January 2020
•HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020 EDITION•
Happy New Year 2020! What were the best Atari items you acquired in 2019? What are your Atari shopping plans for 2020? Show and tell the latest additions to your Atari collection at a SPACE meeting this year! On my Windows PC I continue to base my email activities in Eudora 7.1, which came out in 2006. Every so often I look around to see if there’s a viable replacement, because you know someday this software is going to quit working with modern technologies. Each time, I end up finding that Eudora is still the best! Today, I learned of two new entries in the “worthy successor to Eudora” contest: Pandora Mail, or Hermes. Pandora Mail seems to be a one-person project that is a new codebase intended to replicate Eudora functionality as much as possible. It’s already up to version 3, and it looks pretty good on first inspection. Hermes seems to be in Alpha release so far, but it has several developers, and it is based on the actual Eudora source code which I just learned was recently made available by Qualcomm. So, Hermes is not as far along, but might also have a lot of potential. Maybe in 2020 I will finally migrate from my venerable email client to something modern and worthy as a replacement! Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting: Friday, January 10, 2020.
Our December SPACE Christmas party was one for the record books. The weather wasn’t ideal but five members were present. The odd thing was that there were more women than men. Along with the five members were two spouses, two girlfriends, and two female guests. All total: five male and six female. I don’t know about Glen and Lance, but I can’t remember any meeting or SPACE party were we had a female majority attending. The chili went over well, and thanks to other members bringing chips, cookies, vegetable tray, and of course root beer float fixings, the party was quite a success. We had a really good month for our treasury on top of the previous month, so we now have more funds than many years in the past. We started December with a bank balance of $723.54. We added $57.00 in December with three membership renewals for $45.00, and four 8-bit DOM sales for another $12.00. So, our ending balance at year end is now $780.54. Keep in mind that I haven’t received the 2019 room rental bill for $300.00, but we will still have a healthy bank balance of $480.54 after that payment. As you can see, we have enough funds to cover the 2020 room rental fee, and we also can already cover over half of the room rental fee for 2021. It’s amazing that this Club can keep up and even surpass our expenses each year with just ten SPACE members. What a great group of people we are blessed with. And with that, I just want to say, have a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. See you all next year. TABLE OF CONTENTS: PAGE ONE: The President’s Corner Treasurer’s and Secretary’s Reports PAGE TWO:
Message from Captain Irata: “The New Year is here! Make a resolution to beat your favorite Atari games in 2020!” HOO-RAH!
Atari 8-bit DOM Review PAGE THREE: SPACE Comics Section
HELLO WORLD! Well, we are at the last Secretary’s Report for 2019. Time flies (well, it seems that way, but time is always constant in our modern age)! It has been a joy to be the Secretary and Newsletter Editor for the Club. Thanks for the opportunities! Anyway, I will start with the Report. The SPACE Meeting on December 13, 2019, commenced about 7:35 PM. We talked about very little because everyone was so excited about the Christmas Party that was imminent that night. So, little was stated, except that we are at ten paidup members. I had seen that the DOM was a hit. People loved the PET Frogger game, especially me. I will explain more about that in the Atari 8-bit DOM Review. The Meeting ended around 8:00 PM that evening, followed by the SPACE Christmas Dinner and Party, which, as always, was a hit with everybody. The chili also went over well, and thanks to the people who made it. Great root beer floats and beans and franks as well! So, that concludes the last Secretary’s Report for the year. I will see you again with another Secretary’s Report in 2020. Happy Holidays and see you then in the New Year! In the words of the great Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR! TRIVIA TIME! Atari 2600 games practically never play the same way more than once. They are randomized every time the game is powered off and on again, so there is no discernible playing pattern. Older Atari games flash different on-screen colors to prevent the image from ‘burning” into the screen, which can cause permanent damage to the screen as the images can make marks on CRT screens.
TOTAL:
7/10
The next file on this DOM is called “PET Frogger.” It was programmed in the 1980s by John Dale. Basically, it is Frogger, but it is harder. It is a conversion from a Commodore game for the classic PET computer. It looks and plays very well. Welcome to the first DOM Review of the year for 2020! I will show you some really good files on here. Keep reading because it will be good. December 2019 DOM, Side A: The first file is a picture by Odyn1ec, called “Lichen.” It has a science fiction setting, with the backdrop being a futuristic city. It shows four characters, a flying robot, a mysticallooking robed character, someone in an armored suit, and a tall warrior-like character. It looks like some kind of quest, as they are headed into a light in the forest, but it is unknown what to expect. It is colorful, pleasing, and has warm colors. It also has good details. The graphics really stand out. This is a good example of how the A8 handles graphics and how well things can look on an 8-bit file. Kudos to the creator, as it looks really good. SCORE: TOTAL:
9/10
The next three files are by Tiger/NG. They are all pictures. The first picture is called “Misaki,” and it shows a face of a girl drawn in anime style. It looks really good, and I like the detail. Well drawn and in great detail, it is a masterpiece. SCORE: TOTAL:
8/10
The next picture is called “RedDrag,” showing a dragon spitting fire. This is a great picture, and is in grear detail. It is by far the best picture in this DOM and I love it! For an 8-bit drawing, it is phenomenal. I am awed by it.
As you advance through the levels, the things on the river start moving faster. So, it gets challenging and more riveting as the player goes along. It is a great game, and I enjoyed it. Kudos for the conversion. You have made me happy! SCORE: Graphics: Gameplay: Animtion: Sound:
8/10 10/10 8/10 8/10
TOTAL:
34/40
Now, onto the next side, Side B. The entire next side of the DOM is a game. It is Child’s Play Software’s “Mah Jong.” The object is simple: clear the table of tiles. But, simplicity is deceiving, as you can only move a tile left or right. If you cannot, the tile is blocked and cannot be moved. Based on the classic Chinese game, it is a faithful translation and challenging. It looks great for an 8-bit game. It was also created by one of our own SPACE members, Larry Serflaten. SCORE: Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Sound:
7/10 9/10 8/10 8/10
TOTAL:
32/40
This concludes the DOM review for the A8. I wil see you soon. I hope you have a great month ahead. Carpe Diem, fellow Atarians, and thanks!
SCORE: TOTAL:
10/10 (perfect score)
The final picture by Tiger/NG is called “Wanderer.” It shows a figure in the mountains on a journey somewhere, with an Asian building that kind of looks like a temple or monastery. It is simple, but I like the texture and detail in the mountains. Although it could be better, I like the simplicity. It really uses that well. I think that it is pretty good. SCORE: TOTAL:
8/10
The next file is a music track, by Triace and Desire^Insane, called “Shuffleschrabbelgepipe.” Interesting name for an interesting track. It is a fun song with nice drum beat and a pulse-pounding start to it. It is very nicely done. I loved the music. It was fun to listen to, and it sounded really nice. Kudos to the creator of this tune. i really enjoyed it. SCORE: TOTAL:
10/10 (perfect score)
The next file is another picture called “Biegni, Lis, Biegni!” It shows a fox running through a forest. It looks a little pixillated, and simple. I think that it could have been better, but I like the simplicity. It is like a cartoon. Kudos. SCORE:
The next SPACE Meeting will commence at 7:30 PM, on Friday, January 10, 2020. We hope to see you there! Thanks!
SPACE COMICS SECTION!
The last SPACE meeting of 2019 will commence on Friday, December 13, 2019, at 7:30 PM. We hope to see you there! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
President and Web Page Manager: