Atari ST Blog - old Atari ST games and software

Panza Kick Boxing 1990 - Loriciel

2008-06-04T06:55:00.001-07:00

You know before this game, Andre Panza? Not me. A very good game, even better to two. With a 1040 could choose his shots among dozens. Many colors on the screen, animation really great (pass therefore your mouse over the boxer left) worked from the digitalisations friend Andre in the studio.

PUBLISHED IN TEST JOYSTICK No. 10 (November 1990):

Drivetrain: reflexes, high, middle or low?

The challenge of Loriciel: to become the best to confront the world champion, Andre Panza. Hey, this is for the false, it is on computer, you're crazy another.
Yeah! of freestylers! Z'y will is the bomb, a set of hip hop!

In Panza Kick Boxing, you start small, with a max of ambition. First, start by creating a character, give him a name (yours will be the case), practice it, and please fight against professional boxers, the lowest in the strongest. I said in passing that all boxers against which you can fight are not unknown, since failure to be true sportsmen, is the team Loriciel you have in front of you. So if you have a tooth against them, do not hesitate to put their full mouth, they are there for that. They are helpful in Loriciel (when a strip-poker in which to undress secretaries?). Two steps are necessary before climbing into the ring. First, the training. To give more chances to your boxer, it will increase its percentage of force him to lift weights, the percentage of reflex hitting at the right time in plots arise from a wall, and his endurance by blowing up the rope. All this happens in the training room.
Who is the most beautiful? So Andre ready for love parade.

I would ask you to kindly follow me now on the table blows. This part of the game you used to select fourteen different strokes among the fifty-five proposed, and install them on the fourteen positions of your joystick available, the positions right and left without pressing fire used to get around. Is it good to leave a minimum of freedom, this bougre. Even a small selection to report: the number of rounds that last battle, with a minimum of three. Once these few details settled, your guy is ready to wipe a fight. We will therefore proceed to the combat phase.

The first player runs the boxer in red pants, the computer or your friend take the blue. A super meuf is in the foreground, indicating the departure of the first round, and let's go. punched in the mouth, helping latte in the elbows, it's hard knocks, while each blow extinguish one of four projectors corresponding to each player. This is the energy level, in fact, dealt with the original. Bulbs extinguished in two stages for small strokes, and one for balaises. Gradually, if you win matches, you will become increasingly strong, and you can fight the boxers greatest. The matches against the big boxers will take place in Room: other decor, with public and glory to the key, the ultimate goal is obviously to combat Panza, the real, the only one, the beautiful, large, the better.
Here it does laughs addition, it is in public, write down the energy level indicated by the spots.

TECHNICAL
All the characters Panza Kick Boxing are digitized, those presented on page menus fighters into the ring. A monstrous job was shot to achieve this simulation sports, with the digitalization of all possible moves. The graphics are very realistic and positions of boxers perfect since everything has been done with the help of Andrew Panza, the real. So no cheating possible, programmers were too afraid to be breaking the mouth by Panza.

The only not be realistic, is the arbitrator who looks like a Tex Avery character. That is to say that in addition to the fine, they do funny at Loriciel. An animation impeccable at any time, the episode training during which you will see your character really realize the hardships, fighting, as true as the téloche. For example, when boxers will take a super potato in cum, it collapses and if all its energy lights are not extinct, it will raise up to be seen stumbling in front of his opponent.
And now, by dint of tap your friend, you've killed. Sacred Andrew. No serious, there's already oranges on the table for when you're in zonzon.

The animation sound is also very present, with "ouch", "oWw" and "pok" digitized during impacts, and the "ding" announcing the end of a round. You order the characters the joystick with a child ease and freedom to adapt according to your liking (for details, see in history, I will still not repeat myself). Let's be frank and did not mince words, Panza Kick Boxing is the best boxing simulation carried out until now, and those who will come behind will be interested to cling to not go unnoticed.

Populous 1989 - Electronic Arts - Bullfrog

2008-06-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Like Tetris, populous created a genre, is the first game where he was to prevail on a whole new world, to be the god. Followed Populous II and III also Populous, many years later and this time on the PC. A new principle at the time. Needless to say, is a masterpiece of originality. The sound effects are digitized, graphics and animations very fine. Populous this many options, 500 levels, the possibility to play two in connecting two st, could even put the game in demo mode, atari against itself. Argument selling point: nothing on TV, watch your st play only a populous and how and dispose of all worlds! :)

PUBLISHED IN TEST TILT No. 65 (April 1989):
Evidence that the game has been refined, if you leave the homepage inactive you will be entitled to this small presentation.

This software is without doubt the strategy game's most original and the most since taking Sentinel. Immerse yourself in a fight without thank you where the gods are fighting for supremacy of the universe. A must!

Imagine for a moment what would be your life if you were God, with the power to do evil and well! Imagine what can feel whoever has the power to shape staggering continents at will, trigger cataclysms whose effects reminiscent of some biblical stories. Euphorisant not? Now let us be even more bold and imagine that you are not the only god in the universe and, of course, you hate your "brothers"! It is well known, there is room for only one Divine Being and you are going to fight to be the One! Name Me! That is the history of this long struggle that Populous recounts. Above all, be aware that this game can be practiced alone (against the computer) or against a human (via modem or by connecting through cable, two computers) .
The skull and crossbones means the red leader.

All the worlds in the universe are listed in the "Book of the Worlds" (there are five cents in the preview that we have). The confrontation happens on a world at once. On screen, this translates into a page open in the famous book that reveals all the continents of the world must take place where the divine struggle. The central part of the screen is reserved for the expansion of a specific point (zoom function) in the world, this is where exercised virtually all interactions. The theme of the game, as we see, rejount a topical: the coexistence of religions! On each world, two populations (blue and red), carried out by their leaders, devoted a boundless worship the god of their symbols: a skull and crossbones (people red) and Ankh (people blue). In solitary, you are the god of blue and your leadership and your symbol, are playing key roles as we shall see further.
Take a good little desert?

The rules governing Populous are more direct, more radical than those of the real world. To win, we must eliminate the adverse population while developing the power and importance of his own. The correlation between the well-being, the power of your people and your degree of power is very close. Indeed, the god that you are derives its mana (power), a source of power, the adoration that you object. More your population is happy and large, the more it gives you energy. The fact that your mana increase is a determining factor for exercising new powers. In other words, you n'exercerez power if your reserve mana permits.

Take a glance at the screen shots and you will see a kind of barometer located in the upper right corner. It informs you permanently on your energy potential and the powers which you are entitled.
The endurance of your people depends on the harsh climate.

These powers have different effects: the creation and modelling of land, triggering earthquakes, creating knights, tidal waves, etc.. The exercise of power each cost of energy, certain actions are more costly than others. Take the example of a vital power and inexpensive: the creation and modelling of land. To ensure the wellbeing of your people (who, in turn, provides you with mana), we must develop the land to encourage housing construction. Create, flatten, raise the land where you want to get flat surfaces. The smallest usable area authorizes the construction of a miserable hut (one case), the largest gives birth to a castle (five cases out of five). Once away from prying eyes, your faithful ... multiply. Then, when a house reaches its full capacity (that is longer or shorter depending on the size of the building), a faithful fate and seeks a flat surface to build a home. The population growth may be rapid if you offer as much space as possible and if your opponent does not use its powers often destruction. In other words, any cataclysm caused the opponent force him to burn his mana to rebuild its camp.

Flood 1990 - Electronic Arts - Bullfrog

2008-06-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

Thursday platforms Bullfrog. The character can hang on the walls, water rises and a ghost follows you to reproduce all your previous movements. All this contributes to alter the playability of this type of games and renews the genre. Sounds digitized, many levels.
NOTE: On the home page asks you a password. Press directly on action. Then comes a selection of countries, you can choose the first, press Action. You must then answer a question whose answer is displayed right next door, recopiez there (it is often 'derek md "), press enter and that's it.

LEVELS OF CODES:

FROG, YEAR, QUIF, LONG, WORD, FRED, WINE, GRIP, TRAP, THUD, FRAK, VINE, JUMP, NILL, FOUR, GRIT, ZING, JING, LIDO, POOL, HATE, REED, LIME, QUID, WING, FLEE, GIGA, HEAD, LOOP, SING, JOUX, PINK, GOGO, LETS, QUAD, BRIL, EGGS, HENS, NAIL, SOAP, FOAM, MEEK

TEST PUBLISHED IN GENERATION 4:

After the resounding success of Populous, everybody expected the new software team Bullfrog. And even if Flood tranche radically on the latter, we must admit that we are not disappointed! This time it is a set of tables in which the player must lead Quiffy, the name of the character, through 42 (yes!) Levels are broken down as follows: 36 levels so-called "normal" and 6 slightly harder.

