ATORIC

Tangerine Dream

It's often a pointless venture, without any real-world use, but I still enjoy emulating other computers on my Atari ST. Yes, I'm a geek! If you're as weird as me, check out our Emulation section here on AtariCrypt and watch as I painstakingly try to suss out how to emulate computers like the PC, ZX Spectrum, C64, Tandy, and ZX81 (plus other silly stuff).

I love finding programs like these and today, I shall turn my Atari ST into an Oric Atmos. The "Oric computer" is actually two machines - the older Oric 1 looks futuristic but (from what I've read) had many bugs. The Oric Atmos followed a year later and was basically the same computer with many of the bugs ironed out (more information online if interested).

I recall seeing the Atmos in Rumbelows (remember them!?) which they featured on a pedestal in the middle of the shop. Perhaps they had high hopes? Anyway, I still remember how cool this computer looked with a great design and proper keyboard. I wanted one but all my friends had ZX Spectrums and, that was that. What a fool I was? Unless a time machine is invented - very soon - I might always regret not choosing computers like this and the 8-bit Ataris.

Anyhow, I might not need that as there may be light at the end of the tunnel thanks to a program called Atoric...

The later release of Atoric boots to a Microdisk default with many different options.

ATORIC

So, here we are in 2024 emulating the Oric using my Atari ST thanks to this program developed by Christian Peppermueller. I managed to find a few different versions online but, for most of this article, I was using v0.3 until (ahem) I remembered that I had already downloaded v0.9 ages ago. But, somehow forgotten about it... Doh!

Actually, all versions work much the same with surprisingly accurate emulation albeit very slowwwwwww. Yes, the stock 8MHz Atari ST oddly struggles compared to the other emulators I've used. I would estimate its performance is about a tenth of the speed of the original Oric - which is shocking compared to the speed of the Spectrum emulator. Even the Falcon/TT don't perform well so I can only imagine (and hope) that the modded Atari computers do better.

Anyhow, enough whining! Atoric is an excellent piece of software and very easy to use. Depending on which version you try, it's easy to load games. Later versions can simply use the command CLOAD"" which uses the ST's file selector. Although you can also enter the command in full: CLOAD"MANIC" (for example, to load Manic Miner - which I renamed).

The latest version (that I found) of Atoric is v0.9 and it comes with Microdisk/Sedoric disk operating tool that features many functions. Use it to boot up in Atmos mode and "begin playing". Interestingly, there is a tool to amend the Atoric configuration file. This can alter how Atoric performs and more: default path locations can be chosen along with ST/Falcon displays (colour and high-resolution). It can use overscan which makes up for the Oric's resolution.

It's worth reading the documentation before attempting any changes...

The configuration tool is enhanced somewhat in the later releases and is very easy to use.

Let's get straight to the games!

In terms of the emulation, fantastic is the word because almost everything worked well. Sadly, in terms of speed (when running on my STe) I can only say that poor is a better description. My old 8MHz computer doesn't have the grunt and the emulation speed is shocking. Which I find odd, especially compared to the Speccy emulator. After all, the Oric is similar, with a slower processor, so I'm quite bemused by the sluggish performance. But, what do I know...

Okay, I booted up about 40/50 random games - I've never used an Oric so didn't know anything about its library. However, the Oric has Manic Miner so that was obviously the first game I tried. The quality of the emulation is superb and everything looks great. However, it's running at less than 1fps which means it's totally unplayable.

Booting into Hatari and configuring as a 32MHz ST improved things - but only slightly. The Falcon/TT configs didn't improve matters. Not that much - so I can only wonder what type of Atari computer would!

Okay, let's see some more games. Almost everything works perfectly, if you ignore the speed! There were one or two issues with a few other games where the overscan failed - so I couldn't see the bottom of the screen. Also, a couple of games appeared to work except the keyboard stopped accepting input. Very handy. Not!

It's now we declare defeat and admit that the Atari ST will never run an Oric game properly (I really need a Medusa). So, with that in mind, I plodded on and "playtested" a few games with the first being Manic Miner (emulated in both colour & mono). As a Willy fan, it's surreal to see the Oric version running on my ST!! What a shame it plays like a slideshow!

