Atari 800XL - New game preservation releases for the community

[seastalker]

I wanted to offer my own game preservation efforts, and was able to do so for the Atari 8-bit computer line and community with 4 previously undumped commercial games. I tested them with the Atari 800 MiSTer core (remember to use the .atx files - not the .scp ones which are for preservation purposes). All games work great! The games are by ALA Enterprises:

CHICKEN OUT
CONCENTRATION
SPY CATCHER
UNDERWATER CAVERN

You may find them here:
https://forums.atariage.com/topic/23468 ... /page/106/

Grab a second player and enjoy some CHICKEN OUT, a decades long search for me to finally find...

[rhester72]

Thank you for your efforts!

[kathleen]

Thank you @seastalker.

[annette]

Looking forward to trying these titles, thanks!

[TrevorKevorson]

Thanks for sharing these, I'll give them a try later. I have a bit of a soft spot for the Atari 8-Bits as I had a 65XE as my second computer (it really kickstarted my passion for computing) so it'll be fun to try some games that I've not played before

[seastalker]

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone. As soon as I had the disk images, I had tested them in MiSTer. It's funny and goes to show how good the MiSTer project is... I first tried loading them in 3 different emulators but configuring them was a hassle (haven't used them in a while). I added the disks to my RetroNAS, fired up the MiSTer and all were perfect. I plan to play them on my real A8 computers soon too.

[Bristles]

I thought I would pop on over to here to register, from Atariage, after seeing seastalker's recent post over there.
Many thanks for these once-lost disks. I grew up with Atari, from the 2600, to the 7800, to an 800XL Computer + 1050 Disk Drive, and a 1010 Cassette player. Wonderful times.
I still use my original 800XL, but I now have a modern SDCard solution with the Sdrive Max - not sure if this can play those preserved disks, I have only tried ATR disks.

[RealLarry]

I still use my original 800XL, but I now have a modern SDCard solution with the Sdrive Max - not sure if this can play those preserved disks, I have only tried ATR disks.

SDrive-Max is capable of using ATX disk images, so yes, they're playable.

[RealLarry]

@seastalker I had a look at your images, thanks for them! It looks like that there's no need to keep the ALA Enterprises images in the ATX format, which is meant for copyprotected or damaged disks. Their games consist of one or two files only which I copied into simple new SD ATRs.
Find them attached and have fun.

[Bristles]

I still use my original 800XL, but I now have a modern SDCard solution with the Sdrive Max - not sure if this can play those preserved disks, I have only tried ATR disks.

SDrive-Max is capable of using ATX disk images, so yes, they're playable.

Great, thanks for that. Don't suppose you know if there is a link to the latest archive for the preserved Atari disks ?
The last version I managed to grab was from 2018-6-21.

[RealLarry]

I still use my original 800XL, but I now have a modern SDCard solution with the Sdrive Max - not sure if this can play those preserved disks, I have only tried ATR disks.

SDrive-Max is capable of using ATX disk images, so yes, they're playable.

Great, thanks for that. Don't suppose you know if there is a link to the latest archive for the preserved Atari disks ?
The last version I managed to grab was from 2018-6-21.

Good question, a8preservation isn't working for me and 2018-6-21 is also "my" latest version of them. But have a visit at Homesoft and Fandal to get the olden and golden and newest stuff for our beloved Atari!

[remowilliams]

Great, thanks for that. Don't suppose you know if there is a link to the latest archive for the preserved Atari disks ?
The last version I managed to grab was from 2018-6-21.

https://atari8bit.net/dl/index.php?b=At ... eservation

[Bristles]

Great, thanks for that. Don't suppose you know if there is a link to the latest archive for the preserved Atari disks ?
The last version I managed to grab was from 2018-6-21.

https://atari8bit.net/dl/index.php?b=At ... eservation

You're a star. Many thanks for that.

[RealLarry]

Great, thanks for that. Don't suppose you know if there is a link to the latest archive for the preserved Atari disks ?
The last version I managed to grab was from 2018-6-21.

https://atari8bit.net/dl/index.php?b=At ... eservation

You're a star. Many thanks for that.

I copy that! Great information.

[Bristles]

Yep. It's so good that there are some truly great people out there keeping the Atari name going.

[seastalker]

@Bristles, I'm honored that my post inspired you to get dual citizenship between AtariAge and the MiSTer forum! WELCOME! The MiSTer group is fantastic in my view.

I appreciate others making these very rare games available in more formats! Thank you RealLarry! Atr or otherwise... maybe even a reproduction cart one day. A 'Chicken Out' cart would be trippy to me.

Also note- If 40+ years of memory serves, you can hit the Reset button the an Atari during Chicken Out, which should lead to the 'Ready' prompt. From there I think you can LIST the code. This may also be why when the game loads you can see the POKE command? I remember my brother and I edited the program (ok, my brother more likely) to display text whenever a player 'died'. Basically smack talk insults to the loser.

Please all go back to the AtariAge link if you'd like copies on the manuals (for 3 out of 4 games).

I TRULY appreciate everyone's positive feedback and thank yous. Knowing others will enjoy these games makes my ludicrous investment just to get a little Tron/snake game into the public, all worthwhile! The 800xl and these games were all released in 1983. Now in 2023 they live again!... Happy 40th!