218 replies to this topic

[Lynxpro]

Lord Helmet, on Tue Jun 1, 2010 10:46 AM, said:

Fired this up on the Wii over the long weekend. Wow...it was a great game to begin with, but the POKEY sound just kills it. Great job

Wait... does the 7800 emulator available on the Wii Homebrew Channel actually emulate the Pokey too? *EDIT* That was rather stupid of me since I've played Ballblazer on it. I guess what I meant to ask is whether there are any issues with it emulating modified games with Pokey support that did not originally include it...

Bakasama, on Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:38 PM, said:

I think he did. He was going to work Millipede but the powers that be decided that DK should be done. Still, there are other 7800 title that could've used better sound like Dig Dug or Xevious.

Hmm. I'm not a fan of the Xevious intro tune - via the Pokey - on the 5200 from what I've seen/heard. Some of the actual effects - such as blasting enemy aircraft - do sound better on the Pokey version though. Even though it isn't very faithful to the arcade, I do prefer the Mothership's effects via the TIA in the 7800 version...

Which brings me to the following question... can you run TIA and Pokey audio at the same time or was the 7800 specifically designed to shut off the internal audio if it did detect a Pokey chip in the cartridge? Forgive me if this has been answered over and over again; just trying to figure out if 6 channel sound was possible... It appears that AtariNerd's later post states that with the XM, you can use the Pokey and the Yamaha chip at the same time, but no word if you could use both of them with the TIA at the same time...

AtariNerd, on Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:23 PM, said:

To give an appreciation of the difference between an envelope generator like the SID (or with a pokey with special programming) and a true synthesizer chip like the YM2151, here are two versions of the end-title theme to Portal, 'Still Alive' coded by the same person and played back on an 8080- based computer.

Those were impressive. Wait...that person installed a SID and a Yamaha sound chip in an old CP/M machine? Impressive.

Kinda makes me teary eyed that the ST didn't have the same Yamaha sound chip included...




One feature I'd like to see on all versions of Pac-Man - including authorized releases from Namco - would be the addition of the "Zoom" button feature. It was probably an unauthorized mod created by GCC but I vividly remember a lot of arcades here in Sacramento having it installed on their Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man units. It was like a super turbo boost to the game. If GCC actually created it, it's a shame they didn't include it by default in the 7800 version. I've found very little info about it on the web but I know I didn't imagine it!

Edited by Lynxpro, Thu Feb 3, 2011 10:53 AM.

[Bakasama]

Lynxpro, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 10:48 AM, said:

Hmm. I'm not a fan of the Xevious intro tune - via the Pokey - on the 5200 from what I've seen/heard. Some of the actual effects - such as blasting enemy aircraft - do sound better on the Pokey version though. Even though it isn't very faithful to the arcade, I do prefer the Mothership's effects via the TIA in the 7800 version...

Which brings me to the following question... can you run TIA and Pokey audio at the same time or was the 7800 specifically designed to shut off the internal audio if it did detect a Pokey chip in the cartridge? Forgive me if this has been answered over and over again; just trying to figure out if 6 channel sound was possible... It appears that AtariNerd's later post states that with the XM, you can use the Pokey and the Yamaha chip at the same time, but no word if you could use both of them with the TIA at the same time...

There's plans to use the Yamaha chip for the 7800 version Xevious with sounds ported from the MSX version of the game. That will have to wait until the guy finishes adding the Yamaha sounds for Dig Dug.

I'm no expert on hardware but I do think it's possible to use a TIA and Pokey at the same time.

[The_Laird]

Commando on the 7800 uses both Tia and Pokey at the same time.

[AtariNerd]

If I understand the discussions correctly (dream on, Atarinerd), it's possible to use all three simultaneously, without any particular hardware restrictions, provided there's enough cycles left to do whatever else needs to be done. Naturally, there is increased overhead and timing windows to deal with...

Edited by AtariNerd, Thu Feb 3, 2011 12:53 PM.

[Lynxpro]

The_Laird, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 11:36 AM, said:

Commando on the 7800 uses both Tia and Pokey at the same time.

That's right! I totally forgot about that.


Separate question...does anyone here have a heatsink installed on the Maria chip?

Bakasama, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 11:06 AM, said:

There's plans to use the Yamaha chip for the 7800 version Xevious with sounds ported from the MSX version of the game. That will have to wait until the guy finishes adding the Yamaha sounds for Dig Dug.

Nice. Just imagine if Curt had done a blasphemous deed like adding a SID chip to the XM adapter... Impossible Mission could have the C64* audio ported to it.

Added bonus, making Timbaland shed a tear over each C64 parted out for the SID chip to go into an Atari enthusiast's device.


*Mentioning the C64 as a source since I do not recall the game having been ported to the Atari 8-bits...

Edited by Lynxpro, Thu Feb 3, 2011 1:04 PM.

[The Usotsuki]

Lynxpro, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 10:48 AM, said:

One feature I'd like to see on all versions of Pac-Man - including authorized releases from Namco - would be the addition of the "Zoom" button feature. It was probably an unauthorized mod created by GCC but I vividly remember a lot of arcades here in Sacramento having it installed on their Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man units. It was like a super turbo boost to the game. If GCC actually created it, it's a shame they didn't include it by default in the 7800 version. I've found very little info about it on the web but I know I didn't imagine it!

