SPACE Newsletter

NEWSLETTER March,2002 I

President's Corner by Michael Current April, 2002 We held last month's meeting in our "private conference room," and in some ways I actually thought that the space worked very well. It seemed easier to have good conversation among us all.

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rather than asking a club member, or asking the person who is still putting new newsletter issues online every month. Anyway, I think the positive take is that, there is value in our old club newsletters, and we should keep that in mind!

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Speaking of which, please remember my project to complete our collection of past SPACE newsletters. If you have any issues earlier than February 1986, please let me know, and consider contributing them back to the club so that we can complete our records of our own history. Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting, Friday, April 12, 2002.

And did we! Most of the meeting was spent discussing the ST software CD-ROM project. Most of the details have been worked out now, which is phenomenal. We hoped to be able to approve an artwork design as well, but unfortunately we had nothing at the meeting to look at. We really want to move forward on this, so anticipation is high that we'll be able to look at multiple artwork possibilities, have some discussion, have a vote, and get this last part finalized as well, at this month's meeting. Member Steven Peck, who's been working on artwork ideas, actually did made it to Falcon Heights last month, but by then almost all had gone home (in that nasty ice-storm!). Nolan and I did get to see what was developed so far. Steven, Nolan, Brian, and anyone else with the time and talent are encouraged to bring artwork examples to the meeting this month. Maybe I'll being an empty Jewell case or two so we can see exactly how they would look, to help with the decision. Thanks in advance to all!

Not a great start to the February meeting. I got all the way to the meeting and found out I had left the key at home. I waited for someone else to show up so that I could return home and fetch the key. I was lucky in that my wife was still at home otherwise I would have been locked out and really in a pickle. As it turned out I made great time and got back within an hour and made it on time for the 7:30 start. After all this it was clear sailing through the meeting and we had a memorable one.

The web page counters still haven't been resetting reliably. I have an inkling that my counter names are too long and similar: "SpaceHomePageWeekly", "SpaceHomePageMonthly" etc., so that they somehow keep overwriting each other. Like it only really uses the first 12 characters or something. I really don't know. But I'm still fiddling with it. I also just upgraded the web server plug-in that provides the counter feature, maybe that will help.

Nolan is going great guns on the BBS and he is getting quite a few hits and more importantly he is getting repeats. I hope everything will continue on this course, as it seems this will be something the Club could take advantage of. We had a lively discussion although there were only seven members present at the meeting. I look forward to more BBS news along with Mike's work on the website. Together, the website and the BBS could be just what the SPACE club needs to get rejuvenated.

An interesting development recently on the comp.sys.atari.8bit. Someone showed up looking for online instructions for the Action! Programming language. He found Larry Serflaten's Action! Tutorial in some of the SP ACE newsletters from around 1995 that I've put up on the web site. He also discovered that many of the tutorial installments are missing from the web pages. He wondered how he might get a hold of the missing parts. Well, it's true, when I put some of those issues up, I was using files from Mike Schmidt rather than the paper issues, and I didn't realize the files didn't include the whole newsletter. So I should go back and fix that some day. But I was just puzzled why he would ask on the newsgroup,

Not much to report in the month of February. I am still awaiting the fourth quarter 2001 room rental bill and ifl don' t have it in a couple of weeks I guess I will have to call and request it. Here is the activity in our account for February:

Treasurer's Report by Greg Leitner For March, 2002

Beginning balance for Feb 1, 2002: Receipts for February meeting Dom Sales Expenses for February meeting BBS phone Ending balance for Feb 28, 2002

981.02 15.00 -10.00 986.02

As you can see it was pretty much a wash for the month as we gained $5.00. Ifl get the bill for the room rental our balance will still be above $900.00 and that is still awesome. Next month we will have to use the Conference Room for our meeting as one of the office workers has a groomsman's dinner planned for our night. We will just have to make do with the smaller quarters, but I think it will work out all right. Try to make the next meeting and get up to date with all the exciting things going on with SPACE. See you all there.

Picture Needed

Secretary's Report By Brian Little For Feb & March, 2002

Well the bad news is that the records for Decembetand January are missing so I'll try to one of these days get them in a newsletter. Anywise, I apologize for the delay on getting these notes in the newsletter. Hopefully for now on I will get them in on time. I hope everyone had a good Easter. Me - well I ate my turkey and ate my stuffing. Okay, I know turkey and stuffing is for another holiday but round here we felt like a change was needed. Anywise, to the notes ...

