PeBo

I just read your original post more carefully, and thought I should add this...

That's a tough one, because they're all mighty common. While TI-invaders may be way up on the list in that regard, it's also considered one of the best original-era Space Invaders clone on any system, so it's a cartridge that holds a wee bit more significance. (plus chicks dig Space Invaders - or am I dating myself?) They're all playable (w/32k) on a FlashRom99, they all appear in multiple disc compilations, and once you make one of em nekkid, you can still use the cartridge, so you're not losing anything (heck, you don't even lose the label if ya put it on something plastic after you remove it). If I had to pick just one though, I say maybe your choices answers your question...Tombstone City is the only one that is not a clone of an arcade original, so maybe it's the one jumping up and down shouting "Pick Me, Pick Me". To be honest though Sinphaltimus, I say strip em all, and gain yourself a bunch of shells. There's not a single cartridge there that you couldn't find again in 15 minutes (probably for under $6 with manual) if you eventually regret the decision from a collectors standpoint.

Merci bien mon ami! Ca c'est une surprise tellement agréable! Mais à l’avenir, laisser les postes en français à moi et celles en l’allemand a toi s'il te plait...d'accord?? <grand sourire mal> (I think the spell checker just had a seizure!)

Yes Bouncy routines (or Road Hunter) would provide some mighty smooth scrolling to a 1941 or Caverns of Mars clone. Funny. When I was trying to think about what vertical scrollers we had, I thought of Road Hunter but I didn't think of Bouncy...probably because my mind associates scrollers with driving or shmups and bouncy...well it bounces to it's own beat.

Ya, it's on the title screen only (sorry), and I assumed it crashed until I found last night that, as you point out, the game does run after the corrupt screen. I actually watched that you tube video earlier this week, and have to say the ColecoVision version is looking great (cool new ship too!)...considerably faster, and yes the music is a big improvement. I've noticed that when I mute the sound on the 4A version the game seems faster...it's an illusion of course, since my monitor's mute can't possibly a game's speed (unless all those hallucinogens in college had longer lasting effects than I thought). If we ARE to be blessed with a remake though, mark me down as a paying customer...even if it only ever gets released as an e/a 32k file version, I'm happy to put my money where my mouth is for a good vertical scrolling space shooter, a category on our machine that is sadly lacking. War Zone II gave us a kick-a$$ Xevious'ish clone (if anyone knows how to reach Quinton Tormanen nowadays, I'd like to send him some $ too), and we've got side scrollers covered, but good (and smooth) vertical shooters are rare on the TI, so an updated Space Acer would be very welcome (and yes please, music toggle and sounds effects would rock!) So come on folks, let's get some monetary commitments hap'nin here as a post ColecoVision project incentive!!!

tried Super Space Acer, and noticed that pressing any key besides those deifned corrupts the screen and crashes. Then I noticed that my disc based copy does the same, (as well as the cartridge built into Classic99. Is this a bug that exists in the original code? Also, is there any way to toggle/replace the music with sound effects?....I really do love the graphics & gameplay, but I prefer the sounds of pings, pows and explosions over playing to a musical soundtrack . (of course I can always just hit mute and make my own sound effects a la Chris Rock)

First time I've run through your efforts in this thread (and run those efforts) Sinphaltimus, It was a real treat watching the running man proggie develop. I personally liked his horizontal motion in the first version of him going across screen (the later, smoother animation made him look kinda "floaty"....not that that's a bad thing, it made him kind of a low def Zack McCracken. The char definition for the character itself looked fantastic (a solitary 8x8 character isn't always easy to define, but you pulled it off with real panache), and the animation was spot on. Coming from a 1980's Graphic-Design background (where we shamelessly stole every illustration ever made in the 50's) "Bob" made me laugh out loud! Although his final animation was a tad seizure inducing, it was a lot of fun, and demonstrated, that we're probably going to see some très-cool XB demos and games from you in the future! Thank you for the momentary respite from a stressful week, and your kick-a$$ contribution to this graphics thread!

Hell bro, guys that take the time to use someone else proggie to support the community still beat the lazy SOB's like me, who just sit back and say ...

I tried enabling scanlines on the F18A, but as OLD CS1 points out it's the colour bleeding that creates a natural anti-aliasing. Scanlines also help, but it's just the way a CRT and vintage RF video output work together as a whole that does it (that would be tough to emulate even in hardware). Emulators try different filters to pull it off, but I've never seen one succeed (yet), and instead simply round off or blur the edges (which to me looks worse than jaggies.) But as I said previously, if you can pull off having a stock console for that vintage CRT colour bleed, and an F18A equipped one for it's kick a$$ clarity, then you've got the best of both worlds.

