Mr Robot Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 1 hour ago, flashjazzcat said: It's amazing. People complain that software doesn't take advantage of 1MB memory expansions, then software takes advantage of 1MB memory expansions, and people look for ways to make said software not require 1MB memory expansions. It the same sort of question as "what games can I play on my stock 400", it informs the decision to upgrade or not. Can I run Altirra on my mac? no its Windows only. I don't want to buy a windows PC, is there any way around that? yes you can use wine. Same Same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Its slightly different in as much as with the upgrade you have all the needed yet folk are trying to make the 1 meg not needed by trying to trim the software. I get that folk without the mem and not having the funds to get one will like to see the software trimmed so they may be able to use it but its sort of making the 1 meg useless, I personally would love to see more use of it, I'd hate to think of it as a VBXE, a great idea but no dev for it. I don't expect to see devs using it simply because they want to cater for as many machines as possible but we can just hope.. Its all good.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarixle Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 (edited) I got 1MB in my 800XL and its great! Ok, even a fully bloated BOSS-X-installation fills less that a quarter of the RAM-Disk, so 256kB will run the most stuff, but 1MB is great for Videos and several other software that might come in the future. Edited September 21, 2020 by atarixle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Well that is the joy of the U1M, ordinary users can use it for simple stuff without the need of devs to write stuff but I'd still love to see it used more, all in one loads for multi disk games and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StickJock Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 12 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said: I don't expect to see devs using it simply because they want to cater for as many machines as possible but we can just hope.. Like BitD, when even though the 800XL & the XEs all had 64K+, most of the titles were made to fit in 48K so as to not exclude the installed base of 48K 800s. I guess that the 400 & 600XL people were not their target audiences, though there were also a lot of titles that targeted 16K as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I didn't see it as complaining to simply inquire whether something is possible or not. And I also don't look at it as 'trimming' when a layered, multi-load approach was suggested. The game was already released as an XEX and as such requires a 1MB machine. It isn't going to disappear if a lower RAM version were to come out. And if anything a lower RAM version will be a compromise of sorts, meaning that to get the best experience you should either have 1MB (for XEX), or use a cart solution . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 For my part re the trimming, I just like to see whats there being used as often as possible, of course it may be possible in some items to get stuff working on lower mem but as you say it would normally lead to compromises. Its not the end of the world and I'm just keen to see more software than can use the mem in creative and pleasing ways..If it happens, great, if not then I'm sure our devs will produce wonderful stuff whatever memory it needs. I am more than pleased with my U1M and just because there's not a lot that does use that mem I don't feel like I've wasted money, its a wonderful well ranged upgrade that is more than just memory.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 4 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said: For my part re the trimming, I just like to see whats there being used as often as possible, of course it may be possible in some items to get stuff working on lower mem but as you say it would normally lead to compromises. Its not the end of the world and I'm just keen to see more software than can use the mem in creative and pleasing ways..If it happens, great, if not then I'm sure our devs will produce wonderful stuff whatever memory it needs. I am more than pleased with my U1M and just because there's not a lot that does use that mem I don't feel like I've wasted money, its a wonderful well ranged upgrade that is more than just memory.. Understood . I too have several systems with a U1MB on board, and designed two new motherboards that wouldn't work without it, so of course I am pro U1MB. My probing of whether it would be possible to create a lower ram non-cart version of AtariBlast, was to be quite honest in support of another project I am working on. However in this case I don't see it as a detriment to people that already have 1MB systems, since that game has already seen it's final release in XEX format requiring all of that 1MB memory. So in my mind, it would open up the possibility of more systems that could play it by also having a low RAM version out there where something like the SDrive-MAX or FujiNet could be employed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 1 hour ago, Mr Robot said: Can I run Altirra on my mac? no its Windows only. I don't want to buy a windows PC, is there any way around that? yes you can use wine. Same Same. 'Is there any software which takes advantage of 1MB of RAM on an Atari?' is not equivalent to 'Can I run Altirra on macOS?'. It seems to me 'Is there any software which presents a good reason to switch from macOS to Windows?' seems more equivalent. The answer would be: 'Maybe. Depends what you want to do.' 31 minutes ago, mytek said: I didn't see it as complaining to simply inquire whether something is possible or not. Firstly I didn't say that anyone was 'complaining' about the fact the AtariBlast XEX equires 1MB. Read the post again. But sure: wherever possible, I try to design software so it's scaleable, taking advantage of as much RAM is present, but still working if there isn't much there. This isn't always easy with games, however; very often, a game cannot depend on the presence of a file system, often being launched as a binary blob from a boot loader. So all the nice overlay stuff can be difficult to accomplish. Perhaps the developer will find the idea appealing, however. I would find it exasperating when you can obtain the game in a cartridge format which will run on a non-1MB machine and when the market is flooded with multi-carts, but perhaps cartridges aren't an appealing solution in all quarters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 1 minute ago, flashjazzcat said: 'Is there any software which takes advantage of 1MB of RAM on an Atari?' is not equivalent to 'Can I run Altirra on macOS?'. It seems to me 'Is there any software which presents a good reason to switch from macOS to Windows?' seems more equivalent. The answer would be: 'Maybe. Depends what you want to do.' Actually, now I read that again, they start to look kind of equivalent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 2 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: Firstly I didn't say that anyone was 'complaining' about the fact the AtariBlast XEX equires 1MB. Never specifically said you did. But I guess I need to be more careful how I word things in the future. Point is sometimes people are just asking about the possibilities, whether it be about the absolute requirement of 1MB, or can a version of AtariBlast be run with less, or can the StarShip truly make it to Mars . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Just now, mytek said: Never specifically said you did. But I guess I need to be more careful how I word things in the future. Fair enough. I assumed you were directly replying to my post in which I also used the word 'complain'. Never assume... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Just now, flashjazzcat said: Fair enough. I assumed you were directly replying to my post in which I also used the word 'complain'. Never assume... Yes agreed. I know that has certainly gotten me in a lot of trouble over the years, and will likely continue to do so in the future. I think it's just human nature for our brains to fill in the blanks, and draw conclusions... . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 So the reason for asking is that this isn't going to have 1MB, I am trying to get a handle on what won't be runnable with it. At the moment I plan to install a PokeyMAX and use it as a portable machine for showing off scene stuff as well as gaming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 6 hours ago, Mclaneinc said: I had to watch on Altirra as I wanted the stereo a How do you get that to work, I selected Stereo in the options, but the demo still fails to detect it and won't run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 23 minutes ago, TGB1718 said: How do you get that to work, I selected Stereo in the options, but the demo still fails to detect it and won't run I'm betting you are in NTSC mode, must be PAL, if you are in NTSC it fails just after the stereo is detected, makes it look like its not been detected.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 47 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said: I'm betting you are in NTSC mode ? !!! thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwilove Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 4 hours ago, mytek said: Never specifically said you did. But I guess I need to be more careful how I word things in the future. Point is sometimes people are just asking about the possibilities, whether it be about the absolute requirement of 1MB, or can a version of AtariBlast be run with less, or can the StarShip truly make it to Mars . To clear up details about AtariBlast! This was released in 2 versions - one as in a banked cart - tested on a 8mbit Atarimax cart which so happens to have run OK with a Atari 400 with 16K, and a 1088K version for those with that amount of memory - this would of course first load into memory before running. I'd doubt if Paul would want to make up a special 576K version in which only 1/2 the levels would be present. But you can always ask him... You could say this was a demo that morphed into a game. Harvey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 59 minutes ago, kiwilove said: I'd doubt if Paul would want to make up a special 576K version in which only 1/2 the levels would be present. But you can always ask him... You could say this was a demo that morphed into a game. Hi Harvey Thanks for hopping into this discussion. Yeah I have a cool little custom Atari project that's coming together and nearing prime time. Mr Robot has been designing some very nice Atari themed enclosures for it, and Dropcheck is working on bringing FujiNet as an internal add-on board. It's super small, but still has 576K of SRAM memory, but no cart. The thought was to make up for that with the inclusion of FujiNet. Anyway we are all super excited at the possibilities for this new miniature unit, and it looks particularly attractive as a portable game system. So what better game to show off this aspect then AtariBlast! I'm also looking at gifting some of these units to my Grand kids someday, and I'm sure they would very much enjoy playing AtariBlast! as well. Is Paul on AtariAge, and if so what's his user name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathchild Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 (edited) Paul = @playsoft http://www.atarimania.com/list_games_atari-400-800-xl-xe-lay-paul_team_3519_8_G.html Edited September 21, 2020 by Wrathchild 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 22 minutes ago, mytek said: Hi Harvey Thanks for hopping into this discussion. Yeah I have a cool little custom Atari project that's coming together and nearing prime time. Mr Robot has been designing some very nice Atari themed enclosures for it, and Dropcheck is working on bringing FujiNet as an internal add-on board. It's super small, but still has 576K of SRAM memory, but no cart. The thought was to make up for that with the inclusion of FujiNet. Anyway we are all super excited at the possibilities for this new miniature unit, and it looks particularly attractive as a portable game system. So what better game to show off this aspect then AtariBlast! I'm also looking at gifting some of these units to my Grand kids someday, and I'm sure they would very much enjoy playing AtariBlast! as well. Is Paul on AtariAge, and if so what's his user name? Sweet, I'd love like a rebuilt / upgraded XEGS type system. On a side note, I've attempted to find AtariBlast a few times, but never have been able to figure out where to actually get it. If I could find the cart version and put it on the Ultimate Cart, and play on a stock XEGS, that'd be sweet! (granted I have a 130xe with U1MB and an 800 with Incognito) but would love to try it on the XEGS, as that's what I have hooked up without a keyboard at t he moment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ger Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I have raw working version of file based Bad apple, which also needs 1MB. But as for playing animations and such, you are actually using that RAM as ROM. Cart will be always better for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 13 minutes ago, R0ger said: I have raw working version of file based Bad apple, which also needs 1MB. But as for playing animations and such, you are actually using that RAM as ROM. Cart will be always better for that. 16kb version? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 That is absolutely amazing! A very good use of multimedia. So other than the music track, how else is the cassette being utilized? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwilove Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 3 hours ago, leech said: Sweet, I'd love like a rebuilt / upgraded XEGS type system. On a side note, I've attempted to find AtariBlast a few times, but never have been able to figure out where to actually get it. If I could find the cart version and put it on the Ultimate Cart, and play on a stock XEGS, that'd be sweet! (granted I have a 130xe with U1MB and an 800 with Incognito) but would love to try it on the XEGS, as that's what I have hooked up without a keyboard at t he moment. The two versions can be found here - this is with the new music and not the temporary music. The first version should be here also - but on an earlier page. I think it was posted on the Atarimax website - but that may be the earlier version - and cart version only. Harvey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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