Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!!

NeST, AtariNet, Modems... Whaaaat???

Well, my 2020 seems to have kicked off nicely because I've just taken delivery of four awesome Atari CDs and it's all thanks to winning the monthly prize draw over at Darkforce BBS. Now, I never win at anything so this was the biggest Mega ST shock ever!! All I need now is a CD ROM drive. Yup, eBay here I come...

For those who still don't know, Darkforce BBS is a bulletin board service run by a fine Atarian called Ron Hall, aka DarkLord. A great BBS for all the usual stuff like news, messaging, chat, downloads, games, etc/etc. You can access it freely using any terminal program supporting the Telnet protocol, and I prefer using SyncTerm myself.

The CDs are mainly for the Atari Falcon, a grand machine - that I'll probably never be able to afford - unless I win the lottery. However, there is tons of other stuff and I'm eager to see what's on the Moving Pixels disk - lots of ST/STe stuff on that!! Greetings Ron - as you can probably tell, I'm excited to explore these archives :-)

Wanna know more? Wanna experience this fine throwback to a magical time in computing? Of course, you do so ignore the internet and travel back in time and boot up SyncTerm or any other preferred Terminal emulator and then visit this address using the telnet command: telnet darkforce-bbs.dyndns.org 1040

I hope you all enjoy this amazing BBS. My thanks to Ron for this great gift :-)

Don't you dare fall for Ron's trickery? I expected beer and a room for the night... but... NOTHING!!

Check out the main menu!! Time has stood still and is also STuffed full of Atari goodness!

Ahh, I feel all nostalgic now. It's like I'm back in the 90s dabbling in NeST...

Heck, you can even play games. It's like having an Xbox in your terminal!

The downloads area is huge and also complimented with a CD Rom section too!

I love the range of jokes and other random quotes that can be installed to pop up!!

Goodbye...

Another year is done!

I thought it might be nice to wave bye-bye to 2019 with a selection of previously featured games that you guys may have missed. So before welcoming in the new year, here's a bloated list of games which I personally think are true Christmas Crackers - and for a variety of different reasons. So, should be played by all ST Nutters!! :-)

We begin by taking gaming seriously. Yep, let's tax the old brain cells with four amazing games:

• Yopaz is a familiar thinker running in GEM. But don't let that put you off because it plays really well and even supports the STe for some seriously cool ambient sounds.
• Next is Unheart which has a C64 visual feel and some think it's a Boulderdash clone when they see screenshots - which it isn't. Instead, it's a mind-bogglingly brilliant puzzler!
• Thirdly, it should be instantly obvious what BeGEMed is all about? Never have I played something so captivating with beautiful aesthetics. One seriously addictive puzzler!
• Finally, the brilliant and originally titled Sokoban. This unassuming game is cunningly difficult and easily expandable. It will always get a thumbs up from me. Love it!

 

 

Two extra games

Now that's four games you should take time out to play. But wait, that's not all... Here are two more little-known games which I think deserve a lot of attention and for different reasons...

• Alpha Waves. Wow, this is something so captivating and it blew me away when I first saw it. Imagine yourself trapped inside a box and the only way to escape is by bouncing your spacecraft on springy platforms. It's weird yet works so perfectly. A milestone in 3D game that will offer hours of fun. Download this right now!!
• Okay, let's switch now to burning rubber and head straight onto the asphalt! The Atari ST is certainly blessed with lots of ace racers and driving games but few seem to remember Power Up? Okay, it's hardly original but it's so much fun, especially on the STe because it can make use of the DMA and Blitter. Faster Atari computers are supported for smoother framerates. Not perfect but I still love this game!

 

 

Fancy a little more?

Platformers are next and those who know me will be aware of my addiction to the genre. The Atari ST has many: Stario, Rainbow Islands, Gods, Ghosts & Goblins... But here are a few others which I wanted to share:

• Prehistorik was written in STOS and is so much fun. It's a lightweight platformer but one with incredible mechanics and is GREAT fun. It should be played by all. Oh yeah!
• Magic Boy is next and I said BOY not POCKETS!! This is another Christmas Cracker which plays as good as it looks and with STe support. No lame Amiga port here.
• Next is a fella with a Big Nose who walks along boring landscapes - which should have been far better. But, you know what, this plays brilliantly and is so addictive.
• Finally, we end with a Thug but he's a nice thug and another hidden GEM in the ST world.

 

 

Yes, there is always more!

Okay, it's time to end this little compilation but there are plenty more within our archives - so use the *search* function. Also, don't forget to download AtariCrypt Magazine. Yes, it's free... well... donationware... and obviously written by yours truly with visual flair by a talented Darren Doyle. Go on, grab yourself a copy.

Finally, thank you for checking out my website for another year. It's great reading the comments and your messages of support are always appreciated. Once again, I cannot leave without paying homage to our dear supporters: so this article continues over on Buy Me A Coffee as a special treat to those amazing guys!

