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

It's so maddening re this and past wars between them. They both grew up in the exact same place, and basically almost believe in the same faith (ie Jesus etc). I don't know the history too well, but I believe some of the land was taken by Israel and this is where it's lead to over the years. I'm not a big fan of extremists and sadly there's mega extremists on both sides of that coin.

Anyway, sorry to derail the thread more, keep the work up Matt...

 

The more current issue with the Mid-East situation stems from the 6-days war back in the late 60's or early 70's some time when Israel was attacked on multiple fronts. The resulting win by Israel gained them land that wasn't initially given by you Brits as part of their state (however was part of Israel back in Roman times), and they kept it as a "buffer zone" against future attacks & wars and over the years Israel colonized it all. But that's just the Palestinian excuse, as they really want Israel completely gone and turned back into Palestine. That bit goes back to thousands of years before the Romans and Christ. And has been changed between Israel and Palestine for hundreds of years and many different wars since before the Roman occupation and eventual rebellion quelling. After that the people of Israel were scattered until 1948 and it was Palestine from post Roman to 1948, and Israel again since.

 

Cheers Andy

Keeping my retro 'habit' on a tight budget at the moment but that just makes things more fun to be honest

I bought a second hand book from Amazon (retro but not computer related) which I think you and a few of the guys would like. I'll start up a new thread later this week around it

 

I was referring to all the old magazine reviews and other game review sources online from over the years in which every single one complains of a low-res screen...when the *ucking games are lower res than the screen! Morons! The picture is as good with a Jag game on the screen as a full-size, full-standard definition Sony LCD screen with the same Jag game on it.

Now DVD's onwards in media and Dreamcast resolution onwards the Dynovisor/Scuba/JagVR HMD's would be too low res for...but that's not what they were made for either!

 

Liking those footie clips you just sent the You Tube vidz for, Matt.

They improve in the order which you list them - my personal opinions on (International) Sensible Soccer are the same as I;ve always had - it;s OK but really, compared to the other two you show there, it looks a joke - it's like watching ants that all rush around as one and it is so unrealistic. It's almost like watching bar football where the player spins a handle and all the players on a particular row all spin together - it's not very convincing from my viewpoint. I cannot for the life of me work out why it is such a fave amongst so many (mainly Amiga) gamers when for me - and I accept this is just IMHO - it is so arcade-like, unrealistic and simplistic in its gameplay. Kick Off 2 (on the Amiga) beats the pants off it - it looks so much better, plays so much better and I believe demands greater skills from the player and the controller used.

Anyhow, I digress - this portion of the What's New Pussycat Too thread is all about some super Atari Jaguar footie action and the other two titles, Fever Pitch and FIFA International, are really really impressive - particularly the latter - as the players and gameplay are leagues above Sensi!!

Many thanks for showcasing em, Matt - some ab fab games which I had no idea existed on this platform and I sure as hell would get drawn into playing those last two offerings - soccer sensations!

 

Lovely, Al - brilliant for you and fans of this game but for me, it's Alien Ant Farm!

 

That's a great shout, Matt.

Al, are these available as mouse pads/A2 sized posters etc?

Guess they might if they're going out on canvas.

 

You must have responded while I was editing Andy, as I decided to add my latest purchase by editing my post about the mouse pad...

 

My latest isn't exactly something new, but I've finished a mod for my Dreamcast overclocking the system by replacing the 33.3Mhz crystal (200Mhz system speed) with a 40Mhz crystal (240Mhz system speed), a 20% increase. Now this clock rate mod keeps everything compatible, and while it doesn't make a game that averages 30FPS or 60FPS (the usual for DC 3D and 2D games respectively suddenly runs at a 20% higher frame rate, but it does make sure that the 30/60FPS games do keep a rock-steady frame rape with no dipping down when tons more of 3D polygons or 2D sprites are on screen than usual like did happen on some DC games that pushed the hardware. But, some of those poorly programmed games that fell short of the 30/60FPS, 3D/2D standards do get a notable FPS increase of about 20%.

