Monday, March 27, 2017

r0x



Asteroids?

Set within deep space, you are Commander Perez who humorously finds himself alone in uncharted space during a meteor storm. R0x was designed and released in 2009 by NoExtra / RGCD and is an Atari STe game that requires quick reactions to pilot your spacecraft through a continuously hectic (and colourful) asteroid field.
Before you load it up - make sure you read the storyline within the 'Readme' file included in the download. What a brilliant read and it had me laughing at loud. It's truely superb!!



Hang on, this isn't Asteroids!

Okay, this isn't the arcade shooter that I first imagined. Instead, it's an avoid 'em that requires skill and careful timing to skim past hundreds of rocks that are about to zoom down your screen. It may sound simple but the rocks are flying furiously at great speeds and range from iddy-biddy stones to huge planet killers. There is a distance counter in the top/right of the screen and this indicates how long you need to survive before the level ends.

The longer you last, the faster the rocks move - many zooming diagonally - and all intent on squashing you into pieces. Your ship is equipped with a limited number of smart bombs to zap the local area when things get too hair-raising. This also offers a brief moment to rest from the rocky onslaught but it's not long before they're back!





This is different. I like different!

A range of bonuses are available for daring pilots to collect - bonus letters that spell out "EXTRA" for another life but watch out for the fakes, especially the blue one which inverts your controls! You shall also see Treasure Rocks, these look different to the rest and offer up points should you bump into them. There are even teeny cosmonauts floating helplessly in space just itching to be rescued - which is a lot harder than you will ever imagine!

Skilled pilots can scrape their ship alongside any rock for a massive hike in bonus points but the risk of being obliterated makes this a dangerous job. Interestingly, co-op is supported for those lucky enough to have friends or, like me, a gullible 7-year opponent who is eager to be my next victim!! This game mode also involves dodging more of those space rocks but with the added incentive to rescue 20 astronauts for the win.
For such a humble game the graphics are fantastic with beautiful colours and smooth movements by C-Rem, Heavy Stylus, and Templeton. Audio is the bee's knees with utterly fantastic chiptunes to drool over by Crazy_Q, TomChi, and DMA-SC. I will fight anybody that dares to disagree with me!!




The CryptO'pinion?

Shoot 'em up fans might initially be disappointed that R0X isn't ... well ... a shoot 'em up! Sure, it's a straightforward game at heart that is easy to pick up and play but very tough to master. Each level becomes progressively very challenging and I guarantee it's nowhere near as easy as you first imagined. The addition of mechanics like rock-scraping only adds to the appeal and longevity. R0x is unexpectedly different and tremendously addictive!

The latest version is available from RGCD along with everything else you need to know. Also, a secret menu is unlocked when your high score betters 800,000. Easy, right? Send in your screenshots!

Friday, March 24, 2017

Peter Putnik

Here is an interview that I am extremely excited to publish because Peter Putnik is a name paramount with Atari ST gaming mainly because of his hard disk adaptations. This means no more running games from an unreliable floppy disk!

I have been using his warez for a long time and ST gaming wouldn't be nearly as much fun without his efforts. The adaptations offer us the ability to install games onto our "hard drives" instead of the sluggish and failing floppies.

The experience is therefore far superior and usually comes with a trainer to help bad players (like me). Each game often comes with support for faster Atari computers which is incredible when booting up something like Frontier on my Mega STe. What's even more interesting is his 'Gamex' a method of snapshotting your progress instantaneously - kinda like an old Multiface!

I was particularly surprised to hear about his past with regards to not only the Atari ST but also ZX Spectrum. Two great computers also form my own computing history. I hope you all enjoy this interview of the man responsible for hundreds of adaptations along with several outstanding Atari STe enhanced upgrades. I don't think there is anybody so active on the Atari ST scene. My sincere gratitude to Peter for taking the time out for a good chat.


- The PP Interview -

What is your Atari hiSTory?

My history started in 1987 when I decided to upgrade from a ZX Spectrum to something much stronger and the Atari ST was my first thought. However, the Amiga had just arrived in the shops so I was in dilemma, but not for long, the Atari ST had far better quality of software and the prices were almost equal. Also, the Atari seemed a better platform for some serious activity. I soon upgraded the RAM to 1MB and also added another floppy driver and made an EPROM programmer (a must for anyone dealing with hardware mods).

I already had some experience with ASM programming with the Z80 so I soon started on the Atari ST. 68000 ASM is really nice to work with, especially with a good assembler like Devpac. I wrote utilities for my own needs with help from Atari Profibuch book and created a floppy copier combined with a RAMdisk. Most learnings was via books and magazines, unlike today with easy software availability. Pirates were pretty much active in these days, even during 1988's PCW Show in London. :-) In Eastern Europe, they were the only source for computer software, I must say. I also wrote some articles for Yugoslav computer magazines during these early years.





