Overscan Invaders

Overscan Invaders was released in 1994 by Janet Dean under the esteemed Budgie UK licenceware label. Obviously, this is a Space Invaders clone but one with a rather unexpected twist not normally exploited. Yes, I think you've guessed it? It's running in overscan so uses lots of extra pixels and also breaks the 16-colour limit.

This is a great twist on the original Space Invaders which plays as well as I'd have hoped and is really addictive. Ironically, it's the sound effects which I love the most - yes, even more than the overscan! They are superb and so authentic. Just listen to the video recording for all those childhood memories to come flooding back.

Overscan Invaders is definitely one of the better clones and I’m sure any Invader fan will love it. I did.

Team

Jumpers For Goalposts

Team is a soccer game released in 1995 (late in the day that, eh) by a dedicated company called Impact Software. Specifically developed by Ralph Lovesy on the Atari STe, it makes full use of the enhanced hardware often ignored by commercial companies: extra colours, 50fps hardware scrolling, Blitter and DMA audio. Wow!! O_o

Disclaimer... If I'm brutally honest, I feel unqualified to review Team as I'm not a soccer fan. However, from what I have played, I was impressed. I'm hardly a convert but I did enjoy running around the pitch and having a good kick about! But not knowing the game's technicalities stopped me from progressing further. Interestingly, there is a friendly mode that displays much of the game's styles and playability, like passing, tactics, and tackles. Hmm, sounds like fun?

Well, it is and I've surprisingly enjoyed playing this pointless game of runaround. The tactics and strategy elements are limited with little beyond picking your team and conditions to endure, like a muddy pitch or windy weather. But that's good, right? Who would wanna play any kind of Football Manager? Erm, forget I said that!

Anyhow, as an arcade/sports game, it's impressive. I genuinely enjoyed playing a few games - the control of each player is fast and responsive with accuracy and precision. That means it's quick to move around the pitch and the ball was easy to get a hold of and went where I wanted to kick it! Look, if you're a footy fan, then I'm sure you'll love it. I know I did.

It's about now, I end my chitter-chatter with some screenshots. Not this time! How about a video instead...

Remember, I'm not a fan but I have managed to record a little video. Note the overscan!

Graphics!

Have you watched and enjoyed that video? Okay, check out the two images, below, that cunningly display just what Team has hidden up its sleeve? Yep, overscan is used to drastically increase the playable area. Oddly, the footballer's sprites are small but their movements are fast and the screen is fluently moving at a smooth 50fps. But, from what I've seen of most other footy games, this is normal. I suppose it wouldn't work very well if they had giants on the pitch!

The animations are great for the tiny players. The pitch colours are deep and strong and I liked the subtle use of colourful styles in the menus. But, come on, having the gameplay in overscan is simply amazing. Once again, the Atari STe proves itself (as the most under-utilised computer on the planet). Kudos to the skill and commitment of Ralph Lovesy.

Right, let's see what I mean. Two images below, the first normal and the second overscan enabled...

    

The left image is captured at the standard resolution of 320x200 whereas gameplay uses overscan!

Plink Plonk Sounds?

Sound effects are good - when you hear them. Perhaps that's the norm in these types of games, but I found the stadiums eerily lacking in atmosphere and ambience. It's annoyingly silent for most of the game. Okay, there are kicking effects and the odd Ref whistle blow but it's pretty lame and a lot more was needed. Like the roar of the crowd being heard frequently. Perhaps I'm wrong but hearing the fans in the background feels like the weakest part of the entire game.

Thankfully, the music is excellent with cheesy MOD music throughout the various menus. It's tacky but in stereo with the tracker routines developed by a familiar name from the Atari ST demoscene - GRIFF. How cool is that?!!

I couldn't stomach another grassy screenshot so how about another pic of the box art (rear). Brace yourself...

The front cover was... different... and the back of the box isn't much better ;-)

The CryptO'pinion?

Look, I was never gonna be blown away but, I had lots of fun which shocked me seeing as I hate soccer! Whether it's better than Kick Off, Sensible Soccer, or even Speedball, I couldn't say. I will say this, as a hater of a boring sport, Team was seriously entertaining. So take it for a kickabout and try it for yourself? Hey, if I can enjoy footy then I reckon anyone can...

Take it for a kickabout and I'm sure you'll enjoy it so let me know what you think in the comments below.

Download from 8bitchip which has been adapted for HDD!

