Classic Atari On-line - Volume Number 1 - Issue Number 2
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||Classic Atari On-line staff: \ \_______\ / June 1996 ||
||Publisher....... \___________/ ||
|| .......David Schmudde Special Thanks to: ||
||Grammical Editor....... ACF ||
|| .......Travis Alber John Hardie ||
||Programming........ Don LeBow ||
|| ........Andy Floyd Don Thomas ||
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|| http://www.ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dshome/dsatari.htm ||
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CAO looks best if viewed through a 80 column editor
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/ Contents: \
\ CLASSIC ATARI ONLINE /
/ -------------------- \
\ /
/ Editorial........ \
\ ........CAO #1 was a sucess! /
/ ........Updates in "my" Atari world \
\ /
/ Classic Atari News........ \
\ ........Cart Price guide (by Mr. Hess) /
/ \
\ Special Pac-Man issue!!! /
/ Still got Pac-Mania? Find out: \
\ "Which Pac-Man is the best?" /
/ \
\ 2600/7800 Section........ /
/ ........Pac-Man (2600) \
\ ........Mrs. Pac-Man (7800) /
/ ........Jr. Pac-Man (2600) \
\ /
/ Computer Section --- \
\ /
/ News........ \
\ ........A new Atari magazine? /
/ \
\ 8-Bit Software........ /
/ ........Pac-Man /
\ ........Interactive Books on Disk (Programming) \
/ /
\ Game Comparisons........ \
/ ........War of the Pac-Men! /
\ \
/ 8-bit Hardware........ /
\ ........One JoyStick Spy Hunter (Comp) \
/ ........Black Box by CSS (Comp) /
\ Novice Section........Pratical Black Box \
\ /
/ Atari Around the Internet........ \
\ ........Computer Sites on the Internet /
/ \
\ Atari History Section........ /
/ ........Atari: a New Company in a New Market \
\ /
/ Current News Bits........ \
\ ........Is Atari out of videogaming? /
/ CAO brings you both sides of the story \
\ ........Fight For Life (Jaguar) /
/ ........Interview With Francois Yves Bertrand \
\ /
/ Disgrace to Plastic........ \
\ ........E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (2600) /
/ \
\ Voting........ /
/ ........Favorite Vaporware \
\ /
/ Atari Good Deals (Sell/Buy Section) \
\ /
/ Picture........ \
\ ........A picture of Don Thomas in 1990 /
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/Editorial
David Schmudde
Hello fellow Atarians and welcome to the second issue of Classic Atari OnLine. The time "off" between issues #1 and #2 has, to say the very least, been quite hectic. I have been trying hard to find writers (God bless the ones that came forward) for this issue of Classic Atari OnLine and they have some great articles in store for you. Remember, if you want to share your knowledge with the rest of the Atari community, my address is posted throughout this issue. I would also like to thank you people for the excellent amount of feedback that was sent to me. It was really much more than I expected (although, to be completely honest, it wasn't a HUGE amount but it was ample for a first issue) and for CAO #2, I hope to hear from all those that didn't write last time and all the newcomers. Speaking of newcomers, I am expecting my user base to double because: I am planning to advertise on more places, CAO #2 has higher quality articles, basic word of mouth and an over all higher quality feel for CAO #2. All this and I am still trying to maintain the basic idea of Classic Atari OnLine: to help everybody, from expert to novice. The addition of very intelligent writers to Classic Atari OnLine 06 96 will help CAO excel in both categories and hopefully make Classic Atari OnLine the choice of all 8-bit Atari users.
Other Atari projects I am conducting at the moment include a major rehaul of my Atari homepage. My original, unfinished Atari homepage was pretty trashy looking but I will assure you that this update looks much better. Another addition is a huge list of Atari links. It took me a long time to find all of these (and many different search engines) and then I stumbled on a page that has loads of great links run by ACF. ACF's address: http://rzserv2.fh-lueneburg.de:8080
Needless to say, I compared their list to mine and added the links to my page that they had but I didn't. I still have a few that they don't have and they have a few that I don't have (the ones that I didn't add of theirs are the ones that deal with only minute amounts of Atari and portfolio links because I didn't do any work finding the portfolio pages and I didn't think it it would be fair just to steal theirs).
I also recently acquired a TT030 with a SF354 disk drive. All I have to say is that this thing is a real beauty. The GEM desktop is a great feature (I'm looking into a 3rd party desktop though) and the MS-DOS compatible formatting and standard SCSI and serial are also a nice addition. In fact, I'm hoping to get out of the wintel empire and port most of my hardware on the TT and its amazing 32-bit processor. The only problem with the TT that I can find is that I can't run about half the ST software (most shareware) that I get for it but I hear there are programs that can remedy that.
Now I would like to thank Don LeBow for converting CAO #1 from IBM ASCII to Atari 8-bit. Right now this file is only available on CompuServe, but if people ask for it, I will include it on my homepage for non-CompuServe users.
On a final note, I will take this space to talk about the improvements that are going to happen in the next issue of Classic Atari OnLine. CAO #3 will contain NEW 8-bit product reviews and I am happy to say that I am attending MIST in Indiana. If you don't know much about it, eMail me and I'll give you all the information I have. I'll be there handing out copies of CAO #2, taking polls for next issue and visiting the multiple ST/TT boths that are going to be there.
_______________________________ Classic
\ Classic Atari News \ Atari
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\ OnLine
Date: 27 Apr 1996 04:26:22 GMT
From: mercury@azstarnet.com (Mercury Hess)
Newsgroups: alt.atari.2600
Subject: ANN: Classic Online Price Guide!Hi everyone,
Because people are continuously asking "How much is such and such cart worth?" I've decided to set up a online price guide on my homepage.
What I plan to do is have auctioneers send me their final updates, with the final prices on them. Then, at the end of the month, I'll average all the prices of each cart together.
Until I get the kinks worked out, the Online Price Guide will only feature Atari 2600 and 7800 prices. After I get things smoothed out and running well, I plan to add INTV, Coleco, Vectrex, etc. Also, in the beginning, prices will be for loose carts only. Boxed carts will be added in the future.
So, if you are an auctioneer, or just sell carts online, send me the results of what you have SOLD, not just what you posted for sale!! That way, we will be able to have an average of the prices.
Hopefully, I will post the first results in about a month or so, so send me those auction results!!
(ed. note)
As you can see Mercury Hess needs help to complete the Classic Price Guide, so if think you can assist him in any way please eMail him at: mercury@azstarnet.com
I'll try to keep you updated on the progress of Mercury in future issues so keep reading.
_______________________________ Classic
\ 2600/7800 Section \ Atari
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\ OnLine
For those who don't know -- VGR Availability is the standard used to determine
how rare a cartridge is.
(C) = Common
(U) = Uncommon
(R) = Rare
(ER) = extremely rare
(NR) = never released (very rare)
__________________________________________________________________
Game Review (2600) -- Catalogue Number - CX2646 /
Pac-Man Copyright Date - 1981 /
by David Schmudde VGR Availability - C /
--------------------------------------------------C-A-O----/Atari was the first company to realize how lucrative an "arcade port" could be. Atari's sales of their Atari 2600 VCS skyrocketed after Tatio's "Space Invaders" was released on their system. No one thought that the success of "Space Invaders" could be matched but then there was "Pac-Man" and the whole arcade scene changed.
