ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

David Lubar, Game Developer (PastFinder)

Welcome to another interview episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit computer podcast.

David Lubar was a prolific games software developer who worked for Sirius Software, Activision and Absolute and freelanced for several other companies, including Broderbund, Origin Systems, and Imagineering. He developed games for many different systems, including game consoles like the Atari 2600 and the NES and computer systems such as the Apple II, C64, and the Atari 400/800.

His titles for the Atari 8-bits include Hacker, Master of the Lamps, Ogre, Pastfinder and Ultima IV.

David has since taken up writing and has several books to his name.

This interview took place April 23, 2016.

Links:

• http://www.davidlubar.com
• "Character, Driven: A Novel" by David Lubar - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0765376946/?tag=ataripodcast-20

In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast: Bill Kendrick returns with a segment on the Lantronix and BBSing on your Atari, we cover lots of new hardware upgrades, Nir Dary talks about the RAM-Cart 1M, and we have our usual segments on what's new at Archive.org and what's happening in the Atari 8-bit world.

READY!

Recurring Links

Floppy Days Podcast

AtariArchives.org

AtariMagazines.com

Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd"

New Atari books scans at archive.org

ANTIC feedback at AtariAge

Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge

ANTIC Facebook Page

AHCS

Eaten By a Grue

What we've been up to

• Eight Bit Magazine - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/8bitmagazine/8-bit-magazine-issue-2-amstrad-commodore-sinclair , https://www.facebook.com/eightbitmagazine/ , http://www.eightbitmagazine.com/
• Atari 800XE - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-800xe-/162383912577 , http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=982&st=1
• Atari XEP80 Interface Module - http://www.atarimania.com/faq-atari-400-800-xl-xe-what-is-the-atari-xep80-interface-module_39.html
• Getaway! source code - Mark Reid Disks, Mark Reid — Getaway! archives and development documents, http://atariage.com/forums/topic/261009-mark-reids-getaway-design-documents-and-apx-correspondence/
• Kaverns of Kfest http://atariage.com/forums/topic/261831-kaverns-of-kfest-game/ https://github.com/a...avernsA81.1.asm
• Peter Dell interview link - http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-27-the-atari-8-bit-podcast-peter-dell-wudsn
• Joystick breakout - http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Joystick-Breadboard-Breakout-for-C64-VIC20-Atari-2600-VCS-Development/332087625644

News

• Super Color CPU Card. 59 Euros + shipping - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260646-new-hardware-atari-400800-super-color-cpu-card/
• Atari game watch - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/717828519/gameband-the-first-smartwatch-for-gamers?ref=project_share
• Sophia video upgrade board - Demo of the SOFIA the ATARI XL/XE/5200 RGB Video Upgrade board, http://atariage.com/forums/topic/258702-new-development-gtia-in-cpld/page-1?hl=%20sophia
• Multibowl - https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/video-game-mixtape-multibowl
• BASIC 10liners 2017 - http://gkanold.wixsite.com/homeputerium/basic-10liners-2017 http://atariage.com/forums/topic/261637-basic-10liners-2017/
• recent videos by Nir Dary:
• • Atari 8BIT 1MEG Ram Cartridge
  • Upgrading the ANTONIA 4MB Memory upgrade to the latest firmware
  • Demo of the 4MB Flashcart Megacart Cartridge
  • Demo of the UNO CART for the Atari 8bit computer
  • Atari XC12 Cassette player enhanced with the Turbo 2000 upgrade
• Art of Atari Capsule Edition — in January's Loot Crate DX (blind box "Items for the Pop Culture Connoisseur") $44.99/month - https://www.lootcrate.com/subscription-crates/lcdx
• Atari Age — The Emergence of Video Games in America http://amzn.to/2lXK3Oq
• XF551 Track Display/Front Panel Control Pre-order Offer from DropCheck - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/261481-xf551-track-displayfront-panel-control-pre-order-offer/
• Atari 815 Disk Drive on Ebay - http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRA-RARE-Atari-815-Dual-Disk-Drive-prototype-/172515706186 , Discussion http://atariage.com/forums/topic/261918-atari-815-for-sale-on-ebay/
• 1088XEL Alternative Mother-Board Project - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/261147-1088xel-alternative-mother-board-project/
• SDrive pre-order - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/262323-sdrive-arm-market-reseachpreorder/
• Weird Al Pac Man song http://nerdist.com/weird-al-pac-man-box-set/
• Feb. 18, 2017 - "Atari Invasion", Marsveen, Holland - http://atari-invasion.nl/ , Nir Dary was on-hand and posted pictures on the Antic Facebook page and a video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1edcEPJu2S8&feature=youtu.be
• Other Upcoming Shows where you might see Atari computers
• • VCF East - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/, March 31-April 2, 2017, InfoAge Science Center, Wall, NJ
  • Midwest Gaming Classic - Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel - April 7-9 - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/
  • VCF Southeast - April 29 & 30, 2017, Roswell, GA - http://vcfse.org/
  • Kansasfest July 18-23 https://www.kansasfest.org
  • VCF West - August 5-6, 2017 - Computer History Museum, 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, California - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west-xi/
  • VCFMW - September?
• Omnitrend's Universe Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/435419473491677/

