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I've been playing around with REXPaint (A fork of Asciipaint) to find something to help with screen and graphics creation. As a start I've created some Aquarius font png's to drop into REXPaint: Download REXPaint and add the png's to the \data\fonts directory of the program and edit the _config.xt file to add the following lines: Still early day's yet, the default screen is bigger than on the Aquarius so may be possible to use it as a virtual map? I also need to have a look at exporting from REXPaint to make use of the data all help appreciated!

Looking to unload my spare Aquarius stuff. *Everything has been fully tested and works great unless otherwise noted.* If you want to take everything, I would do $350 + shipping. Otherwise, we can chat via PM about a la carte pricing. SOLD Mattel Aquarius Computer & Game System "Big Box" Bundle - As you can see in the pictures, outer box has considerable wear and inner boxes have wear. Includes the boxed computer with the two manuals that came with the Aquarius originally, AV cable is not original, original switchbox not tested but included for completeness - I use the RF adapters that are far superior these days - Mini Expander (styrofoam inserts are missing), boxed 4K Memory module, boxed Night Stalker game is missing but I'll throw in a loose Night Stalker cart AND a boxed Snafu game. For those into variants, this Aquarius computer has the S1 character ROM set (the OG!), which is less common than the S2 variety. Radofin Aquarius Computer - from the post-Mattel days, of course. Through context clues, looks like it was sold through Bentley Industries here in the US in 1985. This boxed computer is quite possibly "brand new" (but not sealed) in that it doesn't seem to have been taken out of the box previously. All packaging materials and inserts are included. Like all Radofin systems, it includes a games cassette (untested because my data recorder is finicky these days) and a cassette cable. The cassette cable can be used to connect a smartphone or modern PC to the Aquarius to play digital files of cassette games. 16K Memory Module (Boxed) - this can be tough to track down. Pretty much required for most - but not all - cassette games. Three Cassette Games - 1) Pac-Mr. *not working*; 2) Aquariworm (Homebrew); 3) Bomb Catcher 2 (Homebrew) Please send me a PM with interest and to purchase. Thanks!

Working on the Aquarius MX, a refinement of Bruce Abbott's Micro Expander for the Aquarius. GitHub site - https://github.com/1stage/Aquarius-MX While there are Gerbers and STL files available, it's best to hold off ordering these components until prototype testing is complete. Picture of the prototype...

