carmel_andrews

Well just remember that the Atari Jaguars design can be traced back to the KMS (Konix multi system) And the sega master system was based on sega's computer hardware (a bit like a sega 5200) As for handhelds....yummy, grandstand, CGL and the like

Here’s the point I make, the history of homebrew publishing/development has its origins in what we then knew as ‘public domain’ software (or user written software) Whilst the content available as ‘PD’ or User Written software was certainly useable, very few or little of that content approached or was equal to the quality of similar content available commercially (i.e. what you bought in the stores/shops etc.) Let’s look at what we now refer to as ‘homebrew’ in as far as content publishing and development is concerned Comparing say homebrew development/publishing and the quality of the content now (for classic/retro platforms) I would say that most if not all the content is approaching or equaling the same content available commercially way back when and in some cases actually exceeding commercial quality And the same goes for homebrew development/publishing and the quality of the content presently existing for current formats like playstation, wii, xbox, psp, android and PC, like with the classic platforms, that available homebrew content in most cases is approaching if not equaling similar commercial content and in some cases actually exceeding commercial quality And seeming as though on both fronts i.e. classic retro platform homebrew content and homebrew content for modern platforms we are essentially getting ‘commercial quality’ or better then commercial quality content, we should think about rebranding homebrew developers, development and publishing/publishers and update their title to something that reflects the quality of their content as well as their efforts That is we call them 'Independent developers and publishers', let’s not belittle them or their efforts by referring to them as homebrew (remember that homebrew=public domain)

TMR....Thats why i mentioned the thing about 'homebrew development later on in my post Perhaps if more of them formed 'co operatives' (i.e clubbed together to share costs etc) they could have given the big boys a run for their money, after all like these days, not everyone is after a AAA rated game or licvenced properties, tie in's etc, people are and were interested in original content as well Something i guerss even you know quite a bit about being a 'homebrewer'

Following on from foft's post/thread about 'new ATARI hardware' and recent developments and attempts at replicating various classic processor core IPs (the only one's i've heard of relate to Z80, 6502 and 68000, there might have been others) I thought it might be an idea to consider the possibility of having a 'multi-core' 6502 (forget the cack about x64/IA64 or whatever they are passing off as 64bit these days, just a plain vanila flavoured multi-core 6502) Seeming as though people have found ways of replicating 6502 in software (emulation) and reproducing the 6502 in all it's glory as a new processor (as mentioned above) I think the possibility is probably nearer then we think Since the whole idea of multi-core processors is or was to be able to run various machines, systems or operation systems'virtually' from a single system without slowdown or having to reboot/restart or reset the computer One possibility for a multi core 6502 could be used to run various classic 6502 systems (as different configs) i.e A8, c64, apple II, vic 20/Pet, Acorn/BBC, Oric etc etc but built as one system and just so out games machine loving fanbois/girlies don't miss out have a multi core 6502 system running classic 6502 gaming systems (as different configs), like the vcs/7800, lynx, nes, pc engine etc built as one system Obviously the multi core 6502 would be an actual processor and the hardware replicating the hardware based on the various classic systems (i.e. PAG, sid/vic2/vic, tube etc etc) would be either FPGA hardware or similar The idea here is that you could switch between the different classic systems via a toggle key, once the toggle key is used, the previous systems config and state it was left in (before you pressed the toggle key) is dumped to flash memory and each time you keep switching systems with the toggle key, the dumping action is done again but to a different block of flash memory for the previous system you were running and when you come back to the system that was first dumped to flash memory, you enter it (the selected system) where you left off and subsequently for all systems that you dumped to flash memory, since when you reenter any different system config, it first checks to see if you've previously used that config and dumped it to flash memory, if you have then it simply retrieves what was dumped/saved and restarts it from the point you left the system this approach would be ideal for those developing programs or games across different 6502 platforms (or cross developing as i believe the term is called) as well as having a multi system design built into a single h/w platform For the keyboard and mimicking the keyboards of the classic systems, what you'd have is a standard Pc keyboard, the various system configs would have the particular code to convert the pc keyboard into the particular system you are running and you'd have different keyboard overlays (just like the joypad overlays you got with jaguar games or vectrex screen overlays) for the keyboard so you know which keys respond to the particular key for the classic system you are running In regards to the use of IO devices (if you are using original media formats, like tape or disk or cartridge) a seperate IO box would be possible that connects via a usb cable to the main system and on the IO box itself it would merely contain the different IO ports for the various systems the multi system is capable of running, as for cartrdiges though, you'd have a standard cartridge connector and different cartridge 'overlays' (adapters) to using cartridges from different systems In as far as new media formats that classic systems can now use (i.e usb, cf and sd cards) those connections or ports would also be included on the IO box (saves you having different floppy/tape or cart emulators running from the system) If such a system became popular it could be adapted for using different multi core classic processors (i.e 6800, 6809, 65816, Z80, 68000 family and so on) since a the system mother board could be upgraded to handling another multi core processor but based on a different CPU family or alternately if you remember those adapter boards that allowed pentium systems to run celeron processors (or was it the other way around) the same apprach could be used for handling multi core versions of different classic cpu families (like the ones mentioned above) Naturally the FPGA or whatever hardware was used to replicate the various classic hardware systems could be easily upgraded by just replacing the chips and the same goes for the various different system configs, you just replace the bios chip that holds the various different system configs for the with a new bios chip containing the new set (based on that cpu family)