New at Archive.org

• https://archive.org/details/atr8000
• https://archive.org/details/BroderbundSynapse1985Catalog
• https://archive.org/details/SchoolDaysForTheAtari
• Hofacker Program Descriptions I - https://archive.org/details/HofackerSoftwareProgramDescriptions
• https://archive.org/details/Atari600XLHomeComputerOwnersGuideInternational
• Current Notes https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Washington+Area+Atari+Computer+Enthusiasts%22
• https://archive.org/details/APXMicrosoftBasicCrossReferenceUtility

Bill's Modern Segment

Lantronix, Ice-T & BBS'ing

• ANTIC Interview 235: Marlin Bates - http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-235-marlin-bates-r-time-8-replacement-cartridge

• Lantronix UDS-10 (discontinued, but includes info & manual) - https://www.lantronix.com/products/uds-10/
• Lantronix UDS-1110 - https://www.lantronix.com/products/uds1100-uds1100-poe/
• "Ice-T XE 2.76 released" thread at AtariAge (with an alpha of 2.80 posted later in the thread, in Oct. 2014) - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/217539-ice-t-xe-276-released/
• Atari 8-bit FAQ (go to section 10.1: "What noncommercial telecommunications programs are there?") - http://www-ftp.lip6.fr/pub/doc/faqs/atari-8-bit/faq
• Telnet BBS Guide - http://telnetbbsguide.com/
• "Links" web browser - http://links.twibright.com/
• "ircII" IRC client - http://www.eterna.com.au/ircii/
• "Mutt" email client - http://www.mutt.org/
• "Screen" terminal multiplexer - https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/

Nir Dary Segment - RAM-Cart 1M

• RAM-Cart 1M review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Gs7ZTbwoA

Ed Kelly, Edladdin

Hello, welcome to a special interview-only episode of Antic, the Atari 8-bit podcast. My name is Randy Kindig. This interview is with Ed Kelly of Edladdin. Edladdin produces a fantastic family of controllers for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Flashback, and classic 8-bit computers. I met Ed at VCF Southeast in 2016 and was so impressed by his controllers that I later bought one and am very happy with it. They are fully customizable and are very rugged. This is likely the last controller you'll need. I sat down with Ed and we discussed how his company got started, what controllers they produce and what the future looks like.

This interview took place on December 4, 2016.

Links:

http://edladdin.com/

Mark Odendahl, Rush Hour

Mark Odendahl was the creator of Rush Hour, a Frogger-like game that appeared in the winter 1983 Atari Program Exchange catalog, the final APX catalog. He also wrote one program for A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazine: Number Editor appeared in the January 1989 issue.

This interview took place on January 24, 2017.

"So I sold one copy of the program, but not through Atari. I sold it directly to one guy in New Jersey."

Rush Hour at AtariMania

Winter 1983 APX catalog

In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast: Nir Dary talks about all the available memory upgrade options (You need more memory!), we discuss what we've been up to in the Atari world, give you all the Atari 8-bit news that's fit to print, and tell you about our "of-the-month" finds.

READY

Recurring Links

Floppy Days Podcast

AtariArchives.org

AtariMagazines.com

Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd"

New Atari books scans at archive.org

ANTIC feedback at AtariAge

Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge

ANTIC Facebook Page

AHCS

Eaten By a Grue

What we've been up to

• Vintage Computer Party in Indy - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260834-indianapolis-area-vintage-computer-club/?hl=%2Bindy#entry3668612
• Ultimate 1MB - http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=67
• "Art of Atari" book by Tim Lapetino - http://amzn.to/2hrX54h
• "Atari Playground" by Fred D'Ignazio - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0810457709/?tag=ataripodcast-20
• "Atari DOS 2.5 - 1050 Disk Drive Owner's Manual" - http://www.atarimania.com/documents/Atari%20DOS%202.5%20-%201050%20Disk%20Drive%20Owner's%20Manual.pdf
• Kevin's 2016 In Review - http://atariaction.tumblr.com/post/155282564737/2016-in-review

• Loyd Dorsett FBI FOIA Response

• Mark Reid — Getaway! archives and development documents
• Trinity and Seastalker: http://monsterfeet.com/grue/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/savetz

