José Pereira

Don't know anything about those "fast drive" but isn't that because what name says: fast and like is on a .xex file.Remember that thinking like in old times you load a first block that shows the name, a picture or whatever and it instantly loads next block, while this is on-screen, that normally is the game itself. So there is no need to press any key or fire that may cause confusion or people waiting and waiting and nothing would happen. Normally pressing joystick Fire or key(s) any, SPACE or RETURN is when there's message to load levels, change side of tape/disk,... A loading screen present while loading is just that, a portrait/idea of what is/look the game and a nice presentation for people see while waiting the all game is loaded and ready to play. It uses tape/disc space and some time so the less and simplier for the user(s) the best .

Humm... Spellbinder comes there ... Good,

NTSC = Never The Same Colour and SOFIA is what? Maybe is SOFIA = Same On Fixed Is Always.Humm... doesn't sound good English... P.s.- Maybe reading from the right to the left: AIFOS = Always Is Fixed On Same sounds a little better.

It seems this one that from Fandal it was in 1996: http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=5091, never played or saw it and from the screen doesn't seem much to do/play.

No that Lancelot you refer is the English A8 version only text screen made by Mandarin/Level9.

Other type games that work with keyboard are 2d Pac-Man type of games because he's always moving and you'll need to press a single key each time to change direction. You can have the up/down left/right 4keys predefined or give the user the possibility to choose them. P.s.- Strange or perhaps not that although I'm right hand and on joystick always prefered and had the ones with the stick on the right to use with the right hand and button on the left to use it with left hand one finger but keyboard that on Arkanoyd I used two fingers of the left hand on the Z<->X keys and a finger of the right hand to press SHIFT for fire.

And like Rybags said, the A8 doesn't distinguish between the two SHIFT keys so if having those left/right keys that will fit to all because you can:-> If you're left hand and want to only use that hand one finger gets to left SHIFT; -> The same for right hand user get right SHIFT; -> Use Z<->X and the right hand one finger to press SHIFT (the one I prefer:)); -> Use .<->/ and the left hand one finger to press SHIFT;

I would suggest predefined left/right: Z<->X and . <->/ keys that fit to left and right hand users that is near SHIFT if you need it for fire or jump (or you can always let the user to choose but SHIFT need always to be).

I never had a paddle and ever remember to saw in any of stores in here at that time.

For Breakout/Arkanoid type games keyboard are also fine because you move only to left and right so is each time always a single press. Back in the 80s Arkanoid and untill now on A8 and others I only use keyboard because joystick always seemed impossible to me. In Arkanoid case is that you also, like Rybags said, can use with no constraints, the SHIFT key for fire . Others that is the same for me are Tetris type of games.

You get always alphabet, numbers and punctation, arithmetic and other symbols together, no need to POKE, those graphic forms (the ones that are displayed on the 65/130XE and XEGS in the front of the bottom three lines of keys). If you POKE 756,204 then you get all the first and the graphic forms are replaced for the international character set.

Only posted because you said "yet the only one with a built-in international character set" . Don't others than XLs also have?

But my 800XL also had the International letters built in though directly pressing CONTROL it shows the gfxs forms. What do you mean with that? It shows them first instead of the letters?

Who's that girl? This was a song in the 80s...

Thank you very much.

F..king AMAZING!...

Yea, I also like it very much but like others most of times I also want an A8 file, please... Thanks.

It is worth because those are the older games that existed when only 400 and 800 were available. And they aren't compatible with only the XEGS but also all the others, the computers XL and XE lines. And after these incompatible all were and are still done for the XLs and XEs so they're plenty more and best ones for sure. In that list probably Mule is worth to play but that is for people that like board type games that isn't much my side and I never played it but I'm almost sure that it exists, at least on disc that can load and run in XLs and XEs. And those old machines haven't memory and even if you add it there's still issues. With XLs and XEs you can run what, 95% or even more and that include carts but also tapes and disks of most software and are the best and after untill today. If you're not a collector I would suggest an 800XL computer that was the one I bought back then but probably I would been in doubt if the XEGS were available because I always really like it appearance and those colour circle function buttons on the Games Machine that is very nice and in my humble opinion put the C64GS to shame , that fits so nice with the same colour/design of the Light Gun. P.s.- And some, if not most, of those incompatible has ways to load and run or exist in tape or disc. Probably you wouldn't play much of those, maybe Mule and a couple more. One nice thing and sad that Atari cut of on following machines was on those first A8 having the 4 joysticks ports though there weren't back then all that much games that support it .

@Snicklin: It's nothing special like mid-scanline PFs colour changings in Master Lamp. It's the 3PFs + BAK: -> BAK: (0C) light white; -> PF0 / PF1 / PF2: dark brown (14) / black (00) / light middle brown (18); Each line of lamps uses (from left to right): P0 / P1 / P2 then DLI for the next line in the same way. As you can see from this Altirra debugging you have on the right side three lamps (P0 / P1 / P2 sets their lamps main colour and inside is light middle brown and light gray that are PFs) and when you got one with the right colour it goes to the left side panel and erases the one at the right side so it just moves that correspondant PLAYER to other xPos:

Because if it's 2:2 ratio and enemys in this mode would then move in half char steps then you'll have many times in the same char half of 2enemys and this multiplication for many on screen then is not the solution to A8 128chars charset because it would end up more that need to many many more for this situation. And this end up in you having to mask between all sort of enemys to get these half 2enemys chars. Probably TMR or any other is better than me to explain this...

I did some gfxs in Antic5 double scanline and it doesn't look any good on some gfxs like the bones, ghosts and bricks walls so I didn't even post them. And strangely I didn't thought about the half char that TMR pointed. But more than the bad looking gfxs I still can't see how Emkay would get it working...

@MaPa posted the same as me while I was typing...

But if it's an odd number like for example soft sprite is 3 GTIA pixels you still have it 2Bytes like if it was 4 GTIA pixels and when it moves horizontally to have the shifting you need in total how many? From my paper and pen if is odd then the next even bit number is the total. Soft sprite, the shifting and total: -> 2GTIA pixels=1Byte you need 2GTIA pixels/1Byte more that are 2Bytes in total; but if... -> 3GTIA pixels you only need 1GTIA pixel more and are still 4GTIA pixels/2Bytes in total; If is 4GTIA pixels/2Bytes and 2GTIA pixels/1Byte shifting then 3Bytes in total. But if is 5pixels then is still 3Bytes in total. And so on... P.s.- This is similar to 2:1 ratio for the shifting if we have 8pixels wide is the same as if we have 9pixels, 16 same as 17 and so on... The same is for the charmode and 8scanlines/1char tall needs 1more char for the vertical movement but if is 9scanlines it still is 2chars in total. 16scanlines/2chars total need 1char more that is 3chars verticall in total but if is 17scanlines it still is the same vertical 3chars and so on...

P.s.- And of course that I know that they can only move horizontally 4bits that is 2colour clocks each time...

Hi. The soft sprites has always code for masking done in Byte steps (8bit number) so in all GTIA modes what makes sense is that I can have them in 2pixels width multiples that is 1Byte (soft sprites and also gfxs), right? Thanks.