Atari 8-Bit Computers

User avatar
Chris23235
Top Contributor
Posts: 841
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 8:45 pm
Has thanked: 106 times
Been thanked: 167 times

Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Chris23235 »

Just realised that the forum still lacks an Atari 8-Bit topic.

What a great machine, I love the wonderful noisy Pokey sound (and the fantastic Pokey Music in Alternate Reality and Trail of Beta Lyrae).

The core is already very mature, I didn't found anything that doesn't work (even the homebrew Space Harrier cartridge), but I guess new users will have questions now and then so this thread my become useful to them.
LeftEmpty
Posts: 141
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 6:47 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by LeftEmpty »

I can't wait to try 4 players M.U.L.E-ing on it.
I just need for the COVID to go away. And to make three friends :O
Neo666
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 8:31 pm
Has thanked: 1 time

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Neo666 »

AtariBlast is VERY cool on the Atari 800 core! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWUCsQgPE3c
User avatar
Chris23235
Top Contributor
Posts: 841
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 8:45 pm
Has thanked: 106 times
Been thanked: 167 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Chris23235 »

If we are doing recommendations for the core, I can't praise Space Harrier enough:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEwKrIPj7Xs
Xbytez
Site Admin
Posts: 469
Joined: Wed May 20, 2020 3:36 pm
Has thanked: 214 times
Been thanked: 787 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Xbytez »

Chris23235 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 11:15 am What a great machine, I love the wonderful noisy Pokey sound (and the fantastic Pokey Music in Alternate Reality and Trail of Beta Lyrae).
I've always enjoyed Alternate Reality The City and The Dungeon, the music by Gary Gilbertson in both really is great. It is a shame the series never reached full potential with all the proposed expansions.
User avatar
Chris23235
Top Contributor
Posts: 841
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 8:45 pm
Has thanked: 106 times
Been thanked: 167 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Chris23235 »

Yes, thats true, I always imagine what could become of the series, when the publisher didn't decide to screw Price and Gilbertson. I imagine the final game a little bit like Ultima Underworld only years before Ultima Underworld.

If you like Gary Gilbertson's music, try the music disc that Gilbertson and Price made before Trail... but then I think you may be already familiar with it :)
vanfanel
Posts: 119
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 6:53 pm
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by vanfanel »

@Sorgelig:

There are updated souces for this FANTASTIC core by Mark Watson (foft) here:
http://www.64kib.com/atarixlfpga_svn/tr ... 00xl/mist/

These are for MiST, but since our MiSTer core is directly based on the MiST one, these updates should be easily imported, right? Please correct me if I am wrong.
These changes include the fixes so the FORMAT command from AtariDOS work (it fails on current MiSTer core).
seastalker
Posts: 208
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2020 6:49 pm
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 47 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by seastalker »

Also adding support for the Alternate Reality series, especially the Dungeon. To this very day, I wish someone would buy the rights to the series and continue it, preferably with the original creators. I'm hoping the Dungeon's opening theme will get a Video Games Live treatment when Tommy Tallarico does another one- he's a little busy right now though. :D

For people testing the core, some fun games are Raid Over Moscow, Beach Head 2, Panther, and Turmoil to name a handful.
werpu
Posts: 74
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 7:37 pm
Has thanked: 12 times
Been thanked: 14 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by werpu »

Xbytez wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2020 1:33 pm
Chris23235 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 11:15 am What a great machine, I love the wonderful noisy Pokey sound (and the fantastic Pokey Music in Alternate Reality and Trail of Beta Lyrae).
I've always enjoyed Alternate Reality The City and The Dungeon, the music by Gary Gilbertson in both really is great. It is a shame the series never reached full potential with all the proposed expansions.
Alternate Reality was supposed to have 7 parts, it never made it post part 2 though :-(
It was groundbreaking and definitely better than the more famous Bards Tale.
User avatar
moralek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2020 6:52 pm
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 3 times
Contact:

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by moralek »

Adam Gilmore's music is great, what do you think?
https://youtu.be/sJFPRtybErY
thepulserifle
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 10:32 pm

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by thepulserifle »

