD., Compyshop 130XE RD.,

    Peters/David Megaram 1, Peters/David Megaram 2,

    Peters/David Megaram 3 with 256k, selfmade RDs...

     

    - Size: 256k / 8ACE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)

    - Banks: 83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF

    (blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 4 banks)

    - Types: Newell, Rambo-XL, Scott Peterson, Atari Magazin,

    TOMS, selfmade-RDs...

     

    - Size: 512k / 26AE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks)

    - Banks: 21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F,61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F,

    A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF

    (blocks 26AE = 4 blocks * 8 banks)

    - Types: none (that I know of) at the moment - but possible!

     

    - Size: 512k / 8ACE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks)

    - Banks: 81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,

    C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF

    (blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 8 banks)

    - Types: Scott Peterson, TOMS, selfmade-RDs...

     

    - Size: 512k / 02468ACE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks)

    - Banks: 03,07,0B,0F,23,27,2B,2F,43,47,4B,4F,63,67,6B,6F,

    83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF;

    (blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 4 banks)

    - Types: 1) upgrade / combination of 26AE and 8ACE ramdisk

    types to 512k RAM or to *one* 02468ACE ramdisk;

    idea by me, built by Bernhard Pahl (see his homepage

    at http://www.b-pahl.de/atari8bit/ramdisk)

    2) Upgrade of the Rambo XL to 512k by Dan Schmid

    (see Pooldisk Too, Subdir ACE/ Acec202a.ATR and

    Acec202b.ATR) and of course 3) selfmade ramdisks...

     

    - Size: 1024k / 02468ACE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)

    - Banks: 01,03,05,07,09,0B,0D,0F,21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F

    41,43,45,47,49,4B,4D,4F,61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F

    81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF

    C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF

    (blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 8 banks)

    - Types: Newell, Scott Peterson, TOMS, Satantronic`s 1MB-

    PC-SIMM-RD, selfmade-RDs...

     

    - Size: 1024k / 26AE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)

    - Banks: EF,EE,ED,EC,EB,EA,E9,E8,E7,E6,E5,E4,E3,E2,E1,E0

    AF,AE,AD,AC,AB,AA,A9,A8,A7,A6,A5,A4,A3,A2,A1,A0

    6F,6E,6D,6C,6B,6A,69,68,67,66,65,64,63,62,61,60

    2F,2E,2D,2C,2B,2A,29,28,27,26,25,24,23,22,21,20

    (blocks 26AE = 4 blocks * 16 banks)

    - Types: Mathy van Nisselroy`s 1024k XEGS-PC-SIMM-Upgrade!

    (with some changes probably also usable for XL and XE,

    see also: http://www.mathy-van-nisselroy.nl)

     

    - Size: 1024k / 8ACE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)

    - Banks: EF,EE,ED,EC,EB,EA,E9,E8,E7,E6,E5,E4,E3,E2,E1,E0

    CF,CE,CD,CC,CB,CA,C9,C8,C7,C6,C5,C4,C3,C2,C1,C0

    AF,AE,AD,AC,AB,AA,A9,A8,A7,A6,A5,A4,A3,A2,A1,A0

    8F,8E,8D,8C,8B,8A,89,88,87,86,85,84,83,88,81,80

    (blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 16 banks)

    - Types: none (that I know of) at the moment - but possible!

     

    - Size: 1024k / 0123456789ABCDE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)

    - Banks: blocks 0123456789ABCDE each with 4 banks

    = 16 blocks * 4 banks (does not make much sense, but...)

    - Types: luckily, none at the moment...

     

    - Size: 1024k / ??? (max. memory = 1088k, 64 banks)

    - Port-Bits / Control-Bits: $D301 = 2,3,6,7

    $D600 = 0,1 (or switches);

    - Banks: $D301: 23,27,2B,2F,63,67,6B,6F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF

    $D600: F3,F7,FB,FF...

    - Types: David/Peters Megaram 3 with 1024k RAM (and the switches

    positioned to 1 x 1024k)

     

    - Size: 2048k / 02468ACE (total = 2112k, 128 banks)

    - Banks: 00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,0A,0B,0C,0D,0E,0F

    20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,2A,2B,2C,2D,2E,2F

    40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,4A,4B,4C,4D,4E,4F

    60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,6A,6B,6C,6D,6E,6F

    80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,8A,8B,8C,8D,8E,8F

    A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,AA,AB,AC,AD,AE,AF

    C0,C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6,C7,C8,C9,CA,CB,CC,CD,CE,CF

    E0,E1,E2,E3,E4,E5,E6,E7,E8,E9,EA,EB,EC,ED,EE,EF

    (blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 16 banks)

    - Types: selfmade-Ramdisks...

     

    - Size: 2048k / 0123456789ABCDEF (total = 2112k, 128 banks)

    - Banks: 01,03,05,07,09,0B,0D,0F,11,13,15,17,19,1B,1D,1F,

    21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F,31,33,35,37,39,3B,3D,3F,

    41,43,45,47,49,4B,4D,4F,51,53,55,57,59,5B,5D,5F,

    61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F,71,73,75,77,79,7B,7D,7F,

    81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,91,93,95,97,99,9B,9D,9F,

    A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,B1,B3,B5,B7,B9,BB,BD,BF,

    C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,D1,D3,D5,D7,D9,DB,DD,DF,

    E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF,F1,F3,F5,F7,F9,FB,FD,FF;

    (blocks 0123456789ABCDEF = 16 blocks * 8 banks)

    - Types: selfmade-Ramdisks...

