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Lord Thag

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Posts posted by Lord Thag

  1. Posted

    Finally got all my gear unpacked from the move and I'm attempting to get Platoterm to work to explore PLATO, which is something I've always wanted to do. I can get the software to connect to IRATA.ONLINE on port 8005, no problems, but it's a mess once I do. Corrupted graphics, missing text, weird lines drawing everywhere. It's unusable.

    Now, it's been ages since I've messed around with telnet, modems, BBS etc, so it's probably something I am doing. But I've tried it every way I can, and I get the same issue. There are not many options to tweak on the APE side. I've tried this on my main U1mb 800xl, a stock 1200xl, and a 130xe... all have the same issue.

    Here is the setup I am using:

    Atarimax SIO2PC cable w/ latest registered APE using the built in APE R: internet modem

    .ATR booting under APE autoloading the R: handler (I've tried every R Handler on the ICE-T disk)

    Platoterm cart image running on an Ultimate cart at 9600 baud. Have also tried the .xex version as well -same result.

    No matter what I do, I get corrupted graphics and missing text. I've also tried running the cart without a disk at all, as the APE software says it automatically loads an R: handler, but Platoterm does not detect this and exits.

    Any ideas? I've tried every speed/setting I can tweak with no luck.

     



     

  3. Posted

    Nice to finally see this happening! I just submitted my old pre order with an updated address (I'm in a whole other state now lol). Can't wait to finally get my hands on this.

    • Like 1

  6. Posted · Edited by Lord Thag

    You've got it sort of right, sort of wrong.


    If you've flashed or are running the latest firmware (3.10), I can tell you what to expect.

     

    The thing to remember is that running Spartados X is mainly for productivity, while the loader is used for loading .xex and .atr games and disk images. Also, you rarely need to power cycle the Atari as hitting [Help]+[Reset] takes your from anywhere to the U1mb firmware menus where you can easily reboot with 'B'

     

    There are four built in config presets (hit 'P' when in the [Help]+[Reset] config menu to switch between them) which you can tweak to your desire and then save ('S') and then flip between on the fly. Watch the vids on Flashcatjazz's page to see what all this stuff does, but basically you'll usually want to have the system ram set to 1088k Rambo. Two of these on mine are set to use the internal loader software (which reads the CSide2 compact flash card's FAT partition), one running OS-B the other running An XL/Altirra OS, and generally one set up to run anything (atr + xex) files while the other just runs off the cart loader for xex. The first I use for complex disk games with disk swapping, the second I use when I just want a quick round of donkey kong or something.

     

    The other two configs are set to use Spartados X, one running it off Side2, and one running it off the internal U1mg Spartados. I use Side2 mainly due to the built in realtime cart and some other things, while the latter gets used when I want to enable the OSS programming images on Side2 (latest firmware) for development. On Spartados, I generally have a couple of disk slots open for external drives (say D3: and D4:), or some other SD card or file device like SDrive Max, SIO2PC or SIO2SD to make it easy to transfer files. D1: and a couple of other D*: are set up as 16mb hard disks with installed software like Last Word, development stuff, productivity, the U1mb/side2 toolkits, demos etc. These allow the Atari to get used like a full PC with file system. Some games will run on Sparta, so I usually have 30 or so of my faves on there too.

    So basically, you use the loader to run games/disk images you have sorted into directories on the PC-readable FAT portion of the card, and you use FDISk to set up 16mb hard drive images for Spartados X partitions to do writing, editing, programming and productivity work etc.

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

  7. Posted

    21 hours ago, popsicle said:

    I am a big fan of Crush, Crumble, and Chomp and also run it in Altirra faster to speed up gameplay. Man, I have fond memories of hanging out with a childhood friend, pouring over that really excellent manual while that it took 5 minutes for the tape to load. We spent hours taking turns building a monster and trying to see who could survive longer. Really a lot of charm in some of these older quirky games. Never played Invasion of Orion, but I do remember also liking StarWarrior, which used a similar 'real time' input (and had an equally cool manual).

