A little bit about me and my hiSTory :-)
I thought it might be "interesting" to provide some background information about myself for you folk living on the remote island of TOS. Okay, if you don't know it yet, my name is Steve and I have been an Atari ST nutter since Christmas 1988 when my great parents bought me my first ST, which was the 520 STfm. Great machine!
Of course, I had spent 1987/88 following the Atari ST scene from afar as Spectrum guy. This was a strange time for me enjoying what I had but also drooling over the ST's specs and gazing in wonder at their games in magazines. I couldn't believe how great ST games look in comparison and none seemed to have colour clash!!
I regard the Atari ST as my first real computer because it wasn't just a gaming machine. The ST is so much more thanks to its power and wonderful GUI which used a mouse!! My 520 ST helped me during my college years as I learnt boring skills like word processing, pixel art, a little programming, DTP, and even networking.
I owned this for about a year before upgrading to the new Atari STe. That was the day I finally got to hook up my speakers and listen to MOD tunes in stereo. I cannot remember which tracker I used back then but it wasn't much more than a player and wasn't too good. It certainly doesn't come close to what the STe is capable of and the software made since, like these jaw-dropping programs. Check out Sirius for example!!
Anyhow, when I started work, I could suddenly afford to venture deeper into Atari paradise and bought myself a brand new Mega 1 ST. Now, I had no real need for this cool "office" machine other than, I wanted one! However, I did dabble with DTP using Easy Text Professional which was an excellent application.
Later on into the 1990s, I bought a second-hand Falcon and TT from friends via Keith's Point BBS. Happy days with NeST, AtariNET for forums, email, downloads, etc. Anyhow, the Falcon was my main machine in the mid-90s for a couple of years which also meant I could finally play Doom without having to visit PC friends!!
My Mac Days
However, as the 90s evolved, I reached my Atari end. The Atari ST had already died and the Falcon thing never happened... So, sometime around 1996/7, I finally gave up and left only to buy myself an Apple Mac 7600/120. The following years were spent running certain Atari software using MagicMac but that lessened over time as I found better Mac programs. Yep, I was sucked deeper into the exciting world of Mac!
In the noughties, I started a website dedicated to third-party mods & single-player maps for all my favourite FPS games. I think I called it MegaTree (I was still a big Jet Set Willy fan!!). Anyhow, I did this because there was no support for the Mac gamer back then. Generally, we weren't able to play those fancy fps mods so I converted many and also wrote installation instructions and AppleScripts to launch the game with mod activated.
I had great fun doing this and I eventually began contacting developers of newer mods that featured compiled code. These mods wouldn't work at all. So I had to recompile the source code specifically for PPC Macs. Busy days back then, but I helped convert a LOT of mods to the Mac (BF1942, Doom 3, Q4, CoD, etc...)
However, as the 90s evolved, I reached my Atari end. The Atari ST had already died and the Falcon thing never happened... So, sometime around 1996/7, I finally gave up and left only to buy myself an Apple Mac 7600/120. The following years were spent running certain Atari software using MagicMac but that lessened over time as I found better Mac programs. Yep, I was sucked deeper into the exciting world of Mac!
In the noughties, I started a website dedicated to third-party mods & single-player maps for all my favourite FPS games. I think I called it MegaTree (I was still a big Jet Set Willy fan!!). Anyhow, I did this because there was no support for the Mac gamer back then. Generally, we weren't able to play those fancy fps mods so I converted many and also wrote installation instructions and AppleScripts to launch the game with mod activated.
I had great fun doing this and I eventually began contacting developers of newer mods that featured compiled code. These mods wouldn't work at all. So I had to recompile the source code specifically for PPC Macs. Busy days back then, but I helped convert a LOT of mods to the Mac (BF1942, Doom 3, Q4, CoD, etc...)
It wasn't all work and no play, there was another game that became an addiction for many years, and I still play it today: Myth The Fallen Lords. I bet you were wondering why that image is at the top of this web page? It's one of my all-time favourite computer games, ever. This is an incredible game and something that kept me up until the early hours!! However, I'm too old now for all that malarkey as I need lots of sleep!!
My first Apple Mac was this beast, the Power Mac 7600/120.
Real Life Takes Over
Okay, so let's get to the bad stuff about me... Meeting the girl of my dreams, starting a family and getting a house meant that something had to give. Yup, those old Atari's in my attic were sold to pay the bills. Well, they were almost given away as nobody wanted old Atari computers back then. In fact, I remember lowering the price of my TT and giving away my STe as an included freebie. Nobody wanted it otherwise... How times have changed!!
Okay, so let's get to the bad stuff about me... Meeting the girl of my dreams, starting a family and getting a house meant that something had to give. Yup, those old Atari's in my attic were sold to pay the bills. Well, they were almost given away as nobody wanted old Atari computers back then. In fact, I remember lowering the price of my TT and giving away my STe as an included freebie. Nobody wanted it otherwise... How times have changed!!
I regret selling up and still periodically look for a Falcon/TT on eBay. But the prices are ludicrously high so, unless I win the lottery, I'll sadly never own either machine again. Well, now I feel depressed... sigh...
Okay, let's fast forward to 2013 when something silly happened - I begin to take an interest in Atari ST games, demos and was even downloading old programs again. A spark ignited inside - I was suddenly back on the Atari ST wagon and pretty soon I was making videos for my YouTube channel. I even started to write reviews embedded into the description and it was these that eventually got moved over to a blogger website. And... here we are :-)
I was going to make another naff logo but this is far better!
The AtariCrypt
For those interested, I have tried to make AtariCrypt a fun place for the community because I was sick and tired of the Atari ST being snubbed by "retro gaming" websites. The ST is a great machine and deserves better than biased comparison videos or being overshadowed and ignored in favour of other machines like the Spectrum or Amiga. Well, I hope you enjoy visiting this website and digging through our archives that span several years.
AtariCrypt has changed and moulded into a neat place on the net, even if I say so myself. Use the search tool to see how much content there is. Wow, that sounds bigheaded, right? Well, I've even gone further a helped to dig out lost games like Bombaman and Whitewater Madness. Heck, I even made a couple of slideshows!
All this with the help and friendship of some incredible ST nutters. People that I would never have known without being an ST nutter myself. Marko is always there for assistance, I think he knows more about the ST than anyone! Peter, what an amazing programmer/musician and a true Manic Miner. But the CPC sucks, sorry mate!!!
For those interested, I have tried to make AtariCrypt a fun place for the community because I was sick and tired of the Atari ST being snubbed by "retro gaming" websites. The ST is a great machine and deserves better than biased comparison videos or being overshadowed and ignored in favour of other machines like the Spectrum or Amiga. Well, I hope you enjoy visiting this website and digging through our archives that span several years.
AtariCrypt has changed and moulded into a neat place on the net, even if I say so myself. Use the search tool to see how much content there is. Wow, that sounds bigheaded, right? Well, I've even gone further a helped to dig out lost games like Bombaman and Whitewater Madness. Heck, I even made a couple of slideshows!
All this with the help and friendship of some incredible ST nutters. People that I would never have known without being an ST nutter myself. Marko is always there for assistance, I think he knows more about the ST than anyone! Peter, what an amazing programmer/musician and a true Manic Miner. But the CPC sucks, sorry mate!!!
OI, Wake up!!!
I hope this 'readme' file didn't bore you all too much? Before I go, I think it is fantastic to know that the Atari ST scene is so alive in the 21st century. I'm also blown away by everyone that visits my website: a homage to the best 16-bit computer on the planet. Greetings to all Atari ST nutters wherever you are - don't forget to say hello!
I hope this 'readme' file didn't bore you all too much? Before I go, I think it is fantastic to know that the Atari ST scene is so alive in the 21st century. I'm also blown away by everyone that visits my website: a homage to the best 16-bit computer on the planet. Greetings to all Atari ST nutters wherever you are - don't forget to say hello!
. . . . . . . stay Atari ST/e . . . . . . . . it's time to WRRRAAAAAAAAAP!!!! :-)
