October 2017
October 2017 Edition
Message from Captain Irata: “Game Over happens!”
Of all of these, I think the 8K Omniview was perhaps the most popular, as a way to get an 80 column text screen without a hardware addon, and also get the core features of Omnimon!. But it's hard to say! Certainly I never understood all these different versions before.
So we are in good shape for at least one more year.
Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting, Friday, October 13, 2017.
We have elections coming up in November and the Xmas party planning for December. Hard to believe that 2017 is coming to an end so fast but at least we got a few more really nice days out of her.
HOO-RAH!
Glen put out another great 8-bit DOM for September with a couple of great games on it so make sure you get that one when you can. Please try to make it to the October meeting.
The State Fair weather was fantastic, much cooler than the past few fairs. As I am typing this into my iPad it is currently 90 degrees outside and a little humid so I guess summer is going out with a heat wave.
I recently worked out details of many of the replacement ROM chips for the 400/800.
After the August SPACE meeting it was disappointing to have a repeat in September.
The 400/800 OS shipped on 3 ROM chips, where the floating point package was on one 2K chip and the OS was on two 4K chips. Fastchip, by Charles Marslett for Newell Industries, was probably the first replacement ROM, only replacing the floating point ROM chip.
As you have probably figured out from my opening sentence, it was once again just Glen and myself who attended the September SPACE meeting. Glen and I waited until 8:00 PM before we called it a night; A carbon copy of our meeting in August.
Supermon!, a resident machine language monitor by David Young, was the first replacement OS ROM chip. Supermon! was very quickly superseded by Omnimon! from CDY Consulting (David Young), and maybe this just amounted to a name change.
I bought the September DOM so we at least had $3.00 to add to our account. It cost us $50.00 for the last two month's room rental and we offset that with only $6.00 for the same period. I know everyone will catch up when they make a future meeting, but it kind of gets scared when you see these figures.
Omnimon! came in many versions, at least 6 by my count. Most were 4K versions, with one popular 8K version containing the features of all the others.
I guess it is a good thing that we started the year with $250.00 in the bank because I don't think we would be able to cover the $300.00 annual room rental for 2017 at this rate.
Adding much to the confusing situation was CDY's Omniview ROM chip, which also came in at least two versions, 4K and 8K. 8K Omniview included all of the features of the standard 4K Omnimon!
I know I owe dues next month and other members are coming due also before year end. If all our current members renew for next year we only will take in $165.00 which means we need another $135.00 in DOM sales to make up the difference.
OmniDOS, another 8K ROM product, this one containing both a variation of MYDOS 3.0, called ROMDOS or RDOS, and the standard 4K Omnimon!. ROMDOS/RDOS was also sold as a standalone chip.
Right now it looks like we will end the year with a balance somewhere in the range of $550.00. After paying out the room rental for 2017 we should have the same amount to start 2018 as we had for 2017.
That's all for now, so support your Atari Club by buying those DOMs and renewing your memberships then we will be around for a long time. See you next month.
HELLO WORLD! Well, there’s good news and bad news. First, there’s the bad news. I have nothing to report until November. Now, there’s the good news. I will be there for October with a new report, and we will have a surprise. It will help the Club Treasury, let’s say. I apologize for the short Report, but there will be more for October. So, in the words of Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR!
TABLE OF CONTENTS: President’s Corner: Treasurer’s Report: Secretary’s Report:
1
Trivia Time: Recent Atari News: 8-bit and ST DOM Reviews:
2
TRIVIA TIME! Before the Atari Jaguar, there was a cancelled project calling for a 32-bit system, known as the “Panther.”
Recent Atari News Atari® Reveals More Details About Ataribox With a design inspired by the iconic console and powered by the latest chip technology, Ataribox will offer much more than video games NEW YORK, NY – September 26, 2017 – Atari®, one of the world’s most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment, today released new information about Ataribox, a product that brings gaming and more to the living room. The launch also signals a return by Atari to creating its own hardware in a broad eco-system of accessories and content. Since we announced Ataribox three months ago, we have received more than 90,000 registrations on Ataribox.com. Ataribox has a unique modern design, influenced by iconic Atari products such as the Atari 2600. Technology wise, it is powered by an AMD customized processor with Radeon Graphics technology. Ataribox will offer games and more: bringing a full PC experience to the TV, it will also include streaming, applications, social, browsing, and music. Ataribox will run a Linux OS, with a user interface customized for the TV. Ataribox will launch with a large back-catalog of Atari classic games, and current titles from a range of studios. Additional details on content and partnerships will be released at a later date. Given the open nature of the OS, players will also be able to access and play compatible games from other content platforms. “With Ataribox, we wanted to create an open system, a killer product where people can game, stream and browse with as much freedom as possible. Atari games and content will be available as well as games and content from other providers,” said Fred Chesnais, Atari Chief Executive Officer.
“We also wanted to launch Ataribox with our community, and reward our fans with exclusive early access, special editions, and include them as active participants in the product rollout.” Ataribox with our community, and reward our fans with exclusive early access, special editions, and include them as active participants in the product rollout.” Ataribox will first be made available via the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform this fall, with targeted global launch in Spring 2018. The expected price range will be $249-$299 USD depending on specific editions and memory configurations. “People are used to the flexibility of a PC, but most connected TV devices have closed systems and content stores. Ataribox is an open system, and while our user interface will be easy to use, people will also be free to access and customize the underlying OS,” said Feargal Mac, Ataribox General Manager. “We’ve chosen to launch Ataribox with Indiegogo given their focus on delivering technology products, and their strong international presence in over 200 countries, allowing us to reach and involve as many Atari fans around the world as possible.” Today, new assets are released on Ataribox’s social channels including Facebook https:// w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / a t a r i b o x o f fi c i a l / and Twitter https://twitter.com/ atariboxproject. People can get access to early information and additional details by signing up at www.AtariBox.com. To stay updated with the latest information about Atari, visit www.Atari.com, Like us on Facebook at https:// www.facebook.com/atari and Follow us on Twitter @Atari. For specific updates on Ataribox subscribe at www.ataribox.com. About Atari Atari is an interactive entertainment production company. As an iconic brand that transcends generations and audiences, the company is globally recognized for its multiplatform, interactive entertainment and licensed products. Atari owns and/or manages a portfolio of more than 200 games and franchises, including world-renowned brands like Asteroids®, Centipede®, Missile Command®, Pong®, and RollerCoaster Tycoon®. Visit us online at www.Atari.com. Atari has offices in New York and Paris. © 2017 Atari Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. Atari word mark and logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc.