Old Games Finder has access to floppy disk images.

Team's author, Ralph Lovesy, was interviewed for Maggie #16.

Fullscreen Construction Kit

I've a thing for overscan!

The Atari ST/e might not officially support overscan but that hasn't stopped many games, demos, programs and more from making use of it. There's a lot out there with many already featured here on AtariCrypt not to mention the ability to activate overscan within GEM. Yep, the Atari ST is a versatile machine and often underrated.

Anyhow, Fullscreen Construction Kit is a cool utility program developed by FMC Connexion to display high-resolution pictures using this same overscan technique. It works by piecing together four Degas images which ultimately join up to generate the finishing picture. This image can be viewed on your ST using the program provided.

The process is simple but I had difficulties with the palettes because I'm not gifted when it comes to art!! Hence the reason Milla is in greyscale and the dog is red, not brown. Also, it's worth noting that I found it easier to create the blocks using my Mac but there are online tools available to split images.

Six test images are already on the floppy plus you also have the ability to create your own. This set of image blocks [by Killer D] should give you an understanding of what's expected from budding artists? But even those without any skills (me!!) should be fine, so why not give this program a playtest to see what overscan goodies you can create?

This is a belting program and I've enjoyed dabbling! Let me know what you think of it in the comments below.

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.

Tecnoball

It's Brick Buster time!

Tecnoball Z was published in 1991 by TLK Game and is a Breakout conversion developed by Pierre Denis. Oddly, I had never heard of this game until a good friend happened to mention it a few weeks ago (thanks Paul). Sadly, I have no idea whether it was ever officially released over here in the UK. Does anyone know?

Okay, we all love a quick blast of Breakout/Arkanoid now and then; olde classics have stood the test of time for a reason. I would say Arkanoid is the most well-known, unless you're an ST guy then it's perhaps Bolo. I'm always open to an alternative, especially when it's an Atari ST game I have never played before!!

Okay, let's take a look at a screenshot with its strange colour scheme and... erm... something else...

Here, I held onto the ball whilst blasting the bricks with a weird laser weapon. Sweet!!

It's 1976 all over again?

The first thing that struck me was the use of overscan for a larger display but the brick-busting gameplay remains much the same. Each screen has a different collection of blocks that must be cleared using your bat and ball and, with each hit, points are earned with a chance of spawning cash, power-ups and sometimes enemies.

The mouse controls are great; precise and accurate just as you would hope. However, it isn't long until you realise that the physics is 'different' as the ball often doesn't react as expected. Manipulating strikes using the different parts of the bat doesn't work and might even force the ball to bounce in a different direction! That means it's tough trying to finish a level when only a few blocks remain! But, there's a power-up in the shop to help with that...

Yep, a shop pops up after each level to offer goodies like extra lives, a bigger bat, weaponry and more. Heck, it's even possible to install extra bats on the remaining three sides of your screen! I like surprises like this plus that silly idea reminded me of the chaos I suffered in Wacko Software's Video Games I. Innovation like this keeps the player interested which is how I managed to clear several levels and defeated a couple of bosses!

Check out my power-up pads on all 4-sides of the play area. It's mental!

Over-what?

Graphically, I like Tecnoball as it's quite futuristic in style and different from the original our Dads used to play ;-) Overscan has been used to great effect and provides a better experience, more arcade-like perhaps because of the extra screen space? The use of colour is good and everything feels smooth but I thought the blocks themselves lacked a bit of pizzazz? Sometimes I did wonder what they were thinking with the choice of colours.

Hey, see how I've not mentioned the guy in the status panel who freaks me out. Darn, I just did...

Sound effects are great using samples for the 'dinks' but there is no in-game chip music so it's almost as quiet as the original, I guess. Even worse, there's no theme tune for the title screen which I found very disappointing.

This is the first boss screen and oddly, it features no blocks!

The CryptO'pinion?

This is a fun take on the original game but the physics are peculiar which acts as a "bug". At one stage, the ball hit an enemy (at the top of the screen) which then ricochets it sideways. The call began bouncing from left-to-right, in a perfectly straight line. Weirdly, that continued for about 30 seconds!! Luckily, it hit a wandering enemy that changed its trajectory so I could carry on playing. Not very good, I'm sure you'll agree?

Having said that, this is still a good game and I enjoyed ploughing through the many levels. The addition of a shop works well to provide a great variety of extra features that helped improve the game massively. Give it and try and see how it compares to your favourite version of Breakout? Let me know in the comments below.