I figured if I was spending time making a PS1 steering wheel DC compatible, I might as well make sure all those 3D racing games are fast and smooth with no stuttering in frame rates. I believe my PS2 already runs PS1 games faster than on a PS1 regarding frame rates, though I may look into if there are any over-clocking mods for PS2 games.

The DC mod has a toggle switch to go between 200 and 240Mhz just in case I come across games that are too fast or just have issues running at the higher speed. But so far, out of about half a dozen games tested everything works great, and with a slightly more powerful fan installed should not run any hotter shortening the life of the IC's. There were DC mods that up to 400Mhz, IIRC, but software compatibility goes down and the DC isn't a 32/64-bit generation system that struggled much of the time to do 15-30FPS where doubling system the clock rate might be needed to ensure 30-60fps games, where a higher than 20% boost might be needed. The DC is a 128-bit system that the worst programmed games, as far as frames per second go, are still above 20FPS, so I kept it as conservative as one can while still making a significant improvement.

No pics this time showing the hardware mod, as it was very simple, literally hooking up 3-4 wires between the motherboard and a crystal.

The Dynovisor HMD for my Jaguar is still not quite finished, but will be soon, I had to wait to order something I need for part of it's upgrade/mod but I'll be ordering it this week. I still need to add a 3DO and possibly OG Xbox compatible cables to my steering wheel, but I'm enjoying my DC and PS1/2 racers with it atm.

 

Hey, a very nice set of purchases there, Al - very well done indeed and all for a reasonable amount really which deffo caps the day with a cherry on the top, me ol muckah!
Love the old signs - esp. Horace Goes Ski-ing - never seen that one before - get it nailed on NOW!
Nice post, mate - glad yer keeping well and enjoying the retro scene as much as ever.
PS. Santa tells me that Baz has just received delivery of his Retro Xmas Cards for 2023... stand by to nail up yer letterboxes and pull up the drawbridge etc. What bizarre design(s) will adorn his cards... this year??? ;-)
Discuss.

 

Nice gear there Al, enjoy..Andy, no nakedness on the card please, there was way too much wood on show last time I look forward to the clever madness of the card. I was never brought up as a card person, the family never sent any. I think it's a nice way to stay in touch, but way too organised for my crazy brain.

 

Amazon delivered my Atari 2600+ console today. Not had a great deal of time to play it but tested a few cartridges and they all worked well, albeit a couple needed a clean and a little jiggling but that was the age of the carts not the console.

The feel of the console and the joystick is spot on and I even managed to get a new high score on Centipede 7800
It's nice to have a machine that takes cartridges again and I'm looking forward to seeing what else Atari bring out for it in the future. HDMI display looks very sharp, so much so that I've already moved the system from my mancave to the living room so I can play games on the "big telly" just like I used to when I was a youngster.

Will post some pictures over the weekend if anyone wants a closer look.

 

Yes please, Al.
I can feel your excitement from here, mate
Nowt better than plugging your new pride n joy into "big telly"!!
I've got some new games for me VIC so I'll post those too.
You can't beat a bit of good ol hands-on real McCoy Atari/Commodore/Sinclair/Oric/Acorn RETRO GOODNESS!

 

Will do Andy. And lets see those VIC games when you get a chance too

 

PS Andy, that is a might fine set of gear for that Vic, and yet again Ritchie adds to the pot, good man....

 

Boltgun was deliberately designed as a late 90's Doom clone Paul so the way the game plays and the Sprites are flat 2D in a 3D environment.
It's smoother than the video in reality though. I sold a lot of my surplus kit to pay for a Xbox Series X and a PS5 so I am pretty lucky really. I don't sell my consoles generally, so I have a few older consoles packed away. It's such a shame you're having so much trouble with your health these days.
Have you definitely decided to sell your 1200XL??? if you really want a PS5 maybe you would consider a trade?

 

I could well be up for that..Yes, the XL is going to go..

Just incase you didn't know, it's the 1200XL made fully PAL (bar the RF Modulator), it's had PBI tweaks and changing of the 74HC04 (was it the 08?) and a load of other tweaks. It also has a Ultimate 1MB fitted. All the chips etc to return it to NTSC will come with it and a full set of details as to what was modded.

Everything works 100%

I don't have a spare 9V AC xformer...