     

    - Size: 4096k / 0123456789ABCDEF (total = 4160k, 256 banks)

    - Banks: 00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,0A,0B,0C,0D,0E,0F

    10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,1A,1B,1C,1D,1E,1F

    20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,2A,2B,2C,2D,2E,2F

    30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,3A,3B,3C,3D,3E,3F

    40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,4A,4B,4C,4D,4E,4F

    50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,5A,5B,5C,5D,5E,5F

    60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,6A,6B,6C,6D,6E,6F

    70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,7A,7B,7C,7D,7E,7F

    80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,8A,8B,8C,8D,8E,8F

    90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,9A,9B,9C,9D,9E,9F

    A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,AA,AB,AC,AD,AE,AF

    B0,B1,B2,B3,B4,B5,B6,B7,B8,B9,BA,BB,BC,BD,BE,BF

    C0,C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6,C7,C8,C9,CA,CB,CC,CD,CE,CF

    D0,D1,D2,D3,D4,D5,D6,D7,D8,D9,DA,DB,DC,DD,DE,DF

    E0,E1,E2,E3,E4,E5,E6,E7,E8,E9,EA,EB,EC,ED,EE,EF

    F0,F1,F2,F3,F4,F5,F6,F7,F8,F9,FA,FB,FC,FD,FE,FF

    (blocks 0123456789ABCDEF = 16 blocks * 16 banks)

    - Types: Newell, FTE, selfmade-Ramdisks...

     

    Well, I will not go into details with the disadvantages and

    software-problems with ramdisks beyond 512k RAM (Selftest, XL/XE Basic,

    RAM under the OS, separate Antic access, etc.). These problems mostly

    occur with 1 Megabyte or bigger ramdisks and there are several hardware

    and software solutions for them, alas not working correct with every

    software or program. With 4 Megabyte extra RAM / Ramdisk, the PIA is

    fully used/adressed, so that normally the base RAM at 4000-7FFF is not

    available any longer. But again, there are tricks and solutions to solve

    this problem. Installing a second PIA for example makes it possible to

    adress up to 256 Megabytes of extra RAM / Ramdisk - but who needs so much

    RAM on the Atari 8Bit computer ???

     

    C) XL/XE - XRAM minus 64k Base-RAM:

     

    - Size: 192k / 8AE (total = 256k RAM, usable = 12 banks)

    - Banks: 83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF

    (8AE = 3 blocks * 4 banks)

    - Types: older Newell ramdisks (replace 64k by 256k);

     

    - Size: 192k / ACE (total = 256k RAM, usable = 12 banks)

    - Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF

    (ACE = 3 blocks * 4 banks)

    - Types: newer Newell RDs, newer Buchholz-RDs, Rambo-XL,

    selfmade Ramdisks (replace 64k by 256k)...

     

    - Size: 448k / 2468ACE (total = 512k, usable = 28 banks)

    - Banks: EF,EB,E7,E3,CF,CB,C7,C3,AF,AB,A7,A3,8F,8B,87,83

    6F,6B,67,63,4F,4B,47,43,2F,2B,27,23

    (2468ACE = 7 blocks * 4 banks)

    - Types: selfmade-RDs (replace 64k by 512k)...

     

    - Size: 896k? / 0248ACE (total = 1024k, usable = 56 banks)

    - Banks: EF,ED,EB,E9,E7,E5,E3,E1,CF,CD,CB,C9,C7,C5,C3,C1,

    AF,AD,AB,A9,A7,A5,A3,A1,8F,8D,8B,89,87,85,83,81,

    4F,4D,4B,49,47,45,43,41,2F,2D,2B,29,27,25,23,21,

    0F,0D,0B,09,07,05,03,01 (0248ACE = 7 blocks * 8 banks)

    - Types: Bob Woolley`s 1200XL 1MB Upgrade, selfmade-RDs

    (replace 64k by 1024k)...

     

    Allthough these RAM upgrades are relatively easy to build

    (and to install into the computer), they make problems with

    quite some software. Some programs tend to use the base RAM

    as extra RAM / Ramdisk with these upgrades, which will most

    often result in a crash of the computer. Next, most extra RAM

    testers will show more extra RAM (or a bigger Ramdisk) than

    there is really available (e.g. with a 256k upgrade you will

    see 240k extra RAM, but there is only 64k base RAM + 192k

    extra RAM). Alas, this is a typical hardware problem for these

    upgrades and it cannot be solved or avoided with software...

     

    D) XL/XE: Parallel-Bus-Devices:

    (600XL/800XL = Parallel Bus, XE = Cart.-Port + ECI)

     

    - Size: 128k / AE (total = 192k RAM, 8 banks)

    - Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF (blocks AE = 2 blocks * 4 banks)

    - Types: Turbo-Freezer-XL by Bernhard Engl with 128k XRAM

     

    - Size: 256k / 9ABE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)

    - Banks: 93,97,9B,9F,A3,A7,AB,AF,B3,B7,BB,BF,E3,E7,EB,EF

    (blocks 9ABE = 4 blocks * 4 banks)

    - Types: Turbo-Freezer-XL by Bernhard Engl with 256k XRAM

     

    - Size: 256k / ??? (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)

    - Banks: unknown !!

    - Types: Yorky-XL by Richard Gore / Derek Fern (from

    GB/UK) with 256k XRAM

     

    - Size: 256k / ??? (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)

    - Banks: unknown !!