Not a day goes by where I am not thankful that I found a "fully" equipped (RS232, 32K, TI controller, 2 half-height DSSD drives) PEB locally (no shipping/duty/taxes), and that I got back into my TI hobby when nanoPEBs were still available periodically, usually several at a time. But even with the PEB or the CF7 active, when I decided to write a little XBasic MSX game loader a couple moths ago, I still coded it using emulation. I wrote it in TextPad (essential Windows based editor), tested it with classic 99 (Tursi, I love you so much more than I love my wife). I tried to do it all on-console, but being restricted to 40 columns (hell even 80 is restrictive) and using a stock TI keyboard made me realize that there are some levels of authenticity I am very happy to give up to avail myself of modern displays/editors/keyboards, even if the final destination is real hardware. (and I really don't want to add a rave99 or other alternative keyboard to my consoles) I wish you good fortune in your hunt for a suitable (and affordable!!!) expansion option, I wouldn't trade places with you for anything (I remember the frustration of my re-entry into this madness far too clearly still.) But some things that you think will change, might not. ...and it is SUCH a pretty box!

What I enjoy the most about vintage TI app software, is that it is a living testament to the Y2K bug. While the rest of the world thought that the Y2K bug was an exaggerated myth, vintage computer hobbyist learned first hand that the 2 digit year was indeed a software killer at midnight on January 1st, 2000. Since (as Opry99er kindly pointed out) we all use these apps in our daily lives, I would like to provide the following work around: 1960 & 1988 have the same dates as 2016 1970, 1981, 1987 & 1998 have the same dates as 2015 1969, 1975, 1986 & 1997 have the same dates as 2014 1963, 1974, 1985 & 1991 have the same dates as 2013 1984 has the same dates as 2012 if you follow the 80's, a clear pattern emerges that can fool your software into thinking that Y2K never happened (kinda like pulling a Marty McFly - but without a flux capacitor). You can now all FINALLY balance your checkbooks and verify that you're broke because of your hobby!!! (and yes, I do accept donations for my valuable assistance in this matter)

OWN YOUR OWN MOVIESTAH!!! (or, "How to sell a beat up and incomplete TI-99/4A console for $250US") Click here for details! Do people actually do no research into item values before posting on ebay???

Now hold on there...I think everyone will agree that « Securities Analysis » is the absolute best cartridge to have as a TI hobbyist in 2016! I mean, honestly, how often do you turn on your computer and NOT insert that cartridge!?!? And really, who wants or needs the convenience of saving nearly all cartridges (we're getting there) ever released for the TI on a single cartridge (and a few SDs) anyway? What good is having a 35 year old TI if the ROM port is never going to wear out??? So unless you can claim some kind of advantage in being able to access and load ALL your games faster on your 4A than on your PC without ever swapping cartridges, what is the point really? There's also one very important thing to remember, no one has ported Securities Analysis to a compatible bin yet, have they!? That should tell you everything! Sorry Ω, but I think you have to agree that I've just destroyed your proposition quite effectively! So there!

I've said a lot about the beauty of playing games with a stock TMS9918A on a CRT monitor elsewhere in these forums, so I certainly understand your being satisfied with the picture quality on your Samsung (best CRTs I ever used were Samsungs), But honestly, no monitor hooked up to 4A video comes anywhere near the clarity of an F18A equipped system. The best comparison is to fire up your favorite TI emulator on a PC connected to a LCD or LED display, and turn off any video filters in the software. This is EXACTLY what the picture quality is like with an F18A on real hardware...no colour bleeding whatsoever!! (which I praise or damn depending on the application). Plus you get a massive colour palette, unlimited (well to the maximum available) sprites per line, 80 column display (among other custom resolutions) and the ability to directly connect any VGA monitor - flat panel or CRT. You get all this, AND the most impressive Super Mario Bros port ever released for a non-Famicon machine absolutely free in these forums! (not to mention a Scramble clone that is as good as playing the original on MAME. It's nice if you can keep a stock console for authenticity (and that true retro-computer look), but adding an F18A will be the best $80 you've ever invested in your TI-hobby.

