Atari 800 recovered disks - 1984 source code!

[+Andrew Davie]

My '800 system was stolen sometime around 1986, and I thought all was lost.

But somehow I had managed to keep/preserve an old box of disks, and of those I now have 45 recovered disk images.

Have only been through 10 or so, as I learn how to view things again.  But on one I found "MEDIT" which was the editor I used, and on another I found a file called DRAWCUBE.  This was one of the modules of my original Qb, the source code of which I thought long, long lost. But no!

This is a screenshot of the first time I've seen this code in nearly 40 years.  It's just as I remembered; very short variable/label names, and used macros wherever I could. That was so I could save enough space to actually fit it onto the disk!

 

Look at that - no comments, either. Couldn't afford the space they took.

So, about another 30 disks to look at. I wonder what wonders they will contain. Even if nothing, I've already come across an early version of Qb, and another binary or two I simply don't remember but which I clearly wrote (because I recognise the characterset as my work).

[+Andrew Davie]

As an aside, just looking at that code now - the graphics were burned into the source code. That is, rather than tables and loading shape data from tables, I had long long routines which loaded actual immediate values which represented part of the shape (e.g., #33) and then masked off appropriate bits in the destination (again, hardwired immediate values), and then stored. In other words, all the graphics were hand-crafted into the source code with no shape storage anywhere. This was the only way I could get it running fast enough. Took me ages.

[+Andrew Davie]

The sprite animation tool that I wrote and used to draw Qb graphics.... back from the dead...!

I forgot what this looked like. Doesn't ring many bells.  Quality 1984 UI!

 

[+Andrew Davie]

The beginnings of some game I never finished...

 

[+Andrew Davie]

Garbo Jo!  It survived!!!  Haven't seen it for 36 years, give or take.

From what I remember, you threw the boomerang, which was a wall-hugger, to kill the enemy... and then you had to wait for it to return.

Could this be any more Australian....  boomerangs,  Ayers Rock (as it was known then), swarming blowflies, cans of XXXX beer.  Pretty sure the snake laid little eggs which, after a while, hatched into another snake... so you could have dozens of them to contend with.  That pink thing bottom left... maybe water...?  I'll have to go back and play a bit, but can't figure how to get the joystick/button working on this emulator.

 

So glad this game is rediscovered!

 

PS/trivia:  it's 'jo' not 'joe' as there was a girl I had a crush on right about then.

 

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Andrew Davie

[+Andrew Davie]

Now what could possibly be on this disc that my 16 yo self would be interested in...

 

[+Andrew Davie]

Another "treasure" rediscovered!  This is "Piracy", written by my good friend David Pentecost...

 

 

[+Stephen]

What an awesome find!  It's great that these old floppies hold up so well.

[+Andrew Davie]

3 minutes ago, Stephen said:

What an awesome find!  It's great that these old floppies hold up so well.

They were damaged and had splotches of ??? all over the disk surface.  About 90% of them were recovered, but some didn't make it through the years. They were recovered using some sort of specialist equipment. I doubt any of them would have worked in an actual disk drive.

 

[+Stephen]

Ah.  Well - great to see this stuff, it's a literal time machine for you!

[4ever2600]

Mmmmm Hmmmm splotches of ???.  Early 80s.  Young man in his prime... I gotcha...  Nothing to be ashamed of.  ( ;

 

Cmon!  One hand on the joystick,  the other on his can of soda.  Spilled it on the disks.  Bunch of pervs, where did you think I was going with this...

Edited July 28, 2022 by 4ever2600

[jhd]

9 hours ago, 4ever2600 said:

Cmon!  One hand on the joystick,  the other on his can of soda.  Spilled it on the disks.  Bunch of pervs, where did you think I was going with this...

 

Frankly, my first guess would be mold (or mildew or some sort of fungus). It just thrives in warm and humid environments. It is a massive issue with books in tropical areas. 

[Havok69]

You know it really is kind of amazing how long this tech has held up. Look at today's systems; they will not be having the same kind of scene crop around them 40 years from now.