• Tag Archives Atari 130XE
  • ANALOG Computing (June 1989)

    Source: ANALOG Computing – Issue Number 73 – June 1989

    ANALOG Computing was the longest running and most popular Atari 8-bit magazine in the U.S. In 1989 it was getting close to the end of its days. The June 1989 issue includes:

    Features

    • The Adventure Game Showdown – How adding pictures to text adventure style games changed adventure gaming.
    • Secret Agent: Mission 1 – A type-in text adventure game with a secret agent theme.
    • Sector to Printer – A type-in program that creates map print outs of adventure games by extracting map related data stored on disk. This is a demo program tailored for Ultima III.
    • Disk Directory Alphabetizer – A type-in program that will reorganize your disk directories to be in alphabetical order.
    • Super Command Processor, Part 2 – Creating external commands for BBKCP.
    • Accessing Atari XL Hidden Memory – The Atari 800XL contains 64K of RAM but since that is the maximum amount addressable by the 6502 processor, parts are disabled when BASIC ROM or the OS is being used. This article shows how to access that memory.
    • Marble Magic – A type-in game that recreates a board game called Peg Board, Peg Checkers or Hi-Q on the Atari 8-bit.

    Reviews

    • Mario Bros. – Mario Bros. was a 1983 arcade game so this was a pretty late conversion fort he Atari 8-bit. But if there was one thing Atari was good at, it was releasing and re-releasing old games.
    • Desert Falcon – This Zaxxon-like game was one of the last major Atari releases for 8-bit computers. It was really an Atari XEGS game but would also work on the XL and XE computers.

    Columns

    • Database DELPHI – An introduction to the DELPHI online service, the Atari SIG (Special Interest Group) in particular.
    • Boot Camp – A look at the 6502 instruction set and how it addresses memory.
    • The End User – Info about user groups and a look at SpartDOS X.
    • BASIC Training – A tutorial on BASIC INPUT and PRINT statements.

    Departments

    • Editorial – A sort of intro to the “Adventure Game Showdown” article above. There seems to be a concern that adding graphics to text adventures was a bad thing. Ironically, text adventures (with or without graphics) were already pretty much a dead genre by this time.
    • Reader Comment – Letters from readers about reviews, previous type-in programs, internal troubles at Atari and the Atari 850 interface.

    …and more!


  • Antic: The Atari Resource (April 1987)

    Source: Antic: The Atari Resource – Volume 5, Number 12 – April 1987

    Antic was primarily an Atari 8-bit magazine though it did also cover the Atari ST. In 1987 it was nearing the end of its life. The April 1987 issue includes:

    Features

    • Designer Labels – A type-in program that lets you combine Print Shop graphics with your text to create custom labels.
    • Page 6 Grab-Bag, Part 2 – Two short and useful type-in programs. The first gives you the ability to pause or slow down program listings with the press of a button and the second makes it easy to insert sounds into your own programs.
    • All About [Break] Disabling – Pressing the break key normally interrupts whatever program you are running. If you do it accidentally, it can be a real time waster as well as cause you to lose data. This type-in program provides a way to disable this functionality.
    • ICD Boosts 8-Bit Atari Power – ICD is a company that produced high powered upgrades for the Atari 8-bit. Some of these include the 1MB Multi I/O Board, 256K RAMBO XL memory upgrade, R-Time 8 Cartridge (real-time clock/calendar), SpartaDOS 3.2, hard drive interface and more.
    • BTL Hard Disk System – Connect up to two hard drives to your Atari 800XL or Atari 130Xe for up to a total of 128MB of storage.
    • ’86 Federal Income Tax Spreadsheet – A template for SynCalc to make completing your 1986 tax return easy.

