ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Latest Episodes:

ANTIC Episode 36 - Do Not Listen While Climbing a Ladder Oct 16, 2016

Show notes

In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast, we visit vintage computer festivals and upgrade our systems. We fail to spend thousands of dollars on rare new hardware.

Recurring Links

Floppy Days Podcast

AtariArchives.org

AtariMagazines.com

Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd"

New Atari books scans at archive.org

ANTIC feedback at AtariAge

Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge

ANTIC Facebook Page

AHCS

What we've been up to

Paul Westphal at Eight Bit Fix - http://www.eightbitfix.com
VCFMW 11- http://vcfmw.org
Suburban Chicago Atarians (SCAT) - http://www.scatarians.org/
Randy's Presentation at VCFMW11 on Modern Upgrades for Vintage Computers
Edladdin controllers - http://www.edladdin.com/
TransKey II for XEGS - http://ataribits.weebly.com/transkey-ii.html
Ultimate Cart runs by Santosp (Panagiotis Santos)
Ultimate Cart run by MacRorie
Atlanta Maker Faire. Oct 1 & 2 - http://atlanta.makerfaire.com/
Dial-A-Grue - https://dial-a-grue.com
VCF West XI -- Paul Laughton — Mainframes to micros and beyond
Harry Stewart stuff:
Atari 800 iTalk II voice synthesis Demonstration
Yokoonomatopea - Benjamin Biolay
Atari 800/iTalk II unboxing - https://youtu.be/XY6gM5QAOtk

News

Atari 1090 XL Expansion System Prototype WITH COVER for 800XL 600XL for sale on eBay - http://www.ebay.com/itm/291849042910
Atari 1400XL Rare Vintage Computer on eBay - http://www.ebay.com/itm/322227321151
Silicon Valley History - http://www.SiliconValleyHistory.com
OSS BASIC XE, Mac/65 and Integer BASIC source code released into the public domain
- OSS-D-Day part 1-BASIC XE V4.2-cart&source now in PD
- OSS-D-Day part 2-MAC/65 >1.02-cart&source now in PD
- OSS-D-Day part 3-Integer Basic & source code now in PD
Atari Blast! Game released - for 8-bits and 5200
- Video
- Download
Excel Magazine Issue #2 - Robert Stuart - http://www.excel-retro-mag.co.uk
ABBUC Software competition 2016
- AtariAge
- ABBUC
- Full list of submitted games at AtariOnline.pl (Google translated)
Retrochallenge 2016/10
Atari800MacX
- is not compatible with SIerra — sound doesn't work
- Altirra 2.8 Wine port for macOS Sierra
ComputeHer (Michelle Sternberger, half of 8-bit Weapon) released a new Chiptune album called "BLIPTASTIC!" - https://computeher.bandcamp.com/album/bliptastic
Master List Of Missing / Undumped Software
Jumpman Reverse Engineering Notes - http://www.playermissile.com/jumpman/
Level Editor in Omnivore http://playermissile.com/omnivore
Jumpman Level Design contest
Video demoing how to use the level editor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_KhNS8nk70
Retro Asylum Podcast
New videos put up by Nir Dary:
- 1050 upgraded with Mega Speedy
- Backing up carts onto disk - https://youtu.be/Ham1-4lKBJ4
- Ultimate Cart - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUjxAX0sHLI
Vintage is the new Old with Paulo Garcia - http://vintageisthenewold.com

New at Archive.org

Salesperson's Guide
Portland Atari Club Computer News February 1990
https://archive.org/details/AtariHomeComputersCatalog
Atari In-Store Demonstration Cartridge Instruction Guide
BBS Express
K-DOS Cartridge for Atari 8-bit Computers
MPP Smart Terminal source code
MPP Microfiler - Atari - Source Code
MPP Microfiler - Commodore 64 - Source Code
21 new issues of Twin City Atari Interest Group newsletter
Atari Character Fun Source Code
Text Wizard manual
Diggerbonk manual
APX Space Chase manual
The Write File manual
AtariWriter Plus Full-Size Manual
VCF — Paul Laughton — Mainframes To Micros And Beyond
Atari and the Business of Video Games: Crash Course Games #4 - https://archive.org/details/youtube-r8gHnuv7U_o
The Video Game Crash of 1983: Crash Course Games #6 - https://archive.org/details/youtube-x4F_sZiAl7s
Games Crash Course Videos
https://archive.org/details/Page6-Issue11982
Atari 130XE Schematics