(low-res) Manic Miner on the Oric on my Atari ST. Fantastic stuff!! #geek

(hi-res) I thought the performance might be better without the stress of colours. It wasn't lol.

And it's now that I must plug the incredible Atari ST version of Manic Miner developed by Fede Pede in 2018. It's 95% complete and downloadable so give it a whirl. It's a cracking repoduction of the 8-bit original!!

Donkey Kong

This was actually called Honey Kong - to avoid the usual Nintendo troubles - and is a fun conversion. Visually a bit bland so I thought the performance might be better. It wasn't. Although not as slow as Manic Miner, it was still unplayable. Additionally, the display is quite fluffy with a few glitches - so make sure you enable the overscan option for better results.

Forget this one dear ST people. Has anyone got an Atari TT they want to donate? Hmm

Credit: V. Nicolas for Sprites.

https://www.oric.org/software/honey_kong-1200.html

I later enabled overscan and everything worked dandy. Except way too slowly!

Football Manager

Yes, Kevin Toms' famous face has even managed its way onto an Oric cassette. I'm not a footie fan but - stop the press - this was actually playable!! Well, with the acceptable performance expectation. So, with that in mind, it is playable. Yes, I use all of these terms lightly but, always positively. Forget the official ST game and play this one instead! ;-)

Credit: Addictive Games

https://www.oric.org/software/football_manager-43.html

I reckon Football Manager came out on every computer?

Zaxxon

This isn't a game I had high hopes for but, I tried it anyway. I was shocked when I first booted it up as I thought the graphics had screwed up because it looked nothing like the US Gold release. But this game was programmed in BASIC so, I guess, the look and performance are as expected. Great results considering its BASIC but, it's best we move on...

Credit: Richard Juhel

https://www.oric.org/software/zaxxon-1777.html

I wasn't impressed but then I learnt it was programmed in BASIC!

Driver

This is a weird one that reminded me of a mix of Motor Massacre & Bugziacs. We drive around a maze looking for flags whilst avoiding enemy cars. The graphics are screwy (especially without overscan) and the scrolling is probably the reason for the poor performance. You know the story, it's one of those games that makes me wish I had an upgraded ST.

Credit: Francois Lionet (whaaaaat?)

https://www.oric.org/software/driver-37.html

The sprites look odd unless that's normal? As ever, far too slow to play...

Galaxians

This shooter is by one of my favourite 8-bit companies, Softek. It's another game that is fully playable and emulated extremely well with decent graphics and sounds - albeit only for the original Oric computer. Okay, I'll now stop mentioning the lack of speed when using an Atari ST because I'm sick of repeating myself. If only my ST ran at 128MHz lol.

Credit: Gordon Russell

https://www.oric.org/software/galaxians-45.html

I had a few issues with this game but it eventually worked with overscan enabled.

Ghost Gobbler

Hey, it may have a bizarre name but it's still Pac-Man and a great version too! However, I'm not sure what Ian was on when he developed this game. After all, those lavish colours will drive anyone insane after a few games. Perhaps that was his plan? Who knows!! Anyhow, I do know that this is a great version of the classic arcade game.

Credit: Ian Hothersall

https://www.oric.org/software/ghost_gobbler-47.html

Who doesn't love Pac-Man? This is a great version for those with the hardware to run it!

Krillys

The file I found gave the impression this was a Defender clone but it's nothing like Jeff Minter's wondrous release. In fact, it's more of a Scramble, which is excellent news to this fan! It appears to be very good but the graphics are a little messed up. It plays well and I can imagine a faster Atari computer would be fine booting this up for a quick blast.

Credit: John Cumming, Gary Munroe, Ian Marshall

https://www.oric.org/software/krillys-63.html

Something wonky has happened to the graphics but it plays well enough.

Road Frog

I wasn't expecting this to beat the ST's 2016 release of Frogger but I was expecting to play ... something. Sadly, this is one of the few games that crashes! Right after the loading screen, it pops up with this: "Syntax Error 500". Ah well!

Credit: Philip Hulme

https://www.oric.org/software/road_frog-87.html

This looked great but it's one of the few games that produced an error message.