My kingdom for a core revision that would allow both cassette tape loading as well as SNAC support for the DB9 (*whispered falsetto* Genesis does?). Then, and only then, would I begin to consider mothballing my 800.
akeley
Top Contributor
Posts: 1303
Joined: Mon May 25, 2020 7:54 pm
Has thanked: 416 times
Been thanked: 399 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by akeley »

Having tape loading would be awesome. There are a lot of early games which have not been converted yet.
User avatar
moralek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2020 6:52 pm
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 3 times
Contact:

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by moralek »

akeley wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:42 am Having tape loading would be awesome. There are a lot of early games which have not been converted yet.
oh yes, but right now, how can I convert my audio files (.wav) to .atr format for play in MiSTer?
User avatar
Chris23235
Top Contributor
Posts: 841
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 8:45 pm
Has thanked: 106 times
Been thanked: 167 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Chris23235 »

akeley wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:42 am Having tape loading would be awesome. There are a lot of early games which have not been converted yet.
Are there really so many tapes that haven't been converted? I always had the impression that every game was converted to xex, which can easily converted to atr for the Atari 8-Bit core.
akeley
Top Contributor
Posts: 1303
Joined: Mon May 25, 2020 7:54 pm
Has thanked: 416 times
Been thanked: 399 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by akeley »

Chris23235 wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:49 pm Are there really so many tapes that haven't been converted? I always had the impression that every game was converted to xex, which can easily converted to atr for the Atari 8-Bit core.
Look at 1979-83 titles, in Gamebase for example. There's quite a few. Of course most of the popular ones are done, but I like to check obscure stuff too.
User avatar
moralek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2020 6:52 pm
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 3 times
Contact:

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by moralek »

Chris23235 wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:49 pm
akeley wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:42 am Having tape loading would be awesome. There are a lot of early games which have not been converted yet.
Are there really so many tapes that haven't been converted? I always had the impression that every game was converted to xex, which can easily converted to atr for the Atari 8-Bit core.
I have files in .xex format that work directly in the core,
but I would need to be able to play .cas files (or .wav files) or convert ... cas2exe? :/
User avatar
RealLarry
Top Contributor
Posts: 768
Joined: Mon May 25, 2020 4:04 am
Location: San Junipero/DE/Earth
Has thanked: 86 times
Been thanked: 329 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by RealLarry »

I'm relatively sure that almost all commercial software got converted from cassettes to whatever. But I still have some cassettes of myself with some nice programs they never appeared somewhere at archives. I converted some programs by recording them from cassette player->line out->PC and saved them as .CAS format, but this is really an annoying and time consuming task :)

Have a look at http://www.mushca.com/f/atari/ and http://a8.fandal.cz/, these are probably the most complete archives...
Contributor of tty2oled, author of tty2tft, tty2rpi and update_tty2xxx
akeley
Top Contributor
Posts: 1303
Joined: Mon May 25, 2020 7:54 pm
Has thanked: 416 times
Been thanked: 399 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by akeley »

Fandal & Homesoft are great resources, when it comes to disks. Nevertheless there is still stuff that's available on .cas only.

But it's not the main point, because tape functionality is an essential part of the legacy of the 8-bit micros. If we're aiming for the complete package here then it should be available, even if every single title was converted to .atr. It's already a feature in cores for most (all?) of its peers, you can even load games from real tape via the ADC input on some of them.
User avatar
RealLarry
Top Contributor
Posts: 768
Joined: Mon May 25, 2020 4:04 am
Location: San Junipero/DE/Earth
Has thanked: 86 times
Been thanked: 329 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by RealLarry »

You're absolutely right. I wish someone would create a small interface for MiSTer's GPIO<->SIO to be able to connect all Atari devices which are using SIO bus.
Should be doable with no great witchcraft as very similar interfaces exists for Arduino, PCs and many others. The tricky part would be to implement this into the atari800 core...
Contributor of tty2oled, author of tty2tft, tty2rpi and update_tty2xxx
rolopolo
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2020 10:17 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by rolopolo »

It would be nice to see a little more work on the core compatibility. A few things fail in quite odd ways. Boulderdash does not move the character in the correct path in for the demo. Perhaps the random number gen. I can't say I know much of the core inner workings. Bandits fails, perhaps it has remnants of disk copy protection. Whomper Stomper does amazing stuff with the video output.
User avatar
Skeeter
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:06 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Skeeter »

rolopolo wrote: Sat Sep 05, 2020 10:33 pm Bandits fails, perhaps it has remnants of disk copy protection.
There's a "fixed" version out there that works.

