May 2022
•May 2022 Edition•
The President’s Corner By Michael Current
Spring has finally arrived... I think! Not feeling like I have too much to report here. I just finished a bunch of revising of my Atari Corp. timeline, mostly in the realm(s) of marketing and sales positions from 1984-1989 or so. It started from a new YouTube video of a presentation by Neil Harris at the Vintage Computer Festival East 2022, which happened April 23. I think what got most of the work going was the discovery that someone by the name of Arnold Waldstein was not one of the people brought in as part of the Tramiel team after all, but had actually just been hired by Ted Richards, head of the Atari Connection magazine, just before the Tramiels bought most of Atari. Waldstein kicked around in marketing for several years until 1989. Something I didn’t realize before now was that both Waldstein and Larry Samuels, who had several roles in computer sales and marketing from 1985-1988, both worked together again several years later, helping run Creative Labs (as in, Sound Blaster sound cards). I got another year of SPACE newsletters re-digitized into PDFs, so we’re set up through 1992, with 1993-2008 to go. Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting: Friday, May 13, 2022.
The Secretary’s Report
The Treasurer’s Report
By Steven Peck
By Gregory Leitner
HELLO WORLD! Well, if all goes well with Discord, and if Roger can broadcast it so I can be there, I should be there for the Meeting! At least, I would be there virtually anyway. It’s a start. I reallly wish I could be there for everybody, and I also want to get more DOMs somehow. I may have to send in money to purchase DOMs and my membership, if I want to stay a member of SPACE after October 2022, which I do. Aside from my membership renewal, which is still five months away (and as a result, I am not worried about it at this time), I think a hybrid meeting for me, Lance and Brian, as well as members out of state would be beneficial. I think it is time to bring SPACE into the 21st Century that way. It is beneficial for others who cannot make it to the meeting, either because they are unable to or too far away. So, this is really a great idea to ponder on. So, if all goes well, I will be online for it. This concludes theSecretary’s Report. In the words of the late, great artist, Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR!
Well, it was another slow month for the March 2022 SPACE meeting. We had four members present and we spent the bulk of our time running the monthly DOM. Glen packed both sides of the DOM with games, demos, music and art. I think this was the most programs on a single DOM I have experienced at SPACE meetings. The March DOM is a must have! As for our treasury we started the month with a balance of $1,097.74 and we added another $6.00 from the sale of two 8bit DOMs giving us a new balance of $1,103.74. Since we have had a bank balance of over a thousand for the last few months I was getting worried that the IRS would be getting in touch eventually, but actually it was the Huntington Bank that sent me a letter noting information about our business was needed. First, I corrected the term business and made it known to them that we were not a business but a Club. I told them we did not produce profit and loss statements or a balance sheet. I told them our income came from yearly membership dues of $15.00 from ten members and, because our room rental where we meet cost us $360.00 a year, we had to come up with another way to raise funds. So, I showed the bank manager an 8-bit DOM I brought and told them we charged a member $3.00 per DOM every month. That with our membership dues gave us enough to cover the room rental each year.
Message from Captain Irata “Never mind the videos! I want my ATARI!” HOO-RAH!
Table of Contents: Page 1: President’s Corner/Treasurer’s Report/ Secretary’s Report Page 2: A8 DOM Review Page 6: SPACE Comics Section
Also, I mentioned that we would normally not have such a large bank balance, but because of COVID we were not meeting for about two years, so we did not have a room rental fee of $360.00 for that time. Because members paid their dues for those two years, and the DOMs were still being produced for those years, we ended up with $720.00 more in our account that we normally would not have. The end result was they understood our situation, they okayed our SPACE account, and they said we did not have to worry about our bank balance in the future. So, everything is good. That’s all for this month. I hope the weather stays as nice as the Friday in March and maybe we can have more normal meetings heading into the summer months. See you all at our next meeting on May 13th. TRIVIA TIME! The word “pixel” is actually a portmanteau, that stands for “picture element.”
TOTAL SCORE:
25/30
The next file is a demo called “Happy Birthday!” It shows Donald Duck with a birthday cake and some presents. It also has a text ticker on the bottom of the screen, but it is in Polish. It starts off sort of mediocre, but then goes to the main screen. Welcome back to the latest Atari 8-bit DOM Review. We are going to review the March 2021 DOM and all its files. So, let’s get started! March 2021 DOM, Side A:
It has music and minor animation with the text ticker. I don’t know who made it, because it is in Polish, but it looks pretty good. It’s simple, granted, and it could be much better, but I am OK with it. It still looks fine. Judge for yourselves.
The first file on this DOM is called “Sintro,” by Madteam. It is a 256-byte graphic. It shows swirls of colors against a blue ready screen with the name of the demo on it.
This is a pretty conversion of the arcade game. I am impressed by the title screen. I think it has more than one control option, but I couldn’t find other control options. If it has the Trak-ball option, we’re in for a treat. Here’s my score: SCORE: Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Music/SFX:
8 10 9 8
TOTAL SCORE:
35/40
The next file is a game called “Disc O’ Pop,” by Irgendwer. In the game, it seems that you have to pop bubbles and you shoot the bubbles out of s cannon. I really don’t know exactly how to play the game, but I think I can learn how.