Velnor's Lair

An adventure game released by another of my favourite 8-bit companies, Quicksilva. Originally a Speccy game from what the link tells me, although I have never previously heard of it. Now, don't expect graphics as this game is purely text and, as a result, is fully playable on the bog standard 8MHz Atari ST. Yippee, I am one happy bunny!

Credit: Derek Brewster and John Airey

https://www.oric.org/software/velnor_s_lair-574.html

There are no flashy graphics and it's still slow lol. Thankfully, it's not that (hmm) bad!

The Warlock's Mountain

Believe it or not, this game was originally a Your Computer type-in from 1984 (remember that magazine?). Of course, being programmed in basic means it worked well in the emulator and was playable, to a degree. Well, I'm being generous but you get like that after so much constant disappointment. Of course, play it on a supped-up ST for best results.

Credit: A.J. Edgington

https://www.oric.org/software/warlock_s_mountain__the-590.html

This is a game I'm keeping to play using the Mac emulator. It's different and I love that.

Hunchback

Yet another game by the mighty Ocean and it's a cracker too. I loved playing the Speccy game and the ST has some odd remakes. Sadly, like their Road Frog, this game had troubles. It froze right at the start of a new game. Bugger!

Credit: Philip Hulme

https://www.oric.org/software/hunchback-57.html

I was looking forward to this one as the Speccy game is a favourite of mine. Sadly, it froze!

Xenon 1

Don't even think about it!! This shooter is nothing like the Bitmap Bros' ST game. No, it's more of a Phoenix clone from what little I managed to see. Yeah, it really needs a beefy computer to run properly - and is better when overscan is enabled.

Credit: John Sinclair

https://www.oric.org/software/xenon_1-105.html

It's slow and impossible to play but I imagine it's great on a real Oric.

Wizard's Lair

Like our Atari ST, the Oric is getting new games released and, by sheer chance, I stumbled upon a #roguelike by Rax & Iss. This game is incredible but, arghhh, I couldn't get the controls to work. I don't know why because it appears to be running fine. Anyhow, I had to see more, so I booted up an Oric emulator for my Mac to take this screenshot.

(credit to Defence Force for the find: https://forum.defence-force.org)

I dare anyone not to be impressed with this Rogue game. It's a belter!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Oric computers are great and better than I expected. I mostly used the Atmos model as it's the same spec as the original computer but with many bugs ironed out. In many respects, the Oric is much like a ZX Spectrum, but, better. I wouldn't say it's as good as the C64 or Atari 8-bits but it's close. What a massive shame it flopped (outside of France).

Atoric is a wonderful piece of software and I've enjoyed tinkering with it. It's obvious that Christian put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into its production. The end result is impressive and complete - so it emulates the Oric remarkably accurately. He also included a configuration tool providing access to different features and basic defaults for hardware, paths, etc. The overscan ability is brilliant and eliminates the flickering due to the different resolutions.

Sadly, it's the speed that will disappoint. Oric games might be emulated accurately but are unplayable on an ST. In fact, the Falcon/TT machines I set up in Hatari faired only slightly better. If I'm honest, I don't understand why that is as the Oric runs at 1MHz, slower than the other computers we can emulate. Yet, the results are terrible by comparison.

However, that's not the point of playing with old software like this. A program like Atoric proves how vibrant and energetic the Atari ST scene was back in the '80s/'90s. Plus I've had a blast wading through the Oric's gaming library. Okay, I played very few games, but it was an adventure. And one I've thoroughly enjoyed. Yes, I am insane. I know I am!!

Atoric is a magnificent program that I've thoroughly enjoyed. I only wish I had a faster Atari ST :/

I expect somebody out there wants to try Atoric for themselves? I genuinelly hope so!! I have bundled together everything that I've been using which you can download off my Dropbox.

Additionally, if you're after a bundle of Oric games, then grab 'em from Emu-Land.

If you're mad like me and enjoy using emulators on the Atari ST, let me know how you got on using the comments below. My options were limited by my humble 8MHz Atari STe and also Hatari. I would love to hear from you guys with better Atari computers regarding the performance.

TRS-80 emulator

Let's go back to the days of Starsky & Hutch and Asteroids!

