Release Yet another Atari800 port

[foft]

I've ported over my gp2x port of my gp32 port of the atari800 emulator! Its available on my website at:


http://www.scrameta.net/a800.html


Install the pnd as usual then put the atr/xfd/xex files etc under appdata/atari800/disk.


Let me know how you get on...


Mark

 

[foft]

I've put this onto the repo.


http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=atari800-atari800-31292

 

[Michoko]

Great !! Will try this asap!


Thank you very much!

 

[foft]

Cool. Let me know if you have any feature requests. This version hasn't had any DaveC sanity checking so may have some suboptimal parts! Does he still frequent these boards?


I tried to make sure to use all the Pandora controls. e.g. touchscreen for menu, touchscreen as light pen, nubs for 5200 control, full keyboard mapping so you can write basic code. Also it clocks to 300MHz by default to save a bit of battery.


There are a few things still to do. e.g. keyboard keys can't be mapped, allow nubs as mouse, update emulator core to 2.2.1 (+repatch as required), get 8-bit mode working for more speed etc.


I tried to put it on the appstore too, but it won't let me create a login. I guess that is now 'deprecated', just allowing old apps to be downloaded?

 

[bagmouse7]

It is working very well so far. The Atari is my all time favorite system so I will continue to do more tests and let you know if I find anything.


This is already great work!

 

[BaDToaD]

Nice one. I'll give this a go as soon as I get a chance. Thanks!

 

[EvilDragon]

Nice one


There are quite a few nice Atari games out there

 

[superatarian]

Great... Glad to have this one. I know of many Atari games I want to play.

 

[Stainy]

Just saw a top 60 games for Atari 800 on Youtube.. there`s some nifty games there

 

[superatarian]

Are there any Pandora keyboard commands? Is there a manual somewhere if I need it?

 

[foft]

There is a help file installed by the pnd in the usual place. Its very poorly written though!


Most keys are mapped directly to the matching Pandora keys. e.g. q is q, start is start, select is select. 'help,start,select,option,reset' are also mapped to the f keys in the same order as on the XE. To get in to/out of the menu press left trigger. To fast forward hold left trigger. Right trigger is option and shift. On-screen keyboard by holding both triggers - though its largely redundant on pandora. 'A' is fire. D-pad for joystick. Nubs for 5200 analog controls.


To run most things you select them from 'run atari program' in the menu. Use the joystick, A and left trigger to navigate the menu - or use the touchscreen. Press B to switch between configured directories under 'run atari program'.


Happy to answer questions via email (or here if I see them). Any feedback would also be good. If anyone fancies adding a rating to the repo please do!


edit: Its also possible to assign custom controls via a '.men' config file. e.g. a pinball game may use 'q' and 'w' for flaps - left/right shoulder may make more sense. Though this is less useful on the Pandora than it was on the GP32/GP2X/Gizmondo that have no keyboard.

 

[superatarian]

There is a help file installed by the pnd in the usual place. Its very poorly written though!


Most keys are mapped directly to the matching Pandora keys. e.g. q is q, start is start, select is select. 'help,start,select,option,reset' are also mapped to the f keys in the same order as on the XE. To get in to/out of the menu press left trigger. To fast forward hold left trigger. Right trigger is option and shift. On-screen keyboard by holding both triggers - though its largely redundant on pandora. 'A' is fire. D-pad for joystick. Nubs for 5200 analog controls.


To run most things you select them from 'run atari program' in the menu. Use the joystick, A and left trigger to navigate the menu - or use the touchscreen. Press B to switch between configured directories under 'run atari program'.


Happy to answer questions via email (or here if I see them). Any feedback would also be good. If anyone fancies adding a rating to the repo please do!


edit: Its also possible to assign custom controls via a '.men' config file. e.g. a pinball game may use 'q' and 'w' for flaps - left/right shoulder may make more sense. Though this is less useful on the Pandora than it was on the GP32/GP2X/Gizmondo that have no keyboard.

Thanks. That helps alot. I have downloaded most of the 8-bit games I have bought in the past. One I am having trouble running is "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" It loads, but I cannot past the screen where I choose to load a saved game or start a new one. If anyone has done this, please tell me how you did it. Thanks.... What keys on the Pandora are equivalent to the arrow keys on the Atari?


Oh, the program is great. I have ran and played alot of my favorites. Is it possible to use the tewo play option?

 

[foft]

Sorry missed this message until now. Just replied to the pm - use 'Fn' + dpad to use the array keys.


Do you mean two player? Not sure how that would work on the Pandora. Perhaps when we have TV out cables and USB joysticks then it may be useful.

 

[mikesheley]

Totally grew up with my Atari 800... I am looking forward to replaying STAR RAIDERS! The Pandora is great for these old computers because of the built in keyboard.

 

[foft]

Great game - though I never managed to beat 'Garbage Scow Captain'!


http://dougneubauer.com/starraiders/


Yes much better having real keys. I built some menus and mappings (present in this port, but much less useful..) so it could be played on the GP32 and GP2X.

 

[superatarian]

foft, THANKS A MILLION. It worked. I could not believe it. Now I can play Ali Babba again.


Now I have another question. Astro Chase was another game I played to death on the Atari 8-bit. The beginning screen loads and then crashes. Sometime it even crashes the Pandora. Any suggestions here?

 

[foft]

I sent this on pm to Gamer, but for the benefit of the thread:

For Astro Chase it seems the game does not like having the 'H: device' - which is a patch to allow reading the SD card from Atari software. Go to 'Emulator Configuration' then go to 'H device (sd card)' then hit 'A' until it goes to 'No'. The game then works!

Happy Astro Chasing!


Shouldn't be able to crash the Pandora though - that sounds odd...

 

[superatarian]

I sent this on pm to Gamer, but for the benefit of the thread:

For Astro Chase it seems the game does not like having the 'H: device' - which is a patch to allow reading the SD card from Atari software. Go to 'Emulator Configuration' then go to 'H device (sd card)' then hit 'A' until it goes to 'No'. The game then works!

Happy Astro Chasing!


Shouldn't be able to crash the Pandora though - that sounds odd...

Thanks for the tip. Astro Chase works fine now. Love that crazy animation. I will be having fun with this emulator.


Two more things though. I assume when you save a game it goes into the "saves" folder? Also, is there something in the configuration


that I have to do to get the emulator to play 5200 games (with "bin" extention)? I have already changed the emulator to 5200 in the setting.

 

[foft]

Two more things though. I assume when you save a game it goes into the "saves" folder? Also, is there something in the configuration


that I have to do to get the emulator to play 5200 games (with "bin" extention)? I have already changed the emulator to 5200 in the setting.

If you save a state or make a screenshot then by default they are put into the saves folder. You can choose another directory though with 'choose dir'. If you mean save within a game then it gets saved to the disk image in drive 1 most likely. You can make a blank disk image from the 'disk management' menu.


To run 5200 carts go to 'Cartridge management' then 'Insert Cartridge' then select it then choose 'One chip 16KB 5200 Cartridge' or 'Two chip 16KB 5200 cartridge'. Using this automagically selects 5200 as the system. Use the nub for the analog stick.

 

[WayneJ253]

Sweet emulator, my only problem is I can't use the number keys to play games like Ultima to choose number of drives, etc.