What setup are you using these days?

Currently, I have one Mega ST, one STe and a Mega STe. The truth is, I don't use them much because they are very old and fragile and I've needed to repair them a few times, except the Mega STe which is indeed best built. The extra speed is welcome, even for games, although Mega STe was never intended for gaming. I bought this some 9 years ago, and I've since replaced the hard drive. Now used mostly with UltraSatan - much easier data exchange, less noise...

I mostly use the Atari computers to test and to play but my main tool for adaptations is using Steem Debugger and, without this, development would be much slower and harder. This emulator, equipped with a complete overview of emulated computer status, may see all hardware at any moment and following the program flow (even with history). Steem is a very good emulator, and luckily, a couple years ago they released sources so I was able to do some modifications for my needs. On the real hardware, there are limited possibilities of tracing, especially with some software working in very low RAM. Older computers have too low a resolution with a small screen area but there are some things I can not do with my PC: GAL and EPROM programming - where I still use Atari and old programs.


History of your famous game adaptations?

Adapting games started during my Spectrum years actually. However, there was not much to adapt but POKE was popular to exploit the code which decreases a player's life count and the like. I also made a snapshot saving program which was in fact very-very simple and only needed to save the RAM and CPU registers to then restore from where we wanted to play. I did it with faster routines, so loading only took some 2 minutes instead 5. :-) Next step was when I added a floppy interface to the Spectrum and then I wanted to transfer all good games onto floppies. So, basically same thing as the Atari ST with game adapting, except that this was way easier because Spectrum software was singleparted in 99% cases and that means no further loading was required after starting the game. I transferred hundreds of games onto floppies very quickly - one disk could store over 20 games, using compression. Next step was adding hard disk like with Atari ST and I designed my own IDE adapter...

In case of Atari ST games, it was more time consuming, some 60% do not directly access the hardware but instead TOS functions for floppy access. This means it was sometimes simple but other problems might arise, like TOS version incompatibilities, RAM usage, etc. Again, it was easiest with singleparted games, so my first hard disk adaptations were with such games that didn't have any disk access after loading - like Stunt Car Racer and Sentinel. Afterwards, I made adaptations using a RAMdisk for faster loading before the later adaptations, like Formula 1 GP.




Incredible results achieved but why did you begin this?

I started all this because I wanted to get rid of unreliable and slow floppies. The real leap was probably the arrival of Flash cards, so we can now have small, silent, fast, cheap storage. I started to deal with them right at beginning - first one was 8MB Smart Media card in 2004. :-) I certainly did not plan, or expect, that it would reach a count of over 1000 adapted games!


What are your favourite games?

I first played Flight Simulator II which I bought together with Atari ST. Then I was playing Dungeon Master, Carrier Command, Millennium 2.2, Formula One Grand Prix and not forgetting Potsworth & Co.


What other stuff have you created?

My first serious software was MC Tracer, a debugger, for the ZX Spectrum. It could run any software, step by step, and there was a circular buffer feature to store the last 100 executed instructions. What's interesting is that I made almost the same relocating system (it must working at any RAM area) as what is used in TOS executables :-) Also worth a mention is my Spectrum modded ROM - for floppy and hard disk (all available at zx48.8bitchip.info).

For the Atari ST, I first made some floppy utilities and then a hard disk driver, which is still under development. I did some Windows utilities for accessing and transferring data with Atari ST formatted floppies and also hard disks. Soon after the Internet became accessible in our area, I started a website for my Spectrum and Atari ST projects. The site moved couple times during years, I hope that current place will stand for a long time.




Any current hardware projects?

I have many plans but things are moving slowly, especially with hardware. Mostly I would like to finish old projects, like the cartridge port IDE adapter and ACSI port CF adapter. No specific STE projects currently, but the cartridge adapter works better on STE and movies look much better. :-)


What's your favourite hardware creation?

My personal favourite ... hmm it could be the IDE hard disk adapter for Sinclair Spectrum because that was good exercise with GAL programming. For the Atari ST it would be the cartridge IDE adapter.


As a programmer, who inspires you?

I don't think that I was particularly inspired by a particular programmer but there are certain names I associate with high quality. Games by Costa Panayi, Andy Pennell for Devpac ASM and Geoff Crammond for his good simulations.




What about the Atari ST/e future?

