Atari 5200 Guy

You know...that Amico looks more attractive than the "Atari VCS" to me. Seriously...that thing looks cool. Now let's see just how well it will deliver. It also seems like developers would have to follow strict rules which can be a good thing. I like the idea of family-friendly games. I also like the price range of the games. And it's suppose to come with 80 Intellivision Games? Impressive. 2020? Yep...I'll be marking my calendar and preparing. I may actually invest in this. What's cool about it the most, for me, is that some original Intellivision guys are said to be helping with this project. It looks promising and I really hope, in a positive way, it ends up being everything Intellivision has set out to accomplish with it. Right now I could care less about the other thing coming out...what was it again?

I would enter but I don't use FB any more. There was too much drama so I left. I still have an account but I don't remember my password. And I refuse to upload my ID to them for verification knowing good and well how easy they get hacked. As for what I would want/wish for...easy. It's been driving me crazy. F-Zero and a SNES controller just so I could play. Sounds like a lot considering how much Nintendo stuff gets crazy high prices. But that would be my wish. Just to be able to play the SNES I have had for a while now without any accessories would be awesome. If not for RickR trading with me I wouldn't even have a game. The lack of an AC Adapter I can rig and I have extra AV cables or it can share the one for the N64.

Defender 2 is a blast! I love that keyring!! I'll have to try and find one. That is cool! Now only if you could get a LCD keyring, joystick, and combat, you'd be good to go. 😉

A little late to the thread but better late than never. I had 2 Commodore PETs, one was an 80 column. Picked them up for one XEGS. I didn't realize what I had at the time and regret doing it now. I never knew it got anything like Space Invaders. Hell, I called Commodore and asked them about any games made for PETs. They laughed at me. Those were the first computers my elementary school bought. I still remember playing some sort of gold mining game on it. All of the machines were in a dedicated room and networked to a CBM PET with one of those large dual floppy drives. Computers used a Mupet network.

I always enjoy watching these.

Actually, after taking web design courses, its worse. I've had a simple CSS add-on throw a whole site out of whack. Removing the add-on only made matters worse. Best thing I found to do was to back up the entire site before adding/changing anything. This way should an error occur you can return back to a working model before changes were performed. It is a headache when just one thing can upset the whole project. When I was developing my web site project I thought I could use the same inner pages for both 2600 and NES games. The NES games did not like the settings and design the 2600 games used requiring their own page. Planning on paper helped, using mock ups made in an imaging program helps a lot. Also, idea for a header image to go behind the Atari.io name if you plan to do it. An image showcasing all the Atari hardware, mostly right justified so it doesn't fight the site name. Just a thought.

See if there is anything here that might be of some assistance. https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Spinners,-Trackballs,-Lightguns,-and-other-Mouse-Devices/ Whoops! Forgot to add that the spinner section is close to the bottom of the page.

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I just use the shoulder buttons to dodge those. Light taps work best. Best driving line as you enter that section is diagonal. If you hit one it will remain gone for the duration of the race. Practice to find the best method that works best for you but those would be my tips.

Hmmm. What games would have complimented the Jaguar? One game I could think of did not come out until the Saturn/PlayStation/N64 era. RUSH. Would have been a good racer to have. Revamps of Hard Drivin' and Race Drivin' might have helped but might have also just added insult to injuries already gracing the console. Atari use to be good obtaining licenses to develop titles third parties wouldn't do. I am surprised they did obtain some of Sega's arcade games like OutRun and Space Harrier. Since Jag was getting old PC titles it might have helped to browse the library of ST games and revamp those to take advantage of JAG's architecture. Some Microprose titles would have been neat, a few simulations thrown in, and it really needed more adventure/RPG games. All of which the STs got. Atari should have researched what types of games were selling well on their computers and went from there. MIDI Maze was a simple multiplayer death match that could have showcased the JAG's networking abilities. There's lots that would have complimented it. I believe the Tramiels really never understood the video game market. They failed to listen and see what customers were playing the most and what they wanted.

Imagine if Jaguar picked up ports of Konami's Castlevania and Gradius series? Or Capcom's Megaman series? Sunsoft could have jumped on and brought a Blaster Master sequel. Compile, creators of some of the best shooters on the NES and other consoles, could have brought some of those over to the Jaguar. There were so many aspects that could have been but never thought about or executed. Even if those developers used the Motorola as the main CPU to get their feet wet would have done some good to boost Jaguar's library. Always happy to see Jag ROMs turn up. Its cool to see what could have been.

I've got to get use to the reacting thing. I'm so use to the Like button I forget its a heart now.

Here...a demo showcasing the Hotz Box played by a few famous artists.

I think Lance at Video 61 might have at one time. If anyone would know about those I would expect it to be him.