"Pac-Man" is a game of strategy, skill, luck and speed and well.... I guess everybody out there knows what "Pac-Man" is. Since that is probably a truism, I'll just talk about the 2600 "Pac-Man" which is, in a word, a letdown. All of those that have played the original arcade version will severely dislike this game. First things first, the maze. The maze of "Pac-Man" is totally redesigned, for the worse. The screen wrap is at the top and the maze itself is just too "structured". This means that each quarter of the screen is a lot like the last--unlike the arcade where the bottom two quarters were exactly alike but still different than the top half. Another great flaw in this game is the control. Pac-Man likes to slide a little when your trying to go up in a last ditch effort to avoid a ghost. I'm not one to care a lot about graphics, but the arcade players have coined this game "flicker-man" for the simple reason that the graphics, besides being sub-par, flicker (there are also no cinemas, but I see this as a very unimportant aspect of the game). The sounds aren't as nice and there isn't even fruit! There is only a small square that remains stationary in the middle that is always worth 100 points
Anyway, most of you have probably played this version of Pac-Man at one time or another so I'll stop wasting your time (the only reason this review was written was to later contrast the game). The bottom line is if you liked the arcade version, don't expect to love this game. However, even thought its not the EXACT arcade version, for those people that are just plain Pac-Man hungry and don't care wether its Munch-Man, Candy-Man, Pac-Men, or the like, this game will surfice.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ratings (Scale of 1 to 10) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=-=- Fun Factor ..............7
Control .................5
Sound ...................5
Graphics ................4
Originality .............6 (it WANTS to be the original)
Overall .................6
Available at ............Ben's Store
eMail - benjohnson@aol.com
...........Computer Dungeon
(708) 547-7085
__________________________________________________________________
Game Review (7800) -- Catalogue Number - CX7807 /
Ms. Pac-Man Copyright Date - 1988 /
by David Schmudde VGR Availability - U /
--------------------------------------------------C-A-O----/It's the Woman of the Year! Ms. Pac-Man is "all that" and much more on your Atari 7800 ProSystem. "Ms. Pac-Man" on the Atari 7800 is the polar opposite of "Pac-Man" on the Atari 2600. This game is practically arcade perfect with all the cinemas, all the action, all the speed the arcade had. From the control all the way down to the artificial intelligence this game is amazing.
"Ms. Pac-Man" is a step up from the original "Pac-Man" in many ways. First of all, the gameplay. Now the play can not rely on just one strategy to get him the max scores because the mazes change. In "Ms. Pac-Man" there are four different mazes each delivering their own challenge and each more fun than the last. Between every few levels there is a cinema. These cinemas show a variety of different things and are totally redesigned from the original arcade "Pac-Man" cinemas. The cinemas look beautiful as do the in-game graphics. The graphics look astounding and sport excellent color. Great sound accents these great graphics and the opening theme is a nice touch also found in the arcade version. Finally, the control. The control is dead on and from my point of view is exactly like the arcade.
Bad points in this game? None in my book and if your a fan of the arcade you WILL NOT be disappointed. This definitive arcade classic is done almost flawlessly on the 7800 and it shows the coders of this game really worked hard. To wrap things up let me put it this way: if you own a 7800 ProSystem and do not already own this game, it is your DUTY to find this game an purchase it. If you do not own a 7800, well its time to upgrade, my friend. This game alone warrants the purchase of the 7800 and plus you get other treats like Centipede, One on One, Hat Trick, Tower Toppler, Pole Position II... the list goes on and on.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ratings (Scale of 1 to 10) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- Fun Factor ..............10
Control .................10
Sound ...................10
Graphics ................10
Originality .............7
Overall .................9.5
Available at ...........Computer Dungeon
(708) 547-7085
2600 Version
Available at ............Telegames (214)228-0960
(10 A.M. - 3 P.M. CENTRAL)
__________________________________________________________________
Game Review (2600) -- Catalogue Number - CX26123 /
Jr. Pac-Man Copyright Date - 1987 /
by David Schmudde VGR Availability - U /
--------------------------------------------------C-A-O----/"Jr. Pac-Man" is an interesting proposition for the people that have or had Pac-Mania. This game sports a scrolling screen, more power pellets, different maze munchies and new music and graphics. From this list it can be derived that this is not just another "Pac-Man" rip off, but is it worth searching for this cart? Well here's what I think....
The best feature of this game is the scrolling screen. This adds a new dimension to the Pac-Man maze and is quite enjoyable. The maze only scrolls up and down but still makes one "Jr. Pac-Man" maze the length of two "Pac-Man" screens. The screen scrolls smoothly with your sprite always being in or near the middle. This prevents a ghost from appearing out of the blackness of the scroll in front of you and taking one of your lives. The game is also made more challenging because you can't always keep track of all 4 ghosts. The toys that appear on screen (like fruit in Ms. Pac Man) add another twist to the game. Not only are they worth points but they also change each 10 point dot that it touches in to a "super dot." These super dots have their good and bad. Good: they are worth 50 points. Bad: they really slow you down. Now if your running from ghosts and you hit a string of these super dots you are as good as dead. The toys also destroy power pills (by the way, there are now six power pills instead of the original four). Needless to say these toys (ex-fruit) do more harm than good in "Jr. Pac-Man." To recap so far, Jr. Pac-Man is a lot harder than its predecessors and is not just another "Pac-Man" rip off. So what keeps this from being an instant classic? Well one reason is the control. It is just as slippery as the original "Pac-Man" on the 2600, in fact, I think its a little worse. Also, the difficulty of this game makes it just too hard to obtain an earth shattering score--there is such a thing as a game being too hard. The graphics in "Jr. Pac-Man" aren't bad, but they are no "Demon Attack". And finally the music. The music in this game is quite pleasing and plays an opening theme much like the first two Pac-Man games, plus the music isn't the same for every level (which is a good thing). Finally the least important thing but still a drawback is the lack of cinemas. I realize that its hard to squeeze a lot of stuff on a 2600 cart and that the game itself is already pretty big but this is still a drawback.
To sum things up, this game would be BETTER than Ms. Pac-Man IF it weren't for the bad control and the frustration factor. This game is still much better than the original "Pac-Man" for the 2600 but pales in comparison to "Ms Pac-Man" on the 7800 and "Pac-Man" on the XE.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ratings (Scale of 1 to 10) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- Fun Factor ..............6
Control .................4
Sound ...................9
Graphics ................7.5
Originality .............7
Overall .................6.5
Available at ............Telegames (214)228-0960
(10 A.M. - 3 P.M. CENTRAL)
_______________________________ Classic
\ Atari Computer Section \ Atari
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\ OnLine
__________________________________________________________________A new magazine?
There could be a new magazine on the horizion for loyal Atari users. The man behind this is Thomas Ferreira. Read this and then tell him what you think of the idea. Also I suggest if your an 8-bit user, then eMail him and pressure him into including a small 8-bit section (sort of like Antic magazines in STart).
Let me introduce myself. My name is Thomas (TJ) Ferreira and if you have not noticed lately in the Atari newsgroups that I have been posting notes about a possible new Atari based magazine that I may be producing. Here are the letters I have posted thus far:
#1 message
Hello there folks! I am doing a little research and thought the newsgroups would be a great place to start. I have been toying with the idea for years to produce an Atari based magazine and would like to get some feedback from all you Atarians out there.
Here in North America we do have (2) very fine Atari based magazines; Atari ST Informer from USA and Current Notes from Canada. I want to feel the waters and see if the current market would receive well a new and fresh look at an Atari based magazine.
I have many very good, fun, and new ideas for this Atari magazine and am almost to the point of jumping aboard and joining the Atari magazine crowd. This magazine will mostly cater to the Atari computer line but will have some info for the gamers at heart.
