Most liked posts in thread: What's new Pussycat too?

OK, I had to reply to the size comparisons of the BBC/Acorn/XL's, but this is my official, "what's up blokes. long time, no see" post.

I've just been busy with work and life, which is a good thing as I'm having a profitable business year this year even if fuel costs are taking a third of the profits. It's been a wet summer here in Oklahoma, which seems to be on average of about 1 for every 4-5 years based on my 8-9 year history in the state now. So the grass is still growing and we are still mowing, even in late August. Plus the severe storms causing major tree damage in the area has given us extra work worth thousands.

Anyway, I've been down to just one desktop PC for half a year now, since my older tower gave up the ghost earlier this year. I purchased a USB hard drive recovery device a few months back and recovered and moved all the PC's files to my other PC, as well as a stack of hard drives I've had for years from old computers.

The point for mentioning all this being that with the extra income (really recovering of savings spent on the business last year) I decided to splurge on a new PC, and since the "new" Atari VCS is also a mini-PC, and is currently on sale at AtariVCS.com for $225 for the full bundle that includes the modern and classic controllers, console and the 100 classic Atari console and arcade games that come in the Atari Arcade software bundle.

Of course the Atari VCS is 2-3 years old now, and was never state-of-the-art at release, but powerful, so now it's comparable to todays low-end mini-PC's in the $200-300 range. But it will still be a HUGE upgrade for me, since my only desktop PC now, itself is over a decade old!

My Atari VCS should arrive in about a week. I bought the Onyx black edition with a red rear panel instead of the walnut wood grain front with a black rear panel. I flipped a coin.

Separately, the base unit costs $200 now, and the controllers are still priced at a full $60 each, so I basically got $120 worth of controllers for $25 with a $200 dollar console/PC. Or I could split it up as $100 dollar console with two controllers at full price if I like or some where in between. The bottom line is it finally lowered to the price point I was waiting for, but I also need it now for a second PC, so it's not even a frivolous expense anymore! I already have a new keyboard and mouse for it that I bought for the dead PC, and the keyboard is a rainbow LED backlit keyboard, so it will go very well with the Atari console. I even have an extra chrome Fuji decal for the keyboard that will match the chrome Fuji's on the console and controllers! (at least I think they are chrome, I have been assuming so, but I suppose they could be white Fuji's-if so they will be replaced with chrome ones to match!)Pics will be posted when I have it all set up in a week or so...



https://atari.com/products/atari-vcs-onyx-all-in?_pos=1&_fid=f040fb3e5&_ss=c

 

You must give us a review of that when you have time, I've heard mixed reviews but it's good to hear from someone you trust. Anyhow, welcome again, glad you are in the money (a bit), may the summer keep giving you..

 

Loving the look of the VCS Matt, be interested to hear what you think of it once you start using it. Next time I'm onver in the States I think one will be coming back in my hand luggage lol

 

Here are some pictures of my new Acorn Electron as promised.

 

Thanks people, I'm like you guys, old school which means, decent and honest. As Richie says, these old machine were never designed to be in use these days but a testament to the Atari series is that they are normally very reliable, unlike the old C64 which Commodore notoriously built as cheap as possible. The old rams used in many models were just awful and the SID runs as hot as the sun and again likes to fail along with the PIA's.

The hassle of old tech..

 

K2 Black Panther, used by South Korea...



Can't wait for the light bending armoured tanks, apparently some break through's have been made. A tank you can barely see...Excellent..

Although it might seem that I am a military nut, it's just the war field tech I like, like the grenade launchers that fire an ammunition that explodes as it goes through an opening, ie where most soldiers hide.

 

FOURTEEN TAPES (If I counted right) for £15 incl post - I'll take that any day, Atari classic 8bit collectors.

Here we go, guys.

A few tapes came rattling through me doorbox today; still, alas, no sign of the Elk yet, Rich - hang on - yes there is:


So that should be back tomorrow.