    - Types: Multi-Input-Output-Harddisk-Interface (MIO) with 256k

    XRAM by ICD

     

    - Size: 1024k / ??? (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)

    - Banks: unknown !!

    - Types: Multi-Input-Output-Harddisk-Interface (MIO) with 1024k

    XRAM by ICD

     

    E) XL/XE: RAM/Flash-ROM/... Cartridges:

     

    - Rambox II with 256k RAM by JRC (Czech Republic; with special

    Ramdisk drivers for TT-DOS and Bewe-DOS!)

    - Ramcart 128k by ??? (Poland or Czech Republic)

    - Ramcart 256k by ??? (Poland or Czech Republic)

    (for some hints and pics see: www2.asw.cz/~kubecj/acarts.htm)

    - Flash-ROM cart. 512k by Stefan Dorndorf (Never released! But I do own

    a non-functional prototype-pcb; it should have used 64k for the OS

    and the remaining 448k as user-memory; the chip was organized in 64k

    blocks, thus the min. program space would always have been 64kbytes!)

    - Flash-ROM cart 128k / 1Mbit "Atarimax" by Stephen Tucker

    (allthough they are not usable as extra RAM / Ramdisk at the moment,

    I am quite sure that it is possible to write some drivers and thus

    use the Atarimax Flash-ROM carts as extremely fast floppy drives!)

    - Flash-ROM cart 1024k / 8Mbit "Atarimax" by Stephen Tucker

    (for information and complete documentation plus software see:

    www.atarimax.com/flashcart/documentation/index.html )

    - and many others I do not know and I do not have any info about;

     

    Even cartridges can be used as Ramdisks (= fast floppy drives),

    especially RAM-carts or Flash-RAM carts. But they function like

    most other Super- or Mega-Carts, meaning the bank-switching

    techniques are also used there. Since the subject carts and

    bank-switching carts is quite enormous, I will not discuss it or

    present any information here. Just try to find a large description

    by John K. Picken ("RAM/ROM Control on an XL/XE") if interested in that

    subject (e.g. at Jindrich Kubec`s homepage: www2.asw.cz/kubecj/... ).

     

    Finally thanks and credits for this subject and lots of (used /

    borrowed) information therefore go to: Lee Barnes, Russ Gilbert,

    Mathy van Nisselroy, Erhard Puetz, Mathias Reichl, Ron Hamilton,

    Wes Newell, Guy Ferrante, XI of Satantronic, Bernhard Pahl and

    Walter Lojek. Also thanks to John K. Picken who wrote an excellent

    article about A8 extra RAM / Ramdisks and A8 cartridges and their

    technique of bank-switching. Well, if you still find errors, bugs,

    mistakes, etc. in this list, then tell me *nicely* or in a friendly

    way. Any updates and corrections can be send to: [email protected]

    -Andreas Magenheimer

     

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

     

    8.11 Ramdisk-supporting Software:

    (This is version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.)

     

    a) support for 64k Ramdisks (RD-block E):

     

    DOS 2.5 (Atari), Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop),

    Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf), DOS XE

    1.x (Atari), DOS XF (Reitershan), My-DOS 3.x (Wordmark), My-DOS 4.x

    (Wordmark), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE), Sparta DOS

    3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John

    Harris?), Super DOS 2.x (Paul Nichols), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Top

    DOS 1.x (R.K. Bennett), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan), Turbo-DOS 2.x

    (Reitershan), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), A-Base (???), ABBUC-Magazine

    Intro 52 (Karolij N./Heaven), ABBUC Magazine Intro 55 (Karolij N./Heaven),

    Adalmar (Falk Buettner/PPP), Alphasys-Sound-Sampler-Software (Mirage/ANG),

    A.R. The Dungeon (Philipp Price/Datasoft), A-Text (???), Atari Writer 80

    (Atari), Atari Writer Plus (Atari), Basic-XE (OSS/ICD/FTE), Bop N'Wrestle

    (Mindscape), The Brundles (KE-Soft), Datei 4.x (Norbert Schlia), Desktop

    Atari (HBSF), Diskcomm. 3.x (by Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS answer

    "use 130XE RAM?" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when

    formatted previously with a RD-driver!),

     

    Diskworker (Petsoft), Extended Atari Basic (???), Extended Turbo Basic

    (???), Fampy 2.3 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday), Fampy 6.1 (Wolfgang Freitag/

    Friday), Grafik+Sound Demo (Peter Sabath), Howfen DOS 3.x (???), Howfen

    DOS 4.x (???), Howfen Tape to Disk (???), Human Torch & the Thing

    (Questprobe/Saga+Marvel), Inertia 2.9 (MadTeam), I.K. Plus Demo (???),

    Megablast 1 (Thorsten Karwoth), Mental Age (???), Midi Mate II (Hybrid

    Arts), Midi Pattern Editor (Radek Sterba/Raster), Midi-Player (Ireneusz

    Kuczek), Midi Recorder (Ireneusz Kuczek), Midi Sequencer (Maciej Sygit),

    MSC-IDE Software (M. Belitz, S. Birrmanns), The Muppet Movie (MadTeam),

    Page-Designer (XLent), Paperclip II (Batteries Included), Spiderman

    (Questprobe/Saga+Marvel), Sweet Fantasy (Tight), The Browser (Tom Hunt /

    CTH), Theta Music Composer 2.x (Jaskier/Taquart), The Top 3 Demo (dancing

    girl part "Veronika" by WFMH), Typesetter (XLent), The X-Files [Picture]

    Demo (Shpoon) and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer,

    T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they

    are running under a DOS 2.x (DOS 2 derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and

    the appropriate Ramdisk-driver;

     

    b) support for 128k Ramdisks (ramdisk blocks AE):

     

    DOS 2.5 (Atari), Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop),

    Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf),

    DOS XF (Reitershan), My-DOS 3.x (Wordmark), My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta

    DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J.

    Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John Harris?), Super DOS

    2.x (Paul Nichols), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Top DOS 1.x (R. K.

    Bennett), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan), Turbo-DOS 2.x (Reitershan), X-DOS

    2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), The Brundles (KE-Soft), Datei 4.x (Norbert Schlia),

    Fampy 2.3 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday), Fampy 6.1 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday),

    Inertia 2.9 (MadTeam), Midi Pattern Editor (Radek Sterba/Raster), Midi

    Player (I. Kuczek), Midi Recorder (I. Kuczek), Midi Sequencer (M. Sygit),

    The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH), Diskcom. 3.x (By bob Puff, under Sparta or

    MyDOS answer "use 130XE RAM?" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or

    d9: when formatted previously with a RD driver!) and most Text-Editors

    (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor,

    Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under a DOS 2.x (any DOS 2

    derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and (formatted previously with) the

    appropriate Ramdisk-driver;

     

    c) support for 192k Ramdisks (ramdisk blocks ACE):

     

    Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop), Bibo-DOS 6.x

    (Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf), DOS XF (Reitershan),

    My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE),

    Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie?

    or John Harris?), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan),

    Turbo-DOS 2.x (Reitershan), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), Diskcom. 3.x (by

    Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N" and use

    your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a Ramdisk

    driver!), The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH, Sparta DOS only!) and most Text-

    Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-

    Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under a DOS 2.x (DOS 2

    derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and (formatted previously with) the

    appropriate Ramdisk driver;

     

    d) support for 256k Ramdisks (blocks 8ACE and/or 26AE):

     

    Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft, 8ACE and 26AE), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop, 8ACE and

    26AE), Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop, 8ACE and 26AE), DOS II+D Version 6.x

    (Stefan Dorndorf, 8ACE and 26AE), DOS XF (Reitershan, 8ACE and 26AE),

    My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD, 8ACE and 26AE),

    Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J.

    Carden, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John

    Harris?, 8ACE and 26AE), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols, 8ACE and 26AE),

    Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan, 8ACE and 26AE), Turbo DOS 2.x (Reitershan, 8ACE

    and 26AE), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf, 8ACE and 26AE), Anime 4ever (Sente

    Software Group, 8ACE), The Brundles (KE-Soft, 26AE), Datei 4.x (Norbert

    Schlia, 26AE), The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH), Diskcommunicator 3.x (by Bob

    Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N" and use your

    XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a RD driver!)

    and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6

    Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under

    Bibo DOS, Turbo DOS, My-DOS or Sparta DOS and (formatted previously with)

    the appropriate Ramdisk-driver;

     

    e) support for up to 1 Megabyte Ramdisks:

     

    My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta-DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE),

    Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie?

    or John Harris?), The Browser (under Sparta DOS 2.x, 3.x and 4.x), Diskcom

    3.x (by Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N"

    and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a

    RD driver!) and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit,

    Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are

    running under My-DOS or Sparta DOS and (formatted previously with) the

    appropriate Ramdisk-driver;

     

    Thanks and credits for this subject go to: Bernhard Pahl, Russ Gilbert,

    Ron Hamilton and Mathy van Nisselroy for sharing some info with me. -A.M.

     

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------

     

    8.12 Atari-programs that require Extra-RAM / Ramdisk:

    (This is version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.)

     

    a) 64k XRAM required (block E or simply 130XE):

     

    130XE-Bank/Memory-Testers (various programs+authors), 130XE Sectorcopiers

    (various programs from Antic, Analog, Happy Computer, etc.), 130XE

    Utilities (HAPS PD 0031), 130XE-Artshow (HAPS PD 0013), 130XE-Autoshow

    (ABBUC PD 191, HAPS PD 0637), 130XE-Demo (S.A.G.), 130XE-Impossible-Demo

    (Rudy Haegemann), Atari Writer Plus Super Menu (Ken Siders), Amiga-Boink

    XE (Bob Armour), Animkomials meet Boris Valleyo (Animkomials+Boris

    Valleyo), Boot Majster (Electron), Boss-X (Mirko Sobe, with MyDOS it

    supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM/Ramdisk and subdirs and up to 16 Megabyte

    harddisk partitions), Boss-XE (Mirko Sobe, with MyDOS it supports up to

    1 Megabyte XRAM/Ramdisk), Bill-Pie-Demo (Mad Team, supports up to 256k

    XRAM: AE/8ACE), BMW-Animation (Mirko Sobe), CES-XE-Demo (original 130XE

    version with 580 sectors by XANTH), Comet-Ani (MadTeam, supports up to

    256k XRAM: AE/8ACE), Critical-Sound-Demo (Innovative), Coolcopy 130XE

    (???/authors unknown), CAD-XE (HAPS-PD 0350), Castle of Blackthorne (Thimo

    Graef), Cavepack (XE-Version by Kemal Ezcan), Computer Baseball (Douglas

    Blackwell), Danielle-(Gr.9-TB-)Ani (NBS/Bill Kendrick), Degas-View-XE

    (Mat*Rat/Mathew Ratcliff), Diskcomm. 3.x (by Bob Puff, if you want to

    answer "use your 130XE RAM?" with "Y", then 64k XRAM are required!),

    Diskettenverwaltung 130XE (ABBUC PD 86), Draw XE (ABBUC PD 387), Ergo-

    Bibamus (Quasimodos, has RD-setup!), Extract Slideshow (Replay/Bit

    Busters), Fraktale & Colorprint (Peter Woetzel),

     

