Supercharger audit

[tdp]

Just out of curiosity, how many of you guys out of there have got a supercharger (and what games and region). I have got the following:-

 

 

[Atari Rescue Group]

Superchargers are pretty common, so many collectors have them. I've got a couple each of the Arcadias and the Starpaths. 1-7 of the boxed cassettes and a loose set of those ad well. And i have a Stella Gets a New Brain CD as well.

[BassGuitari]

I've got one. Off the top of my head I have Phaser Patrol, Communist Mutants From Space, Fireball, Escape From The Mindmaster, Killer Satellites, and Dragonstomper.

[Flojomojo]

I have Stella Gets A New Brain somewhere ...and whatever came in the Supercharger box, which was Phaser Patrol I think. I am wondering if I should have taken better care of this stuff.

[Jinroh]

I have a Supercharger and Dragonstomper. :3

[+save2600]

Sold my beloved Starpath Supercharger when I got a Harmony cart and when all the homebrewers said it would be crazy to continue to support the thing now that we have Harmony. Then one budding developer: MrSQL came along, and not only produced some games for it, but also sold cassettes too!

 

Oh well, at least I can still play The Official Frogger. Wouldn't mind that on a standalone cartridge someday.

 

LOVE, Love, love the concept of the Supercharger though. What a kick ass product, especially for the times... of which I was unaware of at the time. A short-lived product that helped bridge the gap between consoles and computers back then.

[+sramirez2008]

I have one, along with the first 10 cassettes. Cassettes 1-6 are CIBs, the remainder are loose.

 

My favorite is Communist Mutants from Space.

 

[Mr SQL]

Sold my beloved Starpath Supercharger when I got a Harmony cart and when all the homebrewers said it would be crazy to continue to support the thing now that we have Harmony. Then one budding developer: MrSQL came along, and not only produced some games for it, but also sold cassettes too!

 

Oh well, at least I can still play The Official Frogger. Wouldn't mind that on a standalone cartridge someday.

 

LOVE, Love, love the concept of the Supercharger though. What a kick ass product, especially for the times... of which I was unaware of at the time. A short-lived product that helped bridge the gap between consoles and computers back then.

Thank you save2600

 

Here are some pics of cassettes I produced for the SuperCharger:

 

Was a lot of fun making these, I sold thousands of cassette and disc games in the 80's and it's an art form in itself to produce them.

 

Analog is tremendous fun and enduring in a digital age - we can use old ipods and mp3 players as an external menu system for selecting games, and for finding the next game to play while one is already loaded. Pressing play on tape is another aspect of gaming I really enjoy, comparable but different than plugging in a cartridge because of the anticipation and load time, albeit short.

 

I purposely extend load time as much as possible on my tapes because the SuperCharger allows variable timing and I want to maximize that aspect of the gaming experience; 22 seconds is about the maximum, closer to 30 seconds with the lead.

 

These games above are pretty rare collectors items, I have no plans to produce more of them but the ROM's are available for play and free download on my site. Think I still have to post the WarpDrive SuperCharger ROM, the one there is the AFP version.

 

You're right on about the SuperCharger turning the VCS into a full computer, there's a BASIC for making SuperCharger games in my signature and a cross compatible AFP BASIC that can recompile those SuperCharger games into CBS RAM games to run on the Portable console for anyone who is interested.

 

The AFP is a lot like the SuperCharger, it opens up another fun gaming medium for Atari fans beyond cartridges, cassettes, CD's or ipods - really tiny Atari cartridges:

[Swami]

Thank you save2600

 

Here are some pics of cassettes I produced for the SuperCharger:

 

Incredible Atari Games.png

KC_Tape.jpg

103_1207.JPG

Was a lot of fun making these, I sold thousands of cassette and disc games in the 80's and it's an art form in itself to produce them.

 

Analog is tremendous fun and enduring in a digital age - we can use old ipods and mp3 players as an external menu system for selecting games, and for finding the next game to play while one is already loaded. Pressing play on tape is another aspect of gaming I really enjoy, comparable but different than plugging in a cartridge because of the anticipation and load time, albeit short.

 

I purposely extend load time as much as possible on my tapes because the SuperCharger allows variable timing and I want to maximize that aspect of the gaming experience; 22 seconds is about the maximum, closer to 30 seconds with the lead.