MARCH2002 The meeting started at 7:30 PM with the Secretary Notes. I recapped last month's meeting, which can be read right before this month's notes. Greg then gave the Treasury Notes, which we are standing at $986.02 after 5 DOM sales then paid the BBS. Still no bill for the room rental. The membership count is now at 15 including two new members and one renewal.

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The March DOM included a Defender clone on Side A and Sokoban, a puzzle solver game on Side B. Nolan gave the BBS report next. A total of 141 calls now including 4 new users and about 1 to 2 calls a week now the power did go out a few times during the month. '

Old News: The CD-ROM itself is done as far as the CD itself but no word on the artwork. Next month Greg will bring his ST so we can try it out. Angel and Nolan proposed to do an alternate CD cover image if Steve no shows on his. Price of the CD-ROM will be $19.95. SPACE will get $10 after Lance and Carey get $9.95 for their work. The name has been proposed to be SPACE ST Library One.

FEBURARY2002 The meeting started at 7:45 PM with the Treasury Notes. With a total of $141 made at the January meeting including 2 membership renewals, $18 in DOMs, and $93 made in the auction the club is at $981.02 total. I then followed up with the Secretary's Notes with that we are at $981.02 then recapped last month's events of that being Stan's CD-ROM artwork, the PO-Box issue which was resolved by Greg taking the mail, and the BBS back up. The DOM for February included Creepy Caverns, Jump Cycle, and Android on Side A and Amnesia on Side B. There were a total of 12 members paid up. Nolan then gave the BBS report. He told us that it was up and running, 85-90 people have logged on, quite a few on a daily basis. A total of 10 registered users. Also an IceT 128K BBS Cart is about 90% done, however a 64K cart is impossible to do. Mike also talked about the counter on the SPACE website along with other BBS's like Boot Factory. Talked about adding a BBS listing to the Welcome postings for the Atari newsgroups.

Old News: CD-ROM Update: All in folders such as games, utilities, etc. Decided on full jewel case and a read me is in the works. The CD-ROM could be done by March or April. Steve says that he has partial artwork done - front has hand with CD spinning, back as website address and the history of SPACE. Talked more about tape library. Meeting adjourned at 8:40 PM.

Website counter is now hopefully up and running. We won't st know until April 1 if it's fully working however. Meeting adjourned at 8:40 PM and man was the weather bad that night. Anyway, see you at the April meeting and man am I looking forward to getting to see that new ST CD-ROM in action. Hope to see you there. Signing Off, Brian-Angel C. Little SPACE Secretary and BestBuySux.Org Message Borad Moderator

************************************************** --Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 16:31:46 +0100 --From: "Mr.Bacardi" <mr.bacardi@freenet.de> Great news for all game lovers ! Konrad Szczesniak, author ofL.K.Avalon's "Electra", send me a disk with a never released game called "3d24". L.K.Avalon stopped producing games for the Atari XL computers when this game was finished - so it never saw the daylight... unitil now! Visit my web-page to download the game:-) http://mrbacardi.atari.org Greetings, - Mr.Bacardi -I

From: Glen Kirschenmann <Kirschg@Netzero.net> Subject: SPACE DOM index lists At the last meeting we discussed having the DOM's and or the DOM index available on the BBS. Below is an example of what the DOM index could look like on the BBS. If the BBS would be able to select a text file and display its contents, it could look like this:

--From: Kevin Savetz <savetz@northcoast.com> --Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 21 :24:44 GMT

SPACE PROGRAM INDEX 1982 1.D. NAME EXT SD SIZE CATEGORY

Starware Mapware Astrology Mankala Speed-O-Disk BASIC/XA Smasher T: A Text Display Device Yahtman Ultinu!te Renumber Utility Bellum Home Inventory Keypad Controller DiskMenu Drawlt Catterpiggle Bootleg Moon Marauder Ringmaster Supersort