Download the floppy from Stonish on Cobra #27 menu disc.

Gotta love the artwork and even this Game Over screen is in overscan.

Stardust

Meh, another Asteroids?

Stardust was released late in the ST's life by Bloodhouse in 1994 and it's not only one of the last commercial games released but is actually an STe-only product. Developed by several famous names from our great demoscene (thank you Aggression) these guys burnt the midnight oil to deliver a wicked twist on the original Asteroids arcade genre.

It not only plays similarly to that old favourite but also features modern aesthetics for extra zest. Such as ludicrously awesome colours and sampled sound effects; all are quite stunning and complement the frantic action.

Wanna see the war plan? It's technical but translates to "kill everything and don't die!". Check this out...

A clear and accurate war plan, I'm sure you'll agree? lol

Bam! Bam! Bam! Blast the rocks!

There are a total of five levels with each containing six missions. All are host to a variety of rocks along with the expected dangerous baddies. After each level is completed, you must travel through a wormhole-like tunnel onto the next part of the galaxy like something from Buck Rogers or Starwars!! These tunnels are filled to the brim with oncoming rocks for you to dodge or destroy - no easy task but it's a thrilling moment that I never expected to play!

Bonus levels pop up regularly and feel similar to a particular Thrust clone. Note, these are optional but you must be daft to ignore the fun. So don't be daft!! Of course, a game like this wouldn't feel right without End-Of-Level Bosses. Each mission has them and these guys are tough! Much perseverance will be required during these enjoyable romps.

It's time to stop reading and enjoy some pixels! Let's take a peep at another screenshot...

Check out these outstanding and colourful visuals!! Amazing stuff.

Enhanced gaming!!

Stardust is something else. It's on another level with gritty, fast-paced gameplay. The basic mechanics are what you would expect - Asteroids - so it also feels more or less as you would expect. This is awesome because you can jump straight in and begin playing without that learning curve. Heck, it's all about dodging and shooting. Are you tough enough?

The controls are also familiar: left and right will manoeuvre your spacecraft around. Pushing upwards will thrust you forward into hell. Don't worry, we have a shield that aids you during those sticky moments. Finally, our ship's main weapon is more than capable - perfect for gratifying rock-blasting!! Nothing wrong here, folks. This is all super-spacey-gun-fun!

This next screenshot does itself no justice. Seriously cool stage with mind-blowing fx...

Buck Roger's side event is absolutely exceptional. Impossible not to be impressed.

Enhanced Aesthetics

Graphically, Stardust is utterly glorious. Everything is bold and colourful with stunningly smooth animations. The rocks are also something else with jaw-dropping 3D renditions that look beautiful. Not only that but the display is running in overscan!! Yep, it looks so HOT and everything is in overscan which means lots of extra pixels to blast.

Equally impressive; is the audio with beautiful examples of thumping stereo tunes, accompanied by BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! DMA sound effects. This is one shooter that's gonna blow your socks off. If I can offer one piece of advice: crank up the volume!! Yes, I guarantee you will love everything Stardust delivers so turn it up high. No, even higher! :-)

This is one of the best-looking/sounding Atari STe games ever released. Let's have another screenshot...

Look out! Move quick and keep on firing - are your reactions good enough?

The CryptO'pinion?

This is a spectacular showcase of what the Atari STe is capable of when in the hands of people with talent and commitment. These guys didn't simply rehash an old idea or produce a weak Amiga port. No, they unleashed a product that feels fresh and exciting. The effort that everyone put into the gameplay, visuals, and audio is far beyond praiseworthy.

Stardust is a joyride of rock-blasting thrills and a perfect shoot 'em-up. One of the best games I have played.

Download for floppy or hard drive.

STAX #90

Everyone knows I love Menu Disks and there's nothing better than going through a pile of floppy disks - even just to listen to the tunes or read through a scroller relevant 30-odd years ago! Yes, it all sounds rather sad to anyone under 50? ;-) Ignoring that, here is a belter by STAX - it's their 90th disk and features a nice intro followed by a couple of demos and games - which are all impressive for different reasons. The rest of their disks (and more) are available on Demozoo and Pouet.

Menu disks are an exciting part of the ST world and I've enjoyed this feature so I'm thinking I should do more?