This post is intended to accompany the Aquarius Collecting List post, which can be found here: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/301304-aquarius-aquarius-collecting-list/ I've wanted to create a post like this for a long time now, but I wanted to wait until I had fully completed my Aquarius set (all boxes, all overlays, all manuals, all carts). As of this month (March 2023), I have successfully done that! The goal of this post is to document the contents of each Aquarius cartridge with photos, determine the differences between each variant, and provide a reference for future collectors. A common topic in the Aquarius community that I have noticed is the exact contents of the later releases. They are extremely hard to come by, are often missing overlays, and the manuals provide incorrect information, and so until now the exact contents have not been documented. I have been lucky enough to acquire every overlay with each of my carts, so this post will fix that issue. Secondly, I would like to document Aquarius variants. Aquarius titles typically had at minimum two variants: a Mattel release and a Radofin release. Radofin releases were produced after Mattel sold the Aquarius' rights back to Radofin, and were produced in smaller quantities and are much more common in Europe than North America. They can be identified by the removal of Mattel branding from the packaging and in many cases the addition of 1 or more languages other than English to the packaging. There are more variants for some titles, such as Finnish language manuals. In the future, I will make another post similar to this one covering hardware and their variations, and possibly one for cassettes as well. Here we go! This post will document 21/20 of the Aquarius library, or in other words the full set as well as the store demonstration cart. 4K Memory: Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual. Only the Radofin version contains a manual, and this has been verified with sealed copies of 4K memory. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages, addition of a paper manual. 16K Memory: Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Special Notice Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual. Only the Radofin version contains a manual, and this has been verified with sealed copies of 16K memory. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages, addition of a paper manual. Photos Credit of @Intymike 32K Memory No Mattel variant was released. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Oversized Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual. Modem No Radofin variant has been found. Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Cassette Tape, Manual and brochures/catalogs. FileForm Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages, manual binding is no longer spiral. FinForm Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages, manual binding is no longer spiral. Note that the Radofin version of this title still uses a Mattel Electronics branded manual. This is not a mistake, as I have confirmed this with 3 copies of the Radofin variant. Logo Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @cmart604. Radofin Variant Photo is incomplete, and needs an upgrade. Extended Microsoft Basic No Mattel variant was released. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays. *This example is in bad condition, if you have a better condition example, please post a picture. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @cmart604. Radofin Variant Photo is missing manual, and needs an upgrade. Astrosmash Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages. Biorhythms Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages. Note that this is the only software release that does not contain any overlays at all. BurgerTime Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, copyright information on cartridge is blue instead of white. Nightstalker Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @Intymike Snafu Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @Intymike Tron: Deadly Discs Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages to packaging. Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @Intymike Utopia Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @Intymike Melody Chase No Mattel variant was released. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Chess No Mattel variant was released. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays. Note that this is the only game that does not include controller overlays. This has been verified with multiple copies, and the manual does not state that controller overlays are included. It is likely that a variant of Chess exists that has a small label with the title in the corner of the box's front, instead of a full color box art. Also note that the box art for Chess and Zero-In read "Cartridge Instructions". This is an example of Radofin's poor QA towards the end of the system's life cycle. Zero-In No Mattel variant was released. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Note that although this game's manual states only one controller overlay is included, there are actually two in a complete copy. This is an example of Radofin's poor QA towards the end of the system's life cycle. Unfortunately for variant collectors, Zero-In does have a variant. Instead of a full color box art, it only has a small printed label with the game's title in the corner. The two variants are pictured on the right. Also note that the box art for Chess and Zero-In read "Cartridge Instructions". This is another example of Radofin's poor QA towards the end of the system's life cycle. Space Speller No Mattel variant was released. Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays. Note that although this game's manual states only one controller overlay is included, there are actually two in a complete copy. This is an example of Radofin's poor QA towards the end of the system's life cycle. Store Demonstration Cartridge (NOT REQUIRED FOR FULL SET) It is unknown if there are variants, and since this is the only known boxed copy, it is possible there are inserts missing. This cartridge is not required for a full Aquarius set since it was not available commercially, and is only included here for reference. Total Contents: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge. That's all! If anyone can provide photos for the missing Radofin variants, that would be greatly appreciated, and I will add them to the main post. If additional variants are discovered, they can be posted here and added to the main post. I hope this serves as a helpful reference for both future and veteran collectors for the Aquarius. It will be linked to from the Aquarius Collecting List thread, which is pinned in the Intellivision/Aquarius subforum. Thank you for reading through this behemoth of a post. More discussion for the Aquarius can be found at the discord server, here: https://discord.gg/TjCZZZ8HZQ We are always happy to welcome new members!