Anyhow, on with the thread - some lovely (ok, some loose or without inlays but not the end of the world) Atari classic tapes arrived and they were gained at bargain prices - approx 14 tapes for me 15 smackeroos... see what you make of these - a couple of tasty / rare bird numbers:









What Atarimania has to say about Crossfire (I didn't know this game before at all)



OK, the graphics look a little dated/simplistic but gameplay is the king without doubt so I will fire this one up in a short while and do a wee review, lads.

Overall, any specific memories of any game in this horde, fellas? What's your fave in there and why?

 

Well, I finally have photos of my Atari VCS set up on the stand underneath my projection screen. It's temporary until I rearrange my 'XL Command Center.'


As to first impressions, it definitely wasn't plug-and-play, even on the Atari OS side (I haven't done anything with the PC sandbox mode yet). Since the system had been sitting on a shelf in the warehouse for a year or two, it was in need of an OS update, but since the OS version in it was so outdated. this is a common problem, like I had, for more recent purchasers where the Atari VCS has to take such a leap forward skipping multiple OS updates that it can't even update itself out of the box! It keeps saying "update failed-please try again later" which of course there is no later where it works. So one has to download the latest Atari OS from a site, along with a flasher program, and then take a USB thumb drive and flash the OS update to it, then plug that in the Atari VCS and it will automatically update from it.

But after that slight hassle, everything works great once the system is updated in this fashion. And I have been enjoying a few cheap games I purchased as well as the game streaming services and video streaming services. I'll be buying a couple of headliner VCS games later this week, like Jeff Minter's Tempest 4000 and a 3rd person 3D platform action adventure that looks really good called End's Reach.

 

On Page 51 - https://atari-owner.com/club/threads/whats-new-pussycat-too.212/page-51 - you will see the start of a thread featuring a poorly Elk belonging to me mate Mog who sent it to me... who sent it to Rich... and he's now cleaned out and restored the ULA chip seating so that it no longer "bombs out" after a short while of operation. He's given it all a thorough clean within and also added some very nice new black feet to the little brute and tonight... it returned.

Here's a couple of shots to celebrate its return and proof in the pudding that she works again - thanks to Rich - cheers, mate - Mog's already delighted with these pics I emailed him just now:


Above - he reminded me there was a programmable joystick interface with it


Above - loading Beeb version of Mr Do - Mr Wiz - too damn whizzy if you ask me



Next up... Commando by Elite!



Thanks again, Rich - heaps of fun to be had before Mog comes to pick it up at weekend!

 

One word, Al, one word... slowly!
Still, it gives you chance to plan your rugby-like weaving runs through the bad guys whilst filling them with lead sent out in slowmo arcs of deadly fire whilst dodging their taking forever to reach you return fire...
The Elk is no Beeb speed-wise - more like a Beeb with a limp, mate ;-)
Aw, I lurve her all the same - it's retro, retro, retro micro with us lot aint it??!!

 

It's annoying as I get emails from Atari constantly trying to get me to buy a Console or a limited edition 2600 cartridge but they don't ship outside the US.
I like to ST styled calculator though Al, I think I saw one on feeBay recently. I have an Atari 800XL related item due in at Chez Farrell this week so I'm looking forward to that arriving.

 

That Speccy version is playing a good 3-4 times faster than the Elk's, Rich - god, it's like in turbo mode compared to my "slow but sure" gameplay!

Never seen the Speccy version of Commando before - a very good effort and no wonder it was one of your formative year faves - nice conversion indeed.

 

I have a touch tablet as well. Interesting thing is the address on the outer box is for one of the newspapers that used to based in Fleet Street. I wonder how many papers were prepared with Atari Artist

Commando on the Speccy is a top conversion. My favourite one though is the C64 reboot a couple of years ago, really excellent. But for it's release year the Spectrum one is/was class.

 

When I switched to the 64 this became my goto for a Commando fix.

 

LA Swat was decent fun. Think it came out on one of the Mastertronic labels.

 

Who Dares Wins II came out on the Atari XL/XE and was released by Tynesoft.

 

Brilliant.

Quite literally, thanks for bringing us up to speed, Matt (and Rich, Paul and Al).

1st video clip Atari version - good b'ground music, lively and quick gameplay - sound effects of the bad guys being shot - annoying!