Most people might think it's pretty stupid to emulate a retro computer - using a retro computer? Thankfully, not me because I have found something rather incredible called 2nd Life. It's a TRS-80 Model III emulator by Sander Berents and is something I stumbled on purely by chance. What luck! So, I figured I should give it a good playtesting.

I've never actually owned/used a TRS-80 and I imagine few made it outside of the US? Anyhow, Tandy and RadioShack released the first model in 1977 and it was a huge hit for those wealthy enough to have lots of spare cash burning a hole in their pockets. Back then, I would have been six years old and too young to care about something like this :-)

Okay, let's begin with a screenshot of the credits. Oh yeah, it's screenshot time...

It's sadly impressive that something this good wasn't released earlier in the ST's life.

What's a RadioShack?

Like you, I love my Atari ST, even when it pretends to be something else, be that a Sinclair, Commodore or even a peculiar clunk of hardware by RadioShack (I used to love the Tandy stores). Anyhow, a TRS-80 emulator sounded far too tempting not to boot up so I read the docs and hit the web to learn how to operate this ancient beast.

First things first do read the docs and take a look at the FAQ text file to understand which options to enable/disable for the best performance and compatibility settings. You will also find two more disk images with compiled and BASIC games but you'll be best with a 16MHz computer to enjoy something close to native speeds.

2nd Life requires ST High resolution and is very easy to use. Along the bottom of the screen, are four floppy disk drive icons - click to highlight Drive 0 and use that as the TRS operating system boot drive. The second drive icon can be used for anything like games or other images that you may have downloaded from the net.

Lots of features and is very versatile. Plus it can play many different games too which matters more...

One of the first things I booted up was Donkey Kong. Okay, it looks terrible but plays well.

Old but not that much different

Using the TRS-80's DOS commands feels a little quirky but is fairly easy to learn. For example, DIR will display the directory of a disk and it can be expanded with extra options and filters, as you'll see in the video:

DIR 0 - will produce the contents of Drive 0

DIR 1 - will produce the contents of Drive 1. Easy, right?

DIR 1,/BAS - this displays the same list but filters for BAS files.
CAT 1 - this provides an alternative way to load programs!

We're gonna get a little more complex now but it's worth it to watch the dancing alien:

BASIC RUN "DANCING/BAS,1"

The command looks worse than it actually is. Breaking it down, it simply instructs the computer to load up the BASIC program. Then that will load/run the file "DANCING/BAS" which is stored on Drive 1. Easy!

This is starting to be fun so I went searching for a game like Menace or R-Type. Ahem, screenshot time...

Sea Dragon is a terrible mess of ZX81 blockiness but it is a brilliant shoot 'em up!

Get to the games already!

Ultimately, we're here to play some TRS-80 games and I gotta tip my hat to this old piece of 70s kit. There are some great games in its library and there's a good reason I chose Sea Dragon as the video thumbnail. Like any old computer, there's a wealth of vintage games from the era: Pacman, Invaders, Frogger, and so on. I'm a geek, so I enjoyed the thrill of playing with something that's almost as old as me. No rude comments, please!

Performance-wise, the humble 8MHZ Atari ST will successfully emulate and run everything you throw at it. However, it's going to struggle with the games as it's simply not fast enough. Personally, my Mega STe is the basic and minimum requirement and produces near-perfect speeds, generally speaking. So, 8MHz will be fine but 16MHz will get you gaming. Hardly a shock and just the same as with other emulators we have within our library...

Don't forget to read the docs as README.TXT is there for a reason... Okay, I'll nag no more! 

Yes, this really is Frogger. Hopper has awful collision detection but is a pretty good game.

Games! Give me games!

One of the best games I played was Sea Dragon, which is a fantastic scramble through watery canyons. Sadly, I wasn't impressed with Penetrator I struggled with jerky graphics and twitchy controls. It was a shock to see a chunky version of Donkey Kong with huge black and white blocks but the gameplay is superb and that's what matters. However, the blocks worked great for Armored Patrol and the wealth of PacMan games!

There are a few games bundled with 2nd Life and many are great but sooner or later you will want more. Thankfully, there are some great websites with disk images stuffed full of games and I managed to find racers, lots of different Space Invaders, Zork and even Temple of Apshai - which is nothing at all like the Atari ST version and its "turn-based" element caught me off-guard, in a nice way. But boy, is it slow - even on a real TRS-80. Yikes!

