Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle
General Chat => High Score - Are you the best ... around? => Topic started by: level42 on October 09, 2013, 11:49:31 PM
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....been yearning to do this for some time already and tonight I actually had some time to set my dear XEGS up to see how rusty my DK skills are:
Not too shabby actually. I used to do somewhere between 170000 and 180000 if my memory is not screwing with me.
This score is actually already good enough for 2nd place on Twin Galaxies :)
Still.....getting the WR would need about 230000 which is something I don't think I've ever reached nor something that is easy to do. The game gets damn damn hard around the 150000 point.
Oh, did I ever mention it is the BEST DK version ever. Yes, it's even better than the original.
EVERYONE here should buy an XL/XE just for DK ;D ;D ;D
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[survivor-eye.of.the.tiger.mp3 on]
not a bad score, keep practicing !
[/survivor-eye.of.the.tiger.mp3 off]
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168200 tonight.......doing a game on ustream now, come and watch :)
http://ustre.am/15J6e
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Cool, it brings back great memories from EC13. :D
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Cool!
did you only stream, or also recorded it yourself ?
if not, i have them here now ;)
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Mehhh, Ustream stores them but the hi-score game of the night was dome before I started "transmitting". Its nothin official until I can seriously get around the WR score :)
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Haha awesome!
Andre I think its time you post your score here as well: http://highscore.com/game/?g=5429&enterscore=1
Good luck!
Will follow this for sure!
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40000? Haha, I restart the game if I accidentally loose a life before that score :)
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I do that at home playing the arcade game if I die before level 5, but I couldn't get a 5 minutes run without dying at the RGE :(
I'll try this version some time, I like hard games
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40000? Haha, I restart the game if I accidentally loose a life before that score :)
I figured! ;)
But the more people submit scores to that site the more popular it will become, they don't charge anything and its more or less crowd-sourced. I really like the project
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why is this version better then the original?
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why is this version better then the original?
It plays way more fluently. Especially in combination with my beloved leaf-switch Suzo joystick :):)
One thing f.i. Is that you can point the stick diagonally when running on the girders and getting close to a ladder. Jumpman/Mario will keep running and when he reaches the ladder will start climbing it. that is impossible in the original because of the 4 way "joystick" (which is also not exactly one of the best joysticks in the history of arcade games.....).This makes it feel much smoother IMHO.
The fireballs are admittedly much easier (they are much less changing direction) but IMHO that is an improvement too, they are about the most unfair, annoying and unpredictable foes in any videogame I've seen in the original ;D
I guess you just have to try it to understand :)
When I was in the market for choosing a homecomputer as a follow up for my 2600, this game made me decide for the 600 XL. Not ONLY because of it, there were many other reasons too, but it was the "last decisive push" for sure :):)
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40000? Haha, I restart the game if I accidentally loose a life before that score :)
I figured! ;)
But the more people submit scores to that site the more popular it will become, they don't charge anything and its more or less crowd-sourced. I really like the project
I will never pay for submitting a hi-score, I totally dislike the new TG for that reason.
The sad thing about it is that there are now so many different scoreboards popping up everywhere....
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.................
One thing f.i. Is that you can point the stick diagonally when running on the girders and getting close to a ladder. Jumpman/Mario will keep running and when he reaches the ladder will start climbing it. that is impossible in the original because of the 4 way "joystick" (which is also not exactly one of the best joysticks in the history of arcade games.....).This makes it feel much smoother IMHO.
thats whats also the case with my crazy kong, and i love it !
All the arcade cabinets that had donkey kong/crazy kong in my youth had that "8 way" joystick, so i am used to play with the "diagonal way" on the ladders, and i guess that was because i never had played the Original cabinet with a 4 way stick
thats also the reason i dont like DK with a 4 way, much more difficult with a 4 way stick
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So it.plays easier, but it actually is harder and the scores are way lower ???
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I never said the A8 version is harder than the original. I said it was better.
Etienne, that must be true for me too ! my buddy and I used to go to a certain snack bar in Rotterdam where we knew there was a Crazy Kong, we never bought anything just played the machine....
I have never seen a real DK BITD here....
I was also surprised that on the A8 version you couldn't do the ladder trick. We found that one out ourselves in that snackbar and I was baffled the first time I died on the A8 when a barrel came down the ladder :):)
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;D ;D ;D
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OK guys I registered the score at Highscore.com, now I need 9 votes to make it "official", so please go to
http://highscore.com/scores/Atari400800XLXE/DonkeyKong/1577
and vote YES for me, thanks !!!
