ATARI 8bit accelerators - Rapidus and F7

[lotharek]

Hello all,

 

FYI :

 

http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=107

 

http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=108

 

 

and....

 

 

for Commodore (eehhhh...)

 

http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=109

 

Please, share around and if possible show me please Your interest !

[+Allan]

I'm interested in the Atari accelerators, depending on price.

 

Allan

[venom4728a]

I will purchase 1 or 2 of each.

 

Robert

Edited August 6, 2013 by venom4728a

[jk40001]

Are there any good examples of how to benefit from having one of these?

[toad]

Without a doubt I would order one of the two. Probably whichever came first.

[rchennau]

Yes! Will it fit in a 600xl? The PBI version would be sweet as well.

[lotharek]

Please, show Your interest using link at my www :

 

Drop me mail if You are interested - KLICK ME !

 

 

regards

 

ps. computer is not important - cpu is the most important ( so, xe,xl, others).

Soon will make new form in contact to ask about more deatils.

Edited August 6, 2013 by lotharek

[Heaven/TQA]

Jesus... Rescue on Fractalus looks amazing...

 

but wondering about Eidolon... did you patched the games to run? as Eidolon has custom SIO routines does it not get skrewed up? or can you swtich back to 1,77 mode?

[Thorsten Günther]

Will

run on the C64 version?

[flashjazzcat]

Is it compatible with VBXE as well?

[adam242]

Jesus... Rescue on Fractalus looks amazing...

 

That just sold me!

 

I'm definitely in for one. Maybe Flight Simulator II will be playable now.

[StaxX28]

Please, show Your interest using link at my www :

 

Drop me mail if You are interested - KLICK ME !

Hi,

 

mail sent !

[Stormbringer]

Will this somehow be able to work with Incognito machines?!?!

[Mathy]

Hello Lotharek

 

Maybe it's a stupid question, please forgive me curiosity:

 

Will both work together? In other words: If you'ld have the Rapidus inside the XL/XE and the F7 connected via the parallel bus, would that be noticeable (preferably in a positive way )?

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

[Fletch]

The external PBI unit is quite interesting. I like it!

[Bumzyman]

I'm interested in both just from a collectors point of view but I'm curious as to what software, if any, would work with these.

 

Would probably be sweet with FJC's GUI.

[Pakrat]

Collector, nothing... ) They will open up a whole new world of exploration of these machines. Just unfortunate that I can't afford either one at the moment. My 130XE is still totally set up (with a 320M Maxtor hard drive on a Black Box) and ready for it when I can. A practical, available 65816 accelerator is for me a dream finally come true. ^^

[toad]

I remember reading a thread a few years back about the SuperCPU for Commodore 64. I remember some expressed the opinion that the SuperCPU didn't do much because the majority of their software worked just fine on the stock machine, and indeed was written for stock machines.

 

But then you'd see demo's of certain software that did run much smoother on the SuperCPU. Anyway, this reminds me of the discussions around Atari accelerators. What's the purpose of it? And the most direct response seems to be that some classic software runs better with the accelerator. I think that's a fair assessment of why Lotharek's page shows Eidolon and Rescue on Fractulus - its the answer to why one should desire the accelerator.

 

But - I think somewhat like Pakrat, that for the Atari series, it's not about the old, but the "new" - the new world of possibilities - the accelerated CPU really changes the game.

 

Games like Atari's basketball bypassed Antic and used a kernel - kernels allowed for getting more visuals on the screen, but they were costly in terms of not having much cpu time leftover for game calculations. So you didn't see too many games going this route.

 

Now, I'm only now writing an assembly program, so I'm not a big expert here, but I'm think with a significantly faster cpu, you could write your kernel and still sneak in much more calculations than would have been available on a stock 6502 - so ultimately new games could be devised - that could outshine the works of the past.

 

I'm having fun without the accelerator, but whew, that accelerator would be nice.

[+Larry]

There are some definite benefits with an accelerator. Certainly many Basic programs -- even some compiled ones. Arc and Unarc definitely benefit (of course, they still pale compared to doing it on a modern PC where these operations take place in the blink of an eye). Many games (50%?) work fine, as-is. Some break completely and some run hyper-fast due to their methods of timing. Some games (Gauntlet and Lemmings come to mind) just about bring a 1.79 MHz Atari to its knees. A flexible accelerator would certainly be desirable -- say one that runs at 1.79, 7.16, and 14.32 MHz, for example. But these two accelerators have some nifty features. I'm certainly impressed!

 

But most of the benefit lies in the "ghost of Christmas yet to come." One of the nicest possibilities would be a really nice GUI system like FJC's. Lots of linear memory would allow some neat stuff. But alas, who will write that real killer application? Will these be akin to the VBXE with great promise but largely not to be realized? Still, we are way better off with them than not.

 

-Larry

[Shawn Jefferson]

I'm interested.

[npturton]

Interested

[fibrewire]

What would be cool is a 7.16mhz 65C02 with VBXE crammed into an XEGS, and 64K of ram with a CX-78 controller to get that authentic gaming system feel.

 

Wait, it's ALREADY BEEN DONE

 

Proof the Atari 8-bit could've have competed with other game systems in the 1989 era - you're welcome

Edited August 21, 2013 by fibrewire

[toad]

That takes me back, in 1991, I was dirt poor and couldn't afford any gaming system, but some shops would rent the whole system, not just the games. One weekend I rented the TurboGrafx-16 with Bonk's revenge. I remember being very impressed by the graphics.

 

Anyway, so now I'd like both the accelerator card and for someone to port Bonk's Revenge....plus a full 14 - 20 mhz please, then the TurboGrafx folks will just have to envy.

[JonnyBritish]

Wow...sitting here with a copy of Valforth wondering how fast it will run on these boards..reminds me must get it dumped to an ATR soon

[TXG/MNX]

Question is it possible to use both accelerators together ?