April 2017
April 2017 Edition The XE titles they were planning on in 1989, which were never released but most of which have since turned up as prototypes, were: Deflektor, MIDI Maze, Commando, Super Football, Tower Toppler (previously: Nebulus), and Xenophobe. Of these, only Super Football has not turned up in prototype version, as far as I know. Anyone know anything about it?
Message from Captain Irata: “Spring has sprung! Fall had fell! If I don’t get you SPACE Cadets to play Atari games, I will be mad as… as… “…AW, RATS, FORGET IT!!!” HOO-RAH!
Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting, Friday, April 14, 2017.
I recently came across the Atari 2600/7800/ XE 1989 Distributor Price List, effective April 3, 1989, hosted online on the Video 61 & Atari Sales website at: http://members. tcq.net/video61/dis.html. I love documents like this! So many hard facts, it really helps pin down release dates and other details of the time period. In this case, it helped me realize that some of the upcoming titles for the XE as “previewed” by Atari’s new Atarian magazine, published by David Ahl on the East Coast, were probably not based on anything that was really in development. Specifically, Atarian, and only Atarian, listed Ikari Warriors, Mean 18 Ultimate Golf, and Ninja Golf for the XE. These were not listed on the Distributor Price List, nor on Atari’s 1989 glossy Atari Advantage 2600/7800/XE catalog/poster.
It was a great meeting in March! The meeting started around 7:50 PM that Friday. Our revered President, Mike Current, came to us from Wisconsin. He had brought us some show-and-tell: a copy of “The Art of Atari,” by Tim Lapetino. The book contains artwork from early Atari-employed artists.
Now, that is what I like to see at our monthly SPACE meeting. Every member who can conveniently make it to the meeting was there. Even Michael made it from Wisconsin. It helps that his brother lives in the Cities so he doesn’t have to drive back to Wisconsin. So, we ended up with six of our members present.
Great to see everyone at the March SPACE Meeting!
HELLO WORLD!
Our meetings hang around longer when Lance and Michael are in attendance. They seem to have more knowledge of current Atari happenings, and Brian and Steve Peck have a lot to add. Of course, Glen always has a great DOM to sell, and because of the 8-bit DOMs he sells that is what makes up the revenue for most months especially when we have no memberships up for renewal. So, with nine 8-bit DOMs sold, we took in $27.00 and had no expenses pais out for the end of March. Added to the March beginning balance of $306.54, we now have a balance of $333.54 for the month ended March 31, 2017. It was great to see everyone at the March SPACE meeting. I wish it could be like that every month, but due to some personal issues I know that can’t happen. Looking forward to the month of July when we have our birthday meeting, and everyone tries to make it for that. Already, tacos have been mentioned again. That’s all for now. Hope to see as many members in April that can make it.
Needless to say, it is an amazing book, and I would not mind buying it myself. We have not heard from our Veep, Nolan Friedland, for awhile. I am wondering if he is doing alright because he said he has health problems. I guess we will just have to wait and see if things improve for him. Anyway, Lance had Tempest Elite to demo for the Club. Mike Current was rocking at it. I did not know that he was such a great player at the game. I can make it to Level Eight or higher, but it can be problematic because the spikes sometimes take too long for me to clear. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM. Anyway, this concludes the Secretary’s Report. In the closing words of the great artist, Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR! TABLE OF CONTENTS: President’s Corner: Treasurer’s Report: Trivia Time: Secretary’s Report: Recent Atari News: 8-bit DOM Reports: TRIVIA TIME
1 1 1 1 2 2
David Theurer, creator of smash Atari hit games Tempest and Missile Command, once chased down a hit-and-run suspect in California. Mr. Theurer caught the suspect and the person was eventually arrested.
Recent Atari News Turgen System 8.6.7 Started by “baktra”, March 30, 2017, 2:01 AM A new version of the cassette authoring tool has been released and brings the following enhancements: Improved status that displays total duration of the generated signal or total number of bytes written to tape images. (Now you know how much of a tape side your programs will occupy.) Signal or tape image generators can be executed in a preview mode. In the preview mode, no output is generated, but all checks take place and total duration of the generated signal or total number of bytes written to tape images are determined and displayed in the status bar. (This will help you determine if the signal will fit in a tape side with a single click without wasting disk space or wearing-off your precious SSD. Works for both WAVE files and Audio output.) Error messages displayed by the signal or tape image generators are aggregated in a single window. The error messages also include input file name, so it is easier to identify offending playlist items. (If you screw fifty playlist items, you don’t need fifty clicks to dismiss all error messages. Just a single click.) Batch processing now supports also tape images on input. Use the new TAPE-IMAGE-CONVERTOR keyword. (Now you can include .cas files in your batches.) For full list of news and download, please refer to the project pages at: https://sourceforge.net/p/turgen/blog/2017/03/turgen-system-867-before-d/ Unfortunately, (there is) no support for Czechoslovak Turbo D yet.
