Ok, my batteries just died on my gp32 so I'm going to take this break to write up a quick review of Atari 800 GP32 version 0.4.
There are a lot of emulators out there on the GP, but be sure not to overlook this one. This is a wonderful, option-filled emulator that worked with practically every game I tried. If you owned an Atari 800 or 5200 then this is a must-have, but even if not you will find tons and tons of high-quality original games for this system on the ftp sites. The bonus is that these games won't take up a lot of space on your SMC; the games typical range in size from 8k to 32k for the carts and up to 80k for the disk images. I owned an atari 800 back when it first came out; this was after the intellivsion and before the amiga and it was a great game playing computer then and it's still a great game playing computer.
Did I mention this thing is loaded with options? It is loaded!
It has a disk management option where you can set up up to 8 drive images. For instance, Ultima 3 takes three disks and alternate reality: the city takes 4 and this is great for this. Oh, also if you are familia with the 800 you know that games took forever to load (well, not quite as bad as the Commod-Door of course), but this emulator loads the games from disk instantly.
1. It has load and save state so you can save your games AT ANY POINT.
2. It has cartridge management and can play all 800 and 5200 cartridges (and even the unusual ones with extra memory, etc).
The other options are:
3. Run bins directly.
4. Load tape image (yes, the 800 had a tape drive before the disk drive and let me just say it was slow, slow slow, but still you can now play all those great tape games out there. Were there any?
5. Special Atari Settings (such as fast io).
6. Select System (you can emulate 800, 5200 and all the different models of that series, 800xl, 130XE, etc)
7. You can load custom keyboard maps
8. create a pcx screenshoot of your game in progress
9. set the sound stereo or mono
10. set the artifacting mode (not sure exactly what this does)
11. customize the brightness (nice)
12. set the frame skip (you won't need it, this emulator rocks at full speed)
13. Do a warm start (just like the real computer this is pretty often useless for resetting some games)
14. Do a full reboot (cold start is your friend
Again, the emulator is full-speed as far as I can tell and I had an atari that I played for several years. All the games that I tried worked fine. The sound is great and there are few graphic glitches that I noticed. This emulator did not once cause my gp32 to reboot as the gpengine emulator does ever so often. It is important to select the right system (ie, 5200, 800, etc) and load the correct keyboard map depending on the system the game was intended for. I did have one problem with one of my favorite games: Ali baba and the 40 thieves. This game only uses the 4 arrow keys and I couldn't figure out how to access those keys. I am hoping I can map them to the directional joystick some how (developer, any hints?).
Finally, here are a list of games that I consider my favorites. YMMV of course.
Ali Baba and the 40 thieves (my personal favorite and first rpg. The real challenge is getting through the entire game without killing anything. then you get a special ending.)
Alley Cat (fun original game. You are an alley cat leaping after the mice!)
Alternate Reality: the city (deep sprawling rpg)
Atari Tennis (this tennis holds up well to any version of tennis really. super fun)
Drol (nice graphics)
Gateway to Apshai (like nethack)
Great American Cross Country Road Race
Montezumas Revenge (fun platformer)
Picnic Paranoia (great fun and original)
Shamus (detective game, graphics are clean on this one and it plays great)
Zombies (my #2 fav. This one really stands up well and is a lot of fun to play on a handheld)
Lode Runner (what can I say, this version is great and I played for many many hours when I was younger)
Ultima 3 (first huge rpg that I actually finished! I still consider this one the best ultima)
BC's Quest For Tires (fun platformer with cartoony graphics)
There are many more, including all the 5200 roms such as star raiders and space dungeon but these will get you started. Have fun!
I rate this emulator 8/10 and I am a hard reviewer. I don't give out 10s ever. There is a place on your SMC for this emulator. Give it a try and be sure to thank the author!
There are a lot of emulators out there on the GP, but be sure not to overlook this one. This is a wonderful, option-filled emulator that worked with practically every game I tried. If you owned an Atari 800 or 5200 then this is a must-have, but even if not you will find tons and tons of high-quality original games for this system on the ftp sites. The bonus is that these games won't take up a lot of space on your SMC; the games typical range in size from 8k to 32k for the carts and up to 80k for the disk images. I owned an atari 800 back when it first came out; this was after the intellivsion and before the amiga and it was a great game playing computer then and it's still a great game playing computer.
Did I mention this thing is loaded with options? It is loaded!
It has a disk management option where you can set up up to 8 drive images. For instance, Ultima 3 takes three disks and alternate reality: the city takes 4 and this is great for this. Oh, also if you are familia with the 800 you know that games took forever to load (well, not quite as bad as the Commod-Door of course), but this emulator loads the games from disk instantly.
1. It has load and save state so you can save your games AT ANY POINT.
2. It has cartridge management and can play all 800 and 5200 cartridges (and even the unusual ones with extra memory, etc).
The other options are:
3. Run bins directly.
4. Load tape image (yes, the 800 had a tape drive before the disk drive and let me just say it was slow, slow slow, but still you can now play all those great tape games out there. Were there any?
5. Special Atari Settings (such as fast io).
6. Select System (you can emulate 800, 5200 and all the different models of that series, 800xl, 130XE, etc)
7. You can load custom keyboard maps
8. create a pcx screenshoot of your game in progress
9. set the sound stereo or mono
10. set the artifacting mode (not sure exactly what this does)
11. customize the brightness (nice)
12. set the frame skip (you won't need it, this emulator rocks at full speed)
13. Do a warm start (just like the real computer this is pretty often useless for resetting some games)
14. Do a full reboot (cold start is your friend
Again, the emulator is full-speed as far as I can tell and I had an atari that I played for several years. All the games that I tried worked fine. The sound is great and there are few graphic glitches that I noticed. This emulator did not once cause my gp32 to reboot as the gpengine emulator does ever so often. It is important to select the right system (ie, 5200, 800, etc) and load the correct keyboard map depending on the system the game was intended for. I did have one problem with one of my favorite games: Ali baba and the 40 thieves. This game only uses the 4 arrow keys and I couldn't figure out how to access those keys. I am hoping I can map them to the directional joystick some how (developer, any hints?).
Finally, here are a list of games that I consider my favorites. YMMV of course.
Ali Baba and the 40 thieves (my personal favorite and first rpg. The real challenge is getting through the entire game without killing anything. then you get a special ending.)
Alley Cat (fun original game. You are an alley cat leaping after the mice!)
Alternate Reality: the city (deep sprawling rpg)
Atari Tennis (this tennis holds up well to any version of tennis really. super fun)
Drol (nice graphics)
Gateway to Apshai (like nethack)
Great American Cross Country Road Race
Montezumas Revenge (fun platformer)
Picnic Paranoia (great fun and original)
Shamus (detective game, graphics are clean on this one and it plays great)
Zombies (my #2 fav. This one really stands up well and is a lot of fun to play on a handheld)
Lode Runner (what can I say, this version is great and I played for many many hours when I was younger)
Ultima 3 (first huge rpg that I actually finished! I still consider this one the best ultima)
BC's Quest For Tires (fun platformer with cartoony graphics)
There are many more, including all the 5200 roms such as star raiders and space dungeon but these will get you started. Have fun!
I rate this emulator 8/10 and I am a hard reviewer. I don't give out 10s ever. There is a place on your SMC for this emulator. Give it a try and be sure to thank the author!