Thanks to the devs for this core. I just got my MiSTer a few days ago and being the A8 fan I am I'm having a blast with it.

Edit:...after further testing seems that "fixed" version of Bandits freezes after the first level. It works without issue on the A8 emulator Altirra. Sorry for the bad info.
User avatar
Skeeter
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:06 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Skeeter »

Today I added the 128MB SDRAM to my new MiSTer which among other things, allows cartridges to run in the Atari 8-bit core. Happy to say the fixed version of Bandits in .CAR format works like a dream. I had to use the XL bios (without Basic) and not OS-B but by doing this it runs well and I got 3-4 levels past the first level freeze up.
WolfgangBlack
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2020 3:19 am
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by WolfgangBlack »

I thought cartidges ran fine with the 32mb memory module.
Since when does it require 128mb?
An Atari 800xl never had even 1mb of memory....
rolopolo
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2020 10:17 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by rolopolo »

Skeeter wrote: Tue Sep 15, 2020 12:02 pm
rolopolo wrote: Sat Sep 05, 2020 10:33 pm Bandits fails, perhaps it has remnants of disk copy protection.
There's a "fixed" version out there that works.

Thanks to the devs for this core. I just got my MiSTer a few days ago and being the A8 fan I am I'm having a blast with it.

Edit:...after further testing seems that "fixed" version of Bandits freezes after the first level. It works without issue on the A8 emulator Altirra. Sorry for the bad info.
Thanks for a quick reply. I had the original disk of Bandits in the day. Close to retirement I have recreated a real hardware setup but enjoyed using mister for the 8Bit Atari but not being able to write to disk is a real spoiler for doing some coding. I think I must have had the original 800 for Bandits. The 800xl and 1050 came later. I have no recollection of what happened to the 800. The 810 was lost by Post Office Parcels!
User avatar
Skeeter
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:06 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Skeeter »

WolfgangBlack wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2020 2:31 pm I thought cartidges ran fine with the 32mb memory module.
Since when does it require 128mb?
I didn't have any SDRAM before and carts wouldn't load until after I added it. 32 is probably fine for this, I just added 128 to cover everything for now.
rcade
Posts: 100
Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 7:57 pm
Been thanked: 13 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by rcade »

The last released version of the core is broken- at least with 32M SDRAM. I don't have 128M to test. The previous version of the core, however, still works fine with carts and 32M.
WolfgangBlack
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2020 3:19 am
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by WolfgangBlack »

Skeeter wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 12:49 amI didn't have any SDRAM before and carts wouldn't load until after I added it. 32 is probably fine for this, I just added 128 to cover everything for now.
Ah!
How are you enjoying your system now?
LeftEmpty
Posts: 141
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 6:47 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by LeftEmpty »

I seem to have an issue now: I can't run anything but cartridges.
When I try to run my Seven Cities of Gold or MULE floppies, it either tells be to not use a custom OS, or to remove the cartridge in the cartridge slot (which there is none inserted, obviously), depending on the machine type.
Help :O
User avatar
Skeeter
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:06 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Skeeter »

WolfgangBlack wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 4:09 am
Skeeter wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 12:49 amI didn't have any SDRAM before and carts wouldn't load until after I added it. 32 is probably fine for this, I just added 128 to cover everything for now.
Ah!
How are you enjoying your system now?
Loving it!
Lencio
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon May 25, 2020 11:21 am
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Atari 8-Bit Computers

Unread post by Lencio »

With 32MB of RAM Atari Xl CART support is totally broken since all 2020 versions. I rolled back to Atari800_20190927.rbf and I can run carts again.
Post Reply