If you are one that currently subscribes to other Atari magazines and would most likey subscribe to a new magazine, I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!!
Please email me at: tj@godfather.com
Just let me know your thoughts and if you truly believe you would be a potential subscriber.
Thanks for help and look forward to many many responses. I would also love to hear from other Atari based magazines on there ideas and insights of the Atari magazine market.
Thanks Again!!!!
Thomas Ferreira
#2 message
I have had this message posted online for a couple days and have had a good amount of responses. If you have not responded so far my email about your ideas and thoughts of this new magazine, THEN I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.
I wish to hear your ideas and responses. Do you want to keep the Atari platform ALIVE and WELL?? Then respond and be heard. I want this magazine to happen for me, for you, for advertisers, and for all computer enthusiasts. This Atari platform is FUN and we have years of life left right now if we all work together. You never know, if we keep the ball rolling long enough, someone or some company may bring back the Atari concept! Would it not be great if someone acquired the rights to say the never release ST BOOK notebook that Atari was producing and revamp slightly for todays market!! I would buy one for sure.
Anyway, I want to hear from you and need the further data to get the magazine going. EMAIL TODAY!!!!!
Original Letter below......
I removed because you have above....
Anyway, as you can tell I am actively collecting data so I can make this possible venture a reality. Since you are still dealing with Atari product, do you believe you would be interested in this new magazine to:
- A.) Advertise
- B.) Subscribe
- C.) Sell Retail if you are a dealer
- D.) Make available to your user groups if you are part of a club
- E.) etc...
I want to make sure enough readers and advertisers are out there for this new magazine. If you develop products, I would also like to discuss possible special subscription rates for your registered users. If they buy your product, they also get special rates on this new magazine, etc... Ideas like this so we can all benefit and keep the user informed. I have many dealer/developer ideas I would like to use when the time comes and would like to discuss....
Anyway, just pop me a note about your thoughts on this project and we will go from there.
Thanks,
Thomas Ferreira
8-bit Software
__________________________________________________________________
Game Review (XL/XE) -- Catalogue Number - /
Pac-Man Copyright Date - /
by David Schmudde /
--------------------------------------------------C-A-O----/The game that beat out the invincible "Space Invaders" is on the XE and is surprisingly close to the true arcade form.
"Pac-Man" has been released on many systems but none ever came as close to the arcade as the XL/XE version (until the recent release of the "Namco Arcade Pack" Sony's 32-bit Playstation). Playing "Pac-Man" an Atari 8-bit is worth the full price of admission because they give you the whole show. The music, the gameplay, the strategy, the cinemas, the graphics; it's all here. In fact, the only major difference I see between the arcade version and the Atari computer is the maze, which seems to be more of a box than a rectangle. By that I mean the arcade's maze was taller than it was wide but in the Atari version the length and the width are just about equal. That is the only big difference. I will assume that most of my readers have played "Pac-Man" in some form or another but if you haven't played "Pac-Man" or a good "Pac-Man" rip-off (i.e. you have only played enhanced "Pac-Man" rip-offs or "Ms. Pac-Man") then the article entitled "War of the Pac-Men!" will tell you the differences between all of them and tell you which one is most worth your purchase. For those who have played "Pac-Man" in its more true shapes, this game is definitely a good find no matter the price.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ratings (Scale of 1 to 10) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- Fun Factor ..............10
Control .................9.5
Sound ...................10
Graphics ................10
Originality .............7
Overall .................9
Available at ............Ben's Store
eMail - benjohnson@aol.com
...........Toad Computers
http://www.toad.net
_______________________________________________
Programming -- /
Interactive Books on Disk /
by Andy Floyd /
-----------------------------C-A-O-----/My 8-bits' worth
by Andy Floyd
Interactive Books on Disk
One of my occasional hobbies that I use my computer to do is to use a word processor and type the contents of books to save as text files on disk. It's occasional because I'm not inspired to do it all that often.
Books I've done so far: Craig Kubey's Winner's Book of Video Games (minus 9 pages on the Intellivision), How to Use Atari Computers (with notes and additions by me), The Rover Boys on Treasure Isle (original early 1900s edition), Atari Roots (I couldn't find it so I borrowed a friend's copy), Steve Martin's Cruel Shoes (found at a garage sale for a quarter), How to Win at Zaxxon, and Consumer Guide's How to Win at Video Games. I've started but not completed Allen E. Antley's (aka Major Mayhem) book on video games, and De Re Atari (without the diagrams).
I did Craig Kubey's book during a fervor looking for info on classic videogames and decided I may never find a copy for my own collection, so I spent about a month and typed over 300 pages to two double sided 5.25" SpartaDOS disks. I did Atari Roots because it's out of print.
You may ask "Why?" Because I can make an entire copy of the book as fast as I can copy a disk or a file.
Which leads me to my latest inspiration. Anyone out there remember those books in which you can make decisions and read the story any way you want? Those "Which Way" books? I may have come up with a simple but effective way to make them work on the Atari computer! Only thing is, I have no idea how popular they would be.
The task: Type the text to disk, each section in its own file. The last few lines (or so) of each file contains the prompts for what decisions you have and the file names for the next section to retrieve from disk. Each section would load all at once into memory, and when it came time to decide, the prompts would appear at the bottom, perhaps in a separate window, without the filenames of course.
I could use a word processor which allows inverse video lowercase characters to be entered, since I would have the program use those characters to find where the filenames are in the file. TextPro does this with <SELECT> and the key you need. The program I would write could easily be written in BASIC.
And when it's all said and done, you would have an interactive book on disk. You'd read the first section, decide if you want to explore a cave or go home, and choose the explore the cave, read about what you find, and read and decide... I would even include options for saving your position, going back one step, and using a joystick to move through the text.
Sort of an Epilogue...
This was one column written for a now-defunct catalog-newsletter. It was quite a good effort, but it seems the gentleman who ran it seems to have disappeared or something and this column went unpublished. I did go on that same year to develop, write, and produce three such disks of interactive books, two of which used the real text of The Castle of No Return and The Cave of Time. The third was posted on the Japanese Anime' Fidonet echo, one based on the popular anime and manga by Rumiko Takahashi, Ranma 1/2, called Kuno's Excellent Adventure by John Biles.
What I did... Well, I forget the actual details, but I could remember all of them if I were to get loads of interest in what I came up with. Some rough details:
- Map out on a sheet of paper all the parts of the story and other linked pages. If 2 pages were 1 part of the story, they got typed together as 1 file, cutting down on individual story segments.
- When I got to the text for the story choices, I used TextPro to insert an inverse video number or an "e" as some sort of control to separate the story from the choices. Then I typed the choices text, and the link info, ie the page numbers each choice led the reader to go.
- Then I determined the maximum buffer size when the program went to load the story parts and set it to that. The first story had no segment bigger than 1K of text, the 2nd was 2K.
- Save each story segment to a SpartaDOS disk and when done with the book, run the File version of my reader program to find out if I had any typos or if I left out any parts.
- Once testing was done, I copied all the story files in their proper numerical page number order to the RAMdisk, and used another program to read each one and write them out as raw sector data. It also printed on the printer the starting sector, number of sectors, the byte in the story segment at which the story text ended and the choices began.
- Then I modified my File version to look up the info inside of the program, cutting down on directory search time with the File version. This became the Sector Version.
- I locked out all sectors used by the story, wrote DOS only, then AUTORUN.SYS, a graphics title screen made by me and MicroLister, and then my Sector Reader program. And a doc file if there was room.
Additional note: The first book I did this was fit on a single density disk, as well as the third one. The 2nd required a 1050 density format. I can conceivably use 256 byte sectors, or do this on a hard drive! Isn't that neat?
