17BIT

Disk Magazine #6

The ST is fast approaching its 40th birthday yet this old computer still manages to surprise me with something new. Recently, I rescued a floppy disk by Seventeen Bit Software called "Disk Magazine". It's labelled Membership 5000 which seems a little dubious being such a high number. Although I do wonder if that was the original owner's ID?

It appears 17BIT supported the ST for only about a year until late '89. They supplied commercial games for both the ST/Amiga platforms at a discount along with tons of public domain software too. Membership was required (free!) and that got you a regular disk magazine of which I found number #6. (cheers to Atarimania's Marko for all his help)

The disk boots to the GEM desktop with a hilarious wallpaper - are these the guys behind 17BIT? The contents are varied from utilities to a couple of Spectrum 512 images and also a megademo by XXX International. But the main reason was to advertise everything in their PD catalogue using a program by Andy Styles to browse through their stock.

I'm eager to find disks 1-5 along with anything else they produced. Sadly, I suspect the worst but I have hope that their other disks aren't lost in the void! If you know more or happen to have their disks laying about then get in touch. For now, at least no. 6 is safe because I've made a copy that you can download for either your Atari ST or emulator.

Wait! Before you go, check out these exciting photos and screenshots...

"That Bit Better Than The Rest", I really like their slogan!

This is where all the magic happens. Well...

QMOUSE is cool and I wonder how SPEEDDISK might perform?

One of the readme files. Gripped with excitement now, aren't ya?

XXX International Demo by XXX International (must have taken ages to choose the demo's title)

One of the Spectrum 512 images.

Their program allows you to slowly browse through everything they had in stock.

Boardgames, anyone?

Having a blast in the past

I've found another floppy lurking in the depths of my collection. It's a public domain disk by Wizard PD, a company I disappointingly don't ever remember buying from! Although I do recall their adverts in magazines like ST Review. The disk is labelled "BRD 34" and was part of their Boardgames collection featuring six games, which is pretty cool.

Ironically, I'm not a massive fan of most board games and I have no understanding of chess beyond pure guesswork. Well, I'm still excited to give this a playtest so brace yourself for an exciting ride as we take a quick look at each one...

Mchess - I guess my floppy fun didn't begin well with this game? Anyhow, let's crack on and pretend to know what I'm talking about! MChess was released in 1989 by Bill Cook and runs in medium resolution supporting 1-2 players and the computer. Playing is "dead easy" using a drag & drop method with each chess piece. There are three difficulty levels with support for beginners and even the option to 'undo' any mistakes.

The documentation is outstanding and so apt for the era we grew up in because it's helpful without the hand-holding kids get today. What really cracked me up, was how Bill ends with this line, "If any comments or questions contact me on Compuserve". Just imagine writing something so inprecise these days!

Picture Concentration - I think it's pretty obvious what kind of game this is going to be? Well, it was released back in 1987 by Mark Sloop and runs in low res thanks to lots of colourful images. Interestingly, it was developed this using Atari's dreaded ST BASIC so he deffinetly deserves a medal for that!

I've never been good when it comes to remembering stuff - just ask the missus, apparently I've a memory like a sieve! Yes, this is a game of remembrance with different images hiding behind 40 tiles and all you gotta do is find matching pairs. Sounds easy but there are 40 tiles which are too many to cope with, at least for me.

Crossword Editor ST - We all know somebody sad enough to enjoy crosswords (the wife!). Well, here is the ST adaptation developed by Adrian Green in 1991. The design actually works very well and I really liked its interface which is clean and even has the option to change fonts. However, the clues are incredibly cryptic, almost to the point where some made little sense. Yes, you guessed it, I was rubbish at most questions!

There is support for either medium or high resolution and it sure looks best in monochrome!! There is a selection of ready-to-go crosswords with an option to make your own using the inbuilt creator. That's pretty cool but, I won't bother because I'm very lazy! But it's a fantastic feature thinking about it.

Computer Patience - This took me back to the 90s when I played Solitaire on the work's PC. The ST game was developed by Eric Chapman back in 1990 and features six different versions of patience. If I'm honest, I really enjoyed this program and spent a good half hour playing "golf patience".

Eric had a good sense of humour when he asks for any type of feedback: comments, criticisms or abuse!

TechMate - Another spin on the game of chess and this time we have a demo version of what was a 1986 commercial release by Microdeal (I'm unsure who to credit for its development). The gameplay feels faster than MChess and appears very good too. But, yeah, it's chess so here ends what I think about it.

Cards - This is an another odd one as I remember the release by Microdeal and this also features five games ranging from Blackjack to Poker Squares. Developed by J. Weaver Jr in 1986, this is fun for those who love playing cards but use a colour monitor because it's very ugly in monochrome. I enjoyed this game a lot.

The CryptO'pinion?

Amazingly, the disk is still in full working order (which is a bonus in itself) so I've made an image if anybody wants to download it for themselves? I know it's stupid, but I love finding stuff like this and digging around any PD disk is great because you never know what goodies are waiting to be discovered. Okay, this one might only be full of old board games but I've still had my slice of 80s fun and enjoyed playing Cards, Crossword Editor and Patience the most.

