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  1. atari2600land
    Latest Entry

    So I discovered a strangeness on a real 7800 with my flies game. The scanline jumped. So I went back to work and attempted to fix it. I think I finally did so. I was wondering though why Stella said the scanline jumped when I pressed reset but it really didn't. I don't know why it would do that. So I went back and tried to fix that and in doing so learned that the scanline was 260 when pressing reset. Which was why the >#262 thing wasn't going off when I reset. So I think now everything is okay and fine. I played it on my Atari 7800 and didn't run into any issues. And if someone finds an issue I have around 40 bytes to try to fix it with.

     

    I screwed up a whole lot when I fixed the resetting problem, so I had to spend a few hours trying to get the rest of the scanline problems figured out. I think I got all of the possible actions the game could throw at you finished and have a steady 262 scanline. I don't know why I have to worry about that only on the Atari 2600. All the other consoles I program, the 2600 is the only one who does something like that.

     

    I woke up shortly after midnight. I woke up at around 10pm and didn't want to get up, so I went back to sleep. Have you ever had a dream where you need to pee and just when you find a toilet and are about to start, you wake up needing to go really bad? I do. A lot. It's annoying. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Easter is soon, but I don't do anything for that. I bet I won't be able to get a pizza if I wanted one then. Or have groceries delivered. Or anything else, for that matter.

  2. At least once a year a giant used book sale happens in a town near me.  Gone are the days when you could find a table full of computer books to look over.  Now even the music section is not large enough to keep me busy while my wife looks over the gazillion books that could end up in her shopping bag(s).

     

    This year three books were carried to the car.  John Brimhall's Adult Piano Course Complete (going to take more then 20 min. every 3 months), Johnannes Brahms Complete Shorter Works for Solo Piano (already in the box for book re-donations), and Traditions by Maggie Sansone for Hammered Dulcimer.

     

    Traditions is a collection of Irish, Scottish, English, American, and French-Canadian Folk music for Hammered Dulcimer.  The music includes Tremolo, Valley Roll, Grace note, Slide and Roll embellishments that give the dulcimer its unique sound.  Programming them into the MIDI Music System (MMS) may present a a bit of a challenge.  Not all these techniques are used in any one song and it should be possible learn the sequence of MMS commands.

     

     

    The Hunt

     

    The Hunt - looked like a fairly easy Irish Hornpipe to get started.  I rarely find triplets in my sheet music but a quick look at the MMS manual to jog my memory got me through the first three notes of the song.

     

    Once the Melody was in, a base/harmony was programed into Voice 2.  This was programed using one note of the cord triad shown for guitar accompaniment.

     

    This proved to be a very dull song and started the task of looking for a song a little more Irish sounding. Then this was found 10 pages beyond The Hunt. 

     

    Notes.thumb.jpg.968d6f6ddb1e38cc3b0a5da373ac1060.jpg

     

    Made those changes and then looked for a synth patch that sounded close to a dulcimer.  On the Proteus 2000 synth "gtr:The 12String" - Cmpsr,7,51 ended the search.

     

    It's all here in in the .MUS files for MMS. THEHUNT5.MUS without the control changes for the Proteus 2000.  HUNT2000.MUS has the controls and sets patch.  Maybe you can find better dulcimer.

     

    The Hunt .atr

     

    Files:

    THEHUNT.MUS - Part A and base - as written.

    THEHUNT2.MUS - THEHUNT + Part B

     THEHUNT3.MUS- {PartB and Base)

    V1PB.V01 - #3 as voice files

    V2.V02 -

    THEHUNT4.MUS - voice files and part A - complete as written.

    THEHUNT5.MUS - changed to dotted rhythm.

    HUNT2000.MUS - Added settings for Proteus 2000

                                     gtr:The 12String - Cmpsr,7,51 (0-4,32-7,S-51)

                                     MIDI Channel 1

  3. Recently, I was looking into improving the sprite flicker management of Chaotic Grill.  I took the following notes to give myself a general idea of the timing of this routine/process (6507 code).  This is just a list of timestamps and some basic notes / calculations for handling 5 sprites.  Overall, this is probably not that useful without the code or more context, but it might be interesting to some people.

     

    ---------

     

    Start on cycle 768 (scanline 10, cycle 29)

    768 - Start of call
    812 - Start sort initialization at cycle
    842 - Start of sort
    1022 - Done with sort
    1038 - Call find split function
    1130 - Done with finding split (2 sprites at top)
    1216 - noSprite1:
    1240 - SavePlayerMetaDPC
    1385 - jump doneLoadZone1
    1423 - SaveMetaDPC_split
    1567 - done with SaveMetaDPC_split
    1654 - loadSpriteGraphics
    1668 - loadSprite0Graphics
    1748 - done with loadSprite0Graphics
    1764 - loadSprite1Graphics
    1844 - done with loadSprite1Graphics
    1910 - done with PrepPepper
    1923 - DONE


    1923 - 768 = 1155 =  ~15 scanlines for the entire thing

    1022 - 842 = 180 = ~2.5 scanlines for sorting 5 sprites

    ——

    Basic breakdown
    1130 - 768 = 362 = ~4.7 scanlines for all prep work (sort + find split)
    1654 - 1130 = 524 = ~6.9 scanlines for prepping mid-screen sprites
    1923 - 1654 = 269 = ~3.5 scanlines for loading first two sprites

    Outside of prep work, it takes approximately 2 scanlines per sprite.

     

  4. I've been using emulators since early MAME days.  However, I've also recognized there isn't much difference between preservation and piracy.  But I figured there isn't much risk of prosecution when emulating games which could no longer be purchased.

     

    So I have to wonder what the developers of Yuzu, a Nintendo Switch emulator, were thinking.  Nintendo is well known for being litigious and the Switch is still being sold and it's not a stretch to state that the emulator itself is resulting in lost hardware sales and lost software sales by encouraging piracy.  I'm actually surprised it took Nintendo this long to react.

     

    I also find the statement by the Yuzu team that "they never intended Yuzu to be used for piracy" laughable.  While they might have stated that publicly, they certainly used commercial software to validate and demonstrate the emulator.  There's a good chance they had to jump through various hoops to allow commercial games to work.

     

    So the obvious consequences occurred - Nintendo sued and the Yuzu team closed up shop; turning everything over to Nintendo and agreeing to pay $2.4M.

     

    Also, it is my understanding that Yuzu users were encouraged (maybe required) to financially support the development team.  I wonder if Nintendo is now in possession of that information and if they might actually go after end users....

  5. In my previous blog post I opened up about the history of Radio F, the multimedia group I work with, regarding its early years as a comedy troupe and gradual evolution into a game publisher. I skipped over some of its history for the sake of brevity since it wasn't really applicable to the topic at hand but some recent developments have made them relevant again.

     

    From 1995-1999 Radio F existed as a comedy act, and from 2004 onward it became a publisher of games when "Software" was added to its name. Between those years, though? Radio F was actually a techno music group! The friend I started the group with in 1995 and I went our separate ways just before the turn of the millennium. My memory is bad but I think we had some argument over Pokemon of all things and we just stopped hanging out after that. In 2001 I started tinkering with music sequencing in my free time and this caught the attention of another friend of mine who was also interested in working on music. We didn't really take things seriously however by the end of the year we had a handful of tracks and no real way of sharing them in any meaningful way. We also didn't have a name for our project at the time. I suggested just reusing "Radio F" and my friend was fine with that. I collected seven of our better tracks and put them together into what would be our first album/EP, No More Lonely Nights.

     

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    "No More Lonely Nights", 2001

     

    Yeah... when it came time to design an album cover we settled on "Amy Rose upskirt" for some reason. In order to promote our music I registered a new account on GeoCities, which was still alive at the time, and designed a webpage for Radio F. I think Yahoo (owner of GeoCities) only provided something like 15 or 20 megabytes of storage space and given that the average size of an MP3 was around 3.5 MB for your average three minute song there was no feasible way for us to host the entire album on our website. Instead I took one of the better tracks from the project ("Thumper") and crushed its filesize down to somewhere around 2 MB. It sounded like garbage because of all the compression but it was the best we could do given the limitations. Visitors to the website could download the track for free and listen to it and if they liked it they could send us a mail order for five dollars plus shipping and we'd send them a physical CD in return. We actually sold a few CD's this way! Not many but enough for us to want to keep going with this project and maybe do a follow-up.

     

    2002 would prove to be a very productive year for the group as we'd been inspired to work on music and thus had a second album ready to go after a few months of work. Titled Stuck on the Rollerslide (a reference to something that happened to me at a Discovery Zone when I was a kid) the second release was more of the same just better. We used the same sequencing software and method of recording as our first album. When it came time to release it we followed all the same steps as before; I added a page for it on the Radio F website and managed to find the space on the group's Yahoo account to fit another highly compressed "single" from the album to promote it. If you wanted one it was the same process as the first album, just send us a money order and we'd send you a CD. I want to say that we kept track of the names of who bought CD's from us and if you had purchased No More Lonely Nights then we'd charge you a dollar less for this album but I'm not 100% certain we did that. This was 20 years ago.