    Gizmo`s Castle (XE-version by M. Kugler), Grafik Zeilen Editor (HAPS PD

    0296), Hi-Res Designer (HAPS PD 0015), Hires Dump (ABBUC PD 113), Inertia

    3.8 (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE with any DOS),

    Inertia 4.5 (MadTeam, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE with

    any DOS), Igor Demo (MadTeam, diskside 1), Isolation Demo (MEC), Journey

    (Boot version by Polynomials, up to 256k XRAM: AE/26AE), Journey (File

    version by MadTeam, up to 192k XRAM: AE/ACE/8ACE/26AE), Journey into Sound

    (DGS/Dean Garaghty), Kaiser II (128k version by Carsten Strotmann), Killer

    Whales Ani (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: AE/8ACE), Lajf-Demo

    (MadTeam), Landscape-XE-Demo (Karl Pelzer), Megablast-Sounddemo (DGS/Dean

    Garaghty), MTV`s-Danielle = Danielle-Ani., Macro-Assembler XE (Thorsten

    Karwoth), Macro-Assembler-XE+ (Thorsten Karwoth, works with MyDOS only,

    supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM), Masher-XE V1.0 (???/author unknown,

    supports up to 256k XRAM: E/AE/ACE/8ACE), Memdrv10 (Andre Bertram, tests

    up to 4 Megabyte XRAM, all portbits, standard 16k banks and exotic 32k

    banks, standard Port B $D301 and exotic Port B $D600), Menu 130 (Les

    Howarth), Midi Mate III (Hybrid Arts), Minesweeper 1-4 (4 game versions by

    J.R.Chicko/S.A.S.), Mister X (Stefan Soelbrandt), Monitors, Debuggers &

    more (HAPS PD 0109), Multi-DOS 130 (Kuchera/Excellent), Multi-Tasking-OS

    (various ABBUC magazines), MTOS XE (CTH/Tom Hunt),

     

    [Der] Neffe (XE-version or ABBUC PD 52), Neo-Tracker (EPI/Allegresse, runs

    only under MyDOS, TopDOS or Sparta DOS 4.X cart., supports up to 1MB XRAM),

    [The] Newspaper-Editor (HAPS PD 0294, similar to ABBUC PD 121 but this

    HAPS/Bellcom version is in english!), Nascar-Animation (Mirko Sobe), Nonjm

    Demo (TIGHT), Owca-Demo (Animkomials), Owca-2-Demo (Animkomials), Oelbaron

    (XE-version by ???/author unknown), Programm Verwaltung 130XE (HAPS PD

    0434), Protracker 1.5 (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE,

    with any DOS), Parrot-XMAS-Demo (Anthony Ramos), Pedrokko-Sounddemos

    (Pedrokko, 10 Disks / 20 S.), Rechnen fuer Kinder (ABBUC PD 85), Rund um

    die Ramdisk (ABBUC PD 383, HAPS PD 1084), Raving Vierpz (Pentagram),

    Raytracing Animation (Karl Pelzer), Sample-Art-XE (Mozart/WSL, supports

    up to 1 Megabyte XRAM, alas it is buggy!), Shrink-XE (Peter Fitzsimmons),

    [The] Small Printery (Walter Lojek, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: 8ACE

    and 26AE), Snapshot (???/author unknown), [The] Sound Utility (CTH/Tom

    Hunt, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: E/ACE/8ACE, bug-free only under

    Sparta DOS!), Space Harrier (Sheddy/Chris Hutt), Strategy Baseball (HAPS

    PD 0302), Super-Print-Lab-XE (HAPS PD 0909), Sweet Fantasy (Tight),

     

    Shiny-Bubbles (XE version by Brian Paul), T-34 (ANG/Mirage), Tape-Copy

    130 (Joerg Gernreich), Tape-Ramdisk-Drivers (Pokey & SAG), Text-130 (B.

    Russmann), Textpro "+" (e.g. 4.54+ by Ronnie Riche), Textpro 5.x (Ronnie

    Riche), The Code Cruncher 3.0 (Soused Teat/A.Bienias), The Cruncher 5.0

    (MSL/Magnus), The [sparta DOS] Wedge (Ed Bachman), The Works (CTH/Tom

    Hunt), The Asskicker (Shadows), The Turtles-Demo (Ultra-Software), Total

    Dazed (Tight), Trip 6 (Shadows), Too Hard 2 (Animkomials), Ultra Demo

    (Taquart), Vengeance (Excellent), Vent (Excellent+Pentagram), Video Blitz

    (Helvetica Bold, also requires sep. Antic access!), WAF-Demo (W.A.F., two

    parts of side 2!), [Die] Wuerttemberger-Disk (ABBUC PD 361, HAPS PD 1050

    because side 2 contains the XE-version of Gizmo`s castle!), XL-2 (John

    K. Picken, supports up to 1MB XRAM, depending on the DOS!), Xyberscape-XE

    (XE-version by Bill Le Masurier), X-Files Animation-Demo (Mad Team), Zero

    Demo (New Generation), Zargon XE (ABBUC PD 611, HAPS PD 0485), [Der]

    Zeitungsredakteur (ABBUC PD 121, german!);

     

    b) 128k XRAM required (blocks AE):

     

    192k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), Diskcom. 3.x

    (by Bob Puff, answer "use your 130XE RAM?" with "Y" and also answer "use

    additional RAM?" with "Y" to use full 128k XRAM), Igor Demo (MadTeam,

    diskside 2), Revenge of Hacker (Rasero Team), Too Hard 3 (Animkomials);

    Note: Quite a lot of 128k programs (block E) do also support 192k memory

    (blocks AE), just take a look above ! And all the programs that support up

    to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 128k XRAM, see above...