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Vote DONE !
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me too
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Thanks, need just 2 more :)
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can only vote once ;D
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Never mind, I got a new score to register......
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....because there's a NEW KING OF KONG !!!! ;D ;D ;D
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The Championship set-up ;D ;D
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Now there's a couple of small things:
1) I didn't video this one, it was just another practice game ;)
2) There is NO way in the world I am going to PAY to get this score up on Twin Galaxies
3) I played (naturally) on a PAL machine. The thing is, PAL Atari 8 bit computers run slightly slower than the NTSC one's. This is caused by the video differences of the two systems. Brilliantly, Atari managed to keep the games the same. You can buy a US game and it will work on a PAL system (not so with the 2600).
So...the anal people will say that it is not a World Record (maybe a European/PAL record) because of this reason.
The solution would be to have a NTSC Atari computer around and break the record using that. Although there is an obvious speed difference, I don't think it will influence the game so much that I can't manage to break the WR on that too ;D ;D
So, anyone out there who can lend me a NTSC Atari 8 bit machine ? I'll contact Mr.Atari, maybe he can help me :)
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This is DK A8 played on a PAL machine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW0VlR3t9lc
This is DK A8 played on a NTSC machine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW4yKBMe9A8
The difference is pretty obvious.
It will take some getting used to to play it on NTSC, because of course, I got used to the timing of it running on PAL.
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They did a very nice port, the level order is also mixed up
for me there is only one "correct" level order, and that is the japan rom of DK on mame with ladder cheat
so barrels, conveyor, elevators, griders, and that over and over again
thats how my crazy kong is, and how i am used to play DK also
the first time i played the US rom, i thought WHUUUU WTF is wrong with this rom ;D ;D ;D
Oh and congrats buddy ! ;)
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Yeah, the order had me puzzled when I first played DK on the A8 too because I was used to the old CK rome just like you :)
Thanks....I think I want to take this to an official status as much as I can. So I'll try to look for a NTSC machine, practice on that and if I get into the "right" range of scores start video-"taping"....
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Nice score Andre :spaceace:
What level you did you reach for this score? On the arcade (us Rom).this is around level 8
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Nice score Andre :spaceace:
What level you did you reach for this score? On the arcade (us Rom).this is around level 8
Yes I think 7 or 8 here too.
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Mmmmmm, some very interesting info.....looks like it's possible to switch a PAL XL to NTSC "speed".....
Thomas Richter mentions another NTSC vs PAL issue:
Another point is that the popular pseudo-colors used in the ANTIC-F
(Graphics 8) mode are not colorful at all when displayed on a PAL TV, because
of differences in the color encoding for the TV. The schematics of
the XL computers include however a hack how to change the PAL version to
the NTSC version (the PAL versions include two crystals, one with 5/4th of
the frequency of the other. One is used for the system clock, the other for
the color clock), but I never dared to apply it.
Thomas Richter ?? Mmm, familiar name !!
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....even better.....Mr.Atari (Sijmen) just offered to lend me a NTSC 800 (Not XL :) ) so no-one can debate about it in any way :) :)
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If anyone's interested, doing some DK again today.....
http://ustre.am/15J6e
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Couldn't focus properly......restarting session now.......
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Seems I have "camera fear"......it's not in it tonight.....more later :)
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Giving it another go.....
http://ustre.am/15J6e
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Not my record tonight, but a nice 226,800 score. you can skip to 16.00 to see the game on the last video.
There was one tight situation near the last levels of the game that I solved nicely! It's at 31.38.....
I reached almost 150,000 with my first Mario which was a first AFAIR.
Anyway you can check out the recording on the link above...
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That was indeed a cool way out ! :spaceace:
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Today by sheer luck I had to visit the city where Mr. & Mrs. Atari live for work and since it was near the end of the day I contacted Sijmen to ask if it was OK to pick up the NTSC Atari 800 he said I could borrow for my WR try.
We had a great time and I could have stayed there for hours. The collection of Atari stuff he has is unparalleled, at least in The Netherlands! maybe Atarimania has more, but anyway, since Im such an Atari fan I felt like a kid in a candy store !!!