Until then, Quiffy and his peers were living peacefully in underground caverns, feeding waste left by an ancient civilization. Unfortunately, this territory was invaded by vile creatures, distant cousins Quiffy they declared war. In this fight without thank you, Quiffy is now the only survivor. And as if that were not enough, now the elements liguent against Quiffy, spilling huge amounts of water in these caves. This latest misadventure require Quiffy to leave its territory and back to the surface.

Of course, like all games tables, Flood has many pitfalls with levels increasingly difficult. Do not think as far as traditional software. Indeed, from the first part, we feel the label Bullfrog. Flood is an incredible wealth, full of ideas and especially a copy playability.

At the beginning of each level, you start without any defence, it is firstly to find a weapon, which is virtually différenter each time (in the first four levels in any case). For example, at the first level, Quiffy pick up grenades, in the second sticks of dynamite in the third a boomerang, a flame-throwers in the fourth ... Attention, all these weapons are used not only in the same way. Indeed, if the launch boomerang poses no risk to Quiffy, it is otherwise in grenades or dynamite. In recent exploding over an area quite extensive, it is to avoid the shock wave.

In its rebound in the open air, remember that Quiffy needed food and before moving to the next level through a teleporter, you need to collect all these bins on the screen. Besides a meter tells you the number of bins remaining to be collected. Another difficulty, some parts of level are not directly accessible. Again, teleporters are present and you can reach these areas. But that's not all, the game contains many other surprises.

For example, the fifth level you must bring inflatable balloons and trigger the same time a battery of missiles, but it is a necessary evil. Once your meter to zero, do not hesitate to plunge into the void to find the exit, without this invisible ploy. The balloons let you float in the air. Know that in each table, you can obtain a password. To do so simply pick up the question marks! And if you do not find it, try to switch some levers, perhaps appear?

Regarding the enemies, they all have specific characteristics, requiring a long learning (or excessive caution) to find their weak points and use them against them. But the toughest is undoubtedly the ghost, appearing after a few seconds of the game and refaisant at any point your remarkable courses. As it goes faster, he would soon catch up with you.

Finally, the last event: water. indeed, except in certain levels, the water will rise gradually, forcing Quiffy to quickly, very quickly (in case of a prolonged apnea, he will see his life fall quickly). To avoid all these pitfalls, the authors have provided Quiffy a fairly interesting feature: it has the opportunity to move on any side of the decor (the ceiling or on walls for example) unless it is composed of water or fire. this option opens up wide horizons for Quiffy, you can use them!

In terms of achievement, Flood is superb! sompteux of graphics (even if sprites are small), good leadership and excellent sound effects come to bear on Thursday A software exciting to have absolutely!

2008-06-03T09:04:00.001-07:00

Is there a program that will allow me to read Atari ST discs
on my Macintosh.

I'm setting up terminal programs to transfer data, but the disc
drive in my ST is dying, so I need a way to get the data of my
ST discs.

If you could also suggest a download site, it would be appreciated

Please respond via E-Mail,

Thanks in advance.

2008-06-03T09:03:00.001-07:00

How many of the coders that do PC demos today started on the ST? Does
anyone still make ST/STE Demos? If not,what were the last ones made and
where can I get them? I want to collect ST/STE demos.I have a few
already,but I want to get all the latest and best ones.Also,more
specifically,does anyone know where I can find the Metallica Master of
Puppets demo for the ST?I have to say that actually,the ST demos impress me
more than the PC ones because of what they are working with.Except for the
4k PC demos,those are mind blowing.Thanks for any help you can
provide.-Satcom2

2008-06-03T09:02:00.003-07:00

I recall reading somewhere that Dragon's Lair was released for
the ATARI ST on a Laserdisc format. I don't know the specifics, but
there was some sort of a hardware device involved. If anyone has any
more info please reply.

2008-06-03T09:02:00.001-07:00

Folks, I hate to tell everyone this but the Jaguar is nothing but the lame
old Atari ST architecture. It is driven by the 68000 and has the same lame
underlying coprocessor architecture with a slightly wider data bus. The
"64 bit RISC chips" that Atari brags about are nothing more than
slightly souped up versions of the CISC coprocessors in the ST. Because
the developers are under nondisclosure, we never hear about this. The sad
fact is that Raiden was ported from the Falcon with VERY FEW changes
in the code. Essentially it is the same game running on the same
architecture with the same coprocessor calls. And believe me IT SHOWS!
Cybermorph also clearly demonstrates a gross lack of processing capability.
Atari tossed in a fairly lame variant of Gouraud shading which is seen in the
slow and very boring Cybermorph game. Funny thing is that even with Gouraud
shading in hardware most of the polygons in CM are solid fill and the frame
rate still stinks with a clipped horizon and lots of rotation restrictions.
Tempest 2000? What the h*ll is impressive about this!? A simple little
bitmap of a geometric object that gets scaled and moved with some color
cycling (accomplished in a few lines of code by modifying the color palette).
I've written 6502 assembly for the Apple II that accomplishes the same
effects.

If Jaguar is not a hacked apart ST, then why did they include the LAME
68000 in there? Can you imagine if 3DO had put a 68000 in their machine
and Jag only had custom chips?! Jung & Co would rip 3DO to shreds day after
day and blame each and every instance of 3DO slowdown on its lame core
processor. Can you imagine if Raiden had been released on the 3DO? Or
Trevor McFur? Jaguar advocates would proclaim it a lame Genesis clone
that could only do side scrolling shooters. Mr Jung and his buddies would
state that Jaguar was the next generation and hence would not drop so
low as to port sorry old 1980's arcade games. As this is exactly the path
Atari took, however, they defend this garbageware!!

2008-06-03T09:01:00.005-07:00

Hello to all ST owners,
This is to tell you about a new game that is coming out on the ATARI
ST in the next few weeks. Here's what ST-Format had to say about it:-

HOLLYWOOD HUSTLER ST-FORMAT PREVIEW

PRODUCED & DISTRIBUTED
BY DESERT STAR SOFTWARE
MACHINES - ALL ST/STFM/STEs (1 MEG & ABOVE)
PRICE - TBA
RELEASE - MID-FEB

COMING FROM THE NEWLY FORMED DESERT STAR SOFTWARE, HOLLYWOOD
HUSTLER HAS TO BE THE CLOSEST THING TO INTERACTIVE VIDEO
WE'VE SEEN ON THE ST! YOU FOLLOW THE STORY OF A YOUNG
DAVID ESSEX LOOKALIKE, WHO'S ON A QUEST TO RETRIEVE HIS
WAYWARD GIRLFRIEND BY GAMBLING (SO THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE!")

COMPLETE WITH A CAST OF UNSHAVEN ACTORS IN ILL-FITTING
SHIRTS, HUSTLER COMBINES DIGITISED ANIMATION (FILMED ON
LOCATION IN HOLLYWOOD AND HULL ALIKE) WITH SAMPLED SOUND
TO A MORE UPTO-DATE FEEL TO THE GAME.

AT ITS CORE HOLLYWOOD HUSTLER IS A FIVE CARD POKER
GAME (THE FIRST LIVE-ACTION POKER GAME ON ANY FORMAT...
PC INCLUDED)... AND CONTAINS SOME SCENES THAT COULD BE
UNSUITABLE FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES, BUT WITHOUT BEING AT ALL
OFFENSIVE OR EXPLICIT.... HUSTLER SHOULD BE REARING ITS
HEAD SOON!

2008-06-03T09:01:00.001-07:00

Is it possible to read floppy disks from an Atari ST (running TOS, not
68kLinux) under Linux?
If so, where can I get the necessary software to do this?

2008-06-03T09:00:00.001-07:00

I've just obtained a ZyXEL 1496E modem, which I wanted to use with my Atari ST.
Unfortunately, there is a problem: Although the modem works just fine on a
486/33 PC, it won't work on the ST, as the DTE signal from the ST is not
accepted by the modem (I did try it on another ST, so its not just my ST's
serial port malfunctioning). The DTE LED on the modem flashes on and off
rapidly sometimes, sometimes it's just off, although it is connected to the
ST. If (by chance) the DTE is on (for a short time), it's possible to send
data to the modem and vice versa (self-tests are all o.k.), but this only
works for a few seconds.
Has anybody experienced the same troubles and could offer some advice to solve
this rather annoying problem ?

2008-06-03T08:59:00.001-07:00

Can someone give me an explaination of the graphics (not text) modes available
on the Atari ST? I'm reading through some file format specs for the Atari ST
(NEO, PI, PC, TNY, etc.) and I see mention of low, medium, and high resolutions,
but nothing on the size and pixel depth of these resolutions. The standard
screenshot size seems to be 320x200, but the Atari FAQ lists 320x192 as a
standard graphics resolution. The FAQ also does not explain "overscanned" and
"underscanned" modes. I assume this is how Atari achieves 640x200x4 resolution?

