Major_Tom_coming_home
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Posts posted by Major_Tom_coming_home
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19 hours ago, --- Ω --- said:
What about a Disk drive controller card? Is one still available for it? That thing would rock with a Lotharek HxC!
I found a PDF of a controller card from a few years back...
There was an external disk drive available for $675 or it can use audio cassettes for storage.
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On 8/7/2019 at 6:16 PM, mr_me said:
It's not clear if the base H8 includes any ram that makes it work without buying the ram card (sold seperately). The Altair includes a small amount of ram on the processor card. And the Apple computer had ram and other components on board that made it a good buy.
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From the photo I see four cards. The default processor card, an 8k ram card, a 16k ram card (must have been expensive). I'm guessing the fourth card is an rs232 serial card.
You are correct about the four cards - and I am impressed. I don't know much about computing before the PET / Apple II / TRS-80 were released. I didn't think it was intended for home use at first partly because it was such a big, heavy, expensive in 1977 beast
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1 hour ago, --- Ω --- said:
Awwwww Maaaaaan some guys have all the luck!
Perseverance, my friend, My two hobbies are yard sales and old computers
On 8/7/2019 at 3:12 PM, jhd said:Wow, I have never seen any hardware of that vintage outside of a museum. Great find! What cards are included?
The CPU is an 8080 and it is on one of the cards. There is an 8KB and a 16KB Memory board, the last one is for the terminal interface. It uses a propriety bus that is similar to the s-100
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On 8/7/2019 at 6:42 AM, LoTonah said:
I'm happy for you. Sad though, because its one of the few machines on my "want" list and you just got the deal of the century. What a sweet score!
I will prey to the yard sale gods to send one your way.
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I had this fall into my lap at a garage sale for $20. It is a Heathkit H8 Computer and H9 terminal. I thought at first it was some sort of specialty computer for business / industrial use, but it was actually an early home computer sold to hobbiests like the Altair 8080. I have all of the documentation and diagrams that came with it. The H8 unit doesn't power up, but I got some advice in vintage computer groups on facebook from people who are familiar with it and it probably just has a blown power supply fuse. I plan to investigate further when I get the time to do so. I plan to keep it and add it to my collection. Hopefully my Amiga 1200 won't be jealous of me spending time with another computer.
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I have a dead Atari 7800 ac adapter, and I was wondering if it is safe to cut the connector odd and splice it onto a functional AC adapter that uses the same voltage and amps as the original. I have drawers full of various adapters, but I haven't seen the one from the 7800 used in anything else. I'd expect that out of Apple or Nintendo but Atari??? Thanks much
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I was just watching a game play video of Mappy and if someone told me it was an early NES game I would have believed them. Would it have been possible to make a VCS game like this using the development tools available circa 1980?
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So the update is I now have Moon Patrol and the Multicart 3.0. I'll buy Time Pilot at some point since it is another of my favorites. I also noticed that a Gyruss clone may be in the works. If it is released I wouldn't be able to get to my wallet out fast enough. That is my all time favorite arcade game!
Oh he definitely has probably all 3 of his games still for sale. Vectrexians, Vector Pilot, and Vector Patrol.
It just takes some patience.
I remember him and people marveling about (in the 1990s!) about his Vectrexians and how he was POKING so many things to the Vectrex screen.
Packratgames makes carts when given permission of great home-brew games, most will be in the Sean Kelly multicart 3.0. A Phoenix make from John Dondzilla is one I come back to.
If you like Defender, definitely get “Protector” on Cart if cart still saves high scores. That is one I remember as a Triangle in the 90’s never dreaming a brilliant Defender could be done.
There are demos of Protector and Vectrexians, but the full carts are worth it. -
I'm curious to know what kind of advantages / disadvantages modern programmers have when it comes to developing games for the 2600 and other older systems. For example you have computing power at your disposal that could have only been dreamed about in 1981 as well as solid state media, but you don't have Gary Kitchen working in the next cubicle. I'm under the impression that between 1977 and 1992 there must have been lots of programming tricks dreamed up to take full advantage of the 2600s limited, difficult to work with, yet flexible hardware. I have always found it fascinating how Atari 2600 Combat would have looked right at home on a dedicated home pong type console in 1977, while Solaris could almost pass as an early NES title in 1987 and seems like it should have been manufactured with heat sinks integrated into the cartridge. Thanks!!!