Apart from that Sandra and Sijmen are totally cool and friendly people. check out his site and especially his videos: http://www.mr-atari.com
Sijmen was also so kind to prepare the MY-IDE cartridge that I have had for some time, for me with loads of brilliant games on it ! Sijmen developed The hard- and software for MY-IDE cart, he is a walking encyclopedia of A8 inside and out knowledge !!! http://www.atarimax.com/myide/documentation/
The NTSC 800 is their "spare" one, but it looks like it came out of the factory yesterday ! It even has those tiny "approval" labels still on it !!
Such an awesome machine.....
I hooked it up with the video cable Sijmen kindly included (the power supply is NOS !) but it's S-VHS so all I got was a B/W picture on the Philips monitor, which is normal as chroma and luma are separated. Not sure if it has inputs for that on the SCART or the DIN input! but I guess I'll just bring down the Commodore 1701 which I normally use with the A8 machines as this has the correct inputs.
The speed difference is MAJOR. I think it's easily 20%..... This will definitely have some effect when it comes to tight situations and that will/could influence my score. Remember I'm used to PAL speed since 1983 or so....
I gave it a couple of tries and it didn't feel that bad actually, it makes the game even smoother, but man it is fast, I think it is actually more realistic compared to the arcade version at PAL speed.
However, I also tried f.i. Joust which I always felt was pretty slow compare to the arcade version! well not anymore !
I might want to look into getting my XE('s) switchable between NTSC and PAL, if that is at all possible....
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Well I tried the gorgeous NTSC 800 on the Crommodore 1702 monitor with both composite and Y/C cables and whatever I do, it's B/W only.
Did some googling and it looks like the NTSC color encoding is already different from PAL in these signals. I always thought the differences only started when the HF part came into the process.
I have one idea, which is try routing it through a NTSC capable (or semi) VHS recorder that I still have here, maybe this does something. Or I could hook it up to my TV, that would probably work, but that's not ideal for a WR attempt.
SO, I guess I'll just have to accept the situation unless someone can borrow me a real NTSC monitor/TV of small size :)
Tried some games tonight. Highest score was around 185k. So yes, you bet the game is a lot harder on NTSC. But I'm sure it must be possible to reach the WR. Just need more practice....
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Doing some practice on the NTSC Atari 800 tonight, come and watch ! :)
Oh, picture is B/W on the monitor, that is normal because the old PAL monitor doesn't understand the NTSC color encoding :)
http://ustre.am/15J6e
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It is fun to see you playing, especially when you speak with yourself. ;D
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Nice music ;)
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I've been following your progress since you first made this topic and realised I haven't even commented on it!
You go girl ;) I'm really enjoying following all of this. Good luck mate!
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That backjump against those 3 barrels was brilliant. ;)
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It is fun to see you playing, especially when you speak with yourself. ;D
You mean cursing on myself ;D
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Nice music ;)
Thank you.....now what band would that be ? ;D ;D ;D
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That backjump against those 3 barrels was brilliant. ;)
Yeah that was probably my best moment of the evening.....god I got much better things to do than this, like fixing a gazillion arcade stuff.....but I may be hooked here people.....I WILL and MUST reach that WR on the NTSC machine !!!
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Donkey Kong killscreen coming up...... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfGphfksi3I) ;D
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Donkey Kong killscreen coming up...... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfGphfksi3I) ;D
Been watching four 3.5 hours now...still no killscreen? :P
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Donkey Kong killscreen coming up...... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfGphfksi3I) ;D
Been watching four 3.5 hours now...still no killscreen? :P
LOL ! ;D ;D ;D ;D
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YES YES YES YES YES I DID IT !!!!!!!!!
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Pic...
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Wait.... I have something here
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/videotape.gif)
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WR holder according to Twin galaxies:
Ron Corcoran
220,400 02-10-2001
New WR holder:
André Huijts
243,100 31-10-2013
Played on genuine Atari 800 US NTSC version !!!!
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congrats buddy :spaceace:
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Congratulation!
:spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
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Thanks guys ! :)
Please vote for my high score on Donkey Kong: http://1up.bz/?s=27l
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Great!!! Congratulations :spaceace:
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http://ustre.am/15J6e
I bet I won't now, but maybe I can beat it now I'm "in the flow" ;)
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So cool, congratulations! :D How do you vote?
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I had to re-register the score because I didn't upload the pictures for proof first time.
this might work better:
http://www.highscore.com/scores/Atari400800XLXE/DonkeyKong/2866
On the top right it says Legit ? And a green yes and a red no button, please hit the green one, need 11 votes !!!
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Congratulations!! ;D
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Thanks guys and Marjolein ;D
Unless I find an NTSC capable CRT monitor soon......this looks interesting:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=231040822541&globalID=EBAY-NL
It's also frighteningly cheap for such a device, wonder how well it would work.....