 

These games above are pretty rare collectors items, I have no plans to produce more of them but the ROM's are available for play and free download on my site. Think I still have to post the WarpDrive SuperCharger ROM, the one there is the AFP version.

 

You're right on about the SuperCharger turning the VCS into a full computer, there's a BASIC for making SuperCharger games in my signature and a cross compatible AFP BASIC that can recompile those SuperCharger games into CBS RAM games to run on the Portable console for anyone who is interested.

 

The AFP is a lot like the SuperCharger, it opens up another fun gaming medium for Atari fans beyond cartridges, cassettes, CD's or ipods - really tiny Atari cartridges:

103_1269.JPG

Where is this website? I would love to try these games.

[Cambouis de l'Atari]

Always wanted this as a kid (and never got it, it was very expensive), so I thought many times to get one now, I love their look and packaging. But as I have an harmony, I doubt I'll ever use it, so I decided to drop the idea. But I anyway have the Communist mutants tape that came in a bundle of cards

[up2knowgood]

I have two Supercharger cartridge, both boxed, one saying Arcadia the other Starpath. Along with the complete original library all boxed. All NTSC. I also own both versions of Stella Gets A New Brain, and Worship the Woodgrain. I will take pictures when I get home.

 

Since we're on the subject, I'd like to say I disagree, the Supercharger is not that common. I never saw one for sale in a store or anywhere other than online, and even there, there aren't that many. Same goes for the games, only online, and while easier to find, it still took me years of careful searching to get them all in nice condition.

[up2knowgood]

As promised, I took pictures, here's one. The rest are in my Supercharger gallery.

[Rom Collector]

I used to have a couple Superchargers. One mint in box, one lightly used. seriously considered do a mod on the used one. Then I got a Cuttle Cart, and never did the mod. Sold the Superchargers when I got the Harmony. Still have the Cuttle Cart though.

[dj_convoy]

I have one and Escape from the Mind Master in the box.

[TrekMD]

I have my Supercharger with these games: Communists Mutants from Space, Escape from the Mindmaster, Fireball, KC Monster Maze, Killer Satelites, Phaser Patrol, Rabbit Transit, StarBlitz, Starfleet Simulation, Suicide Mission, Survival Island, and The Official Frogger by Sega. I also have Stella Has a New Brain.

[tdp]

It's a shame that I can to the super charger party late. I have missed Stella has a brain and WoW. I know you can download them, but would love to buy them, and give money to the guys that made the discs. Shame I missed Mr SQL's run of games too. As much as I enjoy my encore cartridge, it's clear that this is what has killed passion for the Supercharger. I guess the convenience wins out.

 

 

I have two Supercharger cartridge, both boxed, one saying Arcadia the other Starpath. Along with the complete original library all boxed. All NTSC. I also own both versions of Stella Gets A New Brain, and Worship the Woodgrain. I will take pictures when I get home.

Since we're on the subject, I'd like to say I disagree, the Supercharger is not that common. I never saw one for sale in a store or anywhere other than online, and even there, there aren't that many. Same goes for the games, only online, and while easier to find, it still took me years of careful searching to get them all in nice condition.

I totally agree. In the UK, the supercharger is very rare. It has taken me ages to get a unit, and I'm not quite ready to sacrifice a kidney for the games.

Edited June 29, 2017 by tdp

[alex_79]

I got mine about 10 years ago. I bought it from US, as it was difficult to find one at a decent price here in Europe, so it's NTSC and it came with "Phaser Patrol".

Even if I also got an Harmony cart a few years later, I still use my supercharger quite regularly. I often use it to test my code (if less than 4k) instead of reflashing the Harmony or plugging and unplugging the SD card from it.

[alex_79]

BTW, the Supercharger PAL bios apparently has never been dumped. If anyone with a PAL unit wants to give it a try, I made this small utility that will allow to dump it without custom hardware, if you have means to record the audio output from the console in a PC.

If the console is A/V modded, you can just connect directly the audio out to your PC soundcard, while in case of RF, you can use the output of the TV (through the SCART or the headphone jack, if the TV has one) or an old VCR. If using RF is also important to fine tune the TV (or VCR) for best audio output with minimum static and interference (which often doesn't correspond to the best picture).

sc_dump.wav

Quick guide:

• Load the utility in your supercharger. A "READY" message is displayed and and audio tone is played (the display is 60Hz which will play fine on most PAL TVs, but you can set it to 50Hz by flipping the TV-TYPE switch to "B&W" if needed.

• Select the transfer speed with the right difficulty switch. Slower speed should be more reliable, altough the transfer will take more time. A = FAST (1300 baud), B = SLOW (520 baud). You'll hear the pitch change as you flip the switch.

• Start the recording software on the PC.

• Press RESET on the console to start the data transfer. The screen goes black while the BIOS is transmitted.

• When the READY screen reappears, you can stop the recording.

• Save the resulting audio file as "wav" and post it here.

[ubersaurus]

Got an Arcadia unit and the Stella disc. I also agree they aren't that common - I never saw one in my years of collecting for sale more than once or twice, other than eBay.

[tdp]

 

BTW, the Supercharger PAL bios apparently has never been dumped. If anyone with a PAL unit wants to give it a try, I made this small utility that will allow to dump it without custom hardware, if you have means to record the audio output from the console in a PC.

 

If the console is A/V modded, you can just connect directly the audio out to your PC soundcard, while in case of RF, you can use the output of the TV (through the SCART or the headphone jack, if the TV has one) or an old VCR. If using RF is also important to fine tune the TV (or VCR) for best audio output with minimum static and interference (which often doesn't correspond to the best picture).

 

sc_dump.wav

Quick guide:

• Load the utility in your supercharger. A "READY" message is displayed and and audio tone is played (the display is 60Hz which will play fine on most PAL TVs, but you can set it to 50Hz by flipping the TV-TYPE switch to "B&W" if needed.

• Select the transfer speed with the right difficulty switch. Slower speed should be more reliable, altough the transfer will take more time. A = FAST (1300 baud), B = SLOW (520 baud). You'll hear the pitch change as you flip the switch.

• Start the recording software on the PC.

• Press RESET on the console to start the data transfer. The screen goes black while the BIOS is transmitted.

• When the READY screen reappears, you can stop the recording.

• Save the resulting audio file as "wav" and post it here.

 

Cool stuff. My unit is PAL. I will try this over the weekend.

[tdp]

Ok - I have created 4 recordings of the bios. 2 fast, 2 slow. 2 at normal volume, 2 at reduced volume. I hope these can be used. Any problems, let me know, and I will try again.

Supercharger Bios (PAL).zip

Edited July 1, 2017 by tdp

[alex_79]

Thank you for taking the time for those recordings. I really appreciate it!

All of the files converted without issues and all the resulting binaries matched.

Here is the binary:

Starpath_Supercharger_BIOS_PAL.bin

Mame is the only emualtor that I'm aware of that can run this rom and emulate the supercharger including the cassette interface so that you can load a game from an audio file. (Stella and the other 2600 emus currently "cheat" by running the supercharger games directly in binary form without emulating the full supercharger hardware.)

Thanks again!

[tdp]

Glad the files worked. Happy to help. Is there much difference between the Pal bios and the NTSC bios?

 

And I go with the general consensus, a Pal supercharger is rarer than hen's teeth!!

Edited July 1, 2017 by tdp

[+stephena]

Mame is the only emualtor that I'm aware of that can run this rom and emulate the supercharger including the cassette interface so that you can load a game from an audio file. (Stella and the other 2600 emus currently "cheat" by running the supercharger games directly in binary form without emulating the full supercharger hardware.)

 

I would welcome patches (or at least a preliminary overview) for Stella to emulate Supercharger in the proper way. Perhaps also consider adding it as an issue in the Stella tracker.

 

At some point I want to emulate loading/saving from Compumate cassettes, so we'll eventually need such code anyway.

[tdp]

 

I would welcome patches (or at least a preliminary overview) for Stella to emulate Supercharger in the proper way. Perhaps also consider adding it as an issue in the Stella tracker.

 

At some point I want to emulate loading/saving from Compumate cassettes, so we'll eventually need such code anyway.

 

Only thing is, if this happens, then no one is going to make anymore supercharger games. I would love to get new games on cassette. I'm (very slowly) working on my own Batari game (it's not going to at the standard of Spiceware - but it will be mine by me), and want to run it on a real supercharger. And if it is good enough that people want copies, then that can happen too. I've got a Harmony cart, so i can understand why people prefer to use that. It's just that I love using the technology as it was meant to used (as much as you can).