zapiy Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 Hi all, I am looking for a couple of games that would be worthy of a physical tape release? I have spoke to Albert about this and any that we would release on Bitmap Soft would also carry the AA logo. Look forward to any replies. Regards Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 If you want to publish A8 tapes for the eastern european and/or middle+south american markets, go for it. But for the western european and north american markets you will hardly find customers for A8 tapes. Besides, if the tape loads a 1K-16K program thats fully okay even with 600 Baud, for programs >16K you need some patience, >32k a lot of patience and >=48k you most of the time wait longer for loading the game than playing it. What games do you / does Bitmap Soft plan to release ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_M Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 (edited) I totally agree with CharlieChaplin. Polish company Retronics also publishes games on tape and the owner has stated several times on this forum that he is selling just a few copies (max 20). I also publish games for the Atari 8-bit and my experience in numbers is: 1- Cartridges 2- Disks 3- Tapes Edited February 26, 2020 by Fred_M 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 But maybe you want to publish A8 programs "on tape" in the Star Vagrant style: Note: This is not really a tape! It's a USB stick inside a tape housing... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapiy Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 Well, we are not planning on publishing a load of games but I would like to publish at least one from each computer within the 8-Bit era so finding a decent Atari 8-bit game is essential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 (edited) Well, I for one, am an American who likes games on all media formats and likes to use all loading devices old and new, so "hardly" may be correct, but I'm sure I'm not the only North American who feels this way. I'm buying some tape releases from Retronics in the near future. As I always say and repeat in response to slow tape loading, patience and loading times is all a matter of perspective. My "modern" Xbox 360 can take as long as loading a tape on an Atari when I turn it on, boot-strapped, on the net on xbox live, and finally pick the game from my HDD list and get it loaded and able to play it. If it takes just as long, you have to have the same patience for it, regardless if it's a 16-48k game on tape or a 16-48G game on the Xbox disc or HDD, from the point of powering on either system to actually having the game loaded and ready to play. You have to wait and be patient for both, so I have no issues being patient for tape games when I have to be just as patient to load a modern game on my Xbox, or any other modern system to get it up and running and a huge game loaded. They keep making media faster and faster, but they also keep making games larger and larger, so it all averages out to about the same time required and patience needed in my experience. Edited February 28, 2020 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapiy Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 Thanks, would be good to see someone making games for these wonderful computers in the West. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 Another American here who thinks cassette games (or other software) are cool. I'm not particularly out to buy any at this time, but I would if I was at that point of collecting again. Cassettes also have the added feature of being able to play an audio track (music, voice, etc.), which sets them apart. I consider cassette hardware and software an essential part of collecting for Atari computers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockdoc2010 Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 wondering what tape length you working with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 For me, it's not the wait, its the totally unreliability of it, that 10 minute wait, then a gurgling noise, heart sinks, "ERROR" or freeze and start all over again, always having to play with the header to make sure it starts etc. etc. I only had a tape with my 800 for maybe a year when I first bought it, it didn't take long to realise you always saved anything you may have written at least twice, even then I did lose some stuff. I always wondered why with everthing else so good that the tape was such an aweful piece of design, the world changed when I finally got a disk drive. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 As written by @MrFish, tape with audio while loading would be cool! That was an Atari unique feature. I would try it a couple of times, then I would store the tape and use the game with multicart/SIO device/emulator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 29 minutes ago, Philsan said: As written by @MrFish, tape with audio while loading would be cool! That was an Atari unique feature. I would try it a couple of times, then I would store the tape and use the game with multicart/SIO device/emulator. This is true for me too, fellas. I have my tape games that I enjoy once in a while, because I'm a hardware guy and like to use my hardware, including the 1010. I have the patience, but I also have the games on floppy or HDD, Multi-cart, etc. and only load up the slow tape versions once in a while for a bit of nostalgic fun and use my tape drive hardware. If I get an error when I load the tape (I've got it down where this hardly ever happens anymore) then I will just load it up quickly via faster media, I still had fun using my 1010 hardware. But if it's got a sound track too, it does get a bit more use. I just sit and eat and drink and enjoy the sound track while it loads. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapiy Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 2 hours ago, rockdoc2010 said: wondering what tape length you working with? We get the tape spin to the length of the data, that way it keeps costs down. Thanks for the positive feedback about tapes, I know they are not for everyone and to be honest we will offer other versions of games soon, just branching in to the disks at the moment. Having said that there is something neat about tape versions of games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Cassette load times are shorter and errors can be recovered without starting from zero. This technology is not new. So any release can take advantage of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapiy Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 So... Is there any games you guys would like to see us look at releasing or is there any dev peeps on here you can point me to who may consider a cassette tape release for their game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baktra Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 I believe that with robust loading system (perhaps you can try licensing SITRE) and strong compression (with Super Packer), dual track and decent inlay, tape release can be reasonable in terms of loading times, convenience and collection value. Sales and competition with Retronics are stories for salesmen, not humble technicians as I am. Contacting authors of games positioned highly in the ABBUC software contests and let us say the Kaz Compo could be a good start. The games might need some code adjustments to be loadable from tape too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapiy Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 22 hours ago, baktra said: I believe that with robust loading system (perhaps you can try licensing SITRE) and strong compression (with Super Packer), dual track and decent inlay, tape release can be reasonable in terms of loading times, convenience and collection value. Sales and competition with Retronics are stories for salesmen, not humble technicians as I am. Contacting authors of games positioned highly in the ABBUC software contests and let us say the Kaz Compo could be a good start. The games might need some code adjustments to be loadable from tape too. Thank you, I notice you guys have some games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
800_Rocks Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 Is there any way to duplicate Atari 8bit cassettes (both data and audio tracks)? Is there any solution to capture both data and audio tracks into modern media .ATR or such? The main reason I still like an use my cassettes is because of the audio. As an 8bit community we need to come up with a way to capture and share these jewels before they are all gone due to age and wear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_M Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 When you convert your tapes to WAV-files, Altirra can load the data and audio track. You can copy the wav-file to any cassette to make a new copy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lastic Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 Count me in for tape releases, don't mind the loading times and waiting in this crazy-fast world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 I am always in for cassette programs. I still buy them when the price is right. However, lately people on Ebay are nuts and trying to get premium prices for them. I still use vinyl records, 8-track tapes, recorded cassette music (played on on a real Walkman). So, you see the theme here. I likes old crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapiy Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 Just wanted to revisit this and see if we can get anyone interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrobits Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 I live in North America and still like cassette software. Its mostly nostalgia I suppose, still like my 410. For sure I'd buy a new game on cassette. Actually, a few days ago I bought a two pack of RadioShack LN-30s and a copy of Atari Space Invaders. Planning to spin some tape this week! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchorvat Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 On 4/26/2020 at 8:11 PM, 800_Rocks said: Is there any way to duplicate Atari 8bit cassettes (both data and audio tracks)? Is there any solution to capture both data and audio tracks into modern media .ATR or such? The main reason I still like an use my cassettes is because of the audio. As an 8bit community we need to come up with a way to capture and share these jewels before they are all gone due to age and wear. @800_Rocks check this out: http://turgen.sourceforge.net/index.html not sure whether it supports audio tracks but looks like a powerful cassette SW for 8bit Ataris. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapiy Posted June 4, 2020 Author Share Posted June 4, 2020 Just a friendly re post to see if there is anyone out there with a game worth publishing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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