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Cool! Congraturlations on the score! - now youre only missng 10 votes :)
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Congrats Dre, i just voted for you ;)
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I say :shock: :shock: :shock: Well done Dre... :)
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Should we call you King Dre, now?
Congratulations your HIGHness, this is what I call an achievement!
:spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
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Hahaha, lol......you guys know me.....I'm not a hi score guy at all....at best I'm mediocre.
I am positive that if guys like Chen or Aart van Vliet would pick up DK on the A8 they would crush my score within a couple of hours.....so I won't be walking with my head in the clouds ;););)
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Congratulations!
(http://www.3dsbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Donkey_Kong-300x250.jpg)
Wonderfull job!
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Congratulations. :)
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Nice. ;)
I had the chance to see you playing, you had to learn a very different gamestyle that we have in our arcade cabs. :D
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Yup :)
I also have a joystick that is a million times better than the Nintendo one.....I can see why they went with that little cross on their pads....
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Hah....
CKONG had bought a "new" TV for his classic gaming hobby and it was in the city where Etienne lives so...the EADS (™) was called in to help and Etienne picked it up for Erik and he brought it to me for temporary storage.
I was interested in the picture of this TV so I had already hooked it up to the PAL Atari 600 XL that I recently bought and it worked just fine.
Tonight I wondered if it would be NTSC compatible at all. I had actually little hope, I know more recent TVs can handle the (fake) NTSC signals that come from "late" VHS recorders but I didn't think it would work.
So I hooked up the NTSC Atari 800 that I have borrowed from Mr.Atari (Sijmen) to give it a try..... and well it worked just fine !!!
So......I pressed the trigger and thought I'd do a short practice game.....the result:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3792/12159538044_16884fa79d_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/12159538044/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/12159538044/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3717/12159535814_df42f6a8d6_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/12159535814/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/level_42/12159535814/) by Level_42 (http://www.flickr.com/people/level_42/), on Flickr
HA !!!!
Very first time ever I broke the 300,000 limit so I totally busted my own WR :)
Please take a second to vote for me guys :) : http://www.highscore.com/score/index.php?s=3841
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P.S. The Atari 800 is hooked up with the composite video signal. The S-Video (Luma/Chroma) would produce a much better picture still but I don't have an adapter for that from RCA to SCART.
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Congratulations. Again. :spaceace:
Must have been the TV set which give you this extra skill. :D ;)
And no, please don't follow Steve Wiebe's training method, writing the parcours on the screen with a (permanent) marker. :o :wink:
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Well, funny you should say that because I was actually thinking after finishing that game: yes, this bigger screen really DOES make playing easier. The reason is you simply see everything bigger so it's easier to judge distances (edges etc.) for jumping etc. and also, getting older, the eyes really like BIG :)
One thing I'm not too crazy about with this TV is that it is slanted backwards. this may have been nice when it was put on a (low) table for viewing, or maybe even on the ground (?) but it's not that great when it's on a desk or dinner table height. Of course you can put something under it on the backside to lift it...
and on the other side, almost every CRT monitor I have used on my desk I had to raise because I don't like to have to look down (bad for the neck) all the time either ;) That IS good on this TV, the speakers are under the screen so it is at a nice viewing height right away.
Don't worry, there is actually no need for the permanent markers :) The way the springs work is a little bit different on the A8, yes there are still differences in distances between them, but I _think_ none of these distance is lethal.......as long as you time your climb up the last ladder JUST right :)
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Oh man, that's a job well done. I can not even win from my 9 year old :roll:
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nice
I still have that TV (the MX4000 like this one) that you asked for at nozomi, but you never answered my PM about it
If you're still interested you could check this one if it works without the remote.
I'll vote for you ofcourse :spaceace: :spaceace:
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Voted ;)
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Did not vote yet. :-[ Forgot my password and the High Score website doesn't send a password-recovery e-mail.
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nice
I still have that TV (the MX4000 like this one) that you asked for at nozomi, but you never answered my PM about it
If you're still interested you could check this one if it works without the remote.
I'll vote for you ofcourse :spaceace: :spaceace:
Oops, sorry Patrick...I just visit Nozomi not so often ! :)
As far as I can see the remote is pretty much essential to operate it, in fact I haven't discovered any buttons on the TV itself yet (but I haven't looked for them either).
Already I had to change some settings for the SCART input to get the Atari running so sorry for now I will look into some other options Patrick.
