Top News im April 2021

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge STe (11.04.2021 - 15:30 Uhr)

Fans of arcade-style racing games will be familiar with the Lotus trilogy. The three racing games in pseudo-3D style were a success in the early 90s, especially on the Atari ST and the Amiga. The split screen was already included in part 1. At that time, however, it was no longer common to develop on the ST and port a game 1:1 to the Amiga. The original Lotus did not make use of the STE hardware.

Now there is an extended version for the STE, strongly inspired by the Amiga Lotus. First of all, the Blitter is now heavily used, road, roadside objects and cars are calculated by the Blitter. Also the mountains in the background are now handled by the Blitter. All objects move more smoothly across the screen now. The extended color palette of the STE is used. The sounds of the engine and the sound effects are samples, plus there are ST chip tunes.

Officially supported are the 1040STE and the Mega STE (also in 16 MHz mode). On STs with Blitter the game also runs, but there the gradient in the sky is limited to the ST color palette and there are no sound samples. Download at Atarimania.

(mj)

More News im April 2021

Crackers I: The Gold Rush is being shipped (18.04.2021 - 16:59 Uhr)

Software piracy in the 80s and 90s is the subject of the latest work by Marco A. Breddin (Borders trilogy). It deals with the groups and people of the cracker scene, who mostly appeared under pseudonyms for good reason. The "end users" knew the cracks, which were passed on through many channels.

Unlike Borders, the development of the Atari ST does not serve as a hook and former crackers of the 8-bit scene and the Amiga also have their share. However, the list of celebrated groups reads like a Who's Who of the ST cracker scene. Readers can look forward to lots of background information and a generously illustrated book, which is currently shipping for supporters of the crowdfounding campaign.

Those who missed this campaign can currently order the 336-page book for 35 Euros in the Microzeit store. A follow-up title is already being planned.

https://www.microzeit.com/atari-store-1/crackers-the-gold-rush-1/

(mj)

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge STe (11.04.2021 - 15:30 Uhr)

Fans of arcade-style racing games will be familiar with the Lotus trilogy. The three racing games in pseudo-3D style were a success in the early 90s, especially on the Atari ST and the Amiga. The split screen was already included in part 1. At that time, however, it was no longer common to develop on the ST and port a game 1:1 to the Amiga. The original Lotus did not make use of the STE hardware.

Now there is an extended version for the STE, strongly inspired by the Amiga Lotus. First of all, the Blitter is now heavily used, road, roadside objects and cars are calculated by the Blitter. Also the mountains in the background are now handled by the Blitter. All objects move more smoothly across the screen now. The extended color palette of the STE is used. The sounds of the engine and the sound effects are samples, plus there are ST chip tunes.

Officially supported are the 1040STE and the Mega STE (also in 16 MHz mode). On STs with Blitter the game also runs, but there the gradient in the sky is limited to the ST color palette and there are no sound samples. Download at Atarimania.

(mj)

Last shipment of Atari hardware arriving soon! (01.04.2021 - 19:22 Uhr)

Another ship from Asia is expected in Rotterdam soon, with a cargo that Atari fans have been waiting for a long time, more precisely: for over 25 years.

Atari never had a good hand with deliveries by ship, numerous launches had to be postponed, delivery promises had to be shortened. "A ship will come" was also mocked in ST-Computer. But it was always only a matter of a few weeks or months.

One ship, however, showed up in the Atari accounts as a total loss: The Ppallijuseyo had departed with the last hardware production on board - the goods would have brought Atari urgently needed capital for the Jaguar. However, the ship did not live up to its name.

Scholars are already celebrating the slowest ship of all time as a silent time capsule. Filled with pallets of Falcon 030 computers, gray power pads, several hundred TTs and 8281 ST Books, the supplies Atari dealers have been waiting 30 years for are finally arriving. We at ST-Computer are also happy to welcome back our old advertisers.

So Atari fans can now create a free spot on their desk for the coveted Falcon 030 or the ST Book. The Ppallijuseyo is currently heading for the Suez Canal, queue position 260.

(mj)