Curious about Classic Computer Game Carts....

[Blackjack]

"Back in the day" I had a Commodore 64 that used 5.25" floppies

Then I had an Amiga 500 which used 3.5" floppies (hard cased)

 

I see ebay auctions with game "cartridges" for the c64 and Atari 400/800 and XE, among others.

 

Did I miss out on a different version of the c64? Or was I too drunk at the time to figure out it took cartridges?

 

What other common classic computers used carts? Did the ST?

 

I'm feeling like I kinda "skipped a chapter" somewhere.

[CPUWIZ]

Or was I too drunk at the time to figure out it took cartridges?

 

Yep.

[Blackjack]

That's what I was afraid of. I lived in Germany at the time and the beer was just rockin! Late 80's & early 90's are a bit fuzzy

[Raijin Z]

C64 carts are tiny little buggers, too.

[Mayhem]

Carts were available for the first 3-4 years of the C64's life (82-85) and then pretty much disappeared as they were too expensive to make. They came back, bigger and better in the early 90s to tie in with the release of the C64GS console in Europe, with some great titles and new tech. Some of them are hard to find too. So if you had a C64 in between these periods, probably why you never saw any of them...

[Brad2600]

C64s do indeed take carts.

 

I cannot figure out how to run the disc drive that I have for my C64, so I just play the carts.

[Stingray]

"What other common classic computers used carts?

 

The VIC 20 did as well.

 

-S

[z28in82]

what is the prob with the DD kepone?? do ya have the proper cables? or is it load codes?

[Happy_Dude]

Sorry to hijack this thread but have any C=64 homebrews been released on carts?

I know the pack in carts (Financial Advisor, Wizard of wor, soccer, solar system and some others ...)

Are more common than Combat, I have at least 3 full sets and have passed up dozens more.

So it seems like a prime candidate for some homebrew lovin'

[carlsson]

I believe more or less all (US or Japan made) computers released before 1985-86 took cartridges in one form or another. At least they would have an expansion bus, albeit maybe not used for ROM expansions. The UK computers like Sinclair ZX81/Spectrum etc, Oric, Acorn Atom/BBC etc, Dragon and Amstrad CPC may not have a cartridge collection, while computers like TI-99, VIC-20, C64, Atari, Sord, MSX etc do. I wonder if that is a coincidence or design choice.

 

I'm not sure about the various models in the TRS-80 and Apple II series, but I think even IBM PCjr had a cartridge slot. Today we have RAM disks like CF, SD etc who probably can be made bootable and represent today's "cartridge" market (can you make read-only CF cards?).

[carlsson]

What qualifies as a homebrewn? Does utility cartridges like Retro Replay/RRNET, IDE64 interface etc count as they are developed by users and taken into limited mass production? Pure ROM modules may have less attraction on the C64 scene, since there are other ways to load your programs, but of course a really big game (> 64K) loaded in parts like the last of the C64GS games may get some attention if sold as a homebrewn cartridge.

[Mayhem]

Sinclair Spectrum had 10 ROM carts released for it. You need a special interface to be able to use them, which is why it isn't obvious it did have them. At best, they are not very easy to find and command very good money...

[The MilkMan]

C64s do indeed take carts.

 

I cannot figure out how to run the disc drive that I have for my C64, so I just play the carts.

 

If memory serves correctly...if your cables are all hooked up right (power cable, and the one going to the C-64)

1. Turn on the disk drive.

 

2. Turn on the C-64.

 

3. When the cursor is ready, type LOAD"$",8

This will load the list of what is on the disk.

 

4. At the ready prompt, type LIST

A list will scroll if anything is on there.

 

5. (lets say Jumpman Jr is a game in the list)

type LOAD"JUMPMAN JR",8,1

The title of the game must be typed as it appears in the game list on the drive. I usually just cusor up the game in the list and type LOAD right on the line.(adding ,8,1 of course)

 

6. After it's loaded, you will get a READY prompt (usually), then just type RUN, and all should be good.

As an alternative, in some cases, you can type LOAD"*",8

That will load the first program on the disk.

Some cases you will need to type LOAD"*",8,1

 

Again, this is if memory serves correctly.

