Apex

The folly of Atari corp will be debated for years to come.

B&C have always been expensive :-(

Narc from Ocean software was released on Cartridge if my memory serves me correctly.

Were any ST/Falcon games written in C ? Or were they all written in Assembly? Most games I was familiar with were written in assembly.

Anyone know the part number for the STE blitter chip?

Hmmm .... This schematic shows a blitter chip. I thought this was only available in the STE and above. Perhaps it was disabled here.

Is there a Bill Of Materials for this schematic. I'm interested in finding out what parts were used.

Got any screen shots?

I guess that explains why the company collapsed without a fight. They didn't give a @$#% about the products.

I'd think I'd have to say they were Turrican 2 and Speedball 2 SpeedBall 1 didn't run on my STE

Out of curiosity which ones do you mean?

http://www.wizztronics.com/Discontinued.htm I remember when I saw that when they first posted it back in 2001. Hopes DASHED !!!

This proves how much potential the ST's had. My gosh just hink about it. I heard a while ago or read that Atari's were getting a lot of miles in Poland, and this proves it. Gigabyte HD storage through the cartridge port. Man could I have used that back in the day.

Uhhhhhh .... I never heard of that thing. The only device I had that used my cartridge port was the Monster Sound Card which I used for sampling.

What happened to the Engineers that created the ST, Falcon 030, etc? When Atari was collapsing, why didn't they bail and form their own company and develop a new machine. Wasn't developing new computers fun? I am under the impression they got assimilated by companies here and there and have ended up doing ho-hum work for the last decade+ What gives

They have always been expensive. Ever since the early 90's. I had to get stuff from cheaper outfits like Toad Computers, etc.

http://www.myatari.com/ B&C Computervisions. Man, these guys have been around for ages.

I have a desire to go out and get an STE or Falcon again and start creating games or demos but I think that ship has sailed a long time ago. I got my first computer, an STE in 1991. I got into the game late. Atari was on it's last lap and I was located in a place where I must have been the only STE owner for miles and miles. I should have lived in Europe at that time. I would have had so much support and progressed rapidly. I am one bitter ex-Atarian. Damn those CEO's that led the ship into an iceberg strapped with mines

I have to Rant. When I was young computers were fun. I had dreams of developing my skills as an Atari coder and designing awesome games for the masses. But today, computers have NO SOUL. There is NO excitement when working with these beasts. I HATE THEM. I work with computers in my career and I tell you, I would much rather be working with an old Atari. I tried to explore game design on a PC and I didn't enjoy it at all. It's just so cumbersome, complicated and un-enjoyable. Back in the day, one could make a killer game in their basement with one Atari ST and some imagination. Today you need a $40,000,000 budget to produce a game that SUX. GRRRR I stumbled across some Falcon demos this week on the web and I was reminded again how much fun these machines are. Gone are the good old days. I wish there was some new sytem out there that is fun to work with. Oh well ...rant over ...carry on

Do the Tramiels know of this site and others like it ? Do they know of the loyal Atarians around the world? If so, what do they think of it? Are they in contact with the scene? Or do they not even care?

Hmmm.... I really think it should be done the other way. Hardware first , then *NEW* software. Initially users get the hardware and can run all their current (old) ST/Falcon software. So, the total transition occurs from old hardware to new. Then the community begins to develop new software now possible on the new system. Why develop new software on old systems (whether they are accelerated or not) when their are limitations that cannot be overcome. New hardware will have USB ports, PCI-X ports, Ethernet ports, AGP ports, the latest technology, etc. I think this will spark new development. Developers will want to take advantage of the new power. Old software will be upgraded to use the new power.

That is not the case. A lot of bad could happen but it is pointless to go into the details. If you are sure they are pin compatible (and voltage compatible), then go for it. It wouldn't hurt to give it quick inspection though. Good luck.

Assuming they work? Don't you think you are being a bit cavalier with your Falcon? I would check the datasheet of the part and compare it with the Falcon schematic (which is readily available) to make sure they are compatible if I were you. Maybe Vcc and Gnd were swapped on different versions of the chip (highly unlikely but not impossible) and your Falcon would fry as soon as you pop it in.

Here http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dk...US&Cat=32768913

If you are trying to make a new TOS computer for a profit, it will fail. This is what the makers of clones found out. There is not enough demand and one cannot compete with the likes of Microsoft in the home PC market. However, an Open model can keep the scene alive. Just like Linux has grown due to it's open model. If the Atari scene produces several grass-roots projects building open TOS computers, most Atarians will support these computers and build their own (based on the instructions posted) and inject new vibrant life into the scene.