Most (all?) disk images found on the internet won't be compatible with the Atari ST. Thankfully, Sander has a utility to convert these for 2nd Life and it works a treat from what I've seen so far. Hence, how I got to play Hamburger Sam, Berserk, erm Robot Attack and the sluggish Temple of Apshai.

He might not be yellow but he's on the TRS-80 as Gobbler!

The CryptO'pinion?

I initially expected the TRS-80 to be nothing more than a cumbersome piece of ancient hardware that I wouldn't particularly enjoy. I couldn't be more wrong, this is a machine that appears to have more power and versatility than I would ever imagine. It's a great computer and it's no wonder those plucky Americans snapped it up!

2nd Life is an equally fantastic piece of software and I'm impressed with how well it runs in terms of its speed and compatibility. The inclusion of a utility to convert disk images into a format that 2nd Life can recognise is a wonderful addition and opens up the possibility of playing everything there is. Techies can go further: font editor, altering the keyboard layout, linking computers via parallel ports and even tinkering with a disassembler debugger...

The TRS-80 is a great machine and it is so impressive to see the Atari ST flip back in time so easily and reliably. This is a fantastic emulator - however - you will need a >16Mhz computer to start gaming like it's 1977 and my Mega STe felt close to the speed of a real TRS-80 (from what I've seen online). I have really enjoyed using 2nd Life and I'd love to hear what hardware and performance you guys are getting, so let me know in the comments below.

GitHub has the download which includes the source code for those uber-geeks amongst us :-)

- MORE SCREENSHOTS -

Look what I found and it's quite different to the Atari ST game. Quick, kill the Ant Man!!

This is Astro and it's a BASIC game. No, I mean it's written in BASIC and it's good.

Hamburger Sam, based on BurgerTime but felt more like Mr Wimpy to me. Love it.

This is Speedway and it's kinda like an early Spy Hunter or Major Motion. Hmm...

Runner demands quick control action - you'll regret not reading the FAQ text file!

I only ever played Penetrator on the ZX Spectrum... and this isn't as good!

Hang on, is that Berserk? No, it's Robot Attack and completely different. Honest.

Limit Zero is absolutely superb and something you should play!!

ScarfMan? Okay, it's getting silly now...

Lunar Lander is a cracking conversion but too slow for an 8MHz ST to handle.

Gameboy

Taking a break from the norm

Handheld console fans rejoice, for the "Gameboy" has arrived on the Atari ST thanks to a piece of cool public domain software by Ingo Linkweiler. Well, umm, no it hasn't really but, instead we have a program that features three games: Tetris, Pacman and Snake. It runs in GEM - any resolution - and can be installed as an ACC (which I preferred).

Open the ACC and hit any key to begin. The cursor keys can be used to control all three games: in Tetris, Left/Right moves the falling blocks, Up turns them around while Down drops 'em to the floor. Pacman uses these keys to make haste around his maze of weird 'ghosts'. Whereas Snake is quite the discrepancy but, I oddly enjoyed it. A lot!

The Atari ST has hundreds of nifty ACCs and many of which are games. That's kinda cool when you think about it and I love finding little nuggets of ST history like this. Gameboy is a fantastic ACC and I think Ingo created something of a good idea here, especially with Tetris. Sadly, Pacman's controls are quite tanky and Snake is certainly an (ahem) challenge! But, what did you expect in 20Kb? Exactly. So this program is worth checking out because I loved it and my opinion rules. Ahem.

Click here if you're dying to make GEM cool again. Let me know what you think!


Gameboy Emulator

---

Wait, don't go!! The fun doesn't need to stop if you're willing to reboot your Atari ST and quit its little green desktop for something different? If so, then The Untouchables have something rather neat for you. It's called the "Gameboy Emulator" and it looks the part with a version of Space Invaders and Tetris which includes a sampled background tune.

Okay, their Space Invaders is harsh and hardly complete but it's smooth and very likeable, at least for the one game. Yes, I said one game (hit ESC afterwards). Tetris is excellent and very impressive. It reminds me of what I saw on a friend's Gameboy back in the day. Yup, definitely a nice albeit fake emulator and I liked a lot.