The only features I left out was being able to go back any number of steps and saving your position. You can use a joystick to read the story - in fact, it's the best way to run the story.
If anyone is interested, I can Email binaries of Diskcommed .DSK files of the three titles I've done so far in XXE format only through Internet Email. Send a request to me at: andy.floyd@cancomm.com
The number of books that could be done this way is quite large. Last time I checked there were at least 75 Which Way Books. (That's the highest numbered Which Way book I have so far.) The different series titles include: Which Way, Twistaplot, Choose Your Own Adventure, Find Your Fate (Indiana Jones adventures), Endless Quest (Dungeons & Dragons), and Wizards, Warriors & You. And there is this sort of thing in a few recent Goosebumps books. The only problem: I don't have that much time anymore to type these books. If I did have the time in the first place, I would most likely be unemployed or translating my Japanese manga...
Project name: Which Way Book reader
Status: Works! 1.7
Author: Andrew Floyd
Some docs and helpful stuff
For over the past few years I kept saying to myself "These multiple plot path books would be neat to have running on the computer." For some reason I never really got around to doing anything to program the reader. That is, until I wrote a column about it for Jeff Morin's "Atari Outpost" catalog. As of this writing, (11/30/94) it has not yet been published, but since I wrote the column, I better cover my butt and actually provide something to see if anyone should come asking.
I wrote the column in early 1994 and had begun entry of the contents of "The Castle of No Return" via word processor, having mapped the book as to which pages are referenced only once by other pages, which meant 1 less file to worry about.
After I started, I realized that Atari DOS's 64 file entry limit would not work with my program, so testing and development proceeded under SpartaDOS. Surprisingly, the program pretty much fell into place, and aside from 1 file I missed and some display bugs, I got it to work!
Great, only that a friend in my user group wanted to try it out. Ug, I don't have it in single density format. So I wrote a program to write out the files sector by sector and tell me where each one started. Further development included telling me where the story text and story selections separated and to print out this info on the printer.
Then there was the speed. I took a routine from some old "Mad Lib" programs I wrote years ago. The routine takes a long string of text and prints it in 37 columns without breaking words. I sped it up with 2 simple FOR-NEXT loops. The "text separation" info was to eliminate another speed problem. (Those Mad Lib programs still haven't been completed and to think I did 23 of these on a 2K RAM Timex Sinclair 1000 in 1982!)
The graphic title that comes up was done thusly: The castle was scanned on an Atari 1040ST, saved in GIF format, nullmodemed to the 8-bit, decoded by APAC View, edited by RAMBrandt, colors edited by Atari Artist, and finally converted to program lines by Micro Lister. It takes MicroPainter pics and makes a LISTED BASIC program. Neat!
The text has been slightly edited in places to fit into 1024 byte (or less) files.
If you like this and want to see more I am at:
Andy Floyd
114 Euclid Ave.
Minerva, OH 44657-1519
Game Comparisons (2600/7800/Comp): War of the Pac-Men!
by David Schmudde
This issue of Classic Atari OnLine reviews 4 different Pac-Man like games for 3 different systems to see which one is truly the best. Most people have played "Pac-Man" and/or "Ms. Pac Man" in the arcade and this series of articles is set up to tell which one is the best on your home system and which one you should be owning and/or looking for. Future issues of Classic Atari OnLine will continue to look at "Pac-Man" like games to tell you which ones are the best rip-offs and the ones that should not have been made. So far the run down is like this:
Pac-Man (2600) Jr. Pac-Man (2600)
Vs. Arcade Pac-Man Vs. Arcade Pac-Man
GOOD GOOD
-Nothing -Different/More Mazes
BAD -Good Colors
-Worse Control -More Music
-New/Repetitive Maze -Gameplay Varies More
-Slower BAD
-Worse AI -Worse Control
-Worse Graphics -Frustrating difficulty
-Worse Sounds -Graphics Sub-Par
-No Fruit -No Cinemas
Comments Comments
-It is only a good game for those -Honestly, the ride sounds better than
who have incurable Pac-Mania. it is. Its not a bad game, but not
a great game. Better than its older
brother on the 2600 (Pac-Man).
Pac-Man (XL/XE) Ms. Pac-Man (7800)
Vs. Arcade Pac-Man Vs. Arcade Pac-Man
GOOD GOOD
-It Almost Mirrors -More Mazes
The Arcade Original -Better Music/Sound
-Music/Sound -Smarter Ghosts
-Control -More Colors
-Speed -Better Graphics
-Graphics -Faster
BAD BAD
-The maze is a square, -Nothing That I See
not a rectangle like the
arcade version Vs. Arcade Ms. Pac-Man
GOOD
Comments -Almost Exactly The Arcade Version
-The BAD isn't that bad at all and BAD
if you want another game that comes -Where's The Big Booth? :)
this close to the arcade w/o buying
the arcade then shell out $200 for Comments
the Sony Playstation and another $35 -You need this game, it is pure joy.
for the game. Or you could find There is none higher. Better than
an Atari Computer at a flea market :). the 16-bit Atari Lynx version.8-bit Hardware
* If you have technical Atari hardware know-how, even if its very *
*little, please contact me at "dschmud@heartland.bradley.edu" and lets talk *
*about submitting an article, or at least an idea. Share your knowledge with*
*the rest of the Atari world. *
******************************************************************************John Hardie saw the "Spy Hunter" review in CAO #1 and wrote this letter to me. I replied asking him to write a full article on this or, if I could, reprint his letter. Well he said he would write the article and/or I could reprint the letter. Between issues #1 and #2 I lost contact with John, so this is all the information I have:
JOHN HARDIE --
Saw your review of Spy Hunter for the 8-bit and thought you might like to know how I beat the 2 joystick set-up for the special weapons. Take a 7800 stick apart and wire the 2nd button to another joystick cord. You'll have to cut the plastic a little but both cords can fit through the same spot in the top center of the stick. You should have a stick with 2 cables coming out. Just plug the normal plug into port 1 and the new plug into port 2 and use the right fire button for the other special weapons.
Hardware (comp): Black Box by CSS
by Andy Floyd
What is the Black Box from CSS?
When I was asked about this and also asked to write a couple of paragraphs about it, I was surprised. I thought it was reviewed in an Antic or Analog issue some years ago. I don't have one, so I can only summarize or collect together the facts I can find out.
The Black Box from Bob Puff's Computer Software Services is something like the MIO that ICD (and now Fine Tooned) made, only it doesn't have RAM for use as extended RAM like a RAMdisk. That's about the only main difference, but it gets better.
From what I remember about it, the Black Box is: A hard drive interface, A printer interface (with buffer), a modem interface, and has a unique option of the Floppy Board. This nifty feature allows you to hook up a high density IBM 3.5" 1.44 Meg floppy drive and read (and possibly write) IBM disks. I think it also has a machine language monitor, so you can load up your favorite games and then go into the Black Box's ML monitor and explore...
For the Hard Drive interface, and I'm not too sure what's involved, but you can plug in an SCSI drive and use your favorite DOS to set the drive up. 100 MEG Iomega ZIP drives are plug and play, solving all your storage needs practically for good! I read the Iomega FAQ from a Usenet feed and it says it's possible! Just plug in and format or partition with SpartaDOS and you've got yourself several 16 meg partitions.
The Modem Interfacing on the Black Box goes up to 19200 baud. Anyone who needs 19.2K baud on their 8-bit can do it with the Black Box.
The Printer Interfacing has an optional buffering feature. There is no onboard RAM for use like the MIO's RAMdisk, but if it's in the computer anyway, why worry?