Atari 8-bit DOM Reports By Steven Peck Well, here we are with two more DOM Reports for the A8. Sorry for not being there in February. Transportation is tough for me sometimes, as all of you know by now. But, here we go with the Reports anyway, February 2017 DOM, Side A: Fifth Generation is a little tune that has a great beat, but it is a bit repetitive in some ways. I did enjoy it, though. It seemed pretty lively. Here is my score for it. Sound:
7/10
Crown is an excellent picture showing a metallic head with a crown on it, with the colors complimenting perfectly in the picture. There are some words above the head, but I could not make it all out. It must be something philosophical, I gather. Anyway, I will give this picture high marks. I love it. Graphics:
10/10 (Perfect Score)
Devil is another cool-looking picture of a bearded demon, beckoning the viewer to come to him. It is rendered very nicely. I think it is one of the better pictures on this disk. Here’s my score: Graphics:
10/10 (Perfect Score)
TOTAL:
30/30 (Perfect Score)
Zombie Attack somewhat reminds me of Necromancer in the beginning. You fight zombies in a forest with a myriad of weapons. Personally, I did not play long enough to the end. But, I thought it was cool. The graphics could have been better, but we’re talking about the Atari 8-bit here. It has limited memory at times. Here’s my take on this: Graphics: Gameplay: Sound: Animation: TOTAL:
6/10 8/10 7/10 7/10 28/40
Geek BeatZ is yet another music track that fades in and out at first, but that is on purpose. Then, the beat really picks up and quite nicely.
Doc List is a program that shows what is on Side A of the DOM for February. It is handy and I credit Glen for making it.
I did like this tune, and I will still give it high marks. It is a very good tune, nonetheless. Here is my score.
SIDE B:
Sound:
9/10
Na Drugim Koncu is a black-and-white rendering showing a UFO over a landscape. It seems quite innocuous to me, and I think it could have been better, but it is a still a good picture. Here is my take on that. Graphics:
7/10
Party Train is yet another picture which displays a train with the Atari Fuji logo on it and iti s billowing the words “PARTY TRAIN” from the smokestack. I like the atmospheric perspective in it. It exemplifies the picture nicely. Over all, this is a well-rendered picture. Very well done. Here’s my take on it. Graphics:
9/10
Usability:
8/10
The entire B side of the February DOM is only one program: a graphics utility called Title Studio. I really do not know much about this program, but I am sure it is a handy application. I do not even know how it works. In order to run it, you would have to disable BASIC by pressing Option while turning on the computer. Then, it will run smoothly. Usuability:
9/10
Now, onto the March 2017 DOM. Side A: Code Name: Chip’s Challenge is derived from that Atari Lynx game, but I do not know if it is loosely based or not on the game title. I do not remember the game music from the Atari Lynx.
Ribbon is a demo that shows, well, an animated ribbon in real time. There is music and it picks up over time. I liked the effects and the beat of the music, but it could have been some what better.
Aside from that, it sounds nice with a nice, peppy beat, and great sound effects. Here’s my take on this.
However, it is a great demo and I will give it high marks as well. Here is my score.
CyberPunk - Party Version sounds like it has a low tone at first, but later it picks and quite nicely. It is an excellent pieceof music that really exemplifies what the A8 can do.