The MaxMan lives!! 😀

There is no such thing as a bad score. The whole idea is to have fun playing...scores come second to that.

Don't let your craft hit full throttle at starting line. You want between half and full throttle. Quick taps will help maintain throttle. Time your button mashes with the countdown. Mash button as soon as GO is displayed. Its a timing thing combined with 3/4 throttling. You will get a boost and then the vehicle will lose power. Keep holding down throttle to get speed back. Rest is just navigating the track.

Love Cybermorph and Iron Soldier. Those were what my Jaguar came with one Christmas season. I spent a lot of time on both. Some painful truth might be something completely logical. Jaguar really needed its own style of games where great, exceptional care was taken in every game. It was a new concept and I honestly believe no one knew what they were doing or how to do it. That, and the JAG's 2 MB of RAM wasn't enough to work with honestly. 4 MB would have done a lot more. Jaguar really introduced textured 3D gaming to home consoles. The hardware was there, the massive required skills to take advantage of this was not. Pure and simple.

The only thing to keep in mind is if there was any sort of copy protection schemes used they may still be present. So you may still need original code disks, instructions, or any other printed materials used to get pass the copy protection. You are very welcome. I highly recommend setting up a dedicated Windows machine just for doing this. And I would suggest keeping it offline to avoid hacks, attacks, and other mishaps. And, RickR is right. The only thing separating DD and HD disks are a single hole. Cover the hole up on an HD disk and it will be a DD disk. The disk material in both types of disks are identical. Brings back old memories of needing a HD disk and only having DD disks. Drill a hole a viola! Instant HD disks! I will add a tip in the tutorial.

Nope. But I have heard of them.

That's alright, Justin. I appreciate it. I've already asked for enough from Atari I/O members. I'll catch the next one.

You are most welcome. It can be time consuming to setup and learn how to do it but the end results are worth it. Besides, we need more ST stuff here. And its a good way to repurpose an old Windows machine. I have an old Dell desktop with XP I don't let online. It is used strictly for ST purposes.

This is torture! A score challenge for a game I absolutely love and I can't participate. Emulation doesn't do this game justice. Its simply too hard to navigate the courses with a computer keyboard and my PC controller lacks shoulder buttons. So... I think I can offer a bit of advice. Controls...learn the controls. Recommended vehicle is Golden Fox. For practice run use Mute City I. Don't do any turns with gas button held down. When you have to turn, release the gas, make your turn, then hammer down on the gas again! For tight turns combine your turn with the shoulder buttons. If you have to turn left use the left shoulder button at the same time you press left on the d pad, right shoulder when pressing right on d pad. Don't use gas during any turns, when turns are completed hammer that gas button. Use shoulder buttons by themselves to slide your vehicle around course obstacles and to enter pits. Avoid using d pad to navigate around same obstacles and pits. On jumps hold the d pad down to gain momentum and speed. Be careful not to steer off course. Practice on Mute City I first, work your way up by trying Mute City II, and finally Mute City III. The last two are variations of the first one. The idea is learning the vehicle you are using and the course layout. The faster you can take your turns and stay on a driving line to give you an advantage the better you track times will be. Quick in, quick out of turns. I can't express this enough. The best place to use boost is after the last turn before completing a lap. Its a long stretch that guarantees full use of your boost before you have to start navigating turns again. Good luck and I hope the tips I gave help.