     

    Later that same year we'd release a third album, Eleven Dollars in Ones (an inside joke between my friend and I for how to give someone a cash gift and make it look like more money than it was). By the time I added the page for this album to the Radio F website we'd run out of storage space on our Yahoo account; the single from Stuck on the Rollerslide ate up the last little bit of space we had. I needed to find a way to include a sample track though! I'm surprised it took me as long as it did to think of this (two years and three albums) but the solution was as simple as registering a "radiof2" account on Yahoo and using it solely to host our MP3's. File size was still something to consider so again the track was compressed. The track we chose from this album, "FM", featured radio static in certain parts of the song and this did not compress nicely at all. It sounded horrible. Thankfully there were a small number of people who listened to our stuff who let us know that the song was perhaps a bad choice and because we now had a few more MB of upload space to work with we picked another track to offer online to sample the album with.

     

    It was now 2003 and my friend and I had one more album left in us. We weren't making bank selling CD's online because barely anyone knew about us. This was all just for fun and after a few years I think we were both kind of looking to do other things (for example I'd start working on Atari 2600 games the following year). Our fourth album, Reptilian Agenda, was in my opinion at least our best work. We couldn't pick one single track to upload online as a teaser so we actually uploaded three. By now we'd mostly figured out how to get the sound we wanted out of the programs we were using and it showed. Despite being our best release I don't recall selling very many copies of this CD. Each one sold less than the other which is weird to me because I feel the quality of the albums only ever increased. But I guess it was just a result of being so hard to find and how a lot of our "popularity" came from word of mouth on places like MSN Chat. After releasing Reptilian Agenda my buddy and I stopped working on music and focused on other things.

     

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    "Monster Truck Rally" (single), 2003

     

    So, that's twice now that Radio F has existed and twice now that the group has disbanded. I kept the name alive on my own through "Radio F Software" but it seemed our days of releasing comedy and music albums had finally eclipsed. In my previous blog post I mentioned the creation of the website "Radio F Software Headquarters" (RFSHQ) which acted as a hub to host all of the original comedy content I was writing and filming for the web. Despite being a multimedia-oriented website our previous album releases never saw the light of day there until close to the website's closure. In 2006 I thumbed through the four music albums that we'd made in the years prior and picked out ten tracks that I felt epitomized the group during its musical period. I wanted to feature a collection from all four albums however because I was going by song quality the majority of the tracks I chose wound up being from our third and fourth albums when we were putting out our best work. I named this collection F-Sides: The Best of Radio F and offered it as a premium download on the RFSHQ website. I believe the price was still just five dollars however instead of sending out physical CD's the advancement of technology now allowed us to accept payment online with PayPal and in exchange provide the buyer with a link to download the album digitally. F-Sides was available for purchase from its release in 2006 to the closure of RFSHQ in 2008.

     

    After going solo for nearly half a decade I had a growing interest in working on music again after being inspired by the rise of mash-ups and "YouTube Poop music videos" where creators would compose backing tracks and then pepper in "vocals" that had been sampled from viral videos and memes. In 2007 I tried my luck at this and created Radio F's first single in four years, "Hello My Future Dance Mix". This track sampled Michael "Mikey" Blount's infamous "hello my future girlfriend" audio recording that went viral in the late nineties. It was amusing but nowhere near as good as the mash-ups that were growing in popularity on the recently launched YouTube. I didn't get a lot of encouragement so I just kinda stopped working on new music, though the following year I made another remix mostly for the amusement of my younger brother and I. This track, "The Golden Fantasy Dragon", sampled TV salesman Tom O'Dell during a segment on the Cutlery Corner infomercial where he was hyping up a decorative knife of the same name. I didn't really have any intentions of releasing this song as a proper thing, I just uploaded it to YouTube where views wound up trickling in over the years.

     

    Like I said I kinda just lost interest in making music after the Mikey song flopped and the one about the dragon knife was just a one-off joke. That was until I stumbled upon the ongoing misadventures of Christian Weston "Chris-chan" Chandler. I'm not even going to try and catch you up to speed on this guy if you've never heard of him before, just understand that he used to be a bumbling idiot on the internet who overshared way too much about his personal life and situations. In one video that was released Chris attempts to demonstrate how he would perform oral sex on a hypothetical girlfriend. The original video is disgusting and I won't link it here but back in 2010 I was floored by it and felt compelled to sample Chris' vocals with raunchy porn music backing it. The result of this effort was the song "Tickle Yo Pussay". Given the active community surrounding Chris this song actually did gain some traction and garner several thousand streams but I never capitalized on it because the curse of Chris-chan is that once you involve yourself in his life yours gets ruined in return. I made a joke song and that was enough.

     

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    Radio F, 2002

     

    The Chris-chan single and its accompanying "B-side" marked the end of Radio F's output as a musical act. In the years that followed 2010 I graduated from university and went on with my life. Radio F's spoken word albums hadn't been in circulation for over a decade and the four music albums from 2001-2003 had long since been out of print and unavailable. F-Sides, the best of album, stopped being available for purchase when RFSHQ closed. The account associated with the mash-up singles I'd made eventually caught enough copyright strikes from YouTube to be terminated. Everything just sorta faded away.

     

    Only recently have I started caring about all this random stuff from way earlier in my life. I spoke about it a little bit in the previous blog post but there was an era of my life where I got led astray by some real bad actors and wound up getting hurt pretty badly. It's taken several years of therapy for me to work through all this and process it in a healthy way and only now am I really starting to feel "better" in a sense. I am now looking back at all the things I've accomplished and I find myself gravitating toward the more innocuous and wholesome things that dot my history. Radio F is something harmless and fun that I can be proud of and it's something I want to celebrate. I want to keep it alive in some way. At the beginning of this year I started re-compiling everything I could find from my Radio F days with the intent to put it back into circulation. I'm not yet sold on the idea of putting our entire back catalog out there again but F-Sides, the "best of" album, is a good starting point. As the name implies it contains our best work from our four musical releases. The mash-up singles I made from 2007-2010 were inklings of a fifth album, Conglomeraté, that was never completed. I compiled the highest quality recordings I could find of these tracks as well as their instrumentals and turned them into Conglomeraté: The Singles.

     

    Both of these releases are now available for streaming on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube Music. If you use Pandora then Radio F's music is something that can be suggested to you based upon the music profile you've curated. I dug through the archives of everything I had across all of my hard drive backups and found a few pictures of my friends and I that would suffice as makeshift photos of "the group" and added them to our music profiles. It was important to me to find photos of us that were era-appropriate to match the time period when our music and recordings were made.

     

    scarycar_large_fx.thumb.jpg.0005e87e0853dc5eabd0e5d6d70bb3f7.jpg

    Radio F, 2010

     

    So now we're at present day. Next year Radio F turns 30. Three decades have passed since the day one of my best friends and I had the bright idea to record our material to cassette tape and use that to distribute it among the people we knew. I am very grateful that after all this time I am still on good terms with everyone who's ever been a part of the group both from its eras as a comedy and musical act. We are currently in the planning stages for a reunion album to celebrate 30 years. I'm thinking about something akin to a 50/50 album of recorded comedy and new music. Perhaps I can make a mash-up of new music featuring samples taken from our old spoken word releases of the 90's. I'm honestly kind of shocked that the idea never came to me back when I was making mash-ups in the late 2010's. I also want to reach out to the people I've met over the years who are either musically or comedically inclined and invite them to participate on a track or two. I'm very fortunate that for the most part everyone still lives in same geographic area so a reunion to record new material and such won't be too hard to pull off so I want to do this now because there's no guarantee something like this will be possible for a 40th or 50th anniversary.

     

    In the meantime I invite you to listen to the selected works I've made available on all the major music streaming platforms. It's nothing incredible but it's special to me and maybe in some way the fun and innocence of the recordings will rub off on you.

  6. Last night on my Youtube series Old Games on a Thursday (Old GOAT) I continued my series of playing through Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar for Sega Master System in its entirety.

     

    I made some solid progress in this one, but man I feel like I've got to get the lead out, given that the overworld started throwing Hydras and Liches at me! As one of my viewers mentioned in the chat, the game throws more difficult enemies at you in the overworld depending on total number of turns taken, not how powerful you are.

     

    I did make some solid progress in this chapter, described in the following spoiler tag (in case anyone cares about that!):

     

    Spoiler

    acquiring the sextant, loading up on a ton of Cures, locating Mandrake and collecting some, finding the Silver Horn (which will clear the daemons blocking me from entering the Shrine of Humility), and gaining partial avatarhood in three virtues: Honesty, Honor and Valor! That just leaves Humility, Spirituality and Sacrifice. The only one I'm doing well enough in yet to achieve partial avatarhood is Sacrifice. The other two I should be able to get next time. Also I'd like to start knocking out some of the dungeons. I have a good chunk of Despise and Destard mapped out, and it would be great to get their respective stones now that I'm better equipped to do so! (Mandrake will allow me to mix some Negates to use against Reapers; piles of Cures and Heals are necessary in general, hah!)


    I've got to keep moving forward to complete the Quest of the Avatar! Excelsior!

     

     

  7. Sometime back I designed a two PCB set to help with installing mini din connectors in my Intellivision service work. I had requests from other to provide these files so that the PCBs can be used by all that might want to use them. Here is a link to the PDF guide that details the assembly process for the PCBs for use in the Intellivision 2609 model consoles. These can also be used on the Super Pro System and INTV III consoles as they are designed for installing in place of the RF modulator to provide a no cut solution for such AV upgrades.

