Mega STE owners?

[Zeptari1]

Well It might not be a Falcon but I upgraded to a Mega STE!

 

I got it from Dan at Gribnif Software.... take a look:

 

http://home.comcast.net/~zeptari/ST/myste.jpg

 

It had a dead floppy drive in it, so I moved the floppy drive from my 1040 into it.

 

 

goto go... dinner's ready...

 

 

-Rick

[Tempest]

I have a Mega STE. It's a 4MB model that I use with my PS3000 monitor. I think the TT case styling rocks, I think its one of the best looking ST's made.

 

Tempest

[Paolo]

I do have a mega 4 STe.

It is sitting on a shelf, though, since my Falcon is more used.

I plan on turning it on again, sooner or later. Otherwise I'll search a better home for it.

[jens]

I have two Mega/STe's atm, but I already have a buyer for one of them.

The other one has four megs of ram, half a gig hard drive, TOS 2.05, hd floppy drive, sm 124 and experience in surfing the web.

A matrix graphics card is soon to be fitted; gonna fetch it next week including a 1024x1024 (? - we'll see if this is correct...) monochrome monitor that will go well with it.

[+DarkLord]

I have two Mega/STe's atm, but I already have a buyer for one of them.

The other one has four megs of ram, half a gig hard drive, TOS 2.05, hd floppy drive, sm 124 and experience in surfing the web.

A matrix graphics card is soon to be fitted; gonna fetch it next week including a 1024x1024 (? - we'll see if this is correct...) monochrome monitor that will go well with it.

 

I've got a Mega STe as well. As was seen in an earlier thread though, I've got to get some

repair work done on it. Need a new P/S too.

 

I agree with the other poster, the Mega STe case is the best looking (and functional)

of any that Atari put out.

 

Would have loved to have seen the original Falcon in a Mega STe/TT style case, and

with the best of the TT mixed in with the best of the Falcons' features. That would have

really rocked!

[tjlazer]

I also have a Mega STE, nice machine love the case and keyboard. Mine has the dreaded static sound problem though...

[+DarkLord]

I also have a Mega STE, nice machine love the case and keyboard. Mine has the dreaded static sound problem though...

 

Hmm, thought there was one chip you could replace that would fix that?

[Gunstar]

I've got a 4MB MEGA/STE too. I love it. I still have an upgraded 1040STf for compatibility, but I prefer playing games that are compatible in 16mhz mode, especially racing games like Vroom/F1GP, OutRun, NSF, Lotus I/II/III and other racing games that use the double speed to double frame rates. Lotus and F1GP are great in two player mode; their as fast as 1 player is normally in at 8mhz, maybe even faster.

[Tempest]

If you haven't already, I suggest you read this article. It's all about the Mega STE and how cool it is:

 

http://www.myatari.net/issues/sep2002/megaste.htm

 

Tempest

[+DarkLord]

If you haven't already, I suggest you read this article. It's all about the Mega STE and how cool it is:

 

http://www.myatari.net/issues/sep2002/megaste.htm

 

Tempest

 

BTW, this page has a description and solution for the sound problem.

[jens]

I've got a Mega STe as well. As was seen in an earlier thread though, I've got to get some

repair work done on it. Need a new P/S too.

I think one can use an AT style power supply. Or would you be able to use a German one via adapter?

[tjlazer]

Yeah a chip swap should fix the sound problem, the C300588, or use one from a 1040STE!

Edited October 7, 2006 by tjlazer

[Gunstar]

I'll have to look into that sound issue, I've noticed some inconsistancies between my STF and Mega STE, but I thought that was just an ST mono vs. STE stereo thing. I didn't realize this was a bug of the Mega STE and not the same on a standard STE. Games that I can't run at 16mhz on the Mega, I still run on my STF anyway, becuase I have the tweety board 3-channel stereo uprade on my STF which sounds far better than two channels of mono coming out the STE stereo output. Games meant to use the STE stereo sound better on the Mega STE.

 

Anyway, that's a great article and I use the same tricks as the author for many games in 16mhz mode. By the way, does anyone know where I can get a cracked version of EPIC in file form? I have the original, but since it autoloads I can't try it out at 16mhz, and I think it's polygon graphics would work well in the faster mode. I know Frontier does. If you've never played EPIC, you owe it to your self to find this game. Especially if you like space epics like Wing Commander, Colony Wars, StarLancer, Battlestar Galactica and the like, EPIC was the first game of this type, and it actually has aged pretty well with it's solid polygon graphics and colorful artwork. I'd love to play it at 16mhz though!

 

Sorry about the poor picture quality, my camera batteries were going dead and after turning it on about ten times I was able to click this pic before it shut itself off. ;(

Edited October 7, 2006 by Gunstar

[+DarkLord]

I've got a Mega STe as well. As was seen in an earlier thread though, I've got to get some

repair work done on it. Need a new P/S too.

I think one can use an AT style power supply. Or would you be able to use a German one via adapter?

