eobet

I have some downtime so I'll just pop in with an update on this thread... About a year ago (time flies) I'm 99% sure I managed to re-establish contact with Philip Price. However, it does seem that he has put AR firmly in the rear view mirror and isn't looking back (I don't blame him). Unfortunately he informed me that Gary Gilbertson passed away in December of 2021. Supposedly, Gary had all the paperwork which established that him and Philip Price had all the rights to the series, and that seems now permanently lost and the UK entity which claims to have acquired those rights (though have declined to show any paper trail leading back to the 80s) can now probably do as they wish uncontested. I had corresponded a bit with Gary Gilbertson before his passing, and I know there's quite a bit of music by him uploaded as unlisted Youtube videos. Now, he was ill at the end so some of it is quite raw and quite personal. Should it be archived? I really don't know. Perhaps it only matters to us fans and nobody will care in another few decades...

Ah, thanks for that! I also recently learned that the larger plastic cases are apparently called "hard clams".

Holy grail might be overstating it a bit. There are scans of the newsletters here: https://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getcompany=datasoft And I have transcribed my copies of the handbooks here: http://www.eobet.com/alternate-reality/ They do seem to be in very good condition though. Glad to see more AR fans about. There's literally dozens of us! ?

Yeah, I must admit I'm not a fan of people posting best-in-class CRT stuff these days. Back in the 80s, an average person could probably not afford that. I really like CRT effect made by Mattias Gustavsson, because it can emulate really crappy TVs which is what most people had: https://mattiasgustavsson.itch.io/steem-crt It's open source and ready for use, but I already suggested this once before and got shot down, unfortunately. Anyway, crossing my fingers for blurred and rounded borders at least!

I've been browsing a lot of online auctions for old games recently, and it seems that most releases out there are in cardboard boxes, while most releases I have are in plastic sleeves like this: Then there were also these "big box" plastic things for some games: So was there some manufacturer in the United Kingdom that were in favor of plastic over cardboard or does anyone know the story here? Does anyone know what people's preference to day are? I'm guessing collectors like the boxes, because they're easier to display on the shelf, and also, who knows when this plastic will start to deteriorate? (So far so good, for me... I have a stack that's been in a box for 20+ years and they haven't stuck together or anything.) Also, is "sleeve" the correct term? I'm Swedish so I'm not certain... I tried to search this forum for discussions on this but perhaps I'm using the wrong terms?

Holy crap, I just discovered that I was able to select text in Altirra just like a text editor... that's super impressive! ? I know the developer isn't a fan or CRT emulation (even though I personally don't make a distinction between that and the visual artefacts already emulated), but the sharp edge is frankly a bit jarring: Is there an option to blur the edge a bit and perhaps even add a corner radius, or if there isn't could it be considered for a future version?

Who is this thread about again? ?

You can't edit old posts on this site? So, turns out the company is not CFO Plus, but rather Code 10 Digital... which seems associated with Retro Games Ltd... who in turn made the C64 mini console and will release A500 mini console soon. Does anyone on this site happen to know how to track down someone who previously worked on the stealth bomber and currently works in cyber security? (Yes, I'm serious, btw.)

@phaeron When I tried Altirra, I was able to get a very lovely curvature to the screeen and some coloring artifacts I fondly remember. However, I don't think I managed to get a CRT effect on top of that. Is that because I simply didn't find the feature, or that you're opposed to it, or you haven't had time to make one? (If it's the latter, this one is pretty convincing...)

I am deeply disappointed with the quality.

Is it okay to like the VCS but really dislike the current iteration of Atari? The casino stuff they're probably planning to stuff down the throats of VCS consumers soon feel like a huge betrayal (already), and I wouldn't be surprised if they snuck in crypto currency mining into the VCS as well in the future... that "strategy", together with not paying the original designer of the VCS is so tone deaf that I don't see any redemption for them currently. I haven't received mine yet, but I'm praying that the classic controller is well built, because if all else fails, I'm hoping that at least that controller will be the silver lining to this cloud. It looks super neat!