     

    Link to 2609 mount board assembly PDF guide

     

    The advantage of these mount boards is that being a 2 part PCB means I can use the same bottom base PCB for both model 2609 and INTV II consoles. With only the top PCB portion being different. Here is an example install I did very recently showing one of the completely mount board setups in place in a 2609 Intellivision that received an RGB upgrade. Here I used a 9pin mini din for the RGB and audio, but also the 9pin allows for composite to be wired up. This means that any Sega Genesis/MD model 2 AV cable setup can be used.

     

    mnt_sample_complete_install.thumb.jpg.04a921bb9d20c57b399b5d82f7821728.jpg

     

    And the mount board has room to allow for aligning the mini din connector to be as centered as possible.

    mntbrd_final_results.thumb.jpg.ebd50d6acd9dfefb91723d7bfdba58ba.jpg

     

    I've also attached the PDF to this blog to make it easier as well. Links for the gerber files to have PCBs made up can be found within the PDF.

     

     

    2609_INTV_Mnt_Brd_Build.pdf

  8. neogeo1982
    Latest Entry

    We find everyone and do some back tracking and boss fighting. Some plot twists again that are interesting. 

    IMG_20240216_042125599.thumb.jpg.01ee740b72a270ddfcb3dd4a129994f0.jpg

    IMG_20240216_042141530.thumb.jpg.47ab93bdca4f9c7a227f9a4f7793cb60.jpg

        The prince of the evil empire joins us after being fed up with their killing ways. And we steal an airship he helps us get.

    IMG_20240216_052514125.thumb.jpg.4117a8c06d9f81a137a8359dac8c5eb8.jpg

    IMG_20240216_052525028.thumb.jpg.062eccd61871b2ad20c8bfb5e4a0c9e1.jpg

     IMG_20240216_060329381.thumb.jpg.86bc60018d04695f5a6fb0414dba3cb6.jpg

      Then it feels like the game opens up way more. Building a base, collecting crew members, ship upgrades, discovery searching. Even some humor and light hearted banter in-between. I'll finish fighting the empire after more exploring and building up for awhile. 

    IMG_20240216_073133103.jpg

  9. Awesome cover of Paint it Black by Harp Twins and Volfgang Twins.

     

     

     

    I saw them perform it live back in November at the Houston Arcade Expo:

     

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    For those of you in Europe they are currently touring in your neck of the woods. Well worth seeing them live if you can.  

     

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  10. I already made a blog post not that long about about my new designs and had posted pics of the render of the PCBs. Well, I actually received the PCBs in the other day and have had a chance to test them out. While I did make a pretty big blunder on my model 2 specific PCB, it was easily fixed and isn't that big a deal to fix in situ when installing. And it only affects me since the gerbers that I play to release publicly already have the fix in place so future boards that get made up should be good to go.

    A quick recap on these PCBs. It is a total of 3 different boards. The bottom base PCB is the same for both original 2609 model and INTV 2 model consoles. I designed it that on purpose. So what is different between the models is the top PCB that you use as they are specific to the model of the console you plan to use them in. These mounts are designed to be installed in place of the RF modulator so that a 'No Cut' option is able to be achieved when upgrading your Intellivision.

    Here is a mock up the 2 PCBs put together for the original 2609 model of the console. This is essentially an upgraded extension of my original older mounts that is easier to install and secure into place vs the older mount PCBs I've been using. The top PCB has a large solder section on it so that the mini din jack that is used can be more easily be quick tack soldered into place to test alignment and fit before flood soldering all around the jack to secure it into place. While the mini din is technically being installed upside down in this fashion, it is important to know that the actual 2609 style mainboards install upside down to begin with. As a result, the mini din is actually right side up in the end.

    2609_mount_view2.jpg.dba63c8496463aa595baa5ba0a6c825e.jpg

    2609_mount_view4.jpg.abe14f022a0ba3e03d74004c3d47a92e.jpg

    2609_mount_ext_view.jpg.dbbcdfb7a6039c0ec95c88e99ba294ce.jpg

     

    The model 2 setup was much more difficult for me to design and I really gave my calipers a workout making so many measurements. So the main difference with the INTV 2 setup is that the bottom base mount PCB (Again it is the same on both models), has cut outs on one corner of it. This is because the top board of the INTV 2 mount actually has you solder the mini din direct to the PCB like it would be normally. The cutouts on the bottom base PCB allow for room for these soldered pins off the mini din to come through and allow the two PCBs to sit flush together. It does require that the pins and ground tabs be clipped fairly flush to the PCB once soldered to make sure nothing sticks out beyond the bottom PCB where it would likely then short on the large ground plane that the RF modulator was sitting on. But this isn't a big deal and the end result is a nice finished mount where the mini din is again able to be right side up when all put together. Previously, the mini din was actually upside down on the INTV 2 installs. So this will be less confusing for people going forward.

    Here is a detail showing the two sections assembled. You can see the cutouts on the bottom base PCB to allow for the soldered pins of the mini din to come through. So this means that you need to solder the mini din to the top PCB first.

    intv2_mount_cutouts.jpg.ee02cab6cce984a548eda82516b2c71d.jpg

    When you cut the soldered connections pretty flush to the PCB the mini din was soldered to, it will ensure that the soldered connections and pins don't come through to cause any issues below. Here you can see where I trimmed an applied fresh heat to the joints after to be sure everything was secure and wouldn't cause any issues with shorts.

    intv2_mount_detail.jpg.8e6d6d3c6ff97ed95a64e47b6910a5f1.jpg

    Like mentioned before, the entire PCB assembly is designed to install in place of where the RF modulator was located. Here you can see how that would look internally. There are solder pads provided on the PCB for all the needed connections. There are 2 sets of RGB pads that are to be used depending on if you use the 8-pin or 9-pin part of the PCB. Yes, I designed it with through holes for both types of commonly used mini dins for RGB installs like this. There are 3 pas in the center that are shared between both mini dins. Those are the +5, Sync, and Audio. In the picture below I used an 8-pin mini din. So you can see the space in the opposite corner for the 9-pin through holes that weren't used in this install. You can also see the pads specific for the 9-pin that weren't used. The blob of solder on the mini din is part of what I have to correct for on these first set of PCBs but won't be needed on future ones.

    intv2_int_oview.jpg.8f42e4273e3659f8bcaa3c6c71d4e306.jpg

    And once in place, it should be centered pretty well in the spot where the RF used to be allowing for plenty of room for your cables to be plugged in without any modification of the case. Again, a 'No Cut' option is achieved. Ignore the switch below this as that is needed for something else since this INTV 2 uses an older RGB setup.

    intv2_ext_detail.jpg.0c31d3c79e01066a93e69b916026c1bd.jpg

     

    So again, the plan is to release the gerbers for these publicly so others can have them made up for their own installs. I've already had a few other modders reach out to me wanting the gerbers because they actually want to change out their current mounting to use of these new setups. 

    View the full article

  11. The Jaguar has got to remain one of the coolest, most fascinating pieces of hardware to ever emerge as a gaming console. At least for me, anyways. 
     

    On one side, you have these incredibly powerful GPU and DSP chipsets. Even with the hardware bugs they may contain, they’re capable of doing some impressive things given the 1992/1993 time frame and price point they were released in. 
     

    On the other hand, it’s completely bottlenecked by Atari’s cost cutting decisions and hand-forced limitations due to memory constraints and a unified system bus architecture that is further diminished by the 16-bit Motorola 68000.

     

    The system was originally designed around a 32-bit 68030 and 4MB of RAM. Imagine how much of a difference having twice the available RAM and a far faster CPU with proper bus access would have made! Alas, that was not to be the case. Hindered performance be damned, we still got one hell of a cool cat that certainly has a unique personality. 
     

    So, yadda yadda yadda. Why am I still rambling about this sort of stuff in 2024? Well, because from a hobbyist homebrew developer standpoint, we’re on the brink of a major turning point.

    I started my homebrew development journey in late 2017 on the Jaguar with Raptor Basic and have worked on dozens of things (mostly unseen) during this time. It had been somewhat a lifelong dream to create games for one of my favorite consoles of all time. So, I set out to learn 3D modeling and rendering, music composition and programming. This is pre-Jaguar game drive mind you. Rb+ evolved and matured into what is now JagStudio. For those who may be unaware, it’s a free and rather incredible software development package aimed at allowing anyone to make games on the Jaguar in c, assembly or even basic.
     

    Snag it here: https://reboot-games.com/jagstudio/
     

    All this, thanks to several hardcore and dedicated hobbyists who continue to devote their free time to improve these tools for others to make cool things as time goes on. Jaguar community gets a lot of static for ruffled feathers but this is the gold standard of community driven inspiration that fuels fun and creativity.

     

    JagStudio is getting a major update soon. One that will allow things to be done that was seemingly impossible on the Jaguar before. I won’t let the cat out of the bag until it’s ready, but the guys working behind the scenes to make this pivotal shifting point possible (CJ and Rik) deserve some major kudos! Granted, the roadway here has been a long one. So many other devs have contributed to what has morphed into and become JagStudio, where do you even start. Maybe a proper credits page should be added on the site.
     

    (inserting major kudos to all here!)

     

    Anyways, on to bigger and better things. Here’s to 2024 being a super cool year for the Jag all-around. It’s a really exciting time to be a Jag fan. I’m pretty excited with the little things I’ve been able to achieve with it all behind the scenes, that it almost feels unreal.

     

    Soon….