     

    c) 192k XRAM required (blocks ACE and others):

     

    256k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), Atari Writer

    Plus XE + Super Menu (Ken Siders), Dream Vision (ABBUC PD 480), MTOS 256

    (CTH/Tom Hunt), American Natives (Fox-1, choose your DOS and RD-driver!),

    Impossible but Real (MacGyver, has an auto-setup!), Reditus (Zelax, has

    an auto-setup!), Tit Demo (MadTeam, has an auto-setup!); Note: All

    programs that support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 192k XRAM,

    see above...

     

    d) 256k XRAM required (blocks 8ACE or 26AE):

     

    320k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), APC-Archiver

    1.0 (LBS/APC, 8ACE only!), APC-Packer 1.1 (LBS/APC, 8ACE only!), Audio/

    Studio Master (ANG/Mirage, 26AE only?!), Back to Life 2 (Jaskier/Taquart,

    has an auto-setup!) Kaiser II (320k version by Carsten Strotmann, 26AE &

    8ACE), Multi-DOS 320 (Kuchera/Excellent, 8ACE only?!), Base-33 (AIDS/AIDZ,

    26AE & 8ACE, hold down SHIFT upon bootup for setup!), Cogito-Demo (AIDS /

    AIDZ, uses banks 8C, thus 8ACE only!), Edelweiss-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S.+S.V.L.,

    26AE), Glasshead Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Halle 1994: The Wormhole (Magic

    Arts, 26AE), (Atari) Hardware-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Imperial [sound]

    Demo (Innovative, 26AE & 8ACE), Khai-Et (AIDS/AIDZ, 26AE & 8ACE, hold down

    SHIFT upon bootup for setup!), Numen Demo (Taquart, 26AE & 8ACE, has an

    auto-setup!), P.I.T.-Demo (Quasimodos, 26AE & 8ACE, has an auto-setup!),

    Raytracing 320k (Elsni/Stephan Elsner, 8ACE only!), Sheol Demo (Bit

    Busters, 8ACE only!), Stash-98-Demo (Rasero Team, 26AE and 8ACE, in the

    first menu press A for 8ACE Ramdisks, else press B for second menu - then

    press C for manual Compyshop setup!), Starwars-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE),

    The Wormhole (Magic Arts, 26AE), Timekeep(er) (New Generation, 8ACE only!

    wait for depacking!), Too-Hard-4 (Animkomials, 26AE & 8ACE, has an auto-

    setup!), Trabant Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Worms-Demo (Datri, 8ACE),

    X-Demo (MadTeam, 26AE), X-Files 2 [TV-Intro] (MadTeam, 26AE & 8ACE);

    Note: There are some 128k programs that also support 256k XRAM; and all

    128k programs that support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 256k XRAM

    (8ACE and/or 26AE), see above...

     

    e) 512k XRAM required (32 banks):

     

    576k-Memory-Tester (various programs by various authors, e.g. a test

    program by Scott Peterson); Note: All 128k programs that support up to

    1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 512k XRAM, see above...

     

    f) 1024k XRAM required (64 banks):

     

    1088k-Memory-Tester (various programs by various authors, e.g. a test

    program by Newell); Raytracing 1MB (Solocoder of A.C.E., works only on

    Klaus Peters 1MB-Megaram 3 ! Boot version with 8 disksides; loading time:

    approximately 17 minutes!); Note: There are quite some 128k programs,

    that also support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM, see above...

     

    g) 2048k XRAM required (128 banks):

     

    2112k-Memory Tester (have not seen one yet!);

     

    h) 4096k XRAM required (256 banks):

     

    4160k-Memory-Tester by ICD and later FTE;

     

    Thanks and credits for this subject go to Russ Gilbert, Bernhard Pahl,

    Ron Hamilton and Mathy van Nisselroy for sharing their info with me. Any

    corrections and/or updates are welcome. - Andreas Magenheimer

     

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------

     

     

    greetings,- Andreas.

    • Like 2

  7. Posted

    Yeah,

    and Mr. Atari has even converted the whole movie "Tron" to this Gr. 9 movie format. The running / viewing length is 90 minutes with sound! The file length is 289 megabytes (so one has to use a CD or a PC harddisk, but it works). This movie was running live at the ABBUC JHV in Herten (October 23rd 2004)... amazing... -Andreas.

  8. Posted

     

    Here are a few more of my creations - not everything on the disk loads - but there are a few WIP's

     

    (various JPG pics)

     

    -Goochman.

     

    Well, the ultima 2, ultima 3 and other pinballs presented here (with JPG pics) do not have a download button. Are they enclosed in the previous posting ?!? -Andreas.