2nd video down - Pokey music enhancement - very nice - a jolly japester's rendition.

3rd vid - VBXE enhanced - wow, silky smooth and so quick - just about arcade quality (no sound - is this just in the vid or no sound on original?)

4th vid - EXPERT level - being played like it should be played - a proper challenge and is excellent in terms of speed, playability and smooth action.

That's what I like about this group - you get great feedback from you guys. Fast and friendly.

 

Ruddy bloody marvellous, Matt.

Once more, excellent information there on the full low-down, proper screen format on this most excellent title.

We must organise a little fun competition in a few weeks when I get back from me jollies.

Anyone up for this, Atari Commando, and see if you can get 100yds up the screen without being shot to shit and throwing your jossie through the bog/w.c. window?

 

I ordered a new toy yesterday that arrived today. As I use a few emulators for playing games as well I wanted something to view them on that wasn't a 27" widescreen monitor. Quick look on Amazon and I found an 8" security monitor in 4:3 ratio with hdmi and vga. Only had a quick try so far and it works pretty well to get that retro feeling, I have really noticed it on ST and PC Engine titles.



Over the course of the next few days I'll give it a go with a few more emulators but so far so good

 

Very good suggestion for travelling light, Al.
I like it.
OK, catch you in a few days/weeks, lads.
Cheers - take it nice n squeazy.

 

Sounds good, as long as the one stipulation of the closer to proper arcade difficulty level of expert is used all around. Which is faster and more fluid like some of the other ports widely considered, but also is closer to the arcade in the numbers of enemies and a few things that were in the arcade game levels that are removed from the beginner and normal difficulty levels to make them easier to play for the masses, as Atari always did, including less difficult game settings so their home versions wouldn't be too frustrating for the average Joe, but keeping the expert setting closer to the difficulty of the original arcade versions.

I recommend this for any Atari game that has a choice of difficulty levels to see all that the game includes*, and as close to the true arcade speed of animation as the Atari can get. I see it far too often when Atari 8-bit and console games are compared to the competition's versions that "dumbed down" or made easier for casual gamers. I'm not saying that other console and computers don't have difficulty levels on their games, but it is only when Atari versions are played in the easier difficulties that there is a drastic difference in game speeds and the amount of action the graphics are handling in the game.

There are many games on the Atari with not just speed increases but more characters and events happen that do not in the easier difficulties, so you aren't even seeing the entire game on easier levels on top of not getting the same difficulty (excitement and thrill) as the expert level. And old age and "conditions" aside, with practice one can get good and advance in expert levels if the time is put into it. I personally play all my classic Atari games on the highest difficulty if the choice available for these reasons. Atari games would fair much better when comparisons are done if they are done in the highest difficulties of both/all games compared.

Go back and try some of your favorites at the highest difficulty if you haven't, and see what's new added in and just how fast the game can be, even with added animation or sprites over the easy versions. Then try some games again that you don't like the Atari version because they seemed too slow and clunky and possibly missing elements you like from the game port/version you prefer on another system. See if you mind isn't changed when these things change on the highest difficulty.

After all, if the speed of game play and extra enemies, are included in the easiest difficulties, then how would one make the game more difficult for the hardcore gamers? If the system is pushed to it's limit with speed and amount of sprites on screen were at the maximum on the default "normal" difficulty then you have already hit the ceiling and can't offer something more challenging, can you?

For another example, I was following a fellow's post on AA about how the Atari version of Spy Hunter, compared to the C64, was boring and had less action on the screen and slower in comparison which he stated was do too the weaker Atari hardware. I responded by telling him to put it in expert difficulty and play it before he passes judgement. He changed his mind after he played the game at that difficulty.

It doesn't take much for me to go on along rant, does it? Just a mention of a friendly competition and I'm off to the races! Sorry, but when you watch tons of comparison and review videos, you can get upset and passionate about your favorite system being unfairly compared, set on difficulties that handicap the software, and the conclusion being that it's due to weaker hardware when you know the opposite to be true and they are using a dumbed-down difficulty, or a poorly programmed game port, but blame it on the hardware as not powerful enough, or in the case of a good game that it is a poorly programmed game because the easier dumbed-down difficulty is the base line for comparison.