Try putting two kids through hockey 30 years ago...skates/uniforms they outgrow every year, insanely expensive equipment, and team/ice fees that are through the roof! If they were born today, I would have pushed them into football(soccer) since that is soooo much cheaper, but in the 80's soccer was pretty well non-existent in Canada, so hockey it was. But it's all relative...cheap hobby or expensive hobby, one can't eat a hobby once the income becomes fixed! Luckily (for my bank account), I just don't have the space anymore, or I would also be collecting AtariST stuff (The 1040STe was my third computer, but my second computer love affair after the 4A)

She doesn't hate the TI (in fact I think she's happy that I've found a hobby to keep me out of her hair). She definitely doesn't like the money I spend on it, but she's right there, since we're both less than 5 years from retirement, I should be saving not spending on a 35 year old computer. Cheaper than heroin though, so there's that!

Not a single Amstrad? Well I think you should turn in your Union Jack!!

Wow, shipping to Toronto is only $87 US! (although if it gets inspected, and has duty and taxes applied at the border, that price is gonna more than double (the used software is exempt - thank you Ronald Regan and Brian Mulroney - but the hardware sure isn't). And a package that size and weight crossing the border IS going to be inspected. What I find weird with shipping (and I'm becoming a real pro, after more than 2 years of near-weekly shipments of TI-stuff) is that it is far less expensive to have small packages shipped into Canada from France, Germany or the UK, than from nearly anywhere in the US (excluding Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania where it's often cheaper than local domestic!*). What I'll never understand is how F-A-S-T shipping from Germany is! Frankfurt to Toronto rarely more than a week (often less) including clearing customs. Gotta love Deutsche Post and DHL!!! *(Actually those 3 states are always cheaper than local domestic...local domestic is ridiculous. And shipping FROM Canada into the US is easily double the cost of going in the opposite direction!)

For cartridge collectors only... This one doesn't show up very often, and without a manual, the price should stay reasonable if anyone would like to add it to their collection. Demonstration

Nothing modest about it. Found myself cheering my horse on, which is exactly what a horse race game should accomplish. Horse performance seems to be a blend of odds and random chance which is also spot on. The animation is great, and the graphics are quite pleasing. There are a few horse racing games out there for the TI (including a Compute! Xbasic type-in), but none of them ever had any replay value for me. This one does. Kudos. Well done!

That's exactly what I did. I have one console with an F18A (with flashrom99 and nanoPEB - which I was fortunate enough to get before they disappeared) and a second which is, and will remain, 100% stock connected to my PEB. The un-modded console carries the "Solid State Software" patch, while the modded one does not (thought that felt appropriate). A 99/4 (with volume control and headphone jack) slipped through my fingers last month (god I hate ebay's final-seconds bidding!), but I hope that a similar /4 will become my 3rd console someday. Then I'll stop*. *ya right!

Gotta agree about SNK games!! Ozma Wars and Vanguard ...heck ya! I thought their catalog got a bit too fight-oriented - until someone introduced me to Samurai Shodown, which not only kept me up for an entire week-end, but changed my opinion of fighting games forever.! Unfortunately, the only SNK offering that the TI got was Munchmobile...not a bad game, just not a very inspired conversion (very playable, but the graphics seem rushed). I've attached a very early Atarisoft rolling demo of Vanguard in case you've never seen it. While not playable, but gives a VERY early look at what it could have been. EA/3 DSK1.MAIN3O Program name: TEST vanguardm.dsk

geez! forgot all about this one...great game! you sure don't live up to your moniker...because you deliver far more than just Static!

Thanks for Warzone Mantadoc!!! The best TI-scroller ever not done by Rasmus <grin> You are among the folks that have taken the FR99 ball and run with it, allowing the rest of us to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour. Hope you (all) realize how much it is appreciated! When I first got my cartridge, I figured, the lack of some kind of RAM onboard to store GROM data was going to severely restrict how much software would be transferable to this device (never expected more than a hundred or so 8K roms to find their way onto my SDs - although that would have included the entire Atarisoft and DataBioTics games collections, which surely would NOT have sucked)) Well now I'm a few pages into my second SD, and I can't remember the last time I inserted a cartridge other than Xbasic or FR99. Talk about saving wear and tear on TI's often tenuous cartridge port!! But this cartridge has also turned me into a beggar! It seemsthat I am making requests every second post! So at the risk of looking a gift horse in the mouth once again... ...will we be seeing Warzone II as well???

Don't know about Necro-threads, but my copy of G.R. Dickson's Necromancer is thread-bare, does that count?