Gunstar Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 (edited) Sound cool? I think so. I was browsing through an old Antic magazine today, one given to me that wasn't in my sparadic collection; May 1985 Vol. 4#1, the cover displays "The New Super Ataris" with info on the ST line. Anywho, while browsing, I see this ad on page 27, an ad page, for this "Assault Force 3D" which states: 'Exciting new "real" 3D graphics on 48K disk. Includes Super Charger Power Booster cartridge for fast realistic 3 dimensional graphics. Weave your way through a maze of pyramids and radar dishes as you fight against an onslaught of jets and helicopters. But, remember to keep an eye out for more fuel in this fast paced game.' I never heard of this game with this "Super Charger Power Booster cartridge before." Does anyone have one of these with this game? How rare is this? I'd sure love to get my hands on it. It's part of a page ad that includes MicroNet networking box for Atari's and Microport parallel Buss board (experimentors PIA board) for XL's which also look very interesting. And I'm not sure if I heard of them either, but the company running the Ad is Microbits Peripheral Products (MPP) in Albany Oregon. Edited June 16, 2007 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 There's some info on Atarimania, but no dumps. This sounds interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted June 16, 2007 Author Share Posted June 16, 2007 There's some info on Atarimania, but no dumps. This sounds interesting... Apparently a dump would be worthless without the super charger cartridge to make it work anyway. This is something that would probably have to be found whole and original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 There's some info on Atarimania, but no dumps. This sounds interesting... Apparently a dump would be worthless without the super charger cartridge to make it work anyway. This is something that would probably have to be found whole and original. I guess I was thinking that you could have a dump of the cartridge also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted June 16, 2007 Author Share Posted June 16, 2007 (edited) There's some info on Atarimania, but no dumps. This sounds interesting... Apparently a dump would be worthless without the super charger cartridge to make it work anyway. This is something that would probably have to be found whole and original. I guess I was thinking that you could have a dump of the cartridge also. I think the cartridge was a hardware upgrade that was used with the game software, and not just software on a regular Jaguar ROM cartridge, therefore a "dump" is impossible. This is an educated guess of course, but I really don't see how additional software on a cartridge could make the 48k disk software faster or "super charger boosted." It sounds to me like they put some kind of co-processor or floating-point math chip on a cartridge, something like that. Edited June 16, 2007 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 This is an educated guess of course, but I really don't see how additional software on a cartridge could make the 48k disk software faster or "super charger boosted." It sounds to me like they put some kind of co-processor or floating-point math chip on a cartridge, something like that. I think I have some info on this somewhere if I could find it. But my hazy memory of this says that a coprocessor of some kind sounds correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Yes, it's a pretty nice BattleZone clone in colorful wireframe graphics and you're right about the cartridge. You'd probably need a modified version of Atari800Win PLus to run it -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Fandal_ Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Yes, it's a pretty nice BattleZone clone in colorful wireframe graphics and you're right about the cartridge. You'd probably need a modified version of Atari800Win PLus to run it -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Hey Frog! You know modified version of Atari800 emulator (not WinPLus) for use with Assault Force has been written months ago. And author is still waiting for your confirm that it works 100%... F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I didn't want to spill the beans and I forgot that you were waiting for my confirmation. I'll let you know ASAP -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emkay Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I wonder what this Cartrigde does exactly. Are there some screenshots of the game around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I think the cartridge was a hardware upgrade that was used with the game software, and not just software on a regular Jaguar ROM cartridge, therefore a "dump" is impossible. This is an educated guess of course, but I really don't see how additional software on a cartridge could make the 48k disk software faster or "super charger boosted." It sounds to me like they put some kind of co-processor or floating-point math chip on a cartridge, something like that. You are quite correct. According to a note I received from the author, the "SuperCharger" cartridge is an integer math (hardware) cartridge used for fast calculation of the positions of screen objects. It's an ok game, but nothing special, IMO. I was always very fond of the arcade version of Battlezone, and nothing else seemed to quite measure up. I suspect it is pretty rare. However, if modified for an emulator using PC "horsepower" it should be fine. Side note -- once upon a time, after receiving info about the "SuperCharger," I tried unsuccessfully to convince Ron at CSS to produce a general purpose math cart for the A8 based on the Intel 8087 which could be bought for about $1 each after they were outdated by the 80287's. Of course, using an emulator with a modern PC is still way faster than that would have been. -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Fandal_ Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I wonder what this Cartrigde does exactly. Are there some screenshots of the game around? Super Charger is basically very simple multiplier and divider. It's used for all 3D calculations so the game itself is really very fast. Here're some screenshots... F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Fandal, you have e-mail -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiassofT Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Some 4 years ago I was discussing this with Jindroush (he had the cart) and we tried to identify the chip, but without any success. It's most likely a custom chip. Here's some of the information he sent me: The chip is 18 pin, has 4 registers. 