Somebody care to enlighten me? Thanks much.

2008-06-03T08:57:00.001-07:00

Is it possible to read floppy disks from an Atari ST (running TOS, not
68kLinux) under Linux?
If so, where can I get the necessary software to do this?

2008-06-03T08:56:00.002-07:00

Hi,

Can anyone point me in the direction of WP software for the Atari ST available
on disk (Pref shareware/cheap, pref UK).

A friend of mine has recenly aquired an Atari ST and has no disks or manuals
he would also like to connect an electronic keyboard to it via the MIDI port.

I beleive the OS is in ROM so he doesn't need OS disks, is this correct.

If anyone out there has time to answer a newbies questions or can point me to
an ST FAQ i'd be gratefull.

Thanks for listening

2008-06-03T08:56:00.001-07:00

<<<<(warning, a confusing post)>>>>

"I remember the good old 1980's. When things were so uncomplicated. I wish
I could go back there again, and everything be the same." - Jeff Lynn

*Sigh*. Are you glad its over? This past year was hard. Atari is sort of
like the sick Uncle. You don't want him to go, but seeing him get sicker
and sicker each day was harder that if he just up and died. Maybe now we
can move on. Atari isn't going to make a come back. Its unfair I tell ya!

My thoughts

- The Jaguar -
A 135,000 units????? Worst still, STreport seems to think that number might
be padded. Now I'm amazed that 50 games got made for it. I'm fairly sure
that even the Channel F system sold more that 135k. Does this make the Jag
the worst selling system ever? Even the Lynx sold a million units. Gee
after arguing on Fidonet and here that the Jag sold 400k I feel real stupid
now. I guess the sales figures ment that the games sold really well
considering the small user base. I've enjoyed my Jag just like I enjoyed
the 2600, 7800, etc... With games like Tempest 2000, it will continued to
get play for another few years. Maybe we'll see a game or two more but I'm
not likely to buy another game for it. You know what I'll remember? The
cute little hum my Jag makes.

-The computers-
Now these are the owners that I feel sorry for. Jag owners, like myself,
atlest don't have that much invested. Although I guess Atari died for you a
long time ago. It could be worst I guess. Amiga keeps changing hands with
no developments and Apple is doing its best to die. (Powerbooks with ears
by Ross Perot. What are they thinking?) I still remember ads from Compute!
magazine. Proffessional ads for the ST. It was the Jackintosh. Atlest it
sold better than the Jag. :(

-JTS-
Who are they kidding? Even if they continue in videogames, who is going to
buy something from JTS?

-The future-
Its really odd. With Atari offically dead, I don't even want to collect the
old systems anymore. Maybe I'll come to my senses later...

Old emails from my atari archive.. (sorry for formatting)

2008-05-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry if the Subject: seems a little confusing. I'm not quite sure how to
summarize this. Anyway, stuff of interest to Atari-watchers, I'm sure.
Everything's from memory, so I may have a few details off, but the gist is
here...

I was invited to sit in this afternoon at a briefing session about Atari's
attempts to improve retailer relationships, distribution, and market analysis.
The session was headed by Derek Wong of Wong & Associates, who are Atari's
retailer contact point for the California/Hawaii area. Wong & Associates
also do work for Sega, Capcom, and other video game companies, so they know
quite a bit about the industry as a whole.

Anyway, it seems that Atari recognizes that their relationship with the
retailers needs improvement. So to fix that, they're trying a strategy to
"build bridges," in hopes that having friendlier retailers on their side will
help sell more Jaguars. Since the Southern California (Los Angeles and Orange
County) area is their biggest market, they're going to try a test-market down
here (almost two hundred retailers all together, if I've done my math right).

Ideally, Atari wants:

* To improve relationships with their established retailers in the area,
* To identify problems retailers are having that may stop them from selling
more Jaguars (such as distribution or quantity),
* To find out what games are selling, how many titles the stores carry, and
how salespeople and managers feel about Atari's efforts.

If this test plan is successful (it gets retailers enthused about selling
the Jaguar and backing Atari), it will be expanded nationwide. Again, this is
currently in the concept/testing stages more than anything else.

So what's the test plan?

1. Each dealer/outlet will be given several Jaguar games (ALIEN VS. PREDATOR,
DOOM, VAL D'ISERE SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING, IRON SOLDIER, and TEMPEST 2000).
These games are *FREE* to the store. If the manager wants to sell them, it's
an extra $150-$200 in profit right there. If the clerks want to keep them for
their own play, that's cool too.

2. If they want it, each dealer/outlet will receive a free set of Jaguar
merchandising material. This consists of a counter card, brochures, a
"dangler", a window decal, and a poster. Both the card and the poster
emphasize the $159 SRP price for the Jaguar; this is Atari's big push here,
the new lower price.

3. If they want it, each dealer/outlet can get a Jaguar kiosk as well. They
merely have to tell the Atari rep, who will forward the request for a *FREE*
kiosk to set up in the store. Those things cost $1300+ each, by the way...

4. The Atari representative will ask the dealer/manager about their feelings
with Atari and the Jaguar. They'll ask about sales (units sold, best-selling
games, etc.), suggestions, problems, advertising impressions, whatever.

--> For people in the Southern California area, Atari will be running a month-
long television advertising campaign (as part of this test) to promote the new
$159 price point. A new commercial is ready to roll, highlighting the best
games out now and showing quick glances at new titles (RAYMAN, FIGHT FOR LIFE,
BURN OUT, HOVER STRIKE, and ULTRA VORTEX were ones I remember seeing). If
you're in the area, check out KCOP, KTLA, and KCAL for commercials. Best
times to watch would be during local basketball games, weekend movies, STAR
TREK: VOYAGER, BABYLON 5, and AMERICAN GLADIATORS. Write if you want more
details (yes, I have a copy of the planned commercial air dates).

5. Finally, after everything's been handed out, Wong & Associates will gather
the data, forward and requests, answer questions, and look at trends and
problems and whatnot.

Again, this is the short-term effort; what happens next will depend on how
the results look.

Since the discussion was very free-form, a lot of interesting information
also popped out onto the table. In no particular order:

* There is a very good chance that RAYMAN will be distributed/marketed by
Atari themselves, and not Ubi Soft. Advance word is that the game looks,
sounds, and plays better than DONKEY KONG COUNTRY, BTW.

* Advance word from the magazines is that ULTRA VORTEX got "great" reviews.
UV may also be distributed by Atari as well (I'm a little hazy on this point).

* The $199 Jaguar + pack-in game deals are history.

* The $159 Jaguar packages apparently came directly from Jack Tramiel himself.
While Sam and Gary and Leonard were toying around with the idea of discount
coupons after the Winter CES, Jack just said, "Why don't we knock the price
down to $159?" The idea is to duplicate the success of the Commodore 64 by
pricing it so low that people -can't- pass up the deal.

* The Jaguar CD-ROM is finished and piled up in warehouses. Atari is only
waiting for an impressive pack-in game to be finished (which IMO implies that
it will -not- be VID GRID). The pack-in was not specified; the current target
is to have Jaguar CDs on store shelves in time for E3.

* 20% of all video-game console sales are in Southern California alone.

* Atari's new director of game development (I didn't catch his name, sorry)
comes directly from Sega.

* Everyone present agreed that more games, and more impressive games, are
needed. "The lower price is PART of the solution, but not THE solution."

* Enthusiasm at Atari is still high; the falling Yen gives Atari more time
to establish a hold before the PlayStation and the Saturn and the Ultra 64
arrive, as the low-cost alternative.

* Atari can operate with as little as $12 million a year; the $90 million
from Sega is more than enough to keep the company going for several years,
easily.

Anyway, I hope you found this glimpse at Atari's efforts interesting, at
least. I thought it was interesting; it wasn't a blind "rah-rah" cheerleader
effort, and it wasn't an indifferent chore, either. Feel free to ask
questions; I can't promise I'll answer them all, but... B-)

Old email's archive (2)

2008-05-29T09:12:00.002-07:00

* Originally from Area 'A.ATARI'
* Originally from Dave Lee on 51:5/6, 12 Oct 96 22:43:00
* Originally to All
* Forwarded by Terry May on 1:209/745, 15 Oct 96 11:06:20

The following message is from Ex-employee Don Thomas of Atari
(he's now working for Sony with the PlayStation). It's an
interesting message. If you haven't seen it yet, capture it
and read it. It's thought provoking. Be warned though - this
is a *LONG* post, so capture it!!
<300 lines so it is in two 150 line posts>
-!-

Did you hear anyone say "Goodbye" ?
===================================
by Donald A. Thomas, Jr. (96.10.04)

It's odd to imagine an institution, which was as big and as
powerful as Atari once was, to have been shut down in recent
days. The real amazement for me is that it was all accomplished
without a measurable flinch from within or outside the gaming
industry. I can understand that gamers wanted to push Pong out
the door early in the timeline. I can appreciate that the
classics such as Missile Command and Asteroids do not push
32-bit and 64-bit systems to any technological limits. I know
all these things intellectually, but the heart cannot face the
truth that the world and the corporate machine known as Atari
could not find an amicable way to coexist.