Hey Atarians! I noticed there were no threads for helping in making and using ST disk images on real, unmodified, ST hardware. So I thought I would share what I do. ST owners won't need a ST floppy emulator for this. It is for systems that still have a floppy drive. CREATING DISKS FROM IMAGES OF ST SOFTWARE NOTICE: This is NOT, in anyway, shape or form, to promote pirating of commercial software, be it they are in the public domain or not. I am not responsible for any lawsuits that may arise from misuse, abuse, illegal sales, etc., of any ST programs made using the tips outlined in this thread. It is only being presented as a way to use these programs without having to modify your ST. First you will need: An Atari ST (of course) with a disk drive capable of using double sided, double density disks (720k). Can also work with single sided disks but not recommended. A Windows based PC with an internal 3.5" disk drive, XP recommended. External PC floppy drives will not work! Some DSDD 3.5" floppies (HD disks have a hole opposite of the write protect tab, DD disks don't). If you can only get HD disks jump to the Tips section for help. Now we need to obtain a few things for the Windows PC provided below Floppy Drive Controller Floppy Imaging & Transfer Program Windows versions after 98 stopped offering support for DD disks. The FDC included returns the support for those disks to Windows. Simply download, unzip, and double click to install. Reboot PC after install. Now download, unzip, and install the Floppy Imaging & Transfer Program. Once installed, double-click to make sure it loads. Now you are set to make some ST disks! But we need images! Where do we get those? If you are familiar with, or have a favorite, place to obtain ROMs then visit them to get one or two ST images. They have to be in ST, STT, or MSA formats. STX won't work directly but there are STX to ST converters out there. I recommend Atari Mania's extensive ST section. Atari Mania ST Section Or, if you are really patient, brave, and have the space, there is a single file you can obtain from the Internet Archives that seems to have every ST program made stored in it. It must have because the compressed file size is almost 15 GB! I will leave this at your discretion. Not recommended for those with slow ISP connections. ST Collection (click ZIP on right) Once you have an image (ST extension preferred), assuming it is on the same PC where the ST disk imaging software is installed, we need to return to the imaging software. If it's not already up and running, open the ST imaging software and on the right click on "Open another image file". Browse your computer in the pop up window to locate the ST image. If the file is compressed you may have to unzip it before you can use it. Open the image...the window should close. Insert the disk you want to place the image on in your PC's internal floppy drive. On the right, under the Open another image file box are some options. The one we need to have is Format. Make sure this is checked. This formats the disk while the image is being copied. This insures the disk matches the image precisely. Now, click the image to floppy icon. The disk should spin up and the image should now be in the copying process. The bar at the bottom will tell you the percentage of completion during the copying process. If there are any errors with your physical disk, a message will appear above this bar. Once done, put your newly created disk in your ST and power on your ST. If it is a program designed to automatically load you should see the start up screen shortly. Otherwise, browse the disk for the program and double click on it. If you find the disk did not work, try another disk. If that don't work you may to have force format your disks using the command prompt in Windows before making your image/disk. At the command prompt type: format nn: /n:9 /t:80 Where nn is the letter assigned to your disk drive, usually A or B. Doing this has a few advantages. For one it formats the disk to match the density your ST is expecting. The other reason is the format command will find and report any physical errors with your disk. If there are any bad sectors, or you get a Track 0 error, then the disk is no good and you will have to use another disk. PROTECTING YOUR ST LIBRARY The PC with software above installed can serve a double purpose in protecting your collection of ST software. Simply place your original ST software disk in your PC and click the A disk icon. Once the imaging software has the geometries of your disk click the floppy to image icon on the left just under the A disk icon. Name your file and click OK. You now have a backup of your software. Keep in mind that any bad sectors of your disk will also be in the image created. TIPS If you own a single sided disk drive for your ST there is an easy way to see if any disk image you want to use is also for single sided disks. Once you load up your image look at the Geometry of Image section of the ST floppy imaging software. The third geometry is where the number of sides the image will create. A single sided disk will have a 1 here, a double sided disk will have a 2 instead. For ST single drive equipped systems this needs to be a 1. If you find it hard to obtain DD type disks but have an abundance of HD disks on hand there is a trick you can do to use those disks on your ST disk drive. Then only real physical difference between HD and DD 3.5" floppies is a single hole. If you look at both types of disks side by side you can see the difference. Opposite of the write protect tab is the area being referred to. The one with the hole is an HD disk, the one without is a DD disk. To use a HD disk in your ST simply turn the disk over, label side down, and place some tape over the hole. TADA! Instant DD disk. Place the disk in your ST to format it or use the Command Prompt formatting syntax on a Windows PC. Don't remove the tape unless you need a HD disk again. Doing so will keep the disk from working in your ST. (Thanks to RickR for pointing this out). This also works with creating disks for ZX systems. Just make sure you have images ending with a ZX extension. I don't own a ZX so those that try this will have to do so on their own. FINAL WORDS I hope this tutorial helps others out in getting to try ST programs on real hardware. Please use it wisely and don't abuse any copyrighted programs. My hope is that this will encourage more ST score challenges in the future as well as encourage other ST owners to share their findings, reviews, and more! REQUIRED WINDOWS PROGRAMS FdInstall.zip (adds support for formatting DD disks to Windows systems) FloImg1.zip (the ST imaging and transfer program for Windows systems) Where To Find DD Disks I'm going to post a few places here that I have found to obtain DD disks. I hope these will be helpful to others. Floppy Disks (Sells both HD and DD. DD disks can be found after the HD disks. Scroll to find them! Also has images showing the difference between DD and HD disks.)* Old Software (Has floppies. Some in damaged packages at a discounted price.) NOTE: I have not dealt with these places personally. I'm posting these for completeness of the tutorial. Should any Atari I/O member have any issues with any of these companies with an order please give feedback so the rest of us will know. I will mark next to these companies known issues so buyers will be aware. Now...save some disks for me! *Got an email response from Floppy Disks while trying to contact Athana. Athana no longer sells floppies but Floppy Disk does. They are still in business selling floppies. Phone number and physical address on website has been confirmed.

F-Zero was the only reason I got a Super NES when it came out. Earth Defense Force is fun, too. Unfortunately, as much as I would love to play, I don't have the game and no controllers.