Oh dear. Thanks! I think you'll spot why I didn't find it if you look closely at the title of the game in my above post. Oops. ?

Not sure I'm posting in the right place, but this is seemingly the latest ASMA thread? Because the thread is 5 years old already, it seems the files have since moved to the following site: http://asma.scene.pl/ASMA However, unless I'm very bad at searching (and that may very well be the case), I can't seem to locate any music from Electra Glide amongst the files (especially the in-game music, which kept being interrupted as you hit obstacles). Am I missing something or is it not included? Also, terribly sorry if I should have asked this question somewhere else (please let me know).

Well, I now have the name of the company, but unsure if it's a middle-man or not (the e-mail was unclear). They're called CFO Plus and the owner of the Datasoft portfolio is apparently UK based. (As a side note, I appear to be the only one so far who purcased a tee... which doesn't bode well for the prospects of the spiritual sequel I'm making. Also, hello again, Mr. Gilbertson!) ?

I guess this is the official AR thread on this forum now? ? In semi related news, there's a t-shirt company called "Seven Squared" who recently released... Datasoft mechanside... amongst those... an Alternate Reality: The City t-shirt. https://sevensqua.red/blogs/news/the-legend-of-datasoft-tees-of-style Interesting to say the least that someone still claims to hold the trademark licenses for those properties, especially since Philip Price claimed that they reverted back to him more than 20 years ago... (Then again, a few years after the iPhone was first released, there was an "officially licensed" Alternate Reality The City Commodore 64 port mysteriously released too.)

I just want to say thank you for keeping the Atari emulation scene alive! ? The CRT filters in Altirra are almost too real, as I got a pang of nostalgia I haven't felt in decades. ? I have a possibly weird question: Has anyone made a utility to convert Atari800winplus .a8s save states to Altrirra .altstates? I have some old states I'd love to bring into this new 64-bit era...

Hmm. I logged in here for the first time in I don't know how many years just to see if there was a thread for it. Sad that it seems that the Kickstarter might fail. It would have been sweet to have the shiny emblem on the front and even more pages...

Can't believe I missed this... actually wouldn't have found it if I didn't go looking at the AR mailing list archives and found it to still be active just out of curiosity... If I still would be maintaining the FAQ I bet there would have been some nice new tidbits of info in this thread, but that was also a long time ago now. Actually, the reason I went looking is because I'm just about to release my first iPhone app... and I was thinking about what my next project might be...

This means that either they managed to find Phillip Price, or they are selling it illegaly. I wonder which one it is (my bet is on the second alternative, right now).

We Mac users are blessed with what I would like to say is the absolutely best front end for DOSbox by far, and that is the awesomeness that is Boxer. If you're not using it yet, you're missing out! Also, OpenEmu is interesting, but development is not very active. There's also intel optimized compiled versions of PCSX Reloaded, but I don't have any current links for where to find that. Nothing a quick Google won't fix for those who are interested.

That might be true, because the Macbook has an integrated graphics card with not so top notch 3D performance (while Atari800MacX draws only 2D, I don't know how it draws it, but perhaps it does it in a way that's not optimal for the Macbooks). On my Macbook Pro, though, I notice no slowdowns. However, I can't get the artifacts to work. I'm using a 3X sized screen. Anyone know what's wrong?

You're talking about Subtrade (avalilible both for Amiga and PC as shareware). Subtrade is actually nice, since it introduces mule farms, but some other aspects of it I've never really understood. But since the source code is out now, surely a remake (not sequel) could be made which completely captures the feel of the original? Anyway, I'll put it on my list to-do as I said and stop hijacking this thread now. Thanks again!

Holy crap! Downloaded, and I was totally unaware by this. Why, oh why, hasn't anyone implemented this in C/C++ under SDL already? Brrr, my "to-do" games list is beginning to pile up, and I haven't even completed anything yet. Thank you so much for the information! Time to at least draw some nice graphics and fantasize a bit...

Not really an answer, but International Karate on the ST has completely unique graphics compared to the C64 version, and was never made availible on the Amiga (only IK+ was).