On Tuesday, July 30, 1996, Atari Corporation took each and
every share of it's company (ATC), wrapped them all in a tight
bundle and presented them to JTS Corporation; a maker and
distributor of hard disk drives. On Wednesday, the shares were
traded under the symbol of JTS. Within a few weeks, the
remaining staff of Atari that were not dismissed or did not
resign, moved to JTS' headquarters in San Jose, California.
The three people were assigned to different areas of the
building and all that really remains of the Atari namesake is a
Santa Clara warehouse full of unsold Jaguar and Lynx products.

It was only as long ago as mid 1995 that Atari executives
and staff believed things were finally taking a better turn.
Wal*Mart had agreed to place Jaguar game systems in 400 of their
Superstores across the country. Largely based on this promise
of new hope and the opportunities that open when such deals are
made, Atari invested heavily in the product and mechanisms
required to serve the Wal*Mart chain. But the philosophical
beliefs of the Atari decision makers that great products never
need advertising or promotions, put the Wal*Mart deal straight
into a tailspin. With money tied up in the product on shelves
as well as the costs to distribute them to get there, not much
was left to saturate any marketplace with advertising. While
parents rushed into stores to get their kids Saturns or
PlayStations, the few that picked up the Jaguar were chastised
by disappointed children on Christmas day.

In an effort to salvage the pending Wal*Mart situation,
desperate attempts to run infomercials across the country
were activated. The programs were professionally produced
by experts in the infomercial industry and designed to permit
Atari to run slightly different offers in different markets.
In spite of the relatively low cost of running infomercials,
the cost to produce them and support them is very high. The
results were disappointing. Of the few thousand people who
actually placed orders, many of them returned their purchases
after the Holidays. The kids wanted what they saw on TV during
the day! They wanted what their friends had! They wanted what
the magazines were raving about!

In early 1996, Wal*Mart began returning all remaining inventory
of Jaguar products. After reversing an "advertising allowance"
Atari was obligated to accept, the net benefit Atari realized
was an overflowing warehouse of inventory in semi-crushed boxes
and with firmly affixed price and security tags. Unable to find
a retailer willing to help distribute the numbers required to
stay afloat, Atari virtually discontinued operations and traded
any remaining cash to JTS in exchange for a graceful way to exit
the industry's back door.

Now that JTS has "absorbed" Atari, it really doesn't know what
to do with the bulk of machines Atari hoped to sell. It is
difficult to liquidate them. Even at liquidation prices,
consumers expect a minimal level of support which JTS has no
means to offer. The hundreds of calls they receive from
consumers that track them down each week are answered to the
best ability of one person. Inquiries with regard to licensing
Atari classic favorites for other applications such as handheld
games are handled by Mr. John Skruch who was with Atari for over
13 years.

In spite of Nintendo's claim that their newest game system is
the first 64-bit game system on the market, Atari Corporation
actually introduced the first 64- bit system just before
Christmas in 1993. Since Atari couldn't afford to launch the
system nationwide, the system was introduced in the New York and
San Francisco markets first. Beating the 32-bit systems to the
punch (Saturn/PlayStation), Atari enjoyed moderate success with
the Jaguar system and managed to lure shallow promises from
third-party companies to support the system. Unfortunately,
programmers grossly underestimated the time required to develop
64-bit games. The jump from 8-bit and 16-bit was wider than
anticipated. In addition, Atari was already spread thin,
monetarily, but were required to finance almost every title
that was in development.

After the initial launch, it took Atari almost a year before an
assortment of games began to hit store shelves. Even then,
having missed the '94 Holiday Season, many of the planned titles
were de-accelerated to minimize problems caused by rushing things
too fast. Consumers were not happy and retailers were equally
dismayed. The few ads that Atari was able to place in magazines
were often stating incorrect release dates because that
information changed almost every day although magazines deadline
their issues up to 120 days in advance.

It was in 1983 that Warner Communications handed Jack Tramiel
the reins of Atari. By this time, Atari was often categorized
as a household name, but few households wanted to spend much
money on new software and the systems were lasting forever.
No one needed to buy new ones. That, combined with Warner's
obscene spending, amounted to a *daily loss* of over $2 million.

Atari was physically spread all over the Silicon Valley with
personnel and equipment in literally 80 separate buildings; not
considering international offices and manufacturing facilities
Mr. Tramiel took only the home consumer branch of Atari and
forced Warner to deal with the arcade division separately.

Within a few years, Jack took the company public, introduced
an innovative new line of affordable 16-bit computers and
released the 7800 video game system.

To accomplish these miracles for Atari, Jack implemented his
"business is war" policies. While people who publicly quoted
his statement often felt that policy meant being extremely
aggressive in the marketplace, the meaning actually had closer
ties to Tramiel's experience as a concentration camp survivor.

Of the 80 buildings in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Milpitas,
almost every one of them were amputated from Atari's body
of liabilities. The people, the work, the heritage, the
history were fired or liquidated. Those who survived were
unsympathetically required to fill in the gaps and while
most tried, few actually found a way to be successfully do
what a dozen people before them did.

Atop the mountain, Jack pressed with an iron thumb. All
Fed/Ex mailings were required to be pre-approved by one of
a handful of people. "Unsigned" purchase orders went unpaid
regardless of the urgencies that inspired their creation.
Employees found themselves spending valuable time trying to
find ways around the system to accomplish their jobs. Many
of them lost their jobs for bending the rules or never finding
a way to make things work. As horrible as it all sounds, it
actually was the only way to protect Atari as a company and
give it a chance to survive as it did and did very well.

Old emails from my archive (part 1)

2008-05-29T09:12:00.001-07:00

I am updating my list of all carts available for the Atari 8bits, and I would
appreciate some help. Here are some specific carts I am trying to verify the
existence of or find more information on.

Atari Berzerk
Atari Xevious

I know I've played both but I don't remember if they were on cart or disk.
I'm not sure if Berzerk was an Atari game or not either.

Atari Blast 'Em

This is a rumored XEGS game but I've never come across anyone who has it.

Atari Kangaroo

Were prototype carts made of this? I know about the bootleg file version.

Atari Macro Assembler

Was this ever released on a cart?

Atari RX8028 Soccer

I have an Atari catalog with this in it (along with a screen shot), yet
I've never seen one. Anyone have it?

Atari RX8037 Star Trux
Atari Superman III
Atari Super PILOT (programming language)
Atari CA400201 XE Demo cart (4 games)

I don't know anything about these. They were taken from someone else's list
which indicated them as never released. Were prototypes made?

Big Five Scraper Caper

Was there a cart version or only a disk?

Parker Bros. Montezuma's Revenge

I have the 16K disk version and I've played the 32K disk version as well.
Was the 16K version made into a cart?

Parker Bros. Mr. Do's Castle

I've seen this on other lists but as far as I know this game was never coded
for the Atari 8bits. (Someone please prove me wrong!) Is there some remote
chance a prototype exists?

Frogger II: Threedeep

Who released this cart, Parker Bros. or Sega?

Synapse Encounter
Synapse Zeppelin

Were these released on cart or only disk?

Bumper Bash
Micro Maestro
Spider City

Any idea who released these carts?

Finally, anyone know of a cart released by Tensor Technologies? If so, what
was it?

Thanks for any help.

Blog map

2007-11-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

Hi, here is some recent post. This is like small blog map:

Ghosts' N Goblins ("Demon World Village")

"Lemmings" - classic game, some info

Atari teenage riot

Atari 5200

Atari 2600 model information

ZX Spectrum (not Atari, but.. :)

The history of video games (thanks to Paul :)

Atari Falcon 030

Atari TT

TOS

Ghosts' N Goblins ("Demon World Village")

2007-11-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

Ghosts' N Goblins ("Demon World Village" in Japan) is a set of platform Capcom, released in 1985 on video arcade. Three suites official saw then on the day, Ghouls' n Ghosts, Super Ghouls' n Ghosts and Ultimate Ghosts' N Goblins, while the first album was ported to many platforms.

Ghosts' N Goblins is a platform game where the player controls a knight named Arthur, who must fight zombies, demons and other undead in order to save a princess. During the game, the player harvesting various new weapons, as well as bonuses and pieces of armor that will help him in his task. This game is often considered very difficult in the standard arcade game and the same goes for versions family.