-------------------------M8207 AMERICAS 1 50 EDUCATION M8207 APTITUDE 1 70 EDUCATION M8207 STATES 1 51 EDUCATION M8207 ALIEN SS 1 57 GAME M8207 BOWL SS 1 100 GAME M8207 CIVILWAR 1 73 GAME M8207 MAGIC 1 20 GAME M8207 RUNWAY 1 53 GAME M8207 TOWERS 1 32 GAME M8207 CARDS COR 1 45 UTILITY M8207 DISKTAPE 1 28 UTILITY M8207 MEMDUMP MAR 1 22 UTILITY M8207 STRNG CRE 1 19 UTILITY M8208 APPLEATR 1 20 DEMO M8208 NOTEIN 118 DEMO M8208 NOTEOUT 1 9 DEMO M8208 CALCNT 1 51 EDUCATION M8208 CIPHER 1 30 EDUCATION M8208 POEM 1 40 EDUCATION M8208 DARKSTAR 1 34 GAME M8208 ELEC 191 GAME M8208 HORSERAC 1 48 GAME M8208 OCTADRAW 1 18 GAME M8208 STARWARP 1 150 GAME M8208 TIMETRAL 1 69 GAME M8208 MEMDUMP 1 22 UTILITY M8209 ETCHSKCH 1 20 ART/GRPHS M8209 ASTRONOM 1 45 EDUCATION M8209 DIALOGUE 1 27 EDUCATION M8209 NUMBERLI 1 68 EDUCATION M8209 BLKJCK I 42 GAME M8209 CHICKEN I 69 GAME M8209 CLEWSO 147 GAME M8209 CONCEN 1 38 GAME M8209 SPY 1 13 GAME M8209 PSDLDBP 1 47 DISK UTIL. M8209 SOUNDSTK 1 12 MUSIC M8209 CALENDAR 1 51 PRACTICAL M8209 PSDLDBP INS 1 34 TEXT/DOC M8209 HEXADEC 1 10 UTILITY M8209 RENUM LST 1 29 UTILITY Let me know what you think. There would be one text file for each year. I could upload them directly to the BBS if there is room, the 21 files would take up about 1200 Atari SD sectors. Glen

I've just updated the Atari Program Exchange (APX) section of atariarchives.org. The following APX programs are now available for download, with the permission of the authors:

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Check it out at http://www.atariarchives.org/APX/ --Kevin Savetz Kevin Savetz <savetz@northcoast.com> Curator of the Digital Antic Project -http://www.atarirnagazines.com & Atariarchives.org -- http://www.atariarchives.org Moderator of news:comp.sys.atari.announce -- Atari computer news

************************************************** --From: "Marek M" <marekm@aritech.com.pl> --Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2002 16:36:36 +0100

If you are looking for HDD & CD-ROM interface for your 8bit Atari please check SI02IDE interface: http://www.atari.cuprurn.com.pl/ {SI02IDE) Currently there are three SIO2IDE branches: - Branch l.X, latest version 1.6 (this branch will not be developed): - based on Atmel AVR AT90S8515 micro @ 4.9152MHz - 8bit IDE ATA support (CHS mode) - max 48 partitions * 16MB - emulates Atari disks Dl to Dl5 - uses only half of disk space - HDD can be easy configured from Atari (tool available on WWW) - Branch 2.X, latest version 2.1: - based on Atmel A VR ATmega161 micro @ 4.9152MHz

- 16bit IDE ATA support (CHS and LBA mode) - FAT16 and FAT32 support - A TR file support - gives full access to subdirectories - emulates Atari disks D1 to D7 - HDD can be easy configured from PC or Atari (tools available on WWW) - Branch 3.X, latest version 3.0 (will be released next week): - based on Atmel A VR ATmega161 rnicro @7.3728MHz - 16bit IDE ATA support (CHS and LBA mode) - FATl 6 and FAT32 support - 16bit IDE ATAPI support - ISO9660 support for CD-ROM (now you can boot your Atari from CD and much more ....) - ATR file support - gives full access to subdirectories - emulates Atari disks D 1 to D7 - HDD can be easy configured from PC or Atari Note that English documents will be available soon. Regards, Marek

