Atari Gran Trak 10 and Sprint 2

[macgoo]

Sorry bit new here and I don't know where to post questions about arcade games, sorry if there is a better place for this to be posted.

 

My question is this, Gran Trak 10 was produced in 1974 right? So how the hell does it have such a gorgeous engine note on that arcade game? Sound chip technology used? Is it a sample based system like the Amiga 10 years later?

 

Gran Trak 10 sounds better in the youtube videos to me than Sprint 2 but this also sounds good too!

 

Also were either games ported to any of the Atari home systems either console or computers?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4aFdMcQODI

Edited June 5, 2012 by macgoo

[+Stephen]

Sounds was all done with discrete components back then.

[macgoo]

But how does a 1972 game have better engine noise than an Amiga racing game. What kind of technology is it?

[+Stephen]

A dedicated (most likely) analog circuit. Maybe the schematics are out there?

[simbalion]

Hmm, this makes me regret even more that I couldn't go for that Gran Trak 10 that was for sale in Columbus last fall for $100. Looks like a neat game.

[BrianC]

Indy 500 plays like some of Atari's 70 arcade racing games.

[simbalion]

Indy 500 is a blast! I think I found my driving controllers, but can't find the cart right now. Erg.

[Retro Rogue]

But how does a 1972 game have better engine noise than an Amiga racing game. What kind of technology is it?

 

It's not a 1972 game. Gran Trak 10/Trak 10 (there were two different models) were released in Mar '74 and July '74 respectively. The sounds are all generated by custom discrete circuitry for each sound. The Amiga's sound chip is a general purpose sound chip (just like others of the time,) so creating a car sound or similar sounds for it would be based upon whatever waveforms that general purpose chip was capable of doing. Of course sounds created via circuits designed around creating a specific sound are going to be able to produce those sounds better.

 

BTW, Gran Trak 10 was the game that almost took Atari down and sparked the need to bring in investors and eventually sell to Warner.

 

[atarifan49]

I found the Gran Trak 10 manual on archive.org. Click on the PDF link on the left side of the page to view or download it. Pages 2-7 thru 2-11 provide detailed description of how the screech, crash and engine RPM sounds are generated. It's mostly analog circuits using op-amps but there are digital inputs that help enable / disable the sounds depending on whether the machine is in game mode or attract mode.

 

Glenn