lotharek

Thank you Lotharek

Shortly before Christmas, the hard drive inside my Mega STE died. Thankfully, I had just backed it up the previous day (how lucky am I) but this did give me a big kick up the backside to invest in something better. After all, it was the original 47MB SCSI from 1991 so it was only a matter of time before it went BOOM!! ;-)

Lotharek is selling the Ultrasatan on their web store and I bought one. It's quite something to go from a noisy 47MB drive to a fast and silent SD card offering much more space. I must say, Lotharek are quick, as this arrived on Christmas Eve so I'm spending the holidays playing! The possibilities appear limitless because I am no longer struggling with meagre storage. Lotharek's UltraSatan is a brilliant piece of Jookie kit. Buy this!!

Why not use your UltraSatan to game or enjoy a few demos...

One of the most famous 16-bit shoot 'em ups ever - Xenon II Megablast. This will always be a firm favourite of mine so it was exciting to hear Peter Putnik had doctored it back in January with his magic. The game now streams 25Khz music directly using the Ultrasatan (sorry STFM guys - this feature requires the audio co-processor hardware of the Atari STe). What a jaw-dropping upgrade!! Such an unbelievably huge size for an ST game and worth it. I certainly hope Peter converts more games in the future!

Drone, an Atari STe demo which I would personally rank as a masterpiece. Stunning audio, artwork and presentation.... all far beyond excellent. It was released back in 2012 by the legendary Dead Hackers and is a whopping 11+MB. It was released for Sommarhack to pay special tribute to the Ultrasatan. This is one of the best demos I've ever experienced.

Merry Christmas

Mario on the Atari ST?

Super Stario Land was released in 1995 by Top Byte and might remind you of a certain game featuring an Italian plumber? Yep, it's pretty darn similar but this isn't merely a cheap clone but a great game in its own right that offers fantastic amusement. It's a delight to play with controls that are both easy and responsive so feels authentic.

The graphics scroll by at a smooth 50fps with fine attention to visual detail, if small by ST standards. Sound effects are pretty chirpy and suit the console-style but, if you press F9, then music will play by Big Alec. I love this game. It's like having a Nintendo with a keyboard! It's hard but it's also a brilliant platformer which is great fun.

What? Do you want more?

Stario's Christmas was released in 1996 and is basically more of the same - but within a Christmassy winter wonderland appearance. It's equal, in every way, to the first so if you enjoyed that then you're sure to love this.

Yep, two superb platformers to play over the holidays. Merry Christmas everyone †

Download hard disk versions via 8BitChip

and the floppies via Old Games Finder.

3D con kit

I've always been interested in 3D from my early computing years as a kid with a ZX Spectrum and games like Ant Attack, Deathchase and then the mind-boggling Knight Lore/Alien 8. Those games just blew my mind, so when I came across 3D Construction Kit for the Atari ST - I was delighted.

After a little googling, I found a fantastic web resource by Stuart Wilson which I'm hoping will prove to be useful and help me get the best from this program. They also run a FaceBook community page (link below).

3D Construction Kit is an old but excellent application for making your own virtual worlds. This video is the actual VHS recording that was released back in the day which is fascinating and explains many aspects of the program nicely. There are lots of projects already created on the Atari ST and many are excellent :-)

At my request, Peter Putnik has graciously adapted 3D Construction Kit so it can now be installed and ran from hard disk - so download this instead of the floppies! Plus those faster computers can make use of their power and my own 16Mhz Mega STe runs beautifully! :-)

Stu-Wilson’s website for 3D Construction Kit [and their dedicated FaceBook page]

SWIV

Blue Thunder

Sometimes you need a stress release from this strange world and today I did just that thanks to SWIV. Wow, what an exceptional shooter - I blasted the living daylights out of those military bad boys using my massive chopper! Hang on... Nevermind... This game has great graphics, sounds and timeless action. Love it all.

Yup, this is a cracking game so I decided to record a video. Please subscribe to my channel as 95% of visitors aren't. Oddly, the emulator was a little slower compared to my real Atari STe and the sound effects were not quite as loud. Perhaps it's just me but I felt a difference. But, nothing ever beats the real hardware.

Klaz has a fantastic download that can even be installed onto a hard drive!

Just for giggles... Moments ago, my hard drive started to make strange whirring noises, almost like it was trying to spin-up, but couldn't. You know, I think SWIV actually killed it!! I shouldn't complain because it was the original drive and therefore about 24 years old. Now that's value for money!

We Were @

Note - the video was recorded using an emulator and YouTube suffers the quality somewhat.

If you can, watch it on a real Atari computer - the way it was meant to be enjoyed :-)

BRACE YOURSELF!!

This is a brand new Atari STe demo that was released 2 days ago by the mighty Leonard, of Oxygene. Yes, he has always been one of the most uniquely talented programmers but this production blew me away. Check out that Roto Zoomer! Do watch the end credits which feature many interesting details about the coding.

Truly amazing STuff. A beautiful production and undoubtedly one of the best 16-bit demos!! [download]

Credits:
Clawz - Music
Leonard - Code
MoN - Graphics

Trans D-Bug Express

Save our floppy!

D-Bug's TDE is a program to convert floppies into MSA disk images. I know there are excellent apps already out like Jay MSA and Magic Shadow Archiver but TDE works at a technically lower level and therefore has more success with those crusty old floppies. In fact, even if TDE fails with a dead part of a disk, it still offers you the option to save a good image. Thus you're able to partially rescue the contents.

This is such an excellent and essential utility!

Update October 2020

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Version v1.05 is out and with lots of changes: low RAM reqs, low-level FDC code, faster code, Drive B support, and compatible with all Atari computers. See the readme file within the download.

Fernandez Must Die

Let's kill everyone!!

ImageWorks released this cool shoot 'em up in 1988 and is pretty much another Commando/Ikari Warriors clone designed to unleash our inner combat soldier. Every time I play, I'm reminded of those A-Team episodes in a dodgy part of South America. Just like the TV show, an evil dictator is causing havoc but B.A. Baracus refused to get on the plane! So we're on our own; grab a weapon and head out to the killing fields, soldier!

The war zone is stuffed with enemy soldiers and their slow-flying bullets that we can easily dodge. Our weapon of choice is a machine gun with unlimited ammo but we have a rocket launcher for extra firepower. Some buildings can be plundered by blowing off the door with dynamite which is useful in ammunition depots! We're not only on foot as vehicles can be utilised. And what's better than the option of mowing down a few soldiers?

The visuals are 1980s using a clean cartoon style for the soldiers and buildings. It's colourful and interesting to explore the terrain looking for enemies to blast. Not only that but ImageWorks didn't wimp out and employ smooth scrolling. The audio is great with sampled sounds used for the effects. No complaints from me.

This is one of those games I'm glad I bought because it's fantastic fun and highly addictive without ever taking itself seriously. Fernandez Must Die might have zero originality but it makes up for that with bucketloads of gun-love action. This is an awesome Commando shooter and possibly my favourite for the Atari ST!!

Get out on that battlefield, soldier!
Arm yourself with a floppy or hard disk.

Bullets flying and armouries to loot. This is just like being part of the A-Team!!

Watch out for sneaky soldiers hiding in the trees and also those operating gun turrets.

The action comes thick and fast and the onslaught of soldiers never ceases. Oops, I died!!