- Aromatica -

Aromatica is a collection of old skool demo screens by The Swedish Meatballs and features lots of scrollers with extra colours and chiptunes. It reminded me of the days prior to the Union Demo, which is no bad thing. There's nothing here to blow you away, but I still enjoyed flicking through this neat collection. Definitely worth a look.

- Flight Over Sirius -

If you love dots then you're gonna fall big time for this dentro by The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. There are several cool effects here with a fantastic chiptune. And just wait until you see those end credits with that diagonal scroller!! I felt it could have sped up a little with each section but I really enjoyed this fantastic demo.

- Snacman -

Everyone loves running around a maze popping pills with Pac Man and the Atari ST/e already has a number of fantastic clones. Snacman was developed by Ralph Lovesy of Impact Software, the same team that gave us ... Team for the Atari STe! Multiple players are also supported using a combination of keyboard/joystick.

For one-player things are pretty much what you'd expect with PacMan even sporting some cool shades. Four ghosts haunt the maze: Eeney, Meeney, Miney and Mo and chomping a power star turns the tables on them. Fruits are available for extra points and a freebie life is awarded when reaching 20,000. Also, you can grab a couple of isolated family members and huddle around the ST to play as Eenie and Meeney? This is a brilliant feature being able to chase Snacman around the screen - watch the end of my video recording for a quick demonstration.

Visually, there's little to spruce up this oldtimer but that's exactly what they've done using gorgeous colours. Music is by Greg Lovesy and best heard on the Atari STe with stereo tunes on the title and also in-game!!

Snacman is tons of fun and implementing support for more players - as the ghosts - is fantastic. You and your kids will be playing Snacman for hours - especially those plucky Atari STe dudes who get to hear stereo music. Crank up the volume and enjoy what is nothing less than a fantastic game of PacMan. An easy 10/10.

- Masters Of Chaos -

Now, this is an interesting one and I first thought we had another Dungeon Master clone on our hands but it's actually a two-player shoot 'em up developed by Genuwax Games. Yes, one or two players are supported either using the same computer or connected via Midi. The screen is split using separate gameplay windows for each person and it's now that your jaw drops to the floor thanks to the use of overscan for a ginormous display!

As player one, we move and shoot with the WASD key combination and 1-4 to handle objects/buttons (a second player uses the numerical keypad). Exploring the halls feels instantly familiar with basic puzzles and hidden doorways. Our health, stamina and mana are all shown as the green bars. Blasting out a couple of fireballs is your best defence when coming face-to-face with any of the dungeon's nasties! The ripped graphics look superb, especially in overscan! However, there are no sound effects which is disappointing and oddly freaky.

This was a fascinating find and not something that I ever expected. As a shooter, it works quite well but there are no sound effects, few monsters and it's easy to get lost - unless you've got a pen and paper at hand? Okay, I could live with the silence but it needed many more monsters for my liking. Overall, a unique-presented game which is best in multiplayer.

Credits to Damon Chaplin for the background music (from The Last Trooper)

SuPer eXcellent graphics demo

I made a thing

Yep, I've been enjoying another doodle on my Atari ST and if you wanna see more of my work then click here for a laugh. Okay, this time I've been experimenting with SPX, a technology created by Electronic Images in the early 90s. This magically stitches several Spectrum 512 pics into one ginormous image displayed in scrollable overscan.

I've always loved the idea of the SPX format and remember buying several PD disks back in the day. Of course, most of the pictures were titillating girls or something of a fantasy theme (no complaints from me). The potential of huge Spectrum 512 images, in overscan, was quite mind-blowing at the time. (ignore my capture, the scrolling is silky smooth).

SuPer eXcellent Graphics Demo can be downloaded from my Dropbox. Be warned, it's big. In fact, too big to fit onto a real floppy as I got carried away and made lots of SPX images, so installation is intended for a hard drive or Ultrasatan. However, I have made a huge ".ST" image that should work as a good alternative for those using an emulator.

Perhaps you feel inspired to make your own SPX images? I would love to see whatever you guys managed to create - let me know in the comments. Scroll down for more information and I hope you enjoy my humble graphics demo...

Go, create!

Now, reading these instructions might appear dull and longwinded? Possibly far too much hassle if you're as lazy as me? Well, don't worry because it's actually very easy to make your own SPX images. Dead easy, so have a bash:

- Those without any artistic skills, ahem, should download imaged off the internet!! Look for something large, possibly with a clean background and try to select something that uses a portrait ratio.

