Place Logo Here Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 First, I just wanted to introduce myself. I may have only recently registered, but I have followed these boards for some time (albeit, as somebody who is primarily interested in Intellivision homebrews). It was the AtariAge release of Tempest that recently prompted me to buy a 5200 console and a slew of cartridges on eBay. I was already familiar with some of the games from their 8-bit ports from when I had a 130XE back when it was actually a going concern. Secondly, and here's where I hope I'm not going to touch any nerves: I have been watching Biff's 5200 game reviews on YouTube and am drooling over Blaster, which was only released as a prototype. I want this game in a big way. So I have been wondering: - since AtariAge has the ROM freely available for download - and they also sell custom cartridges - could I buy a custom cartridge of this prototype-only game? After all, it isn't available for sale otherwise. Also, I don't understand what these ROMs would otherwise be used for, so I'm curious what else they would be used for. Please keep in mind: I am a newbie. Lastly, it is my understanding the 5200 has the same chipset as the 8-bit computers (not sure of the lingo or the exact specs, but I know there are many similarities between the systems), so does anybody know of a way to possibly port an 8-bit game to a 5200 custom cartridge? I am particularly interested in converting the games J.D. Casten wrote for the 8-bit Antic! magazine in the early 80's. This guy wrote some incredible games that I think would play well on the console, especially "Biffdrop". Apologies if any, or all, of this has been covered in other threads already. I did a search beforehand, but was unable to find exactly what I was looking for. Thanks in advance for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolRetroGamer Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 You might want to seriously consider a 5200 flashcart, snce you clearly have no issue using ROMS then such a device will allow you to download this rom yourself not to mention the whole library of 5200 roms as well as UNRELEASED / DEMOS / PROTOS / Homebrew etc. Quality product as well as good service and support, some think it pricey but when you consider the cost of just a few Homebrew or custom carts you could play those and so much more (plus it includes some good exclusive Homebrew) Check it out! http://www.atarimax.com/5200sd/documentation/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 It looks like "Biffdrop" is a Atari BASIC program. As such, it would have to be rewritten from scratch in assembly language, as there is no BASIC for the 5200. Assembly language programs can be ported from the Atari computers to the 5200, and many of them have been. But it takes a good bit of effort from an experienced assembly programmer - as such, these conversions don't tend to pop up often. They are certainly much appreciated by us 5200 fans when they do appear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensu Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Lastly, it is my understanding the 5200 has the same chipset as the 8-bit computers (not sure of the lingo or the exact specs, but I know there are many similarities between the systems), so does anybody know of a way to possibly port an 8-bit game to a 5200 custom cartridge? I am particularly interested in converting the games J.D. Casten wrote for the 8-bit Antic! magazine in the early 80's. This guy wrote some incredible games that I think would play well on the console, especially "Biffdrop". The basic listings can all be found here: http://www.jdcasten.info It looks like it would be a nice project for people who want to make homebrew games without a) having to come up with a completely different game or b) making an unauthorized port and getting sued. They couldn't make any money off it, though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Place Logo Here Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 Thanks to everybody for the feedback and additional info. I finally sprung for the Atarimax SD cartridge, and it was money well spent. In fact, it turns out I love Blaster so much that getting it to play that as much I want justified the cost for me. Only problem I am having is some of the prototypes won't boot up. One I particularly want to play is "Sport Goofy", but I only get a black screen when selecting either of the versions found here (admittedly, both of these may be the exact same file, but they have slightly different names). I am running this on a two-port console. Not sure what other info I can provide. Thanks in advance for any recommendations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensu Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Only problem I am having is some of the prototypes won't boot up. One I particularly want to play is "Sport Goofy", but I only get a black screen when selecting either of the versions found here (admittedly, both of these may be the exact same file, but they have slightly different names). You probably have a bad rom. See if you can get them to load on one of the emulators first. All of the ones I've had that were bad on my 5200 were also bad on the emulator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensu Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 Also, Blaster's a great game! I would be tempted to think that Sega used it as inspiration for Space Harrier, if I didn't already know that was a simple repurposing of the OutRun engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Place Logo Here Posted May 5, 2013 Author Share Posted May 5, 2013 The issue I was having with Sport Goofy has been resolved via a BIOS fix to the Atarimax cartridge. As others have said in these forums, Classics gives top-notch support, as he diligently worked to troubleshoot my problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moknbyrdx1 Posted August 17, 2023 Share Posted August 17, 2023 (edited) I need to bite the bullet on an AtariMax. Edited August 17, 2023 by moknbyrdx1 I found my answer elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted August 17, 2023 Share Posted August 17, 2023 1 hour ago, moknbyrdx1 said: I need to bite the bullet on an AtariMax. 🤨 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted August 17, 2023 Share Posted August 17, 2023 10 minutes ago, Shawn said: 🤨 It's a slow bite of the bullet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted August 17, 2023 Share Posted August 17, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzep Posted August 17, 2023 Share Posted August 17, 2023 19 minutes ago, roadrunner said: Maybe he freaked out, joined the Army? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moknbyrdx1 Posted August 17, 2023 Share Posted August 17, 2023 19 hours ago, Shawn said: 🤨 Yes. Life happens and then it's ten years later. Sucks being an adult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwh Posted August 27, 2023 Share Posted August 27, 2023 LOL, just watched Gross Point Blank the other week. I like when he goes to the reunion and tells several people ,when asked what he does for a living, "I am a contract killer." Of course everyone thinks it's a joke... His childhood home being a quick mart is hilarious. He keeps asking the poor teenage kid,"What are you doing here?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xefned Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 On 5/5/2013 at 12:21 PM, Place Logo Here said: The issue I was having with Sport Goofy has been resolved via a BIOS fix to the Atarimax cartridge. As others have said in these forums, Classics gives top-notch support, as he diligently worked to troubleshoot my problem. Hmm, weird. Sport Goofy does not run on my Atarimax 5200 from 2019. Do I have a firmware older than 2013? Or a bad copy of the Sport Goofy ROM? I'm not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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