"Lemmings" - classic game, some info

2007-11-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

Lemmings is a game in two dimensions. The aim of the game is to guide dozens of lemmings, tiny humanoid creatures in the dress blue and green hair in levels in the architecture convoluted. Up to one hundred lemmings come to the queue leu leu in the scene by one or more traps.

The lemmings do not think they always progressing right in front of them, regardless of the danger that presents itself (ravine, drowning, fire trap). To guide lemmings to the exit door, the player has eight different abilities that he can give them at any time: parachuting, construction of stairs 12 steps, blocking, mountaineering, drilling, by self explosion destruction, and so on. The number of use skills are limited, it is therefore thought about the company not to see lemmings remain blocked or die in the chain. Each level consists of a stage, a panel of skills, a percentage of lemmings to save and a limited time. A level is successful when the player is able to bring in enough time lemmings to the exit.

The first version of the game offers 120 levels with the difficulty gradually. Some decorations back, each time with fewer skills, less time or more lemmings to save. Some versions also include a two-player mode; This is notably the case of the Amiga, Atari ST, Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. In this mode, players are given a way out different and the goal is to bring as many lemmings that the opponent. The tactic here is different, and often invol.

Atari teenage riot

2007-11-02T07:48:00.001-07:00

Mark (tubularbrain at yandex dot ru) just send me this strange text:

Atari Teenage Riot (ATR) is a group Digital Hardcore created in 1992 in Berlin by Alec Empire, and Carl Crack Hanin Elias, joined in 1997 by Nic Endo.

Politically committed, the group claims anti-nazi, with anarchist and anti-fascist lyrics to countenance punk and a musical style emerging in a new form techno, later called digital hardcore. Alec Empire resume thereafter the term to create a new label. The group takes the decline in 2000 due to various problems with Hanin Elias and Carl Crack remains immersed in drugs and especially after a huge tour of Europe as part of Nine Inch Nails for the Fragile tour. Atari Teenage Riot finally stops while Carl Crack died of an overdose in 2001, at the age of 30 years. Alec Empire avouera later that the 4th album was almost ready. It will never be finalized due to be missing some parts of Carl Crack. Often asked about a possible return of ATR, he categorically denied in deference to Carl Crack.

Was also scheduled the release of a live DVD, which has not yet emerged. Recently released an album containing a retrospective of 8 years old Atari Teenage Riot (1992-2000). In the booklet explains Alec Empire at length the establishment of the group until his arrest with various anecdotes.

Atari 5200

2007-11-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

The Atari 5200 is a video game console Atari released in 1982.

It is created to compete with the consoles Coleco and Mattel, which at this time are more powerful and less expensive market. The Atari 5200 is essentially an Atari 400 without keyboard. This proved that the concepts of Atari can quickly adapt to the market.

The console brings a new revolutionary joystick with a handle analog and function keys (start, pause, reset). She enjoys other innovations as an automatic firing and 4 ports joystick. The design of the handle without centering is no advantage and unreliable, irritating many buyers.

While the 5200 collection of many followers with a library of high quality games, it has to face a new competition with the Colecovision and an economy that is becoming increasingly flagging. The question of which system would be superior to another has become useless when the games market collapsed in 1983-1984, killing the two consoles in their perfection.

Technical Specifications

CPU: 6502C clocked at 1.79MHz
Display resolution: 320x192 pixels, 16 colors on the screen (about 256)
Sound: 4 lanes RAM: 16K

Atari 2600 model information

2007-11-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

The Atari 2600 is a game console video produced by Atari from 1977 to 1991.

This is the second console to use a system of cartridges, after the Fairchild Channel F. Recall that the Odyssey is simply the first console. Released in October 1977, the Atari 2600 is the second console cartridges, sold one year after the Fairchild Channel F. Previously, the previous consoles had one or more games incorporated. In the beginning, his name is Atari VCS for Video Computer System.

The name Atari 2600 was used for the first time in 1982 when it is removed from the Atari 5200. It is also one of the biggest successes in the history of video games. This console was sold during 14 years, a new record for longevity in this industry. Atari VCS 2600 model 2Mais Atari does not pays its developers proportion to the success of the Games.

Rick Mauer, the programmer of Space Invaders, receives only 11000 $ for his work, while the game provides more than 100 million dollars to Atari. Warren Robinett, the chief programmer of Adventure, protests against the policy of anonymity Atari. The company does not publish the names of the employees who participated in the project. Warren Robinett wrote her name on a piece hidden in the game, it was the first Easter egg. Many other programmers leave the company to set up businesses developers independent video game, Activision is one of them. Atari is trying to block external developments for the Atari 2600 in a complaint, but Justice installment favorably for the developers third. Atari also suffers from an image problem due to a number of pornographic games like Custer's Revenge produced by Mystic.

This console brought in a lot of money to the company until 1983 about Atari and the fall of video games market with more than 25 million games were sold. Sold mainly in Europe and the United States, it ceased to be produced in 1991.

Technical specifications:

CPU: MOS Technology 6507 at 1.19 MHz
Audio and video processor: TIA Resolution: 160x192 Colors: 128 (16 colors with 8 levels of intensity each) Son: Two lanes mono Memory: 128 bytes VLSI Mass storage (cartridges games): 2 KB to 64 KB Input connectors: Two ports DB9 for joysticks, paddles, "trackballs, and keyboards 12-touches (0-9, #, *) Six switches (original version) / Off, Signal TV (black and white or color), Difficulty for each player (called A and B), Select and Reset
Output connectors: black and white or color (NTSC or PAL) and its output.

ZX Spectrum (not Atari, but.. :)

2007-11-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

The ZX Spectrum is a small personal computer on the market in the United Kingdom in 1982. Based on the processor Zilog Z80 running at 3.5 MHz, the Spectrum was sold with either 16 or 48 kilobytes of memory (an extension was also available to increase from 16 to 48 kilobytes). Sold for 125 pound sterling (GBP) for the model 16 Kio and 175 GBP for the model 48 Kio, the Spectrum was the first personal computer the general public in Britain, similar in importance to the Commodore 64 in the United States (who was also Spectrum of a rival in Europe).

A slightly modified version of the Spectrum, in a silver body with hard plastic keys, was sold in the United States by Timex as the TS2068. He had an extension ROM 8 Kio additional cartridges for a port, two ports for joysticks and a microprocessor audio AY-3-8912; BASIC commands and additional order this material (STICK, SOUND). In the following models are the ZX Spectrum +, with an improved keyboard, and the ZX Spectrum 128, with better sound and 128 Kio RAM. After the purchase by Amstrad Sinclair Research in 1986, two additional versions were created: the ZX Spectrum +2 with a tape recorder included in the machine, and the ZX Spectrum +3 with a floppy 3 inches included.

A number of major game developers today began their careers on the ZX Spectrum, as Ultimate Play The game (today Rare, Inc.), Peter Molyneux (ex-Bullfrog Games), and Shiny Entertainment. Several clones were produced, particularly in Eastern Europe (Elwro, HC85), and South America. Some are still in production, such as the Sprinter Didaktik and Peters Ltd Plus. The video output was on a television with a color display. A keyboard with rubber above the membrane (similar to a calculator) inscription recalling keywords in the BASIC. Thus, in programming mode, pressing the 'G', for example, inserts the command BASIC GOTO. The programs were recorded on a tape recorder classic. Particularly in light of slow current technologies, it was not uncommon to load a program for 20 minutes before you can use, which prompted the manufacturer to develop its own system backup. The video display of Spectrum, although rudimentary compared to current standards, was perfect at the time for viewing on television and laptops has not been a hindrance to the development of video games. The text mode is 32 columns on 23 lines with a choice of eight colors in a normal mode is either brilliant, giving sixteen shades.

The graphic resolution is 256 × 192 with the same limitations of colors. The Spectrum has an interesting approach to color management; Attributes colors are in a grid of 32 by 24, separate data graphics and text, with a limitation to only two colors per cell. This led to what was called color attribute clash or clash (collision of colors or attributes) that caused strange effects in the arcade-style games. Regarding sound, a simple beeper managed more or less to emit sounds rudimentary. For information, the command BEEP accepted that 2 parameters: the frequency and duration of the beep. No envelope or volume, the ZX Spectrum leaving such sophistications to competition.

However the shooting was later corrected on the ZX Spectrum 128 by the addition of a Yamaha AY-3-8912 (identical to MSX, Amstrad CPC, etc.).

The history of video games (thanks to Paul :)

2007-11-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

The early history of video games is relatively unclear given that the very notion of video game is not exactly framed and is the subject of debate among specialists.