Since I will be at the SPACE Meeting on Friday, October 13, 2017, I will muster the DOM Reviews for the months missed in November in the Special Election Issue of the SPACE Newsletter. I apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused. But, expect a hefty Newsletter in November of 2017! TTFN, folks, until Friday the 13th!
ST DOM NEWS & REVIEWS By Michael Allard (Image Credits: Bill Bertram/Wikipedia)
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DOMs sooo far and few in between. It has been very difficult finding software that will I apologize tosystem the club for having ST run on a NTSC thethe DOMs sooo far andwithout few incausing between. It has screen to roll. Having the APEX 20” TV that I been very difficult finding software that once give out on me was a will used runwith onmy anST to NTSC system without causing the I screen roll. that NTSC oldmajor setback. neverto realized school TVs, before CRT was phased out, were Having APEX made to the support both 20” 50HzTV andthat 60HzI once signalsused withI my ST to out onThe megood wasnews a major until lost that TV.give Bummer. is setback. I never realized that NTSC oldthat I managed to get a few DOMs completed school TVs, before CRT was phased out, with “new” to TV set that occupies once and werethemade support both the 50Hz 60Hz signals I lost that aTV. Bummer. abandoned space.until Now, let's take look at the games on this month's ST DOM you all have The good news is that I managed to get a been waiting for. few DOMs completed with the “new” TV set that occupies the once abandoned space. Now, let's take a look at the games on this month's ST DOM you all have thinking been I was waiting for. of Lance for this one. I remember the times he has said to me he likes the text adventure games. And when I ran across this one I had to include it.
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Unfortunately, I am not very good at the text adventure games...yet. And I only played it enough to make sure it worked on the DOM disk. What little bit I did play I enjoyed but I got lost after a few minutes of play time. Looks like I'm going to need some graph paper to plot out my journey and to jot down what I found where. Hopefully others will enjoy this text adventure game and have fun pushing pencils against paper as I am fixing to do.
If you make the required number of matches on a level you advance to the next one. But watch out as new levels can introduce new jewels to challenge your stacking and matching strategy. This arcade-style game is fun and challenging. It is also a good way to pass some time should you have a lot of time to spend on it. It doesn't take much to make matches and it is exciting to make one match and watch the pieces fall down into place to make more matches, creating combos that at times can seem endless. A fun game that I hope others find enjoyable as well.
Adding that large library of ST programs just expanded the software I can use to make these disks as long as I have blank disks to make them. With that being said you can count on me to have disks ready from here on out. I encourage club members to share their high scores from playing the games on the DOMs with the newsletter. I'd really like to see your best scores!! Now...if you will excuse me...I have a LOT of ST programs to go through to see what works, what don't work, and what I can use for SPACE DOM disks. Enjoy your ST DOM this month and I will return next month with more exciting DOM content!
If other members like this game, then I will start including more like it. Be sure to share your experience in the newsletter. Evader is a space shoot 'em up game that is easy to pick up and play. All you have to do is blast everything on the screen whether it moves or not all while avoiding any enemy return fire. Bobbles is a matching game very similar to Sega's Columns that graced their 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. Sorry about that; I am aware this is an Atari computer club, but I didn't know how else to word it or what to relate it to. In Bobbles you are trying to create matches by jewel type. Each jewel is of a specific color and shape with random pieces dropping down from the top Tetris-style, even the playfield is somewhat like Tetris. Using a joystick you can move the pieces anywhere horizontally within the confined spaces of the playfield. Using the Trigger button cycles the jewels in the piece around. When you get the piece how you want it pushing the joystick down to instantly drop the piece to the bottom of the playfield, or stack it on top of other pieces already there. Once you get at least three jewels lined up horizontally, vertically, diagonally, or a combination of any or all of those, they are removed from the board, points are given, and any pieces above drop down to take their place. On the left of the screen is where you will see what piece is coming down next, the number of jewels you have matched so far, and the number required to finish the level.
There are power-ups in the game that give the player various weapons and increased fire power for those weapons. Oh...and use your joystick with this one. Just make sure you bring your best controller with you for this mindless arcade-style blasteverything entertainment.
And that, my friends, ends what is on this month's ST DOM. I had fun making it and I hope you enjoy what is on it. I try my best to cram as much on a single disk as possible but there are some programs I have come across that hog a whole disk. Steve was kind enough to point me to a link in the public domain where a single file exists that contains over 14 gigabytes of ST software with lots of freeware, shareware, demos, and more. I have had a dedicated Windows XP-based ST DOM system setup just for making our ST DOMs each month that also catalogs every disk I've made. It is an isolated system meaning it is not allowed to go online at all so no worries about anything or anyone trying to hack into it or it going down from a virus attack. I downloaded the file which took about 5 hours and expanded all of its contents onto the ST DOM machine.
The next SPACE Meeting is on Friday, October 13, 2017, at 7:30 PM. We hope to see you there and then! Thank You!