     

    Yeah CC&C is a classic. Movie monster games have been done quite a few times but never really in a strategy sim way like this does. The number of Default monsters /cities plus the ability to make your own really give it replay-ability. Shame we never got a proper sequel on the Atari. 
     

    I do have Star warrior (and it’s prequel Rescue at Rigel) as well as the Apshai games. All of these games I learned later are spinoffs of the same engine as Temple of Apshai.
     

    All of the Apshai titles are great. I drooled over them after I read an in depth review as a kid but never saw one locally. I actually just played through the first trilogy for the first time a year ago, so it isn’t a nostalgia thing so much as they are still just fun. 

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    I've been catching up on what I've missed over the last few months due to work, and as part of that, I flashed the latest updates to my U1mb and Side2 cart. The 3.10 firmware image contains Altirra basic as a replacement option for Rev. C. by default, which is something I'd never really messed previously (I play on real hardware usually). So I thought cool, always love testing new stuff out right? Well, after reading up on it a bit and fooling around with it, I decided to check out how it affected some of the older games that were written entirely or partly in Basic.

     

    I'm a fan of some of the older Epyx & Avalon Hill titles, particularly the Dunjonquest games, Invasion Orion and Crush Crumble and Chomp. They are definitely artifacts of the time though, and while I appreciate them, I have to be in patient mood to play them as they are painfully slow to play through these days.

     

    Well, they were anyway. Altirra basic completely changes that. The speed increase really makes these games like a whole new deal I am finding. Hell, Crush Crumble and Chomp plays so fast now I find myself missing turns on SLOW. All of these games become positively zippy on Altirra, it's kind of great. I'm finding that Orion or CCC are now fast enough to fit in one of those '20 minutes before dinner' time slots we all have now as adults. Hellfire warrior plays as fast as Apshai Trilogy.

    If you haven't messed around with this before, and you like any of these old games, and have the hardware to flash Altirra Basic onto a real Atari or cart, this really makes a huge difference in play-ablity for some of these old classics we rarely revisit these days.

    • Like 2

  9. Posted

    21 minutes ago, Shawn Jefferson said:

    I ported Moria v5.5 to the Atari (using the VBXE2 for the 80 column mode), which is likely a similar problem to Rogue.

     

    One of the big things you will have to deal with is the 40-column screen. Most of these rogue-likes were written for an 80-column screen and you will face a lot of issues porting to a 40-column screen.  Another thing is the memory use.  In Moria I am doing A LOT of cartridge banking, as well as VBXE banking.  The map itself is around 24k in Moria, and is dynamically created each time you enter a level.  There's one function in Moria that had to be split across two cartridge banks even.  The game was just not designed for small memory footprint computers.

     

    I've started working on a 40-column port of Moria, but the game is going to have to be changed quite a bit, even to the extent that the names of the items will have to change as some of them are much longer than 40 characters and just won't fit on the screen even.  I got a bit disillusioned with that though and basically stopped, but I may pick it up again someday.

     

    I for one would love to see version that would run on a non-VBXE atari. If you ever dive in again and want some help with it, I'd be happy to help, so feel free to PM me if that ever happens.

    • Like 1

  10. Posted

    On 4/27/2020 at 6:18 AM, Cafeman said:

    I've been playing various levels to QA test game, after making a few tweaks in April. 

     

    Well, I don't understand why,  but the screen-rolling glitch is sometimes back.  I should dig out my Atari 800XL (I test on the XEGS) and make sure it happens on that hardware too.  I've never seen an Atari 8-bit game have its screen roll before, not like 2600 games where it is far more common.   For me, it sometimes happens at the end of a won game. When you bring the chalice into the Kingdom 1 castle, a little tune plays. Then it loads the end-game Rankings / Stats screen . Between these screens it sometimes rolls.  I haven't really added anything recently in that area that would have adversely affected timing, and I don't think I am performing code any differently. But there it is - the screen kind of half-rolls once (and not always).  This just reared its ugly head in 2020 for the first time, and I thought an extra JSR WAITVB statement fixed it.   Its a mystery but there's got to be a simple reason. 