Of the Month

Book- A.N.A.L.O.G. An Atari 8-bit Extra
Websiste- Ken's Classics, not been updated in awhile, but some interesting utilities for programmers - http://atari.kensclassics.org/a8programming.html

Feedback

Game Grumps - https://www.youtube.com/user/GameGrumps

End of Show Music

ANTIC Interview 242 - Monty Webb, APX Seven Card Stud Oct 13, 2016

Show notes

Monty Webb, APX Seven Card Stud

Monty Webb published one program through Atari Program Exchange: Seven Card Stud. The program first appeared in the summer 1982 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the entertainment category. He also self-published the program as Real Poker I, his publishing company was called Real Software.

This interview took place on September 14, 2016.

Teaser quotes:

"And then I could call up a certain sector on a track...and then WHAM, I'd knock a hole in the disk."

"There were shortcuts to try to get that to fit in 16K. ... Somebody was really hot because he has a straight flush that's higher than someone else's straight flush, and the pot split. So he goes crazy and writes me a nastygram..."

AtariMania's list of Monty's software

Seven Card Stud in the summer 1982 APX catalog

ANTIC Interview 241 - Elizabeth MacRae, APX Mankala Oct 10, 2016

Show notes

Elizabeth MacRae, APX Mankala

Elizabeth MacRae published one program for the Atari 8-bit computers: Mankala, which was published by Atari Program Exchange. It first appeared in the fall 1982 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the entertainment category.

This interview took place on September 13, 2016. After the interview, Elizabeth sent me a scan of the Mankala manual, which is now available at the Internet Archive.

"They didn't think personal computers on everyone's desk was the way to go, because everything worked fine the way it was, with the mainframe handling all of the applications, and that was it."

Mankala in fall 1982 APX catalog

Mankala manual: https://archive.org/details/APXMankala

ANTIC Interview 240 -Douglas Crockford: Galahad And The Holy Grail, Burgers! Oct 06, 2016

Show notes

Douglas Crockford: Galahad And The Holy Grail, Burgers!

Douglas Crockford worked in Atari's Game Research Group under Chris Crawford. There he created a variety of demos -- including Ballsong and Crockford's Trench -- and games. He created Galahad And The Holy Grail, which was published by Atari Program Exchange in summer 1982; and Burgers!, which was published by APX in winter 1983. After Atari, he worked at LucasFilm where he worked on Atari games including Rescue on Fractalus! and Koronis Rift.

This interview took place on July 16, 2016.

Teaser quotes:

"For most of what we wanted to accomplish it was not possible to do things correctly. So it was all about cheating."

"If they hired an executive and he wasn't working out, it was too much trouble to fire him, so they would assign him to special projects."

Crockford's web site: http://crockford.com

Galahad And The Holy Grail in the summer 1982 APX catalog

Burgers! in the winter 1983 APX catalog

Crockford's games at AtariMania

Wikipedia on Crockford: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Crockford

ANTIC Interview 239 - Dewitt Robbeloth, AKA Robert Dewitt, Editor of Antic magazine Oct 04, 2016

Show notes

Dewitt Robbeloth, AKA Robert Dewitt, Editor of Antic magazine

Dewitt Robbeloth, who went by the pen name Robert Dewitt, was editor of Antic magazine, STart magazine, and the short-lived II Computing magazine. He also freelanced for InfoWorld and other computer magazines. He was the editor the book "The Best of Antic Volume 1," published by Antic Publishing.

This interview took place on July 14 and 15, 2016. In it, we discuss Jim Capparell, whom I previously interviewed.

Teaser quotes:

"The bathroom flooded. So someone had the bright idea, since we were giving the paper away ... they decided to take our magazine and put it on the floor of the bathroom so it would sop up the water."

"I had to go up and sit at the big table. I had to keep my back to the wall so that nobody would see that my pants were split open."

Antic articles credited to Robert DeWitt and DeWitt Robbeloth

Best of Antic book at archive.org

Best of Antic book at AtariMagazines.com: http://www.atarimagazines.com/index/?issue=vbook

Jim Capparell interview

ANTIC Interview 238 - Bob Smith: Video Pinball; Imagic co-founder; Sleazy Adventure Oct 02, 2016

Show notes

Bob Smith: Video Pinball; Imagic co-founder; Sleazy Adventure

Bob Smith worked at Atari, where he created Video Pinball for the Atari 2600. He also wrote two programs for the Atari 8-bit which were sold by Atari Program Exchange: Sound Editor and Sleazy Adventure, which both appeared in the inaugural APX catalog, fall 1981. He left Atari to co-found the game developer Imagic, where he programmed Riddle of the Sphinx, Dragonfire, Moonsweeper, and other games. Then he went on to work on games at Bally, Electronic Arts, and Accolade.