Paraphrased a bit from CSS's own ad in the first ever Atari Classics:
-----
The Black Box is an add-on board for the expanded Atari 600XL, 800XL, and 130XE.
The RS232 port emulates the Atari 850 interface very closely, but goes beyond by providing 19200 baud capability, and also supports hardware flow control. This enables owners of high speed modems to use their modem at full speed and not worry about data loss due to a slow BBS or terminal program.
The Parallel Printer Port interfaces to most Centronics-type printers. You may assign the printer number and line feed options from within the Black Box's configuration menu. It also allows buffering of your data, either using the extra 64K in your 130XE, or the optional 64K in the Black Box itself.
The Hard Disk Port was the real reason for the design of the Black Box. You may connect most any hard drive controller that is SASI or SCSI compatible, or drives with embedded SCSI controllers. It is totally compatible with the current versions of MYDOS or SpartaDOS. The Black Box allows you to have up to 96 partitions with names, and set any partition as any drive (D1: through D9:), allowing you to place unprotected single density boot programs on your hard disk! You may also write protect ALL of your hard disks with a flip of a switch.
The Black Box also provides support for users who have previously used an ICD MIO to store data on a hard disk. You can have compatibility with an MIO formatted hard disk by simply setting a DIP switch.
The 6502 Monitor is very handy for machine language programmers. How often have you wondered where your program was, or what caused an apparent "lockup"? Entering the monitor will show you all the processor registers, and display the disassembly of the instruction it was about to execute when you pressed the button.
A Printer Dump of your current screen may be done at any time by pressing one of the buttons on the Black Box. A switch allows you to choose either text or graphics dumps (for graphics-capable dot matrix printers).
----
The case and cables for the modem and printer interfaces are sold separately, as well as the 64K printer spooling feature. (ie you can order a Black Box with one.)
The Floppy Board
This is an add-on expansion that allows the user to add up to 4 inexpensive "standard" floppy drive mechs, and supports almost all floppy configurations like 360K, 720K, 1.2MB and 1.44MB. Built-in to the Floppy Board are the Black Box Enhancer and a version of the Super Archiver.
Disks formatted on the Floppy Board are accessed at parallel buss speeds, providing a substantial performance increase over the standard serial Atari floppy drive. In fact, drive access is much closer to hard drive speeds than to standard serial drives! Includes is the IBM/ST Disk Transfer Utility, which allows you to read and write IBM or ST disks. This makes the Floppy Board the ideal method for porting files to and from the PC or ST!
Also available for the Floppy Board is the 1.44MB drive kit. This kit includes a high-quality 1.44MB drive mech, power supply, and cable.
------
I've seen posts of very happy Black Box & Floppy Board owners on Usenet's Atari 8-bit area. Bob Puff supports this nifty device very well. One guy called to complain about a problem with the Black Box, and Bob was able to get him to do a few things and figure it out (which was a problem with the version of the ROM in the Black Box) and sent out an updated ROM without the guy having to send in his current ROM first!
I'd like to get an XF551 and get CSS's upgrade kit for it, but that's another story. (and requires money I don't have - :( )
-------------------------
Editor's note:
If you found Andy's article interesting and don't have a Black Box, you can purchase one, or purchase the Black Box Extender and any RS232 cables; you can reach Computer Software Services (CSS) at (716) 529-5639.
Dave's 'lil old: 8-bit Hardware - NOVICE Corner
(ed. note) - I am in no way endorsing the Black Box or the Black Box Enhancer. This information is based upon information collected from FidoNets, UserNets and magazine articles read by me. I cannot endorse it for the simple reason that I have had no hands on training with it. But what I can do is use this collected information and tell of the practical uses of the Black Box and the Black Box Enhancer.
I thought for this episode of Dave's Novice Corner I'd discuss one of the most practical but confusing inventions for the Atari 8-bit line, CSS's Black Box and Black Box Enhancer. Using the word practical means I will not get into the topics of machine language and topics of that difficulty-level.
First off, the Black Box was set up to give Atari 8-bit owners a little more compatibility with IBM and Mac hardware. SASI/SCSI standard ports gives 8-bit owners access to hard disk drives for greater storage. RS232 ports allow IBM standard serial interface hardware on your 8-bit (up to 19.2 BPS modems and null modeming software between 2 computers are just two practical uses for the serial portion of the Black Box). Finally, Parallel printer ports give Atari users access to non-Atari compatible printers, much like what was available to Commodore users years before (also with a nifty screen dump). There are options for disk formatting up to 1.44 Megs on a 3.5 inch disk and 1.2 megs on a 5.25 inch disk (ST and MS-DOS formats supported) and access to faster disk drives. Built in software and external dip switches gives the user easy access to configure hardware that is alien to most Ataris.
Now, the Black Box Enhancer is not as practical of an item (to the average user). The Black Box Enhancer's screen dumping abilities are greater than that of the original Black Box's and will print out inverse characters. It also gives the user a more MS-DOS approach to hard disk interfacing, meaning that there are more utilities and an overall more IBM feel to it. Finally, the standard IBM ACSII set editing is a nice touch for those of you who are tired of the ATASCII. In conclusion, I see the Black Box and Black Box Enhancer a great buy for those of you who deal in multiple computer OS's. It makes transferring data quicker and less painless.
Atari Around the Internet
This is the second issue of Classic Atari OnLine, and I have already decided to add a new section. Atari Around the Internet is set up for those knowledge-hungry Atarians that don't have access to the great Atari resources usually found in big cities. They instead live in cities where there are no Atari stores, cities where there is no Atari user groups (like CAIN, Boise Atari Group etc...) and even to the extent to where an Atarian can't find a fellow Atarian within 3 hours. So where do these Atarians go? The Internet, of course. Hopefully this section will also help those in some of the bigger cities, then truly serving its purpose.
-------------
This is a list of 8-bit Atari computer sites that I have found on the internet. I know there are more out there (in fact, I lost the address to a lot of the ones I found :) ) so if you know of a sites that aren't on this list, please eMail me at dschmud@heartland.bradley.edu so I can add them.
The next Classic Atari OnLine will have 2600/7800 site listings. Issues beyond that will have site reviews, possible site updates and new sites found by the readers.
http://rpool1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de/~inf11492/
8-Bit Homepage
http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/faq/archive/atari-8-bit.faq.html
Atari 8-Bit FAQ
http://nimitz.mcs.kent.edu/~clisowsk/8bit.html
BRiTiSH Underground (Various 8-bit Atari stuff)
http://www.ksk.sala.se/~sp93rob/dungeon/
The Alternate Reality Home Page
http://www.io.com/~vga2000/ssa8b.htm
Atari 8-Bit Computer game screen shots (Video Game Advantage)
http://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~Marek.Tomczyk/8bit.html
Atari 8-bit Resort
http://student.uci.agh.edu.pl/~tatar/Atari/hp.html
Big Atari 8-bit homepage
http://nimitz.mcs.kent.edu/~clisowsk/8bit.html
The Atari 8-bit (Intel outside)
http://wwwcip.rus.uni-stuttgart.de/~inf11492/
ATARI XL/XE-Homepage
http://www.bright.net/~tomhunt/
The Closer To Home Web Page
-For those that don't already know, Closer To Home is also an Atari run BBS in Australia -
http://zippy.sonoma.edu/~kendrick/nbs/index.html
New Breed Software
FTP/Gopher-Sites
ftp://ftp.gate.net/pub/users/cmwagner/faq/cheats.faq
Cheats 8-Bit Games FAQ
ftp://atari.archive.umich.edu/atari/8bit
Great Selection
ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/atari
ftp://ftp.cs.vu.nl/pub/ipoorten/atari.8bit
ftp://ftp.xmission.com/pub/users/j/jeking/8bit/
gopher://ginsu.freenet.columbus.oh.us:70/11/specialinterestgroups/
Atari%20Computer%20Enthusiasts%20of%20Columbus/%20%208-bit%20Computers%20SIG
Is this CAIN?
gopher://gopher.archive.umich.edu:7055/11/atari/8bit
ftp://ftp.crl.com/users/bt/btomlin/
ftp://ftp.magicnet.net/pub/users/cudabert/
ftp://ftp.procyon.com/pub/game_archive/
Dealers
http://www.mpcs.com/beachcom/
Beach Computers
http://www.teleport.com/~bensmith/bscomputers.shtml
Ben Smiths's 8-bit Computers
http://www.teleport.com/~bensmith/bscomputers.shtml
Bravo Sierra Computers
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/matzi/
DATABYTE Hard- & Softwareservice
http://pages.prodigy.com/classics
The Videogame Connection
http://www.toad.net
Toad Computers
- Although last time I checked -
- they only sold 8-bit carts. -
- They will, however, buy your -
- 8-bit Atari stuff. -
Atari History Section
Atari: a New Company in a New Market
<The discussion of Atari's materializing in the market it pioneered was covered in CAO #1. The story stopped when the name Atari was picked, and so it continues....>
Since the beginning of Atari's 20+ year history, Atari's location has been near (or in, depending on how you see it) Silicon Valley. Only once was it discussed to move Atari out of California, and that topic was brought up in the mid Tramiel years when Elie Kenan (as General Manager of Atari U.S) had the idea of moving the HQ over to the Boston area. He had a discussion with Jack and for an undisclosed reason was hastily ported back over to Atari France. Anyway, Atari's first location was 2962 Scott Boulevard in the district of Santa Clara, with Al Alcorn acting as Atari's first full time engineer making $14,000-$15,000.
As many people know, Pong was Atari's first success. The original Pong game was released at Andy Capp's (a local bar in Sunnyvale). Regulars were curious about the mysterious glowing box the first day it appeared there and started playing. Needless to say, it was an instant hit and at 10 AM next morning people lined up to play the new game that broke the bounds of pinball. The people put in quarter after quarter until around 9:30-10:00 PM it was reported to the bar tender that the game died. The agitated bar tender gave Al Alcorn a ring and told him to come look at the machine. The first thing Al did was to check the circitry and everything looked fine to him. Then Mr. Alcorn opened up the door to the hole that contained the quarter carton and discovered the problem. The machine was clogged with quarters. After just 2 days use, the game's quarter carton was not only full but overflowing.
During Al Alcorn's discovered success Nolan was trying to sell Pong to Nutting and Bally Midway. Nutting was approached first but due to the failure of Mr. Bushnell's first game, they turned him down. Midway, on the other hand, was amazed but in the end decided to lean toward the more analog approach with pinball. One reason for this preference was that the parts needed for Pong were in no way similar to the parts needed for a pinball game and Bally Midway saw it foolish to have to reconfigure all of its operations. The other big reason for turning down Mr. Bushnell's idea is that they knew the truism that in general humans do not like change. Nolan was soon to learn that all was not lost when he was contacted by Al Alcorn and was told of the huge success at Andy Capp's.
As stated earlier, Andy Capp's Pong machine filled up in two days. A normal Pong machine at that time held 1,200 quarters ($300 for you non-mathematical types). On average a Pong would take a week to fill, not just two days like Andy Capp's first Pong machine. Nolan's distribution networks saw the gold mine in this idea and wanted the Pongs fast. On above average days which were about 12 to 16 hours, 10 Pongs could be produced with Nolan and Al Alcorn helping. Each Pong machine was rather hastily built, meaning it had an average life of only 3 months.
By 1973 there about 8,000 Pongs in existence and the average dollar intake decreased to $200 a week. Atari saw this slip and hired Steve Bristow (second in command in Al Alcorn) and told him to think of Pong-like games. Also in 1973 Ted Dabney left and in late 1973 Atari moved to Winchester Boulevard, Santa Clara.
Current Atari News
Is it over?
Long time Atari magazine, Atari Explorer On-line, says Atari is out of the videogame business, but Atari might say otherwise. Classic Atari OnLine brings you both sides of the story.
From: Mark Santora <santora@earthlink.net>
Subject: AEO UPDATE: It's Over, Officially.
Date: Wed May 22 02:03:29 1996
Travis posted this to GEnie, the past Atari Official Online Service, so I guess I can finally let the beans out here...
That's correct - It's officially over. Atari is getting ready to close shop. They will publish NO NEW GAMES. No Skyhammer, No Breakout 2000, No Hockey, No Iron Soldier 2, No Highlander 2/3, No World Tour Racing CD. When the merger with JTS is completed in a few months, Atari will officially cease to exist. They plan to hang in there and attempt to sell off the remaining systems and games in the wearhouse. This is not a crank post - it is true.
Finally, what has been known within certain circles for the past few months is finally known. The truth is finally out there.
Atari is Outta Here.
End Xfile 2600.
This entire quote was re-quoted for Mr. Don Thomas at Atari.
When asked about the truthfullness and the source of this message, Don Thomas responded:
The message AEO posted regarding "it's official" is not official and we are disappointed that this information was posted without verification with anyone at Atari. I believe the information came from another unverified source which quotes an "unidentified Atari spokesperson", but in my efforts to locate such a spokesperson, I have failed.--Don Thomas
Atari Corporation
~~~ Plug in the JAGWIRE(tm) on-line network. [http://www.atari.com] ~
Mario Perdue, the programmer of the Jaguar's next proposed release, Breakout 2000, had this to say about the rumors.
<CAO> Mr. Perdue, can you tell me the status of your game after all this talk of Atari falling and Travis' post about "No new games"? Will it (Breakout 2000) still be printed?
<MP> To be perfectly honest, I really don't know. My job was to deliver the completed game to Atari; I've done that. At this point, it's all in Atari's hands.
Mario
Game Review (Jaguar)
Catalogue Number - J9037E
Fight For Life
Copyright Date - 1995
by David Schmudde
The long awaited "Fight For Life" made its way out after a little less than a two year wait. After the major magazines shot down an unfinished version of Fight For Life it almost never came out. However, this game, like Atari, is very resilient and finally made it. Was it worth the wait? Does it do the Jaguar justice? Is it better than the other Atari in-house games? Is Francois Bertrand a magic man? These questions and more will be answered in this review of Fight For Life and hopefully allow you to make a logical decision on whether or not this game warrants purchase.
Welcome to "Fight For Life" where your chosen character is fighting for a second chance for life and to get out of hell. "There can be only one victor; there will be only one life granted... it must be yours." The plot is set and it's time to turn on your Jaguar. First thing you'll see is the high quality title screen and some nice intro music (even with some lyrics). From there you can set your options (with no difficulty levels) and press a button to go to the character select screen. It's not a totally original character select screen but honestly, who cares. Select the character and the game begins.
A very very very deep voice states the round number and then laughs and it's time to fight. The cameras scroll mind-numbingly smooth and accents the graphics very well. Speaking of the graphics, they aren't as good as Tekken II but they are really nice in their own right. The joints aren't connected as well as they could be and the floor could use a little work but they are still very impressive and show off a lot of power. To compliment the graphics is the music. While the music pales in comparison to Ultra Vortek, it's still better than the average game. The sound effects are just the regular generic fight game punches but the voices are really nice (I _AM_ the greatest :) ).
Now for the important stuff, the playability. First thing that I would like to point out is the control. Some people have complained about the control and said that they eventually got used to it. I never had any real problem with the control, although I will admit that the first day I jumped when I didn't want to. I just had to get used to it and it's okay now. Another important aspect in every fighter is the power balance, meaning that no character is all out dominating another character. "Fight For Life" has no problem here because you can build your own character by stealing other character's moves after you win a fight. Although each character has one unstealable special move, those moves do all the same amount of damage and none have any advantage over another. This is a great addition to a fighting game. The moves aren't too hard too pull off and I was greatly relived that this game doesn't rely too heavily on combos like the Tekken-like games. Combos are good but you can overkill. Another complaint I heard was the lengths of the rounds. I don't see how this detracts anything from the game. The game itself runs fast (about 25 fps from what I've heard) so the gameplay isn't slow, it's just the rounds are long. It must be that the hits don't take off much energy.
The best thing about this game is that it is a TRUE 3-d fighter. Unlike Tekken (which is a 2-d fighter with 3-d gimmicks), you can move in and out on the field. It is also possible to spin and roll in and out of the field more like Toshiden, but utilizes the 3-d a bit better. So to sum this thing up "Fight For Life" is pretty much a hybrid of the best things in "Virtua Fighter 2," "Toshiden" and "Tekken". Due to this combination it falls behind each fighter in their specialized areas but excels in other areas. Plus this game has a lot of its own original content to make it a contender in the 3-d fighter realm. In fact, the biggest drawback in this game is probably the lack of options.
As you can tell, I have written mostly a positive review, but just to contrast, I am going to print out a negative UseNet posting on the same subject. First I'll give my ratings:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ratings (Scale of 1 to 10) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- Fun Factor ..............9
Control .................8
Sound ...................8
Graphics ................8.5
Originality .............7
Overall .................8Negative "Fight For Life" Review by Mr. Jaros
From: pjaros@cehpx12.cen.uiuc.edu (Phillip George Jaros)
Newsgroups: alt.atari-jaguar.discussion
kce@netcom.com (Big Bad Wolf) writes:
I'm glad some people are injoying this game, but mine is going to be returned as soon as I get the time. I would like the game if it was just a bit closer to the action, but as it stands it's just too far away to enjoy the detail of the fighters. The things that pissed me off most about the game, was how simple it is to master the game, lack of options (difficulty, time limit, etc) and the crappy one ending syndrome. OK so I have only won it with 3 fighters, but they were all the same, so I doubt there is another ending.
>However, no matter how much cheesing I do, I can't seem to get past the >4th character, which is Muhali. I was playing Kimura at the time.
At the start of the round hold down A and back up a few times then do this:
All you have to do is jump at your opponent and kick. If the opponent spins do the hurricane kick of Kimura's. When they hit the ground (by either the jump kick or the hurricane kick) hold down A and back up two times. When the opponnent gets up repeat.
This works on every character (only Lun's Shove Kick can stop it, and it is never repeated enogh to beat you).
Yawn, were have all the play testers gone?????
>Again, I should have a review soonish. If not tomorrow, then the next day. >Eventually, what I'd like to contribute to is an FFL tactics and strategies >list, of what special moves take precedence over which, combos (which i >don't seem to be able to do, even back in the SF2 days), and secrets.
Well be sure to include the above strategy, all you need to do is get the huricane kick. I have a couple other combos, but they take make the rounds go on forever.......... :(
_______________Interview With Francois Yves Bertrand__________________________
Mr. Bertrand,
Several weeks ago I wrote a letter to you pertaining to a possible interview in Classic Atari OnLine 06 96. I would like to start off by thanking you for your time and being so considerate to the Atari community.
<CAO> Can you tell me some background information on yourself concerning your past work in France and at Sega?
<FB> In France, I was working for a small coin-op company, SISTEME, and did develop three games for the European market, and for the Archimedes, an English computer from Acorn. On Virtua Fighter I did the camera system for all the game and the collision system. On VF2 I dir transfert my code from the Model 1 board to the Model 2 and I did work on a weapon system wich has not been use for VF2.
<CAO> Why did you leave a increadably lucrative company like Sega and go to Atari (whos entire budget is less than Sega's advertising budget)?
<FB> Well working in Japan, for a Japanese company is certainly not the easiest thing in the world. I spent two years in Japan, which was way enough for me. I did enjoy what I did there, but life in Tokyo is not as fun as life in Europa or the US. I decided to come in the US to see something new.
<CAO> How long were you at AM2?
<FB> 2 years
<CAO> Did you approach Atari or vice-versa?
<FB> I did contact them during one of my trip in France. Soon, later the US office called me in Japan, and we decided on a meeting in Sunnyvale. Every thing went well and I joined the company soon later
<CAO> Did you ever use any other Atari equipment besides the Jaguar?
<FB> No, I have never been an Atari's computer freak.
<CAO> While at Atari, did you enjoy working on the Jaguar?
<FB> Yes I did. The Jaguar was a nice piece of equipment when it came out. If at this time the company behind it would have push more on the development side, Atari could still sell some Jaguar today (Sega and Nintendo are still selling 16 bits machines...)
<CAO> Not considering the company, which machine was it easiest to work on?
<FB> I am not really interested in an easy work. My main interest is pushing a machine as far as possible, and that is never easy. The PSX is very easy to use, but you don't have really control of the machine. I hate that. On the Jaguar side, things weren't easy, but your access to the hardware is total, letting you do stuff the way you want to do it.
<CAO> Many people see the release of Fight For Life a struggle. Also, many people have many different stories about this struggle. This is the information I have collected. Please correct the mistaken information:
You left Japan and Sega for Atari. You completed Fight For Life on December 1995 focusing on playability. The graphics were considered sub-par when the game magazines got a hold of an unfinished version of the game. Atari rejected the game on that basis and you went back to work. Fight For Life's graphics got retooled (called Fight For Life Extreme by the on-line community) and Atari when on a game cancellation spree and your game almost got cancelled again. Finally, months after being completed, Fight For Life was released.
<FB> The game has never been canceled. I did work on it for about 19 months, without any interruption. When the game was presented to the press for the first time, the graphics weren't done as well as the motion. Unfortunately, the marketing department gave to the press a set of cartridges with the sentence 'for review only' instead of 'for preview only'. All you have heard from there was coming from this mistake. It is very depressing to have your work screwed like this, but I wasn't able to do anything at this time. To cover their mistake, they told the press that the game was going to be rejected and revamped, when actually the game was just following its normal development schedule.
<CAO> Do you think you took full advantage of the Jaguar's hardware with Fight For Life?
<FB> I think it was a nice shot, I would certainly do it faster today, but not that much.
<CAO> About the game, many people I have talked to have complained about the ending of Fight For Life. In most games, if you're a good guy then you feel heroic, if you're the bad guy then you get to rule the world or something, but in Fight For Life you left with a feeling of nothingness. Why did you choose this ending? Many people are looking for another ending, is this a futile effort?
<FB> There is two ending in FFL. In Europa when a movie is finished, the hero doesn't have to live. In the US whatever movie you take, you can tell from the beginning who is going to make it and who is not. Well it is a different approach to the same problem. I don't know who is right, but I don't think that being good make you life longer. Anyway, there is two ending in FFL, one was here to introduce one of my next game.
<CAO> After Fight For Life, your next project was going to be Pong 2000. Can you explain what we are all going to miss?
