SPACE Newsletter

NEWSLETTER for June 2011 President’s Corner by Michael Current June 2011 Make sure to make it to SPACE this month so that you can make your voice heard as we plan for a party in July! Plus, find out about the big news heard from Lance at the May meeting! My own endless research into Atari history has taken a somewhat dramatic turn recently. I was contacted by Mr. William White, who was the chief financial officer at Atari from near the very beginning in 1973, all the way up to 1978. He found my Atari History Timelines website, and offered to help. Even more incredibly (to me anyway), we ended up talking on the phone for over an hour on one recent morning. A really great guy, and he really helped pin down some dates and clarify some things that have been unclear to me until now. It was like meeting a big-time celebrity for me! Talking to someone who was actually there, as a central figure, is so different than just digging into available archival documentation. I'm still working on just how to integrate all the new information into my web site, but it will get done soon, and I'm excited to work on it! Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting, Friday June 10, 2011. **********************************************

Treasurer's Report by Greg Leitner For May 2011

We had six members present for our May SPACE meeting which isn't too bad considering the weather couldn't make up it's mind if it wanted to rain or not. I can't believe how the word taco comes up in just about every coversation we have. I guess when we decide what we are going to have for our SPACE birthday party in July most members already have their minds made up, but just remember that change is good. Anyway I guess the majority will rule and that pretty much ends the discussion.

Lance made big news at the May meeting and if you want to find out about it you should come to the June SPACE meeting and get the lowdown from the horse's mouth. You won't be disappointed. At least I remembered last month to pick up the receipts so I have a report this month. Here is how our treasury looks for the month ended May 31, 2011: Beginning balance for May 1, 2011:

671.15

Receipts for the May meeting: Doms

+ 15.00

Expenses for the May meeting: Web-site for two months

- 20.00

Ending balance for May 31, 2011

666.15

As you can see that after April and May we haven't got much to show. Our bank balance only changed by $5.00, but that might change next month as at least three members have membership dues that needs renewal. Without our auctions our membership renewals are going to be very important this year so let's keep them up to date. Well I guess that's it for now as not much is happening, but I am sure the word taco will play a dominant part at our June SPACE meeting as we plan our birthday party for July. Remember those dues and buy those Doms. Glen has some great games on the May dom and maybe more for June. See you then. **********************************************

Secretary's Report By Brian Little For June 2011

No minutes from the May meeting were submitted in time for this Newsletter. ********************************************

From: Michael Current [michael@mcurrent.name] Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 2:27 PM Subject: Altirra 1.9 released Altirra 1.9 released http://virtualdub.org/altirra.html 1.9 final supercedes all 1.9-test releases; it is the same as 1.9 test-40 except for the final version bump. The change list is too long to list here, but the changes include: many serial port / modem emulation fixes, many new debugger features including conditional breakpoints and trace expressions, improved PAL color emulation and high artifacting support, new cartridge mapping modes, PCLink support for SDX host filesystem mapping, and emulation accuracy fixes to CPU/ANTIC/GTIA. The full change list is on the website. At the above link, you can also find version 0.9 of the Acid800 test suite, which includes new tests for ANTIC DMA behavior and VSCROL+DLI timing. No emulators pass yet. Finally, a big "Thank You!" to everyone who provided feedback, bug reports, or simply just tried the emulator -- you've helped immensely. Full change list: Version 1.9 [May 15, 2011]: [features added] * Debugger: Multiple memory access breakpoints can now be placed. * Debugger: Added option to break on run address of loaded executable. * Debugger: Conditional breakpoints (bx) are now supported. * Debugger: Commands can now be run when a breakpoint fires. * Debugger: Added ? (evaluate) and .printf commands. * Debugger: Trace and assert statements can now be embedded in assembler listings. * Debugger: Added vta, vtc, vtl, and vtr commands to control verifier OS entry point checking. * Debugger: Added .dumpsnap command. * Debugger: Memory access breakpoints can now be placed on an address range. * Debugger: History window now has a Copy Visible context menu option. * Debugger: Verifier modes are now configurable. * Debugger: Verifier can now catch register corruption across interrupts. * Debugger: .writemem now supports extended address syntax. * Debugger: Added .sio command. * Debugger: Added .sdx_loadsyms command. * SoundBoard: Initial support. * UI: Added emulator crash dialog. * UI: Show FPS option now also shows CPU usage. * Input: Added Amiga mouse support. * Input: Added CX-85 keypad support. * GTIA: NTSC and PAL modes can now have separate palettes. * GTIA: Added option for PAL encoding quirks. * GTIA: Added PAL high artifacting mode. * Disk: Initial version of disk explorer. * Serial: Inbound connections are now supported. * Serial: Added support for A, L, M, P, Q, S, T, V, X, &C, &D, &F, &G, &P, &T, &V, and &W modem commands. * Serial: Added DTR and CRX signal support. * Serial: Added IPv6 support. * Serial: Added option to force specific connection and DTE communication rates. * Serial: Added option to bypass accurate serial port rate