[joeybastard]

Your memory is correct MilkMan

 

I use the DD a lot on my C64 but I have a few carts too.

HERO

BC:Quest for Tires

Moon Patrol

Q*bert

a super memory expander and something called S'more which appears to be a different basic than the C64. I never really messed with it because there's nothing to kill in it so I'm not sure what S'more does.

[Raijin Z]

Oh yeah, carts work like any game system. Insert cart, power on.

[Stingray]

II'm not sure about the various models in the TRS-80 and Apple II series, but I think even IBM PCjr had a cartridge slot.

 

AFAIK none of the Apple II computers had any kind of cartridge support.

 

-S

[Raijin Z]

The PCjr was just INSANE. Pins all over the back of it, no easily discernible cart slot.

[Rockin' Kat]

Aparently you plugged cartridges into the two slots under the floppy drive on the PCjr.

 

<http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=186>

[Rockin' Kat]

hrm... maybe I'm not really awake yet... I put that link in as though I were writing an e-mail.

 

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/comput....asp?st=1&c=186

 

for those of you who don't like copy pasting links.

[Raijin Z]

Bigger nightmare than I had ever imagined. The Tandy 1000 SX I have (clone of the PCjr, the slowest genuine PC ever made) at least has sensible equipment and connectors.

[Cootster]

PCjr carts?

 

Is there any site with a release list and pics? Seems like they would be rare and collectible.

[carlsson]

Dunno about rarity lists, but here are two of the top hits from Google when searching on the subject:

 

http://mail.magnaspeed.net/~mbbrutman/PCjr...rt_dumping.html

http://retrograde.trustno1.org/pcjr.htm

 

To get back to the original topic, I would assume finding cartridges - or software in any form, hardware, base unit - for a really esoteric computer or other system, maybe not even mentioned yet, would be hard enough to be lucky if you stumble across it. Much less actively looking for something you don't know what you're looking for.

[HawgWyld]

I'm not sure about the various models in the TRS-80... series...

 

TRS-80 Color Computer had a cartridge slot and a heck of a lot of stuff -- from games to financial programs -- were released in cartridge form. The cart slot was also added to add peripherals, such as a floppy drive.

[Flack]

A few random comments, salt and pepper them accordingly.

 

@PC Jr Carts

I remember when we bought our Jr, and it came with two carts. One was a game and the other was BASIC. That's why there were two slots (or at least why, as a kid, it always made sense to me) -- we ALWAYS had BASIC plugged into one of the slots, and then we stuck games into the other slot.

 

@C64 Carts

You can easily spot games that were dumped from carts, they're all basically 32k in size. I remember owning Q-Bert, James Bond, and Tapper (actually I still have them all). Besides price, I would have thought program/storage size would have presented a large limitation.

 

@C64 Disk Drives

Kepone, what you need is an Epyx Fastload Cartridge. In later years, THIS is what the C64 cart slot was *really* used for -- speeding up that ungodly slow disk drive. Not only does the Fastload cart speed up your loading times 700%, but it also introduces DOS shortcuts.

 

Instead of: load "$" ,1 [enter] list [enter]

You can type: $[enter]

 

Also, instead of: load"filename",8,1 [enter] run [enter]

You can type: %filename [enter] run [enter]

 

The most commonly typed command used to be: load"*",8,1[enter] run[enter]

That woud load the first thing on the disk, and run it.

This was replaced with: C= (Commodore Key) + Run/Stop

 

This functionality was later added in carts like the Final Cartridge, the Super Snapshot, and others, which not only sped up the disk drive functions, but also allowed you to dump everything in RAM into an executable file -- in other words, effectively cracking any completely memory resident game.

 

I could talk about the Commodore all day every day so if you ever want to, let me know.

[+davidcalgary29]

Sorry to hijack this thread but have any C=64 homebrews been released on carts?

 

Yes; the enterprising creator of the 64HDD system did, in fact, create a C64 multicart. No, he does not have any more ( ), but he might make more in the future.

 

The 64GS carts are definitely the rarest and command high prices on eBay. NTSC users may exeprience compatibility problems, as I do believe that these carts (esp. Ocean 64GS carts) were coded for PAL machines only.