--From: Fred Horvat <fmh@netzero.net> --To: "Current, Michael" <mcurrent@carleton.edu> --Date-Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 8:14 AM -0500 For Immediate Release to all Internet and related groups! The Classic Computer and Gaming(CCAG) Show 2002 is on! "We, the CCAG organizers, regret that it took so long to officially announce the CCAG 2002 Show. However, we are also very glad that the CCAG 2001 Show did NOT take place after September 11th, 200 l. Had CCAG 2001 taken place after 9-11 , we would have had to cancel. Because we had used a National Guard Armory for the previous two CCAG's, we were not able to rent the Armory again after the events of9-1 l. We have been able to locate and secure a facility for CCAG 2002! We again apologize for the delay, as we were only able to know with certainty, in the past several days. See you all at the CCAG 2002!!!" CCAG 2002 Staff The Classic Computer And Gaming Show 2002 will be held on May 25th, 2002 from 8AM till 2 PM. Vendor setup is on the 24th from 5:30PM till 9PM, and from 6:30AM till 8AM on the 25th. Show location is at the St. John Lutheran Church, 11333 Granger Road, Garfield Hts. Ohio, 44125. Here is our own site for more information and current status of vendors and attendees.

www.ccagshow.com Table rental is $5 this year, and admission is only $2. The admission fee will also allow you to be eligible for a drawing at 1PM, the 25th, for an Arcade machine! (You will need a way to take the machine home with you!) The web site, www.ccagshow.com, has site info, table layouts, map info, etc. We hope to see you there at the CCAG 2002!

************************************************** For Immediate Release

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Contact John Hardie, Sean Kelly, and Joe Santulli info@cgexpo.com 516-568-9768 http://www.cgexpo.com CLASSIC GAMING EXPO 2002 SHOW DATES ANNOUNCED; MULTIPLE ANNIVERSARY EVENTS PLANNED VALLEY STREAM, NY (March 17, 2002) - The organizers of Classic Gaming Expo have announced the dates of the 2002 show to take place at Jackie Gaughan's Plaza Hotel. On Saturday August I 0th, and Sunday August 11th, the computer and gaming industry's most innovative pioneers will gather in Las Vegas to attend Classic Gaming Expo 2002. Dubbed "CGE2K2", the fifth annual event will celebrate multiple historical anniversaries and is inspired by a strong, continued commitment to classic game updates and re-releases by the industry's major publishers. Heading up this year's celebration are several historical video game anniversaries, most notable of which is the thirty-year anniversary of the founding of Atari. Officially formed in 1972, Atari has become a name synonymous with video games and is still in existence today under the guidance of parent company Infogrames. In addition to the formation of Atari, 2002 also marks twenty-five years since the release of their Atari 2600 game system, one of the best-selling consoles of all time. Other milestones being celebrated at this years Expo include the twenty-year anniversaries of the release of both the Coleco and the Vectrex game systems. These systems, released in 1982, helped to revolutionize the video game industry. "It's amazing to think that all of these important historical events have anniversaries in 2002" said Sean Kelly, co-promoter of Classic Gaming Expo. "In addition, there are several smaller events to commemorate - including our fifth year of organizing COE." Other items of interest at this year's show include an updated museum exhibit, numerous additions to the guest speaker list, and the release of several new games for various classic systems. The Classic Gaming Expo museum encompasses hundreds of items including many one-of-a-kind prototypes. The museum contains the largest public display of classic game hardware, software, and memorabilia in the world. "What makes the Classic Gaming Expo Museum so special is the fact that it's comprised of items belonging to dozens of individuals," states co-promoter John Hardie. "This is not just a single person's collection but rather a grouping of items on loan from enthusiasts as well as many of our distinguished guests." Aside from the numerous keynote speeches by various industry legends throughout the show, CGE 2002 will play host to a large number of classic video game vendors and exhibitors. While many of them will be selling mint-condition hardware and software from the

days of old, others will be presenting new products for sale for systems such as the Vectrex, ColecoVision, Atari 2600, 5200, Lynx, and Jaguar as well as many modem-day consoles. Other show highlights include various classic console game stations, tournaments, raffies, door prizes, live music, and an incredible number of classic coin-operated video games, all set on free play for the attendees. "We're thankful for the ongoing support and interest shown by the video game industry," notes co-promoter Joe Santulli. "We feel it's vital that this history be preserved for generations to come." Now in its fifth year, Classic Gaming Expo remains the industry's only annual event that is dedicated to celebrating and preserving the history of electronic entertainment; bringing together industry pioneers, gaming enthusiasts, and the media for the ultimate · experience in learning, game-playing and networking. Classic Gaming Expo is a production ofCGE Services, Corp. (www.cgexpo.com)