     

    IMG_4637.jpeg.1a46cf4b6c62cb676fd74c5f444b057d.jpeg

  12. Here we are the day before leaving 2023, and things in the Bubsy-verse have been quite interesting.  Chatter continues on the Bubsy Officious Discord Server and new Atari continues to hint at further Bubsy games after buying the Accolade titles.   At the very least the execs seem to remember Bubsy well.

     

    ScreenShot2023-12-31at3_33_44PM.thumb.png.0e37a80821b1e51ce9358423a36cec13.pngScreenShot2023-12-31at4_11_35PM.png.f96feaa6721ae93e861c20bed56f2166.png

     

    In all this we lost our good friend Michael Berlyn, creator of Bubsy, back in April.  His humor and comments are missed.  Ultimately I feel among his many projects, we the fans helped show him how much his creation of Bubsy as a character is appreciated.

    ScreenShot2023-12-31at4_11_47PM.png.91fdc1eab58e4c4e4072e3128e7690b6.png(by Sponge Fox)

    Earlier this year we witnessed Bubsy Fractured Furry tales as the game was explored with mapping and more short cuts found.  And we also saw hacks of the game maps, and replacement of the music.  And on the "Bubsy Opinions" thread we even got some input from Andrew Seed, the programmer of Bubsy: Fractured Furry Tales.  If you look on that thread there is a version of the game that opened up a hack to the lost room on the sixth level.

     

    Earlier this year in April there was an interview with Bubsy Fractured Furry Tales producer, Faran Thomason.   We see Faran on some of the Atari forum on Facebook and other places.

     

    In the Bubsy merchandise we caught a sighting of a long sleeve version the Bubsy 1 shirt.  And we caught a few more examples of the ever rare Bubsy plush!  And here at the end of the year one of the iron on T-shirt Transfers showed up on ebay:

     

    ScreenShot2023-12-31at3_45_04PM.thumb.png.9630165018f682c3d24e5cf9345a3516.png

     

    What are iron on T-Shirt transfers?  Well growing up in the 70s and 80s and into the early 90s there was a promotional item for whatever was being promoted.  I honestly don't remember what my first shirt was to sport a iron on decal.  I did recently find another iron on from a Cheerios cereal box promotion:

     

    240962815_10158617720128651_1903118438185505009_n.thumb.jpg.84ed2fdfb708533cb68969c2a9b14680.jpg

     

    You would place this on your T-shirt decal side down, and the heat from the iron when pressed against the wax paper surface would do one of two things: 1) activate the adhesive so the decal would stick to the T-Shirt and 2) release the decal from the wax paper even so that you could peel away the wax paper once the iron on transfer/decal was applied.

     

    When it came to the Cheerio's promotion for the T-shirt image for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" which you see above from 1978, I honestly can't remember if it came in the cereal box, or if you sent off for the iron on transfer by sending in a certain amount of box tops to a certain address and the cereal company would send a iron on transfer.  Honestly the latter would be a better way to go as not everyone would want a iron on transfer of a movie.  Some might just want to eat their Cheerios in peace.  :P

     

    That brings us to the Bubsy iron on transfer, which I believe came from around 1993 and around the Bubsy: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind game:

    ScreenShot2023-12-31at3_18_26PM.png.a08c797feef74a2963b8c3d3e7c3240c.pngScreenShot2023-12-31at3_18_33PM.png.35145df06793af738aa605f2de0b9973.png

    So far the Bubsy Fan Blog and friends have not found out how this iron on transfer was distributed.   Currently asking the person this transfer was bought from, so we'll see if they can shed some more light on this.

     

    (and they responded on January 2nd)

    "I used to be a store manager at a game stop and it was offered as a pre Purchase promo item if I remember correctly"

     

    Well there we go!

     

     

    Party on Bubsy fans! See you in 2024!!

     

    -The Bubsy Bobcat Fan Blog!

     

     

    Originally posted at:

    https://forums.atariage.com/blogs/entry/18803-cruizin-ebay-the-bubsy-iron-on-t-shirt-transfer-december-2023/

     

    ScreenShot2023-12-31at4_11_58PM.thumb.png.5fb704e5e6f9fe91c56e269bea22a785.png

    (By Spongefox)

     

     

     

  13. I'm over 50, thus I have 1 deceased parent (from year 2000), 1 elderly mom and her elderly husband (of 21 years) , my stepfather. This year I spent a lot of days in support of my 2 elderly parents. My stepfather's health deteriorated a lot in particular, and thus there were many trips to hospitals, caregiving, then in-home hospice, then his death in December at age 84.  Now my mom is a widow again.  The first time she was widowed in 2000, she was only a few years older than I am now. 

     

    So, things like Atari, and homebrewing, well there wasn't much time or energy for that. 

     

    But I did make some progress on these:  

     

    Koffi Redux.  I've been reworking the OG 2002 game in the same 32K memory space. Got some new tweaked graphics like more colors and more interesting backgrounds, a  2-player simultaneous gameplay, and plans for a more pinball-game inspired style of gameplay. But I did all this in the 1st part of 2023 with little progress in the tail end of 2023.  I want to include things like appearing bumpers and targets (on the clouds and tree edges) for Koffi to hit and earn you points as you play.  I'd like to release whatever I can accomplish in 32K as a demo, then bump it up to bank-switched 64K for a more fleshed-out follow up. 

     

    Adventure II 5200 2023. I applied bug-fixes, minor gameplay tweaks,  and engine improvements to the OG 2007 5200 game, still 32K as well. These improvements were based on what I did on Adventure II XE in the 2010's. I don't have much ROM space left.   I was trying to make a new 'base' version of Adventure II 5200 that I could then modify for future DLC ROMs which would have fresh new things for folks to play.  The changes significantly improve the efficiency of the sprite engine. The only problem is that these fixes introduced an old bug.  I could put in a simple plug to identify if the bug happened and fix it on the next frame -   but I really would like to solve the root problem that causes it. I put in an error trap , played in Altirra until the bug happened, then investigated memory.  But I haven't really solved it as I haven't had time the past few months.  

     

    Very little progress of another long-running 5200 Homebrew "Detective Powers". 

     

    Going forward in 2024, after this end-of-year period where I'm really slacking, drinking, and just playing games and watching movies - I hope to get back into the rewarding creativity of homebrewing games for 5200 and A8. 

  14. drawer_rants.png.ca66f4e2ddd2f60eccac3405895f71d9.pngThis has been dealt with at this point, so I am going to tell the story. I ordered $257 in laptop accessories to replace what was stolen. As a USPS PO Box holder, I avail myself of its "physical address service," which allows me to ship items to the Post Office's physical address. So now I can get my FedEx, UPS, USPS, and whatever in one convenient location.

     

    FedEx "delivered" my package on November 1. However, by November 10, nobody in the PO knew where it was. The person whose name was on the "proof of delivery" does not sign for packages. I notified FedEx, but a missing package claim must come from the shipper. This is where the story really begins.

     

    I notified Dell via the website. They came back within 24 hours saying, FedEx says it was delivered, we cannot replace or refund you, and your request raises "security concerns." I called and told the rep, I do not want a refund or replacement, I simply need Dell to file a missing package claim with FedEx.

     

    This request generated another ticket, which was responded to in the same manner: FedEx says it was delivered, we cannot refund/replace, your request raises "security concerns." So, I emailed Dell's executive support team (which is where your email to Michael Dell actually goes.)

     

    In this email, I laid out in minute detail the entire event. Within a couple of days, Mikhail responds in the old ticket. He explains his logistics team told him they filed the claim with FedEx which reports the package was delivered. Attached was the same "proof of delivery" website printout they had already given me. Oh, and my request raises "security concerns."

     

    At this point I exploded. I have had a Dell account for 20 years, I have a package which was signed for fraudulently, and is missing, and Dell will not lift a fucking finger to help. As well, since Dell is all but accusing me of fraud, I will frankly say the logistics team is out-right lying. If they had actually filed the claim this could not be resolved so quickly as FedEx takes 10 days to investigate a claim.

     

    With my bank's blessing given the situation, I processed a charge-back. Of course, the day I got my money back from the bank, the package shows up: exactly one month after FedEx says it was delivered.

     

    Here is what apparently went down. The PO has a counter which is marked "USPS outbound packages, only." FedEx and Amazon both have nasty habits of dropping deliveries on this table and just putting in a name in the device. At the end of the day, the USPS staff sweeps that stuff into a bin and off it goes to Jacksonville. We can only assume this is exactly what happened, and they have put up even more signage to indicate the proper delivery process.

     

    I informed Mikhail that the package had shown up, what we believe happened, and that my bank was aware of the situation and would work out the charge-back with Dell. I also told him that I did not want to hear another word from him as he had so poorly handled my case that any further communication would just be salt in the wound, and it is highly unlikely I will never buy from Dell, again. As it is time to replace my laptop, I am looking at a different brand.

     

    The dipshit responded. He was so happy to hear the package was "located," he was sorry for the experience with the delivery, he shared this information with his logistics team which will contact FedEx. Never once apologizing for how Dell would not help me, how Dell accused me of attempting a fraud, how Dell would not take ownership of the situation in any form or fashion.