Clickety-Click to see more and download the Nuntundu Uboy.

Nesulator

---

Hang on? Were you just about to leave this amazing Atari ST website? Shame on you... Okay, for those brave enough to stay, you may be interested in an emulator by Ed Cleveland? To be honest, it's very power-hungry and requires a lot of processing power - a lot more than the stock 8MHz ST can deliver. Also, it's beta and wasn't ever finished so there's a lot to be desired. However, it's fun and my Mega STe performed well but I am wondering how a Falcon or TT would be... sigh!

Take a look at NESulator and remember to check out the "Emulation" section on this cool website :)

PC Ditto

Ugh, I hate Winblows PCs!!

I thought I'd have a quick play with PC-Ditto, an old emulator by Avant-Garde Systems. Now, please do note that I've never owned a PC in my life but I remember tinkering with the one (and only) Amstrad PC that our college had in 1987. So, I figured this would be a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Well, maybe!

For anyone interested, AtariCrypt has an emulator section with lots more :)

A stock Atari ST is more than capable of running this emulator just fine. Many DOS programs will also run fine. However, you should probably forget it for games. I used my own Mega STe which barely had the horsepower to handle numerous games. So, in my video recording, Hatari is running a 16Mhz to simulate the real machine here on my desk.

Pah, the idea of using DOS for gaming or home computing makes me shudder. Terrible idea but, read on...

I had little luck with Castle Wolfenstein (a bad copy?) but Serpentine ran pretty well.

How did it go with this DOS malarkey?

Surprisingly, I did have some success as you can see in the video which shows me booting DOS 3.3 and then loading a selection of rubbish games. The first is Serpentine, which was definitely the best of the bad bunch and I enjoyed eating the other slo-mo snakes. I then rebooted to try something called David's Kong. Ugh, this is absolutely laughable so please don't waste your time!

Next up was Bird-Brain which didn't seem to work very well because the keys specified on the main menu didn't work for me. Instead, I suffered rapid beeping sound which was rather annoying!! So yet another reboot was called for so I could try Castle Wolfenstein. Ohh, I had such high hopes for this game but alas it didn't appear to run properly and then oddly got itself caught in a loop?

I then loaded Space Commanders which slowed my Mega STe down to the speed of a Casio calculator for some insane reason. In the video recording, I could cheat by hitting CMD X to speed up Hatari but that didn't really help too much. No loss anyhow because this is a ludicrously bad shoot 'em up!!

I was now beginning to lose the will to live and only had one game left: Buck Rogers Planet Of Zoom which is one of my favourite ZX Spectrum games. Sadly, it wasn't (umm) too playable due to slow speeds but I managed a couple of minutes before PC-Ditto disappointly froze for some reason!

Oh boy, how did the PC win the computer war? The worst Kong and Invaders I've ever played!!

The CryptO'pinion?

This was fun and I enjoyed (temporarily) turning my ST into an Intel paperweight. Games will generally require more CPU grunt but I doubt anyone would abandon the ST's archive for any of these horrendous DOS equivalents? Of course, not being a hardware product meant overall performance was always sluggish, even on my 16MHz Mega STe.

PC Ditto did a grand job at running DOS and many programs and other utilities. However, I wouldn't bother using this for games - unless I had something beefy like a TT or Falcon. Overall, this is a pretty good product depending on your needs. But I'll stick with my Atari ST. So, with that in mind, we are left with one final thing to do: del *.*  😇

You can find PC-Ditto on the great AtariMania or by using Old Games Finder. You will also need the operating system and DOS 3.3 is downloadable from Atari-Forum thanks to Jake/Depression. I found many compatible DOS games on various different of websites - I really liked My Abandonware. Enjoy yourself!

Central Cavern

Welcome to the caverns!

This is a short video of the Atari ST emulating the ZX Spectrum and running Matthew Smith's classic platformer. Please note, that this emulator struggles on a stock 8MHz ST when it comes to audio and scrolling the screen. Of course, this game doesn't scroll but the background tune pushes its luck, so I turned it off for better performance (it's then at the speed of the original, almost). You can find out more about Speccy Emulator by clicking here. Enjoy my video recording :)

Amiga!!

Hell just froze over!

