September 2025
•September 2025 Edition•
Last month I made a road trip to the Northeast US and back. On the way back, I made a point to spend much of a day at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. This is a site that has one of the serious archives of Atari materials that I am aware of (I think mainly from the coin-op division?), so I imagine that in the future I would return with an appointment to spend time in the archive to view whatever is there in Atari corporate history specifically, if possible. But this first visit, my mission was to get the lay of the land, and explore the public museum. And what an amazing place to explore it is! I knew they covered the history of video games pretty extensively, and I was not disappointed. There were many exhibits dedicated to the topic, with many hands-on opportunities. I got to play real coin-op versions of some of the classics like Space Invaders, Missile Command, Donkey Kong (giant two-story version of the authentic game), Tron, and Ms. Pac-Man, among others. They had exhibits featuring examples of early arcade games including Pong and Computer Space, and many pinball games from much earlier than that. There was also an actual modern arcade (taking actual money, 25 cents/play), with a mix of classic games and modern ones, especially newer pinball games. The only slight disappointment for me was that I think I saw little sign of Atari computers, even among exhibits featuring computer games.
A slow month for the meeting in August as only four members were present for the meeting. Thanks to Discord Tom got to attend remotely as he had out of town company visiting. Even with the small group it turned out well as we had a membership renewal (Glen) and sold three DOMs for a total receipt of $24.00 for the coffers. We started the month with a balance of $604.26 and we ended the month with a balance of $628.26. So, after spending some of our funds on the Birthday Party last month, I think we made out pretty good! I have to give Glen a thank you again for picking up Steve so he could make the meeting again. This is a busy time of the year for a lot of people with another school year beginning. Thankfully because of our ages we don’t have that to worry about. Unfortunately, we all are getting another year older, and boy do I feel it! Let’s hope more members can attend the September meeting on the 12th of the month. See you all there. I can’t believe it will be in September. Over half the year is already over.
One more feature, they also maintain a butterfly museum, and that was pretty special to experience as well. All in all, well worth the stop on my trip, and I certainly expect to make it back there someday! Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting: Friday, September 12, 2025.
Welcome to the Secretary’s Report! Here are the minutes for the SPACE Meeting from August. Let’s get started. MEETING BEGINS: The official part of the Meeting commenced on Friday, August 8, 2025, at 7:30 PM. This is not counting the time we had before the main Meeting commenced. MEMBERSHIP COUNT: The SPACE Membership Count stands at ten paid-up members at present. DOM REPORT: The August 2025 DOM has some really great files on it, like demos, games, and the usual tightly-coded files and music tracks. More on the DOM will be presented in the Atari 8-bit DOM Review. WEBSITE REPORT: There was no Website Report for August. It is assumed the SPACE Website is functioning normally within normal parameters, aside from prementioned indexing issues with Google. OLD BUSINESS: There was further discussion about the success of the SPACE Birthday Party in July, and how enjoyable the Party was. No other Old Business was reported in the August Meeting. NEW BUSINESS: There was talk about renewal of usage of the Merriam Park Room for future SPACE Meetings to be done by September. We talked about the graphics capabilities of the VBXE upgrade for the XE, the 16-bit Antonia board for the XE and the 65f02 CPU.
But that was really a tiny disappointment, everything was amazing. And far more than just video games! There was full coverage of all kinds of ways people have played, throughout history. Toys, board games, everything you can think of. And the other key characteristic of the place? Largely it is a highly hands-on museum, full of activities for kids (and adult kids). And there were kids all over, a veritable sea of kids throughout the extensive activities areas.
HELLO WORLD!
Further discussion was about how the 100 MHz 65f02 CPU could be used to enhance an XE computer, but would need custom chips inserted into the motherboard to realize the true speed of the new version of the CPU.
Message from Captain Irata:
MEETING ENDS: The official Meeting adjourned at 7:39 PM, However, we had been together since about 6:00 PM that night talking about other things.
“SPACE! Maybe not the Final Frontier, but fun for us SPACE Cadet Atarians to meet at!”
Well, this concludes the Secretary’s Report for August. I will be back with yet another Report in October for September. In the words of the late, great Stan Lee…
HOO-RAH!
EXCELSIOR!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TRIVIA TIME!
Page One:
Lightning bolts on Earth can reach Temperatures of up to 55,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is five times hotter than the temperature of the surface of our Sun.
The President’s Corner Treasurer’s Report Secretary’s Report Page Two: Atari 8-bit DOM Review Page Four: SPACE Comics Section
The blue whale is the largest known animal to have ever lived, reaching up to 100 tons in weight and can live up to 80 years in the wild. It is so large it could never live on land. The Tamagotchi used a 6502 processor as its CPU, the same processor in the Atari XL/XE computers.
If I can figure this game out, I think it would be really fun to play. It looks really cool and, again, it’s colorful. Let me present my score for this game and maybe someone at SPACE can figure it out. I would like to know more about it. Now, the score: SCORE: Well, here we are again. Welcome to the Atari 8-bit DOM Review for the August 2025 DOM! We have some great files, music tracks, games and pictures to review this month. Anyway, I really want to start reviewing the DOM, so let’s do just that! August 2025 DOM, Side One Programmer Marek Oglodek has blessed us with a great file here called “Fireworks,” a virtual fireworks display 255 bytes in size. It looks great and is well-animated. It has interesting sound effects that match a real fireworks display very well, for 255 bytes of code anyway. The only thing, and it isn’t a real big issue, is the display graphics shake on the screen. This is probably a PAL issue and doesn’t detract from the file’s looks at all. It’s nicely rendered and isn’t bad. Great work. Clever job, too!
Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: TOTAL SCORE:
8 9 8 25/30 (83%)
The next file is called “StarDance,” a game by Bocianu, PG, and TEKAToM. It’s reminds me of “Dance Dance Revolution,” but you use a joystick to play this game. You have to follow a pattern in the game to score correctly and get combo scores.
Music/Sound FX:
10
TOTAL SCORE:
38/40 (95%)
The next file is another game called “CreDino,” by Pebe, Miker, and Kris3D. It looks cool, but I think it is either incomplete or has a PAL issue, or both. I cannot figure out this game and I don’t see any instructions for it. All you do is avoid bombs from flying objects. The bombs create craters in the ground. If you fall into them, you can get out. But, you can also get stuck on the sides of the craters and be unable to move. That’s why I wonder if it is incomplete or has issues. It could be better, but it might also be a demo as well of a more complete game. I don’t know.
You control a spaceship that fires automatically at its targets. You have to precisely hit the targets without getting hit yourself. If you hit enough targets in a row, you score combination points. Since you have go move in a circular fashion on the screen, it’s also like the game “Gyruss.” If you get hit by a moving target, you lose a ship, and you have five in reserve, six total. After all your ships are destroyed, the game is over.
I know the picture of the file in action doesn’t do much justice, but it is more active on the screen. You would have to see it there. It looks great and is very attractive. Let me score this file and I can tell you what I think with that. SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
30/30 (100% perfect score)
The second file on this DOM is called “1k RainBox,” by Frederik Holst. It is a 999k file, and a game. I think you have to arrange the colors on the screen correctly to complete the levels. I didn’t see any instructions for it. It isn’t a big deal, really. It’s certainly colorful enough. It shows basically all of the colors that the A8 can display as a rainbow spectrum. You use the joystick to move the color boxes on the screen to their correct patterns. At least, that is what I can deduce from this file. Interesting premise.
I will score this game now. SCORE:
It has cool graphics, great music and difficult gameplay. I was trying to play it before, but I know it takes a little bit of practice to play this game. It really does look more original than other games I have seen lately. It’s nicely done. I will score now. SCORE: Graphics; Gameplay: Animation:
9 10 9
Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
8 8 8 10
TOTAL SCORE:
34/40 (85%)
The next file is an invite file called “SillyVenture 2025 Summer Edition Invite,” by K. Bryla. It shows a logo for SillyVenture that warps on the screen and has an animated text ticker. It looks really cool. The warp is like a magnifying glass going up and down the logo, and the animated text is real-time animation. So, it works for me. It’s really interesting stuff to look at from this group of Atari enthusiasts. It’s a nice design for sure. Let me give it a score now.
SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
30/30 (100% perfect score)
The next file is a music track called “Captain Future,” by Christian Duesterhoeft. It has a lot of range. It sounds twangy and has a lot of audio effects in it. It really shows off the audio capabilities of the A8. The sound dips and climbs a lot. It actually is impressive. Let me score this file now. TOTAL SCORE:
9/10 (90%)
The next file is called “Chicken Valley,” by composers Hairdog, BooM! and Dream. It’s a fun track with lots of reverb in it. It’s peppy and light-hearted. I enjoyed it. It’s a great composition to listen to. I will score it now. TOTAL SCORE:
10/10 (100% perfect score)
Now, we go onto Side Two. The whole side is one game, and it’s a game we have seen before here. Side Two Now, we have seen this game a few times on previous DOMs, so I will be brief about it. This is a variation of the game “Lord of the Orb,” a really difficult maze game by Jose R. Suarez. You play an adventurer in a dungeon maze trying to find treasures while avoiding monsters. You have limited energy and weapons. You can replenish your energy by collecting rings, but there are a limited number of rings in each level. You cannot replenish your weapons until you complete a level. There are four levels. Each one contains treasures you need to collect and part of an Orb. The Orb is split into four pieces, one piece in each level. You have to collect keys to open the treasure rooms. Like I said, there are monsters guarding the treasures, and they can drain you. So, you need to use the weapons you have and the rings in each level sparingly. This is indeed a true strategy game. Since we have viewed this game before, I am not going to have pictures of it. This is a great game and, like I said, it isn’t the original but a re-edit of the game. It’s also a great edit of the game. You definitely need to have a true strategy to play it and practice. I will score this game now. SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Gameplay: Music/ Sound FX:
10 10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
40/40 (100% perfect score)
Well, this concludes the Atari 8-bit DOM Review for this month. I will return with another Review next month. See you at the meeting, thanks for reading and Carpe Diem, fellow Atarians! Have a happy!
SPACE COMICS SECTION! The Misadventures of A-Man and C.D.
Ferret Fracas!
THe next SPACE Meeting Will commence on Friday, September 12, 2025, From 6:00 - 8:30 PM. There will be a DOM demo and general discussion time before the actual Meeting. We hope to see you there! Thanks for coming!