    Departments

    • Starting Out: New Owners Column – Part 13 of a BASIC programming tutorial. This part goes over the various ways to use color.
    • Game of the Month: Taxman – Keeping with the April income tax theme, this type-in game is a maze game in which you must collect interest from your accounts while evading the IRS agents. If they catch you, you must declare the interest. If they catch you 10 times, you get audited and the game is over.
    • I/O Board – Letters from readers about Son of Infobits database, the Star NX-10 printer, Bumblebee high scores, modems and the hearing impaired, the Atari 800 attract mode, databases that work with the 10MB SupraDrive, and more.
    • Product Reviews – Reviews of video Vegas from Baudville, Mercenary from Datasoft, Wizard’s Crown (an RPG from SSI), Fight Night from Accolade, and Gettysburg from SSI.
    • New Products – New products this month include News Station desktop publishing software, Rambo: First Blood part II from Mindscape, Hollywood Hijinx from Infocom, the Tac5 joystick and Print N Stack paper tray/stand from Suncom, Mail Order Monsters from Electronic Arts, the Midwest Computer Camp, and InSyst! Version 3.0 business software.
    • Tech Tips – Short BASIC program routines to return 18 possible values from the joystick port, generate the famous Atari Rainbow effect, and a software driver for the Hardware Key project from the August 1986 issue.

    ST Resource

    • Pathways Uncovered – File handling on the Atari ST, including creating folders or sub-directories.
    • ST Reviews – Reviews of The Pinball Factory from Michtron, Silent Service from MicroProse, Black Cauldron from Sierra On-Line, and Universe II from Omnitrend Software.
    • ST Product News – New products this month include Trivia Challenge, Backup!, and Pinball Factory from Michtron; HiSoft BASIC Compiler, DevPacST macroassembler and Saved! file utility/desk accessory from HiSoft; Accounts, Invoice/Order Processing, and Inventory Control System from Execon; and more.
    • Typesetter Elite – Software that enables you to create and print high resolution pages.

    …and more!


  • Antic (June 1986)

    Source: Antic – June 1986 

    Antic was one of the biggest Atari 8-bit magazines in North America. It also covered the Atari ST at times. The June 1986 issue includes:

    Features

    • Summer, Atari Style – It seems that by 1986, most computer camps had already died out. However, there were a number of camps still around that provided computers for learning as one of their many activities. Apparently there was even at least one that taught you skills like running your own BBS.
    • Weather Wizard – A type-in program that will predict the weather based on a few inputs.
    • Decide – A BASIC type-in program for creating a decision tree.
    • Math Art – A type-in program that generates graphical patterns based on mathematical equations and sine waves.
    • Recipe Converter – A type-in program that will automatically adjust the amount of ingredients needed based on the number of servings.
    • Micro Julius – A BASIC type-in program that will display a calendar from any month between 1900 and 2100 and calculate the number of days since an given event.

    Departments

    • Game of the Month: Bomb Squad – A type-in game consisting of ten levels in which you must avoid the mechanical guards and defuse bombs.
    • Starting Out: New Owners Column Lesson 4: Nested Loops – A BASIC tutorial on nested loops with type-in examples.
    • Education: Atari Learning Center – Making the case for why the Atari is the best educational computer.

    ST Resource

    • 68000 Exceptions & Interrupts – Part two of a three part series that details interrupts and exception handling on the Atari ST.
    • Basic Biorhythmics – A type-in program for generating biorhythms on the Atari ST. There was a (or many) version of this for every computer back in the day.
    • Zoomracks Review – A unique text-oriented database system for the Atari ST that uses a sort of card catalog or timecard metaphor.
    • DB Master One & 1st-Word Review – Review of a couple of pieces of software being included with each new Atari 520ST. 1st-Word is a word processing program and DB Master One is a database management program.
    • File I/O Intro – A guide to handling various file types on the Atari ST.
    • ST Product News – New products for the Atari ST examined this month include Holmes & Duckworth Forth, Brataccas (an animated adventure game from Psygnosis and Mindscape), Borrowed Time (an illustrated text adventure from Activision), HippoVision (a video digitizer), H & D Base (a database), The Manager (a relational database system), and lots more.

    Columns

    • I/O Board – Letters from readers with topics including Atari Lie Detector, Silent Service, the Okimate 10 printer, Lunar Lander Construction Set, DOS 2.5 vs. DOS 3, Atari modems, RAM expansion, Amdek disk drives, and a country music BBS.
    • Antic Online – What’s new with Antic on CompuServe.
    • Product Reviews – Reviews of MIDI Music System from Synthetic Software, Nam from Strategic Simulations, Inc., Soundmouse from Soundsoft, inc., Spellbreaker from Infocom, Batallion Commander from SSI, Spy vs. Spy II from First Star Software, and more.

    …and more!