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

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?

 

I just laughed at the way he used to park his old white Merc across two bays of the disabled zones in Chiswick Sainsburys. Did it almost every time that I was there..Cindy met him, I was always on my way out when he turned up.. Sad loss to the comedy world..

 

Wasn't a Young Ones fan but really loved him in The New Statesman Mind you, the Right Honorable Alan B'Stard wouildn't be able to hold a candle to todays politicians and the antics they get up to!

 

Some uber smooth, cool and yule-friendly Atari console goodness going on there, Al.

Lovely post - some quality goods and like you say, the wonder and joy is still there for us all to behold that these venerable veteran systems still boot in such a pleasing way and bring the good times back in an instant - bloody brilliant, mate - big telly n'all!

Really pleased you negotiated a rare old deal on the 1010 too - excellent method.

Mate, the Atari 2600 carts you are still seeking destructions/boxes for.... run us a wee list and I'll keep me feelers out for ya, fella. (I can see you've got the Battlezone instructions - do you need all the others pictured?)

Super Atari wall display of tin signs etc (and a dodgy Baz Retro Xmas card by the looks of things!) and also your CBM-64, mini Amoeba and VIC-20 area is also very pleasing to behold too, buddy. (Speccy mousemat photobombing the proceedings too!)

PS. Really enjoying Shetland on iPlayer with Bev at the mo - not a patch on Alan B'stard in terms of fiendishness, the temp-DI Tosh "whats-her-name", but gripping drama all the same!

Have a great further sweep of Glasgow micro fairs coming up soon, with yer daughter, Al.

It's all mighty retro micro good stuff.

 

Everyone seems to be getting hit with these bugs at the moment, stay safe as best you can fellas.
Andy, that achilles sounds painful Think you might need to lay off the Iron man training and cycle touring for a few months!

Didn't turn up any new retro stuff today but had some proper quality time with my daughter and a good meander round the Barras and Christmas markets. Thoroughly enjoyed it and we had a good laugh. Poor wee soul is now looking at a manic month in work (jewellery retailer).

 

No problem here, Baz - waiting for your XMas card is part of the Holidays tradition now.

 

I endorse your every word, dear Baz. And thank you very much for the video contribution, now I know what to send to my loved ones and acquaintances as a digital wish for happy holidays.

Speaking of joysticks and old 8-bit computers, do any of you here have a Commodore 64 NTSC version, perhaps @M.D.Baker? I would need someone with a real C64 NTSC or even a DREAN system (from Australia) to try out a demo that a friend of mine recently programmed as a tribute to a famous Italian actor who passed away a few years ago.

If any of you can help me, I would be very grateful. Here is the demo to be tested on NTSC and DREAN systems.

https://csdb.dk/release/index.php?id=237321

 

I figured you would have tried emulators and yes, real hardware will maybe play differently, I've even seen differences with some programs between emulators that are all pretty equal. Chances are that unless it was coded to check the system display and adjust timings, that it may have tiny raster split jerks..Hardly a thing to worry about, as long as it scrolls ok and isn't losing any screen content, then it's good to go..

 

Yes, exactly, Paul. The code was written to check the system video format of the host machine, but still, sometimes, as you say, there are very little differences with raster management. It's often only a matter of two or three cycles that can be easily fixed by inserting a couple of NOPs or other techniques to remove any possible defects, flickering effects, etc.

I never had the chance to buy an NTSC C64 - some years ago I'd found a NTSC Vic-20 that works like a charm even with a LED TV, nice and crisp video rendering through an S-video cable. So I'll keep looking for someone with a real NTSC hardware, just to make sure it all works fine.

 

Paul/Daz, I've got a question for you re the Commordore PC emulator VICE.
I cannot get JELLY MONSTERS (or any VIC-20 cart for that matter) running on the damn thing - I've had the odd tape file work but getting nowhere with the ROMs.
I've read a couple of FAQs and forums such as misterfpga.net... and tried start/end addresses and still drawing a blank.
Any advice for a VICE noob other than gan and pay £80-800 for the original withdrawn due to copyright infringements ROM on Feebay?!
Cheers in advance, fellas.

PS. Version: 3.7 (GTK3 3.24.35)

Tried all RAM combinations, running the files (saved to correct games dir - even renamed some from .prg to .crt to see if that did the trick - didn't) in attach cart image / smart attach mode options etc etc and emulator just hangs...

Is it possible my ROM files are crap and I need to look in some better repository online? Tried Zimmers.net

 

I'll have a look through, I know they often are prefixed in the name with the load address. I used to know how to do it all but it's a blank, will dig through the manual. Do not throw the files, they are ok, it's purely the way you load them.

 

Forget all that google nonsense, if in doubt, just ask us lot, I've been around a lot of emulators, as have a lot of us. One of us is sure to know. I myself have so much free time that it's a pleasure to use it to help someone.

PS, sure you must have used the old SYS commands, so didn't go into them...

 

The F keys are normally mapped to the standard PC F keys. only difference is that on the PC using the X64 Vice, you don't need to press SHIFT to get F2 etc, just hit the PC F2 key

Glad it all helped and made sense...

Game controls can be set to a USB pad or just the keyboard, all setting are under Preferences, Settings, Input Settings and desired device..If it's a gamepad, make sure it's plugged in before you run XVic or it won't be recognised in XVic..

Lastly, make sure you save your settings, when you go in to the settings menu there's a tick box saying 'Save settings on exit', worth ticking that or it's easy to forget to save the settings.

Have fun...

 

Any time me old mate, sorry about the old tooth, those broken ones are a real pain in every sense. Hope they gave you some pain meds to help for the after jaw ache.

Once you feel more like it you will be up and running...The controls etc are the easy bit..