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Ok np
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Actually, I just checked the TV and I can't find any button at all ?!?!? Is that right or are they hidden somewhere ??
About the picture: it's good, but I'd not call it extraordinary. Basically this is just a Philips TV with some tweaks. One of them is an old trick: a smoked glass in front of the screen. This has advantages and disadvantages. Advantage is nice blacks, disadvantage are reflections from lights in room, and I'm really not keen on that part of it.
I still have some hope to find a 20" PVM ;D
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well, I haven't seen the one you have there, but I do have 2 of them myself (one is the bigger MX7000) and I think the image is really great when you use them on RGB mode with ie a SNES or MD
and the sound of the 7000 is brilliant even using it with a NES
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Did not vote yet. :-[ Forgot my password and the High Score website doesn't send a password-recovery e-mail.
Hi ckong. I'm the webmaster at highscore.com.
I've just emailed you your password.
Sorry there isn't a recovery option, yet. It is definitely on my todo list.
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@Anunaki: I bet it's a lot better in RGB. In fact, I hooked up the 800 XL (PAL) that will be going to the US and that produces a lot better picture compared tot the 800 NTSC. And indeed the sound is awesome, even although this is "just" a MX4000.
My personal preference is hooking the sound up to a proper audio amplifier with hi-fi speakers (no, not a measly computer speaker set) like I did BITD :) The base of the Atari 8 bit machines is AWESOME and something I never heard from a SID ;)
@Serious: Welcome here !!! And thanks for adjusting everything for me. I still want to do a proper day of DK high-scoring and video all of it so we will have a final and doubtless world record. For this, I agreed to trade a PAL 800 XL with a NTSC one so I can play it at full speed on my own machine instead of the borrowed 800.
Also: really like the www.highscore.com site and concept. For me it's the new Twingalaxies !
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@Serious: Welcome here !!! And thanks for adjusting everything for me. I still want to do a proper day of DK high-scoring and video all of it so we will have a final and doubtless world record. For this, I agreed to trade a PAL 800 XL with a NTSC one so I can play it at full speed on my own machine instead of the borrowed 800.
Also: really like the www.highscore.com site and concept. For me it's the new Twingalaxies !
Thanks very much! Building highscore.com is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, so it is exciting for me to see how fast it is growing and how word is spreading.
Someone from Guinness World Records started following @HighScore on Twitter recently, and your score is one of the ones I thought of when that happened. That's when I noticed the issue with the photo links and fixed them.
Always feel free to let me know if you need help with anything. You have my email now.
Glad to be a member of this forum, now, as well! :)
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Did not vote yet. :-[ Forgot my password and the High Score website doesn't send a password-recovery e-mail.
Hi ckong. I'm the webmaster at highscore.com.
I've just emailed you your password.
Sorry there isn't a recovery option, yet. It is definitely on my todo list.
Thanks, I finally was able to vote, YES of course. ;D
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Dankjewel ! ;D
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Just voted also ;)
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Sweet! I had no idea you were into this, 42! I'm coming for you!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYfeIsSIEtA
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Great video John !
The best 8 bit computer ever and the best DK ever !
Doesn't that TV have a composite video input ? You really need to ditch the RF set-up, it sucks even if you could get rid of the static.
Or get a Commodore 1084 or similar monitor for a few bucks and use that,although I understand the nostalgia for your TV.
I bought a 600XL and a 1010 cassette recorder after having owned the 2600. It was my first computer and buying it sent tingles up and down my body. Here I was buying the latest that technology could offer, it was like stepping into another world.
Loved the ATASCII art, kinda forgot about that. ASCII was (still is ?) a standard code that represented characters in a binary format. f.I. The letter A is 65 in decimal, 1000001 binary (ASCII is 7 bits). The system dates back from the very old computers that used punch tape for storage. apart from defining all the letters and numbers there were also lots of codes to control stuff like the cursor etc.
Atari extended on the basic ASCII and used 8 bits IIRC so they could add 128 characters.
The biggest benefit is that an animation like you showed took up very little storage space and thus could be easily transferred over the slow modems of those days.
When I started with the XL I knew nobody at all with the same machine. I decided to go with that machine because I liked Atari (the 2600 and arcade games) and I had seen the C64 at my cousins and didn't like a lot about that machine. However, the definite moment that I decided I wanted this machine was when I played DK for the first time on it. I just HAD to have that, because it blew away the Colecovison version which I considered the best home version until then. It was also one of the rare original cartridges I bought very quickly.