 

Ah...with all the problems I had with AT style P/S's I'm just gonna wait until I get a new replacement

(original model) P/S for my Mega STe...

[+DarkLord]

Anyway, that's a great article and I use the same tricks as the author for many games in 16mhz mode. By the way, does anyone know where I can get a cracked version of EPIC in file form? I have the original, but since it autoloads I can't try it out at 16mhz, and I think it's polygon graphics would work well in the faster mode. I know Frontier does. If you've never played EPIC, you owe it to your self to find this game. Especially if you like space epics like Wing Commander, Colony Wars, StarLancer, Battlestar Galactica and the like, EPIC was the first game of this type, and it actually has aged pretty well with it's solid polygon graphics and colorful artwork. I'd love to play it at 16mhz though!

 

Hmm, I don't understand this. My Mega STe is defaulted at 16mhz. Even if a game autoboots, it still starts up at 16 mhz.

 

IIRC, Epic (if I'm not thinking of some other game) should take advantage of extra Atari hardware. It seems I remember this

game actually saying something like "TT030" detected and running on it.. Does anyone else remember this? Thanks!

[Gunstar]

Anyway, that's a great article and I use the same tricks as the author for many games in 16mhz mode. By the way, does anyone know where I can get a cracked version of EPIC in file form? I have the original, but since it autoloads I can't try it out at 16mhz, and I think it's polygon graphics would work well in the faster mode. I know Frontier does. If you've never played EPIC, you owe it to your self to find this game. Especially if you like space epics like Wing Commander, Colony Wars, StarLancer, Battlestar Galactica and the like, EPIC was the first game of this type, and it actually has aged pretty well with it's solid polygon graphics and colorful artwork. I'd love to play it at 16mhz though!

 

Hmm, I don't understand this. My Mega STe is defaulted at 16mhz. Even if a game autoboots, it still starts up at 16 mhz.

 

IIRC, Epic (if I'm not thinking of some other game) should take advantage of extra Atari hardware. It seems I remember this

game actually saying something like "TT030" detected and running on it.. Does anyone else remember this? Thanks!

 

I don't know what to say about your default 16mhz boot status, but I've always been told that if booting an ST autoboot game it automatically boots at 8mhz, though you can set the default speed for booting up the desktop. And I tend to agree becuase I see a definate increase in performance when I play a file version of a game, like VROOM!/F1GP as opposed to it booting up from the autoboot disk, it definately defaults to 8mhz. But if there is a way to get it to autoboot at 16mhz like your machine, I surely would like to know, a dip switch internally maybe?

 

As for Epic, a full compatibility list on the box that covers all 520 AND 1040ST models and the Mega1, 2 and 4 computers, with absolutely no mention of the STE or TT machines. It's copyright 1992 though, so one would think it is compatible with the STE and TT's. But in actuality I can't even get it to finish booting on the Mega STE, it crashes while loading the sound track, but it works fine on my 1040STF. I was hoping a cracked version would allow HD file support, 16mhz mode and perhaps not crash when loading the soundtrack. But maybe this is the sound problem we've been talking about on the Mega STE's with my Epic crashing?

 

EDIT: Correction, I was mistaken with my compatibility problem and EPIC. The game works fine on my Mega STE, but seems quite slow, so I highly doubt it is running at 16mhz, it's incompatible with my 1040STF and crashes when loading the soundtrack on THAT machine, but I think this is an incompatibility problem with the Tweety Board stereo upgrade I have on the 1040 and it probably works fine on normal 1040's. But I know that Frontier runs much smoother on my Mega STE than on my 8mhz STF when I load it from the desktop in 16mhz mode, yet Epic with it's similair style polygon graphic engine runs as slow on my Mega STE as Frontier does on my 8mhz 1040STF. The only difference is Epic autoboots and Frontier I load fromthe HD after booting in 16mhz mode.

Edited October 8, 2006 by Gunstar

[+DarkLord]

 

I don't know what to say about your default 16mhz boot status, but I've always been told that if booting an ST autoboot game it automatically boots at 8mhz, though you can set the default speed for booting up the desktop. And I tend to agree becuase I see a definate increase in performance when I play a file version of a game, like VROOM!/F1GP as opposed to it booting up from the autoboot disk, it definately defaults to 8mhz. But if there is a way to get it to autoboot at 16mhz like your machine, I surely would like to know, a dip switch internally maybe?

 

 

Okay, I thought 1 of the dip switches in the Mega STe defaulted bootup speed

to 16mhz, but I could be wrong. I assumed this would force all programs, even

auto-booting ones to use 16mhz, but I could be wrong. I mean, a game wrritten

to run at 8mhz (ST standard) before the Mega STe came out, would be unaware

of the higher speed, and wouldn't have code to force the Mega STe to switch

back down to 8mhz, right?

 

In case it doesn't, have you tried some of the small apps out there that are

supposed to force games to boot up in 16mhz mode?