0,1,2 are data regs, 3 is command/status. Command 1, division: reg3 = 1 reg1 (hi) reg2 (lo) / reg0 = reg2 (res), reg1 (remainder). If there's error, status is 1, otherwise status is 0. Command 2, multiplication: reg3 = 2 reg2 * reg0 = reg1 (hi), reg2 (lo). BTW: How long does a multiplication / division last (approx. in Atari clock cycles) They setup 4 registers and then issue 4 nops. And the cart doesn't work correctly on 2 of my 6 ataris. Namely 130 XE and 800 XE. I know it works on other ataris (including other XEs). Seems like IO timing problem, because few points on the screen are not where expected, instead on random(?) places, which suggests error in cart communication. If this information is correct, it should be fairly simple to integrate the chip logic into an Atari emulator. Here are images of the PCB (the smaller IC is most certainly a simple logic gate, the lager IC is the "secret chip"): so long, Hias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velcro_SP Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Super Charger is basically very simple multiplier and divider. It's used for all 3D calculations so the game itself is really very fast. Here're some screenshots... F. Fandal, thanks for the screenshots and info. There's a lot of colors in those screenshots, and those distant mountains are at GR. 8-equivalents resolution aren't they (and more colors)? I wonder if the Super Charger boosted the graphics as well... Could all be skillful use of mixed screen-modes though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 The A8 has no facility for video input, or mixing external sources. Those mountains look Gr.15ish to me - the slope of the mountain on the right gives it away, it would be 45 degrees if it was a diagonal in Gr.8 But, the idea of a coprocessor in a cart is a good one - pity it wasn't more widespread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted June 16, 2007 Author Share Posted June 16, 2007 Well, I'm very biased toward emulators and only use real hardware, so I've GOT to find a copy of this cart&game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Well, I'm very biased toward emulators and only use real hardware, so I've GOT to find a copy of this cart&game! Hi Gunstar maybe i can get one for you.How much do you want to pay for this? greetings gambler172 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 There's some info on Atarimania, but no dumps. This sounds interesting... Apparently a dump would be worthless without the super charger cartridge to make it work anyway. This is something that would probably have to be found whole and original. I guess I was thinking that you could have a dump of the cartridge also. I think the cartridge was a hardware upgrade that was used with the game software, and not just software on a regular Jaguar ROM cartridge, therefore a "dump" is impossible. This is an educated guess of course, but I really don't see how additional software on a cartridge could make the 48k disk software faster or "super charger boosted." It sounds to me like they put some kind of co-processor or floating-point math chip on a cartridge, something like that. I assumed that was probably the case also. But, since I didn't know anything specific about it (until a few minutes ago), I thought it may also just be some kind of a gimmick. I think this is a cool way to approach enhancing the A-8's hardware. This is more elegant than the typical upgrades which require internal modifications. I'm not a big fan of "hacked up" A-8 internals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted June 16, 2007 Author Share Posted June 16, 2007 Well, I'm very biased toward emulators and only use real hardware, so I've GOT to find a copy of this cart&game! Hi Gunstar maybe i can get one for you.How much do you want to pay for this? greetings gambler172 I guess I'd pay fair market value, what ever that is, unless it's hundreds or more dollars, then I couldn't afford it right now. I can only assume it pretty rare, since I don't recall anyone responding to my question about rarity yet. But if I can get it for somewhere between $0-100 I give it serious consideration. When I said I've got to get it, I sort of meant "some day" but someday can be sooner rather than later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayoK Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 (edited) ... Microport parallel Buss board (experimentors PIA board) for XL's which also look very interesting Wow - I remember buying one of these. Basically it was a 6521B PIA and memory address decoding logic with a few pull-up resistors. All this was supplied on a professionally manufactured PCB with break out pins. Only ever managed to get PORTA going on the PIA though and then lost interest. Was expensive at the time, but it did give a nice PCB and something to finally plug into the PBI. Edited June 16, 2007 by JayoK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miker Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Hm... what about hacking this game for using it without this chip? Maybe for adding some fast mltiply/divede procedure(s)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Is there anywhere I can download the game itself? (I know it won't run without the hardware.) Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 OK, here is the disk: http://www.atarimania.com/8bit/dumps/Assault_Force_3_D.zip -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Very nice, thanks. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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