 

Point very well made, Matt.

That's it then - Atari 8bit Commando on expert mode/difficulty and get practising, fellas!

Let's try and get a little comp going by 1st October and say that the highest score achieved by month's end at this level - with accompanying photographic confirmation of score screenshot - is the winner (and gets a night out connected to an Oric). Runner up gets two nights out soldered to an Oric etc.

C'mon now, let's be aving you ;-)

 

You guys have a ball with this, for the competitive folks, there's the Hi Score club on AA (all welcome). So having a similar thing on here would be nice. I'd try to take part, but there's not much hope of that as the neck is giving me serious jip and I've started to get patches of mild numbness on my arms and legs. The consultant said to expect it as the condition worsens.

Looks like I'll be in the old hospital sooner, rather than later for decompression surgery (NOT looking forward to that). No need for sympathy or worry, it's something I knew would happen and made a decision way back to leave it as long as possible, which the consultant begrudgingly agreed with.

Anyway, enough about me, get this game thing going, and no cheating (That's also a reason I'd not partake, I'm a serial open cheat, I spent more time cheating an dissecting games than I did playing found it more fun making the cheat..

 

Commando + and "bog standard" are exactly the same gameplay wise, the + version just has the revamped title screen that plays either the arcade original music or the C64's SID version (I forget which source they used) music in stereo (if you have it) and was created with Rasta Music Tracker (RMT). Game play is identical and the in-game music is the original 8-bit Pokey tune still. Play which ever version you have or want too, it will make no difference to the contest.

Commando + requires 320K, as it is the 256K rom cartridge turned into a file, and like the cart, requires 64K of main memory to run, hence 320K required for the file version. The cart/rom version will run on 64K as long as you have the cart or Atarimax or TheCart! or one of the many flash drive option available for A8's.

If you don't have any flash cartridge type for the rom/cart image and less than 320K memory (main+extended)for the file .xex version, then you are out of luck.

 

My latest acquisition may or may not pique your interest. It's a Head Mounted Display (HMD) from 1996. Takara brand from Japan. But this one is special enough for me personally to buy instead a modern one with higher resolution. The resolution on this one is good enough for what I'm going to use it for.

It's the Takara HMD Dynovisor. Philips also released an identical version of this HMD at the same time called the Scuba HMD. But what makes the Dynovisor and Scuba HMD especially unique to any others is that both HMD's rose from the ashes of the Atari Jaguar VR headset!

Though missing the head tracking hardware from the original Jaguar VR, everything else about it is identical tech to to the Jaguar's VR unit. There were two Jag VR proto types that exist and are often seen at Jaguar shows runnning Missile Command 3D. One is the red version, which is the same as the Dynovisor and Scuba visor, and was rejected by Atari and Virtuality went back to the drawing board to make one that was higher resolution display which postponed the Jaguar VR to the point that Atari went out of business before it's release.

Virtuality, with the death of Atari had to try and recoup development funds and save themselves so they licensed the tech out to Takara and Philips.

So what does it matter now? What makes it uniquely special? Well though it's missing the head tracking, which makes VR more immersive, it's not missing what makes Virtual Reality virtual, which is the two perspective screens and the optical pupil projector that give the (Jaguar) HMD it's true stereoscopic 3D projection. This tech is still built into the Takara and Philips HMD's, though as far as I know, no games were released for either HMD taking advantage of this stereo tech. Except one singular game: Missile Command 3D on the Atari Jaguar!

That's right, even though I will have to use a controller still to play MC3D, I will get to play MC3D is TRUE STEREOSCOPIC 3D as it was meant to be! With revolutionary tech at the time by virtuality, with dual perspective screens that give the deep distance effect into the image as well as the optical pupil projector(s) that give the image the pop-out, in-your-face 3D, actually projecting objects into your eye pupils for maximum effect! And it works as intended with this Jaguar game!

http://jagcube.atari.org/jaguarvr.html

Jaguar VR



Scuba HMD




My brand-new, old-stock Dynovisor straight from Japan!