     

    If this is how Dell will treat a long-time customer, Dell can fuck itself. If Mikhail is constrained by company policy, then the company truly has fallen and consequently has lost me and my customers. If this was not a result of company policy, then Mikhail needs to find a different career as top-tier customer care is not his bag. Additionally, FedEx needs to investigate as this is not the first package which was supposedly delivered, except the other packages were never found and I was refunded by the vendors. But, I seriously doubt this will occur as a result of any effort from Dell.

     

    fuckdell-missingpackage.png.5938442059cd3d7a2e7b8f470a4d9786.png

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    KAYRO

    AGE: SEVENTEEN

    GENDER: MALE

    HAIR COLOR: WHITE

    EYE COLOR: BLUE

    SKIN COLOR: PEACH

    FAMILY: MOTHER AND FATHER

    CLOTHING: SCRAPS OF DISCARDED CLOTHES HE FOUND ON THE STREET

    PERSONALITY: BRAVE,,  KIND,,  RESPONSIBLE

    KAYRO IS A PEASANT ON THE PLANET POLUS..  WHEN HE DID NOT SACRIFICE HIS BELONGINGS TO THE TYRANT CEREBUS,,  HE WAS THROWN INTO THE DUNGEON TO BE PREYED ON BY THE FEARSOME HELLHOUNDS CALLED ZOTS..  OF COURSE HE SURVIVED AND REUNITED WITH HIS FAMILY..

     

     

    CEREBUS

    AGE: PROBABLY FORTIES

    GENDER: MALE

    HAIR COLOR: NONE SPECIFIED

    EYE COLOR: RED

    SKIN COLOR: NONE SPECIFIED

    FAMILY: THE ZOTS AND THE PEOPLE WHO SERVE HIM

    CLOTHING: HELMET WITH A ZIG-ZAGGED PATTERN AND ARMOR WITH RAZOR-SHARP EDGES..

    PERSONALITY: TYRANNICAL,,  EASILY ANGERED,,  SINISTER

    CEREBUS IS THE RULER OF PLANET POLUS AND THE OWNER OF THE FEARSOME HELLHOUNDS CALLED THE ZOTS..  WHENEVER SOMEONE DISPLEASES HIM HE HAS THEM SENT TO THE DUNGEON WHERE THE ZOTS WILL PREY ON THEM..  HE ALSO HAS A PERSONAL VEHICLE CALLED THE STORMRIDER..

     

     

    REDZONE

    AGE: ADULT IN AI YEARS

    GENDER: MALE

    HAIR COLOR: NONE SPECIFIED

    EYE COLOR: RED

    SKIN COLOR: PINK

    FAMILY: NONE SPECIFIED

    CLOTHING: RED ARMOR THAT LOOKS ROMAN,,  BROWN CAPE

    PERSONALITY: LOGICAL,,  COLD,,  CALCULATING

    REDZONE IS THE COMPUTER VIRUS WHO DESTROYED THE CRYPTIC COMPUTER..  HE HAS A SPECIAL WEAPON CALLED A DANTE DART..  

     

     

    BRAD

    AGE: TWENTY FIVE

    GENDER: MALE

    HAIR COLOR: BLONDE

    EYE COLOR: BLUE

    SKIN COLOR: PEACH

    FAMILY: NONE SPECIFIED

    CLOTHING: BROWN SWEATER AND CARGO PANTS

    PERSONALITY: SARCASTIC,,  INDIFFERENT,,  LAID-BACK

    BRAD IS A MALE PATIENT WHO IS AFFECTED WITH AN ABSCESS CLOSE TO HIS HEART..  AMY AND MONICA ZHAO MUST TRAVEL INSIDE HIS BODY ON A MINIATURIZED SUBMARINE TO FIGHT GERMS AND REMOVE THE ABSCESS..

     

     

    DAVID YOUNG

    AGE: TWENTY FOUR

    GENDER: MALE

    HAIR COLOR: RED

    EYE COLOR: GREEN

    SKIN COLOR: PEACH

    FAMILY: NONE SPECIFIED

    CLOTHING: BLACK LEATHER JACKET AND RIPPED SHORTS

    PERSONALITY: BRASH,,  FREE-SPIRITED,,  ALSO VERY TIMID

    DAVID IS A MALE PATIENT WHO HAS DEVELOPED A BLOOD CLOT NEAR HIS BRAIN..  LISA STEIN MUST TRAVEL INSIDE HIS BODY ON A MINIATURIZED SHIP TO MAKE WASTE OF THE CLOT..

     

     

    AMY AND MONICA ZHAO

    AGE: TWENTY EIGHT AND TWENTY NINE

    GENDER: FEMALE

    HAIR COLOR: BLACK

    EYE COLOR: GREEN

    SKIN COLOR: LIGHT YELLOW

    FAMILY: EACH OTHER

    CLOTHING: AMY WEARS A WHITE TANK TOP AND A SKIRT,,  MONICA WEARS A BLACK T-SHIRT WITH DOUBLE DENIM

    PERSONALITY: AMY IS SWEET AND CHEERFUL,,  MONICA IS ROUGH AND BOISTEROUS

    AMY AND MONICA ARE CHIC SISTERS WHO WORK AS SCIENTISTS IN STARPATH CITY..  THEY OWN A SUBMARINE AND A MICRONIZER..

     

     

    LISA STEIN

    AGE: TWENTY SEVEN

    GENDER: FEMALE

    HAIR COLOR: BLONDE

    EYE COLOR: BLUE

    SKIN COLOR: PEACH

    FAMILY: NONE SPECIFIED

    CLOTHING: A LIGHT PINK NURSES OUTFIT

    PERSONALITY: SOFT,,  GENTLE,,  CAREFUL

    LISA IS A DOCTOR WHO WORKS IN MICROBIOLOGY..  SHE OWNS A SUBMARINE AND A MICRONIZER..

     

     

    LUISA

    AGE: ELEVEN

    GENDER: FEMALE

    HAIR COLOR: BRUNETTE

    EYE COLOR: BROWN

    SKIN COLOR: LIGHT BROWN

    FAMILY: NONE SPECIFIED

    CLOTHING: A BLUE SHIRT AND PINK SHORTS

    PERSONALITY: NAÏVE,,  TIMID,,  THINKS BIG

    LUISA IS A YOUNG GIRL WHO LIVES IN SPIRIT BAY AND VENTURES INTO ZACHARY GRAVES' OLD MANSION TO FIND THE URN THAT COULD BE WORTH A FORTUNE..  SHE IS SCARED OF BATS..

     

     

     

  15. arwanderer
    Latest Entry

    After a little over a decade of disinterest in Atari (and video games in general), my son rekindled my interest this past August with programming.  Little did I know that it would be an interesting time period to get back into Atari (the VCS/2600 specifically).  New games were being made, AtariAge was purchased, and a new 2600 would soon be released, among other things.  It all seemed pretty exciting.  

     

    I preordered the Atari 2600+ from Amazon on September 28th.  Over the following weeks, I talked myself into preordering the other stuff too, extra joystick, paddle set, Berserk (Enhanced Edition), and Mr. Run and Jump.  My Atari 2600+ was delivered this evening, but none of the other stuff has even shipped yet. 

     

    Anyways, here's some unboxing photos.  Not a review or anything yet.

     

    image.thumb.jpeg.2850d6c90157dadbf1d68099467e43b5.jpeg

    Back

    The front and back of the packaging.

    3.thumb.jpg.b65901a635814913aa212586bfde6ae5.jpg

    Once you open the top flap, there's the little VCS sitting underneath a protective plastic shield.  To the right is the box containing the joystick and game cartridge.

    4.thumb.jpg.4fa800e44095226a26679528cbdf48b2.jpg

    Underneath the console is a quick start guide and a flat box containing the HDMI and power cables.

     

     

    5.thumb.jpg.7168653721522e17d30d9212fd88b7ac.jpg

    ...and here's everything you get.  The joystick has a nice feel to it.  The game cartridge comes in a little slip case.

    6.thumb.jpg.29d452a4e159dfb343db745166ac55de.jpg

    7.thumb.jpg.0a9bf0ee3c07949a4fcc08917bc5a339.jpg8.thumb.jpg.694b3eae04bef857228e75d4373611a1.jpg

    And finally, here is a side-by-side comparison with an 80's four switch.

    9.thumb.jpg.6eafa2bd28e0fe994f3f089e58e7fe17.jpg

    91.thumb.jpg.14148d465409c981a6fa7e8453f0a46e.jpg

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    OK,, so growing up in the Seventies we all read DC,, right???? I think we all loved SUPERMAN,, BATMAN,, WONDER WOMAN,,  et al..

     

    But there was one hero i was ABSOLUTELY DRAWN TO..

     

    GREEN LANTERN..

     

    specifically HAL JORDAN.. i do not know why i liked him so much,, but that brownish? Reddish? Hair had me IN LOVE..  i think i started liking him the most after seeing him get hypnotized a multitude on the SUPER FRIENDS,,  like damn this guy can SUBMIT..  haha..

     

    But it was a few instances i realize hal was the real deal for me..

     

    I never had head lice in school,,  but someone else in a class i wasn't in did,,  so they sent out the notice that someone has lice and all,,  but WHAT WAS UP WITH THEIR INSISTANCE to anthropomorphize the lice,,  like there was a community living in your hair????

