XL/XE Only Games

[Tempest]

Ok this is probably too large of a question, but is there a list of games that require an XL/XE computer or better to run? I know there are 400/800 only lists, but I've never seen an XL/XE only list. Also, are there games that require 64K that will run on an Atari 800 with 64K or do all the 64K games require the XL/XE OS as well (I assume this is the case)?

 

Tempest

[Urchlay]

Also, are there games that require 64K that will run on an Atari 800 with 64K or do all the 64K games require the XL/XE OS as well (I assume this is the case)?

 

It's less likely to be the OS and more likely to be incompatible hardware: a 64K 800 uses a totally different bankswitching scheme to get at the extra RAM than what the XL/XE's use (and in fact there's no standard for 64K 800s, so different 64K upgrades may not be compatible with each other, even). A game *could* be written to use whichever RAM upgrade it finds, but I'm pretty sure none of them actually do.

 

The same applies to 128K XL/XE's vs. 128K 800's: incompatible bankswitching hardware... though DOSes that support RAMdisks can be designed to work with either type (you may have to tell the DOS which kind you have, or it may auto-detect).

 

The exception to this would be Warerat's XL-compatible 800, of which AFAIK only one or two exist so far. As I understand it, internally it basically IS a 130XE with 576K of RAM, so any XL/XE-only software should be fine.

[+davidcalgary29]

Any list of XL/XE exclusives would be dominated by PAL releases from the early-to-mid nineties. I can't think of many NTSC games, outside of Atari's XEGS titles and The Eidolon, which required 64k.

[Tempest]

Any list of XL/XE exclusives would be dominated by PAL releases from the early-to-mid nineties. I can't think of many NTSC games, outside of Atari's XEGS titles and The Eidolon, which required 64k.

 

Hmm... I wonder If I could get away with using only my 800 then. I just can't get into the 800XL or 130XE's looks...

 

Tempest

[Mr.Amiga500]

What about the CTIA/GTIA difference? Aren't there games that would look weird if trying to run something designed with 256-colour GTIA palette with 128-colour CTIA in the 800?

 

Hmm... I wonder If I could get away with using only my 800 then. I just can't get into the 800XL or 130XE's looks...

 

I can understand not getting into the 130XE's look, but the 800XL is a thing of beauty. I think it's the best looking 8-bit computer ever made (or maybe the 1200XL). The 800 looks like an old electric typewriter. The fact that it's solid metal is nice, but it's not sleek enough for me. (...sleek computers with aerodynamic shape cut down on that dreaded wind drag when typing at over 200km/h )

Edited May 10, 2007 by Mr.Amiga500

[Urchlay]

What about the CTIA/GTIA difference? Aren't there games that would look weird if trying to run something designed with 256-colour GTIA palette with 128-colour CTIA in the 800?

 

Not so many as you'd think. The GTIA only displays 256 colors in the GTIA-specific graphics modes, which only have 80 pixels of horizontal resolution... most games don't use it because it's so low-res (Lucasfilm games use it for the title screen, and Star Raiders II uses it for the planet's surface). Artifacted displays also have different colors on the CTIA, though that won't make any games unplayable... a few really well-designed artifacted games actually detect the CTIA and adjust the display (so I have read; I don't know which ones though).

 

Also, not all 800's have the CTIA. Atari switched from the CTIA to the GTIA in (IIRC) September 1979, so only the earliest 400/800s have the CTIA. I have an 800 and have owned two 400's, and all of them had the GTIA.

 

If you find out you do have a CTIA, you can get a GTIA from B&C Computervisions or Best Electronics. The CTIA is socketed, and the GTIA is supposed to be a drop-in replacement for it. I've never done this, but I've read it's a painless upgrade...

 

Hmm... I wonder If I could get away with using only my 800 then. I just can't get into the 800XL or 130XE's looks...

 

I was trying to do that a while back... one nice thing about using an 800 is that is has the best video quality of all the Atari 8-bits (though Clearpic/Supervideo mods for the XL/XE's can give almost the same results). I kept running into games and demos I just couldn't run, so I ended up doing a video mod to my 1200XL (and later on, a ton of other upgrades, including the 32-in-1 OS upgrade so the 1200XL can run those 800-only games too).

 

I can understand not getting into the 130XE's look, but the 800XL is a thing of beauty. I think it's the best looking 8-bit computer ever made (or maybe the 1200XL). The 800 looks like an old electric typewriter. The fact that it's solid metal is nice, but it's not sleek enough for me. (...sleek computers with aerodynamic shape cut down on that dreaded wind drag when typing at over 200km/h )

 

I think the 1200XL is the best-looking out of them all... but the 800 is also beautiful in its way. I grew up with a 400, later an 800XL, and got an 800 in maybe 1996. To me it's like owning a 1960s muscle car...

 

I know the "wind drag" thing was a joke, but the 800 keyboard is really nice. I can really fly on mine (it may even be nicer than the 1200XL keyboard).