My concern is that real Ataris will not last much long. More and more people will use emulators or clones like Mist. Still, adaptations can make playing a lot easier on both. I think doing STe-improved versions of games seems the right choice now. However, this can be very time consuming, I started Uridium couple years ago and simply disassembling it properly took a couple days. I then had to put it on ice because of a lack of time but, luckily, I was finally able to finish this recently.

Other problems are a lack of sources for better sound effects and corrupt or missing original disks. We need flawless images to work with for so many games, like Son Shu Shi, Jinks and others. Thankfully, we recently got Giana Sisters, the internet is a great thing and we need to work together. :-)

Links...

 - I always try and link to Peter's 8BitChip adapted games and all are listed right here!
 - There is also an 8BitChip Forum you should join and a YouTube Channel with lots of adapted game videos.
 - Have you ever seen Peter's Atari STe versions of Xenon 2, Cannon Fodder, Dungeon Master, etc, etc??

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Sideways



Another unreleased gem!

Sideways was developed by Jamie Woodhouse but wasn't released. It's a cross between Uridium and Return To Genesis so a fast-paced shooter with graphics ripping along at 50fps! I'm saddened this was never released as it proves that the Atari ST can perform brilliantly when in the hands of a talented and committed programmer. Yep, no lame port!

What a shock it was booting this up for the first time. It's impossible not to be impressed by what is a ridiculously exciting shooter. The controls feel natural and responsive with precise turning and acceleration - possibly better than Uridium!! Each level is stuffed full of baddies and there are power-ups for increased firepower, shields, weapons, etc. However, not everything has been implemented so learn the landscapes and you'll be playing for hours.

Any shoot 'em up needs great mechanics to deliver a thrilling experience and Sideways has that by the bucket load. I personally feel Sideways is better than either of the above-mentioned games, albeit unfinished. If you favour a shooter to be nothing less than FAST and FURIOUS, then this was made just for you!!

This is a superb shoot 'em up. Unfinished or not, it's absolutely superb so get it downloaded right now.






Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Demoscene poster


The most amazing demoscene poster has just been updated again. If you have never seen this before then you really should take a look and get it downloaded now! Clickety click to view this jaw-dropper by Gregory le Roux.

And for those who may not know who this chap is (where have you been?) then visit Demozoo...

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Wasabim



FantaSTic ArtiST

It's always great to see somebody start up a new Atari ST site and today we have one by Aurélien Vaillant, aka Wasabim (I dare you to say that after a few beers). His website will feature each of his various artworks along with those awesome videos, many of which begin with the box cover coming to life - that never fails to impress. Incredible talent!

Clickety click right now to take a gander through the Wasabim website... Enjoy!!

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Dodgy Box Art

 


Strange box art!

Today I thought that I'd go through some of my Atari ST games and pick out the ones which are just... well... wrong. Thankfully, I found only two! One is an odd movie spoof whilst the other gives me goosebumps. Seriously, it does make you wonder what these two companies were thinking when they agreed to release!!

  • Leatherneck takes the biscuit for most camp cover art ever so it's a relief that the game is far better. We have ace multiplayer support and sample sounds but the one-directional shooting only helps to make it incredibly tough. The graphics are smooth and look great, and the chipmusic is downright beautiful - a timeless quality. Oh btw, if you like Leatherneck then you will love Fernandez Must Die.
  • Galdregons Domain gets the award with its Conan rip-off artwork. It's a little like Dungeon Master in a land where evil has been unleashed, yet again. We've been chosen to battle the minions and recover five precious gems to save us from peril. Aesthetically gorgeous, this dungeon crawler isn't bad and once you've got over its learning curve, there's a much-underrated adventure. Highly recommended!

 Right then, if you're feeling creeped out by these two "works of art" then click here to remedy that :-)

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Beyond The Ice Palace



Brace yourself for a corker!

I think everyone has played Beyond The Ice Palace at some time in their life and I got mine free with my first Atari ST. Until then, I'd been a Spectrum owner, so I'm sure you can imagine the look on my face when loading this!

Much like Ghosts & Goblins, this is a scrolling platformer that involves three large monster-infested levels. But there is something special about this platformer that Elite got spot-on perfect from the controls to the variety of enemies and the tricky levels. It's always interesting and so playable so why couldn't every platformer by this good?



I knew this game was gonna be great from the start but choose your weapon carefully.


Hey, I think I've found a severed head!! But what could it mean?


Ultimate platforming, play the game!

The first level is a trip through the scary woods and is pretty much your typical environment with lots of peculiar baddies to encounter with a freaky end-of-level boss. Each level follows the same winning formula with interesting places and lots of monsters and the joystick controls are excellent. The second and third levels are, more or less, the same: a vertically scrolling cavern filled with hideous creatures before eventually reaching a wicked witch.