I've heard of Julian Rignal...He worked on newsfields multi format magazine (TGM) and also Gary Penn...and i ain't into commodore You could also add, Julian Golner, Richard Montiero (hope i spelt the surname right), Mel Croucher and Derek brewster (who co founded Zeppelin games)

The snes is handicapped by it's design, if they'd gotten the hardware and the processor to work as one (a bit like the Atari 8bit and PAG) it might have stood a chance against the genesis/MD Also the problem with the 65816 is that it was basically 2 years late and not enough companies using it (WDC basically shot themseves in the foot by signing an exclusivity deal with Apple, in that Apple where the only computer company that could use the 65816 in a computer system), the point being that by the time the Apple IIGS came about the 68000 was already estbalished and upscale versions of the x86 processors had started appearing in pc's and there were more pc compatible makers in the market Perhaps if JT hadn't poopoo'd commodore's (MOS's) attempt at an upscale 6502 that they were working on during the development of the c64/vic20, the market for upscale 6502 and other processors might have taken off earlier (instead of relying on the likes of intel and motorola to basically take that market)

You might also want to get yourself either the official or third party IO devices (i.e tape decks or disk drives), if you want to play original software programs that is If your'e getting the official (i.e CBM) IO devices, get yourself jiffydos if it's a disk drive, you won't need to moddy the tape deck since most software houses used their own turbo loading routines (to speed up tape loads)

Nice system Alphasys...what you gonna call it, the Atari 6502 pc (Atari inside, to nick a well known companies marketing strapline)

At least the C-128 got more support then the 130xe did (i.e. more 128k titles)...also it was a nice machine (though i didn't own one) Also TMR, I think you know as well as I do, about 1985/6 the software market (in the UK at least) had pretty much decided which 8bit systems were going to get the support (namely the sinclair/commodore systems) and basically carved the market up for themselves whilst i accept that the st/amiga systems did get a look in, it would'nt be for long since the pc would soon make it's presence felt (i.e vga and windows etc) If we had the sort of 'homebrew' activity as we have now, perhaps independent publishing and development might have taken some of the market away from the big boys (i.e activision and EA in the US and USG/Ocean etc in the UK), since that might have encouraged more support for the minority systems like Atari, Amstrad, BBC, MSX etc PS, where's the 'groupies' you made mention of, or are they saying "we're not worthy"

