something new... GTIABlast! 5200 WIP for Ultimate SD cart

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

6 hours ago, playsoft said:

Thanks for playing the game - it was surprising to see it crash! I dug the 5200 out of hibernation this morning, downloaded the updated music build and played it through to the Fractalus Mothership level without any issues. I played a second game and made it further to the Cytron level.

You're very welcome, it's an incredible game! I'm not sure what happened and it's super strange that it crashed in pretty much the same spot. That stream was the first 5200 show I've done so I haven't played a lot of games on my four port system yet. Tanya played the original music build and I played the Alt Music build so it doesn't look like it's either build that is the issue but both with my system.

 

- James

 

CRASH 1:

 

 

CRASH 2:

 

 

[RB5200]

Well I've been playing this all day so far, both the normal music and alt. music, 4 port and 2 port non modded machines and I can't get it to crash at all. the only difference that I can think of is your 4 port is modded, It really should't matter I wouldn't think. maybe somebody with a modded 4 port can test this really good and see if their's  crashes or not.

 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

35 minutes ago, RB5200 said:

Well I've been playing this all day so far, both the normal music and alt. music, 4 port and 2 port non modded machines and I can't get it to crash at all. the only difference that I can think of is your 4 port is modded, It really should't matter I wouldn't think. maybe somebody with a modded 4 port can test this really good and see if their's  crashes or not.

 

The UAV is a passive upgrade in that it doesn't require having to remove anything off the system and only taps the signals it needs from the 4050 along with the color from the GTIA to generate a new video output. That is why it is favored for use in console upgrades. Even the RF is still left working should that be needed or wanted. I do see what looks to be a line of sprite data that is scrambled looking on the very bottom of the game screen on each of those captures that looks quite similar? 

 

In looking at the pics of his main board, James' 5200 does have a Rockwell CPU in it although it isn't one of the ones that is listed as having the timing issues. Additionally this 5200 did not show any factory rework or bodges on it that I can see. It also has IMP branded ANTIC and GTIAs on it. I can't say I've see any issues with that brand in regards to the 5200 hardware, but I do know that IMP branded TIAs in 2600s can produce some bad results on video output with AV upgrades.

 

Here is the entire overview of the main board for the 5200 in question. It has been power converted to no longer require the switch box and the UAV.

 

I just remembered that I also had to replace the 4013 as originally the 5200 would not power on when it first arrived. A new socket along with the 4013 were installed to remedy that. That was done prior to any other changes though.

 

[RB5200]

Yep, have installed a few. It does seem to be a console issue over a game issue.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

30 minutes ago, RB5200 said:

Yep, have installed a few. It does seem to be a console issue over a game issue.

Well in further looking at the console pics I took when I did the work on it, It is far more unusual of a mainboard than I noticed at first. Look how much larger the heatsink assembly is on the upper right? There should be about an inch of space between it and the side of the console shell, but this one only has like 1/4 inch if that. Notice that his doesn't have the 74244 IC to the left of the UAV as is common on most 4port consoles? It was removed for the 2port models, but I don't know that I've seen a 4 port without it. Additionally all of the silk screen in that section where that IC would normally be is all new and looks to include spots for additional resistors, mlcc cap, a transistor and.... another crystal?

 

I guess I've not really paid much attention to these boards since if the console works and passes the diagnostics, I just leave them be. But this board is quite strange compared to what I've seen in the past. If anything is at fault, it is likely the CPU...

 

[RB5200]

Yeah not much reason to go farther when diag. says ok good to go. those appear to be heatsinks from the 2 port, don't know if a previous owner did that or if atari did that on some of the later 4 ports just before the change over to the 2 port. never kept a mental picture of that. years ago I bought bounty bob on ebay and put it my 4 port daily runner and it booted just fine but 3/4 way through level 1 it crashed, I thought o crap i just bought a bad bounty bob, but put it in all my other consoles and it works just fine, oh what a relief that was, but for some reason that one console would not play it, it played everything else you put in it but that one cartridge, really weird. But even weirder without ever opening the console to try to see why it doesn't seem to like that cartridge, is now it will play that cartridge without incident. it has fixed it's self. Need to play a bunch of other games and see if it ever does it with anything else, maybe it's just that one game. It may be best just to leave it alone unless it is having problems with other games too.

