+batari Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 What is the Harmony Encore? Hamony Encore is a new, feature-packed Harmony cartrdge for the Atari 2600. It is fully reverse-compatible with Harmony but offers 512k of ROM or RAM and 1M of EEPROM storage. It was designed with the goal that it will run fully 100% of Atari 2600 games, old and new. Hamony Encore's hardware is finished and the pre-production versions will have the same capabilities as upcoming production versions, as they will use the same circuit boards and the same chips. When can I buy Harmony Encore? On January 18, 2014, a pre-production, standard edition Hamony Encore will be available at the NWCGE swap meet in Portland, Oregon. See http://www.nwcge.org/blog/ for more information about this event. Hamony Encore will not be available anywhere else until around March or April 2014. Please bear in mind that at the time of this writing, Hamony Encore's firmware is still being completed. If you purchase Hamony Encore at the NWCGE swap meet, even if we aren't able to finish the firmware in time, you will be able to enjoy your cartridge right away as it's fully reverse-compatible with existing Harmony firmware. Although the existing firmware does not support all of Hamony Encore's features, those who purchase at the event will be contacted personally with firmware updates and will be the first to enjoy the features this new cartridge has to offer. Even with the existing firmware, Hamony Encore supports some games right now due to the custom bankswitching extension. For example, you will be able to play the Boulderdash demo right away and we will show you how. What about Harmony 2? The Harmony 2 cartridge, for the Atari 7800, is now known as "the Concerto cartridge." I know many are anxious for the release of this cartridge, but it is still in development. It's gone through more than a dozen hardware revisions including two ground-up redesigns and currently it's better than I ever imagined. The latest redesign was conceived to be 100% reverse-compatible with Harmony AND Hamony Encore at the hardware and firmware level, so all of the games that work on Harmony and Harmony Encore will work on Concerto. We hope Concerto will be done in time for CGE 2014 (if there is one) or PRGE 2014. Should I get a Harmony or Harmony Encore?Harmony's design philosophy was to bring you a versatile, inexpensive flash cartridge for the Atari 2600. It was a design decision to balance cost and compatibility, and as such, Harmony is indeed inexpensive yet supports more than 99% of past and present games. Hamony Encore was conceived in response to concerns that Harmony could not play 100% of games, such as the BoulderDash demo and some new 64k and up homebrew games, such as Zippy the Porcupine, which is currently in development. Currently, new homebrew boards are being devised to support these larger games, and the Hamony Encore will support games with up to 512k ROM/RAM. Not everyone wishes to wait for the Concerto cartridge or to pay the extra cost to buy it, and not everyone owns an Atari 7800, so Harmony Encore is intended to serve that niche. How much will Harmony Encore cost? Although the price of the production version is not yet determined, we will be offering the special, pre-production, standard edition of Hamony Encore exclusively at the NWCGE swap meet for $84.99. We will let you know how far along the firmware is next week, and you are welcome to try out Harmony Encore to determine if you're ready to buy now or wait. I was thinking about buying a Harmony. Should I wait for Harmony Encore instead? If you aren't worried about the fewer than 1% of games that Harmony won't play, get a Harmony. If you want your cartridge to support 100% of games, you can wait, or you can buy and enjoy a Harmony now and upgrade later. See the next section below. Can I upgrade my Harmony to Harmony Encore? If you bought a Harmony cartridge from http://harmony.atariage.com during or after November, 2013, your cartridge should support an upgrade to Hamony Encore. This is because these newer Harmony cartridges use the same circuit board as Harmony Encore. Upgrading requires shipping your cartridge back to me, and I will attach the additional chips and other components needed to turn it into Harmony Encore, and I'll reprogram, test and relabel your cartridge, then ship it back to you. The fee for the upgrade will be around $25 plus shipping costs. The upgrade service will be available beginning around March or April, 2014. Can I just buy the parts and upgrade my Harmony myself? This is not recommended. The chips needed to upgrade are all surface-mount, with one being a fine-pitch surface mount component (0.5 mm pitch) that requires a considerable level of soldering skill. However, if you are convinced that you can do it and have experience with fine-pitch surface mount parts, we are willing to let you know what parts to buy but we cannot be responsible for any damages caused and all warranties are void. If anyone has questions, please ask! 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I'm working on a 64k game intended to be put on CPUWIZ 64k boards. Any word on compatibility? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 I forget how much ROM the CPUWIZ board supports. But anything 512k or less will run on the Harmony Encore. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr SQL Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 If there was sufficient interest, would you do a run of retro edition Harmony carts with an audio input jack like the Kroc and the SuperCharger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 "November, 2014...", you mean 2013 I suppose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 "November, 2014...", you mean 2013 I suppose? I've been trying so hard this year not to write 2013 anymore. So, yeah. Fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 F'n sweet! How much do you think the Melody Gold boards will run (populated & programmed)? Given of course that is an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 . . . but offers 512k of ROM or RAM . . . Can you explain more about what that means for players and programmers? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I guess bank switching schemes aren't as complicated as I thought. My guess is that testing 64k batari BASIC games with SC ram will just work on the new Harmony. To guess even further if someone updates batari BASIC to support CPUWIZ 256k or higher boards those too will just work. Happy times! Lessee what batari and CPUWIZ say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I guess bank switching schemes aren't as complicated as I thought. My guess is that testing 64k batari BASIC games with SC ram will just work on the new Harmony. To guess even further if someone updates batari BASIC to support CPUWIZ 256k or higher boards those too will just work. Happy times! Lessee what batari and CPUWIZ say Most likely, I've documented what they do, it shouldn't be a problem at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Manhattan Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 This sounds completely awesome. Please put me down for a Harmony Cart upgrade. Take my money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Iacovelli Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I'll be interested in upgrading as well love the product Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Yurkie Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Very cool thanks for all your dedication batari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Hey Thomas! Time for you and I to work on a game that's not supported by Harmony Gold!!!! We can't let that 100% of all games claim stand for long 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Dragon's Lair? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Dragon's Lair? With a tiny LaserDisc inside each cartridge. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I'd like a gold colored shell with my Harmony Gold please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algus Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 You guys aren't going to get in trouble for naming your cartridge the same thing as the studio that did Robotech are you? I am intrigued by both Harmony Gold and Concerto. I doubt I need HG but I will be happy to buy one to support you and the amazing things Harmony has done for Atari gaming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 So excited about this development! I'm definitely in for HG and Concerto. @theloon: I have 256k/128k bB frameworks ready to go. Test binaries from the frameworks is how CPUWIZ developed the boards in the first place. I'll release them when stephena gets an opportunity to update stella with the code I sent him, or when HG supports it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I was going to get the first Harmony, but I think it would be worth to wait for this new one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaGtGruff Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 You say "512K of ROM or RAM." That "or" is confusing me. Do you mean 512K of ROM plus 512K of RAM? Or do you mean 512K that can be divided up between ROM and RAM, such as 256K ROM and 256K RAM? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 You guys aren't going to get in trouble for naming your cartridge the same thing as the studio that did Robotech are you? I am intrigued by both Harmony Gold and Concerto. I doubt I need HG but I will be happy to buy one to support you and the amazing things Harmony has done for Atari gaming Wow, it never occurred to me that someone might have already used HG as a name! EDIT: I don't want to mess with trademark dilution claims, C&Ds and the like. It's now called Harmony Forte. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 To answer some questions: At this time there is no Melody Forte. Currently, the CPUWIZ board should be sufficient for the larger games and other bankswitch schemes being devised. That's not to say a Melody Forte couldn't someday make sense - it would likely consist of a Melody with a EPROM. We'll just see what the future brings. Harmony Forte has a 512k RAM chip that can be configured as ROM or RAM. So yes, you could split it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Wait a moment!!!! Didn't it say Harmony: Golden ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 It did! I'm not wanting to mess with trademarks, so I've renamed it. And now I find platinum can't be used either (there's a device with that name that even takes SD cards... ugh. New name coming. Best to do this now rather than after C&Ds come flying ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.