     

    Other than that I don't see anything troubling in the game.   There are 1 or 2 little visual sprite-clutter visual bugs that can happen (also happened on 5200 version) but these don't happen frequently,  and are cleaned up as soon as you change screens, so I have lived with them.    

    I've been away for a couple of months, and I've been diving back in to all the stuff I missed... this being the absolute top of my list (finally!).

     

    It's outstanding, by the way. Even better than the 5200 version which I played the hell out of. There have been a lot of homebrew follow-ups to classic Atari games over the years, but this one just nails the spirit of the original while evolving it in a natural way.

    I've played the demo on an 800xl and a 1200xl, have won it a few times. No screen rolling so far on my end, it's been rock solid, but I'll keep an eye out if I see that and let you know.

     

    Love all the little graphical tweaks and new difficulty levels. Finding one of the 'dots' with it's associated xxxxxxx was pretty cool too, I must say.

     

    Nice work man.

    I'll be buying a copy the second this hits the AA store.

    • Like 1

  11. Posted

    5 hours ago, SectorWars said:

    I have been thinking about it today and it is far too similar for it to be a coincidence - lol.  I suspect I had one of those Intellivision brochures or something similar which had a screenshot of the game and that inspired me to rip it off :lol:.   35 years is a long time.....   It is interesting that you mentioned it though otherwise I would have never known :)

    Yeah the 'boss' ship was featured prominently on the box itself, in the Intellivision Imagic catalog, and if memory serves, in a magazine ad or two. So I imagine it would be easy to 'notice' without remembering. Intellivision marketing LOVED showing anything that system did over Atari. 

    Still, it was cool to see it in your game!

    • Like 2

  12. Posted

    Quote

    Thanks for the comment - much appreciated :).  I just checked out a video of the Intellivision Demon Attack as I only ever saw the VCS version in the 80s.  I was really surprised to see how close in appearance the mothership thing is to the one I created in Sector Wars (it is actually like scarily close :)).  I remember designing it on graph paper (using re-defined character set) in he mid-80s and in my head I was trying to recreate what I remembered about the Mothership in the arcade version of Phoenix.  I know I didn't get close to the arcade one and ended up with something quite different.  Seeing the similarities now though to the Intellivision one I am now thinking I must have seen the Intellivision one somewhere.  If I didn't I am spooked!

    So it wasn't intentional? That's wild! It's a dead on clone of the Intellivision one for sure. I would have bet $100 without thinking it was a direct homage to that game.

    Weird how stuff like that happens huh? It's like the Berenstain bears thing. I *know* it was spelled & pronounced 'Berenstein' bears when I was a kid... yet it isn't, it's BerenSTAIN. Memory is a funny thing.

  16. Posted

    Kamfpgruppe or one of the other big SSI strategy games - I'd finally have the time to play one through
    Gemstone Warrior: procedural action RPG - it's always a new game

    Donkey Kong - Still playing it weekly since 198x

    Star Raiders (& Wilmunder's #2) - because it's still the best game on the system

    The Apshai series: Love these, still fun once you get used to the controls, and TONS of content. 

    Bosconian - Best home port of a favorite arcade game

    The Last Word - so I can write and be creative or leave a diary behind

    MAC/65 or Action! - so I can write new games

     

     

  17. Posted

    Had some time to finally check out the Moon Patrol demo and Breakout. I've been really looking forward to this system since listening to the launch event at PRGE.

    Breakout looks great. This is exactly the type of remake I'm looking for: true to the original, 2d, and updated with extra features. Do more games like this. Give me a Nightstalker or Thunder Castle done like this ANY day.

