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Everything posted by Savetz
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Discovered(?) The New Aladdin Collection disk magazine
Savetz replied to Savetz's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
@FastRobPlus I believe both need to be archived, including scans and the disks. LMK if you need help with that. thanks -Kay -
Discovered(?) The New Aladdin Collection disk magazine
Savetz replied to Savetz's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
@FastRobPlusI'm not sure what you mean by 287 387. These are archived so far https://www.atarimania.com/list_games_atari-400-800-xl-xe-henson-john_team_572_8_G.html -
I have recently recovered a couple of items! One: Atari Demo Compilation, a videotape of Atari Research’s work in computer animation and character design made by Valerie Atkinson and Ann Marion. Dated March 1984, four months before Tramiel fired everyone. This videotape was submitted (and I believe, shown) at the SIGGraph Computer Aided Design show in 1984. It has video of the Fish Tank demo and Artificially Motivated Objects demo — both of which I’d heard about in interviews but the code has never been found AFAIK. https://archive.org/details/Atari_Demos_1984-03-07_November_Demo_September_Paper_Poly_Demo_Atari_800_Fishtan Two: the Atari Corporation Prospectus and Form S-1 from when Tramiel took the company public in 1986. It took me three years (almost exactly, to the day) to get these documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission. 400+ pages of interesting material. For instance, check out the list of Atari’s subsidiary companies on the last page of the S-1 form. I'm sure there are plenty of interesting tidbits and little-known facts hidden in these pages. Let us know what you find! https://archive.org/details/atari-corp -Kay
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Brad said: "Yes, we did develop the Central Thought title you referred to for the Atari. I will have to check the archives to get additional information. We may still have a copy or two. The title was sold to the school market." I'll let you know more when I know more. (Naturally I asked him to send me a copy of any software he finds to digitize.) —Kay
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Not really, but I'll try him.
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Was it fun? Should I just interview you about it for the Antic podcast? -Kay
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7.5 years later, here's the source code for Space War:
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Here's the source code for Space War, published by APX, courtesy of the author Jay Jaeger! He is giving permission to use the source for non-commercial purposes. Space War, based on the classic mainframe game, first appeared in the fall 1983 APX catalog. From his README (included in the .zip file): Atari APX Spacewar All files and directories Copyright 1981, 1982, 1983, 2023 Jay R. Jaeger Permission is hereby given to use these materials for non-commercial purposes. The individual files were extracted using a version of atr2unix-1.3.c, compiled using cygwin gcc. I was not comfortable sharing the .ATR images aside from the APX boot floppy, as they have the Atari or OS/A+ operating system on them. The files in this directory comprise a version of "Spacewar" which I developed after reading an article in a magazine about the original, which ran on a Digital Equipment PDP-1. There are serveral versions: Version 0.0.2: This corresponds to the directory SPACEWAR-SOURCE-VER-0.0-APX-#2-2-23-1983. Version 0.1.3: This corresponds to the directory SPACEWAR-SOURCE-VER-0.1-APX-#3-3-29-1983 Version 0.2.4: This corresponds to the directory SPACEWAR-SOURCE-VER-0.2-APX-6-9-1983 Version 0.2.4: The ATR image of the APX diskette *probably* matches the above source. APX wanted a cassette version, and there is a file here called DTOC.ASM that builds that. Version 0.2.4: Listing Jaeger_AtariAPX_Spacewar_V0R0_19830223 *probably* matches the above. Version 1.0.? This is a version of the program for the ANTIC graphics chip, and corresopnds to SPACEWAR-SOURCE-VER-ANTIC-1.0-10-14-84 This version may not be complete - I don't see file SPACEWAR.MAC there, nor do I see SPWANTIC.MAC. So probably best to ignore these files. Version 0.2.7 This is a version I built under OS/A+, and has both SPACEWAR.MAC and SPWANTIC.MAC. Corresponds to directory MAC1-SPACEWAR-SOURCES-OSSA+ My 2016 interview with Jay: http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-187-jay-jaeger-apx-space-war Here's the APX catalog description of the game: The galaxy can't live in peace until you've vanquished the enemy space ship that threatens to dominate your solar system. You maneuver around the sun, using gravitational waves to propel your rocket fighter into an advantageous position. But watch out, because the enemy lurks, waiting for you to become a prisoner of the sun's gravity and a sitting duck for his Mark II photon torpedoes. Can you survive? This game is a modern adaptation of the arcade-style game developed in 1962, SPACE WAR. You pilot your fighter through the solar system with your ATARI Joystick Controller, using the flashing sun at the center of the screen to slingshot you through the galaxy and to avoid your opponent's torpedoes. The only way that your enemy can destroy your ship is by scoring a direct hit with their missiles. You fight back by using your joystick button to release return volleys. The sun has no destructive effect on the rockets. The two players can vary the effect of the gravity, changing it from a pull to a push, and vary the perimeters so the rockets either wrap around or bounce off the edges. You can vary the speed of play, and set a score limit of 10 or 21 points, or no limit, or play in the practice mode. APX-SpaceWar-Jaeger.zip Jaeger_AtariAPX_Spacewar_V0R0_19830223.pdf
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Sweet! Pretty tree graphic. Does Max know?
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https://github.com/savetz/Kaverns (I gave the atari800 account to the Atari 800 emulator folks.)