Graphics Animation: Sound:
8/10 9/10 7/10
TOTAL:
24/30
I will not rate The Prod That Never Was because there is nothing to rate. Nothing played on the screen. Ucieczka shows a UFO orbiting a moon and it has Polish text next to it, scrolling up. This has to be the best animation I have seen in a long time. Eccelente! Here is my score on this. Graphics: Sound: Animation:
10/10 10/10 10/10
Sound:
8/10
Here’s my score on this. Sound:
9/10
I Came is a picture that shows an android with a laser coming out its forehead, bullets are flying by it, and it has glowing eyes. It has on the side of its head the Biblical verse reference, Revelation 13:18. Pretty dark. It is a great looking picture and I see the artist took a lot of time to illustrate it. i have seen this particular picture before on another, previous DOM. Here is my take on this. Graphics:
10/10 (Perfect Score)
DOM Reports: Continued on Page 3
MadCat is a picture that shows a mechanical cat with cables connected to it living up to its name, as it is very angry. It looks really cool, akin to the android in I Came, the previously graded picture.
Here is my score for that. Graphics: Animation: Sound:
10/10 10/10 10/10
Here’s my score on that.
TOTAL:
30/30 (Perfect score)
Graphics:
Dizzy 13 is a game where you play an egg-like character, but I don’t understand the plot of the game. It is based on a game called Treasure Island Dizzy for the ST and NES. I found it unplayable.
9/10
NoName is a slightly risque demo ( I will not go into why for the kids), and it might have a PAL problem. But, aside from that, it is an excellent demo with beautiful graphics. Wait until you see the dancers. Here’s my take on that:
I could not make sense of it right away and that turned me off.
Sound: Animation: Graphics:
10/10 10/10 10/10
Gameplay: Graphics: Animation: Sound:
4/10 6/10 6/10 6/10
TOTAL:
30/30 (Perfect score)
TOTAL:
22/40
Spycat is a game where you play a spy thyat has to complete his mission in London. It is an action game and you have to solve puzzles, go into buildings, and get your mission accomplished.
Dwade is a demo I have seen before and may have a PAL issue. But, I like it and it does have some cool music to it. There is great animation and even parallax scrolling. I liked it and it deserves high marks.
I like this game, but I wonder if it could hsve been more user-friendly. However, that is rectified by the fact that there are onscreen instruction to play it. Pretty cool in my book. Here’s my take on that.
Graphics: Sound: Animation:
10/10 10/10 10/10
TOTAL:
30/30 (Perfect score)
Graphics: Sound: Animation: Gameplay:
8/10 8/10 9/10 9/10
Total:
34/40
SV2K14 Menu is just what it is: a menu. i believe it was demoed on here to see how people could judge the interface. It has some lively music and it is somewhat workable. It is interactive. It is just for show, though. Here is my score. Graphics: Sound:
7/10 8/10
TOTAL:
15/20
Vmplrius is a picture of a pointy-eared vampire with half of its flesh on its face gone. It looks quite ghoulish and I love it. There is lots of detail in it and I will give it high marks as a result. Graphics:
10/10 (Perfect score)
WGPL ??? is a weird demo, at least to me. it is in Polish, and every time I pressed any key, I would get random Polish sentences. I could not understand it. I could not tell what it was. Here’s my take on it. Usability:
2/10
Now onto Side B. Chen Thread - Firstro shows a cute little ice fairy rfendered in anime style with a realtime text ticker on the bottom of the screen and “Last Christmas”playing in A8 style. It is a cute little demo. I liked it.
The next SPACE Meeting is on Friday, April 14, 2017 at 7:30 PM. We hope to see you there!
Kompo Spell is a picture showing a bluefaced demonic character and a woman surrounded by skulls. It looks like something you would see ready for print in a comic book setting. Kudos to the artist! Graphics:
10/10 (Perfect score)
LaD starts off weird, but the music is astounding later on. I think that this is taking advantage of a different chip other than the POKEY chip. It sounds like it would come from an ST computer. Very nice! Sound:
10/10 (Perfect score)
Padme shows a woman, supposedly the fated mother of the Jedi Skywalker twins, with Darth Vader. However, it does not look like Padme from Star Wars, unless she had cosmetic surgery. Nevertheless, it is still a good picture. I am still giving it high marks. Here you go. Graphics:
9/10
Sinopia is the last demo on this disc, and it is a doozy. It is very good, But, it sounds kind of weird. However, that isn’t a bad thing. It actually contributes to it. Great demo. Graphics: Sound: Animation:
10/10 10/10 10/10
TOTAL:
30/30 (Perfect score)
NOTE: I will not rate The Lost Bytes, as it would not play on my computer. This concludes the Reports. Carpe diem, guys! See you next month.
Another message from Captain Irata: “OK, SPACE Cadets! Give me 20,000! Points that is!” SEMPER FI!