The wife went out shopping and gracefully left me the housework! There is no way I can do these boring chores in silence, so let's power on the ST and play a few toons from the SNDH Archive / SNDH Record
Here is just a selection of my favourite chiptunes at this moment... What are yours??
Nowhere by 505 ( listen / or click the GREEN arrow below! )
Like anything in this life, nothing is perfect. Shockingly, this applies to our Atari ST, which has one characteristic I never cared for: its obscure, ugly, stretched medium resolution. Well, since my colour monitor decided to blow up, I have been happily zipping along in monochrome, which would explain the recent run of high-resolution articles. All were written using the classic, 1st Word Plus. (Go on, you can call me a geek!)
It's hardly a modern word processor bursting with features, but it does the job well. Sure, I can't wait to get my new colour monitor, as I'm missing out on games in glorious 16-bit technicolour. However, I have definitely fallen in love with this crisp black-and-white display, which has met every requirement lately.
Who needs an expensive modern computer? Not me!! Yes, I am mad... :^)
Asteroids is a true arcade classic that has been converted for every home computer. Not to be left out, Megamax released Megaroids in 1985 for the Atari ST. That's right, 1985, when the ST was a baby. Interestingly, they developed it using their own (brand new) C programming tool. Now that's fearless for the time!
The gameplay is, obviously, Asteroids and faithful to that. Shoot the rocks for points, but don't forget to blast the alien ships - for lots more points! Joystick controls are dead easy: "Z" and "X" rotate your craft, and SHIFT fires. Thrust uses "?" The key and SpaceBar activate a hyperspace when you're in trouble.
Graphically, it's different from the original; the vectors are gone, replaced by bitmaps. The ST's high resolution looks stunning, and Megaroids' framerate is superb. The rocks sweep across the screen like butter off a hot knife. Colour systems aren't forgotten, as they're compatible with medium resolution. But this is interlaced to produce 640x400, but with colour. That's right, essentially 640x400 in colour on your TV!!
Sounds are nothing more than you would expect for Asteroids. They're nice and work very well. Especially when you remember this is a 1985 game for a 1985 computer. I'm impressed, all things considered.
Megaroids has an authenticity I admire. The gameplay feels perfect, and I'm shocked that something this good was released the same year as the ST. I'm impressed by the silky-smooth framerate and flicker-free interlace support for colour systems. This is a wonderful conversion with bucket loads of rock blasting!!
N.o.B.I Racing was released by Joytrick (1994) and is a 'snake' clone where we guide 'Alfred' through a series of mazes. Always hungry and on the move, Alfred needs our assistance as he munches everything in his path. However, every time he eats, he grows, and this can become quite embarrassing, especially if he bites into himself. So our task is to help Alfred through the mazes without bumping into his own tail.
Two types of bonus levels appear at frequent intervals, featuring two-player gaming, DMA audio, and support for multiple resolutions. Simple stuff for dexterous players, but soon becomes incredibly fast on later levels against the clock!! NoBI Racing is old-school, and that means it's addictive and a bucketload of fun!!
Mac Pan was released in 1987 by Richard Beith and works in ST High resolution. There are a few integrated features I really liked: hold down the fire button to temporarily increase the yellow guy's speed. Hang on, he's not yellow anymore! Anyhow, the game's speed can be tinkered with in the preferences. The graphics and sounds are pretty good, and there is support for simultaneous 2-player mode.
It's not the best PacMan but I still enjoyed it, and being able to choose the game's speed is a superb idea. It's easy to imagine German office workers in the 80s playing Mac Pan during their lunch break. Monochrome users should jump up & down with excitement because this is an excellent clone of the classic.
ProFlight by Nick Brown of HiSoft - puts us inside a Panavia Tornado. Fancy taking it for a spin, Maverick style? It runs fine on any Atari ST but will benefit from faster computers: my Mega STE delivered an astounding framerate boost. As you can see from the animation, it's compatible with both displays (mono shown).
I remember labouring over ProFlight back in the day, so I wondered how my older (and wiser?) brain would cope with this flight simulator. The main emphasis is on simulated realism, so you're out of luck if you thought this was an arcade-style combat shooter. That doesn't mean it's all work and no play because, once you've got over the hefty learning curve, there is an enjoyable and rewarding experience to be had.
Man, this is such a professional product and one that comes in a large box with a weighty manual - it's like something you would expect from a real flight school! Yes, this is an incredible sim for techie gurus to drool over and certainly one of the most rewarding sims I've played. Please be careful and don't crash it O_o
I fear this game might be too complex for the casual gamer. The sheer number of hours required to fully devote yourself to the game is huge, thanks to its immensely complex design. However, players without kids and with tons of spare time will be rewarded with a fantastic flight-sim experience. Tell me if I'm wrong.
HiSoft is trusting you with their precious plane, which can be enjoyed on a floppy disk or hard drive.
Isn't Diamond Edge a brilliant program? One of its features is 'Test Disk', which scans for potential problems. Only the other day, this saved my bacon because Drive C (a 32MB partition) suddenly reported itself as 22MB. Why, I do not know, but Diamond Edge came to the rescue and fixed several serious errors!!
I have found it particularly useful to optimise (defrag) the partitions in order to better stream audio for (storage) demanding games (Cannon Fodder / Xenon II) or other programs like ST Video Player. I defrag the drives on a monthly basis. Don't get me started with Undelete, another superb part of the Diamond Edge suit.
Diamond Edge is one of the most fundamental utilities for all Atari computers equipped with a hard drive. Anodyne has Diamond Edge freely available to download, along with the manual, too.