I learned a LOT from this machine because basically I couldn't get any pirate software for it for some time, but very soon an Atari club was erected in Holland and I got in contact with local guys (one is still a good friend) and soon the tapes and later the floppies were going around....we ended up having contacts in the US and Australia and floppies were flying all over the globe :):):)
Really hope you'll do more A8 videos, may I suggest showing some of the best games on it: Alley Cat, Star Raiders, Bounty Bob Strikes Back, Dropzone, Mr.Robot, Berzerk and the countless of great arcade conversions.
By the way, I never knew Gauntlet got released for it. Not that I'm a big fan of that game.
Drol was one of my favorites too ! I first found the name vey weird though because in Dutch "drol" is a pile of shit ;D
I am VERY jealous of your Indus GT drive. I clearly remember seeing an ad for it in American Atari magazines that I bought here and I was like drooling over that page sized ad for sometimes like 10 minutes. All we got here was Atari's 1050 which wasn't bad bit still very expensive for a school kid, it took years before I could buy one.
You need a better joystick to come close to my WR buddy, get a Suzo Competition Pro ! :)
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Yep, ASCII is still used, especially in nfo files that you many time get on usenet ;D
_ _ ___ _____
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| |___| __/\ V / __/ | \___ |./ /___
\_____/\___| \_/ \___|_| |_/\_____/
_ _ _
(_) | | | |
_ ___ | |_| |__ ___
| / __| | __| '_ \ / _ \
| \__ \ | |_| | | | __/
|_|___/ \__|_| |_|\___|
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888 `88b. 888 8 `888 `88. .88' `88b d88' 888
o888o o888o o888o o8o `8 `Y8bood8P' `Y8bood8P' o888o
.o. .ooooo. .oooo. .oooo.
.888. d88' `8. d8P'`Y8b d8P'`Y8b
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LOL!!!!. Reminds me of some of those HUGE chain-paper printouts that my mum brought home when they first got a computer at her work which showed a picture of Snoopy using just ASCII characters, pretty amazing really. I totally wonderen How they made that and if that work was all done by hand :):)
That was probably the first print-out of a computer I ever saw, must have been somewhere mid to late 70s.
Naturally there were also less child-friendly drawings like that :)
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This ASCII logo reminds me the ones you've seen when login to *warez* BBS during the Amiga era ;)
US Robotics powaâââ! 8)
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Waha, yep, BBSes rocked :)
I don't believe I had a MODEM during my A8 period, think I started when I had the ST, same era like you Bruno :)
My first modem was a 300 baud thing that looked like it was a hobby box. The great thing was that it also supported "viditel" speed, 1200 download, 75 upload, which was great for downloading uhhhhh, public domain programs.man 1200 was SO fast....I mean I could read along at 300 baud but not at 1200 ;););)
Of course I had to connect to a BBS that was in "our" phone region because else you'd get high phone bills.....thank god my dad's phone was paid by the company :):):)
And you had to make sure no-one used the phone when you were connected :)
Remember using Kermit, X,Y and later the amazing Z-modem protocols ? :):)
In the last days of the BBSes some were already running simple graphics protocols, a first baby step to the internet I guess :)
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Great video John !
The best 8 bit computer ever and the best DK ever !
Doesn't that TV have a composite video input ? You really need to ditch the RF set-up, it sucks even if you could get rid of the static.
Or get a Commodore 1084 or similar monitor for a few bucks and use that,although I understand the nostalgia for your TV.
I bought a 600XL and a 1010 cassette recorder after having owned the 2600. It was my first computer and buying it sent tingles up and down my body. Here I was buying the latest that technology could offer, it was like stepping into another world.
Loved the ATASCII art, kinda forgot about that. ASCII was (still is ?) a standard code that represented characters in a binary format. f.I. The letter A is 65 in decimal, 1000001 binary (ASCII is 7 bits). The system dates back from the very old computers that used punch tape for storage. apart from defining all the letters and numbers there were also lots of codes to control stuff like the cursor etc.
Atari extended on the basic ASCII and used 8 bits IIRC so they could add 128 characters.
The biggest benefit is that an animation like you showed took up very little storage space and thus could be easily transferred over the slow modems of those days.
When I started with the XL I knew nobody at all with the same machine. I decided to go with that machine because I liked Atari (the 2600 and arcade games) and I had seen the C64 at my cousins and didn't like a lot about that machine. However, the definite moment that I decided I wanted this machine was when I played DK for the first time on it. I just HAD to have that, because it blew away the Colecovison version which I considered the best home version until then. It was also one of the rare original cartridges I bought very quickly.