     

    That of course got me INTERESTED,, since i had heard horror stories from friends that lice made your head ITCH.. they shut down the school,, and with me,, that notice,, and a GREEN LANTERN hyperfixation,, I just wrote an entire story of Hal Jordan with ANTHROPOMORPHIC LICE in his hair..  i could visualize the itching in my mind..  how he went from being sassy about it to ABSOLUTELY FUCKING FERAL as the story progressed as the itching was driving him MAD.. and of course SUPERGIRL and BATGIRL were there to help him out by combing his hair,,  which just made things worse as the itching had turned into pain.. blame the PORKY PIG with the RAT STAMPEDE record for this whole interest with the anthropomorphic lice..

     

    Later when i was like 11 i owned a game called TUMMY ACHE by colorforms,,  the object of this game was to give this kid junk food until he threw up..  now first of all i ate alot of junk food and never threw up..  but something about this interested me..  so i wrote a story about hal jordan eating the same food in the game (real versions OFC),,  and getting a tummy ache + throwing up.. This time CAROL FERRIS was there to take care of him,,  pepto bismol alka seltzer..  it was oddly cute..

     

    Also when i played FANTASTIC VOYAGE for 2600 the first time,,  I imagined the patient being Hal Jordan..  this was before david so i had to make something up on the spot.. lol..

     

     

    In the Nineties when Hal became PARALLAX i was strangely like,,  "yeah i think i like hal all over again",,,  keep in mind I was 24..  i wrote a story where he got a fever,,  showing he wasn't invulnerable even if he was an unstoppable badass..  and paying homage to that first FANTASTIC VOYAGE playthrough,,  carol had to shrink and go inside him to cure it..  since parallax being bratty asf "COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!" Cute and savage at the same time..

     

    When steve blum did hal's voice in INJUSTICE 2 I felt my childhood return..  especially when he became a red lantern and got all angry.. reminded me of hal going FERAL in some of the stories i wrote..  i believe there was one of him with chickenpox..  yeah feel free to laugh at me.. i'm a fiend,,  and hal is why..

  16.  

     

    I forgot about these blogs existing

     

    In anticipation of the 2600+ I've updated my updated 2600 list:   I just need 2 to finish the Activision set!

     

    3-D Tic Tac Toe
    Adventures of Tron
    Air Sea Battle
    Airlock
    Alien
    Amidar
    Arcade Golf
    Armor Ambush
    Asteroids
    Astroblast
    Atlantis X2
    Bank Heist
    Barnstormning
    Basic Math
    Basketball
    Battlezone
    Beany Bopper
    Bermuda Triangle
    Berzerk
    Big Bird's Egg Catch
    Blackjack 
    Blueprint
    Bowling
    Boxing
    Brain Games
    Breakaway IV
    breakout
    Bridge
    Buck Rogers
    bugs
    California Games
    Canyon Bomber
    Carnival
    Casino
    Centipede
    championship soccer
    Checkers
    Chopper Command
    Circus Atari x2
    Circus Convoy
    Coconuts
    Combat
    Commando
    Commando Raid
    Cookie Monster Munch
    Cosmic Ark
    Crackpots
    Crossbow
    Cruise Missile
    Crypts of Chaos
    Crystal Castles
    Dare Driver (Sky Diver)
    Dark Cavern
    Dark Chambers
    Deadly Duck
    Decathlon
    Defender
    Defender II
    Demon Attack
    Demons to Diamonds
    Dig Dug
    dodge 'em
    Dolphin
    Donkey Kong 
    Double Dragon
    Dragon Fire
    Dragster
    E.T
    Enduro
    Fantastic Voyage
    Fast Eddie
    Fast Food
    Fathom
    Final Approach
    Fire Fighter
    Firefly
    Fishing Derby
    Flash Gordon
    Football
    Freeway
    Frogger
    Frogger II: Threedeep
    Frogs and Flies
    Frostbite
    Galaxian
    Ghost Manor/Spike's Peak double-ender
    Ghostbusters
    Golf
    Gopher
    Gorf
    Grand Prix
    H.E.R.O.
    Haunted House
    Homerun
    Human Cannonball
    Ice Hocey
    Ikari Warriors
    Indy 500
    Journey Escape
    Joust
    JR Pac-Man
    Jungle Hunt
    Kaboom
    Kangaroo
    Keystone Kapers
    Krull
    Kung-Fu Master
    Laser Blast
    Lock 'N' Chase
    M.A.D.
    Mario Bros
    Mash
    Math Gran Prix
    Maze Craze
    Mega Force
    Megamania
    Midnight Magic
    Millipede
    mineature golf
    Miner 2049er
    Missile Command
    Mogul Maniac
    Moonsweeper
    Mouse Trap
    Ms Pac-Man
    Night Driver
    No Escape
    Oinki
    Omega Race
    Othello
    Outlaw
    Pac-man
    Pele's Soccer
    Pete Rose Baseball
    Phoenix
    Pitfall II
    Pitfall!
    Planet Patrol
    Plaque Attack
    Pole Position
    Pooyan
    Popeye
    Porky's
    Pressure Cooker
    Private Eye
    Qbert
    Racquetball
    Raiders of the Lost Ark
    Rampage
    Reactor
    Realsports Baseball x2
    Realsports Football
    Realsports Tennis
    Riddle of the Sphinx X2
    River Raid
    Robot Tank
    Seaquest
    Skiing
    Sky Jinks
    Slot Racers
    Smurf
    Solar Fox
    Solaris
    Sorcerer's Apprentice
    Space Attack
    Space Cavern
    Space Invaders
    Space Jockey
    Space Shuttle
    Space War
    Spacechase
    Speedway II
    Spider Fighter
    Spider-Man
    Squeeze Box
    Stampede
    Star Raiders
    Star Ship
    Star Strike
    Star Trek
    Star Voyager
    Star Wars Empire Strikes Back
    Star Wars Return of The Jedi
    Star Wars:Jedi Arena
    Stargate
    Starmaster
    Stellar Track
    Strategy X
    Street Racer
    Street Racer
    Summer Games
    Super Breakout
    Super Challenge Baseball
    Super Challenge Football
    Super Football
    Superman
    Surround
    Swordquest Earthworld
    SwordQuest Fireworld
    Tac-Scan
    Tennis
    Title Match
    Towering Inferno
    Trick Shot
    Tron Deadly Discs
    Turmoil
    Tutankham
    Vanguard
    Venture
    video checkers
    Video Chess
    Video Olympics
    Video Pinball
    Warlords
    Warplock
    Winter Games
    Wizard of Wor
    Word Zapper
    Worm War I
    Yars Revenge
    Zaxxon

     

     

    Right now I'm looking for the following:

     

    Cosmic Commuter
    River Raid II
    Bump N Jump
    Dishaster
    Encounter At L-5
    Fatal Run (PAL only [retron 77 compat})
    Frankenstein's Monster
    Gravitar
    Lost Luggage
    Moon Patrol
    Name This Game
    Pigs in Space
    Real Sports Boxing
    Real Sports Volleyball
    Skate Boardin'
    Skeet Shoot
    Sneek'n Peek
    Soccer
    Strawberry Shortcake
    Super Cobra
    Thunderground
  17. Last Updated: 2023y_10m_26d_0403t (Started: 2023y_10m_21d_0538t)

     

    I'm sure I'll forget most of this stuff once I stop playing, so here are some random thoughts and tips in case I or anyone else wants to know in the future.

     

    I had some gift card money built up, so I bought Starfield on September 13, 2023 for $74.71 without realizing that the only way it works on my Xbox is through the "cloud." So I bought three months of Game Pass Ultimate at Amazon.com. I've been disconnected from the cloud countless times and the game randomly freezes up (just like all the Bethesda games I've played before). It's very irritating when the game freezes up when trying to save.

     

    There could be semi-spoilers below depending on how much you don't know about the game. Read at your own risk.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Do Not Trust Auto Save

     

    Always save manually since you could lose hours of gameplay if you trust auto save. I've also had the game freeze up while trying to save manually, so expect that to happen more than once.

     

     

     

    Favorite Weapon

     

    Commander's Advanced Orion

    ENGY 234

    AMMO 3KV LZR - MAG 40

    ROF 33 - RANGE 60 - ACC 85.2%

    • Long Barrel
    • Recon Laser Sight
    • Medium Scope
    • Focus Nozzle
    • Ignition Beams
    • Amplifier

     

    That's after I fixed it up at weapon workbench with all of the crap you need unlocked and a bunch of resources. I've tried all kinds of weapons and none of them seem to be as good as my fixed up Orion. My Orion kills just about anything in a few shots. Weapons that are supposed to be at least two times more powerful seem to do less damage.

     

    Since I only use one weapon, I buy 3KV LZR CARTRIDGE AMMO every chance I get. I have almost 4,000 in my inventory at this time. I had more the first time I played if I remember correctly.

     

    I don't know if it's because I was at level 80, but I found and fixed up a new Corrosive Commander's Advanced Orion. It has the same stats as above (except it has ENGY 222 instead of ENGY 234). It also deals double damage to targets with full health and randomly deals corrosive damage and reduces the target's armor over 6 seconds.

     

    I found this at level 81 or 82:

     

    Eternity's Gate Legendary Particle Beam Rifle

    PHYS 163 - ENGY 608

    AMMO Heavy Particle Fuse - MAG 20

    ROF 25 - RANGE 70 - ACC 81.6%

    • Long Barrel
    • Recon Laser Sight
    • Recon Scope
    • Focus Nozzle
    • Ignition Beams
    • Amplifier

     

    I'm using this new one for now.

