atarifanboi

I guess as a long time Doom player, I have pretty high standards. For the price I paid, it's not bad, but when you have so much to live up to, you need to pay attention to what made the original great. I should probably also confess that having played so many FPS's, I was hoping for something special in new Doom, and it just didn't deliver for me. I'd still buy it, I just wouldn't pay full price

I've played some more over the weekend, and it has got better, but still not what original Doom was like to play. It feels like a bland remake, made just because we can. The worst part for me is the feeling like all of the campaign levels have been designed as multiplayer from the get go, and just strung together to make a game. Original Doom wasn't like this, it was a proper campaign. They should have looked at what made original Doom great, and used that recipe. I don't want to have to mess around with weapon and armour add ons, though some are fun , I want to run and gun, and not feel like the campaign played second fiddle to multiplayer. I also don't want a chainsaw that runs out of gas after chopping up one bad guy!! There is definite crossover with Doom 3 in the architecture and textures, but I'm going to be controversial here, out of New Doom and Doom 3, I think Doom 3 is the better game Original Doom still has it for me. Now where did I put that boomstick....

1.44Mb fdd mod. Done (Caveat , worked fine until recently, think I need to replace the fdd ribbon cable) Fast 32Mhz TOS switcher. Done 32Mhz STE booster. Done Maybe I can move onto some of my other Atari related projects now

Yeah, I just read some of the posts back from the AtariKing, I was sniggering to myself!!

Bought the other day for £24 ($31.37), which I think was a good deal. As for the game, visually it's quire stunning, but I'm not yet sold, I think I need to play some more. Maybe it's because I have been playing 3d shooters since the beginning, and that I also still play the likes of Wolfenstein 3d and Doom on my nVidia shield tablet, but at the moment I feel like this new version (Played on Xbox One btw), lacks the immediacy of the original, each area seems to be too much like a set piece. It looks very much like Doom 3, something else that I also can now play on my nVidia Shield. That doesn't mean I don't like it, it just doesn't give me the same feeling that Doom did when I first played the shareware version.

Finally got round to adding a section to the forum around my install of the booster, link is here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/255632-install-of-32mhz-ste-booster-by-exxos/ Everything running nicely at 32Mhz

I wanted to add a post here with regards to installing the STE 32Mhz booster by exxos, as although it's already on Facebook, if you're not a group member, you wouldn't see it. So, here goes The tools. I used a fairly standard set of small side cutters, temp controlled soldering iron, small forceps (For removing the old PLCC pins), flux, desolder braid, plastic levers (iPhone screen removal tools) and a large eraser. More on that later. One thing that isn't visible is the illuminated hands free magnifer, which is essential for the fine soldering. Total work time for this was about 4-5 hours for me, bearing in mind the TOS switcher had already been installed, and I had already preassembled the booster. Personally, I'd do the TOS switcher first and make sure it works before you move on to the booster. Starting PLCC removal using the pin method suggested by exxos in his instructions(http://www.exxoshost.co.uk/atari/last/removal/index.htm). It works, so use it. All pins lifted. Again, the instructions from exxos worked up to this point. I tried lifting the socket after snipping the leads, but no movement at all. Since the socket wouldn't lift, I decided to cut it into smaller pieces as per exxos. This is the first 'Gotcha' for me. The socket didn't cut into smaller chunks, it disintergated into small pieces leaving this very tough baseplate behind. This is where you MUST use plastic tools, or you'll destroy the tracks on your mainboard. This is where the 2 blue plastic levers came in. I had to trim the pins a second time, then work my way around the edge with the levers to lift the baseplate. It's desolderin time!! Baseplate off, pins ready to desolder. Follow the instructions by exxos for this part. TIP:- I used small forceps with serrated jaws for manipulating the pins, as they were easier to handle than the needle nosed pliers I own, which lost grip as the jaws were not serrated. exxos has already mentioned the "Gotcha" around the power pins, take your time, they do take longer to desolder. This shot is all pins removed, but solder is still present in the thru holes. Again, the PLCC removal guide by exxos is good up to here. TIP:- TAKE YOUR TIME, rushing will just hurt your chances of a good job. My next TIP comes here, cleaning the solder from the thru holes. I used 1.5 mm solder wick, and rather than put flux on the board, my flux was quite thin, so I DIPPED the wick into the flux. Get your soldering iron right in the middle of the hole, and on top of the wick. Be paitient, it takes a second or two, but the solder will melt, and the flux in the wick will help it flow, and you'll see the wick turn silver. Don't be tempted to re use wick, it won't work, just regularly trim the used parts away and discard. TIP:- if a hole doesn't clear of solder right away, move on so that you are not constantly heating the same part of the board, which can damage the tracks and vias. All cleaned up! I had a few holes that half cleared, the TIP here is to refill the holes with fresh solder, then use the wick again to empty them. Hold the board up to the light to confirm they're clear. After trimming the pin strips, I dropped them in to the mainboard as a trial run. TIP:- Here is where the eraser comes in.Put 2 of the inner pin strips into the booster board, then push the whole thing into the eraser, making sure the pins are well aligned. Solder the 2 end pins of each strip. Repeat until all of the pin strips are held in by just 2 solder joints at each end, as this will give you a little wiggle of the pins so you can get them into the mainboard. Insert the booster, and hold it in place with tape or blu-tac, and solder just 4 of the outside row of pins at the ends. TIP:- good alignment is critical here, before you move on to soldering the rest of the pins, so just soldering a few will give you a chance to wiggle things around. When you're happy it's all in a good position, solder the rest of the pins on the mainboard side, then the rest on the booster side. All soldered in, awaiting final wiring. All wiring completed, with a switch for 8/32 Mhz and Tos 1.62/2.06. Just need to mod the case for the switches. Just to the left of the yellow clip, you can see the 1.44 Mb fdd mod, also from exxos, that I installed at an earlier date. Booted up to TOS 1.62 at 32Mhz. Booted up to TOS 2.06 at 32Mhz. Now this is completed, I'll need to get some benchmarks run, and I've had some requests to run certain games/programs at 32Mhz to see just what the difference is. I'll post more on that when I have time, and when my floppy drive is fixed and working again Thanks to exxos (Chris Swinson) for all the support, and the time, effort and money he puts into developing these awesome upgrades. His guide can be found here: http://www.exxoshost.co.uk/atari/last/V1STE/

