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64K Cartridge Games


Tempest

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Now that I'm using my Atari 800 as my main 8-bit computer, I'm trying to compile a list of XL/XE cartridge games that won't work on the stock 48K 800 (disk games are too numerous to count). I looked over an old cartridge list and found these games listed as needing 64K

 

Ace of Aces

Dark Chambers

Midnight Magic

Desert Falcon

Fight Night

Food Fight

GATO

Hardball

Lode Runner

One on One

XE Demo Cartridge

 

 

I don't believe this list is 100% however as Midnight Magic and Lode Runner both seemed to work just fine on my 800 and I know that Into the Eagles Nest won't work. I also seem to recall that Crystal Castles, Rescue on Fractalus, and Star Raiders II needed 64K but I might be wrong on that.

 

Tempest

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Now that I'm using my Atari 800 as my main 8-bit computer, I'm trying to compile a list of XL/XE cartridge games that won't work on the stock 48K 800 (disk games are too numerous to count). I looked over an old cartridge list and found these games listed as needing 64K

 

Ace of Aces

Dark Chambers

Midnight Magic

Desert Falcon

Fight Night

Food Fight

GATO

Hardball

Lode Runner

One on One

XE Demo Cartridge

 

 

I don't believe this list is 100% however as Midnight Magic and Lode Runner both seemed to work just fine on my 800 and I know that Into the Eagles Nest won't work. I also seem to recall that Crystal Castles, Rescue on Fractalus, and Star Raiders II needed 64K but I might be wrong on that.

 

Tempest

 

Star Raiders II

Rescue on Fractalus

Desert Falcon

One on One

 

all work fine on an 800

 

 

With Lode Runner, It depends on what version of the cart you have. there was one that was on a 128k Cart and the other version was a 64k Cart. the 128k cart works fine on the 800. the 64k cart does not work on the 800.

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With Lode Runner, It depends on what version of the cart you have. there was one that was on a 128k Cart and the other version was a 64k Cart. the 128k cart works fine on the 800. the 64k cart does not work on the 800.

Really? How can you tell other than by plugging it into an Atari 800? Why would the 128K cart work on a 48K 800 and the 64K version not?

 

Tempest

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With Lode Runner, It depends on what version of the cart you have. there was one that was on a 128k Cart and the other version was a 64k Cart. the 128k cart works fine on the 800. the 64k cart does not work on the 800.

Really? How can you tell other than by plugging it into an Atari 800? Why would the 128K cart work on a 48K 800 and the 64K version not?

 

Tempest

 

It has to do with the way the cart banked in the data. I know it sounds strange, but just remember that just because a game has a 64k or 128k rom in the cart Doesn't necessarily mean it won't work on a machine with 48k or 64k of RAM. the game just sends the data to the computer that it needs, when it needs it. It's all in how the programmer wrote the game and how the logic in the cart banks the data in to the computer.

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Now that I'm using my Atari 800 as my main 8-bit computer, I'm trying to compile a list of XL/XE cartridge games that won't work on the stock 48K 800 (disk games are too numerous to count). I looked over an old cartridge list and found these games listed as needing 64K

 

 

I tested my collection of XE video games on a PAL Atari 800 with 48K:

 

Ace of Aces - no

Airball - no

Archon - yes

Ballblazer - yes

Barnyard Blaster - yes

Battlezone - yes

Blue Max - yes

Dark Chambers - no

Desert Falcon - yes

Fight Night - yes

Flight Sim II - no

Food Fight - no

GATO - no

Into the Eagles Nest - no (display corrupt)

Rescue on Fractalus - yes

Star Raiders II - yes

Tower Toppler - yes (1987 development version)

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Now that I'm using my Atari 800 as my main 8-bit computer, I'm trying to compile a list of XL/XE cartridge games that won't work on the stock 48K 800 (disk games are too numerous to count). I looked over an old cartridge list and found these games listed as needing 64K

 

 

I tested my collection of XE video games on a PAL Atari 800 with 48K:

 

Ace of Aces - no

Airball - no

Archon - yes

Ballblazer - yes

Barnyard Blaster - yes

Battlezone - yes

Blue Max - yes

Dark Chambers - no

Desert Falcon - yes

Fight Night - yes

Flight Sim II - no

Food Fight - no

GATO - no

Into the Eagles Nest - no (display corrupt)

Rescue on Fractalus - yes

Star Raiders II - yes

Tower Toppler - yes (1987 development version)

These are the actual Carts and NOT the XEX versions you tested?

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There is often confusion because some think that a "64K cartridge" might need 64K RAM, when in fact it's just that the onboard ROM is 64K.

 

Many of the later day large carts are in fact just used like a big ROMdisk, and the games on them are essentially just sector dumps of the original releases with slight changes, and some loader code on the cart that copies relevant parts to be run from RAM when needed.

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Sort of a follow up question I guess, but are there games that require an XL/XE to play (other than the previously mentioned 64K required games)? I know they tweaked the OS but I'm not sure if any games required the new OS or not.

 

Tempest

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Unsure about that, I think there might be a couple that specifically fail to work with the older OS.

 

But, 64K done via PORTB banking automatically means that you have an XL or later, so it becomes a kind of inclusive thing anyway... unless you happen to have a 400/800 that has been modified to be an XL/XE clone - unlikely given probably 2 or 3 of them have ever existed.

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