You're not alone: a good spirit can be summoned to help clear the screen of baddies. There are only so many times you're allowed to do this and a funny face is displayed in the status bar when one is ready to use. So choose your moments wisely when you are most vulnerable - then watch him zig-zag down your screen-killing baddies.

Ice Palace isn't complex but can sometimes be tricky due to awkward mechanics. For example, the blue demon, who cunningly appears just as you begin to use the elevating platforms, is frustrating. My advice is to leap off just at the moment he appears. It's easier to kill him this way rather than be stranded on those platforms. Just think!



Argh, you've blown it by staying on that life. Now the battle is much harder!


Oh no, here is the end-of-level green worm guardian!


A 16-bit jaw dropper

I've always felt the graphics were quite extraordinary and perfectly demonstrated our superiority over the 8-bit computers. The 80s were an era of no-lame-Amiga-ports so this game has been programmed well. The scrolling is smooth, the backgrounds are basic but look great and use detailed sprites that look gorgeous. Heck, even dying is a beautiful moment and I'll never tire of the flicky death effect as my soul ascends into heaven. An amazing effect.

Sound effects are beautiful with a sharp arcade-like quality throughout. However, it is, of course, the music that not only plays alongside the effects but is absolutely stunning. All thanks to the legend David Whittaker.



Level two ramps up the difficulty with weird wolfmen roaming the labyrinth!


Let's leap for joy, for we have collected another severed head!!


The CryptO'pinion?

I've sometimes found that Beyond The Ice Palace is a much-underrated platformer. This is odd to me because it holds a special place in my retro-gaming heart. Why? Well, because it was one of the first games I booted up on Christmas morning so imagine how I felt seeing its graphics and hearing that music - they blew me away.

This is an enjoyable game - so easy to pick up and play - thanks to great joystick controls, smooth scrolling and a nice variety in gameplay. After all these years, it's still addictive as it ever was. If I had anything negative to say, it would be the size of the levels. Not only are there only three, but they aren't large levels if I'm brutally honest.

Give the blonde in his little green boots a chance, I guarantee that you will love this cracking platformer!!

Midi tune of the awesome game music.
Maps for the ZX Spectrum game, aren't needed but are nice to have.
Game downloads are available for hard drive installation or floppies.


My Hi-Score. Can you beat me????? No, you cannot is the answer! ;p

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Atari ST demos



Living the dream!

Yesterday I had a demoscene night and relived the old glory days. When we would eagerly await the postman's delivery of floppy disks - from Demo Club and other Atari ST PD libraries. Fun times with beauties like Anomaly, European, Punish Your Machine, Antiques and Rising Force. Also, I re-enjoyed some cool animations like Rippler, Newton's Cradle and Walker. I then finished off listening to Popstars by the awesome YM Rockerz. Which you can see for yourself, is ace!!

Yup, this is my rock and roll lifestyle... Well, when the wife and kids are out! :^)


Subscribe to our YouTube channel for lots of Atari ST demos :)








Thursday, March 09, 2017

Thrust



It's time to relive my college days!

The thumping chiptune of the day is awarded to Thrust!! Let me explain... Earlier, I enjoyed a couple of games but now I must suffer the reward of having its funky music booming through my tiny little mind. Yep, I just can't get it out of my head lol. Well, it's a good job then that it's one of my favourite Rob Hubbard masterpieces.

I love Thrust but I don't recall many rave magazine reviews? Probably because it didn't appear that much of a technical improvement over the 8-bit games? Well, for me, that is a good thing because it's perfect and any cosmetic changes would have been a huge mistake. Remember Chuckie Egg 2, a shockingly "enhanced" 16-Bit disaster!

Thankfully, Thrust isn't like that. It's still that same great game with tough mechanics and hugely addictive gameplay. I love it and so will you because it's a cracking game that is as good now as it's ever been. I should know, I spent most of my college years in their 'library' playing Thrust on a BBC Micro instead of studying!

It looks funky, sounds boomtastic and plays great so is a timeless classic for the Atari ST. Love it!!

D-Bug has a version of Thrust that you can install onto a hard drive/ultrasatan.
Those that need the floppy disk can check out Old Games Finder.
SNDH Record is the place if you fancy driving yourself crazy with this gorgeous chiptune?
Masochists can download it to play later, courtesy of the SNDH Archive. All good fun :-)

Monday, March 06, 2017

Wreckers



It's time once again to save... the ship!

Wreckers is an isometric adventure onboard the interestingly named space station, Beacon 04523N, located in the loneliest part of deep space. With a crew of three, held in cryogenic stasis, automated robots look after the day-to-day care and maintenance of the station. However, the computer has decided to wake you when it detected the threat of Plasmodians, a lifeform that wants nothing more than to frantically consume the ship and everything in it.

