May 2025
•May 2025 Edition•
It’s been another month already, time just keeps flying by! My Atari research doings are currently focused on Tramiel’s Atari Corp., and specifically trying to get a firm handle on the internal programmers groups. A project I had worked on well over a year ago when I was focusing on Leonard Tramiel based on his many recent interviews, but then I got away from it as other projects and life activities took over. This time around actually started from going through the list of guest speakers who spoke at the Classic Gaming Expos in 2003 and 2004, thinking that if they worked at Atari and were prominent enough to be invited to speak at CGEs, then I want to account for them in my timelines if I can. I’m up to M, and Susan McBride.
This hasn’t happened in a very long time! All our members who could come to our April SPACE meeting showed up. And with my grandson, Rivers and a guest of Tom’s, we filled up all ten chairs! Normally my grandson, who has wanted to come to one of our meetings for a long time, finally had a chance this month due to the fact that the next morning we were going to a Lego convention. So, we had an overnight with his younger brother that Friday and since their mother had to work that Saturday they got to stay an extra day with us. It worked out perfectly and Rivers had a great time and the Lego convention was a topper!
HELLO WORLD! Welcome to the Secretary’s Report for May 2025! I am pleased to give you the Meeting Minutes for last month’s SPACE Meeting. So, let’s get started. MEETING BEGINS: I officially started the Meeting and recorded the minutes on Friday, April 11, 2025, at 7:20 PM local time. We had almost every paid-up member in last month’s Meeting with visitors, for a total of ten people that evening. MEMBERSHIP COUNT: We had ten members paidup as of April 2025. One member was due in April. So, in May there will be nine members paid-up.
Figuring out where she fit in has caused me to revisit the whole timeline from the original internal programmers group, to the launch of the Chicago game development group, to the start of a game development group in California to supplement the Chicago group, to everything finally merging to become the internal Jaguar game development group. I’ve still got a few things to tighten up, but I’m feeling good about the recent progress!
Anyway, everything with the meeting went very well. I am thinking we should hold the formal part of our meeting later than we normally would.
Regarding my ongoing attempts to get Google to fully index our website and all the old newsletters, last month I reported we had 199 indexed and 279 not indexed, representing a big backslide.
Our treasury started with a balance of $614.03, and we added $30.00 in April on a membership renewal and five DOMs sold. So, we ended our month of April with a bank balance of $644.03.
Well today, equally surprising because I haven’t done anything since last month, there’s been a big rebound. Now we’re back up to 277 indexed pages and 201 not indexed pages. Among the not indexed pages, 107 are crawled but currently not indexed.
I had John from Wilder’s add three more months on the calendar so we are good thru September. I will keep adding three months when we use up three.
NEW BUSINESS: The SPACE Meetings have been extended from now until September 2025. This means that we have an extra five more months from April of Meeting time at the Wilder Center. This is indeed excellent news to report.
This is because we can only have six months on the calendar at any given time. So far I think things have worked out pretty well except for the storage problem. At least the dock is easy to access and they have a cart waiting inside the door to move our equipment to the Merriam room.
MEETING ADJOURNS: The April SPACE Meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM, for a total of fifty minutes I recorded. This does not take into account free-time before the actual Meeting took place, which would have started around 6:00 PM.
It as so encouraging to see the membership turnout last month. I hope we can keep it going. Our next meeting is May 9th and I hope to see you all there again!
This concludes the Secretary’s Report. In the words of the late and great Stan Lee…
According to Google, pages in this category “may or may not be indexed in the future; no need to resubmit this URL for crawling.” The other 94 not indexed pages are discovered but not yet crawled (which comes before indexing). According to Google, “Typically, Google wanted to crawl the URL but this was expected to overload the site; therefore Google rescheduled the crawl. This is why the last crawl date is empty on the report.”
It seems that it’s a little tough for some to get there at 6:00 so maybe a 7:00 or 7:30 would be better. We could still have the DOM review earlier and reload some of the files after the formal part of our meeting.
Maybe we simply have to be patient? Last month’s meeting was super successful in terms of attendance, we packed the room! Will you be there this month?
OLD BUSINESS: No Old Business was recorded.
EXCELSIOR!
PAGE ONE: The President’s Corner Treasurer’s Report Secretary’s Report
And don’t forget, we are meeting at the Wilder Center!!
PAGE TWO:
TRIVIA TIME!