Not enough 64k software (since most of the software for the A8 was 48k or less) during the shelf life of the A8 if there was more software/hardware development support i think a good comparison could be made I think the A8 started losing software support during the so called video game crash (83/4) thats when most Atari software supporters in the US started ditching the system in favour of the c64 if they were still supporting the A8 after the crash it were mainly for porting games to the A8 as an afterthought, though things did improve slightly in UK/Europe once tramiel took over (though most of the games where budget releases)

Dunno about the A500 internal DD, the one from the a600 does work though and i noticed that the a1200 uses the same mech as the a600 so the a1200 internal DD should work also I'm just going by a little experiment i tried a few years ago (with the a600's internal DD) after my ST int. DD didn't like formatting any disks and i could'nt be bothered with trying to find a new internal DD (hence the little experiment)

In your CoCo book, are you covering the Tandy/CoCo variants (i.e Drgaon data)...never actually owned a dragon system but i do remember seeing them and were told that they were tandy/coco compatible In your games system book, will you also be covering the dedicated games systems (since there were a heck of a lot of them in europe/uk, like grandstand, radofin, binitone etc etc)

I know that at the moment that this concept isn’t planned or on the cards and I seem to remember Mr. AA mentioning himself something to the effect that there won’t be that opportunity on Atariage I accept and respect his choice and I think I understand how he arrived at that choice, something to do with how current advertising/sponsorship content is displayed on websites and web in general i.e. that the advertising has to sit alongside the content the site normally provides (therefore reducing the amount of relevant site content for the user/visitor to see….since web space these days isn’t free) or that the advertising/sponsorship content gets in the way of the website delivering content the user wants to see or impinging on the user/visitor experience of using the site I had a couple of ideas that work around this problem, it may be a bit unconventional or controversial but it might just work (based on the fact that I haven’t seen it done or tried this way yet) Possibility one If you remember how a TV or monitor draws or displays its picture/image, imagine a web page/site like it was just a TV or monitor, i.e. you have a border region then you have the actual image information itself The idea is you use some of the border region and some of the site area itself (i.e. a handful of scan lines at the top/bottom of the web page image and a few scan lines at the left/right side of the web page image) and you use that area for ‘ticker tape’ style advertising or to scroll corporate logos and messages OK so you would lose only a few scan lines for actual relevant site content but you gain because the adverts are now smaller and all the space that was previously taken up by the ads can now be used for site content Another idea would be, just like you have different sections on a website, what if you had a section that just contained all the commercial advertising instead of the advertising taking up the space that could be used for relevant site content and also the advertising getting in the way of the website delivering content the user wants to see and also impinging on the user/visitor experience of the site The idea is that all the ad’s would still be on the site, just not alongside the relevant site content or getting in the way of the user experience of the site and it has its own section, you can call it products or services, commercial partners/supporters or similar, after all people would still use or view the advertising regardless or irrespective of how and where it’s displayed Also since this way of advertising on websites hasn’t been done or tried yet, to add value for advertisers, the advertising section will have an integrated search service so that you can search for particular product/service advertisers or advertisers by business type/sector and they get discounted search links or sponsored links Just a thought, that’s all