Tengen's ports had it.

[Jinks]

The Usotsuki, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 3:55 PM, said:

Lynxpro, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 10:48 AM, said:

One feature I'd like to see on all versions of Pac-Man - including authorized releases from Namco - would be the addition of the "Zoom" button feature. It was probably an unauthorized mod created by GCC but I vividly remember a lot of arcades here in Sacramento having it installed on their Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man units. It was like a super turbo boost to the game. If GCC actually created it, it's a shame they didn't include it by default in the 7800 version. I've found very little info about it on the web but I know I didn't imagine it!

Tengen's ports had it.

Ok can someone pm me on how to use the wii to play 7800 emulation, esp homebrew games. please.... last time I asked bane answered with a smart ass remark.

[Lynxpro]

The Usotsuki, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 3:55 PM, said:

Lynxpro, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 10:48 AM, said:

One feature I'd like to see on all versions of Pac-Man - including authorized releases from Namco - would be the addition of the "Zoom" button feature. It was probably an unauthorized mod created by GCC but I vividly remember a lot of arcades here in Sacramento having it installed on their Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man units. It was like a super turbo boost to the game. If GCC actually created it, it's a shame they didn't include it by default in the 7800 version. I've found very little info about it on the web but I know I didn't imagine it!

Tengen's ports had it.

I did not know that. Better fire up the NES emulator with those game images. Loved the Atari Games/Tengen version of Tetris. Far superior to Nintendo's weak-but-legal offering.

[AtariNerd]

Another Sac-Who-mentan? Nice.

[Tubular Gearhead]

AtariNerd, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 9:16 PM, said:

Another Sac-Who-mentan? Nice.

Hey- does Carmichael count??

[AtariNerd]

Tubular Gearhead, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 9:24 PM, said:

AtariNerd, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 9:16 PM, said:

Another Sac-Who-mentan? Nice.

Hey- does Carmichael count??

Close enough.

[Lynxpro]

AtariNerd, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 9:16 PM, said:

Another Sac-Who-mentan? Nice.

Natomas represent...

Is "Who" a reference to something else, something scifi'ish?

[AtariNerd]

Lynxpro, on Fri Feb 4, 2011 1:08 AM, said:

Natomas represent...

Is "Who" a reference to something else, something scifi'ish?

Yes.

I used to haunt GallifreyOne/GallifreyBase from time to time, so your screen-name and posting-style were logged in my brain somewhere. (Funny little brain that it is.) It just dawned on me that I knew you from there.

[BrianC]

Lynxpro, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 8:15 PM, said:

The Usotsuki, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 3:55 PM, said:

Lynxpro, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 10:48 AM, said:

One feature I'd like to see on all versions of Pac-Man - including authorized releases from Namco - would be the addition of the "Zoom" button feature. It was probably an unauthorized mod created by GCC but I vividly remember a lot of arcades here in Sacramento having it installed on their Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man units. It was like a super turbo boost to the game. If GCC actually created it, it's a shame they didn't include it by default in the 7800 version. I've found very little info about it on the web but I know I didn't imagine it!

Tengen's ports had it.

I did not know that. Better fire up the NES emulator with those game images. Loved the Atari Games/Tengen version of Tetris. Far superior to Nintendo's weak-but-legal offering.

Only Tengen's Ms. Pac-Man has the turbo boost. Pac-Man, which is the same as Namco's version, doesn't have it. I love Tengen's Tetris, but I didn't find Nintendo's version weak. It lacks the 2 player, but still has nice physics, graphics, and music.

Tengen didn't purposely make an illegal version. Tengen thought they had the console rights to Tetris because someone who only had the computer rights told them they bought rights to console versions. Tengen wasn't the only company fooled by this. BPS and Sega made unauthorized versions, as well. Sega had to take their Mega Drive version off market and an extremely low number were made. BPS took advantage of the situation and bought the console rights (which were sub-licensed to Nintendo).

History of Tetris at Atari HQ

Edited by BrianC, Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:20 PM.

[gorfcadet]

Anyone know the status of the XM friendly release of this is? I want to order it, but I'd kick myself if the Dual/Pokey sound version was available not soon after.

[tep392]

Right now I have it setup to play with TIA or POKEY depending on which chip is detected. The code is finished but I'm waiting to get my XM so that I can test it out. It works in emulation, but we wouldn't want to ship anything without it being debugged first.

I had talked about updating the music to use the Yamaha chip but wether or not it goes in will depend on how much work it takes. I have very limited time to work on this stuff and want to move on to other projects. I have written the code to do this, but it is totally untested. If all goes well, it might make it in.

Perry

[Jr. Pac]

Really nice !I wonder aout Jr. Pac-Man..

[tep392]

Jr. Pac, on Mon Aug 8, 2011 8:40 AM, said:

Really nice !I wonder aout Jr. Pac-Man..

The thought has occured to me, but I'm not too interested in updating the sound on another Pac-man game.

[darryl1970]

tep392, on Mon Aug 8, 2011 9:41 AM, said:

Jr. Pac, on Mon Aug 8, 2011 8:40 AM, said:

Really nice !I wonder aout Jr. Pac-Man..

The thought has occured to me, but I'm not too interested in updating the sound on another Pac-man game.

I can understand that. Thanks again for the work you have done though!