In some respects, I'm reminded of the brilliant Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters but there is far more to this game than simply running around shooting green blobs of plasma, albeit great fun! From the very start, you discover that the alien attack is happening and, once they make physical contact with the outer hull, it's only a matter of time before they begin creating havoc with the computer's systems.

The station has its own style of defence capabilities in the form of a hoover which can suck up the aliens in space - before they can get on board. Also, the droids can be controlled to help, and another option is to suit up and head outside to play Jetman with a can of bug spray. Yep, Beacon 04523N is hardly Babylon 5 but at least all these options are available. Oh, do remember to use the Zippway Shuttles and elevators to travel the Beacon but don't dawdle because the main computer has decided one hour is enough to eradicate the threat before self-destruct is activated!!

Control is handled via keyboard and joystick but it's the latter which might disappoint some because I actually found myself holding that in a sideways-on manner, which was a little weird! Also, the user interface might take a little time to get to grips with, I found it quite unusual and sometimes a little awkward in the heat of the moment.

  
I love the title screen's gorgeous pastel palette before these three dodgy characters pop up!

Graphically, I love the 80s feel of Wreckers and, whilst it doesn't look like it came out of 1991, it has a certain retro charm which I really like. Scrolling is adequate but I sure love the station's attention to detail, along with the colourful sprites. The title music is just awesome and the box loves to gloat about who made it, Warren Cann of Ultravox!

Wreckers will certainly keep you on your toes as it requires an urgent attitude with the ability to juggle tasks and think ahead whilst suffering a constant onslaught of baddies. Running around zapping aliens is one aspect of the game but, because there is so much going on, it's sometimes extremely hard just to keep up with the panic. Now, don't get me wrong, Wreckers is a very good game but one which requires a lot of time and commitment. Brace yourself!

* Floppy disks can be found via Old Games Finder with a hard disk version by 8BitChip.
* Hall Of Light has a superb map of the space station which sure comes in handy!!

Saturday, March 04, 2017

Uridium



C64 rules!??

Do you remember the embarrassment of Uridium? Those cruel C64 gamers would laugh their socks off at our "superior" computer? Rightly so because we have a terrible port with sluggish controls and lifeless scrolling. Well, there is light at the end of the tunnel for the Atari STe because Peter Putnik has re-programmed the dodgy parts with faster controls and an option to stream music using the DMA coprocessor (hard drive or ultrasatan obviously required).

At last, a version of Uridium we can be proud of. It's totally transformed so play this shooter right now!!

Talk about a transformation - download it right now!!

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Prince Of Persia



A 16-bit classic gets updated!

Prince Of Persia is incredible but today receives an audio upgrade which uses the DMA coprocessor to play the effects better. They sound a lot cleaner and without any slowdown because the DMA is a coprocessor, working independently of the main CPU. This means that the gameplay is actually smoother than the original release. Which is pretty cool :)

Download right now. Yes, now!!

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Adventurer's Box Art



Check out my new games!!

You all know that I love sharing my Atari ST collection with you guys. If you didn't then click here right away because that link contains lots of games I've managed to save from soulless eBay sellers! Okay, today is an extra special day because I'm not sharing one... or two... or even three Atari ST games. No sir, I'm sharing four of my latest fuji purchases!

All four games are (hmm) sorta new to me if I'm honest. Don't get me wrong, I've played them all at some point in my life but, not for long. Either I was confused (no instructions with menu disks haha) or I probably just died all the time. And if you scroll down, I'm sure you can guess which French RPG game that was in! (Such a cruel and unfair game!!!)

Okay, do start the downward scrolling now to see what games I bought. Are any players out there with these games? Tips, help, and advice are always welcome so let me know in the comments below......... ttfn




- HEIMDALL -

First up, is Heimdall with its excellent cartoon-style visuals and a funny storyline depicting life as a Viking demi-god on a brave mission. Three silly tasks need to be mastered before you can choose a decent crew of dodgy-looking characters - I dare you not to giggle during that axe-throwing contest! This is absolutely insane, like a Monty Python sketch!

Sadly, this feels like a lame Amiga port that was rushed. I feel a lot more could have been done - especially considering the Ram requirements. So it makes no sense about the lacking sampled sounds and poor scrolling... However, this doesn't distract from what is ultimately a humorous and crazy adventure through Norse mythology.

A cheap Amiga port but, I think I'm gonna enjoy it.






- DRAKKHEN -

Drakkhen was a Christmas present from my wife and is in beautiful condition. The box I mean, not the wife! ;-) Okay, there are a few scuffs on the rear but I shouldn't complain because it's pretty neat and with all contents too!

