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Goochman

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Posts posted by Goochman

  1. Posted

    I knew the FX-980 worked with BASIC listings and Atariwriter, but today I also verified its works with The Print Shop. I guess since it's an FX, it retains compatibility with the Epson FX-80 from the early 80's. Its also a 9 pin and not 24 pin. I think 24 pin printers may not work out so well for graphics that assume you have an FX-80 (I could be wrong). I looked at the EPSON APEX L-1000 since it also can feed single sheet, but it is a 24 pin and is closer related to the LQ line instead of the FX line. The 980 is big, but it appears to be commercial grade and will last me forever. I forgot how long it takes to dump graphics. It's not the printer, but the Atari to parallel interface baud rate. I'm using an ICD P: R: Connection.

     

    Back in the day I purchased a printer buffer which could buffer almost a page and send it to the printer as fast as it could go. Good times!

  2. Posted

    The big piece missing with Spectre is a way to move binary files from the ST to the "Mac" side of thing. There is a utility provided but it totally screw up binary file transfers.

     

    It would be great is there was a program that allowed us to download .sit files on the pc - put them on ST disks and transfer them to the Mac partition on the ST hard drive. There is no way to do this that I know of. You need to have an old Mac that can write to the floppy and with Spectre GCR or a Discovery cart move it to the "ST Mac"

    • Like 1

  4. Posted

     

     

    I have this solution working perfectly with a 4meg Pal STE working on a plain old HDMI TV I purchased at Target here in the USA. It looks and plays awesome. Total cost was roughly $60 with this box (SCART to HDMI in the video) and the RGB to SCART STE Cable. Both off of Ebay.

     

    It works with my 1040ST NTSC also.

     

    Does it do Med and High Rez?

    • Like 1

  6. Posted · Edited by Goochman

    Since everyone else is kinda circumventing the original request (of a technical solution you can build yourself) and offering other options, i guess I will do so as well. What I currently use is the ST to Scart cable you can buy from a place like coolnovelties for under $20 US dollars and a specific SCART to HDMI Converter (Supports PAL and NTSC) which is usually about $25 US Dollars on ebay (just make sure you use the exact one). So that's under $50. Plus, if you have other retro computers, this Scart to HDMI Converter comes up pretty handy quite a bit. The caveat is that this doesn't appear to work with the base ST line of computers without the Modulator. In theory that shouldn't matter, because the cable i got is definitely RGB and not Composite, but for some reason it didn't work on my 520ST but worked find on my 520STFM (and comments on the video below are similar experience). BTW, don't use the cheap scart cables you find on ebay as those are composite and not RGB and you'll get a pretty lousy picture.

     

    Basically, theres a video:

     

     

    Obviously if you live in a country with SCART built into your TV and monitors, you can do that directly and circumvent the hdmi converter, but if you're in the US, that isn't an option.

     

    So the 1040STF wouldnt work with this setup either then? What about a Mega 2ST? Med and High Rez?

  9. Posted

    My current MAME cab I bought years ago came with a Hotrod SE setup. It has 2 8 way sticks, each with 6 buttons next to them. Inbetween the sticks is an arcade quality trackball which doubles as a mouse ;). There was enough room that I had a spinner attached in the upper RH corner.

     

    Forget about the spinner (user added) - the Hotrod layout I think is pretty good generically speaking. It fits in a normal arcade cabinet setup vs the X-Arcade stuff which is really wide.

     

    Having some way to easily switch 8 top 4 way on the sticks would be awesome. Im sure some kind of 'slider' could be added to gate the stick?

     

    Anyhow, just another suggestion.

  10. Posted

    What does the rest of the peanut gallery here think of having a USB port available to connect an alternate controller? Not sure if thats feasible or not?

     

    One other item Bill is to have 'mappable buttons' - the Defender layout for 1up is terrible, but could actually almost be arcade authentic with all the buttons on the rampage cab - unfort whomever picked the layout butchered it. Allowing users to map buttons their way would be great.

    • Like 1

  11. Posted · Edited by Goochman

    Im sure through this thread its been mentioned but for me the following is important:

     

    1. Owner serviceable - You can glue/lock down anything Atgames puts inside the box - but make it so I can change or add things as necessary(dont hard wire the monitor to your box)

    2. Doesnt need to be "arcade" quality cab - but it should be 50% of that strength and also be normal height. Doesnt need to be as wide or have the same depth - just tall enough for an adult to use. I didnt get a 1Up due to its small form factor

    3. Reasonable price

    4. Atleast 10 games, but if we go back to #1 I can change things :)

    5. Make game settings configurable - 1Up messed up big time here as the trackball settings were terrible and could easily be fixed via config, but its not available so hacking the ball out is the only fix

    • Like 2

  12. Posted

     

    I have to agree completely. The Atari ST version of Ultima VI was a total disappointment. They weren't even trying. Even though the 16-bits were showing their limitations by then, companies like Sierra Online and Lucasfilms were able to get more out of the Atari ST at the time.