I learned a LOT from this machine because basically I couldn't get any pirate software for it for some time, but very soon an Atari club was erected in Holland and I got in contact with local guys (one is still a good friend) and soon the tapes and later the floppies were going around....we ended up having contacts in the US and Australia and floppies were flying all over the globe :):):)
Really hope you'll do more A8 videos, may I suggest showing some of the best games on it: Alley Cat, Star Raiders, Bounty Bob Strikes Back, Dropzone, Mr.Robot, Berzerk and the countless of great arcade conversions.
By the way, I never knew Gauntlet got released for it. Not that I'm a big fan of that game.
Drol was one of my favorites too ! I first found the name vey weird though because in Dutch "drol" is a pile of shit ;D
I am VERY jealous of your Indus GT drive. I clearly remember seeing an ad for it in American Atari magazines that I bought here and I was like drooling over that page sized ad for sometimes like 10 minutes. All we got here was Atari's 1050 which wasn't bad bit still very expensive for a school kid, it took years before I could buy one.
You need a better joystick to come close to my WR buddy, get a Suzo Competition Pro ! :)
Yeah, I'm gonna buy one of those joysticks! Are they easy to find?
I traded my friend my Atari 1050 for his Indus GT. To this day I still don't know why he wanted to do the trade. I remember those ads for that drive in Antic magazine. They really made the thing seem like a sports car.
I need to go through my games, I don't remember what was good. I do remember LOVING Mr. Robot, though! That game was great. Also, I remember Gauntlet being REALLY good.
Anyways, I will be doing more A8 vids soon!
BTW -- there is a guy local to me selling a Commodore 64, floppy drive, and the c64 monitor for $150.00. I'm thinking about buying it for the monitor and selling all the c64 stuff. I wonder if it's worth the effort. However, I did buy an Atari Video plug cable on ebay. I wonder if that will fix my static.
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Waha, yep, BBSes rocked :)
I don't believe I had a MODEM during my A8 period, think I started when I had the ST, same era like you Bruno :)
My first modem was a 300 baud thing that looked like it was a hobby box. The great thing was that it also supported "viditel" speed, 1200 download, 75 upload, which was great for downloading uhhhhh, public domain programs.man 1200 was SO fast....I mean I could read along at 300 baud but not at 1200 ;););)
Of course I had to connect to a BBS that was in "our" phone region because else you'd get high phone bills.....thank god my dad's phone was paid by the company :):):)
And you had to make sure no-one used the phone when you were connected :)
Remember using Kermit, X,Y and later the amazing Z-modem protocols ? :):)
In the last days of the BBSes some were already running simple graphics protocols, a first baby step to the internet I guess :)
I just bought a XM301 modem on eBay for $15 shipped. I'm gonna try to connect to some BBSes that are still around. If I'm successful I'll make a video of it!
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You mean you still have an analogue phone line there ? :o :o :o
Mmmm, well .....maybe it will work through a cable or ADSL phone connection too.....interesting really :)
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This ASCII logo reminds me the ones you've seen when login to *warez* BBS during the Amiga era ;)
US Robotics powaâââ! 8)
+1 great memories!!! :'(
my 14,400 Baud US Robotics Courier HST:
(http://imageshack.com/a/img843/5352/tn9.gif) (https://imageshack.com/i/nftn9g)
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Wayyyyyyy, to modern and fast that one ;)
ATDT 010-51234558
Man that was a luxury....the modem being able to dial numbers that is (for the younger people here). With my first modem I had to dial with the phone, then throw a switch on the modem as soon as I heard the answering tone of the "receiving" modem on the other side of the line :)
I remember my digital electronics teacher showing a calculation using bandwidths of telephone lines showing what would be the absolute maximum transfer rate over telephone lines. He arrived at something like 1024 baud IIRC. The funny thing was that I had already read that 9600 baud modems were on their way by then. Naturally I told him (lesson learned => teachers do not like students to be smarter then themselves) and he didn't believe me (after all he just "proved" it was impossible).