PS (actually, I think the Atari 2600 does some things with Solaris that would cause the NES to slowdown, flicker, choke, crash, and catch fire. IMO that game is bat shit insane in the graphics department like a Sega Genesis running Halo LOL
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a few weeks ago I decided to buy a new game console. After deliberation I narrowed the candidates to the PlayStation 4 or Vectrex. Methinks I made the right choice with the Vectrex. I love being a part of user groups who share my interest of classic game consoles and computers. It's much more fun than waiting 3 hours for Destiny 2 to install and being called a 'fag' every 3 minutes as a for the trouble.
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Hopefully I will get the chance to try moon patrol, I've emailed Kristof some days ago and haven't heard back. Hopefully he's just on holiday and still selling copies of the game. Time Pilot and Moon Patrol are among my favorite arcade games of all time. I'm also eagerly awaiting trying out Pole Position, Scramble, and anything like a Lunar Lander / Gravitar.
So what would be the other 2 (or more) 'amazing examples of "I cannot believe the Vectrex is able to do this”?
Just do not let Vector Patrol, which was developed over a decade and is one of the top 3 most amazing examples of “I cannot believe the Vectrex is able to do this!” sour your judgement of everything else released and homebrewed on the Vectrex.
There’s lots of “original release” gems and stinkers, just like “modern home-brew” gems and stinkers.
If I am confusing or not clear please let me know.
Vectrex console is a most favorite gem of mine, and Vector Patrol has become my #1 videogame work of all time. -
Hopefully I will get the chance to try moon patrol, I've emailed Kristof some days ago and haven't heard back. Hopefully he's just on holiday and still selling copies of the game. Time Pilot and Moon Patrol are among my favorite arcade games of all time. I'm also eagerly awaiting trying out Pole Position, Scramble, and anything like a Lunar Lander / Gravitar.
So what would be the other 2 (or more) 'amazing examples of "I cannot believe the Vectrex is able to do this”?
Just do not let Vector Patrol, which was developed over a decade and is one of the top 3 most amazing examples of “I cannot believe the Vectrex is able to do this!” sour your judgement of everything else released and homebrewed on the Vectrex.
There’s lots of “original release” gems and stinkers, just like “modern home-brew” gems and stinkers.
If I am confusing or not clear please let me know.
Vectrex console is a most favorite gem of mine, and Vector Patrol has become my #1 videogame work of all time. -
Just dropped in to say I'm a new Vectrex owner and this will be the first time I've ever bought a homebrew for any of my vintage computer or console. I've ordered the 3.0 multicart as well. I've always wanted to own one of the unobtainium second gen consoles (like the Fairchild, Astrocade, Arcadia, Vectrex, etc.) and chose the Vectrex since there is nothing else like it, has a loyal following, and has a good library of original and homebrew games. It also didn't hurt my local indie game store had a reasonably priced Vectrex for sale and I was able to extensively playtest before buying.
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This is a very interesting point to me, even though it was made 5 years ago
...I agree that It wasn't hardware capabilities that made the NES the more successful console. IMO On many it came due to innovation: The flagship and pack-in game for the Colecovision was an arcade port. It was a great port, but it was yet another attempt at selling systems based on what was popular in the arcades. The Pack-in for the NES most people got was Super Mario Brothers and holy shit...it blew away preconceived notions about what a video game could be. Sure there were platformers before SMB, but they could not compare or compete. Nintendo had arcade ports available, but it also provided us with an experiences that weren't anything like the arcade or what was available at home at the time. Also, I think people around my age would say the scrolling capability on the NES was a huge deal. AFAIK no other popular console or computer could scroll like a Super Mario, and it was a game changer. Then there were the controls. The 5200, Intellivision, Coleco, and even Emerson Arcadia 2001 all had very similar controllers that were not comfortable for a lot of people, were not usually well made, and could actually be difficult to use with their shitty keypad you needed to look at instead of the screen. The NES somehow got by with 4 buttons including start and select and could be used by feel, and the directional pad was superior to a joystick for 95% of games. Nintendo also innovated the design of their console, but the engineering was very flawed and I have to give that point to Coleco. Nintendo got it right otherwise, and changed everything in the process. Gaming at home was no longer all about arcade games and ports of arcade games at home, instead 'home'. replaced the arcade as the focus.
I personally like the colecovision screenshot of donkey kong better than the nes version. I think the dk jr. screenshot of the nes version looks better than the colecovision. The wii and ps3 have competed against each other for years. The ps3 is capable of better graphics than the wii. Both systems have great games and are better at different things. I see no reason that both the nes and colecovision couldnt have competed against each other as well.