[+playsoft]

15 hours ago, marauder666 said:

@playsoft

i’ll give it a run over the weekend, paul.

 

Thanks Andy. I will be disappointed if this issue is present and after 6 years and 500 downloads no one reported it.

[+playsoft]

16 hours ago, RB5200 said:

Well I've been playing this all day so far, both the normal music and alt. music, 4 port and 2 port non modded machines and I can't get it to crash at all. the only difference that I can think of is your 4 port is modded, It really should't matter I wouldn't think. maybe somebody with a modded 4 port can test this really good and see if their's  crashes or not.

 

Thanks for testing it and letting me know. Mine is an AV and power modded 4 port, so the mods shouldn't be an issue.

 

I did notice ZPH must have the "Game Quickstart (Bypass BIOS)" set to ON in the Atarimax settings as you don't see the Atari logo at the start. I tried this as well and it still didn't crash for me.

[+playsoft]

From the posts reporting scores or progress, there is evidence of the Xavier level being completed 3 times: @sramirez2008 made it to the Scramble level, @SIO2 scored 49,850 points and @XM05ES played through the entire game in normal mode. Unfortunately in @thevnaguy's video he dies in the Xavier level before the point of the @ZeroPage Homebrew crash!

 

[+playsoft]

17 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

You're very welcome, it's an incredible game! I'm not sure what happened and it's super strange that it crashed in pretty much the same spot. That stream was the first 5200 show I've done so I haven't played a lot of games on my four port system yet. Tanya played the original music build and I played the Alt Music build so it doesn't look like it's either build that is the issue but both with my system.

 

- James

Thanks James.

 

I think there may be another thing which is not right, but less noticeable. It looks like you are playing on hard difficulty but you are getting blast codes for normal difficulty.

 

If you check Tanya's first blast code on easy against yours on hard they are the same - Green Yellow Green Green Yellow. On hard you should get Y Y R G G B. I have just tried a game on hard and I get the correct codes.

[marauder666]

On 12/9/2022 at 11:45 AM, playsoft said:

Thanks Andy. I will be disappointed if this issue is present and after 6 years and 500 downloads no one reported it.

@playsoft  Got to the boss on the 7800 Xevious level on normal, no issues.  Alt. music version.

Console is a Sunnyvale 4 port with Sophia RGB mod.  Atarimax cart is around a year old.

Wonder if there's a firmware issue on the cart, and James's is older?

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by marauder666

[+-^CrossBow^-]

2 hours ago, marauder666 said:

@playsoft  Got to the boss on the 7800 Xevious level on normal, no issues.  Alt. music version.

Console is a Sunnyvale 4 port with Sophia RGB mod.  Atarimax cart is around a year old.

Wonder if there's a firmware issue on the cart, and James's is older?

 

I don't know that I've ever been able to make it as far as James did on mine. But my Atarimax is quite old as I've had it for at least 6 years and likely longer than that. If I'm able to get some time, I should try and fire up this game on my 4port unit. Been so long since I was inside mine that I can't recall many details about it but I'm pretty sure it is a pretty bog standard 4port minus the Low Budget Svideo upgrade I have installed and the power conversion.

 

 

[BIGHMW]

You know guys if you go to Atarimax they have an all-new 5200 SD cart that adds a much-needed "hard" reset button on the cart itself, similar to the ColecoVision SD cart that they make  I'm looking forward to upgrading to it sometime in the short future as my final show in Seattle (and of my music career) as AK47 went over well and I pocketed about $100.00 last night, the entire show has been filmed but anyway you guys should get a d test the new multicart and se if they have that same issue Zer is talking about. I myself would love to test out AtariBlast! myself and knowing the quality of Paul Lay's @playsoft work I'm sure it will be great!!!