Summary The Aquarius Printer is a 40 column thermal printer that uses a one-way serial connection. It was marketed for the Mattel Aquarius computer and Intellivision's ECS add-on. Its character set is fixed to match the Aquarius computer's character set. Each character is printed as a pattern of 7x10 dots. It has a 3-way switch on the back to control which parts of the Aquarius character set it can print. The switch settings are labelled as Text, Mixed, and Graphics. Contrary to what the Graphics switch setting would typically imply, there is no known way to print arbitrary pixel / bitmap graphics. The printer has a 40 byte buffer for printable characters. When transmitting data, the printer will not print until either the buffer is full, or until a newline or formfeed byte is received. On the front, it has a Power button and a Paper advance button. The Paper advance button does not advance the paper by a fixed amount; instead it advances the paper for as long as the button is pressed. Unlike many printers of its era and later, it does not have a "test mode" that can be entered by pressing and holding a button while simultaneously turning the printer on. While its interface uses standard RS-232 voltages and signaling, its connectors are non-standard, using a 3.5mm mono audio jack and a 2.5mm mono audio jack. An adapter cable is necessary to connect to a computer. Wiring diagrams are available for building adapter cables for connecting to a PC using a 9-pin serial port or to the Intellivision ECS. Software needs to be set to 1200 baud, 8-bit, no parity, 2 stop bits, and use hardware flow control that is either RTS-CTS and/or DTR-DSR hardware flow control depending on the adapter cable's wiring. Internally, it uses the Olivetti PU-1840 print mechanism and thus can use paper from other printers that use the same print mechanism (example: Alphacom Sprinter 40 and VP42). The Olivetti PU-1840 is controlled by a Hitachi HD6801V0P microcontroller. Output Modes Text Mode Only bytes in the ASCII ranges are printable (hexadecimal bytes 20 through 7E) as well as byte 7F. All other bytes do nothing with the following 3 exceptions: 0A, 0D, and 0C. The hexadecimal bytes 0A and 0D are newlines. A pair of these bytes is considered 1 complete newline. Thus 1 complete newline can be any of the following pairs: 0D 0A, 0A 0D, 0A 0A, or 0D 0D. The printer advances the paper one line on the first byte and drops the 2nd byte, as long as the 2nd byte is a 0A or 0D. If other values are inserted between the 2 bytes of a complete newline, the printer will advance the paper 1 newline, print the inserted characters, and then advance the paper a 2nd time (ex: 0D 20 0D). There is an issue where if too many newlines are printed followed immediately by printable data, the printable data is lost. It is presumed that the CTS signal back to the PC is not being processed properly. The hexadecimal byte 0C is formfeed. It advances the paper to next 1 page boundary, with 1 page being approximately 59 lines. Previously printed data is considered part of the page. For example, if 30 lines of printable bytes were sent followed by a 0C, the paper would be advanced 29 lines. There is an issue where if data is transmitted too soon, i.e. before the formfeed has finished, that data may be incorrectly printed in the middle of the formfeed or may be lost. Graphics Mode All characters are printable, based on the Aquarius computer's character set. However, after power up or a short delay between printing sessions, the data needs to be preceded by 0A 0D before the graphics data can be sent. The first 2 bytes of 0A 0D are not printed, but do cause a newline to occur. Any 0A or 0D that appears after the initial 0A 0D pair are printable characters and are not newlines. However, data can NOT be continuously streamed to the printer indefinitely. Somewhere between 880 to 920 bytes, the printer stops responding. It is recommended that long streams of data be separated into smaller chunks with short delays. Mixed Mode The same as Graphics Mode except that 0A and 0D are newlines. These bytes behave the same as they do in Text Mode. Unlike Graphics Mode, there is no need to prepend the printable characters with 0A 0D. There is an issue where, if too many newlines are printed followed immediately by data, the data is lost. It is presumed that the CTS signal back to the PC is not being processed properly or that the printer needs a brief delay after asserting CTS and receiving more bytes. Construction Major components: Hitachi HD6801V0P CPU: Hitachi's version of a Motorola 6801 (enhanced instructions, 4KB ROM and 128 bytes RAM on-chip, serial, GPIO) Olivetti PU-1840 2P Printer mechanism: 280 horizontal dots, thermal paper Hitachi HA17555: a 555 timer chip, presumed to control the baud rate The plastic case has 4 parts: the top shell, bottom shell, paper compartment cover, and the back panel. The back panel contains the serial connectors and the Text/Mixed/Graphics switch. It appears the back panel and the internal space next to it was intended to be replaceable to support other interfaces (Centronics? DE-9 serial? Commodore 64?). The top shell front internally has space for 2 unused punch-outs in the plastic, each with mounting points in an internal metal bracket. Potentially, these could support addition buttons and/or lights. Wiring Adapters / Cables Here are schematics for building either a wiring adapter to connect the Aquarius printer directly to a PC's 9-pin serial port or to the Intellivision ECS. Note that similar schematics elsewhere don't allow a direct connection to a PC since they require additional adapters like null-modem cables. Aquarius Printer Adapter Cables v1.pdf

Hello, Back in the early 1980s I was yearning for the computer component for the Intellivision. I didn't get any magazines and the Internet was not around then so I had no clue that it was scrapped and the ECS would take its place. My parents knew that I wanted to get the computer expansion for my INTV and during the Xmas of 81 (maybe)my parents got me a new 13 inch color TV. I had been using a 12 inch black and white that was dying Anyway, one of the reasons my parents picked this particular TV out for me was that it was made for Mattel Electronics Aquarius Computer. I was not sure what the Aquarius was and it didn't really matter because later that year I got my Atari 800 XL. I have checked the net and didn't see any info regarding the TV. The set itself doesn't indicate anything about Mattel but the box does. I found the box in my parents attic. I still have the TV, but it is buried in my garage. As of 10-15 years ago it still works. Attached are the pictures of the box depicting the Mattel stickers. Does anyone know anything about this? The unit was purchased at Kiddie City a toy store competitor to Toys R Us. It was owned by the Lionel corporation.

Does any one know if the Aquarius mini-expander ports work with any other controller for example Intellivision controllers? jaybird3rd has mentioned the possibility of a miniexpander II so it would be interesting to know what the options are Barnie

I put up a github repo with a working example using the Millfork compiler, Visual Studio Code, and MAME for debugging. https://github.com/cdoty/Aquarius-Millfork

Welcome to... Aquarius Draw! Aquarius Draw Application: https://aquarius.mattpilz.com/draw/ Aquarius Draw User Manual: https://aquarius.mattpilz.com/help.php Aquarius Draw Online Gallery: https://aquarius.mattpilz.com/gallery.php Introduction What began as a weekend hackathon for my own amusement and to better familiarize myself with the Aquarius, quickly spiraled into a multi-month long initiative to create a very powerful tool for all Aquarius developers and enthusiasts. Aquarius Draw is a free, modern web-based application (desktop-only) that allows you to quickly design and prototype scenery within the technical confines of Aquarius. This artwork can then be exported as a PNG, saved to an online gallery, or output as boilerplate Aquarius BASIC or Machine Language to load onto emulators or the devices themselves. It has a huge variety of features and I recommend reviewing the help documentation as well as opening the Keyboard Shortcut panel (F1) to better familiarize yourself with the system. This should rapidly accelerate a lot of software-based efforts in the future, but also is fun just to draw and experiment with even for non-Aquarius users that want to make retro art. I recommend Chrome (Firefox and Edge also supported). You can use the browser's ZOOM to scale the display so it all fits nicely on your screen: Use only zoom levels of 50% (low resolution), 75% (less than 1080p), 100% (1080p), 125% (1440p) or 200% (4k) to ensure minimal distortion. Feature Highlights Full 256 Character Glyph Selector (Sorted and Original Order) with 16-color Background/Foreground and Large Preview 40x24 Drawable Canvas Area and Personalized Border Toggles and Actions to Fine-Tune Drawing Operations Tile Inspector Stats for User Reference Input/Output Actions for Saving and Loading Scene Data Customizable BASIC and Machine Language (Assembly) Boilerplate Code Output for Testing on Emulators or Devices Dynamic Preview of Output with CRT/Monochrome Simulation Export Scene Images as High Quality PNGs Tile Selection Tool with Cut/Copy/Paste Capabilities Pre-populated Templates (Title Screen, Demonstrations and Examples) Tile-specific POKE Data Generation (Raw, with Lines or as DATA Rows) Optional Public Gallery Upload for Showing Off Your Creations Quick-Type Text (Click into Origin Tile and Type Away) Directional Offsetting to Move Specific Rows/Columns in Specified Direction Fast Fill to Quickly Populate Rows or Columns with Selected Brush GIF Demonstration - Intro GIF Demonstration - Fast Fill GIF Demonstration - Copy and Paste GIF Demonstration - Keyboard Typing Aquarius community member Sean H. designed a variety of very helpful visuals using this editor to demonstrate Aquarius color and graphic theory, or how to make the most out of the very limited color and character set. Each of these are available as templates and can be loaded for analysis. Aquarius Color Theory Aquarius Graphics Theory Have fun!

After about eighteen months of development, I am pleased to announce the availability of the Aquaricart, the first and only multi-cart for the Aquarius Home Computer System! For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Aquaricart is a collection of ALL of the original cartridge software ever released for the Aquarius, along with several unreleased, prototype, and enhanced titles. It also includes the original instruction manuals and overlays, exclusive historical information and trivia, and Quick Reference guides ... all in electronic format, so they can be printed with the Aquarius Thermal Printer or viewed on-screen! NOTE: The original Aquaricart shown above—which was built using repurposed Night Stalker cartridges—has been unavailable for some time. I have since switched to a new form factor based on the Intellivision cartridge design; see here for pictures. In addition to making the cartridges smaller, and easier to ship and store, this new design allowed me to reduce the price to $60 per cartridge (postage extra). Send me a PM, or e-mail me at aquariusproject@jaysnellen.com, if you're interested! Here is a complete list of the cartridge titles in the Aquaricart collection: AD&D Treasure of Tarmin Astrosmash Biorhythms BurgerTime Chess Demonstration Cartridge Extended BASIC FileForm FinForm Logo Melody Chase Mini Expander Diagnostic (an unreleased Radofin diagnostic tool) Night Stalker Shark! (an incomplete prototype of Intellivision Shark! Shark!) Snafu Space Speller TRON Deadly Discs Utopia X10 Command Console (the software for the unreleased Aquarius X10 home automation system) Zero In Plus, as a bonus: The 1541 OS ROM (an enhanced version of Extended BASIC) The Demonstration Cassette (the six mini-games originally included with the Aquarius on cassette tape—Stalactites, Macho-Man, Torment, Cute Cubes, Alien Quest, and Mad Mould—converted to cartridge format for instantaneous loading) "BurgerTime Plus" (an slightly enhanced BurgerTime which fixes two issues with the original that have always annoyed me: it increases the maximum number of peppers and lives from 9 to 99, and it removes the extra "junk" characters from the screen border) Each of these cartridges, along with the instruction manual text and other extra content, can be accessed through an easy-to-use menu interface that you can control from the keyboard or the hand controllers. Or, if you prefer to skip the menu, you can use the "Quick Boot" feature to jump immediately to the cartridge of your choice on startup. The Aquaricart is fully compatible with a stock Aquarius computer console, so no Mini Expander or extra RAM are required (although some of the cartridges in the collection recommend or require extra RAM). Here is a video by The Immortal John Hancock which demonstrates the Aquarius and the Aquaricart in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HbjOnC-JSE I'm offering fully assembled Aquaricart cartridges for $60 each. They include a color cartridge label and a printed manual. Here is the current design: If you're interested in adding the Aquaricart to your collection, contact me via PM—or, if you're not an AtariAge member, click on my profile and use the e-mail link. Be sure to include your shipping address so I can calculate the postage and give you a final total. If I have an Aquaricart cartridge ready to send, we will exchange information and complete the transaction; otherwise, I will provide an estimate of when it will be available (usually within one week). I won't accept payment unless I have a tested product that is ready for shipment, so you won't be kept waiting for your order any longer than necessary. I'm in the process of putting together a web site for the Aquaricart, which will offer complete scans of the original instruction manuals and other useful Aquarius resources. In the meantime, if you're interested, please see the product thread in the Intellivision/Aquarius subforum for more details and ordering information. You can also follow the eighteen-month development history of the Aquaricart in the original project thread, which includes reviews and testimonials from Aquaricart owners. Thanks for your interest and support!