According to the definition that we accept video game, its history can begin around 1950 with the idea of Ralph Baer or 1952 with OXO, 1958 with Tennis for Two or 1962 with Spacewar, which is the earliest commonly accepted. Pong in turn is the first game where the gameplay was addictive and catchy enough to make him succeed with the general public. If Pong did not invent the game, he kicked off the industry vidéoludique. This an explosive growth and fever in the United States until 1983 when it undergoes a crash that has migrated to Japan. There she sees its renaissance, especially through the NES and Nintendo's Super Mario Bros.. In 1985, which inaugurates a new philosophy in the design of video games: more affluent and open to all audiences. Since then, the video game industry continues to grow, and from 2002 its turnover exceeded that of world cinema.

To be continued.

Atari Falcon 030

2007-11-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

The Atari Falcon030 is an Atari computer-based microprocessor Motorola 68030 and the DSP Motorola 56001. The latest of the family Atari ST, the Falcon has emerged in France in 1992.

The original two machines were scheduled, entry-level version called Falcon 030 based on the architecture of the Atari ST with a microprocessor Motorola 68030 and a more advanced version called Falcon 040 with a completely new architecture microprocessor and a Motorola 68040 . This model will never be marketed.

The Falcon has been marketed in several versions, with 1, 4 or 14 MB RAM, with or without a hard drive (open version). The open version 4 million was sold 4990 francs without french screen. The hard drive included with generally a hard drive 2 "½ to 80 MB Thereafter retailers have changed the Falcon open to be sold with hard drives 3" from the world ½ PC much cheaper, so in 1994 appeared versions with hard drive 420 MB If the Falcon was a real novelty when it was announced in 1992, it will come too late to compete with home computers that are becoming ever more powerful and less expensive. In addition expandability was limited and the slate of dedicated software was paying scant although in the long term it has covered all areas.

This will be the last computer designed by Atari. After abandoning its production, it will be resumed for a time by the company C-LAB under the name Falcon Mark I, Mark II Falcon with input / output and improved its Falcon MKX in a brand new rack enclosure dedicated to professional musicians.

Atari TT

2007-11-01T11:36:00.001-07:00

The Atari TT (or TT030) is a personal computer produced by the firm Atari. Presented as the successor to the Atari ST. It was based on the microprocessor Motorola 68030 with the design and power of a workstation with a separate keyboard rather than a family computer as ST. The TT should leave in the first place in 1988, but it n'apparut not on the market before 1990. It was not really a commercial success.

The abbreviation 'TT' come from English Thirtytwo-Thirtytwo (32-32), as the abbreviation 'ST' which comes from English Sixteen-Thirtytwo (16-32), the numbers referring to the number of bits of computer data bus and registers the microprocessor.

TOS

2007-11-01T11:35:00.001-07:00

The operating system is the TOS for The Operating System (officially) or 'Tramiel Operating System', after the name of Jack Tramiel.

The system is derived from the GEM graphical OS (with windows and mouse) created by Digital Research (creator of CP / M) for platforms such as Intel or Motorola. It was delivered in particular Amstrad PCs until Apple makes its marketing ban on PC platform for a dark story of trash icon. Microsoft has not yet released a Windows version exploitable, but worked hand in hand with Apple for porting Multiplan-Dos to Exel-Mac, and found himself and shed its dangerous competitor (and model) while Apple continues to Atari see it crop up its market to the bottom. The slogan for the Atari Tramiel STF was "The Power without the Price", especially as one of the first emulators was Magic-Sac / Spectrum 128 and GCR (developed by Dave Small, one of programmers most active of the scene Atari), Atari emulator for Mac is targuant of video performance 30% higher.

Insert Coin, press Start

2007-10-27T07:20:00.001-07:00

Liebe Besucher,

Hier soll - mit der Zeit, versteht sich ein - Raum entstehen,
welcher ausgesuchte Themen aus der Welt der Videospiele und der
genauer Videospiel-Forschung erfasst und ebenso Ausgangspunkt
für dieses weitergehende Einblicke in spannende Umfeld within
kann.

What is "ST" ?

2007-10-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

The name means Sixteen ST / Thirty-Two ( "sixteen / thirty-two") in reference to the architecture mixed 16/32 bit microprocessor. The caption said he was also chosen because they are the initials of Samuel Tramiel, son of Jack Tramiel, president of Atari at the time. The first model in the series (spring 1985) was the 130ST (128 KB RAM), followed by 520ST (512 Kb and 520ST + (1024 Kb released in 1985 and 260ST (512 KB), but with a floppy in Tos load RAM and 520STm (512 KB in 1986. He followed the 520STf (f for Floppy, floppy 3 "5 bundled), 1040STf (1 MB RAM), 520STe, 1040STe (e extended to: graphic and sound capabilities extended ). Traveling more professional, there was also the Mega ST, Mega STe, TT (competitor to the Macintosh desktop publishing and music-aided) and laptops and Stacy ST Book. The latest computer the series produced by Atari was the Falcon030, incorporating a Motorola 68030 and a DSP Motorola 56001. After the acquisition of Atari by Hasbro, clones were put on the market, such as the Eagle, the Medusa, Hades and Milan. Some of them were based on the design of the TT, other than that of the Falcon (with a DSP (Digital Signal Processor)), integrating developments processor (68040 or 68060), and other developments, as the use of a PCI bus. These computers were particularly popular with musicians grappling with MIDI present in standard configuration. The Atari ST range was in direct competition with the manufacturer Commodore Amiga. The owners of European microphones were then divided into two clans: the owners of an Atari and owners of an Amiga.

I am back :-)

2006-11-30T15:29:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

I would like to apologize for long absence!
I will try to continue my work on this blog.

Thanks for your attention!
(I know, at least 5 readers i have here :)))

PS: Sorry for my poor english:)

Hello there :)

2006-11-27T15:29:00.000-08:00

From my mailbox:

"Atari ST. A house computer. The American answer to computer Commodore Amiga. My friendwith pleasure told me, that he saw this computer in his university. That without problems typed on Atari ST texts and played in set of games. A diskette in capacity of 880 KB it was inserted into a computer sideways.

Atari ST created by company Atari Corp in the middle 80 somehow has got to Russia and has pleased musicians owing to the built in MIDI-port. The western musicians the same have appreciated the computer. Well-known group QUEEN used the given computer in the creativity as a sequencer.

On Atari ST there was very much a plenty of programs. Much was converted on Atari with Amiga and on the contrary, but as a result weaker hardware has buried this model. ST has not sustained a competition with AMIGA and IBM PC. Though IBM at that time represented poor enough show. For a computer there were many logs (for example ST Format, Atari/Amiga Programm).

In the book with the description of games for ZX Spectrum I have seen tremendous screenshots from game Last Duel. Below there was a postscript, that sreens are removed from house computer Atari ST. At once it wanted to me to play in Atari games. The range of colours on screenshots was simply magnificent."

Thank You anonymous reader :-)

"Atari crew"

2006-08-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

"Atari Crew"

Funny video of two guys calling themselfs "Atari crew":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ickURzbwPtU

;-)

JAM - Just Another Musicplayer

2006-08-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

Jam is a multiformat music player which comes in two versions for both Atari 68K-computers and Windows PC.

Originally programmed for Atari-computers, it replays your popular oldskool music-formats from the golden days of chipmusic (see previous post).

IMHO, JAM is the best player.

Supported formats (windows version)

- SNDH (Atari ST/E/TT/Falcon)
- TFMX (Chris Huelsbeck)
- Future Composer 1.3/1.4
- COSO / TFMX (Jochen Hippel)
- David Whittaker (Amiga)
- TSD (Tao's DMA-SID)

More info and downloads (including demo songs) here

Amazing SNDH Collection and Players

2006-08-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

After four years of absence, the SNDH collection is reborn!

2046 SNDH files with a total of 4783 tunes to listen at.

All original Atari tunes !

Get it here:
http://sndh.atari.org/download.php

SNDH Players

Here is Deliplayer (and much more others for Apple Mac OS X, x86 Linux, Microsoft Windows platforms)

More Atari music information in this section of Atari-Forum

Atari ST emulators (Part 2)

2006-08-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

NoSTalgia, an Atari ST Emulator for the Macintosh:

NoSTalgia Emulator's homepage:
http://users.skynet.be/sky39147/

-----

StoneX - Atari ST Emulator for Unix/X

STonX is an Atari ST Emulator intended primarily for use with Unix and the X Window System. (Ports to MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows 95 have been released by other people or are being worked on). STonX is distributed under the GNU License, meaning that source code is available as well - and, of course, it's free software.

StonX homepage:
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/nino/stonx.html

"ST-Sound" - freeware utility by Arnaud Carre

2006-08-22T04:07:00.000-07:00

ST-Sound was previously a ATARI Music emulator, written by Arnaud Carre some years ago. It's now a general "Nostalgic" Computer Sound Emulator !