Booster is installed and everything running at 8Mhz, just waiting for the 32Mhz capable CPU from Chris (exxos). Pictures are up on FB (https://www.facebook.com/groups/133161394213/10154465574289214/?notif_t=like&notif_id=1469919459681433), but I will post separately on here sometime this week.

So it's looking like the booster install is ON!! The flux I ordered arrived yesterday, so this weekend is going to be a desoldering/soldering bonanza! Scared and excited in equal measures

When I de-soldered the AJAX fdc in order to add the 1.44Mb Fdd upgrade to my STE, it was quite a hairy experience. I'd also say that during that task, sticking to a single de-soldering process didn't work for me, I used a mixture of pump and wick in the end. If you're using a pump, be super careful, as the last thing you need is to either lift tracks or damage via's. I have a really good pump, that doesn't jerk at the end of the piston travel, which helps massively, BUT if you're not in that situation, you probably want to avoid. If you're not confident with de-soldering, or haven't done much, you probably want to avoid a pump altogether. Be very careful about overheating the tracks and via's too, it's all too easy to do this and have them lift, even if you're not using a pump. My advice would be don't rush it, take your time, and use the guide by exxos.

There is a link on this thread to a 60Hz program for your auto folder: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/230918-how-do-i-change-my-ste-from-pal-to-ntsc/

No pressure then

Oh, I won't, I'll be taking it really slow!

Fingers crossed, and with a bit of luck and a following wind, now my server is repaired, I'm going to try and at least remove the PLCC from the STE this weekend. IF all goes well, the booster may get fitted, and the external switches to choose which TOS, and 8/32MHZ will also go in. I will get photos as I go along and will put up a separate thread on here, plus share on Facebook, so everybody can share my experiences. Wish me luck!!

Oh, this had me grinning like a cacodemon!

Or this: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3467097.htm?_$ja=tsid:59158|cid:598901029|agid:24338013050|tid:pla-197648552690|crid:86951771450|nw:g|rnd:7873670608295731506|dvc:c|adp:1o1&gclid=Cj0KEQjwte27BRCM6vjIidHvnKQBEiQAC4MzrVY83x8cGbFnjKmJLJeX2G63_tx-ltVAHYY2wO4ltncaAqR88P8HAQ Which is what I use.

My Wii and Gamecube from eBay arrived this week, total cost for both £45 give or take a few pence Attempting to get Linux running on the Wii!

I only ever had a memory upgrade for my A500, but I now have an A1200 with a 68020 accelerator Collecting has let me have many of the things I couldn't afford when I was younger!!

I'm sure they're not, but for some reason I just couldn't get on with them, maybe I have different length thumbs......

The main reason I didn't go down the Playstation route is that I just didn't like the controller, and that let me to go to the XBox after my Dreamcast (Both of which I still own ) I do have a 2000 series PSP if that counts?

Welcome to the club

Now the XBox One S has launched, I know the price has started dropping in the UK for the original system, so you may be in luck sooner than you think

Similar to my own regrets, only without the giving to my brother!

I also sold a Science of Cambridge MK14 when I was really short of cash. It was the precursor to the ZX80, so sad face

You're welcome Took me a while to find a suitable AC/AC PSU for my 1010, which I'd always assumed was DC. Got a shock to find it wasn't.