Wilheim Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Hi, all! Here's a cartridge image of Star League Baseball, in order to have an instant loading game. Because it required just 32K RAM, it was not difficult to convert it. Feel free to give any feedback about it. Regards! Star League Baseball XEGS.rom 10 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlazer Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cjherr Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilheim Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 Adding to the image, here's a label I designed. I hope you like it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+videofx Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathchild Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 <grumpy hat on> As with the labels added from February to the other thread, I have to say I'm not impressed with the arbitrary text being placed at the bottom of labels and a better convention should be agreed and used by all. 1) State the publisher correctly. Taking the above example, its just misleading - historically what did Atari Crop. have to do with that release. According to AtariMania, this title is from Gamestar in 1983. 2) 'All rights reserved' - really? based on the time elapsed and possible change of ownership of these, can this be verified. (Best left of in my mind) 3) 'PROTOTYPE' / 'REPRO' - they are mostly neither of these. It could be a repro of a prototype (Blaster / Commando) or just a repro (Atari U.S.A's Ballblazer) but most of these are released/complete tape/disk titles converted to run from cartridge? 4) Stamping with an arbitrary 'RXnnnn' or 'CA' number - I can't see what purpose this serves? Who's maintaining them? 5) Random 'Printed in' locations - 'USA', 'U.S.A', 'UK', 'Taiwan', 'Hong Kong' - how's that determined? (Again, best left of in my mind) Whilst I appreciate the idea of trying to match the format of the day, I'm seeing little effort going into reflecting the title on the cartridge. So something like Nir's early labels would seem to suffice, e.g. 'Green Beret' - 'Copyright 1987 Imagine Software Limited' with maybe a second line of 'Cartridge conversion by Nir Dary 19xx'? My other concern is now a new (readily available?) case is available and people have PCBs are we going to see a glut of these labelled versions available for sale? Bearing in mind the availability of multi-carts, titles like this are can be easily setup from an xex or atr and even made to autoboot to satisfy any need for an 'instant boot', so the 'benefit' of a standalone XEGS version seems beyond me but I accept each to their own and if they are made (freely available / for sale) customers will be there. Has anyone else picked up on this? </grumpy hat on> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilheim Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 1 hour ago, Wrathchild said: <grumpy hat on> As with the labels added from February to the other thread, I have to say I'm not impressed with the arbitrary text being placed at the bottom of labels and a better convention should be agreed and used by all. 1) State the publisher correctly. Taking the above example, its just misleading - historically what did Atari Crop. have to do with that release. According to AtariMania, this title is from Gamestar in 1983. 2) 'All rights reserved' - really? based on the time elapsed and possible change of ownership of these, can this be verified. (Best left of in my mind) 3) 'PROTOTYPE' / 'REPRO' - they are mostly neither of these. It could be a repro of a prototype (Blaster / Commando) or just a repro (Atari U.S.A's Ballblazer) but most of these are released/complete tape/disk titles converted to run from cartridge? 4) Stamping with an arbitrary 'RXnnnn' or 'CA' number - I can't see what purpose this serves? Who's maintaining them? 5) Random 'Printed in' locations - 'USA', 'U.S.A', 'UK', 'Taiwan', 'Hong Kong' - how's that determined? (Again, best left of in my mind) Whilst I appreciate the idea of trying to match the format of the day, I'm seeing little effort going into reflecting the title on the cartridge. So something like Nir's early labels would seem to suffice, e.g. 'Green Beret' - 'Copyright 1987 Imagine Software Limited' with maybe a second line of 'Cartridge conversion by Nir Dary 19xx'? My other concern is now a new (readily available?) case is available and people have PCBs are we going to see a glut of these labelled versions available for sale? Bearing in mind the availability of multi-carts, titles like this are can be easily setup from an xex or atr and even made to autoboot to satisfy any need for an 'instant boot', so the 'benefit' of a standalone XEGS version seems beyond me but I accept each to their own and if they are made (freely available / for sale) customers will be there. Has anyone else picked up on this? </grumpy hat on> IMHO, obviously an XEX or ATR loader can do the job easier for any user. As we many know, there are plenty of cartridge images applications that can be used to make multigame carts and there is also Ultimate Cartridge to make things even easier. But -who knows- maybe someone wants a direct cartridge conversion. It simply surged by a simple Facebook conversation with @Philsan about this game. On the other hand, I agree it's not my strongest point at this moment to create labels. Surely more than one on this group can make this better than me. I'm just having fun on this. Thanks for your feedback. I'll do my best to do the labels better next time. Cheers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoatofCar Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 I think it looks great @Wilheim. Custom labels are a great way to express your creativity and to explore an alternate reality where some of these titles did get XE-specific releases. Please post more as you make them! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally1 Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 This is great. ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 cartridge games were a bit of a rarity when i was a nipper so i have a soft spot for them these days. im grateful to the guys who convert games so i can PCB them, 3D print a case and label them up. they look great! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally1 Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Maybe Galahad and the Holy Grail is a possibility? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Considered the fact ATR and XEX versions of the game exist, at first I didn't think it was really necessary to make a ROM/CAR version of that game as proposed by Wilheim on Facebook (yesterday I posted a photo of my Star League Baseball game) because Multicarts like AVGCart, Side 2, Ultimate load XEX files.But ROM/CAR files are loaded instantly, for example by AVGCart.Therefore I changed my mind and I told him it was a good idea to do it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathchild Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 (edited) The CAR over XEX loading time was only quicker because the latter was designed to be loaded from DOS and so loads as one block from $2500 to $8B7F and hence loses time relocating this down to $0500 and as a by-product has now made the title no-longer run on a 32K machine. But if the XEX is hacked to load direct to $500 then this works pretty instantly from any multicart because they are not using DOS but a custom XEX loader. SLB_XEX-load_AtariMax.car Star League Baseball (low load).xex Edited February 27, 2020 by Wrathchild 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilheim Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 Thanks to @Wrathchild feedback, I decided to make a new label version, this time putting a direct text in the bottom part. I think it's the same font used by @Mr Robot, I'm not sure. What do you think? I'm still learning. Hope you like it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathchild Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 @Wilheim yes, a lot clearer. The hope is to spark some discussion of what realistically makes sense for producers to put on new labels 3 hours ago, Wally1 said: Maybe Galahad and the Holy Grail is a possibility? Same principle (with xex for those wanting it on a multicart) Galahad and the Holy Grail XEGS.rom Galahad and the Holy Grail (1982)(APX)(US)[no intro - low load].xex 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilheim Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 11 minutes ago, Wrathchild said: @Wilheim yes, a lot clearer. The hope is to spark some discussion of what realistically makes sense for producers to put on new labels Same principle (with xex for those wanting it on a multicart) Galahad and the Holy Grail XEGS.rom 64 kB · 4 downloads Galahad and the Holy Grail (1982)(APX)(US)[no intro - low load].xex 29.76 kB · 4 downloads I agree. It’s always good to discuss the way we do things, and how can we improve it. Thanks for the conversion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 I've tested Star League Baseball various versions with AVGCart: Homesoft XEX: 2 seconds Wilheim ROM: 1.8 seconds Wilheim CAR: 1.8 seconds Wrathchild SLB_XEX-load_AtariMax.car: 2.4 seconds Wrathchild Star League Baseball (low load).xex: doesn't load and loads with Altirra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Wrathchild Galahad and the Holy Grail XEGS.rom: doesn't load with Altirra and AVGCart Wrathchild Galahad and the Holy Grail (1982)(APX)(US)[no intro - low load]: loads with Altirra and AVGCart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathchild Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 (edited) As GatHG loads at $900 and SLB at $500 is presume the AVGCart bootstrap is running in that area and hence being trashed. With the GatHG this seems to be an XL thing (maybe timing of screen flip) as OK on 800 settings so I'll do some checks to see where it needs XL patching as the XEX itself runs OK. [Edit] Indeed, the game is zero for the PMBASE and so the missle area at $300 is being cleared and hence the TRIG3/GINTLK check thinks the cart has been pulled and so goes into the infinite loop. [Edit2] Can be resolved by using the Switchable model and disabling the cart once the data is transferred. Galahad and the Holy Grail SW-XEGS.rom Galahad and the Holy Grail SW-XEGS.car Edited February 27, 2020 by Wrathchild Added SW/XEGS cart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathchild Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 1 hour ago, Philsan said: Wrathchild SLB_XEX-load_AtariMax.car: 2.4 seconds This wouldn't be for loading via a multicart as it is an image for loading to an physical AtariMax cart. The Homesoft XEX / Wilheim CAR difference seen would be because both need to be loaded from SD card into the cart's own memory and then the CAR is switched to which then simply copied 3 and a bit 8K blocks to RAM and then runs it. With the XEX, a small loader is placed in RAM which then, in assistance with the multicart's firmware, typically transfers the XEX to its load address(es) 80 bytes at a time and so this would explain the 0.2s overhead. The "Wrathchild Star League Baseball (low load).xex" I'd think should load in somewhere between the 1.8 and 2.0 seconds, so at a guess 1.9s due to not having to relocate the game code/data. I think the UNOCart loader is @ $700 so anticipate this wouldn't work with that either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathchild Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 1 hour ago, Wrathchild said: [Edit2] Can be resolved by using the Switchable model and disabling the cart once the data is transferred. Sadly that doesn't seem to work either as during the 'explosion' as the player dies, the missile area sets a value at GINTLK and so the lockup occurs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathchild Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 But you can make an AtariMax workbook version that loads the 800 OS if an XL/XE is detected and so should resolve the issue Galahad and the Holy Grail (AtariMax).car 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 I keep thinking one of the teams should be the Ko-Dan Armada... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathchild Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 (edited) On 2/27/2020 at 9:47 PM, Wrathchild said: As GatHG loads at $900 and SLB at $500 is presume the AVGCart bootstrap is running in that area and hence being trashed. I have finally got around to fixing the Star League Baseball XEX by chopping 1K from the front so that it now loads at $900 and then once loaded it puts that 1K back at $500. Therefore this will run OK on a 32K machine (and hopefully now from an UNO/AVG cart) Star League Baseball (low load).xex Edited March 4, 2020 by Wrathchild 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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