This interview took place on June 24, 2016.

Teaser quote: "I have two kids, no degree. I walked in to Atari and said, "I've written a game and sold it. ... Wanna hire me?' And Dennis Koble did."

Sleazy Adventure in the fall 1981 APX catalog

Sound Editor in the fall 1981 APX catalog

Gaming After 40 blog Plays Sleazy Adventure

National Videogame Museum: http://www.nvmusa.org

ANTIC Interview 237 - Bob Graves, Gridiron Glory Sep 30, 2016

Show notes

Bob Graves, Gridiron Glory

Bob Graves co-wrote Gridiron Glory, a football game which was published by Atari Program Exchange. The game first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. His co-author was Mike Drury, who was unavailable for an interview. Bob and Mike created two other Atari computer programs: Asteroid Artist and Ramblin Gamblin, which were published by their own company, MicroMate Software.

This interview took place on June 14, 2016.

"We'd go to the state library and look up historial records for the different football teams and how they did under certain circumstances. ... We'd come up with tables that would be cross-referenced when different plays were called."

Gridiron Grit - Computerized football for the ATARI - article in Antic magazine: http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n7/gridirongrit.html

Gridiron Glory in the winter 1982 APX catalog

Bob's software at AtariMania

Gridiron Glory manual: https://archive.org/details/APXGridironGloryV3

ANTIC Interview 236 - Dan Rohr, Three R Math software Sep 28, 2016

Show notes

Dan Rohr, Three R Math software

Dan Rohr was the author of three educational programs which were published by Atari Program Exchange. Three R Math System first appeared in the summer 1982 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the education category. The Three R Math Classroom Kit was available in the spring 1983 APX catalog, where it won third prize in the education category. Finally, the Three R Math Home System was first available in the summer 1983 APX catalog.

This interview took place on June 13, 2016.

"Fortunately, the person that rejected it took the time to critique all of his objections that he had to it. And I said, 'Hmm, this person has never been in a classroom.'"

Three R Math System in the summer 1982 APX catalog

Three R Math Classroom Kit in the spring 1983 APX catalog

Three R Math Home System in the summer 1983 APX catalog

Dan's software at AtariMania

ANTIC Interview 235 - Marlin Bates, R-Time 8 Replacement Cartridge Sep 26, 2016

Show notes

Marlin Bates, R-Time 8 Replacement Cartridge

In 1986, ICD released the R-Time 8, a real-time clock cartridge for the Atari 8-bit computers. One reason this is an interesting cartridge is that it has a pass-through port: you can plug another cartridge into it, then plug the R-Time 8 into the Atari. In 2016, Marlin Bates created the R-Time 8 Replacement Cartridge, a workalike cart. On June 7, 2016, we talked about that project. Marlin is better known to people on the AtariAge forums as MacRorie. During this interview, we talk about Romox — I previously interviewed the CEO of Romox, Tim McGuinness.

Teaser quote: "You don't know enough to not do it, and by the time you're halfway in you go 'Oh, I guess I gotta do it now.'"

Macrorie on AtariAge

Bates motel BBS: telnet://76.14.174.25:8888

Interview with Romox founder Tim McGuinness

Video of this interview

ANTIC Interview 234 - Steve Robinson: Diggerbonk and Bean Machine Sep 22, 2016

Show notes

Steve Robinson: Diggerbonk and Bean Machine

Steve Robinson is the author of two games that were published by Atari Program Exchange: Diggerbonk and Bean Machine. Diggerbonk was first available in the spring 1983 APX catalog. Bean Machine first appeared in the summer 1983 APX catalog, where it won third prize in the Entertainment category.

This interview took place on June 13, 2016. A video version of this interview is available, check the show notes at AtariPodcast.com for the link.

In it, we talk about Jack Palevich whom I previously interviewed.

Teaser quote: "When they first published the game, they took the wrong version. I sent them the wrong version, not knowing that it had a bug in it. And — I got third prize anyway."

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/eNBn40q_BQ4

Diggerbonk in spring 1983 APX catalog

Bean Machine in summer 1983 APX catalog

AtariMania's list of Steve's games

Jack Palevich interview