All the very beST for 2020 and ... STay Atari !!

Dusty Old Disks!

Arghh floppies everywhere!

I figured it was time to start doing a little housework. No, not the dusting and hoovering kind because that's a women's job. (Ouch!!! The wife just hit me!). Anyhow, I've got hundreds of coverdisks scattered about the house but I can never find the one I need - without hunting through a mess of disks. BooHoo, right?

I'm amazed how many coverdisks were released by magazines like ST Format, ST Review and ST User. But there are also many others: The One, ST/Amiga Format, Computer Express, ST Action, Zero, etc/etc.

Unsurprisingly, most of my disks are by ST Format with ST User and ST Review following for a close second and third respectively. I've been playtesting most disks and I'm shocked to discover that almost everything works. I have a few bad sectors on a few ST Format disks but otherwise, I'm partying like it's 1990.

As you can imagine, this was quite the trip down memory lane. I've found many games and programs like Recover, Quick ST, Harlekin, K-Graph, That's Write, Cyber Paint, Ani ST, GEMview, Easy Draw, Spectrum 512, loads of CPX modules, etc... In fact, the abundant amount of utilities is most appealing!

A cynic might say, all of which I could have easily found on the internet!! But where's the fun in that? So come on, what does your cover disk collection look like? Do they work? Let me know in the comments below...

Grr, I found another 12 disks after taking this photo!! (10xSTF / 2xSTR)

Dark Mode

Amazon finally got around to delivering my new ST book, Faster Than Light which I'm really enjoying. Although only halfway through, it's a cracking read and I couldn't help but giggle when reading about ST Writer's dark mode. Sigh, how today's companies will rave on about silly new features as if they are... well... new.

This line hit home with me about Dark Mode, "The ST had that in 1985". Absolutely superb STuff!!

Merry Christmas

We're almost at the end of yet another year so here is a cute Christmassy slideshow I found whilst digging through the AtariMania archives. It's from a disk magazine by Effect and is stuffed full of text and even features the most annoying rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas" I've ever heard - but at least it supports the STe audio!!

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their help and ST commitment over the past year. Once again, I've met some great people and seen things which I thought would never happen after the ST "died" in the mid-90s. There are so many awesome games and demos recently released but my personal favourite is, of course, Manic Miner which is a fantastic remake of Matthew Smith's ZX Spectrum classic from 1983. Absolutely brilliant.

Also, I'd like to thank: Tom/Karim for all their sharing across various social media. Peter for adapting these merry ST games (and my requests for more!!). AtariMania for always being my go-to place. Atari Legend for being ace and getting me addicted to Ultima V. And, course, every one of you guys visiting my website throughout the year :-)

All the beST and Merry Christmas †

Atari ST games I HATE!!

My ST love is DEAD!!

Today, I decided it might be 'fun' to play a handful of games I have always hated. Good idea, right? Well, as it turns out, there are lots of games I absolutely hate and there are far more games I am really bad at too. Hmm, I think it's a skill of mine to find these games? Well, here is just a handful of games I hate for these reasons:

First up is Lemmings, a game everybody went crazy for but I couldn't find any joy in herding those docile and idiotic critters. A few screens in, I would soon discover that I had no tolerance for their stupidity and thus, found it irritating. Instead, I would deliberately watch them plummet to their death or explode. Now, that was fun!!

Next is a great conversion of the monster arcade hit, Hard Drivin'. This sure looks the part with its fancy polygons and whacky stunts enticing you to try your luck. However, it never goes to plan for me as I cannot steer the car in anything that resembles a straight line. In fact, I drive and corner worse than a drunk Stevie Wonder.

Next is Strider, a game I saw in ST Format and it looked amazing. They gave it a glowing review so I went out and spent all my pennies. Well, I certainly won't be giving it a glowing review because I cannot stand this platformer for more than a few minutes - without throwing down the joystick!! A terrible Tiertex port. (UPDATE) < < < < <

Yolanda is another platformer and one I've always thought was curiously interesting. The sprites are superb and it has a funny title screen so I've often wondered if it played as well as it looked? Well, this is my experience:

Start the game... Wonder what to do. Die. Start the game again... Run left. Die. Start the game once again... Run right. Die. Start the game one more time... Panic. Die. Reboot the Atari ST. And that's about all there is to it.

  

  

The CryptO'pinion?

In case you're wondering, this post was just for a bit of fun. Well, except for the part about Lemmings which I personally consider to be another lame Amiga port by Psygnosis. Yes, I'm no fan of a software house that had no commitment or dedication to the Atari ST. Ignoring the odd game like Blood Money and Anarchy, they sucked with their rushed ports. My apologies to their fans throughout the world. Sorry, not sorry.

I hope you enjoyed this little article? What ST games do you hate? Let me know in the comments below...

Atari ST

My new Atari ST merch!

I have just received my latest "Atari Games" mug by Peter Jørgensen (Enduro Racer / YMT). No, they're not all the same, just scroll down for the reverse side, below. These cups are superb and it's so kind of Peter to send me these. The mouse mat was a gift from my mate Tom, another ST nutter. Both Peter and Tom made the ZombieCrypt mug - probably because the slideshow I released last year was so awesome? Hmm, probably not lol.

There's now't better than suppin' coffee from an Atari ST mug. Hmm, which one shall I use? :-)

Merry Christmas

It's that time again when I find something Christmassy from within the Atari ST archives. However, this time I didn't want a game so opted for a demo. I think I've found a belter: Xmas '88 which was released by Kenrick Productions. I hope you like this? I find it endearing with cute animations and a few appropriate chiptunes to get you in the festive mood.

Merry Christmas everyone and I wish you all the very beST †

Atari ST games

        

How many Atari ST games can you fit onto a single floppy disk? No, it's not a bad joke because Peter Putnik already has the answer: a whopping twenty-three Atari ST games!! These are all heavily compressed on one bog-standard double-density floppy disk and include classics like Arkanoid, Asteroids, Virus, Tempest, Head Over Heels, Pengy, Jet Set Willy, Crystal Castles, Xevious, Sentinel, Moon Patrol, Joust, and more - WOW!!

What, you don't believe me? Then I think you should clickety-click right now and grab the download - enjoy!

a real wallpaper!

Look at what came in the post today from Chris Swinson (aka Exxos). Designed by Darren Doyle for the release of AtariCrypt Magazine and today it's in print and on my bedroom wall like I'm 15 again! There are some ace ST folk in our community - thank you so much, Chris. I'm wondering how long the wife will allow this to remain...

Regardless, I LOVE IT!!! :-)

Atari logos

Having zero artistic flair means I need to cheat whenever I fancy changing the website logo. Thankfully, I've found a couple of free websites that offer fancy text-generating tools so I figured it would be nice to share today's experimentations. Take a look at Picture To People & FlamingText to design your own.

I've included a few various logos which can be downloaded from my Dropbox account. These actually double as great wallpapers and are best when centred, not stretched or tiled. I hope this bundle will give you some ideas to create something cool? I'm always looking for an ST-inspired website logo - can anyone help??

AtariCrypt box art?

Over the last few months, I've been taking pictures of my own ST games to feature within our box art section right here on AtariCrypt. Yesterday, I got quite a shock when a good friend of mine, Jose.Ant, created this fake box using my old avatar (a photo I took in Tombstone, Arizona. Just see the flickr link near the bottom of this page).

You know, the ST world sure has some awesome people and I absolutely love this image!!

Bod

It is with great sadness I inform you of the death of Stephen Jones, aka Bod. More recently he was the gentleman behind the Atari STe game R-Type Deluxe, an eagerly anticipated upgrade to an already ace game and was highly regarded as the biggest STe project for years. He demonstrated to the entire retro gaming world just what this machine was capable of - when in the hands of someone with talent and commitment. Something we as Atari STe owners appreciate more than most.

I remember talking to him last year and he kindly supplied screenshots of his progress I was excited to feature them on my little-known website. Kindness I shall never forget. Also, his commitment to the Atari ST scene is fully featured on Demozoo where you can view his Fuji portfolio. It's extremely impressive, to say the least. A great loss.

Prayers and my condolences to his family and friends at this time †

megahertz war

I had to "laugh" when I read this article by Andrew Wright from issue #24 of Atari ST Review magazine. How right he was about the times and I do wonder if he had a crystal ball? (if so, it was probably a GEM program). By the mid-90s, the PC industry had taken over to claim (and keep) the crown for the winner of the computer wars. Sure, we were still around but we knew our days were numbered and, for gaming especially, the ST was as dead as a Dodo.

All due to Atari's poor management and their lack of enthusiasm throughout the previous years by restricting the old ST to the same 8MHz they gave it in 1985. So, our beloved Atari TOS computer began fading away into the darkness and, by the late 90s, every ST was probably hidden away inside thousands of attics... I jest, but the millennium days where sure gloomy. Cheer up because it also happened to those Commie computers too!

A degas dabble!

Check this out, folks! Marc Johnson needs no introduction but look at what he created for me when fed with chiptunes (and a bottle of wine). Thank you mate, this is an awesome logo. Absolutely superb STuff!!

AtariCrypt website

Hello to each and every Atari ST gamer! I've decided to start a website to help promote the fun I'm having making videos of games, demos, musicdisks and other crazy stuff - like Utopos!! This is fun reliving the 80s/90s so I decided to start a blog - because it's free. Yeah, I'm a cheapskate but, let's see what happens with AtariCrypt...

My YouTube channel  |  The Playlists