Sorry guys, I'm leaving the Atari ST scene because I prefer a slower computer and have decided to switch. Okay, okay, don't sweat it as I'm joking!! The image above shows a clip from the infamous "Amiga Emulator" by Philip Nelson. This is nothing more than a bit of fun and found on the Stonish website - I recommend Quartet #30.

Right then, enough of this silliness... let's boot up the ST and enjoy a faster and better 16-bit computer!!

C64

Commodore 64?!!

Okay, I'd bet good money that this was the last thing you expected to see here on an Atari website? Well, I've had this C64 emulator on my drive for a while and figured that it was about time to do something with it. So I started my day by trawling through Old Games Finder looking for cool games that I remembered seeing in C&VG magazine in the early/mid-80s. I wanted to play Pitfall, Manic Miner and Staff Of Karnath but sadly, I had zero success.

However, others did work (with a caveat of displaying text instead of jazzy pixels) and some crashed the emulator. Yes, I should have read the docs first - lol - yeah right. Basically, almost all games aren't supported if they demand fancy scrolling, sprites or joystick control, etc. What might work are applications, educational titles and so on. Including magazine Type-Ins and many text adventures (impressive, but hardly worth my hassle over the last few hours?)

Before we carry on, AtariCrypt has a section dedicated to emulation which you can access by clicking on me right now. Anyhow, would you like to see a screenshot of my programming skills taking full advantage of the virtual hardware?

I thought so! Check this out and it's probably a good idea to make some notes to learn from me...

B.A.S.I.C.

Yes, this is the extent of my programming knowledge. Perhaps it's best to leave that be and check out some basic commands instead? Okay, I am no Commie 64 expert but these commands might help get you playing their version of Jetpac...

   LOAD "$",10               (this loads the disk's directory into Ram)
   LIST                      (this lists that directory to screen)
   LOAD "filename.prg",10    (you've guessed it, this loads a program)
   RUN                       (go on, take a stab at what this might do!)

Please note:
     - The "10" is the device ID for my Atari ST's hard drive.
     - If you are running the emulator from floppy disk then you should instead use "8".
     - Copy the Commodore ".PRG" programs into the same directory as the Atari file: "C64.TOS".
     - C64 emulation was tested on my 8MHz Atari STe and then Hatari (same spec) for the animation, above.

The CryptO'pinion?

I'm not sure who to credit for this emulator but he/she did a great job and the docs indicate many useful intentions. This has been fun and the Commodore 64 is a decent machine (shush don't tell anyone). However, there is no real support for anything more than tinkering. So seeing pixels or playing games was never gonna happen. Plus it would need a faster processor to do much more than you can see in my animation. Having said all that, as is, this is a great emulator and has been a bunch of fun to play with the C64 operating system and some programs.

Sadly, I'm not sure how much longer I can stand the pain of having C64 software stored on my Atari ST's hard drive... it hurts bad! Yes, I think I should delete this evil software and get back to playing properly with my computer ;)

If you fancy a dollop of Commodore fun, the best download (that I've found) is on disk LAN-0066 via Floppyshop and it includes the documentation. Additionally, Old Games Finder can link to zillions of C64 stuff in the .PRG format. Go on, give this a playtest and let me know how you get on in the comments below.

EasyAraMiNT

Putting old hardware to good use...

Aranym is a piece of software by Petr Stehlik that helps create a virtual Atari computer capable of running GEM software at lightning speeds. However, most find Aranym rather awkward to set up from scratch so a fella called Philippe Noble has developed something special called EasyAraMint. This is a "ready-to-go" installation using EasyMint 1.18 which provides an incredible multitasking environment using the power of the host, be that a Mac or PC.

As you can see in my "expertly recorded" video, I'm using an old Mac Mini that was donated to me (thanks Mum!). My video shows me using unix 'scp', viewing images, reading a PDF, listen to tunes, and playing Doom before ending with some web browsing. Yes, this is as geeky as it gets. Love it!! :-)

EasyAraMint can be installed in minutes, literally. It also comes pre-installed with many Atari programs. Philippe has done an outstanding job with this ready-to-go multitasking OS. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Aranym and EasyAraMiNT can be downloaded and tinkered with so let me know what you create!