     

     

    Favorite Spacesuit

     

    I don't really like the special spacesuit you get after finishing the game a certain way, so I went back to the Mantis outfit. I fixed up all three pieces the best I could and it seems to be better in general than the other spacesuits I've fixed up and tried.

     

     

     

    Favorite Powers

     

    Personal Atmosphere

    This is my favorite power since I collect a ton of stuff to sell when taking out a bunch of bad guys (I quickly get encumbered). I can create a bubble of oxygen for a certain amount of time and run at high speed.

     

    Sense Star Stuff

    See living humans even when they are behind walls. Helpful when fighting bad guys or trying to find crew members on your large ship.

     

    Elemental Pull

    Instantly extract nearby resources from the ground.

     

    Void Form

    Becoming invisible is great for stealing ships from bad guys.

     

     

     

    Ship

    FUEL 1300

    HULL 1576

    CARGO 38460

    C REACTOR 41 - CREW 8

    JUMP RANGE 29 LY - SHIELD 1500

    BAL 74 - MSL 581 - PAR 38

    TOP SPEED 130

     

    my_ship.thumb.png.0aa0a938a12c1bb612b4171240e223c8.png

     

    I adapted the Star Eagle and now the cargo hold capacity is 38,460. I got tired of going back to the basement of the Lodge. I can keep most of my resources on the ship and upgrade things using the ship's workbenches.

     

    Thanks to this page I found out that the Stroud Battle Station 2x2 (sold in the Stroud-Ecklund shop in Neon) increases crew capacity by a significant amount.

     

    I didn't know until my second time playing that I could put stuff into or take stuff out of my ship's cargo hold from a fairly long distance away from the ship. For example, you can be up the stairs past "The Rock" in Akila City and still access the cargo hold. Press the menu button, use the left stick to select SHIP (bottom left), press the A button, then press X for CARGO HOLD. It's nice to know that if you are close enough to the ship, you can put things into and take things out of the cargo hold.

     

    In case you didn't know or in case I forget, the cargo hold is accessible when dealing with shop owners (switch between the seller, you, and the ship using the bumper buttons) and any resources in your cargo hold seem to be available when you use a workbench anywhere on any planet.

     

    My 2-story ship has the Cabot C4 Bridge with the stairs. The only ladder is at the far back where the docker is.

     

     

     

    Selecting Multiple Parts of Your Ship When Editing

     

    I didn't know how to select multiple ship parts the first time I played. I moved individual parts too many times to count and it was boring and annoying. The second time, I looked it up and pages like this said we could select multiple parts using the right bumper. Click on each part that you want to move with the right bumper to change the color, click on any part of the highlighted section using the A button, then drag the whole section where you want.

     

     

     

    Beware of Asteroids

     

    If you shoot asteroids, there is a chance that some of them will stick with your ship. I have 8 stuck around my ship at various distances. They can't be shot and they can block your view of an enemy ship. I've shot at my phantom asteroids countless times when trying to shoot at real asteroids.

     

     

     

    Selling Contraband

     

    The first time playing, I looked up how to sell contraband and I got some kind of complicated crap about joining a group of some kind and doing a bunch of missions before I could sell my illegal stuff. So I just dropped it all into space. I eventually found out that all you have to do is go to a star system called WOLF that is to the right of SOL and above ALPHA CENTAURI. Simply dock with THE DEN that is orbiting Chthonia. Sell your illegal stuff and anything else you want to sell to the guy at the Trade Authority.

     

     

     

     

     

    Useful Links

     

    Ship power allocation randomly changing

    Xbox Shipbuilding - Multi-Select

    No ladders 2-story ship

    Starfield Glitch Gets Player Unexpected Traveling Companion

     

     

     

     

     

     

    MORE TO COME

     

     

     

     

     

  18. Just a fun thiing I put together today.   Sadly this awesome banner I was not able to use as a cover picture for Facebook:

     

    Bentley_Breaking_Bad_792x178.thumb.gif.5cbad7c3dbf1dff4d3adea858544af47.gif

     

    So I made this static picture.  Enjoy!

     

    ScreenShot2023-10-02at3_39_00PM.png.a948e21bd166a40dd832c63f4e61af49.png

     

    One more for Atari's unspoken mascot!

    • 1
      entry
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      comment
    • 883
      views

    Recent Entries

  19. I have worked long and hard on a NTS-1 Patch Editor to make it operate with the Diamond GOS.  But I fear that it will never work on my system.  Strange things started happening as the last of the routines were being worked on.  It's taken me a couple of months to realize that the drive to continue working with Diamond was at an end.

     

    Over time there were bugs showing up in this compiled program in an ever-increasing frequency.  These were problems with code that had already been debugged. At some point I noted that the Free Space reported at the end of the M65 assembly process was all over the place.

     

    The real surprise was when an operational program was downloaded from a previous blog entry and would not compile into a working version. Then I couldn't get a simple show-me-a-Dialog-box program to compile and run.

     

    I don't have the drive to figure out the problem.  It could be the Diamond and/or MAC65 Cart, or the computer.  I've even wondered if the power supply might be part of the problem.

     

    And…. There is a real possibility that I wasn't up to the programing challenge. This program did require some parts of my brain that hadn't been simulated for some time.

     

    Now, I still want utility programs for the NTS-1 and the MIDI MUSIC SYSTEM. They just won't be running under a GOS.

     

    Please leave me a thumbs down if you're devastated by this news.

  20. During a discussion with @SvOlli about how to optimize calculations required for a low-res, playfield based plasma effect within a 512 byte demo for the 2600, I started coding myself to verify my own ideas. This eventually led to the current code.

    Usually the plasma effect is created by combining sine waves. Since one of the goals was to use only minimal ROM space, I started by using precalculated, small sine tables. This worked OK, but still needed some ROM space and also a lot of checks in the code when wrapping around the table index. This also affected my second goal negatively: display as many scanlines with the highest vertical resolution possible. While looking for improvements, I found this website, which uses easy to calculate parabolas for generating sine tables. A stock 2600 cannot make use of this, due to the limited RAM. But Svolli wanted to use CommaVid bankswitching, which allows up to 2K of RAM. Great! After a little optimizing, I came up with the following code. Since it is placed right after the initial clear loop, A and X are 0 already, so that saves a few bytes too.

     

        ldy     #$3f                ; A = X = 0!
    ; Accumulate the delta (normal 16-bit addition):
    .loopSine
    ; Reflect the value around for a sine wave:
    ;    clc                         ; this makes no difference
        pha                         ; = .delta
        adc     .value				
        sta     .value
        lda     .delta+1
        adc     .value+1
        sta     .value+1
        sta     SinLstW + $c0,x
        sta     SinLstW + $80,y
        eor     #$7f
        sta     SinLstW + $40,x
        sta     SinLstW + $00,y
    ; Increase the delta, which creates the "acceleration" for a parabola:
        pla                         ; = .delta
        adc     #$08                ; this value adds up to the proper amplitude
        bcc     .skipHi
        inc     .delta+1
    .skipHi
    ; Loop:
        inx
        dey
        bpl     .loopSine

    The result is a 256 bytes sine table, ranging from 0 to 127. So now we have a large table which automatically wraps around. Nice.

     

    For creating the plasma effect, several sines with different offset and frequency have to be combined. Svolli's idea was to aggregate two sines per axis. And then aggregate the results per playfield pixel. If that result overflows (carry set), the pixel would be set. Even for a mirrored playfield, the number of calculations required for the final aggregates exceed the available CPU time by far. So the plan was (and still is), to do that on-the-fly during kernel display. Here is an excerpt of the original code:

    LoopKernel
        lda   YSinLst,y  	; from CV RAM, e.g. 50 aggregated sine values
        tay               
        adc   xSinLst+19	; from ZP-RAM, 20 aggregated sine values
        ror   .tmpPF0
        tya
        adc   xSinLst+18
        ror   .tmpPF0
        tya
        adc   xSinLst+17
        ror   .tmpPF0
        ...			; and so on for 20 pixel and 3 PF registers
        lda   .tmpPF0
        sta   PF0  

    This fully unrolled code would need 10 cycles per pixel for the sine list aggregation. So that's 200 cycles already, and with some overhead (e.g. colors), it would barely fit into 3 scanlines, and most likely need 4 scanlines. That's when Svolli contacted me, asking if I have any ideas how to optimize this.

     

    Since I had never coded the effect, initially I barely understood all the details. :) But somewhere in the back of my mind I had the idea that there must be a simpler solution. I first thought about using deltas in xSinLst to avoid the TYA, and this would have saved 2 cycles per calculation. But then I came up with something completely different. Instead of adding the two sine lists, due to their symmetric nature, subtracting them might work as well. And since we only need the carry flag, we could use CMP instead of SBC. Which means we could use A for aggregating the carries. Here is the new, faster code:

        ldy     #KERNEH_H-1
    LoopKernel                      
        ldx     YSinLst,y           
        cpx     xSinLst+19          
        ror                         
        cpx     xSinLst+18          
        ror                         
        cpx     xSinLst+17          
        ror
        ...
        sta	    PF0

    Now each pixel requires only 5 cycles, 50% saved! :) Which makes the code fit into just two scanlines now. But does it really work? Svolli was not convinced, so I started coding myself to test the idea. The initial results where OK, but no exactly what I was expecting. But that was due to a lack of understanding of how to prepare the sine lists. Svolli was kind enough to give me some detailed explanations. Later it turned out, that the new kernel code works almost exactly like the original code. Just that everything is shifted by 180°. Which doesn't matter for the plasma effect at all.