This is a real-time RPG which involves four chosen characters and much dragon slaying. Most certainly one of my prized possessions and something I strongly recommend. However, it's damn hard due to incredibly unfair mechanics that sometimes make no sense. I hope to take on board the challenge and play it properly one day very soon!






- XENOMORPH -

Now, this is a game that could so easily be overlooked as a meagre Dungeon Master ripoff set in space. But it's far more than that and offers a great real-time RPG set onboard the Atargis, an abandoned space station.

The dude on the cover makes me think of Speedball... Can anybody see that? Okay, ignoring that amazing tidbit, this should be an engrossing game in its own right. Regardless of being verrrrry similar to a typical Dungeon Master. I am quite excited to play this someday soon....... (I really need to retire to have more spare time!!)






- OOZE -

Finally, we have an illustrated text adventure which is something old school and very popular pre-Atari ST when resources were obviously limited. This has a creepy cover but oddly one of the silliest of storylines I've ever heard: you are (wait for it) "Ham Burger" and Mr Cheez has given you a house in Salom's Lot which is rumoured to be haunted by lots of scary things going bump in the night. How freaky is this? I'm Ham Burger LOL!!

I must admit to being a little disappointed with my copy because the condition isn't great at all. In fact, it's a bit of a wreck with lots of dents, breaks and scuffs. But this is a rarity and something special to me so one day I'll find a mint copy, I'm sure of it. (Yeah, Yeah). Until then, I am proud to own this weird adventure.

Update:
I've since played this excellent adventure and featured it
here. Click to read!!

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Chaos Strikes Back



More audio clarity?

Following on from yesterday's wonderful news of the Atari STe enhanced update of Dungeon Master, Peter Putnik has now improved the audio for Chaos Strikes Back. Once again, this news is making me jump up and down with joy!!! So why not make your Atari STe just as happy and download this DMA audio upgrade right now? Enjoy!! :-)

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Dungeon Master



Crawling with audio clarity

Peter Putnik has just updated Dungeon Master to use the DMA Audio hardware lurking inside the Atari STe. This is huge news for fellow adventurers! Playback is now much clearer and this won't impact on the computer's performance. Peter informs me that Chaos Strikes Back is next in line for the STe treatment - and I cannot wait!!

Download the new upgrade from 8BitChip.

Monday, February 13, 2017

Scott Clifford

As many will know, I've been a friend of Scott's for a while now, even though he's from Yorkshire I've never held that against him! Anyhow, I've always been eager to know what he's working on, from those humble beginnings with a Turrican music disk to a near-perfect arcade version of Frogger (and to think he's not been coding for that long... Quite incredible!)

But, then, he decides to take on the immense task of a Raiden conversion for the Atari STe. His plans are to make full use of the Blitter, DMA audio, hardware scrolling, and more. Such fascinating enthusiasm! Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, I asked for an interview in the hope it would be interesting to anyone who doesn't yet know the guy behind Frogger along with the upcoming Raiden project. My thanks to Scott for this interview and I hope everyone will enjoy reading this... just keep on scrolling... :-)


- Scott Clifford - the interview -

Tell us about yourself

Where do I start? Heh.. Let's skip ahead to Christmas 1990, that's where the real fun begins with the introduction into my life of the Atari STe. I never really had any 8-bit systems, this was the first for me, bearing in mind my age. I turned on the STE, stuck in a disk and for the first time in my life was immersed in the world of Indiana Jones. (Kids these days... Tsk!)

From then on, I only really used my ST for games and some school work, but soon started looking into other uses as a teen. One thing I will remark on though was the ease Automation disks were very easy to get hold of... That is another story, by that I mean, wait for the Automation/DBUG DVD ;)


Coding hiSTory?

I only recently started “coding” on the ST, about 2 years ago, roughly 2014/2015 I started messing about in STOS and found it really easy to program and soon enough I was writing small routines, asking for help on the Atari forums, and generally messing about. At the same time, I was trying my hand at everything, music, games, art, programming and getting into the hardware side too. I now have an STe (Of which there is a certain unnamed person I should thank!!! - He knows who he is) and started coding in STOS full time before moving onto ASM for Frogger, which gave me credibility or notoriety.

The Turrican Music Disk was created simply because I am a fan of the game. I just wasn't very good at it, to be honest, and found it far too difficult beyond the “spaceship” levels so that kind of put me off... My music demo started because I did enjoy the tunes but didn't fancy loading the actual game disk each time, and what's more impressive is the fact that this is the first time STOS has used SNDH convincingly I might add. A point missed by a lot of people - the player routine was developed by me and might be the first time STOS has ever used SNDH (note big ego trip here!). As far as music disks go, I did have the idea for a UMD style music player but it never went beyond the ideas stage. 