    The Moon Patrol demo you get via the app however, I was NOT a fan of. The 3d/2d perspective looks poor, and it plays like any number of iOS/Android app store retro 'remakes'. I'd advise against using 3d modeling to recreate older 2d games. It rarely goes over well with fans, and it looks like something you'd get with ads on your phone. Not saying 3d games don't have their place (they do, and I love 'em), but remaking classic 2d games isn't one of them, in my opinion. Just some constructive criticism. Dig the QR code like app functionality though. That could be super fun in the future.

    Can't wait to see where this console goes!

    • Like 3

  18. Posted

    I don't think it's ever waned for me. I started trading bad NES carts for backpacks full of 2600 carts in school, and never looked back. What has changed is my focus.

    Originally, it was the 8-bit Ataris and the 2600 only. Got older, got connected, started running retro game cons and started collecting everything. Had everything from APM-M1000s and Astrocades to Hyperscans R-Zones.

    Sold most of that, kept the stuff I actually enjoy playing. My focus these days are in two basic blocks:

    8-bit era: Atari 8-bits, 2600, 7800 and to a lesser extent, the Intellivision Colecovision and the c64.
    16-bit era: TG-16/PCE, Neo Geo and Genesis.

    That's pretty much it, outside some Lynx and GBA/GB games and, for some reason, the Arcadia 2001 (it's objectively terrible, but I like it).

    • Like 3

  19. Posted

    All of these consoles are old or hard to obtain though.

    If you want something that's cheap, modern, available and plays MAME look at the chinese LDKGame or Retrogame 300. You can get them on amazon. $40-$60 generally. They're pretty good with stock firmware, and great with the custom firmware. Plays Neo Geo, CPS1/2, and the rest. Anything 16bit or less plays like a charm, and the custom image (super easy to set up, just flash a common micro SD card) gives all kinds of emulators: NES, SnES, Genesis, Turbografx, all the handhelds (best way to play Lynx I've found), and obscure stuff like Wonderswan, Vectrex, MSX etc. Save states, and it will also run tons of linux games (comes preinstalled with Quake, Hexen, Heretic, Wolf3d, Doom etc). I use mine daily on lunch breaks.

    The stock card comes with about 3000 roms too.

  21. Posted

    There were a lot of poor companies cranking out bad to middling games back then. Half the Coleco library sucks, Mythicon, Apollo, Dataage etc. Then you had the clone/pirate people like Froggo.

    The worst game is probably Sssnake. I agree on the worst company as a whole probably being Mythicon. None of their games are fun or even playable. All the other bad companies like Apollo, Panda etc all have at least one playable title in their lineup.

     

  22. Posted

    I didn't so much start collecting as I never stopped. Once the NES came out, my brother stopped caring about Atari, so I just grabbed our shoebox of carts and had it hooked up alongside my NES. We had this local movie store called First Run Video that sold NES used games for $10, so I'd buy one once a month with my allowance. A lot of the time they were selling them because they stunk, so I'd use them as trade bait. Pretty quickly, I discovered I could trade one average NES game for 20+ Atari carts. By the end of high school, I had three boxes of them. I thought I had the biggest collection in the world at the time 😛

    Then a friend started doing it, and I found an Intellivision, then a 5200. Pretty soon, I met my good friend John while out thrifting and we both got the other to get interested in systems we didn't collect at the time. A few years later, he moved up north and I started visiting and we eventually started running conventions (NWCGE that became PRGE). Once the conventions got big, the prices (at the time) we super cheap, so my collection exploded into many, many systems until a few years later it got too much to manage and I sold everything I wasn't playing.

    These days, I primarily play/ collect Atari 2600/7800/8-bit (particularly the latter) for the older stuff, and Genesis, TG-16 and Neo Geo for the 16 bit era. I rarely buy stuff these days, a I have everything I want that isn't really expensive.

  25. Posted

    8 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

    I apologize for my rude outburst. Please feel to delete if you want cleaned up thread, or leave the quoted rudeness as an example for others not to follow. 

    Everyone has days they need to have a cup of coffee on before they post anything. Props for owning it and apologizing though. 👍

    • Like 4
    • Haha 1
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