throttling. * Cartridge: Two cartridges are now supported for 800 left+right and stacked cartridge configurations. * Cartridge: 2K and 4K cartridges are now supported (as mirrored 8K cartridges). * Cartridge: SIC! cartridge support. * PCLink: Initial support. [bugs fixed] * UI: Pane dragging is less twitchy and no longer undocks a pane as soon as you click on the caption. * UI: Fixed undocked panes getting lost on exit when no other panes were docked. * UI: Optimized Direct3D9 code to reduce flickering when switching artifacting modes. * UI: Fixed current beam position indicator not updating properly when stepping with interlacing enabled. * UI: Auto-size command now works when menu wraps. * HLE: Fixed crash when NMI handler is invoked with no NMIs pending. * HLE: Added support for XL OS PENTV vector. * HLE: E: device now excludes prompts from data returned by get-line commands. * HLE: Increased HLE kernel compatibility with SpartaDOS X. * HLE: Fixed BASIC ^ operator with HLE kernel or floatingpoint acceleration. * HLE: Fixed AFP not accepting leading spaces (which broke the Atari BASIC READ statement). * Simulator: Default kernel mode now prefers ROM images properly again. * Simulator: BOOT? and DOSINI are now set at the beginning of EXE/XEX loads to support more WARMSV tricks. * Cheats: Enable checkbox on cheats was broken. * CPU: Added missing SHA abs,Y ($9F) instruction. * CPU: Fixed CMOS BIT #imm ($89) instruction. * CPU: Fixed 65C02 $FC instruction. * CPU: Back-to-back interrupts are no longer allowed. * CPU: Added emulation of BRK/NMI bug. * CPU: Added option to emulate masked NMIs (off by default). * CPU: Fixed dp,X, dp,Y, and (dp,X) page wrapping behavior in 65C816 E=1 mode. * ANTIC: DMACTL bits 6 and 7 are no longer reflected in .dlhistory output. * ANTIC: Fixed CPU not being halted when playfield DMA occurred on cycle 10. * ANTIC: Fixed timing of when VSCROL affects DLIs. * Debugger: Optimized History pane. * Debugger: Avoid re-requesting the same source file when it is not found on disk. * Debugger: Improved reliability of source-level stepping. * Debugger: Added XL OS entry points to default entry points allowed by verifier. * Recorder: Fixed crash on recording errors. * Recorder: Fixed incorrect format on video stream when using ZMBV compression. * Disk: SIO receive speeds are now validated for more reliable high-speed SIO detection. * Disk: VAPI (ATX) images can now be loaded from .zip files. * Disk: Fixed problems binding disk images to D9:-D15:. * GTIA: NTSC high artifacting mode now respects artifact phase setting. * GTIA: Fixed trigger state sometimes being initially wrong when enabling latching. * GTIA: Improved accuracy of transitions from mode 8 to mode 9/10. * GTIA: Fixed hires lines not artifacting correctly with the extended PAL height setting enabled. * Serial: Telnet emulation now reads out of band data.

* Serial: Telnet emulation now handles incoming WILL and WONT commands. * Serial: Telnet server now attempts to turn off local echo on remote end. * Serial: Fixed sporadic missing newlines on modem status messages. * Serial: Control line state is now reported in non-concurrent mode. * Serial: Ring pattern adjusted to match US standard (2s/4s). * Serial: Re-opening the R: device now flushes buffered data. * Serial: Closing the R: device deactivates concurrent mode to make subsequent status requests work. * Serial: Fixed crash in R: when invoking GET BYTE with an empty input buffer or PUT BYTE with a full output buffer. * Serial: Fixed BASIC GET command failing after XIO on R:. * Serial: Fixed erroneous CR-to-CRLF conversion on transmit path. * Serial: XIO commands to R: instead of R1-R4: now work properly. * Serial: Closing R: waits for queued output data to flush. * Printer: Fixed close command not actually closing IOCB. * VBXE: VBXE memory no longer overlays extended memory in 1088K mode with shared memory disabled. * IDE: Cold reset now also resets the emulated IDE device. * IDE: Addressing is now restricted to offsets $00-07 to avoid conflicting with OS PBI scan. * Cartridge: Corrected banks 1 and 2 for OSS 034M cartridge type.

******************************************** From: Michael Current [michael@mcurrent.name] Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 3:16 PM Subject: Atari's Legendary Star Raiders® Now Available

Developed by Incinerator Studios, Star Raiders carries a retail price of 800 Microsoft Points/$9.99. For more information, please log onto www.atari.com or www.starraiders.com ******************************************** From: Michael Current [michael@mcurrent.name] Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2011 10:04 AM Subject: New tech-demo from Paulo Simoes New tech-demo from Paulo Simoes May 9th, 2011 Paulo Simoes has released a small music screen with his latest optimized soundrouts called 'Twelve'. It's playing a 12-channel module on plain ST at nearly 11 kHz frequency while displaying VU-meters for all channels as well as an ocilloscope. On STe machines the replay uses the DMA sound for stereo and a bit higher frequency. Additional infos from Paulo: If you don't like the colors, you can change them by hacking the .tos file with any file editor: - at offset $0E70 you can change the Scope beam color; - at offsets $105A/5E/62/66/6A/6E/72/76/7A/7E/82/86, you can change the 12 individual V.U. colors; Download 'Twelve' by Paulo Simoes http://files.dhs.nu/files_demo/TWELVE.zip

Atari's Legendary Star Raiders® Now Available

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Star Raiders Soars Onto Xbox 360® and Windows PC Download Offering Team-Based Multiplayer for the First Time

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LOS ANGELES, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Atari, one of the world's most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment, announced today the release of Star Raiders®. The return of Star Raiders combines tense aerial assaults and dogfights with a new compelling storyline, striking visual style and exhilarating single player gameplay. Star Raiders is now available on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC Download at Steampowered.com. Originally introduced in 1979, Star Raiders blazed an all new trail, becoming the first ever first-person space combat title. The game inspired several generations of "space combat simulation" titles throughout the 80's and 90's. The exciting new take on this Atari treasure pays tribute to the original while ushering in an all new, captivating episodic experience. The game offers familiar battle elements including space warps and galactic tactical maps with all new features like radical battle transformations and customizable ships.

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