     

    I didn't find it very playable from what I remembered. My friends gave up on it pretty quickly One of my friends (a huge Ultima fan) literally bought a PC the next day after playing the Atari ST version of Ultima VI. He was willing to live with the Atari ST a little longer when he found out Ultima VI was being released but once he played it, he was ready to move on. He got the PC for Christmas that year after the summer he bought Ultima VI for the Atari.

     

    Surprisingly I found the Atari ST version of Ultima 2 to be great (not a popular opinion shared by Atari ST owners i know) specifically because it took advantage of GEM and rarely any large publisher like Sierra Online or Lucasfilm did anything like that with their Atari ST games.

     

    Maybe the Ultima 2 Atari ST programmer should've done the rest of the Ultima conversions! Just kidding! I just think any other effort could've been better than Ultima VI on the Atari ST LOL.

     

    I suffered playing U5 and U6 on the ST. U5 had numerous lockup bugs, but I ultimately finished it. U6 I think had a bug that made it almost impossible to finish - I never did on the ST. At some point towards the end you need to either cast a spell or use a weapon to open the drawbrdige to the bad dudes castle - it wouldnt work for me...................

     

    Intersting info on the 8bit Ultima series. RG stated in some Genie chat that U5 would def be coming out for the 8bit series but alas you've filled in the last missing bit that the conversion guy left. Was that "Chuckles"? He seemed to be on a few of the 8bit conversions early on.

     

    I have to disagree on U2 on the ST - my god the UI was awful. You couldnt easily repeat commands which in some cases was necessary. U2 was my first Ultima and Ive beaten it on almost every platform except the ST - too painful to build up a character :)

  13. Posted

    I setup A7800 just to try this out - brilliant in its current state. Just as hard as I remember at the arcade - I was able to clear 1 Maze, but boy the ghosts on Arcade are brutal!

     

    I can only wish someone would convert this to the 8bit series - great job so far Bob and Co.!

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    If you want to customize it yourself, and have an extra TV and computer around, the starting point is that : $550

     

    0513956_847343.jpg

     

    https://www.microcenter.com/product/513956/retro-arcade-2-player-stand-up-cabinet---unassembled

     

    PRODUCT INFORMATION SKU

    847343 Mfr Part# MCLGC-001

    UPC GENERAL

    Type

    Stand Up Cabinet Kit

     

    GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

    Color

    Black

     

    PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS

    Width

    32.00 in. (812.80 mm)

    Depth

    32.00 in. (812.80 mm)

    Height

    70.00 in. (1778.00 mm)

    Weight

    120.00 lbs. (54.43 kg)

     

    PACKAGE CONTENTS

    What's in the Box

    All the wood and acrylic panels to assemble a Stand Up Arcade Cabinet.

    ========================================================================

     

    So it's 120 pounds to start off, and add the weight of a TV, controls etc, it shouldn't

    be more than 150 or so, so that shouldn't be a problem for 2 people.

     

    If people are buying multiple arcade 1up's, then putting in 1 of these shouldn't be a problem.

     

    Also, you're getting much higher quality too. And for people that were modding their machines,

    they are putting in all new controls anyways.

     

    so $550 + monitor + pi/computer + sound + controls (buttons/joysticks/wires)+ graphics (side/control panel/t molding) = final cost

     

    i'm pretty sure that's under $1000 if you don't go overboard on everything. they even sell all the other

    components separately there also.

     

    later

    -1

     

    No controls and such is a no deal for me. I could figure out the monitor and PI, but Im no expert on the controller/buttons thing. $600 out the door for all pieces one would be my price point :)

  17. Posted · Edited by Goochman

    A co-worker interested in the 1Up cabs who picked my brain sent me this link:

     

    https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/retro-gaming.aspx

     

    I had no Idea Micro Center carried something like this, let alone having a section dedicated to "Retro Gaming". The Westbury store is right by me so I'll have to check it out.

     

    $1k is still a bit steep, but if the price dropped to around $600 could be a good buy. It has basically everything you need to start.

    • Like 1

  22. Posted

    Honestly you dont need a 5200 - Id argue that the only good reason is the play a slightly better version of Star Raiders - and I mean slight. All the 5200 games were converted to the 8bit with much better control IMHO. The 5200 trackball is sweet, but there is one for the 8bit as well.

     

    The 5200 is too big to really enjoy - Mine never sees the light of day and Im pretty sure the controllers dont work despite getting the flex circuits fixed a long time ago.

     

    Just my $0.02

  25. Posted

    I always wanted Wizardy on the Atari 8bit back in the day and thought I was missing something. Once I got an Apple IIe and even emulation I realized that not much was lost. As someone else mentioned there is alot of note taking for this series which I dont have the time or patience for. I think the Ultima series hit the right notes for the general RPG public more than Wizardy (excluding Ultima 8 :D )

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