Frogger for the Atari ST is arcade perfect and possibly the best home computer version ever.



Why the peculiar handle?

A nickname was given by a dear friend who is no longer with us, referring to my overuse of the colour black, right down to the nails and eyes. Yeah, I was a goth, but I'm now more immature than anything. :) I suppose I tend to lean on the darker side of life, metal music, Gothic architecture (Prague is awesome, need to go there!) and other such “out of the light” topics. But there is the bonkers side of me too, the sort of person that is bubbly but not annoying... by that I mean I can jump down the stairs backwards when I'm bored!


You must be proud of Frogger?

Frogger, to me, is the epitome of a decent arcade game - full of colour, noises, damn hard gameplay, and it doesn't involve rescuing a princess or collecting gold. I wanted to write Frogger initially in STOS because as I was playing it on #cough MAME I realised that the ST was the perfect platform for it. The game itself is simplistic enough but not rubbish AND didn't require some glorious technical ability - there is no scrolling, no bullets, and nothing beyond the ST capabilities.

The fact that I got really close (using STOS) to releasing it just goes to show how easy, in terms of computing, the game was handled by the ST. Unfortunately, like all simplistic programming languages, BASIC was eventually thrown out and I started (with the huge help of Xia!!!) the process of writing the game in assembly - faster code, closer control over the ST and I could use the computer more reliably. STOS is great, but not for this due to too many things on the screen.

I'm so proud of Frogger. It might not be F1 by Geoff Crammond or Anarchy by Psygnosis but it's mine, and it's my first assembly program that works. At this point, I must thank all the people involved in its creation, there are so many who gave support, ideas and actual assets I could use, like music and SFX from Zerkman and Dma-SC. Immense support and patience from XiA too .. I did get some criticism for not making it 21st-century, but I always wanted to replicate the original and never to out-do it.



You gotta check out this music disk, especially using the Atari STe!!


Raiden is humungous

It is!! I had the idea again from playing it on mameUi64 (Plug right there folks!) and looking at it, I wondered if it was possible. I wrote some routines, originally in STOS, and found it far too slow (this is before I started with assembly language and Frogger). So, after Frogger and after I'd gained some knowledge in ASM, I went back to it. I wrote some routines in assembly language and started to learn about the STE specific hardware scrolling. 
All of the music and sprites you see in Raiden are taken directly from the arcade but, because of the 16 colour limitation, I've had to look at the Megadrive version for the level's graphics. This means the levels are quite dark in colour and maybe a little too washed out - at the moment. As far as technical difficulties go, the oddest thing... the tanks are actually the most complicated, after the player, to write code for.


What games do you play?

I'm kind of notorious for it in my house haha! Although I've recently been putting myself through the Forza experience on the Xbox One (a close second to pride and joy, the Atari STe). I do love the ST and Shadow Of The Beast 2 I have been playing a lot of lately, cant seem to get very far though lol. I'd say I'm not a huge fan of RPGs or fantasy stuff like Ishar, could never get into it, although it's very pretty. But certain consoles for me hold certain games, so for instance, Shenmue on the Deamcast, the Lotus Trilogy (yeah I have the actual boxset) for the Atari ST. I need to get some friends with STs and have a four-way … hahahaha obviously in Lotus :P



Raiden, a WIP conversion for the Atari STe... Will it ever see the light of day?


Who inspires you?

This is a strange one because most of my inspiration for coding comes from, not the current scene but from the days gone by. People like Wayne Smithson who, at the time, were cutting edge and mostly “on their own” releasing games like Anarchy. Even its title “it cant be done” says it all lol. The bedroom coders also hold a certain nostalgic feeling too, like the guys over at DMA or even some of the pirate groups like Automation and the Pompey Pirates, what they DIDN'T do for games, they did FOR the ST … if that makes sense? 
I think nowadays it should be looked back on as part of the ST and not the reason for its downfall, Atari did that themselves. I also like niche programmers, those that don't tend to conform to whats expected, Excellence in Art is a prime example of what I'd consider coding for yourself and NOT for the masses. It's probably one of the reasons me and the leading guy there get on so well, even if we do disagree about binary - haha (in-joke)


Any future plans?

Haha, where Do I begin... Flashback (Delphine) is another do-able game, despite reservations from the “scene” ;) I'm also thinking Mortal Kombat... However, whatever I do, I think it will definitely be game related. I don't consider myself a demo writer and although I've put some code into demos I don't think I'd actually write my own. I'll leave that to the pro's like DHS, their “Sea Of Colour” demo is awesome!! Games require a slightly different process to demos and I feel like I'm more suited to the games really.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Everyone's A Geek



Top Of The Pops!

I've just been contacted by Robin, of Robberie who are an acoustic indie group. Their latest record is all about retro gaming and features numerous devices like the Atari ST and ZX Spectrum. In fact, an Atari ST even played a role in the production using VideoMaster and this alone is mind-blowing. I was extremely fascinated by the ST's role in the production so he kindly sent information and pictures... Clickety-click to visit the Robberie website!


 


- ROBBERIE'S VERY OWN ROBIN SAYS... -
"My 1040 STE plays a starring role in the robberie video for Everyone's a geek, helping to create the pixellated monochrome shots. To do this, footage was recorded on a video camera, which was then fed through a Microdeal Videomaster cartridge. The software has a live preview mode which displays a quarter-screen feed of whatever you play in 16 shades of grey. So the recorded footage was played back and then I recorded the output from the computer's screen on my smartphone in order to get into a format compatible with editing software on my Mac.

There are some other Atari relics in the video. There are some shots of Roadblasters on my Lynx, which is modded with the brilliant replacement LCD colour screen. The shot of Pong is I'm afraid not original hardware but comes from an Atari classic tv games joystick.


And the Powerplay Cruiser joysticks are the ONLY ones that I could properly play Kick Off 2 on! You can find out more about the other retro hardware to be found in the video on the robberie website."

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Raiden



Grab a joystick!

It's been almost a year since I first mentioned news of Raiden under development for the Atari STe by none other than our favourite Frogger dude, Scott Clifford. Sadly, his commitments forced the project to be put on ice temporally... But, good news, he has now restarted it and is making good progress.

The initial work behind the scrolling, backgrounds, and sprites is all coming together. Also, the enemy sprite routines and placements are now being coded. Quite incredible for a one-man effort and it's a very exciting project to see in progress. I wish Scott well and cannot wait to see the next update (hurry up mate). Watch this space folks!

Okay, here is Scott's feature plan...
- Hardware scrolling is used for the entire screen - no status panel.
- DMA hardware for the playback of authentic arcade music.
- The Blitter will be utilised for the larger sprites.
- YM chip will be used for the sound effects.
- Support for the JagPad controller can be implemented.
- Please note that my video was recorded using emulation (better on my Atari STe)

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Operation Garfield



Wolves are better than cats!

I've been browsing through the Floppyshop archives and I've stumbled upon a game called Operating Garfield which was (shock) inspired by Operation Wolf. Developed by Dave Brankin, it sparked my curiosity because of its support for the Atari STe as it utilises the Blitter for 8-way scrolling and the sprites and audio is played using the DMA. Basically, he was tired of the commercial gaming companies ignoring the enhanced computer!

Aliens are invading Earth but this time they've oddly disguised themselves as the fat lazy cat from the TV. Why do I hear you cry? Well, because they have watched our broadcasts and felt that we would forgive them if they were cute and cuddly invaders. Yep, the storyline is a stretch, and very silly, but whatever works, right?

The game takes place over a cityscape littered with invading Garfields who fire bucketloads of rockets!! Use the mouse to avoid or kill these whilst also looking for ammo caches, smart bombs, and even the England flag proudly flying. To help, there is a near-useless Defender-style map at the top/left of the screen - but I didn't care for this.

What lets the game down is the difficulty level which is extraordinarily high so rarely did I get the chance to fully appreciate the game before dying! I also thought the framerate should have been a lot better considering the hardware being used but most irritating of all was the T2 sample which grated after a while.

Of course, Operation Garfield isn't to be taken too seriously as it provides nothing more than a few minutes of stress-busting gun love! However, I fear the gameplay has little to offer other than a short, albeit gratifying, Garfield-killing spree.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

GEM Desktop



When wallpapers weren't a standard...

DeskFX is a GEM utility that I thought was pretty cool and entertaining, if annoyingly flawed. It replaces three parts of our beautiful GEM desktop - the default font, a choice of wallpaper, and an animated mouse pointer. As you can see, above, the wallpaper feature only updates every 2/3 seconds which is a little lame compared to DeskPic. However, the new fonts are superb and (like a big kid) I just loved playing with various animated pointers!

It appears the author had an STFM and DeskFX worked fine on my computer in both resolutions. Sadly, I couldn't get it to work on my Atari STe in LOW resolution - only in medium which is probably better anyhow? Not in the sense of available colours but in terms of functionality, who uses low to work? Who still works on their ST? ;-)

I thought this was a nice utility to share and you'll find it on disk UTL-4410 over at Floppyshop.

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