Tidus79001 Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 (edited) Just curious if 2600 games running on the Atari 7800 thorough the XM peripheral will be able to access the XM hardware and take advantage of those features to make more epic 2600 games. Edited March 15, 2020 by Tidus79001 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidus79001 Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 Curt Vendel, can you or any of the others who have been developing and coding for the XM board answer this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellis Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 20 minutes ago, Tidus79001 said: Curt Vendel, can you or any of the others who have been developing and coding for the XM board answer this? Consider how the 7800 boots: it first checks to see if the cartridge is a 7800 cartridge, and if it is not, it enters 2600 mode. When in 2600 mode, the system is exactly like a 2600. Considering that the 7800 XM requires a 7800 (meaning, you cannot possibly connect it to a 2600), what would be the point of trying to write a 2600 title that uses it? I am pretty confident that it is neither possible nor desirable to use the 7800 XM in the manner you propose. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidus79001 Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 2 minutes ago, mellis said: Consider how the 7800 boots: it first checks to see if the cartridge is a 7800 cartridge, and if it is not, it enters 2600 mode. When in 2600 mode, the system is exactly like a 2600. Considering that the 7800 XM requires a 7800 (meaning, you cannot possibly connect it to a 2600), what would be the point of trying to write a 2600 title that uses it? I am pretty confident that it is neither possible nor desirable to use the 7800 XM in the manner you propose. Just asking if it was possible. I know that 2600 games boot the 7800 console into to 2600 mode, but being an add on I wouldn't be surprised it you could make calls to the XM hardware even in 2600 mode if it was coded to allow access. I can see where it would be desirable if someone wanted to make a more complex 2600 game utilizing the XM additional RAM and had improved sound capabilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 13 hours ago, Tidus79001 said: Just asking if it was possible. I know that 2600 games boot the 7800 console into to 2600 mode, but being an add on I wouldn't be surprised it you could make calls to the XM hardware even in 2600 mode if it was coded to allow access. I can see where it would be desirable if someone wanted to make a more complex 2600 game utilizing the XM additional RAM and had improved sound capabilities. Nope. Not gonna happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Don't know if the XM features built in Save-key functionality, but if it does then that would be the only thing the 2600 games would see and be able to use. Then again save-keys are pretty cheap to purchase if you don't have them already for your 2600 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 20 hours ago, Tidus79001 said: Just asking if it was possible. I know that 2600 games boot the 7800 console into to 2600 mode, but being an add on I wouldn't be surprised it you could make calls to the XM hardware even in 2600 mode if it was coded to allow access. I can see where it would be desirable if someone wanted to make a more complex 2600 game utilizing the XM additional RAM and had improved sound capabilities. Anyone wanting to do that just needs to buy the already existing Harmony cartridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Ummm... Why not just write a 7800 game? ??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 23 minutes ago, Zonie said: Ummm... Why not just write a 7800 game? NO SHIT DICK TRACEY!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 On 3/15/2020 at 12:35 PM, Tidus79001 said: Just curious if 2600 games running on the Atari 7800 thorough the XM peripheral will be able to access the XM hardware and take advantage of those features to make more epic 2600 games. The XM will identify if a 2600 cart is in the top slot on power up, if a 2600 cart is detected, the XM is disabled and acts as a pass-thru device into the the 7800. It will not provide any capabilities to 2600 games. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 On 3/21/2020 at 6:56 PM, Jinks said: NO SHIT DICK TRACEY!! Well, somebody had to say it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 2 hours ago, Zonie said: Well, somebody had to say it. I know. I just wanted to say that phrase for shits. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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