[+-^CrossBow^-]

3 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

You know guys if you go to Atarimax they have an all-new 5200 SD cart that adds a much-needed "hard" reset button on the cart itself, similar to the ColecoVision SD cart that they make  I'm looking forward to upgrading to it sometime in the short future as my final show in Seattle (and of my music career) as AK47 went over well and I pocketed about $100.00 last night, the entire show has been filmed but anyway you guys should get a d test the new multicart and se if they have that same issue Zer is talking about. I myself would love to test out AtariBlast! myself and knowing the quality of Paul Lay's @playsoft work I'm sure it will be great!!!

There is actually a spot on the one I have on the pcb for a reset switch. But it didn't actually do anthing when I installed on a switch on it temporarily as I recall and I didn't both looking into much further than that. Although I do have a spring loaded SD reader on mine now. 

 

[+playsoft]

21 hours ago, marauder666 said:

@playsoft  Got to the boss on the 7800 Xevious level on normal, no issues.  Alt. music version.

Console is a Sunnyvale 4 port with Sophia RGB mod.  Atarimax cart is around a year old.

Wonder if there's a firmware issue on the cart, and James's is older?

 

 

Thanks for checking, Andy. My Atarimax must be at least 8 or 9 years old but I don't remember if I ever had to update the firmware. The Xavier level is the longest in the game, so it will be using more of the cart memory than the two preceding levels, so it could possibly be cart related. If James ever meets up with another 5200/Atarimax owner it would be interesting to see if the issue follows the cart or the console.

 

14 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

You know guys if you go to Atarimax they have an all-new 5200 SD cart that adds a much-needed "hard" reset button on the cart itself, similar to the ColecoVision SD cart that they make

 

The thing which caught my eye is:

• MEGA-CART Bank-switched ROM images up to 1024KB (M.U.L.E, etc)
• New modes including the Hybrid 1024KB full Read/Write 8k/8k Bank-switching mode

Supporting 1024KB images is new, previously it was limited to 512KB. If it had supported 1024KB I wouldn't have had to bother loading data from the SD card.

 

If ZPH has one of these new carts, maybe it's some sort of incompatibility issue. AtariBlast! is probably the only game using the hybrid bank switching and the programming API.

[BIGHMW]

3 hours ago, playsoft said:

 

Thanks for checking, Andy. My Atarimax must be at least 8 or 9 years old but I don't remember if I ever had to update the firmware. The Xavier level is the longest in the game, so it will be using more of the cart memory than the two preceding levels, so it could possibly be cart related. If James ever meets up with another 5200/Atarimax owner it would be interesting to see if the issue follows the cart or the console.

 

 

The thing which caught my eye is:

• MEGA-CART Bank-switched ROM images up to 1024KB (M.U.L.E, etc)
• New modes including the Hybrid 1024KB full Read/Write 8k/8k Bank-switching mode

Supporting 1024KB images is new, previously it was limited to 512KB. If it had supported 1024KB I wouldn't have had to bother loading data from the SD card.

 

If ZPH has one of these new carts, maybe it's some sort of incompatibility issue. AtariBlast! is probably the only game using the hybrid bank switching and the programming API.

Well Paul @playsoft it keeps you in business and, maybe this might open some doors for even more XL/XE conversions in the near future as I have been caught in between bringing back The Atari Report in February (if that XEGS that's up for sales is still around by then or if I can score that VBXE/U1MB-modded 65XE, both currently in the Marketplace section of AA, if it is still available, I already reacquired the 7800 she just needs some work done on her) and just might not be able to afford it as I am quite happy having just the 5200 and ColecoVision to worry about, but yes that means possibly more creativity for development of new original 5200-exclusive titles as well,  who knows what doors will be open for Big Sexy with the introduction of the new improved Atarimax cart??? 

[BIGHMW]

22 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

There is actually a spot on the one I have on the pcb for a reset switch. But it didn't actually do anthing when I installed on a switch on it temporarily as I recall and I didn't both looking into much further than that. Although I do have a spring loaded SD reader on mine now. 

 

My SD card slot on mine is slide-in and is not spring-loaded,  I got it in early 2020 and the one I had from 2017 before it wasn't spring-loaded either.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

47 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

My SD card slot on mine is slide-in and is not spring-loaded,  I got it in early 2020 and the one I had from 2017 before it wasn't spring-loaded either.