- Crop that large image into 320x199 segments. (a pixel line is lost due to a limitation of Spectrum 512). This cropping can be done on the ST or a PC/Mac (I used the freebie 'Preview' on my Mac).

- Once you have your image split into several segments, it's best to convert them into GIFs. Again, this can be done on the ST but is probably much quicker on the Mac/PC if I'm honest. Yowzers!

- Now copy all your new GIF files over to the Atari ST.

- Each GIF will need converting into Spectrum 512 format (.SPC) and the best program for that is 'GIF to Atari Spectrum 512 Picture Converter' by Steve Belczyk. A brilliant program and fast too!

- Finally, each SPC file can now easily be imported into SPX Creator for both previewing and, well, creating. All your SPX pictures can be displayed using the dedicated viewer, 'SPX_V18D.PRG'

An example...

Check out this portrait image of Jason Voorhees that I split into three segments on my Mac (look above!). As you can see, I carved it into the relevant sections, which are then converted to GIFs and imported into SPX Creator. A standard ST might take a few minutes to save this fantastic image but it's well worth it (this image is already on the disk).

Credits

Idea and creation were all me - Steve, Crypt Keeper, Strider, AtariCrypt, whatever you call me, it's my fault!!

The real credits

Spectrum 512 - Boris Tsikanovsky.
SPX Creator/Viewer - Electronic Images (Gizmo + The Phantom).
Original images - Everything was freely sourced off the internet with appropriate credit.
AtariMania & Demozoo - two super Atari resources that I used for my dabble.

Programs used

Preview - a freebie Mac program to resize and clip each image into 320x199 segments.
GIF2SPC - a wonderful Atari ST program by Steve Belczyk.
SPX Creator - the program that stitches together each of the GIF pictures into SPX images.

Links

SuPer eXcellent Graphics Demo is the latest AtariCrypt production. Yes, there's more there << O_o
Electronic Images released a load of cool disks so check 'em out on Demozoo.
There are many SPX Slideshows although... I remember more? I should research that!!

PacMania

Popping pills & chasing ghosts!

Pac-Mania was released in 1989 by Grandslam and is based on the arcade classic which was a nice conversion and generally well-received at the time. This new "3D" game saw our pill-popper change from an overhead 2D perspective to a fancy isometric viewpoint and, because the play area was so large - it scrolled. Which is an ace idea I gotta say!

Pacman himself also had an upgrade by having the ability to jump - even though he has no legs! Sadly, the Atari ST version suffered a smaller screen because it lacked hardware scrolling and, as a result, featured a large status panel. Don't get me wrong, something had to give but the game still featured smooth scrolling and definitely wasn't a lame port.

Here is a screenshot of the original ST game (note, I've left in the top/bottom borders for a reason)...

As you can see, it looks great albeit with that overly large status panel taking up a lot of space.

Gee, how would an Atari STe have coped?

Well, I'm glad you asked! Entering into the 16-bit arena is Samuel (aka Zamuel_A) with an upgrade specifically designed to make maximum use of the Atari STe and its lovely enhanced hardware. Firstly, the gameplay now takes place in overscan opening up the gameplay arena in ways you cannot imagine. The entire screen flows along at a silky-smooth 50fps thanks to the hardware scrolling in all four directions (a much under-utilised feature of this computer).

But that's not all, the Blitter handles all the sprites and the DMA audio hardware plays the sampled sound effects with our sweet YM2149 banging out wonderful chiptunes - better than Tracker MODs!! Technically, this is far beyond impressive and I'm sure Samuel has utilised every part of the computer? Well, it certainly provides the wow factor!

Wanna see how it looks compared to the original? Of course, you do so scroll down a little further...

And this is how the same game appears on the Atari STe using overscan and all the other goodies!

The CryptO'pinion?

Okay, the original PacMania was a good game and a decent conversion - I don't want to appear negative about it whatsoever. Having said that, Samuel has completely blown away the original game with his upgrade! It has transformed our yellow friend for the 21st-century retro gamer. It's impossible not to be impressed by Samuel's dedication and hard work.

This is what happens when a talented chap takes a great game and rebuilds it in a way that would never have been possible back in the day. I doubt any software house outside of the mighty Thalion would have been more committed to developing for the Atari STe? Especially when you consider how the boundaries have been pushed in such incredible ways.

This is a fascinating revamp of the old favourite and far more enjoyable than ever. Absolutely superb!!

Downloads are on Atari-Forum! (another video I recorded)