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Prevue Guide (EPG Jr.) Reverse Engineering
Savetz replied to AriX's topic in Atari 5200 / 8-bit Programming
Small update: FFFD seems to be the amount of memory left for advertisements. To make the keyboard active, go to Change Scroll Speed then press ! then ESC. (I learned this via https://prevueguide.neocities.org/guides/EPGJr/2) I spent a lot of time today looking at EPG Jr. source code, but figuring out how to add program listings is beyond me. Some people apparently did figure out how to inject program listings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZG3K0Ngcmc and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd08MOLl_qg) but the Prevue Guide Forums (http://ariweinstein.com/prevue/) are gone, and I couldn't find much of them in the Wayback Machine. I wrote a python script to help me inject settings into memory using the debugger in Atari 800 — the script's main benefit is to compute the checksum value. It's attached in case anyone else cares. I realized that in emulation, one can avoid dealing with the continuous input ring buffer by always writing the data to $3800, and resetting the read pointer to $3800 immediately after every write. (On a real system getting data via SIO — if we ever get far enough to try this on a real system — this step isn't necessary... it's handled automatically as the data is received.) Anyway, I think I'm stuck until @AriX shows up and reveals what he knows about injecting channel/program data, but hasn't published. Useful web sites for this project: https://prevueguide.com/cgi-bin/index.pl — for injecting Time/Date and Title. https://prevueguide.com/PREVUE.txt — source code https://prevueguide.com/index.php/UVSG_Satellite_Data#Command_Modes — UVSG Satellite Data https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uayZAO1sXRZzp9EUvIYl-jQ7GD_Jk7L0yR7igYjnDu8/edit — "Inputting listings, stuff to know" (but I think the checksums are bad) https://prevueguide.neocities.org/guides/EPGJr — general info https://prevueguide.com/wiki/EPG_Jr. — ROMs and more general info -Kay checksum.py -
Prevue Guide (EPG Jr.) Reverse Engineering
Savetz replied to AriX's topic in Atari 5200 / 8-bit Programming
Well, http://ariweinstein.com/prevue/index.php doesn't seem to work anymore, so I sure hope @AriX is still around here. Yesterday at Portland Retro Gaming Expo I acquired an EPG Jr. (!!!), serial number MDJR6. I really want to help figure out how to get program data into it. What do we know about this? I read somewhere that no one has figured it out yet, but maybe that information is out of date. I hope it's something easy like cassette audio data, in which case I know @tschak909 can make it work. (I think the baseband cable signal might be converted to audio before being passed to the SIO cable.) My EPG main menu says "FFFD" and also "KB N". What's FFFD mean? When I use the Atari keyboard to navigate to View Ads or Edit Ads, it says KEYBOARD NOT ACTIVE, even though the Atari keyboard clearly works. I can navigate to Change Scroll Speed to change the scroll speed. When I unscrewed the unit to reveal the ROMs, I found that the EEPROM windows were uncovered! I have never moved so fast to turn out the lights and find some electrical tape to cover the windows. -Kay -
Atari 8-bit Software Preservation Initiative
Savetz replied to Farb's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
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Atari 8-bit Software Preservation Initiative
Savetz replied to Farb's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
I can do it if you don't have someone closer. I'm in Portland OR and have the tools and the community trust. -Kay -
Is this directed to me? If so, what hard drive? (Remind me please.) -Kay
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The family has decided to destroy all of Glenn's disks. -Kay
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I might be able to get some paperwork, but there's a lot of printed material and the family doesn't necessarily know what is potentially interesting. -Kay
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Glenn's Atari stuff will be on sale this Saturday, May 13 2023, in person in New Carrollton Maryland, which is near Washington D.C. I had a FaceTime with his sister and got some blurry shots of what Glenn had: Atari 8-bit, ST, and Amiga hardware, lots of manuals and magazines. If you are nearby and want to buy some of this stuff on Saturday, private message me for the sister's contact info. I already have dibs on all of Glenn's floppy disks, I'm buying them all in order to preserve the data. He may have source code and unpreserved Atari software. If so, I will find it. -Kay
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Atari 800 with Encore Video Productions Info Display System
Savetz replied to Savetz's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
So all this reminds me that I haven't yet dumped the carts that I got in 2020 (pictured earlier in this thread.) What's the best current way to dump carts that doesn't require Windows? I can use Linux or Mac. -Kay -
LIST OF MISSING / UNDUMPED SOFTWARE
Savetz replied to www.atarimania.com's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
If you want to mail them to me to borrow, I can do it. -Kay -
Sal's daughter emailed me: "Hi, my name is Marci, Sal Esquivel's daughter. I just saw the post you made about my dad on Atari Age, and I just wanted to say thank you. He died of heady failure complications on December 17th, and I haven't been able to really figure out how to get a hold of any of the people he knew in the retro community. So thank you very much for your kind post, and archiving his old account. I'm sure he would be touched that his stuff got saved for people to look back on."
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Typo Attack's David Buehler Whereabouts
Savetz replied to gilsaluki's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
I have been in contact with David since 2016. He is not super interested in doing an interview, but has indicated that he may agree to one some day. At this point I am not holding my breath, but I remain hopeful. I think it's safe to say that he doesn't want to be bothered by the Atari community. —Kay (the artist formerly known as Kevin) -
Atari 8-bit Software Preservation Initiative
Savetz replied to Farb's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Here's TANK.OBJ — a two-player tank game in assembly language. By Pat Kennedy. I believe it is an unreleased, unpublished game. Today I interviewed Nick Kennedy about his ham radio software. Nick sent me this game made by his brother Pat. I've also uploaded it to Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/tank_atari tank.atr -
I'll see what I can do. Seems like an interesting one. -Kay