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Out of curiosity, is my understanding of the 7800 vs NES hardware correct? The conclusion I have drawn for myself is that the 7800 is more capable when it comes to having a lot of moving objects on screen at the same time, while the NES is better at scrolling. This basically means the 7800 was great for games such as Robotron 2084 while the NES was better at Super Mario / Castlevania type games. Of course, at this point video games and consumer demand had moved on past arcade style offerings in favor of deeper experiences that were totally different from anything found in the arcade. I can't help but think Atari just didn't 'get' that the world had moved on and yet another slightly better looking version of MS. Pac-Man wasn't going to cut it any more. The only 7800 game I can think of off the top of my head that had the right idea of where to go was Midnight Mutants.
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Yeah, that was kind of absent minded of me. I knew there were different models but had a senior moment there...For a budget of up to about $200 I'm guessing the best model I could get would be the 520STFM.? I know the fair comparison for the Amiga 1200 would be the Atari Falcon but if the current status of Ebay is an indication the Falcon is made of unicorn blood, fairy dust, and unobtainium.
He didn't say which ST. "Atari ST" is just a generic term for the whole line, same way "Amiga" is. I took it as he got a specific Amiga, and is wondering if he should get *any* kind of Atari ST.
He didn't say which ST. "Atari ST" is just a generic term for the whole line, same way "Amiga" is. I took it as he got a specific Amiga, and is wondering if he should get *any* kind of Atari ST.
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a few years ago the Garage Sale gods smiled upon me for all of my loyalty and devotion. I found a clean working Amiga 1200 + Amiga Monitor + lots of pirated software for $120. I thought I would never own an Amiga but holy fracking crap I do!!!...
Now I find myself curious about the Atari ST, but the impression I get is that they mostly have the same game library and a game developed for one of them will often be ported to the other. That said, i'm curious to know if there are reasons to get both of them for gaming? The ST is great for music but I'm not really interested in that - it's all about the games :-)..
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Thanks much for the ideas, there are some in there I will use. I started collecting Atari well before my friend gave me the vader so I've had my harmony cart for a long time now. The cool thing was that before my friend -gave me his old machine I had every version of the 2600 except for the Vader including the Colecovision and 5200 add-ons and even the Gemini. It must have been meant to be! :-)
Everyone has their own opinion of what looks good and what doesn't. Gold plating the switches sounds nice to me, but it's probably cost prohibitive. I think they are aluminum sleeves over a plastic switch, so you might be able to have them anodized with the color of your choice. Some people have managed to drill a hole in the end of the power switch and put a tiny LED inside it, which I think looks cool, but it weakens the switch. For my Vader, I drilled a small hole next to the power switch and put a color changing RGB LED in it. Now when it's on, the LED changes colors. You could mount an LED inside the case, near the vents and have it shine out through the vents, kind of like accent lighting. Depending on how good your modding skills are, you could also file out the ATARI logo on the front and place some frosted glass or sanded clear plastic behind it, then light it from inside with an LED. I think one of the color changing RGB LEDs would work great for that. One LED doesn't use enough power to need a separate power supply, you just add a resistor to the positive side of the LED and connect it to the 7805 regulator (which you should replace with a new one). You can get a complete refurb kit from console5.com. It comes with all the parts you need to replace, plus a few you don't. It's only around $12 if I remember correctly. Oh, you should also get the Best Electronics, Lifetime Gold PCBs for your joysticks. I'd also recommend new inner handles and rubber boots. I went all out when I redid my joysticks. I even replaced the fire buttons, springs, retaining rings and screws. I basically have brand new joysticks now. you can also buy rebuilt ones from Best Electronics, for about $15-20 than doing it yourself. Oh, if you haven't already, get a Harmony Encore cart. No more switching carts, just load the entire 2600 library onto an SD card and put it in the Harmony, then select the game you want to play from the list. It's the best investment I made for mine. Lastly, if you do an AV mod, don't go cheap. I've had horrible luck getting a cheap board that had decent video quality. Get a UAV board from Bryan here on the forums. It's the best video quality you can get for a decent price and the board looks nice too. Those kind you see on eBay for $10 or so are garbage. The UAV bypasses everything and connects right to the TIA chip, so you get a really clean signal. I think that's about everything I can think of, but if you have questions, feel free to ask. Most of us are pretty helpful.
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My best friend for the past 35 years recently gave me the actual 2600 Vader we played as kids. Obviously, it still works since as we all know at Atari Age they were made to last :-). Just like almost every other Atari, it was in his garage covered with dust but I busted out the Armor All and now I can see my reflection in it. I have just about every version of the 2600 but this one is 'special' to me and I would like suggestions for pimping it out. I'm planning to replace the original 4 switches with new NOS ones and replace the black material behind them with white. I also want to get it in the best working condition possible so I'm going to vacuum the innards and replace capacitors. I thought about a video mod, but the ones I have seen look like they were added as an after thought (which of course they were). Does anyone else have other suggestions? If so I'd like to hear them - thanks.