Next day I showed him the magazine :)
Little did he know about the complicated modulation formats that were necessary for those "faster than possible" speeds :)
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You mean you still have an analogue phone line there ? :o :o :o
Mmmm, well .....maybe it will work through a cable or ADSL phone connection too.....interesting really :)
My phone is through my cable company. Will it not work!? Why not? It's just beeps. :)
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If the A/D conversion is good enough I think it should work :)
But maybe they use some audio compression schemes that screw up the beeps signals....no idea....only one way to find out :)
I guess the slower the baudrate the more chance it works. Since the XM301 is 300 bps you may have a good chance :)
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http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue70/070_2_Reviews_Atari_XM301_Modem.php
So uhmmmmm just as an excuse to "stay on topic": what was your hi-score BITD on DK John ?
Did you know I especially got a NTSC 800 XL for reaching the world record ? I wanted the faster speed of the NTSC version so there would be no discussion about my record. I had to get used to it first for sure, makes timing really different. Now, I actually think I'll use the NTSC machine for playing games more. The PAL machines will remain best for European demo's and games.
I swapped a PAL one with a British guy in the US (found him through atariage.com forum) who wanted a PAL version to run Dropzone at it's native speed.
I have a bunch of A8's now: 600XL, 800XL NTSC, 800 PAL (those are RARE), 130XE, XEGS and one and a half defective XE's, one of them the Euro-only 800XE.
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http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue70/070_2_Reviews_Atari_XM301_Modem.php
So uhmmmmm just as an excuse to "stay on topic": what was your hi-score BITD on DK John ?
Did you know I especially got a NTSC 800 XL for reaching the world record ? I wanted the faster speed of the NTSC version so there would be no discussion about my record. I had to get used to it first for sure, makes timing really different. Now, I actually think I'll use the NTSC machine for playing games more. The PAL machines will remain best for European demo's and games.
I swapped a PAL one with a British guy in the US (found him through atariage.com forum) who wanted a PAL version to run Dropzone at it's native speed.
I have a bunch of A8's now: 600XL, 800XL NTSC, 800 PAL (those are RARE), 130XE, XEGS and one and a half defective XE's, one of them the Euro-only 800XE.
I have no idea what my high-score is. I'm gonna play more once I get a new joystick or fix mine. Game is cool!
Dude! You have a lot Atari computers! :) LOL! Interesting about the speed of the game with the PAL version.
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Hey, I got my 800XL connected to some BBSes. It works in 2014!!
Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sor4tqrEywo
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Awesome John, that brigns back some memories ! :)
In the big box of stuff my aunt sent me from the US, there was also this.....
A still shrink-wrapped Donkey Kong cartridge for the Atari 8 bit homecomputers.
The box is insanely big (much bigger than 2600 game boxes) while the cartridge is way smaller than the 2600 one's.
This is exactly how I bought my DK BITD and I just felt the need to have this :D
I won't open it, I already have two cartridges and copies on floppy. Shame that I can't see the booklet now though, it's nice.
I really like the artwork on this and also the home-style that Atari used then....the silver with the stripes...it looked so futuristic in those days...The ATARI name in gradient colors is great too. Shame they didn't use the logo that much in those days though.
I'd love to start collecting these series of A8 games. Just these big boxes and this style...would be awesome :) Oh noooo, not more collecting ! :D
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Backside. For a change, all the text on here is actually true !!!
Receiving this also makes me want to make my WR (even more) official. I really need to video an actual game where I beat the world record on a NTSC machine...
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Hah, I also posted these pics on "Atarimuseum" on Facebook and Marty Goldberg (one of the co-writers of the book Atari Business is fun) replied that I should get the shrink-wrap off ASAP because it was damaging the box (reminds me of another thread here ;)) already AND that they originally did not come shrink wrapped but that retailers did that to prevent theft of the cartridges..........so.....this means that I can remove it and have a peek inside without being worried about the "value" ;);)
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Hah, I also posted these pics on "Atarimuseum" on Facebook and Marty Goldberg (one of the co-writers of the book Atari Business is fun) replied that I should get the shrink-wrap off ASAP because it was damaging the box (reminds me of another thread here ;)) already AND that they originally did not come shrink wrapped but that retailers did that to prevent theft of the cartridges..........so.....this means that I can remove it and have a peek inside without being worried about the "value" ;);)
Awesome! I need to get me a boxed version of that game!
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Woohaa......Look who just posted something about my DK high score on the Atari Museum Facebook page.....
How awesome is it to read that from the man who created this brilliant conversion ?!!
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I very much feel like finally officially breaking the world record this x-mas holiday.
Already dug up my NTSC 800 XL.....need to get back into shape first :)
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YES, GO GO GOoooooooooo!!!!
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Go go go