My new game for the Aquarius will be out soon as a digital download and as a physical cassette via Cronosoft. DOOMSDAY DEFENDER . Your city has been invaded by giant alien motherships, which are launching alien fighters that are attacking your city! You must stop your city from being destroyed! Shoot the alien fighters before they destroy too much of your city. Avoid being shot by alien fire, and don't crash in to the alien fighters. Shoot the fighters, and if they leave behind a © token, then shoot that to extinguish some of the city fires. You gain points and energy for every fighter you shoot, but lose energy for every city fire. Watch out though, as the fighters have shields! If they turn yellow, your shot will be useless. If too much of your city is in flames, then your game is over. Changing the difficulty setting from NORMAL to HARD will change the city scape to the White House. The rules are the same, but this level is much harder to master! Look out for my other Aquarius games, both Aquariworm and Bomb Catcher 2 are available as downloads and as physical cassette releases!

Had a chance to inventory my extra games. All games have been cleaned and tested. Please send me a PM if you're interested in a title or five; I'll respond with pricing and if that works on your end, I'll take pictures so you know exactly what you would be receiving. All orders of three or more games will ship for free in the US! Here's what I've got available: Intellivision Sealed Astrosmash Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack NFL Football Complete in Box Armor Battle Astrosmash Beauty and the Beast (cart not working) Boxing Demon Attack (with Activision tray) Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack (Sears) Major League Baseball NBA Basketball (x2) NFL Football PGA Golf SOLD Q*bert (thin-style box with top flap) Space Battle (x2) Star Strike Sub Hunt Tennis *NO GAME* Triple Action Utopia (missing manual) Cart Only Armor Battle (minor cosmetic damage) Microsurgeon Pac-Man (Atarisoft) SOLD Pitfall! Triple Action (minor cosmetic damage) Worm Whomper SOLD Manuals Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Ice Trek (rough shape) Lady Bug (rough shape) Mattel Intellivision games booklet Soccer (Sears) Space Battle Tron Solar Sailer SOLD Aquarius Complete in Box Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin (missing cartridge tray, right keyboard overlay and one controller overlay) Night Stalker Snafu (box is in rough shape; missing one controller overlay) Tron: Deadly Discs Genesis Complete in Box Barney's Hide & Seek Game Risk Box + cart Side Pocket Sports Talk Baseball (missing cover art on box) Cart only Beauty and the Beast: Roar of the Beast Ecco the Dolphin John Madden Football 92 Jurassic Park Lethal Enforcers Lion King Madden 97 Madden 98 NBA Showdown 94 PGA Tour 96 x2 Sonic & Knuckles ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron Triple Score World of Illusion Starring Disney's Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck X-Men 2: Clone Wars

I have spent months repairing my Aquarius2. Now that she is operational, I thought that I would look at creating some software that was specific to this platform, rather than just an Aquarius game. I have already written and published a couple of new games for the Aquarius (Aquariworm and Bomb Catcher 2), so I thought about adapting one of those rather than starting from scratch... Well! A historic moment! Welcome to the FIRST and ONLY game for the Aquarius2! ??? I have created a version of my Bomb Catcher 2 game that only runs on the Aquarius2, which I think is a world first! Granted.. the market is quite small ?

