Randy California

There's also an A8 version. Fun game, just a bit too difficult. ++ RC ++

Thanks :wink: ++ RC ++

Never heard of Ship of Stars. I suspect it's compiled BASIC crap and in the same league as all the terrible General Masters / ALA Software games... Still, could you dump this one? Cool you have the Epyx Preview Disk, that's not very common. ++ RC ++

Nir, exactly what I wrote Wing War (and the other two games) were to be cartridge releases but the crash probably prompted Imagic to go for something cheaper. The three games were ready so they decided to sell them on a compilation but the company didn't want to invest in the A8 anymore. Chopper Hunt is the last Imagic A8 game but it's just a re-release of Buried Bucks and a "flippy" (with the C64 version on side A!). Does anybody know what happened to Fathom, Dragonfire, Nova Blast and Moonsweeper? They were canned but were the games ever programmed? ++ RC ++

The correct name is Wing War. A cartridge release of the game was planned but it never made it. It eventually appeared on an official compilation called Imagic 1-2-3 (along with Quick Step and Laser Gates). The file version is just a hack of that disk. ++ RC ++

You just made yourself pretty ridiculous. It's not the ROM you have, it's the disk image. Mark hacked the original version and made a cartridge out of it so it loads in one go. A fantastic job it is ++ RC ++

The market is far from huge but forking out a run of 80-90 cartridges of a specific program doesn't seem unrealistic. What we need to do is let people know the game exists. There are also potential customers who don't frequent forums or newsgroups. With several dealers involved, more people would hear about the game. Let's say something like: - author: 15 (advertized through comp.sys.atari.8bit and other forums) - AtariAge: 20 - Video 61: 15 - ABBUC: 15 - other dealers: 10-15 - eBay: rest... Opinions? ++ RC ++

Tenth Frame is a strange one. It was listed in dealer ads for a very long time but never appeared. Ditto for Gunship. Jet Boot Jack says it was never ported but there are guys claiming they saw it. Weird Loopz would be nice but there are some clones out there. How about a nice SEU? Would also love to see Castles of Dr. Creep or Ultimate Wizard. I could be wrong but isn't the C64 version of Pirates! almost entirely in BASIC? TMR? ++ RC ++

Thanks for the link! The Apple figures don't seem very convincing... I'm amazed the 400/800 had such a big market share. Too bad the XL/XE line isn't on the chart... ++ RC ++

http://www2.asw.cz/~kubecj/data/acarts/ssh...hots/tapper.gif ++ RC ++

18-20 million? They were everywhere... ++ RC ++

The disk directory on the A8 single-sided disk version (not the cracked executable) seems to reveal several levels, does anybody have further info? The game seems to hang when you're trapped in the cage but are there other parts? ++ RC ++

I'd say something like: - C64: 25-30 million - Spectrum: 10 million - A8: 6-7 million - ST: 5-6 million - TRS-80: 4-5 million - CPC: 3-4 million - VIC-20: 3-4 million - TI-99: 2-3 million. Just my own estimates, don't have any source handy. Not really sure about the other computers... ++ RC ++

A great one for cartridges: http://www.geocities.com/ejgnandt/Sept2003Carts.txt Disks and tapes are a different story as there were thousands of programs available. There are probably hundreds of "undumped" games so you might want to ask here if you spot something presumably rare. ++ RC ++

Welcome! I'd also suggest machine language all the way, it's far more gratifying. BASIC is too slow and shouldn't be considered for developing games on the A8, especially in 2004. Good luck and let us know if you need more info! ++ RC ++

Happy new year to all Atari freaks! ++ RC ++

The Polish or German disk magazines cover a wide range of interesting subjects A8-related, not only demo parties. A bi-monthly magazine available on disk (via subscription, selected dealers, e-mail... whatever...) could work. Just give it a slick presentation (you could even ask some European coders to write a cool intro) and interesting content (not that childish crap about the "good old days" or how great it was when I got Star Raiders at Christmas...). Heck, the Europeans can do it, why can't we? Still sticking to my original comment but what else do you expect when there's no newsletter or publication around? Brilliant, let's do it then ++ RC ++

I remember I used to have some problems with DD disks as well... ++ RC ++

Don't forget there are still MANY A8 users who don't know the Atari boards or don't have frequent Internet access (if at all). The German ABBUC club has about 500 members and there are still some people in Poland who like to fiddle around with the A8. Mark, your opinion on this and what I wrote previously? I'm also pretty sure B & C Computervisions and Video 61 have customers who don't necessarily read the AtariAge forum. Final thought: I find it APPALLING no A8 publication exists in the US (not even disk-based). ++ RC ++

Space Dungeon and the 5200 version of Qix have been converted to the A8, though not officially. ++ RC ++

No offense intended but this kind of passivity has harmed the A8 for years. Heck, if people were jut informed of what's happening in the A8 world, there would be more demand... For one thing, I'm sure there are still some coders in Poland willing to write stuff if they see a nicely organized project. Did anyone at AtariAge, Video 61, Sunmark... ever contact the guys at http://www.atariarea.histeria.pl or post a message on the forum there? If you did and got a negative reply, I'll just shut up. If you didn't, I'd suggest you give it a try... It's only a matter of five minutes and simply a logical thing to do. ++ RC ++

Thanks I'm tempted to add: * Liberator (confirmed by Curt) * FutureMakers - This Is Ground Control / FutureMakers - Through the Star Bridge (disk educational games, screenshots exist) * Micro Movie (Jim Huether) * Warlords (Jim Leiterman). ++ RC ++

Yep, pretty ironic a lot of so-called C64 classics (Boulder Dash, MULE, Fort Apocalypse, Archon, Spelunker, Spy vs. Spy...) are originally A8 programs... Your mission is to let all C64 users know ++ RC ++

I'm pretty sure I had it (along with the CardWare and AwardWare stuff) but finding the disk is another story... ++ RC ++

Yet another thread hijack ++ RC ++