However, the use of lead in pencils lasted so long that the moniker “pencil lead” stuck.
WEBSITE REPORT: Aside from the indexing issues with Google on the SPACE website reported in April, all other operations seem to be in good working order.
–TABLE OF CONTENTS–
Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting: Friday May 9, 2025.
Pencil “lead” is really nowadays made of graphite. Pencils were originally composed of lead until it was found out lead is toxic to human blood. Therefore, the switch was made to graphite.
DOM REPORT: Glen, our DOM Librarian, presented us with a yet another fascinating Disk of the Month. Featuring games such as “Twist of Souls” and “Tony Go,” plus great demos and music, it was a delight watching it. More will be shown in the Atari 8-bit DOM Review.
Atari 8-bit DOM Review Message from Captain Irata:
PAGE FIVE:
“Have a big Smorgasbord! Play Pac-Man and eat all four ghosts at one time!”
Great DOM Review Files (From April 2025)
HOO-RAH!
Welcome to the May 2025 Atari 8-bit DOM Review! We are going to look at the DOM from April. It’s a short DOM, but it has really cool files and games. Let’s get started and review! April 2025 DOM, Side One The first file on this DOM is a 256-byte file called “Beertro,” by an anonymous programmer. It is a beer bottle with animated bubbles. The animation is pretty fluid, but it’s simple in design. It looks very two-dimensional, but it is only 256 bytes in size.
This is a smart game and a real puzzler. I will score this game now for you. It’s not bad. Could be better, but could also be worse. I like it. I will score this file now. SCORE: Graphics: Animation:
7 10
TOTAL SCORE:
17/20 (85%)
The next file is a game called “Twist of Souls,” by Lars Langhans (originally by Fran Tovar), where you have to guide a girl through a gauntlet of traps and pitfalls. You get many chances to finish the level. You must get through without dying even once. However, you have unlimited chances to play the game. There is a “twist” in the game. You can flip the screen upside down and reverse to finish the level. However, timing is key. You have to twist the level at certain times in the game and you must do it right. Otherwise, it can be a hindrance for you. There are deadly obstacles in the game you must avoid, or you will be killed. This is a really fun game to play! It’s challenging and has great graphics. It was made for the ABBUC Software Contest by Germany’s ABBUC User Group. It looks like a real contender for a prize, too. I love the layout of this game. It’s really good.
SCORE: Graphics:: Gameplay: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
8 10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
38/40 (95%)
The third file is a game called “Tony GO,” by Vladimir Jankovic, Michal Brzezcki, and Rafal Dudek. You play Tony, an explorer in a rail car. You must pilot the rail car down a broken track and collect medals and bottles without hitting the broken parts of the track and skulls. As you progress, it moves much faster and it gets much more difficult to avoid the obstacles you cannot touch. You have five lives. If you touch a skull you lose a life but still continue through the game. If you hit a broken part of the track, you are set back and lose a life. The lives are hearts depicted at the bottom of the screen. This is a well-animated game with great graphics and music. This is a real challenge and takes some practice. It isn’t too difficult to learn, just difficult to time your jumps. As it gets faster, timing is more difficult.
Apparently, if you press the Option button, it can be a color game. I tried it, but I think I accidentally reset the game by pressing the Reset button. But, it is a really cool game to play. I enjoyed playing it and you might, too. I will score the game now. SCORE: Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
10 10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
40/40 (100% perfect score)
The next file is called “Slow Rewind,” by Mayonez and COBRA. It’s a music track. It is slow and picks up a little bit and it has a nice beat. It’s mellow and has some action to it at the same time. The track is very well done and liked it very much. Time to score it. TOTAL SCORE:
9/10 (90%)
The next file is another music track, called “Robocop C64-Theme,” by Buddy, and it’s a great POKEY tune. it sounds slow and epic at first. Then it picks up. It’s really good and I think it’s very well-rendered sound. I will score it now: TOTAL SCORE:
10/10 (100% prefect score)
The next file is a picture called “Planet Atari,” by Maciej Hauke. It shows a colorful ringed planet with the word “ATARI” on it. The space scene is well-rendered and the graphics are really top-notch. I will score now. TOTAL SCORE:
9/10 (90%)
Now, onto Side Two, with more files to review. Side Two The next file is called “PageTriSM,” a 255-byte file by an anonymous programmer that plays like Tetris. You get the gist of Tetris, so that’s what it is. There isn’t much more than that. Well, it allows to make some small but cool games at 255 bytes. Interesting.