<FB> I would be happy to talk about this one, but all the work I did on this one is Atari's now. Sorry.
<CAO> Finally, what are plans for the future? What are you currently working on at Activision?
<FB> I am working on a new Pitfall for Activision. The game should be ready by march 97 on the Playstation
Disgrace to Plastic
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
No game is given as much credit for single handedly destroying the video game industry as "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial." Now, as we all know, we can't put all the blame on one game, but check out these stats:
- Atari had 10 million dollars of unsold goods sitting in a warehouse in Christmas 1982
- PLUS pieces to make five million E.T. carts Atari thought that E.T. was going to be a hit no matter what, just because it was a movie. WRONG. Not even the people that loved the movie wanted to buy it. This game is so bad no one really wanted it. I won't go it to much depth of this game because I don't want to waste the electrons this magazine is printed on writing trash like this cart. Here's the basic outline:
- Boot it up and you see a decent picture of ET on the title screen.
- Once you get past the picture is where the game starts going downhill.
- You walk around in a "SwordQuest" type of view (overhead but your character is flat) avoiding these blocky holes in the ground. Should you happen to fall in one of these holes the you must press the button to extend your neck to levitate out.
- Your goal is to find the phone pieces to call your ship. In all honesty, this goal is just plain boring. It's just no fun.
- The game has some depth in the 3 different characters (Elliot, FBI agent and scientist) but it still doesn't make the game fun.
The bottom line is that this game is just plain boring. It's not terribly challenging even if you did want to play it. It trys to be of the Action/RPG genre but falls way short of excelling in either area. My suggestion is to avoid this game at all costs and search for "SwordQuest" or "Adventrue". The only reason I could think that anybody would want this game is just to collect it. Just to have it but never to play it.
Voting
Even with all the feedback for Classic Atari OnLine 04-96, NO ONE VOTED! :). Anyways, if you want to keep this section, then you must vote.
SEND YOUR VOTES TO: dschmud@heartland.bradley.edu
This issue's voting question: "WHICH VAPORWARE DO (OR DID) YOU MOST WANT TO BE RELEASED?"
Computers
1200 (A 1200XL that looked different)
800XLF (A 800XL with a more simplistic motherboard and a XE chip (FREDDY))
1250XLD (Early 1450XLD in idea)
1400XL (800XL plus modem, speech synth)
1450XL (Another concept computer of the 1450XLD)
1450XLD (1400XL with a 5 1/4" floppy drive)
65XEP (Like a 65XE but with a 3 1/2" floppy drive and a 5" green monitor)
65XEM (A 65XE a upgraded sound chip (AMIE))
Monitors
XC1411 (14")(color)
XM128 (12")(green and white)(turns your XE into 80 columns)
Disk Drives
XF521 (5 1/4" floppy drive)(basically a 1050 in XE-type casing) (There is controversy, the XF521 could have been a 3 1/2" also. For voting just put XF521 @ X")
815 (2 disk drives in one casing)(reads Single Sided/DD disks, 180K) SEE PICTURE INCLUDED IN MAGAZINE OF THE 815
1055 (basically a 1050 that reads 3 1/2")
Printers
XTM201 (not analogue)
XTC201 (color printer)(not analogue)
Misc.
1090 (IBM/Apple II compatible expansion)
Mr. Hardie was to supply proper definitions of this vaporware, but as said earlier, we lost contact. If you are out there Mr. Hardie, please contact me.
From: jhardie@usa.pipeline.com (John Hardie)
1200XLS - 1200XL with the cart port in the center like an 800XL
CORRECTION - 3 1/2 drives
1055 - Kind of a mini 1050.
XF351 - ST drive case
CPM Module. This unit used a 1050 drive case. No model #, just CPM module written on it
Atari Game Brain
Atari CX-2000
Atari CX-2700
Atari CX-5100
Atari Mind-link
Atari 1200XLS
Atari 1450XLD
Atari 1090XL
Atari 800XE - forgot to mention this was the 800XL w/128K and the freddy chip.
Atari XC1411
Atari XTC201
Atari 815
Atari 1055
Atari XF351
Atari 65XEM
Atari CPM module
Atari 6402 prototype board
Atari Good Deals
2600 titles available: Space Invaders 2632; Baseball 2640; Football 2668; Phoenix 2673; Ms. Pac Man 2675; Dig Dug 2677; Battlezone 2681; Galaxian 2684; Gravitar 2685; Jungle Hunt 2688; Kangaroo 2689; Joust 2691; Pole Position 2694; Pac Man Jr. 26123; Solaris 26136; Venture 26145; Dark Chambers 26151; Super Football 26154;
7800 titles available: Ace of Aces 7846; Centipede 7801; Asteroids 7802; Dig Dug 7803; Galaga 7805; Joust 7806; Ms. Pac Man 7807; Pole Position 7808; Xevious 7810; Ball Blazer 7815; Basketball 7824; Hat Trick 7829; Winter Games 7831; Baseball 7834; Cracked 7836; Donkey Kong 7848; Donkey Kong Jr. 7849; Tower Toppler 7856; Jinks 7857; Barnyard Blaster 7859; Mania Challenge 7863; Ninja Golf 7870; Meltdown 7875; Scrap Yard Dog 7879; Midnight Mutants 7889;
These are all new and in original packaging; Your cost is $.80 each FOB. Kansas City, Missouri- we take visa or master or we ship UPS COD (cash or cashiers check) our phone number is 816-531-1177 or fax 816-531-6569. We ship in inner packs of 6, if your wanted 15 titles you would have to buy 90 games. Thank You. Bill Houlehan (oshea@primenet.com)
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Want to print classifieds for free? Classic Atari OnLine is starting a classified section if YOU want it. So send your classified ad to "dschmud@heartland.bradley.edu" for a free add.
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Do you have good Atari programming tips? How about a good Atari program (written by you, of course)? If you do, please contact me. I will, however, ask you to write an article or submit your program to the magazine to share with the Atari world, but you don't have to because all I'm asking right now is to hear your voice. eMail me at "dschmud@heartland.bradley.edu".
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Classic Atari OnLine is available at these fine BBSes:
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:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.David Schmudde can be reached at: dschmud@heartland.bradley.edu
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Atari Classic OnLine publishes every two months on subjects pertaining to Atari 8-bit computers and game systems and contemporary Atari news.
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Some information in the Atari History Section was found in "ZAP! The Rise and Fall of Atari" by Scott Cohen. Copyright 1984. McGraw - Hill Book Company.
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Some information in the Dave's Novice Corner was collected from STart and CSS ads.
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Reprinting articles (in whole or in part) published in Classic Atari OnLine is strictly prohibited unless it is approved by the publisher of Classic Atari OnLine. This magazine may be distributed freely in any media, AS LONG AS the text remains unchanged and all text stays intact. If you would like to reprint an article, send your request to "dschmud@heartland.bradley.edu".
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All materials listed in this magazine are subject to change and Classic Atari OnLine assumes no responsibility for mis-information caused by manufacture's changes after the time of print.
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Atari, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Atari 400, Atari 800, Atari 1200XL, Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari XE Game System, Atari 1050, Atari XF551, Atari Lynx, ComLynx, Atari Jaguar, and the Atari Fuji Symbol are all trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. All other products and brand names are registered trademarks of their respective companies.
We are in no way affiliated with Atari Inc.
Send suggestions, comments and responses to: dschmud@heartland.bradley.edu
Classic Atari OnLine
http://www.ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dschmud/dsatari.html
All rights reserved.
Copyright (C) 1996 by David Schmudde
Volume 1 * Issue 2 * June 1996