Let me know in the comments, below, if you downloaded the disk as I'm (as always) curious about what your thoughts are. Wanna see some photos of the disk and each of the ST games? Of course, not! But here you go anyhow...

For those in the know, this is the floppy disk. Just in case you were wondering or hungover.

The disk boots into Medium Resolution without the Blitter active - annoying.

(Mchess) By now you're probably wondering why these screenshots are so bad?

(Picture Concentration) Well, I took all these photos using my phone - before ripping the disk!

(Crossword) I should have waited, but real hardware is always best. Except for screenshots!

(Patience) I'm reminded of Solitaire/Windows 3.1 and this was another game that I enjoyed.

(TechMate) Groan, another chess game? I figured its jazzy title screen was nicer to look at ;)

(Cards) I end with the most terrible screenshot ever captured. I'm a record-breaker. Erm, sorry!

The Final Frontier?

Attic finds

Another curious disk lurking within the darkest regions of my collection was this floppy with extra levels for Car-Vup. You may remember the game from what feels like many moons ago? What, you don't remember? Sheesh, there's a search option to the right where you can read more about it. Okay, Atarimania tells me that this disk was released by The One Magazine and, as my photograph shows, we have six new levels to play.

Car-Vup is a belting game and something of an automotive spin on Painter and Bristles (I loved that game). Core was very generous in stuffing this cover disk with loads of manic levels, silly creatures, and pointless driving. Not the best advert for any game is it? But I genuinely enjoy it, so it's a pleasure to find this disk.

I love finding oddities like this from the depths of the Atari ST's almost-forgotten history. Good times!

I can imagine this cover disk giveaway was a great way to advertise your game?

We have a job to do so ignore the helpless spaceman!

This is a brilliant level and possibly the best of the bunch?

Things are getting tricky now, especially that guy pulling a face at me lol.

Another successful and valuable mission was completed!

Oh no, my game ended the usual way - limping home to mummy!

The best of Dave Munsie VOLUME 1 :)

A lucky find!

I'm always on the scrounge for Atari ST goodies, especially floppies - who knows what gold is still out there waiting to be rediscovered? I see many tempting auctions of Atari ST disks but most are silly prices! Or the disks have degraded due to poor storage - I went through a box recently and only two floppies still worked. That wasn't a good week!

Well, sometimes you get lucky and, this week, I feel I've hit the jackpot. Within a slim envelope were 7 disks and one was by PD Library, Goodmans. I loved that company and remember buying tons from them over the years. However, there was a disk in their collection that I had previously never heard of - "Dave Munsie Game Collection Volume 1". Thankfully, the disk still worked 100% so I quickly made an image of it, because I noticed a carbon copy didn't appear to exist.

On it are a staggering nine Munsie games: Bugs, Kid GP, Evader, Kaboom!, Frogger!, ST Invaders, Dark Pearl, Kid Kong, and Bobble! Now that's some hefty gameplay just waiting for you to boot up. So let's check 'em out...

1. Bugs - Think Centipede/Millipede and you get the idea for this cracker!
2. Kid GP - Rainbow Islands meets Bubble Bobble for kiddies. Well, I know I loved it :)
3. Evader - this is kinda like a weird mash of Galaxians, Phoenix and Space Invaders. Great fun.
4. Kaboom! - I remember playing this on a mate's 2600 as a kid. Infuriatingly frantic action!
5. Frogger! - It's good, but possibly the weakest of the bunch, especially compared to Black's version.
6. Invaders - Once again, Dave messes with the original to produce something new and exciting.
7. Dark Pearl - I've never liked these games if I'm honest. However, this is well-programmed, I'll say that.
8. Kid Kong - Another game I'm not too keen on but it's fun - for the Kong fans!
9. Bobble - It's Tetris, kinda interesting for those who enjoy that. I guess?

Okay, this long-lost floppy disk is now safely stored within the archives of Atarimania so go and grab yourself a copy. It's impressive just how many great games are on this disk plus they're all by Mr Munsie (sounds creepy doesn't it). He certainly knew his stuff and this floppy disk proves just how much fun he must have had making games.

There are more Munsie games for the Atari ST that you should play with several already on AtariCrypt - Asteroidia, Frantick, and Berzerk. Righto, before rushing off to download this disk here are photos and screenshots to gawk over...

This is the disk! The photo makes the disk look nicer than it is - thanks to Instagram for that lol.

Did the world ever get to see Volume II?

I wasn't too impressed with this Centipede clone at first but it's excellent!

Plain, blocky but with tons of colour and cute sprites. It's still a ripoff but a great one at that!

Framerate could be better but this is a superb shoot 'em up of mixed genres.

Oh yeah!! This takes me back to playing the old Atari 2600 game. Simple yet fantastic fun!

2016 saw the definitive Frogger but this older version from 1993 is a great release!

Another game of Dave's that I wasn't umm totally sure about but is yet another exciting blaster!

Ugh, it's not you, it's me (that line, eh). You guys might like it but it's not a game I personally enjoy.

Donkey Kong fans are gonna love this one but is it better than Crash Time Plumber? :o

One for fans of the Tetris genre. Not for me, I'm sorry to say!