Anyway, the demo is very detailed and I find it technically very good. The colors compliment very well and it flows. I will score this demo now. SCORE:
It really shows that just a few bytes can make a fascinating file. I will score this file now. SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Gameplay:
7 7 9
TOTAL SCORE:
23/30 (77%)
The next file is a demo called “Hot ‘N Sexy,” by Zdenek Eisenhammer for a Czech Atari group. It has renderings of sexy women on there in anime style. I won’t show everything on this file because it’s racy in some areas. So, I will keep it PG. Thanks for understanding.
Graphics: Animation: Music/ Sound FX:
10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
30/30 (100% perfect score)
The next file is a game called “Firefighter Tobik 3,” by Zdenda. You play a fireman who has to repair his fire truck. Unfortunately, a flame follows you everywhere and you cannot stop it from following you. You must be very adept at avoiding it, or you’re dead.
The next file is Mario Krix’s “dx RMT Tune 2.” It’s a dandy little track that’s fast and shrill with a fast tempo. It’s rendered on POKEY, so it’s a really well-rendered tune. I enjoyed the sound form it. You might, too. I will score this file now. TOTAL SCORE:
10/10 (100% perfect score)
The final file on this DOM is called “I Against I.” It’s a picture by Herve Piton. It shows a person pointing to ever smaller versions of himself in infinite procession. This is a really nice and well-rendered pic. Also, the colors compliment very well.
Find the parts to your truck and finish the game. It isn’t as easy as it sounds. For one thing, there is a PAL problem with the game that does not show the repair parts you need on an NTSC machine. It is impossible to play because of this technicality on our American machines. But,. it looks great and plays great. I am impressed with the colors and the action. It’s a great puzzle.
Very nice job. I will score this file now. TOTAL SCORE:
10/10 (100% perfect score)
Well, this concludes the A8 DOM Review. I will close for now. In the meantime, I will be back with other articles and I will see you soon. Carpe Diem, fellow Atarians, and thanks for reviewing with me!
UNABLE TO MAKE IT TO THE NEXT MEETING? Then, sign into our Discord server On the night of the physical Meeting! Here is the permanent invite link To the SPACE Discord server: https://discord.gg/r9Q4AxuNmQ You can copy and paste this URL link from this PDF onto your browser in the search bar. Once on the SPACE Discord server, Go to the Meeting Stream in the sidebar on the Discord page. There is a screenshot of the sidebar on this page with the Meeting Stream link circled. THANKS FOR COMING VIRTUALLY AND PHYSICALLY!
If you wish to channel your inner F. Scott Fitzgerald and want to send in an article, please feel free to send them to the SPACE Newsletter Editor! Please try to send your articles within two weeks of the Club’s occurrence every month. They then will be posted. The SPACE Newsletter Editor’s contact information is, of course, on the back of every SPACE Newsletter! Thanks for posting and for supporting your SPACE Club! We hope to see more articles soon!
Great DOM Review Files (from February & March 2025)! (PLEASE NOTE:The SPACE Comics Section will be back next month! These DOM Review pics were accidentally excluded from last month’s A8 DOM Review, so here they are now! Sorry about the mistake, and thanks for viewing! Enjoy these cool pics!!)
“Zu’Gur” By Adam Powroznik
“Enjoy the Colors!” By PPs and Buddy
Special Thanks to the Creators of these Files!
Opinions
Vice President: Brian Little E-Mail: demomantna@gmail.com
https://space.atari.org The next SPACE meeting will commence on Friday, May 9, 2025, At 6-8:30 PM, local time! We hope to see you there! Thanks for coming!
OUR MEETING LOCATION We meet at the Wilder Center at 451 Lexington Pkwy. N., in Saint Paul’s Midway area. You will need to check in with security if you come to the building after 5:30 PM. We will meet on the second floor in the Merriam Park Room (room 2410). The Meeting time is allocated from 6-8:30 PM, every second Friday of every month. Thanks for coming to SPACE! The map below shows the location of the Wilder Center.
E-Mail greglites1@outlook.com S.P.A.C.E. (Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts) C/O: Gregory Leitner 3407 78th St. E Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076-3037
(Map courtesy of Google)
Another Message from Captain Irata: “That’s all she wrote, SPACE Cadets!” HOO-RAH!