Mine wasn't either. I swapped out the SD slot on my cart about a year ago with a spring loaded one I had on hand. Now, let us get back to GTIA / Atari Blast! on the 5200. I will need to find some time to try this one again on my setup so I get better at it to reach the same point.

 

[BIGHMW]

2 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Now, let us get back to GTIA / Atari Blast! on the 5200. I will need to find some time to try this one again on my setup so I get better at it to reach the same point.

 

Agreed. I'm even more stoked at trying this game now that I saw a few YouTube videos on it and since I have the next 2 days off from work I'll definitely get a chance to play it and seeing there is an R-Type level and an R-Type feel in this game I'm almost giddy right now. As soon as I come back from Poulsbo (30 miles away and the Safeway gas is actually 90 cents per gallon cheaper than the Safeway gas here in Port Townsend, AND I also have 5 10-cent gas rewards for an additional 50 cents/gallon off on top of that!!!) I'll get set to take her on!!! Every penny counts now more than ever at this point!!!

[BIGHMW]

On 9/7/2016 at 3:02 AM, kiwilove said:

atariblast-final-demo-01A.zip 49.57 MB · 208 downloads

atariblast-final-01B.zip 49.37 MB · 701 downloads

My PC will not bring these zipped folders up, it gives me a Compressed (zipped) Folders Error, it claims that 

 

"Windows cannot open the folder. The compressed (zipped) folder 'C:/users/Ray/Downloads/atariblast-final-01B.zip is invalid."

 

MAKE THIS RIGHT!!! I am using Windows 7 Pro and it does not recognize this folder for some reason!!!

[BIGHMW]

Downloaded the latest one (this one) that works and I caught a glitch in it upon trying to play the R-Type level

 

 

ab5200.zip

[BIGHMW]

Different file, same glitch.

 

 

ab5200 (1).zip

[BIGHMW]

AWESOME GAME I just wish there wasn't that glitch come the R-Type level, in which crashes the program right then and there my 5200 is a non-modded 2-port and I tried both versions with the music and the same result,  an awesome game perhaps it my be my Atarimax as it is the older one made with a recycled Atari 5200 cartridge shell before they started printing their own carts with the new onboard reset button on them, what should I do??? Also, I did also try to play Bosconian, another .hyb file, same result, crashed, both on .hyb games, the same with Bug Hunt trak-ball version. 

[BIGHMW]

Thanks goodness for tech support like @RB5200 gave me, it turned out I not only had the wrong files, but also, when I tried playing the .hyb file without the .dat file along in the same folder, that's why it crashed going to the R-Type level, all is working now!!! I will definitely feature this game on a future episode of The Atari 5200 SuperReport FOR SURE in a future taping (when I do episodes 5 & 6)!!! 

 

....and BTW, perhaps now that we can upgrade to that all-new Atarimax SD cart with over 1MB (1,024K) of SRAM and 512K of block flash this just might even make even the most demanding of .xex, .car, .atr, .cas, and .rom files we could play on an XEGS easy on a 5200 with this new multicart's improved features, so I hope you're ready for some ultimate gaming, I can't wait to start playing all of those 8-bit files I downloaded 2 years ago when I got my old XEGS on a 5200 instead, I'm sure they can be done onto .hyb files converted from A8/XL/XE .xex, .car, .cas, .atr and .rom files easily!!! Kinda makes the XEGS moot point doesn't it!!!

 

BY FAR the best game I've ever played on my 5200 in the 39 1/2 years I've been playing her!!!

 

https://www.atarimax.com/5200sd/documentation/

[BIGHMW]

...and now that my music career is over with besides selling off my old stock of CDs, DVDs and T-Shirts, perhaps this can open opportunities for me to get some endorsements provided I step up the quality of my work on the Atari 5200 SuperReport and ColecoVision EXTRA!, since I have intentions on using both Atarimax multicarts for both of my systems and also using RetroGameBoyz controllers for each during my reviews I'd love to talk about possible endorsement deals with both and maybe even get with @Albert about getting AA to present, endorse, and/or sponsor both series. If there are any terms and/or conditions I must meet please let me know so I can best try to accommodate for them, I may not have very much money, but I do have potential, and talent, as my now-former 28 year career in the music industry proved.