  11. Posted

    Well,

    to find out which kind of Ramdisk (extra RAM) you have load the program XRAM (version 0.18, 0.19 or 0.21) by Satantronic on your Atari computer. It will display all the available rambanks, so you can find out if your RD belongs to the 8ACE (Newell, Rambo, TOMS,etc.) or to the 26AE (Compyshop, Megaram,etc.) types... -Andreas.

  12. Posted

    Well,

    afaik PCS does save created pinballs in one of two possible ways:

    a) as boards that can be used with the PCS only

    b) as binaries that can be used without the PCS, by using a DOS or Gamedos

     

    When choosing version b), the PCS will create a sort of appended file (length = 243 sectors). Use a DOS and its file copy option or simply a file/multi-file-copier and copy the file onto another disk. It will then have a length of 242 sectors and work fine under every DOS and Gamedos... -Andreas.

  15. Posted

    Well,

    the PCS Color Converter by Matt Trimby (published by Page 6 and mentioned above) converts black and white + artifacting Gr. 8 (NTSC) pinballs into 4 colors Gr. 15 (PAL) pinballs. Thats it. You know, PAL TV`s are unable to display color artifacting, so the Gr.8 pinballs will only be black & white on a PAL tv which looks very boring. with the PCS color Converter you can convert these b/w pinballs and add some color. The original Atari Basic program was quite slow (10-15 minutes to convert one pinball program), so I speeded it up, by using the TB XL Compiler and later run it as a CTB File with Runtime (now it takes approx. 1 minute to convert one pinball program).

     

    Of course there is also a cracked version of the PCS available that already has colors / creates 4 color pinballs (with a resolution of Gr. 15). It was made for the PAL users in mind, alas it converts the whole pinball into Gr.15 making the scores and highscores unreadable (the PCS Color Converter does not do that - at least the scores are still readable here)...

     

    So, here is my "small" collection of 93 pinballs created with PCS (only 2 or 3 of them have been created by me)... -Andreas.

  16. Posted

    Well,

    let me present the results of the ABBUC software contest 2004. There were 13 programs by various programmers and since there were only 7 prices (money!), it was a real contest! Here are the results:

     

    7th place: Jelly Beans by Chris Martin won 50 Euro;

     

    6th place: Atari Greed by Winried Piegsda and Carsten strotmann won 75 Euro;

     

    5th place: RMT-Player XL/XE by Raster/Radek Sterba won 150 Euro;

     

    4th place: Atari Hardwaretester by Florian Dingler won 200 Euro;

     

    3rd place: MyPicoDOS by HIAS/Mathias Reichl won 275 Euro;

     

    2nd place: BOSS-X by Mirko Sobe won 350 Euro

     

    1st place: Dynablaster by Tomasz Biele/MadTeam won 750 Euro;

     

    This year ABBUC payed off all prices/money (the winners will receive the money in a few days). And: There will be a new software contest 2005!! So, you have the chance to write a) a game or b) an application / tool / utility for a 64k or 128k Atari and win some money. All rules can be found in german and english language (and soon in polish language) at: www.abbuc.de - and of course there is time until October 2005 for the new contest. So, happy coding and my congrats to the winners of this year !

     

    Regarding the programs, well, there are programs some people like and some don`t. Me, I personally wondered why BOSS-X made the 2nd place, since there already was an ABBUC Jahresgabe 200x of BOSS. I would have liked to see Jelly Beans in a better position - but hey, that`s not my fault. Approx. 100 ABBUC members voted for this contest, so don`t make me responsible for the results... Anyway, hopefully we at ABBUC can see your program taking part in the contest 2005... greetings, Andreas Magenheimer.

  17. Posted

    Hello,

    I also made 2-3 pinballs with the PCS some years ago. recently I am collecting the pinballs created with PCS - at current I have 12 disksides each with 7-8 pinballs (all packed with Superpacker to save disk space)... So, if there is some interest in these pinballs, just e-mail me and I will return some ATR images to you... -Andreas.

     

    P.S.: Mail: abbuc#abbuc*de

    PPS: Other Pinballs: Night Mission by Sublogic, Pinball Simulator (?) by Codemasters, David`s Midnight Magic by Broderbund (and later Atari);

  18. Posted

    Well,

    in the A8FAQ by Michael Current you can find a huge list what kind of ramdisks exist for the 800/XL/XE (subject 8.10), what programs support a ramdisk (subject 8.11) and what programs require a ramdisk (subject 8.12). I am currently writing the update for all these subjects and will post it in a few weeks at comp.sys.atari.8bit maybe I will also post a copy here at atari-age... greetings, Andreas Magenheimer.

  20. Posted

    Well,

    afaik (the author told me) Tower Toppler had been developed on a NTSC system. And yes, I have it in my collection, but I do own a PAL system. The problem with TT is that it crashes completely after level two on a PAL system (it should be fine on a NTSC system the author said, since I don`t have NTSC I could not test it). Anyway level 2 is fully playable, but when it comes to the interlude (where you drive a submarine) the game crashes, which is very sad, because you cannot play the remaining six towers then... After all, the XL/XE version is poor compared to the great 7800 version (high res. with many colors and sprites; XL/XE: high res., no colors / only bw; fewer sprites and some of them appear as garbage at least on my PAL system). So, if you like TT, then buy a 7800 and the 7800 TT cart... -Andreas.