Following on from someone else’s post about securing/obtaining a localised install service for one or more of their Atari mod’s/upgrades I thought it might be an idea to establish an AA wide professional network of ‘trusted’ and ‘competent’ repair/upgrade and Modding services This applies not just to the A8 but all Atari hardware and also since AA supports non Atari platforms, non-Atari hardware as well (if AA members are conversant or knowledgeable of that hardware format/platform of course) The idea is that as well as carrying out spot upgrades, mods and repairs for AA members (and possibly non AA members who read the forums, since we have ‘lurkers’ here), it could also be used as an additional sales/distribution channel for the various and A8 or other Atari mod’s/upgrades, which means that the original maker of that mod or upgrade can drive more sales Since the upgrade or mod will be made available via the network of AA of h/w upgrade/repair and mod specialists/professionals and sales split accordingly, i.e. the parts/components of said mod or upgrade supplied by the original upgrade/mod maker and the person assembling the upgrade/mod into the final product and then installing it both get equal percentage of each sale To further drive sales more (i.e the various mods and upgrades etc) and also get more modding/upgrade and repair jobs coming in that AtariAge network the service with other Atari and non-Atari classic/retro web sites or services (including emulation and roms sites as well, since that’s kind of related) Same applies to non-Atari mods/upgrades for non-Atari platforms/formats as well I’m not saying it’s going to be great money or big money, it simply means that it will be easier to find a local person that can do this sort of service and not only that it will be cheaper from a shipping and postage aspect as well and you could probably get that upgrade/mod cheaper since you’re not paying things like import duties (i.e. if you are buying things from overseas) also because some parts/components might be available locally, further reducing the cost of the final product (i.e. the mod/upgrade) If it’s properly monitored and maintained I think the service should be relatively popular and successful, since they could extend services to include things like ebay purchasing for AA and AA networked sites users and also sourcing/selling Atari spares and parts (as well as non-Atari of course) as well as other services Just a thought, that is all

GadgetUK, you could just have easily used an internal amiga DD instead (just reverse the data cable at the drive end) Only thing is you'll have to either remove the eject button from the amiga DD or cut a hole big enough where the drive sites on the ST casing to cover the amiga dd's eject button or just leave the case off (not a good idea)

So you can use an unmodified xbox controller (assuming you can buy one cheapo enough) on a pc, don't you need some sort of configuration program to make it compat. with pc games (since i understand xbox doesn't uses some directx things like the pc does) I kind of figured out xpadder now, only started using it since joy2key has some issues with some free games i downloaded

Following on from the thread about A8 machines sounding different It begged the question, did Atari get around to doing different revisions/version of the personality chips (i.e. pokey antic c/gtia) Or where the 4/800 versions the same as the xl/xe versions and visa versa If different revisions/versions were made, where there noticable differences in audio or video/gfx output as well as any other differences

I did have one but sold mine, i think mine had the mac/amiga option as well never got around to using it as i wasn't much into he ST

probably because tramiel was only interested in getting the RBP (the ST) into the market and the only way he could do that was via the XL (since the XE wasn't available then) by the time the XE came along the ST had already started taking off (especially in europe) and anyway tramiel wasn't really interested in Atari's former products anyway, only what he bought into Atari (like the ST)

I only brought this up after seeing John Dean's web page (a former Atari product manager at Atari UK) where he mentioned that he worked on the first Atari published PAL title for the A8 (The lone raider) that wasn't based on an existing US or NTSC game The question is, how many PAL exclusives were there for the VCS or original PAL games for the vcs (not based on existing US/NTSC games) and what was the first PAL game not based on existing US/NTSC game released in UK/europe

It's nice to think that 2 of the ground breaking games from the early/mid 80'd (AR and M.U.L.E) both began life on the A8...Just goes to show what a decent machine we had back then One question to Mr Price though, did you do any 'tweaks' in later revisions for the extra memory in the 130XE (or mem. upgraded XLs), since i recall that activision did that for some of lucasfilm's disk games

Alpha sys Is this sample cart of yours similar to the 2bit systems one as I think 2bit systems also did some sort of sample cart for the A8 (i recall the free game they supplied with it) if only i had the interest in buying it at the time Any chance of you suppling tech details of the sample cart to phaeron/thordbg so it can be emulated via altirra or atari++, it would be a shame to see another piece of atari history disappearing

Any chance you could 'you tube' it (re: podcast) or set up one of them you tube channels (just make sure no one nicks your content though) Are you covering all retro computer platforms or are you only doing specific platforms like say, apple, commodore, atari, tandy etc etc in each podcast Got any interviews lined up with perhaps some of the system designers, system programmers etc or perhaps some of the classic games programmers, like bill hogue, philip price, mathew smith, rafael cecco etc