Honestly, it looks great. The animation is in real time. The colors look good and the graphics are cool. Actually, I thought it was pretty clever. Anyway, I have a picture of it. Here it is.
Anyway I have screenshots of the game. Here they are for your enjoyment.
This picture hsows the demo in action. I think the colors could have been better, but it still looks nice and cute. Kids would love it. After all, Donald Duck is an childhood icon, especially in this day and age. Here’s my score. SCORE: The demo looks cooler animated. I wish I could show you the animation on this Newsletter. I think this will suffice for now. It kind of reminds me of a dull rainbow. But, it looks great. So, I will score this now. I encoursge you to see it in action. Anyway… SCORE; Graphics: Animation:
9 10
TOTAL SCORE:
19/20
The next file is called “Monolith,” by Pawlak. It shows the Monolith from “2001: A Space Odyssey” in the picture. It is 256 bytes in size. The background, showing a bunch of stars going by, is animated and breathtaking. It even plays the theme to the movie. It is quite interesting. I think after a while, though, the music gets repetitive. But, it’s still a cool setup. The pic doesn’t do it justice, but I will show it to you.
Graphics: Animation: Music/SFX:
8 10 8
TOTAL SCORE:
26/30
The next file is the game “Missile Command+,” a hack of the classic Atari arcade conversion. It even has the title screen being blown up, just like in the arcade. Pretty cool, huh? You get to be Dr. Strangelove! Interesting. It looks good. Of course, you know what to do. Blast ICBMs before they destroy your cities. You can get bonus cities at 10,000 points. If you lose all the cities, you lose the game. You also have to blast bombers, satellites, and smart weapons. Also, some of the missiles are MIRVs, meaning they split into multiple warheads. Joy! But, you have three missile bases. Howeverm the missiles you have are limited. You can only shoot so much. Once you have none, you’re defenseless.
It sort of looks like an Apple II game with the colors as they are. It looks interesting, has great music and digitized sound. Overall, it looks cool. Here’s my score for the game. SCORE: Graphics; Animation: Gameplay: Music/SFX:
8 9 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
37/40
The next file is another game called “The Lady,” by Philsan, Tix, DMSC, and Miker for the Abbuc Software Contest. Taking place in the Wild West, you play the Lady, a gunslinging woman. In the game, you duel against other varmints.
As you can see, the stars ran together, but it still looks cool. For 256 bytes, it’s not only a challenge to code for, but it is a sight to behold. With that, I will score: SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Music/SFX:
8 10 7
When the letter appears on the screen, press that letter on the keyboard. If you do not do that in time, you will lose the duel and turn toes up to the daisies. If you press it in time, you win the duel. Graphically, the game looks great. It has great music amd sound. The animation is also quite excellent. It is in black-and-white, but it looks good that way. It truly is a well-coded game.I like the way it looks and sounds.
It is a nice achievement and something for the coders to brag about. I like it. Here’s my score for this game, a game you should enjoy. SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Gameplay: Music/SFX:
10 10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
40/40 (perfect score)
The last file on Side A of this DOM is a pictuire of Darkwing Duck, the famous Disney character. It is called “Darkwing Duck 2,” by Petr Svoboda. I can say it is quite detailed. It looks very nice for an 8-bit image. The typography looks spot-on and the image is crisp. It looks very nice.
It has all the charm of an old Western, even the grayscale graphics. It is quite impressive. I am impressed, for sure. I will score this game. SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Gameplay: Music/SFX:
10 10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
40/40 (perfect score)
The next file is another game called “Persistent,” by Kamil Trzaska of Agenda. This is another contest entry for ABBUC, just like “The Lady.” It has interesting graphics, and great sound. You are on an interstellar track, and you must shoot obstacles before you crash into them. I thought the game was really cool and it is. The graphics are spot-on and the music is really cool. The game is quite challenging and fun to play.
It looks so good, it almost looks like the actual cel frame from the animated show. Very good work. I will score this picturre. TOTAL SCORE:
10/10 (perfect score)
Now, onto Side B. Side B: The next file, the only file on Side B, is a game called “Last Squadron,” by Janusz Chabowski and Michal Szpilowski. You pilot a fighter plane and you must fighht other warplanes, missiles, and collect power-ups.
Seriously, you should give this game a whirl. It looks great, but I wish the game layout would have been more original. Aside from that, play this game. It’s going to be fun. My score awaits. SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Gameplau: Music/SFX:
9 10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
39/40
Well, this concludes the latest Atari 8-bit DOM Review. I hope you enjoyed it. I will see you at the Club soon. Thanks for reading and Carpe Diem, fellow Atarians!
It’s simple to understand, yet a challenge to play. It is set up like the game “Terra Cresta,” an arcade game from the 1980s by Nichibutsu. That game is a sequel to “Moon Cresta,” from the same company. You might have heard of that game, too. Anyway, this game is similar in setup the “Terra Cresta.” The music is almost the same in the game. However, it is a challenge. I like the graphics and game play. It’s really a cool shmup.
The next SPACE Meeting will commence on Friday, May 13, 2022, at 7:30 PM. We hope to see you there! Thanks for coming!
SPACE COMICS SECTION! The Misadventures of A-Man and C.D. By Steve Peck
Ferret Fracas By Steve Peck
President and Web Page Manager: