Atari 800XL runs: "the shrine" by La Resistance

[TheXtremeGamer90]

Is this based on a computer or is just a console ?

[KubaPSP]

@TheXtremeGamer90 Basically it's Atari 5200 with keyboard and 4x more memory ;)

[tausendstein]

I had a C64 but a friend had an Atari 600xl and later 130XE ... I was a little bit jealous about the design of the Atari Computers : ) The C64 was called a bread box :D Somehow a good time...You could explore EVERYTHING on these computers...Sound...Graphics..­.Sprites...Operating System...Memory...interfaces..­.

[greyhoundgill]

im a commodore fan all the way, but i have to say POKEY sounds way better than SID

[RichardCyberPunk]

why did you not zoom in on the screen ? anyhow, nice demo. Greetings from Stormtrooper of Death, former member of the Dutch High Tech Team, The Corporation.

[tubetib]

Wow! Great! Imagine our 64bit machines push to the limit like that.

[EdinburghGuy]

Atari 800XL had 80x192 x 16 colors graphics mode. 6502 ran at 1.2MHz. You could easily clear and render a handful of triangles in that amount of time using assembly language and fixed-pint arithmetic. That's how the original Elite game was written.

[zaphodb777]

@EdinburghGuy Actually, the Atari (NTSC Version) ran at 1.79 megahertz (1/2 Colorburst). I think the PAL machine was slightly slower, but they had more time in horizontal retrace for doing interrupt work.

[x1s0]

awesome

[jtmjtm2001]

All I can say is this and the Amiga 1000 is way ahead of it's time.

[Lutanamo]

Is this an unexpanded Atari 800XL? How difficult would it be to mod an Atari 800XL to run Numen? I would really love to see that with a real Atari, but it requires quite a lot of memory..

[1770studios]

MAAN A 800xl can run 3-d graphics just the 8 bit ones

[Adropacrich2]

And of course you've already commented about speed being the same for both Koronis versions

[ethervagabond]

man, how the shit can an 8-bit machine do all this? 8-bit consoles sure as hell couldn't.

[RABBIDGamfan]

Most 8 bit PCs had tons of memory compared to your average 8 bit game console. I'm sure that an NES or SMS with 64k or more would be capable of pulling off something like this.

[1981Myname]

Ypu can't compare an 8 bit home computer to an 8 bit console. The ''8 bit'' only refers to the processor, it says absolutely nothing about the additional chips. A NES has 2 kB RAM, the Atari 800XL has 64 to 128 kB. The NES can do 24 colours, the 800XL can do 256 colours. Home computers from the early 80's were stronger (and cost way more) than game consoles from the early 90's. The console industry is always behind on the home computer (now pc) industry, my PC kicks any PS3's ass too.

[GeminoSmothers]

custom parts and x-tra ram! XD

[nopochoclos]

Now 64 Bits 32 Bits 16 , with 8 bits people do better things and simple useful software...now

a lot of mhz but.. no brain and creative software

[madmomentsgo]

i had one of these computers, great machine.

[Adropacrich2]

I think everyone that saw the best that was the Atari back then came away a little jealous, myself included

Shame Elite never happened for the 800 as that could have looked rather good.I imagine the atmosphere could have been made from the Atari's rich Tron like colour schemes, making it a wonderfully unique version

Fractulas and Ballblazer ran best of all on the Atari but interestingly Eidolon and Koronis were about the same frame rate as the C64

Great machine

[Stopmotionist]

I read that Koronis Rift was actually programmed on the C64 first.  Dunno about The Eidolon.

[olynxmano]

Eidolon is quite faster on the A8.

Koronis Rift runs nearly at the same framerate of the C64 version. But the Atari version shows a whole layer more for the depth of view. AND it fades the hills softly, because the A8 has 256 colours to do so!

[Adropacrich2]

Hmm iv'e compared both Eidolon and Koronis and there isnt that increase to speed that you see from Ballblazer and Fractulas

Yes Koronis is certainly the superior version though regards to it's colour use.Personally speaking though i grew up playing the C64 version and like it's duller in comparison appearance, but this is likely because i played it first

I'm still holding out for someone to convert Elite to the Atari

[Adropacrich2]

Interesting, i didn't know there was an extra layer being drawn

[Adropacrich2]

The Atari 800 deserved to do better than it it did considering it's hardware.

I personally find the colours a little garish on most of the games(the C64 had a more natural albeit inferior quantity of colour) but the potential was certainly their for vibrant gorgeous looking graphics.

It also had more grunt than a C64 making it's sound chip the only thing less impressive thing about it.Shame really but i wouldn't swap my C64 days as indeed i doubt any Speccy or Amstrad fans would either

[Altair8801]

Sounds awsome! I wish the sound quality was better. I would love to have this one as ringtone for my mobile.

[mbrandhu]

me too

[mbrandhu]

Edit: Yeah, here is it with good sound quality! watch?v=E8romSuqJA4&feature=re­lated

[Stopmotionist]

You could get the SAP tune from ASMA (the Atari SAP Music Archive), then use Audio Overload to convert it into a WAV with no loss of quality. PM me if you want more detailed instructions.

[auld67]

awesome work on that machine - also good design. Great stuff.

[Gameboygenius]

Impressive. (Even with the mem exp)

Also, fuckings to ps.

[delfmeek]

Man, Atari always had some really cool machines for their time.

[tomajoc]

fake

[xBeetle]

No, its no fake. The Demo runs on Atari 8-Bit computers with memory upgrade, nothing else. The screen is now built into my Laptop (see my other videos).

[rvanner]

The Atari was the best 8 bit machine! I loved it!

[odislaw]

awsome idea...

[OneEyeProductions]

Astounding Demo! Thanks for posting this.

[pants189]

have they got that connected to a pc monitor if so how?

[xBeetle]

The screen is a 14.1" LCD TV. Connection is done via S-Video.

The screen is now part of my Laptop "Prototype". See my other videos, i'll upload a new one soon.

[pants189]

ooooh thanks i need to try and find a way to somehow convert uhf to d-sub or dvi

[nebby6]

Wicked!

[Pentomino]

The 800's case seems to be modded somehow, look at the right side. What is that?

[xBeetle]

This are the buttons and the display of the SD-Card reader. There is no Floppy Drive connected to the 800XL. The SIO2SD interface emulates it.

[YuToobIsGay]

that atari can output some pretty crazy graphics