************************************************ --Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 7:25 PM -0800 --From: Kevin Savetz <savetz@northcoast.com> Two more Classic computer books are now online! Compute!'s Second Book of Atari Graphics http://www.atariarchives.org/c2bag/ The Best of Creative Computing Volume 1 http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc 1/ --Kevin Kevin Savetz <savetz@northcoast.com> Curator of the Digital Antic Project -http://www.atarimagazines.com & Atariarchives.org -- http://www.atariarchives.org Moderator ofnews:comp.sys.atari.announce --Atari computer news --From: Video61@webtv.net {Lance Ringquist) --Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 11 :29:09 -0600 (CST) The first of the famous SCOTT ADAMS S.A.G.A. Graphics adventures is now available on cartridge for the atari 400/800/xl/xe/xegm computers. Memory requirements are 48k. This is an awesome achievement by the combined talents of three very gifted, and dedicated atari coders. Special thanks to SCOTT ADAMS for permission to release his ground breaking games on cartridge. Thanks, Lance Video 61 & Atari Sales 22735 Congo ST NE Stacy MN 55079 www.atarisales.com --From: usenet-20020326@hias.horus.com {Matthias Reich!) --Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 15:48:04 GMT

Finally, I've uploaded version 0.92 ofWriteAtr to my homepage http://www.horus.com/~hias/atari/ The major changes between V0.91 and V0.92 are: * Support for higher capacity formats (360k/720k/1.44M) is working now. * High capacity formats are supported in three different mappings: - A TR8000 compatible (used by most Atari high capacityJirives): first side 1 is written, then side 2. - 'PC style' (eg Karin Maxi): starts with track O/ side 1, then track O / side 2, then track 1 / side 1, ... - XF551: first side 1 is written, then side 2 in reverse order

* Written sectors are now verified by default, so you can detect bad floppy disks. * Whenever an error occurs, the exact position and error code is reported and the user may chose to abort/rety/ignore the current operation.

* I've fixed several smaller bugs in the disk-access layer (mainly concerning the high capacity formats) and added some more debugging info. If you've been using an earlier version ofWriteAtr, please upgrade to the current version. Especially the 'verify writes' feature can save you from a lot of troubles with bad media. so long, Hias

************************************************* --From: Video61@webtv.net {Lance Ringquist) --Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 10:54:47 -0600 (CST) We are very pleased to be able to announce Archer Macleans famous world karate championship now on cartridge for the atari 400/800/xl/xe/xegm. This world famous ground breaking game frrst saw the light in a 1986 release from EPYX. The memory requirements are 48k. The actual cartridge coding was done by the combined efforts of 3 very dedicated atari coders, my thanks to them. Also special thanks to archer rnaclean for the permission to port his ground breaking game to cartridge, and making it available to the atari community again. Thanks, Lance Video 61 & Atari Sales 22735 Congo ST NE Stacy MN 55079 www.atarisales.com

DISCLAIMER

CLUB OFFICIALS President: Michael Current {507)663-9029 mcurrent@carleton.edu Vice President: Greg Leitner {651)455-6550 greglites@hotmail.com Secretary: Angel C. Little (xxx)xxx-xxxx angellittle@msn.com DOM Librarian: Glen Kirschenmann {763)786-4790 kirschg@netzero.net BBS Operator Nolan Friedland {763)691-0626 friednw@tcfreenet.org Membership Chairman: Glen Kirschenmann {763)786-4790 kirschg@netzero.net SPACE Treasurer Greg Leitner (651)455-6550 greglites@hotmail.com SPACE Newsletter Editor: Michael Schmidt {763)757-4192 mike.schmidt@andersencorp.com

Published by the Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE). an independent organization with no business affiliation with ATARI Corporation. Permission is granted to any similar organization with which SPACE exchanges newsletters lo reprint material from this newsletter. We do however ask lhal credit be given lo the authors and lo SPACE. Opinions expressed are those or the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of SfACE, the club officers, club members or ATARI Corporation.

You can find the Club's home page at:

http:/ /Space.atari.org rticfesfor Publication must be received

Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE) meets on the second Friday of each month at 7:30 PM in the Falcon Heights Community Center at 2077 West Larpenteur Ave. Doors open at 7:00 PM. Q)

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