September 2018
September 2018 Edition
NOTE: There will be no President’s Corner for September. We will be back with another one in October. We apologize for the inconvenience.
NOTE: Due to the absence of the Treasurer in August, there will be no Treasurer’s Report. We apologize for the inconvenience. The Treasurer’s Report will be back in October.
HELLO WORLD! Well, it is another month for another Secretary’s Report. The meeting commenced at 7:42 PM. Glen and I were the only two members present. The membership count stands at nine paid-up members. Since we were the only two members there, Glen and I recapped on the July 2018 Party. That was the main point of the meeting. The meeting ended at 7:47 PM. Sorry. Not much to report. There should be more to report next month. With that, I close, in the words of the great artistic maestro, Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR!
Message from Captain Irata: “Look, Ma! I’m livin’ large!” HOO-RAH! TABLE OF CONTENTS: Page One: The President’s Corner Treasurer’s Report Secretary’s Report Page Two: Atari 8-bit DOM Review Atari ST DOM Review
TRIVIA TIME! The Atari 2600 is one of the longest-reigning video gaming platforms ever released, from its debut in 1977 to end of retail life in 1992, a total of fourteen years. In the 1980s, Atari were approached by the military to create a war simulation based on Ed Rotberg’s “Battlezone.” JTS Storage bought the remains of Atari Corporation in 1996 after Atari’s original demise. The first Atari 2600 game with voice was called “Quadrun.” It could be acquired if you were a member of a club owned by Atari. There are thirty-seven stages in four different worlds in the game “Crystal Castles.” It is also the first Atari arcade game with an ending. The arcade game, “I, Robot,” was the first arcade game to use 3D computer graphics. It was created by Atari legend David Theurer. The original Star Raiders II was created by Aric WIlmunder secretly. The SRII we konw of is really the game “The Last Starfighter.” You migh still find this game with this name as a prototype, if you are lucky.
Side Two: “Lord of the Orb” gets retooled again, this time for 2018. It is extremely much harder than the last remake by XaVer. It has more twists and turns than ever before. The animation and game play are superb. The graphics need a littl ework, but it shines. Welcome again to another DOM Review for the A8 computer! It is a short one, so I will be brief. We will get started right away! August DOM, Side One: The first file on the DOM, which is titled “Laura,” is an adventure puzzle game similar to “Chip’s Challenge,” which is on the Atari Lynx. You play a young explorer following in her grandfather’s footsteps to find treasures.
I love all three versions of theis game that I have played. Kudos’ XaVer! SCORE: Graphics: Sound: Animation: Gameplay:
8 9 10 10
TOTAL:
37/40
You must avoid quicksand and traps to reach the next levels of the game. Find the keys to advance to the next level. I liked this game and it is a challenge. I could not get very far in it, but it is a fun game. The title screen graphics are astounding, too. It plays like a lot of games in its genre, and it makes you think and brainstorm. This is a great game. Kudos to Lubaszka for the design of this game! SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Sound: Gameplay:
10 8 8 10
TOTAL:
36/40
“The Magnify Demo” the next file on the disk, is a graphics demo by Senor Rossie. It has great scaling effects with the magnification of the on-screen text. The music could be better, but it is amazing what it can do with the graphics. Interesting stuff. SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Sound:
9 10 7
TOTAL:
26/30
“Lemmings” is a mock title screen based on the hit game by Psygnosis, and the next file on this DOM. It is very plain. IThe file shows a white screen with one of the Lemmings. It has the word “Lemmings” on the top of the screen. I think that it could have been better, in my opinion. Maybe, make it animated or something. It is OK. Actually, it is quite interesting in many respects.Not too shabby. TOTAL:
7/10
The next demo, called “Nemo,” is done by MaPa. It shows Nemo in the Nautilus, exploring the deep. Nemo gets eaten in the end by one of the sea creatures. It is a pretty good demo with fluid animation. Kudos, MaPa! Graphics: Animation: Sound:
9 10 9
TOTAL:
28/30
The last file on Side Ome on this DOM is a picture of the Addams Family. It is not too bad, but I have seen better. I will say that this is captivating. I always liked the Addams Family. I recognize all the characters. It is not really that bad. Here is my score: TOTAL:
7/10
So, this will conclude the DOM Review for the Atari 8-bit. I will see you next month, and with another DOM Review. Carpe Diem, fellow Atarians! Hey Atarians! I know that it has been a few months since I reported on, and made, ST DOMs. Rest assured I am still making them but when the Summer months started I had to make a decision. The electric company providing power to the area I live in is about as crooked as a company can get. They even add a charge for the type of customer you are. We are considered Residential customers so we get slammed with an addition $3 charge each month. Crazy, right? Summer months are not any better. From June until September or October, the electric company decides to kick in double rates. My average electric bill jumped from $70 to $150 per month. That increase meant that I had to monitor my power usage wisely and shut down any electric device I wasn’t using. I even unplugged items I know that draws slight power even when turned off. The computer I use to help make the ST DOMs is an older Dell desktop PC. It is a power-hungry PC pulling almost 500 watts an hour. At the rates the electric company was charging I had to shut it down during the summer to help keep the bill within a workable range. This included the ST as well. The only computer used was a small laptop and that was only as needed. Being on a fixed limited income doesn’t allow any room for any extras. I still played Atari games on one of the low-powered consoles but not as much as I would have liked. It’s been this way since I moved here in 2009 and even though the electric company still says we are using less energy than last year the bill still seems higher than this time last year. Now that the Summer rates are about to end that electric bill is expected to be going down soon. I will have more ST DOMs, along with a month or two extra, ready by October’s meeting. It’s been a struggle. On top of that I’ve had to deal with the passing of my fatherin-law who left behind nothing but a will. No funds to help with any funeral costs at all. So this summer has not been an easy one. My wife had to set up an account to accept any donations to help with those finances. We are no where near what we need for that. I apologize for the lateness of this report and the absence of the ST DOMs as I know the members look forward to them and their sales help secure
that the club stays around. They will return in October. And you can take that to the bank. Also, I am working on new artwork that will replace the current one in the ST DOM report section that is fresh and original. The old image I have been using is one someone else made. To help keep this section fresh I thought a change would help out. Enjoy your meeting and I will have another report next month. Keep those Ataris ALIVE!
The next SPACE meeting will commence on Friday, September 14, 2018, at 7:30 PM. We hope to see you there. Thanks!