[Gunstar]

 

I don't know what to say about your default 16mhz boot status, but I've always been told that if booting an ST autoboot game it automatically boots at 8mhz, though you can set the default speed for booting up the desktop. And I tend to agree becuase I see a definate increase in performance when I play a file version of a game, like VROOM!/F1GP as opposed to it booting up from the autoboot disk, it definately defaults to 8mhz. But if there is a way to get it to autoboot at 16mhz like your machine, I surely would like to know, a dip switch internally maybe?

 

 

Okay, I thought 1 of the dip switches in the Mega STe defaulted bootup speed

to 16mhz, but I could be wrong. I assumed this would force all programs, even

auto-booting ones to use 16mhz, but I could be wrong. I mean, a game wrritten

to run at 8mhz (ST standard) before the Mega STe came out, would be unaware

of the higher speed, and wouldn't have code to force the Mega STe to switch

back down to 8mhz, right?

 

In case it doesn't, have you tried some of the small apps out there that are

supposed to force games to boot up in 16mhz mode?

 

I tried several small apps, but I honestly don't remember what they all were/are. I remember trying apps for TOS problems, and other stuff, but I don't know if I ever tried a auto-boot app to force 16mhz. I'll see if I can find something like that and also look into the possibility of an internal switch. But what I do know is that many of the games that I play from my HD like Outrun, Vroom, NSP, Lotus, Frontier and others are cracked file version that I start from the 16mhz desktop, and if I use the original disks I have of these games and auto-boot, there is a definate performance difference. Outrun for example sucks at 8mhz, I might as well be playing it on an 8-bit, but at 16mhz it rocks with a super fast&smooth frame rate and really feels like the arcade game. I wouldn't even try to play Frontier at 8mhz do to the poor frame-rate, and probably would not have cared for the game on an original ST back in the day, but playing it at 16mhz with a doubled frame-rate makes it a completely different game. Epic is the same way, currently only autobooted, is pitifully slow like 8mhz Frontier, though I've accept the frame-rate for the time being, it's still fun, but it definately could use a boost of speed

 

But if you guys are right, and Epic does look for and use the power of the system, then I would have to say it has a very unoptimised 3D engine, comparing it to Frontier that uses far more polygons most of the time; if it's running at 16mhz, it sure looks like it's running at 8mhz and I'd hate to see what it looks like on my 1040ST. The Epic game box has reviewer claims of stunningly fast 3D polygons (taking into account the lower, acceptable, frame-rates of the day), but I just don't see it, not like I do on other, older ST polygon titles, especially at 16mhz.

Edited October 8, 2006 by Gunstar

[jens]

Gunstar, can it be that it is that slow due to running from floppy?

If lots of read/write commands are used that might keep speed down.

 

Also the fact that it is an older game might affect the mediocre coding (if so - don't know the games mentioned).

[Gunstar]

Gunstar, can it be that it is that slow due to running from floppy?

If lots of read/write commands are used that might keep speed down.

 

Also the fact that it is an older game might affect the mediocre coding (if so - don't know the games mentioned).

 

I'm not denying that as a distinct possibility, but I was giving it the benefit of the doubt becuase it is from '92, and many similair games like Frontier and other polygon games that came out several years earlier seem to run much faster in 16mhz mode and look about the same running at 8mhz as Epic does now, what ever speed it's running at on my Mega STE. It's a shame if I am witnessing 16mhz speed as the game, though good, could have been great, like the STE/Falcon game Zero5 that is amazing looking and frame-rate wise is respectable even on a standard ST, but incredible on the Mega STE and Falcon. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I've not seen Epic at it's full potential yet, but you may be right. it seems to load the game levels completely into memory though, so I don't think loading from floppy is the reason for any slowdown of the graphic engine.

Edited October 8, 2006 by Gunstar

[jens]

Hum...

No more ideas atm...

[+DarkLord]

 

I tried several small apps, but I honestly don't remember what they all were/are. I remember trying apps for TOS problems, and other stuff, but I don't know if I ever tried a auto-boot app to force 16mhz. I'll see if I can find something like that and also look into the possibility of an internal switch. But what I do know is that many of the games that I play from my HD like Outrun, Vroom, NSP, Lotus, Frontier and others are cracked file version that I start from the 16mhz desktop, and if I use the original disks I have of these games and auto-boot, there is a definate performance difference. Outrun for example sucks at 8mhz, I might as well be playing it on an 8-bit, but at 16mhz it rocks with a super fast&smooth frame rate and really feels like the arcade game. I wouldn't even try to play Frontier at 8mhz do to the poor frame-rate, and probably would not have cared for the game on an original ST back in the day, but playing it at 16mhz with a doubled frame-rate makes it a completely different game. Epic is the same way, currently only autobooted, is pitifully slow like 8mhz Frontier, though I've accept the frame-rate for the time being, it's still fun, but it definately could use a boost of speed

 

 

Hmm, here are a few small apps I had lying around. Grab'em and let me know if any of them help you.

 

MEGAUTIL.zip