+swlovinist Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 (edited) Here are some pics of two recent carts I picked up for the Atari 8-bit. These are pre production carts that appear to be finals, but wanted to share them here. Hope you enjoy! Joust 8-bit Pre Production.bin Pole Position Atari 8-bit US.bin Edited September 11, 2021 by swlovinist 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 Pole Position matches the release version, Joust does not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+swlovinist Posted November 27, 2021 Author Share Posted November 27, 2021 On 11/17/2021 at 2:08 PM, MrFish said: Pole Position matches the release version, Joust does not. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 Cool. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 30, 2021 Share Posted November 30, 2021 That's odd since the Atari 5200 was the development system for both of these games. The 8-bit ports should be the same as the final. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kr0tki Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 (edited) I would imagine that the process of porting from the 5200 to the computers would sometimes require several iterations to get the parts that differ, i.e. joystick/keyboard input, "just right". Maybe the joystick controls are the only area not yet finalized in this proto? Maybe there's a minor difference, such as the pause key not working sometimes? Edited December 2, 2021 by Kr0tki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
et4u Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Hi I am new on here, trying to find out information on Atari 800 cartridge's that has a white label marked 1st Article, few with ENG. SMPL , REV A, Does anyone know what are the meanings of these games, thanks for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 On 2/7/2022 at 5:18 PM, et4u said: Hi I am new on here, trying to find out information on Atari 800 cartridge's that has a white label marked 1st Article, few with ENG. SMPL , REV A, Does anyone know what are the meanings of these games, thanks for your help ENG. SMPL. == Engineering Sample. Given that the Defender cartridge is marked '1st Sample', that suggests that it may have been a pre-production cartridge sent back to Atari from Signetics, who may have been contracted to do some or all of the manufacturing. This cartridge would have been used to determine if any changes were needed before it went into full-scale production. Although the Eastern Front cartridge isn't marked as a first sample, it's not unrealistic to suspect that it may also be one, or at least one that predated a full run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
et4u Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 12 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said: ENG. SMPL. == Engineering Sample. Given that the Defender cartridge is marked '1st Sample', that suggests that it may have been a pre-production cartridge sent back to Atari from Signetics, who may have been contracted to do some or all of the manufacturing. This cartridge would have been used to determine if any changes were needed before it went into full-scale production. Although the Eastern Front cartridge isn't marked as a first sample, it's not unrealistic to suspect that it may also be one, or at least one that predated a full run. Thank you, I had no idea what these meant, I found another game that was not labeled and when I installed game it was Atari writer with different rom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 46 minutes ago, et4u said: Thank you, I had no idea what these meant, I found another game that was not labeled and when I installed game it was Atari writer with different rom. Happy to be of assistance. Unfortunately, I have no idea re: the AtariWriter cartridge. I would suggest putting electrician's tape over the EPROMS just to be safe, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Thank you for joining. What you have pictured are Review and Engineering copies. Without examining the contents, it is difficult to say which are the release versions. The engineering copies were sent to the chip manufacturer that made the PROM integrated circuit chips for the cartridges so I would guess they may be final versions. As mentioned above there is no telling with the Atariwriter unless its contents are examined. Review copies were usually release versions, but sometime prototypes sent to magazine writers and other reviewers. If they got bad feedback they would redo the game and send out a newer version. If you have different dates the earlier ones would be prototypes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 I finally got around to looking at that Joust proto. As far as I can tell there's no actual differences in the game play, but there is a bunch of source code snippets at the end of the rom. IN VBLANK BIT 6 IN DISPLAY RO P2C1 EQU $29 ;PALETTE TWO COL OR ONE RW P2C2 EQU $2A PALETTE TWO COLOR TWO RW P2C3 EQU $2B PALETTE TWO COLOR THREE RW DPH EQU $2C ;DISPLAY LIST POINTER HIGH WO P3C1 EQU $2D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.