ST-Sound includes many sound technics:

Yamaha YM2149 SoundChip Processor emulation engine
Specific ATARI-ST Sound programming emulation. (SID-Voice and DigiDrum emulation)
AMIGA "PAULA" SoundChip Processor emulation engine.
Universal Digital Sound Tracker engine.

..All these "Hardware" emulating capabilities allow ST-Sound to play such Computer musics: ATARI-ST Standard chip musics. (95% of all ATARI game's tunes), ATARI-ST specific chip tunes with SID Voice and/or DigiDrum. (80% of ATARI Demo's tunes !), ATARI-ST Digital Tracker tunes ! (All !! not only MODs, but all strange format, as "KnuckelBusters" in the Cuddly Demos or Digital Departement in the BIG Demo !) , AMIGA "Future Composer" tunes, ZX-Spectrum chip tunes, AMSTRAD CPC chip tunes, MSX Chip tunes , Mattel Intellivison Chip tunes, Sega MasterSystem Chip tunes...

Learn more here:
http://leonard.oxg.free.fr/stsound.html

and here is an a nice article:

"Electronic Sounds - Beautiful Music on the Atari ST?"

...Whatever video game you may have played, be it Pac Man or Mario Sunshine, I'm sure you have enjoyed that experience. But how many of you notice the music? It's an element of a computer game that is either inconsequential to your experience (but important never-the-less), or it is something you view as integral to the gameplay and visuals. Just as music plays an important role in the movies, being in some cases as critical as the moving images, music in video games can be as vital an element...

http://www.atari-explorer.com/articles/articles-ST-music.html

Most popular Atari ST Magazine

2006-08-21T19:11:00.000-07:00

ST Format

This was probably the most popular Atari ST Magazine!

ST Format was a computer magazine in the UK covering the Atari ST during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Like other members of the Future Publishing Format stable - PC Format and Amiga Format, for instance, it combined software and hardware reviews with columnists, letters pages and a cover disk. The magazine was launched in 1989 when its predecessor, the short-lived ST/Amiga Format was split into two separate publications. Most of the staff went on to work at ST Format with Amiga Format essentially being a whole new magazine. ST Format continued publication until 1996.

Issues 1-50 are available here:
http://www.mellowms.f2s.com/atari-shrine/magazines/st_format/index.html

Small personal computer-history (Atari and others)

2006-08-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

Small personal computer-history (Atari and others) from 1981 to 2005:

... 1984 - Atari 800 XL: After some years, i got the feeling, that 16 kB RAM is not that much. The name Atari was well known by my friends and me, we had the VCS 2600. So we bought the Atari 800 XL. Although the processor, a 6502c, only runs at 1.79 MHz, the 800 XL feels faster than the TI. Maybe because he didn't have this 16-to-8-bit-conversion, i don't really know. But 64 kB RAM sounded better. Other thing are similar: ROM-BASIC, audio cassette storage, module-port, TV-connection. The joysticks of the VCS 2600 fit, deffinitly an advantage. The BASIC is also better, the 800 XL knows the command Peek and Poke. I wrote some small and useless programs in BASIC and once tried machine language. After a long time and many tries, the program mirrored the screen vertical and horizontal and combined it with the XOR-command with the original screen...

Here is it:
http://www.keilis-atari.de/start_eng.htm

Interesting article (and good link :)

2006-08-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here is an interest article at "Dave's old computers":

The Atari ST is a 68000 based graphical computer. It was often considered a "poor mans Macintosh clone", as it was considerably less expensive than Apple's offering, and clearly did borrow a few ideas from the Mac. user interface. A couple of neat features of the ST are that it contains its OS in ROM, and that it reads and writes diskettes in DOS "FAT" format. I have four Atari ST's in my collection, two early model 520STs with separate power supplies and floppy drives, a later model 520ST which has the power supply and floppy drive integrated, and a 1040ST which is essentially the same machine as the later 520 but with 1M of RAM instead of 512k..

Read more here: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/atarist/index.htm

Here the links again :)

2006-08-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

GFABasic tutorial

Atari ST Games forum

Atari ST emulator benchmarks

Atari ST(E) programs by Ted Richards'

Another World - speed run (video)

2006-08-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

Another World (Out of this World) speed run -
now you can watch it on YouTube site (thanks Anna for this link)

Ishar: The legend of Fortress

2006-08-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

Ishar: The legend of Fortress
Developer: Silmarils
Release date: 1992

You suddenly find yourself trying to stop the destruction effect of evil spreading from a mysterious fortress, Ishar, throughout your kingdom. With up to 5 characters fight your way through in this first role-playing adventure in Silmarils' Ishar trilogy...

Good stock posture is announced, the characters should always lead enough food to the condition strengthening with themselves, also a respectable upholsterer in ingredients for drinks. During a fight(battle) one should let the figures for the purpose of condition increase quietly sometimes a bread swallow. After the fights(battles) you should not forget to perform to them the first help(assistance). Besides, one should have coal also always in masses(measures) visit (if necessary several times the city of Elwingil), also a member of the party should be appointed the treasurer and take the whole mammon in himself. The training possibilities at the beginning of the play(game) should be used extensively. While signing on of assistants should be paid attention to the fact that no thieves or spies are taken up(accepted) in the group. The optimum Marschordnug in the area(ground) should be " one after the other with the best fighter at the head(in front) ", also in the area(ground) the party should allow itself once again a well-arranged meal or a small(little) nap.

Nice Adventure game: Crystals of Arborea

2006-08-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

Crystals of Arborea

Developer: Silmarils
Release date: 1990

You, Jarel, must be opposed Morgoth to find the quatres crystals elementes before him. For that you will have to reunir a equipe and to traverse Arborea.

The play in 3d evolue in time reel, the enemies can also find the crystals... To direct you you can avveder has a total chart of the island. The handbook is included in the play!

Caution! go only with Steem 1.6 emulator

Emulation FAQ

2006-08-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

Which PC config is necessary for good Atari ST emulation?

I would say at least Pentium 200 with 32 Mb of memory and Windows 95 :)

What is original Atari ST configuration?

Design features of Atari STF Processor: MC68000 Structures Intern: 16 bits Structures External: 32 bits

Frequency of clock: 8Mhz

Memory: 1040 STF 1 Méga of RAM 190 KB of ROMANIAN 520 STF 520 KB of RAM 190 KB of Graphic

Supported Resolutions: 640x400, monochromic (high) 640x200, 4 colors (low) 320x200,16 colors (low)

Colors: Pallets of 512
Interfaces : Two ports Midi: Entry and left
Ports for monitor (analogical RVB high monochromic resolution and audio).
Parallel port for printers.
Port series RS232C for modem Port for unit diskette with contolor
Port for unit hard disk DMA 10 Mbits/s
Wearing of insertion Cartridge (128 KB)
Port for mouse and Joystick

Sound: 3 votes of 30Hz to the ultrasounds

What emulator i must use?

There are many Atari ST emulators exists at that moment.
"Steem Engine" emulator is one of the best.

Steem is a Freeware Atari STE emulator for Windows and Linux. It is being updated regularly and runs almost every ST program ever made without any problems. Steem is designed to be easy to use and has many unique features. Whether you want to run great old games, use MIDI apps just like you did on the ST or you have some other, more sinister motive, Steem is the emulator for you!

What an a Image disc? A file ST? A File. MSA? A file STT? A file DIM?

Emulator simulates the operation of a computer, the images discs simulate the diskettes. They are binary files which are the exact image (which contains integrality) disc or diskette of origin. The most common extensions of these files are is st (format not compressed) or msa (another format, compressed). One can also find formats special like STT or.DIM which are supposed more powerful beings and capacity being the image of the plays protected with the nonstandard format.

Medway Boys

2006-08-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

Just receive a letter:

I'd be interested in getting hold of all of the old Medway Boys and Automation menus from there disks as i've already got quite a collection.

Also, does you know at what cd numbers these finished at ?

Medway Boys, as i know, have their own site - http://www.spiny.org/medway/
You can get pictures of all their menus (and all disks from 1 to 112)

Games videos

2006-08-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

Here's some games videos

Enjoy :)

Barbarian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGZH2KCxnPs

Hudson Hawk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77rgezKD2bE

Dungeon Master

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZDKGrZOd8Q

Xenomorph

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1F1lyDDSYM

Atari st game: Darkman

2006-08-18T16:43:00.000-07:00

The Darkman

Game release - 1991
Developer - Ocean

Main hero - dr. Peyton Westlake is located on the threshold of the immense discovery: he concludes experiments on the creation of artificial human skin. But the band of criminals headed by sadist Robert Duran invades the laboratory Of doctor and explodes it together with the unhappy doctor. Peyton miraculously remained among the living and disfigured to the unrecognizability, decides to take vengeance upon scum. But now it appears before them not as doctor Westlake , but as the terrible and terrible person of the dark - the dark man.