The below-pictured Aquarius is on its way to me, woo hoo! It's one of the "Computer & Game System" bundles. Seems pristine. Owner says they never even took it out of the box (other than to take some pics), and based on all of the pictures she sent me (more than what I have attached here), I believe it. All packing material, etc. Got what I think was a fair deal ($120 including shipping). Btw, what's up with the 4-game package being cut to one game plus 4K memory? Pretty funny that Mattel just crossed off "4" preceding "Game Cartridges" with a Sharpie and only included one game on some of these bundles. Was that as they were winding down production and running out of games or something? I know it's not just my box because I saw a few listings on eBay with the same modifications to the boxes. Once my Aquarius arrives on my doorstep, I'd like to maximize my enjoyment of this little machine. It seems like @jaybird3rd's Aquaricart is a must, and probably the 32K RAM expansion cart, too. Will likely have him make me a BLBird cart, too. Ideally, I would like to be able to play all of the cartridge and cassette games available for the system (including homebrews), as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. Has there been any talk of adding all of the third-party cassette titles to a future version of the Aquaricart (beyond the 6-game demo cassette that I see is included already)? I'm guessing that would require some converting of the .CAQ images? I did come across something about converting .CAQ files to .WAV so that cassette games can be played on real hardware but that process seemed really tedious. Aquaricart 2.0 seems like the best idea, am I right? I've also come across mentions of the MicroExpander, but it seems like a DIY project and I don't have the skills for it. Also saw something about having to remove the AY from the MicroExpander if using it in a Mini Expander, which, again, well beyond my skill set. I like the idea of removable media (USB stick) so that you can add files to it, but what files will it work with "out of the box," if you will? Just .BIN and .ROM, therefore running into the same issues with .CAQ files for cassette games? Lots of newbie questions, here, I know. Please excuse my ignorance. Cheers.

A while back, I started a thread which was intended to be a place where interested programmers could go to find everything they needed to get started with assembly language programming on the Aquarius. Since then, with the popularity of batari Basic for the Atari 2600 and other homebrew-oriented languages, there has been some interest in developing games for the Aquarius in BASIC, so ... here's another Aquarius thread, just for BASIC programmers! Fortunately, the Aquarius already has its own version of BASIC, and it's built right in to the computer! When you turn on your Aquarius (without a cartridge inserted), or start your favorite Aquarius emulator, you'll be presented with a startup screen for Microsoft BASIC. This is the BASIC interpreter that is built in to the Aquarius OS ROM, and contrary to what you might have read elsewhere, it is a perfectly capable implementation of BASIC; it is not a "crippled" version that is missing such elementary features as the ability to do FOR-NEXT loops. The Extended BASIC cartridge (released in very limited quantities, and available today as part of the Aquaricart) did add a few "missing" features, such as the ability to edit previously entered lines of code, but you can easily live without most of them, and as we'll see, there are even better ways of editing BASIC programs using the tools available today. Speaking of tools, let me begin by posting a few. First is the most recent version of the Virtual Aquarius emulator for Windows, version 0.72a: VirtualAquarius.zip This distribution archive includes the emulator itself, the OS ROM, several cartridge and cassette images, and a few sample BASIC programs in ASCII text format to get you started (more on these later). This is the primary emulator that I will be writing my instructions for in this thread, since it has a few features which are especially useful for BASIC programming but which other Aquarius emulators (such as MESS) presently lack. (There is no "installer" for this emulator; just unpack the ZIP archive into a folder, move the folder to a convenient place, and open the "aquarius.exe" executable inside the folder to start the emulator. It's a few years old now, but I've used Virtual Aquarius under every version of Windows from XP through Windows 8 (in Desktop mode), and it appeared to function perfectly.) Next is a bootloader utility, generously provided by Martin v.d. Steenoven, which will convert completed BASIC programs of up to 16K into cartridge images. You can use these images in Virtual Aquarius like any other cartridge binary, or even burn them to a 16K cartridge ROM for use with a real Aquarius. In either case, your BASIC program will load and start automatically when the Aquarius is started; the users will not even see BASIC. Here is a link to the most recent version of the bootloader from the assembly thread, along with Martin's usage instructions: [AQUARIUS] Machine Language Programming on the Aquarius (Post #52) (Note that it is not necessary to use this bootloader utility until after you have completed your BASIC program. While you are writing your program, you would load it into BASIC for testing, using the procedure I will outline in my next post. If you are interested in putting your first completed program onto a real cartridge, send me a PM; I'll be offering a cartridge publishing service in the near future.) Finally, here is a dump of the original Aquarius Character Generator ROM, containing the default Aquarius character set. This replaces the "reconstructed" character set used by Virtual Aquarius: AquariusCharacterSet.zip To explain why this is important, and how to use the replacement ROM in Virtual Aquarius, I'll quote from the assembly thread: The only other tool you will need is a text editor. Note that a text editor is not the same thing as a word processor: both are writing tools, but the text editor saves your files as plain text, without any formatting information or metadata. Microsoft Windows comes with Notepad, but since this is a very simple editor, many developers choose to use editors which offer more features, such as macros and syntax highlighting. The editor that I usually use on Windows systems is VEDIT by Greenview Data, but just about any editor will do. Even plain old Notepad is a much better alternative than typing a lengthy BASIC program on a real Aquarius!