     

    P.S.: I do have Montezuma (16k) on cart. Here in Europe this game was also available on tape - and the cart version is a port of this tape. I also have Jinks on disk, it was developed officially by AMC for Rainbow Arts (who should do it for Atari). In my eyes it is a boring game and requires a 64k Atari to run. Video 61 burned this AMC version on a cart - without asking for permission. Hey Lance, since I am the copyright holder of all AMC programs nowadays, what about sending me at least one of those Jinks carts ?!?

  22. Posted

    Well,

    since this is a port from the disk version to the flashcart, I guess a) it may or may not save highscores (the XE cart by Atari did not!) and most important b) it supports up to 8 players (the XE cart by Atari merely supports 3 players - e.g. every player could win a medal: gold, silver or bronze; in the disk version if more than 3 players, some will not win a medal). Finally c) the disk version had some (easy) copy protection which prevented it from running ok under certain OSs (like QMEG-OS, APE+OS, etc. - the score and highscore/final score would be randomized or garbage then), the XE cart runs fine under the mentioned OSs (don`t know about the flashcart version)... So, if you already have the XE cart, there would be no need for the flashcart version (except if you are a collector and/or you want to play SG with more than 3 players)... -andreas.

  23. Posted

    Well,

    I remember several type-in listings of various german, english and american magazines that had those tank games. I also remember Tank Commander by Thorn EMI (the ones that also did Submarine commander) and a Tank Battle game by Alan Reeve (Reeve Software)... After all, these old tank games are not very interesting for me...

     

    I prefer the vector tank-battle game "Battlezone", but heck, why is the A8 version so lame ?!? You search the CPU tank, shoot at it and a few inches (or centimeters) from where it exploded, it will re-materialize again. So you just wait, move a few inches/cm (to left or right) and shoot again, thats it. Why didn`t they use the great vector game of the Lynx cart ?!? (I really mean the vector version of the Lynx cart, the other version would be impossible for the A8; but the vector version with different tanks, fuel, ammo, etc, would have been possible - if they used a bigger supercart.)

     

    -Andreas.

  24. Posted

    Well,

    I am no programmer - not at all (and I have never programmed anything). But I guess the reason why most programmers ignored Emkay in the late 80s (and early 90s) was simply the way he was talking to them - guess he used the same critisizing/unkind words, he uses today. So as a kind of revenge, they did not listen to him or just did the opposite of what he was talking about...

     

    Taking a look at MK`s software (from an absolutely non-coder view), well he gave us great new gfx with lots of colours - but combined with old pix (converted from C64 and Amiga I guess) and a quite lame game (a german version of "Wheel of Fortune"). It is no wonder that almost no-one was impressed by this - when I saw the game Admirandus, I said "nice gfx, but a lame game, I already have various clones of it". (It would be like doing another Pong, Breakout, Pacman, Tetris, ... with G2F or MCS gfx - the people would say: nice gfx but we already have 1000 clones of that game and as a result they would lose interest fast.)

     

    And er, if I remember correctly, Admirandus does not have any movement (or does it?). I guess it is not so easy to do a "moving" game (e.g. a jump & run game, a formula one racing game, an olympic game) with G2F or MCS gfx and RMT music - if so, you soon get troubles with CPU time, framerate and other things (I do not know much)...

     

    So, MK as a kind of result - if you behave rude to programmers, don`t expect them to take you serious or to put your words/ideas into consideration. And please do not always say "I did that game (Admirandus) and those pix (converted from C64) in the past, now it`s your turn..." - these things were not very amazing then and they are not now (and most especially the behaviour behind that argument is a one-way street). Show us the techniques that you use in your msx and gfx - BUT please do also accept if not everyone uses / imports them in/to new software (just like you should accept different religions, opinions,) skin-colours, etc. - simply "live and let live")...

     

    We could do jokes like - why did you not promise yourself to leave the A8 scene, why did you not promise yourself to keep all the secrets (behind your gfx and msx techniques), why did you not promise yourself to be quiet for the rest of your life, etc. etc. - but we don`t do these jokes here, see. We are *nice* Atarians and we respect and accept other peoples lives and views. We can critisize them, but only in a kind (not a rude) way. If not, it will all end in a kind of flame-war - and you can be sure that you will not reach your goal/target this way (convincing others, to use new gfx & msx techniques)... nuff said - out of memory, Andreas.

     

    P.S.: Nope, I will not learn coding for anyone! But I like testing programs...

  25. Posted

    Well,

    - Berzerk (proto-cart "humanoid must not escape" and other speech),

    - Ghostbusters ("Ghostbusters, hahahahaha")

    - Whomper Stomper ("Welcome to Whomper Stomper")

    - Deflektor (proto-cart. says "Deflektor" and then the music starts),

    - Castle Wolfenstein ("Halt! Ausweis!" and a few more german words),

    - Beyond Castle Wolfenstein (afaik same words as Castle Wolfenstein),

    - E.T. ("ET phone home, ET phone home"),

    - 180 (well, what does it say?!?)

    - Mirax force ("Mirax force", "the battle begins", "Game over"),

    - the last Guardian ("Guardian", "Game over"),

    - Grand Prix Sim. ("3-2-1 go!")

    - Herbert 1 & 2 ("Get ready", "Game over")

    - Nadral ("Spieler 1 los!")

    - Dynakillers (by GMG, Slovakia - not Germany!)

    - SAM and many games made using it (software added mouth; I have a version of Eliza with SAM speech somewhere)

    - Bingo! (by Page 6)

    - and a lot more A8 games... (note: some games use 2Bit samples, whereas other games use speech synthesis to save memory!)

     

    -Andreas.

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