I accessed another Mac via FTP and chatted online with a friend. What a geek I am!!



The command line might not look much fun so I jazzed up this screenshot with PixArt...

Not all websites display perfectly but what do you expect for free? Good enough, I say :o)



After browsing the web, why not read a PDF document and listen to some background tunes too!

Jetpac

Not the Speccy again?

I love it when you find something new - at least new to me. After decades of using an Atari ST, I stumbled upon something I'd never heard of - an emulator called Artemis. It's a Z80/ZX Spectrum emulator by Jörg Tochtenhagen and Ralf Hemsing and features numerous options for the technically minded - and seems to perform very well indeed.

Feel free to tinker with the configuration but the overall performance -as is- is more than acceptable on the stock ST. That's actually a relief because Artemis doesn't work properly on faster computers plus there is no support for colour, meaning your game is in black and white. Even more peculiar is that we only have one game - Jetpac

The game comes in a format I've not heard of before --> .PRO

Can anyone help to find out more information or perhaps more games in .PRO format?

Playing Jetpac is never a bad thing and even though it's not as good as the real machine (or indeed the Speccy emulator) it is great to find something new. So, Artemis comes with no documentation, lacks colour support, and doesn't work properly with computers other than the stock 8MHz Atari ST/e. I loved finding this from deep inside the ST archives!

Download: Floppyshop disk "UTL-3025"

NES

Hang on, isn't this an Atari website?

Nesulator is a collection of programs by Ed Cleveland that emulate five famous Nintendo/NES games: Donkey Kong Jr, Castlevania, Dig Dug, Mario and The Legend Of Zelda. Each program is the same emulator but dedicated to that particular game. This package was released at STNICCC 2000 but sadly never completed - a massive shame. However, as is, they show the outstanding potential that this project offered - with Dig Dug performing the best I thought.

Thankfully, we can still get to play with these betas and have some fun - remembering that they are unfinished!! You will need an upgraded Atari ST or something like the Falcon because each game demands lots of horsepower to run at an acceptable speed. A fantastic piece of software (on all but 8MHz STs) but I sure wish Ed would have finished his work...

I now wish I could go back in time to tell myself NOT to sell my TT or Falcon. Yep, sad isn't it?

- Screenshots and a download from Demozoo -

ZX81

The good old days?

Back in the 90s, Christoph Zwerschke developed a Sinclair ZX81 emulator for the Atari ST. Believe it or not but I've never actually owned or even used this old Sinclair computer before! From what I know, this computer is mute and cannot make a sound! Plus the graphics are actually made up of monochrome blocks rather than colourful pixels. Yikes!

This might all sound rather lame but there is a certain charm to the itsy-bitsy computer with less processing power than your average kettle. So I powered on this quirky computer and even took a stab at programming... Well...

10 PRINT "ATARICRYPT ROCKS YOUR ST WORLD"
20 GOTO 10
RUN L

The good news is that even the stock Atari ST should be able to run any of its games perfectly fine - from either a floppy or (better still) a hard drive device. However, if you feel that the ZX81 is running in overdrive, then hit the UNDO key and adjust the speed limiter. I needed to do this for Pac-Man which was otherwise insanely too fast!

Yep, I might never have owned a ZX81 but I was shocked to discover many games that are surprisingly very playable. Albeit without sound or pixels... For starters, 3D Monster Maze by Malcolm Evans is a great example and is highly regarded as one of the best reasons why people many adore this old paperweight. Truly, this game is way ahead of its time and perhaps even the first survival horror game using a first-person perspective? (check out Retro Resolution for a review!).

I gotta say, Mazogs is something else!! (have you played Bugziacs?)

The CryptO'pinion?

This is a fantastic emulator and one that feels complete and robust. It provides an opportunity to play games from an era when fancy graphics and 3D sounds weren't necessary. A time when only gameplay mattered (tell that to today's millennials). Give it a whirl and boot up this fantastic emulator to flip your Atari ST into a Sinclair ZX81.

Party like it's 1981 and have tons of fun. Win, Win!! :^) Scroll down for more ZX81 games that I really liked...

I was also equally impressed by the simplicity of Galaxians.

Castle Of Carmain is just downright awesome fun!!

The mighty 3D Labyrinth is thrilling.