Saturday, November 14, 2015

YOPAZ IceStar






A brand new GEM game!

Yopaz is a new Sokoban-inspired puzzler from Cedric Bourse starring a cheerful little chap with an obsession for collecting stars. It may be a GEM-based program, but don't let that put you off. This is a remarkably slick and polished release, with smooth presentation throughout. Better still, owners of a 4MB Atari STe are treated to ambient background sounds, while the game only requires 1MB without them.

Viewed from above, the playing field represents a small corner of the universe scattered with stars waiting to be collected. Out here in the vastness of space, everything obeys the laws of physics. Once Yopaz starts moving, he is committed to that direction until he collides with something. This makes every move crucial, forcing you to stop, think, and carefully plot your route. Ice blocks can be used to alter your course, while special tiles will teleport you elsewhere on the map. For those craving an even sterner challenge, an advanced mode offers fiendishly clever levels designed to push your brain to its limits. Consider yourself warned.

There is really only one rule here: think before you act.

I genuinely didn't expect to enjoy this game. You know what, I blummin' loved it!!

  • Cedric Bourse, aka Orion_ has a website where you can download a playable demo. He asks only for $4 to purchase the full game. An incredibly low price for such a brilliant puzzler.

Monday, November 09, 2015

Bootsie





A boot sector program that's useful

Bootsie is a utility by Stefan Krey that writes a boot sector on a floppy to perform system init functions. These are useful for Atari's with a hard drive or those fortunate enough to own a MSTE, TT, or Falcon. By default, my Mega STe boots up in an 8MHz "compatibility mode", which is great for gaming but lame for everything else. Also, the boot process from start to end will be slower than if it were running at 16MHz.

Enter Bootsie to set the processor speed to steroid mode! And it can do more cool stuff, such as CPU caching, activating the Blitter chip, 60Hz display, etc. What a fantastic utility that helps make a computer as ultra-zippy as possible. Download it right now from Atari ST Essential Software List.