Top 10 Atari ST Games

2006-08-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

..In one of the old Atari ST users opinion

Dungeon Master:
This one was my first "all nighter". It was the first time I felt completely immersed in a computer RPG. In my mind each character in my party had a well established personality even though nothing like that is ever established in the game. I guess the game had just the right blend of realism but still left room for imagination.

Populous:
Never played this game over the modem, always wanted to but never had the time. Does this game have cross system modem play compatability (can I play a game on my ST over the modem with a friend who has the PC version?)

Out Of This World:
Another "all nighter". I loved the simple polygon graphics. In particular I liked the way the first beast was just a big black mass with no detail other than his gapping maw. I've always wanted to hook my ST up to my VCR and record this game from start to finish as a movie. Although I'll probably do it with my Genesis version since it gives a clearer composite image than my ST with Video Key.

Chaos Strikes Back:
Don't you love it when a sequal is on par or better than the original? And the Utility disk was too cool. Although waking up naked in the middle of the dungeon was a little disconcerting. This game falls under the catagory of "Games I stayed up all night playing".

Frontier (this is an Elite 2):
This game is great, although some things are kind of annoying. Like, if I've got a ship with 6 guns and a crew of 9, why the hell does the captain have to run around to each gun to fight an enemy ship? C'mon! It's called "deligating authority". Let some of the red-shirts man the guns. And does anyone else get a creepy feeling flying through Wolf 359?

Civilization:
Another "all nighter". Bow before the might of the Neo-Roman Empire!

Lemmings:
I wonder how many friendships have ended in the Head-2-Head mode?

No Second Prize:
Coolest racing game I ever played on the ST. The graphics are pretty simple by today's standards but everything was so fast and so smooth.

Guantlet 2:
never played it with the 4 player adaptor, but my wife and I used to spend entire weekends playing this together... this was before we had kids.

Knights Of The Sky:
My favorite Flight Battle Simulator. Although it would piss me off when some german ace would challenge you to one on one combat and by the time you got there it seemed like half the german airforce had decided to take you out.

A Rock Star Ate My Hamster:
Haven't met a musician yet who didn't get a laugh out of this simple little game.

Atari ST game: Out Of This World (Another world)

2006-08-18T15:34:00.000-07:00

Out Of This World (1991)

Main hero - professor Lester Chaykin, who suddenly finds himself in a very strange alien world after a lightning struck his particle experiment. From that moment he should fight for his life, first with his bare hands, then with a gun he finds.

But what gives him courage is the fact he is not alone. One of the aliens, who together with him escapes from the prison, helps him on his dangerous quest. Friendship can overcome all the obstacles.

I loved the simple polygon graphics. In particular I liked the way the first beast was just a big black mass with no detail other than his gapping maw. I've always wanted to hook my ST up to my VCR and record this game from start to finish as a movie :-)

Some info (i found it at mobygames site)

PC version includes two extra levels.

Tagline from the UK ("Another World") packaging:
"It took 6 days to create the Earth. Another World took 2 years."

And some humor:

During the intro, watch Lester's hand as he's using the keypad. It moves forward too much, thus revealing...there is no arm attached to it! :)

Captain Blood

2006-08-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

Captain Blood (1988)

You are Captain Blood (hence the name) and you must search for Numbers, byproduct of an unsuccesful hyperjump) because they're sapping your life energy.
You have to discuss with the aliens to get the info where the Numbers are, find them and kill them. That's it really - nothing extremely complicated (well actually it can be) and no shooting massive motherships - but it IS a good game.

PS:
Some machine versions of cap'n blood, the atari ST for one, were bugged, so the aliens all led you to the wrong places, meaning you could never finishthe game.

My friend says Commander Blood had very bad gameplay, but I think it almost made up for it with its superb amount of character. And the intro music was realy cool. Realy.

Game cheats

During hyperspace, hold down the left mouse button, and right-click repeatedly. This will shorten the hyperspace sequence. And now, the complete walk-thru: Go see Buggol (Planet Mind 137). Land and tell him "me want vote". He will tell you of another Buggol called morlok who lives on planet Rosko 1. Keep talking until you get the coordinates. Go see Morlok. Say to him:" me not vote Morlok, me want Yukas president". He will give you the coordinates of a planet called Female 021. Go and destroy it. Come back to Rosko 1. He will now give you the coordinates of a planet where an Ondoyante is kept prisoner (you didn't need to go there, though...). Go to exterior view and destroy Rosko 1. Go back to Mind 137, and go see the Buggol. He now dislikes you intensely, and will give you the coordinates of Rosko 2. Go there, and teleport the Buggol into your ship. Find an uninhabited planet, and teleport him there. He will say the planet is good-looking and, if you ask "me want know coordinates planet number = Blood", he will give you the coordinates to find number 2. Go there, land, and say you like him, and will not kill him. You must also get three sets of coordinates from him before disintegrating him (having made sure you saved the game beforehand). Now go around using this method to get the coordinates out of the numbers, always killing them before you move on. Kill the last one, and you win! That was the walk-thru. Now here's a trick: at the start of the game you will automatically be in orbit around an alien planet. Transport down and try to find an alien, preferably Yuko, if it isn't Yuko, it may be best to restart the game as he is the key to the game. Talk to Yuko about his father, Maxon, and you will find he is in prison. He will also give you the coordinates for Croolis Ulv, where you will find another alien. While you are talking to Yuko, he will give you the code 1010; this always remains the same. Go to Croolis Ulv and you will be given the co-ordinates for Croolis Var. Go there and destroy it, then go back to Croolis-Ulv. The alien will now be nice to you, keep talking to him and you will get the coordinates for the Forbidden planet. Go to the Forbidden planet (Sinox), and you will meet a guardian robot. Give him the code you received from Yuko. Now watch what happens.

Boot process of atari (tech info)

2006-08-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

The atari ST has its bootstrap, BIOS, and GUI in ROM (well any atari ST after ~1986)
No floppy disk is needed to boot to the desktop, though if there is no hard drive, a blank floppy in the drive will speed up the boot process considerably.

Linux is not available for the basic ST (something does exist but I nothing "mainstream" i think).

If you write a program that runs under 68K then compile it and place it on the floppy in a folder called "AUTO". When the system boots it will run this program first. Other than that, you can put code in the bootsector of the floppy, and make the checksum of the sector $1234. This will boot earlier in the startup sequence than the auto folder one.

Julian Reschke

2006-08-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

Did you know?

Sybex Germany is publishing a 1300 page book about
the Atari STe and TT machines which will probably contain all the information we need!

The author is Julian Reschke

I found his web-site on the net: http://www.muenster.de/~reschke/

Atari ST Game: Hostages

2006-08-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

"Hostages"

Game release date: 1989
Game developer: Infogrames

Game info (from official mobygames site)

Terrorists have overrun an embassy and hold the people inside as hostages. You control six counter-terrorists whose mission is to eliminate the terrorists. In the first part of the game, you have to bring three men into position so they can snipe the building. The second part involves entering the building with the other three men to kill the terrorists and rescue the hostages. Depending on how well you positioned your snipers, you can use them to assist you on that mission.

Atari ST Game - FRED

2006-06-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

"Fred"

Game release date: 1990
Developer: UbiSoft

It acts of a play of action in which you incarnate a lord of darkness who was changed into small human weak. You must find out that which launched the magic spell to eliminate it. The realization is really well licked. Graphics make honor in Atari ST.The gameplay is as for him very original since only it is not a question to advance of left on the right as in a ghouls and ghosts but also to find the exit while passing from decorations in decorations, which is possible while being inserted in the forest (the behind plane passage on the right on the screenshot) or while passing the doors in the levels in interior.

First time when i saw Atari ST

2006-06-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

For the first time I saw this cute computer at the beginning of 1990 at my neighbor.
His father was musician, and used Atari for his music deals. I was 11 y.o for that time.
One day he brings some 3.5" disks with games. When i saw it, i was realy shocked by its graphics, music and sounds (i got NES on thet time.. you know :) )

The most coolest games on that time (i mean my neighbor) are

Fred (cool sounds and graphics, quality sprite animation)
Hostages (Cool music "tha-tha-tha.. tha tha.... GO!!!! ")
Ishar (Wind sound whole the game, weird game atmosphere)
Captain Blood (one of the most interesting and strange games, imho)
Joe Blade

and many many others (we will discuss it later)

First post - what that all about?

2006-06-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone

This blog - is a try to collect most interesting Atari ST relative information in one place.
We will talking about Atari ST games, software, and its developers and composers.

All comments and any suggestion are welcome!

Welcome aboard, Atari ST fans!