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I'm very curious: is there any kind of computer / game console that is popular for people in your area to import because it was never sold outside of the USA and Canada? For instance, in my case I would love to have an Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum, but since I live in the USA where those computers were never sold I would have to import them from Europe. I'm curious about how things work the other way around
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Thanks much for the info.
I could swing the $175, but given the option Having to Swing $80 would be even better
. That why I was hoping that the Gamepad emulation in Android would be capable of acting as the gamepad. The other thing is that at $175 I'm really on the fence. Nintendo first party games are great, but other than that the Wii-U library is a rathersmall one.
I guess I could try the gamepad emulation, and if that doesn't work well enough I could get a gamepad seperaetly
I personally wouldn't recommend it without the gamepad. And I don't know what prices you'll seeing, but on the off chance it's of any assistance, I saw refurbished systems for $175 on Nintendo.com a few days ago. Not a bad price for what should feel like a brand new system, sans original box.
Been a while now for me and perhaps OS revisions have changed it since I bought mine a year in, but I think it was heavily used when setting up the system. So that may pose a problem for you with just simple setup tasks like connecting to the internet the first time (For instance if you want to play New Super Mario Bros. U with a Pro Controller, you'll need the patch). If you have a buddy with a Wii U, you probably can work around this by borrowing a gamepad temporarily so that you can get things like resolution set to where you want it.
Also be aware that Breath of the Wild requires it from time to time. And if you're interested in Super Mario 3D World, that also sadly mandates it for a handful of levels. Either way, I imagine that you'll want a Wii U Pro Controller at the very least. Lots of games supported the Classic Controller, but a lot of good ones that didn't mandate the Wii U gamepad don't and only support the Wii U's own Pro Controller for an optional controller.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wii_U_games_that_use_the_Wii_U_Pro_Controller
That list, while incomplete and not always accurate (It is Wikipedia, after all), is a handy guide showing which games offer Pro Controller support and which of those also supported Wii Classic Controllers. For instance since you mention Zelda, it shows that Wind Waker HD has Classic Controller support while Twilight Princess HD doesn't.
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I've been thinking about getting used a Wii-U to be able to play the 1st party and exclusive games for the console. On Fleabay, the gamepad goes for as much as the console itsself. How feasible would it be to play games on the Wii-U either with just a classic controller or with an android tablet with a gamepad emulator installed? I know there are games that won't work without the gamepad emulated or otherwise, but they would also be the ones I am not interested in playing. I'd stick to Mario Kart, Zelda, Smash Bros. etc.
The gamepad was one of the reasons I wasn't interested in the Wii-U when it came out. I'm sure it has fans, but I'm not really big of Gimmicks. The original Wii had a gimmick controller, but at least they weren't expensive and using a Gamecube controller was almost always an option. I miss the days of the Gamecube and GBA - great consoles that differentiated themselves with great games that didn't need a crutch to lean on. Being comparable in power to the competition was nice too. Games made with the PS2 in mind could be ported without noticeable downgrades (or non at all).
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Thanks, your post + they are going for 34.99 brand new on Ebay right now = what the heck, I ordered one. I also agree with you about the battery door - I HATE electronics that are designed so the batteries cannot be removed by the average Joe Six-pack like myself.
I'm sure it is heresy to type these words here but here goes: I've never been a Pac-Man fan for either the home or arcade versions, and I actually like the 2016 Box art with Frogger and Centipede better.
Maybe I'll attempt a youtube video to compare them. I've always wanted to do something like that.
I did not get a 2016 Atari Flashback Portable. I did get a 2017 Atari Flashback Portable based on the video that I provided the link to.
What really sold me on the 2017 was the battery access door. 2016 didn't have that. You know I will have this for 40 years and need to replace the battery dozens of times.
Also, the 2017 model has a pac-man game and pac-man on the box.
The 2017 screen is supposed to be smaller but not much. If it were twice the size it would still be small to me.
I have to say though, I am very happy with the 2017 model and am enjoying it much more than I expected to mainly by playing Spider Fighter from an SD card.
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I was wondering if anyone has tried both the AtarI Flashback Portable 2016 and 2017 models? Is it worth an upgrade? Is the Rom capability any better? How about the screen and form factor? etc. Thanks much!
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It doesn't get much more 'classic' than hhis
in Classic Computing Discussion
Posted
I will be happy to do so. It's clean now and was actually much worse when I got it than what you see in the photo. It was in a guys basement in Maine for an unknown number of years. I guess that is either really good or really bad, I'm a life long Florida resident and we don't have basements since the water table is only a few feet from the surface.