I'll see if there's some other little bits I can lump in, probably the Expert cart for the C64.

Have a thought, I'm sure we can hit middle ground..

PS, what PS5 have you got, the digital or the one with a drive, hopefully with the Blu ray as I have a load of PS4 games..

 

Well, it's been a while again since I've visited or had anything to post as I continued to be busy with my business. But the grass growing season is now over, which means work will slow to a trickle over the next 3-4 months. But it also means it's the time of year for me to get back full-force into my hobbies.

And, to start with, I finally finished the transformation of my Dynovisor HMD into a Jaguar "VR" HMD. I had the stuff to finish it for a couple of months now, but just no time until yesterday to do it. So I am finally posting pics of my modified HMD.

Changes were made to a well engineered HMD with quality Sony screens and speakers of the size and quality of over-the-ear headphone speakers, that were installed in a slick looking, but very uncomfortably designed helmet, after cost-cutting changes including much cheaper and uncomfortable head-mounting system from what the Jaguar VR would have had.

Upgrades include the addition of over-the-ear headphone speaker cushions. Enclosing the speakers with vinyl material on the back side for both aesthetics and better acoustic reverb. Added padding to the back, sides and top of the helmet head straps. Also, badly needed extra custom rubber snowmobile goggle cushioning was added around the face goggle area. Also "repainting" the HMD to match the Atari Jaguar colour scheme which I first attempted with regular spray paint, but due to the rubbery flexible nature of parts of the headset the paint peeled and crumbled during re-installation due to the flexing required to re-assemble the HMD. So I instead got red Flex Seal for the visible rubber parts, and black Flex Seal for the interior to darken the face mask area for less light refraction and a more immersive experience and easier on the eyes to see the screens clearly. I also tweaked the position of the screens, as they have adjustment screws, to allow better screen orientation and focus.

All of this done to perfectly fit my head and eye separation for extremely improved comfort and screen visibility.

Link back to original post to compare: <a href="https://atari-owner.com/club/threads/whats-new-pussycat-too.212/page-55#post-7062">What's new Pussycat too?</a>

 

I’ve not been well the last few days so not really given it much thought to be honest. I’ll PM you over the weekend mate.

 

No prob Richie, PM when you better, hope that is soon..

 

Get better soon, Richie - so so sorry to hear, mate.
Am sure you n Paul will sort some trade or sale or something in the near future AND what a job Matt's made of the VR headset gear...
Excellent mods, adaptations and improvements galore to get that system sweet and bespoke as in terms of being just the job for you, fella - incredible work going on there and that's just your 1st projects since the end of the growing season/beginning of full-on hobby winter season... what other wonders await, we ponder!
Great work, mate - sincerely - a superb project really refined well.

 

That Jaguar set-up looks amazing and it would be worth a ton on the open market these days... I am very jealous Matt
I would like to get another Jag at some point but the price is getting harder to justify each year. I would love a Falcon030 as well but that ain't happening either.

How do you pronounce Jaguar over there??
Is it Jag-Wah or the correct way Jag-U-R??

 

Tell me about the cold / flu, I have it here, and it's like a cold on steroids, I'm murdering bog rolls as we speak. Glad you are feeling better Richie, if you are back tinkering then that is a good sign

 

Just one little question Richie, does your PS5 have a blu ray drive in it or is it the bare digital version. If it has the Blu ray then I'm up for creating a deal out of some gear, if not, then it's no good for me as I'll have a PS4 and a PS5 where the PS5 can play the PS4 games so I could sell the PS4.

Speak to you as and when..

 

Yes, I was saddened at that point in the show too, and that's the way I found out that Mayall had died. Brilliant comedian lost there...as you say, still a good show after Mayall, but I did find I really missed the practical jokes protagonist's dad pulled on him constantly.

My all-time favorite quote/line in the show is when he tells his mum "your brain is folding in on itself!" I was rofl at that one!

What was the name of that fantastic show Mayall was in during the late 70's and early 80's? The one where they all die in a bus crash over the cliff in the series conclusion? Mayall was brilliant and so was the show...Oh, 'The Wild Ones,' correct?