     

    The missing piece was the calculation of the sine lists for X and Y axis. Since we combine two sine tables per axis with varying offsets, we first have to change their offset each frame. To make movement smooth, 16 bit math is used here. So that's four 16 bit additions. Again we can make use of the 256 byte table size to ignore any overflow checks. And then I had the idea, that we could do eight 8 bit additions instead. Which makes the loop a bit smaller and saves some bytes. I only had to rearrange the variables a bit.

    offsetLst       ds NUM_SPEEDS*2
    xOffsetAHi      = offsetLst
    ;xOffsetALo      = offsetLst+1
    xOffsetBHi      = offsetLst+2
    ;xOffsetBLo      = offsetLst+3
    yOffsetAHi      = offsetLst+4
    ;yOffsetALo      = offsetLst+5
    yOffsetBHi      = offsetLst+6
    ;yOffsetBLo      = offsetLst+7 
        ...
        ldx     #8-1
    .loopOffsets
        lda     offsetLst,x        
        adc     SpeedTbl,x         
        sta     offsetLst,x        
        dex                        
        bpl     .loopOffsets

    Pretty simple.

     

    What's left now, are the final calculations of the two sine lists from two sine tables each. This is pretty time consuming, as we have to do 20 calculations for the X-axis and about 100 calculations for the Y-axis.

     

    Since the X-axis goes into ZP-RAM and I need X and Y registers for the offsets, I make heavy use of the stack pointer here. For that I did put the list at the beginning of the ZP-RAM, so that I can now easily check the N-flag in the loop branch. 

    ; setup X-list:
    ; A = xOffsetAHi from previous code          
        ldx     #xSinLst+PF_BITS-1  ; 2
        txs                         ; 2             SP also used as loop counter     
        ldy     xOffsetBHi          ; 3 =  7
    LoopCopyX
        tax                         ; 2
    ;    clc                         ; 2		
        lda     SinLst,x            ; 4
        adc     SinLst,y            ; 4     
        pha                         ; 3     
        tya                         ; 2 = 15
        adc     #13                 ; 2
        tay                         ; 2     
        txa                         ; 2
    ;    clc                         ; 2      
        adc     #-11                ; 2 = 8 
        tsx                         ; 2
        bmi     LoopCopyX           ; 3/2= 5/4

    That's 28 cycles per loop. Nice!

     

    Adding 13/-11 to the offsets for each column simulates using sinus tables of higher frequencies. So we can use our single 256 bytes sinus table here too. The values used for adding are arbitrary chosen, they just have to look nice. The code ignores clearing the carry flags, because I found that the differences are hardly noticeable, only of you look very closely. Since my goal is to minimize the ROM space, this is an acceptable compromise, IMO.

     

    Now to the Y-axis. Here we have to do the same calculation for about 100 values, so this is very time consuming. Especially since I cannot use the stack pointer, so I have to use variables to keep track. Initially I planned to put the previous code into Overscan and the Y-axis calculations into VBlank. But then I would have wasted some remaining CPU time in Overscan. But I wanted to display as many scanlines of plasma as possible. So I had to split the calculation between Overscan and VBlank. Doubling the code was out of question, and a subroutine would have made the code more complex and slower. Then I had the idea, that I could check the timer during the loop, do the VSync when it is due and continue with the loop. The timer check would have cost me extra cycles, but the extra CPU time gained from Overhead made more than up for that. Still the timer check was bugging me, since reading INTIM takes 4 cycles. Eventually I realized that all my code execution timings are constant (or can be made constant), so I don't need the timers are all!

    ; setup Y-list:
    .tmpX       = tmpVars
        lda     yOffsetAHi          ; 3
        sta     .tmpX               ; 3
        ldy     yOffsetBHi          ; 3
        ldx     #KERNEL_H-1         ; 2 =  8
    LoopCopyY
        txs                         ; 2 =  2
        dec     .tmpX               ; 5
        ldx     .tmpX               ; 3
        tya                         ; 2
        adc     #5                  ; 2
        tay                         ; 2 = 14
    ;    clc			 ; 2
        lda     SinLst,x            ; 4
        adc     SinLst,y            ; 4 =  8
        tsx                         ; 2
        sta     YSinLstW,x          ; 5 =  7
    ; Instead of splitting the loop, do the vertical sync in the middle of the loop.
    ; This maximizes the available CPU time for the loop and minimizes the code.
        cpx     #OVERSCAN_X         ; 2
        bne     .skipVSync          ; 3/2= 5/4
        lda     #%1110              ;           each '1' bits generate a VSYNC ON line (bits 1..3)
    .loopVSync
        sta     WSYNC               ;           1st '0' bit resets Vsync, 2nd '0' bit exits loop
        sta     VSYNC
        lsr
        bne     .loopVSync          ;           branch until VSYNC has been reset
    .skipVSync
        dex                         ; 2
        bpl     LoopCopyY           ; 3/2= 5/4

    41 cycles per loop, ~3977 cycles (~53.3 scanlines) in total. That would have never fit into Overscan only, even if we deduct the 5 extra cycles for the VSync check.

     

    Finally I just have to waste the few remaining cycles (~150):

        ldx     #VBLANK_X           ;           waste remaining time
    .waitTim
        dex
        bne     .waitTim
        sta     WSYNC

     

    For now, everything was just black and white, which looked pretty dull, even with animation:

    NoColor_1.thumb.png.e480e68e8516f7d34afecfd95a7fbbcf.png NoColor_2.thumb.png.ec60bcd4a80cbf64c7eaba826d5a9fa6.png

    But the kernel code had ~25 cycles free within its two scanlines. By rearranging the code a bit, I was able to merge the free cycles into one block. And after a bit of experimenting, I came up some code which mixes the values of PF1 and X. Not exactly what plasma usually looks like, but still nice looking. Maybe one could use a precalculated a color table here, but what do I know. :) 

     

    ; A = PF1, X = YSinLst,y
        and     #$60                ; 2         ;  0, 2, 4, 6
        adc     colorOr             ; 3         ; +2, 3, 4, 5, 6 
        sta     .tmpCol             ; 3         ;  2..12
        txa                         ; 2
        lsr                         ; 2
        lsr                         ; 2
        lsr                         ; 2
        lsr                         ; 2
        ora     .tmpCol             ; 3
        sta.w   COLUPF              ; 4 = 25    @17     

    To make the colors move lively, I change colorOr every 256 frames:

        inc     frameCnt            ; 5
    ; update color
        bne     .skipColor          ; 3/2= 8/7
        lda     colorOr             ; 3
        cmp     #$50                ; 2
        bcc     .ok                 ; 2/3
        sbc     #$50+1              ; 2
    .ok
        adc     #$20                ; 2
        sta     colorOr             ; 3                 $28..$68
    .skipColor      

    That looks much more interesting:

    Color_1.thumb.png.75b38ea146937380d6c186b49eb0a436.png Color_2.thumb.png.92e0b553ccdaa0ab3779e0267e24990b.png

     

    One last little trick is, that I use BRK to jump back to the begin of the main loop.

     

    Now, what's the final result? The minimal code (no color) needs exactly 247 bytes, with colors added ~30 bytes more. And in the end I managed to display 97 double scanlines (NTSC, 117 for PAL). So a nice demo with sound and some bells and whistles within 512 bytes seems very double.

     

    I also experimented with a 32 pixel wide, non-mirrored playfield, but that takes at least 385 bytes and halves the vertical resolution:

    image.thumb.png.a24220eda253bf227fe8b0ad9253f062.png

    Anyway, I am no demo coder, so I stopped here. But I learned some new tricks, which I can maybe use in the future.

     

    I have attached some ROMs and source code files. PlasmaCompact.asm shows the cleaned code, with all options and further distracting stuff removed. Then I have the same code, prepared for PAL and NTSC, and with some assembler options. I also added my code for the non-mirrored playfield. And last not least, a version with Svolli's nice full coloring.

    Plasma_FC.thumb.png.538d693734d3ab9d057ef3ea9c15d637.png

     

    The ROMs show the results with all options enabled, which means you can change the settings with the joystick:

    • With left difficulty = B you can change the offset steps within the setup loops. Left and right for X offset steps, up and down for Y offset steps. Since there are two values each, you change be 2nd value by holding the fire button.
    • With left difficulty = A you can change the speed of the initial offset changes. Again, left and right for X offset speeds, up and down for Y offset speeds. And since there are two values each here too, use the fire button for the 2nd one.
    • By using RESET, you can reset all settings to their initial values. 

     

    The effects of the changes are hard to describe. But when you experiment with them, you will get an idea. Here is an example:

    image.thumb.png.87cd2139e7cc7f2ee770f8d467280c83.png

    I hope that made sense or you have at least some fun playing with the plasma effect.

     

    Thanks to @SvOlli for contacting me and helping me out quite a lot. Therefore I respectfully waited with the release of this entry until after the Nordlicht 2023 demo party (September 8. - 10.), where he successfully presented his demo.

     

     

    Plasma.bin Plasma.asm PlasmaCompact.bin PlasmaCompact.asm PlasmaAsym.bin PlasmaAsym.asm Plasma_FC.bin Plasma_FC.asm

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