Atari 1040 STf

When eBay proves fruitful

I've bought an Atari ST and SM125 on eBay. However, both are in terrible condition! Very dirty with many battle scars and what looks like scorch marks near the power unit area. I took the chance and won the bid for a shocking 99 pence. Yep, less than one pound and that included the monitor as well :-)

Once home, I began the cleaning - it took a long time!! This old computer must have suffered fire damage at some point, judging by the scorch marks inside. It seems to have suffered more damage with several stickers from different repair companies. I hoovered around the floppy drive because of a soot-like sludge that looked like black tar. Plus, a thick bunch of spider webs covered the cables. Quite the toxic state!

After all that work, I'm happy to have this marvellous ST running! Plus, the SM125 is a fantastic monitor. To think of its previous condition with the keyboard grime, burn marks, and all that weird, thick sludge is gross. For once, eBay has produced a bargain, and I'm glad to have rescued this beautiful old computer.

SysInfo reports it to be a 1040 STF with TOS 1.00 and 1MB RAM ...and all for 99 pence. Woop Woop!

Filthy on the outside but worse inside with a thick sludge and cobwebs!!

The old ST scrubbed up beautifully :-)

A Prehistoric Tale

The Lost Boys!!

If there were ever giants in the Atari ST demoscene, these fellas were it. In 1990, they ventured into the gaming world with A Prehistoric Tale, published by Thalion. So, how does it play, and can a demo group create a good game? We all remember Enchanted Land. Talent doesn’t always translate to great gameplay.

Fans of Chuckie Egg or Panic will feel at home as we’re transported back to a time when dinosaurs roamed and a constant threat of being eaten alive looms. But amidst this danger, we encounter sexy cavewomen who resemble Raquel Welch. Our mission is to collect dinosaur eggs to prevent the extinction of all mammals.

Transport these eggs to the teleport for safekeeping, but be warned, there’s a time limit (ugh, I hate time limits!!), and you can only carry three eggs at a time unless you use an egg basket. To complicate matters further, the teleport changes location after each use, and numerous spiders and other prehistoric creatures constantly appear. Oh, don’t forget to watch out for the swarms of Pterodactyls!

The graphics are reminiscent of the 8-bit era, boasting a lovely 16-bit quality. It feels just like we're playing a demo by The Lost Boys! The audio is equally impressive, thanks to Jochen Hippel. His gorgeous chiptune beats will have you tapping your foot along. To say the audio is fantastic would be an understatement.

A Prehistoric Tale is straightforward, but beneath its humble exterior lies a surprisingly challenging game that keeps you on your toes. Even the most skilled player will find it difficult, but with practice, you’ll love it.

See, the demoscene can make excellent games, and this is nothing less than just that!!

• Downloads are available for floppy, and 8BitChip has an HDD version.
• The Lost Boys archive is stored on Demozoo.

Is that a teleporter, or has he simply eaten all his Ready Brek!

The pixel art animation when dropping off a ledge is hilarious!!

Storm 94

Alien Breed?

Storm 94 is a shooter developed in STOS by Marcus Platt / Fugitive Freelancers in 1994 for the Atari STe. It's based on the alien theme with a style reminiscent of Alien Blast and Alien Thing and released by LAPD.

Like other similarly inspired games, we explore a spaceship whilst suffering an onslaught from the ravenous alien baddies. These are (of course!) relentless, so shoot first and never bother asking silly questions! Ammo, health and security keys are littered throughout the levels but if you find yourself needing extra, they can be purchased from the computer terminals. Our job is to find key cards to operate the airlock, allowing us to escape.

My only quibble is the time limit which is way too short!! If you notice the screen turning red, you're near death!! This game doesn't need a timer whatsoever and ...umm... spoils itself somewhat. I hope somebody like PP gets a hold of this game and adapts/removes its timer. Then I should be able to see more of the game.

I liked Storm '94, its action and strategic elements are superb. Sadly, I wasn't able to get far because of its timer. A great shooter that could easily have been 10x better without a timer. We need this hacked!

ATARI STM (...continued)

I thought it was time I followed up on my previous article concerning my Atari STM. I have opened it up for a good clean and it powered on perfectly. Sys Info reports: 1mb Ram / TOS 1.2 / GEM 0.13 / AES 1.20 and I have successfully connected up my external floppy disk drive to play games. Yes, I'm a happy bunny :)

This is such a cool-looking computer and super-compatible for games. I now need to buy myself a pair of midi cables for Midi Maze against my 6-year-old daughter. Yes, I sense so many easy victories ahead!!