Hi All. I finally decided to register with Atariage!! I'm glad i did (thank you Jay!). Some of you may be aware of my previous Aquarius game AQUARIWORM that was released last year on physical cassette tape via Cronosoft (the first commercial tape release for the Aquarius in over 35 years!)... Well, just yesterday my new Aquarius game BOMB CATCHER 2 was released! Again, as a physical cassette tape through Cronosoft!! Both Aquariworm and Bomb Catcher 2 are available to purchase from Cronosoft's main site for a very modest fee. I make no money for the sales, it all goes towards keeping the homebrew market alive, thanks to the awesome non-profit Cronosoft. I am a retro computer collector and restorer with over 100 machines (not inc dupes!) in my collection. The Aquarius was my first computer! and I still own it! I love writing games for the wee blue key underdog! Aquariworm is also available as a digital download (BC2 will follow suit) via itch.io and any donations go to the Centre for Computing History Museum in Cambridge. So if you want a couple of new games for your Mattel Aquarius.... then click the link! https://cronosoft.fwscart.com/MATTEL_AQUARIUS/cat5357733_4720275.aspx I'm hoping to code more games for the platform as time goes on, and I'm already working on a platform game.

So I've been playing some of the games I had back in 80s when I had an actually Aquarius computer (Sold it like 25 years ago and I'm regretting it now). Thanks to those who worked hard to develop Aquarius emulators, now I can playing my childhood favorite games on PC any day. However I wonder if anyone managed to crack/modify games to change some of the parameters such as how many lives you have in the game (nightstalker or astrosmash) or increase weapon and armor level in games like AD&D. Basically I need to do cheats lol. I played around with Night Stalker a little bit using Virtual Aquarius emulator and I tried to get ridiculous number of lives by altering the .bin RAM file I received from using "File --> Save Ram" command. I simply opened the file in hex editor and increased the number of lives to 99 and then loaded the file again in the emulator. It worked visually but as soon as I lose one life, the number gets back to the default value. Can someone explain why this happened? I also wonder if someone successfully managed to crack these games. Kind regards.

I resolved at the beginning of this year to get caught up on a number of Aquarius projects this summer, and I think I'm going to begin by dusting off an idea that I had previously put on the shelf ... an inexpensive 32K RAM module: As you may know, 32K is the largest amount of (flat) RAM that you can add to the Aquarius without using the space reserved for cartridge software. Mattel's original 32K module was big and bulky and was produced only in very limited quantities, but it's now possible to create a much more efficient version of this module using SRAM. I designed my first prototypes around the same time I was designing the Aquaricart, and I built a few more for collectors who wanted them, but I decided against making it into a product at the time because I thought it would be a better value to integrate that extra RAM into my enhanced Mini Expander design instead. But the new Mini Expander is going to take a lot longer to finish than I planned, and in the meantime, I've heard from several people who already own the original Mini Expander and wouldn't necessarily want to buy another one just for the extra RAM. So, I thought there would be value in offering a standalone 32K RAM module, particularly for programmers who need the extra RAM for their projects, or those who are interested in playing the many Aquarius cassette games which required expanded RAM. I've begun the layout for the new boards, and I hope to have them finished and manufactured by the end of next month. The cost per module will be just under $30, not including shipping, so I hope it will be an affordable and easy upgrade for anyone who owns an Aquarius. I'll post updates, including ordering information, as they become available.

We've finally finished the reverse-engineering and testing of the open-source Aquarius motherboards. Enjoy them in good health, and promote the platform! https://github.com/1stage/Aquarius-Motherboard-1-1-0

I'm thinking of dipping into the Aquarius scene (cue "don't do it!" and "it sucks!" comments) and was curious what you guys think of the pictured bundle. Guy wants $500 OBO and I have a feeling that the $500 is too steep, but it does come with a couple of the harder to find games, Tron Deadly Discs and BurgerTime, along with the more common Utopia and NightStalker. I like collecting CIB games so these boxed games attracted me to this particular bundle. Curious as to everyone's thoughts on what a fair price might be. Thanks!

After about eighteen months of development, I am pleased to announce the availability of the Aquaricart, the first and only multi-cart for the Aquarius Home Computer System! NOTE: The original Aquaricart shown above—which was built using repurposed Night Stalker cartridges—has been unavailable for some time. I have since switched to a new form factor based on the Intellivision cartridge design; see here for pictures. In addition to making the cartridges smaller, and easier to ship and store, this new design allowed me to reduce the price to $60 per cartridge (postage extra). Send me a PM, or e-mail me at aquariusproject@jaysnellen.com, if you're interested! For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Aquaricart is a collection of ALL of the original cartridge software ever released for the Aquarius, along with several unreleased, prototype, and enhanced titles. It also includes the original instruction manuals and overlays, exclusive historical information and trivia, and Quick Reference guides ... all in electronic format, so they can be printed with the Aquarius Thermal Printer or viewed on-screen! Here is a complete list of the cartridge titles in the Aquaricart collection: AD&D Treasure of Tarmin Astrosmash Biorhythms BurgerTime Chess Demonstration Cartridge Extended BASIC FileForm FinForm Logo Melody Chase Mini Expander Diagnostic (an unreleased Radofin diagnostic tool) Night Stalker Shark! (an incomplete prototype of Intellivision Shark! Shark!) Snafu Space Speller TRON Deadly Discs Utopia X10 Command Console (the software for the unreleased Aquarius X10 home automation system) Zero In Plus, as a bonus: The 1541 OS ROM (an enhanced version of Extended BASIC) The Demonstration Cassette (the six mini-games originally included with the Aquarius on cassette tape—Stalactites, Macho-Man, Torment, Cute Cubes, Alien Quest, and Mad Mould—converted to cartridge format for instantaneous loading) "BurgerTime Plus" (an slightly enhanced BurgerTime which fixes two issues with the original that have always annoyed me: it increases the maximum number of peppers and lives from 9 to 99, and it removes the extra "junk" characters from the screen border) Each of these cartridges, along with the instruction manual text and other extra content, can be accessed through an easy-to-use menu interface that you can control from the keyboard or the hand controllers. Or, if you prefer to skip the menu, you can use the "Quick Boot" feature to jump immediately to the cartridge of your choice on startup. The Aquaricart is fully compatible with a stock Aquarius computer console, so no Mini Expander or extra RAM are required (although some of the cartridges in the collection recommend or require extra RAM). Here is a video by The Immortal John Hancock which demonstrates the Aquarius and the Aquaricart in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HbjOnC-JSE I'm offering fully assembled Aquaricart cartridges for $60 each. They include a color cartridge label and a printed manual. Here is the current design: If you're interested in adding the Aquaricart to your collection, contact me via PM—or, if you're not an AtariAge member, click on my profile and use the e-mail link. Be sure to include your shipping address so I can calculate the postage and give you a final total. If I have an Aquaricart cartridge ready to send, we will exchange information and complete the transaction; otherwise, I will provide an estimate of when it will be available (usually within one week). I won't accept payment unless I have a tested product that is ready for shipment, so you won't be kept waiting for your order any longer than necessary. I'm in the process of putting together a web site for the Aquaricart, which will offer complete scans of the original instruction manuals and other useful Aquarius resources. In the meantime, if you're interested, you can follow the eighteen-month development history of the Aquaricart in the original project thread, which includes testimonials from fellow Aquarius owners. Thanks for your interest and support!

I've just acquired a Mattel Aquarius 16K ram cartridge but I'm not sure if it's working properly or not. When I type PRINT FRE(0) without the cartridge fitted I get 1724 (bytes - 1.7Kbytes). However, when I type the same command with the cartridge installed I get 11964, which is 11.7K. So does this mean I've only got an extra 10K instead of 16K?! Also, when I run a program to poke a value and then immediately read it from addresses 16384 to 32767, it fails to read the same value before it gets to address 32767 (the top of the memory allocated to the external 16K ram), somewhere in the mid 20000s I think. Any help gratefully received ?

Howdy all... recently was gifted a sweet Mattel Aquarius. What a sweet little Z80 computer. Having never used one before I decided to create a video of my using one for the 1st time. Hope you enjoy! https://youtu.be/4yzHlVO2Bzo I look forward to learning more here in the groups. TJ

Maniac is a 10 episode mini-series that premiered on Netflix on September 21st, 2018. Although seemingly set in modern times, the technology in the show has an interesting retro (and often dystopian) aesthetic as discussed here. Tonight I was watching Episode 9 and spotted an Aquarius Mini Expander and 4K Memory Cartridge! The image of the Mini Expander also has a second (unknown) cartridge and the tips of two controllers. A couple of pictures and a short clip are attached, and I'll include a little bit of additional information in spoiler text below. There seems to be another thread on AtariAge about Maniac, but I thought that it would be more fun to post this small detail in this forum. ManiacClip.mov