News

• RECOIL 3.5.0 - View retro graphics formats: Atari, Amiga, Apple II, ZX81, more - http://www.techcentral.ie/recoil-3-5-0/
• Mac GraphicConverter
• Awesome new 3D printed case for the Atari Ultimate Cart
• Dropcheck 1200XL Cartridge port extension
• ATR8000 on eBay
• The 8-bit High Score Club Season 14 - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260911-high-score-club-season-14/
• Pro(c) Atari Magazine Issue #12 & Boxed Software - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260700-p-r-o-c-a-t-a-r-i-issue-12-available-now/#entry3670879
• Pro(c) Magazine Website - http://www.proc-atari.de/
• Fairlight game - http://atariteca.blogspot.com/2016/12/completan-port-de-fairlight-para.html
• Buy a piece of Atari stock! - http://scripophily.net/atcorfampion.html
• Joystick Breadboard Breakout - http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Joystick-Breadboard-Breakout-for-C64-VIC20-Atari-2600-VCS-Development/332087625644
• Vintage is the New Old - http://www.vintageisthenewold.com/
• Benj Edwards - "Baked at Atari" song - http://www.techsongs.com/index.php/2016/06/23/baked-at-atari/ https://soundcloud.com/benjedwards/baked-at-atari#t=0:00
• Upcoming Shows:
• • Atari Invasion - Feb. 18, 2017 - Marsveen, Holland - http://atari-invasion.nl/
  • VCF East - March 31 through April 2, 2017 - Wall, NJ - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/
  • VCF Southeast 4.0 - April 2 & 3, 2017, Roswell, GA - http://vcfse.org/
  • Tandy Assembly - October 6-8 - Chillocothe, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ https://www.facebook.com/events/671911082972172/
  • CoCoFest - April 22 & 23, 2017 - Lombard, IL - http://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/index.shtml
  • KansasFest - July 18-23, 2017 - Kansas City, MO - http://www.kansasfest.org

New at Archive.org

• https://archive.org/details/ForYourInformation
• https://archive.org/details/SilicaShop19880420
• https://archive.org/details/Atari1200XLHomeComputerFieldServiceManualRev01
• https://archive.org/details/Atari1027PrinterFieldServiceManualRev01
• https://archive.org/details/Mosaic64KSelectNewsletterIssue1
• Mark Reid — Getaway! archives and development documents
• https://archive.org/details/adventure-international-catalog-v2n4-1981
• https://archive.org/details/adventure-international-catalog-v2n5-1982
• https://archive.org/details/high-technology-software-catalog-1982
• https://archive.org/details/the_tracer_201701
• https://archive.org/details/book_atari_software_1983

Of-the-Month

• JOY-2-PIC Joystick to Microchip PIC MCU ICSP Programmer​ at Ataribits - http://ataribits.weebly.com/joy2pic.html
• Mathy van Nisselroy home page - http://www.mathyvannisselroy.nl/index.htm
• AtariLand - http://atariland.org/ - Rick Matias

Nir Dary Segment - Memory Upgrades

• Memory upgrade tech info - http://home.arcor.de/walter.lojek/MyATARIHomepage/old_hp/MemUp/MemUp.HTM
• Memory upgrades banking scheme - http://www.atarimania.com/faq-atari-400-800-xl-xe-what-kinds-of-extra-ram-and-ramdisks-can-be-installed_73.html
• Software that support more than 64k ram - http://www.atarimania.com/faq-atari-400-800-xl-xe-what-programs-support-more-than-64k-ram_74.html
• Best Electronics 256k Memory upgrade kit - http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/800xl.htm#Wizz
• B&C ComputerVisions Memory upgrade - http://www.myatari.com/atarixlh.txt
• Lotharek Ultimate 1mb - http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=67
• Ctirad 576XE external memory upgrade - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/232856-ram320xe576-order-thread/?hl=%20ctirad and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8M3wbwAzlQ
• Antonia 4MB memory upgrade - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/249405-new-4mb-ram-expansion/?hl=%20antonia and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkyXepEq4WI
• How to install ATARI 400 Upgrade to 48k from 16k - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBqqfqjb-x8
• 1MB Simm ram expansion - http://satantronic.atari.sk/?str=xe_1mbram
• Hiassoft 512k SRAM upgrade - http://www.horus.com/~hias/atari/#sram512k
• Byte Magazine Article on 256k memory upgrade - http://atariage.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach§ion=attach&attach_id=362652

Steve Gerber, VP of International New Product Development

Steve Gerber was head of the Atari Software Acquisition Program. In October 1981, Atari opened its first Regional Software Acquisition Center, managed by Steve, in a 4,000 square-foot location that also housed the Atari Program Exchange (APX). Later Steve was Atari's VP of International New Product Development, in charge of software development for non-US markets.

This interview took place on January 17, 2017.

Teaser quote: "I had these guys that were in a barn that was built in 1100-something that had set it up to be their "office" somewhere in northern England, in the middle of nowhere. They had come up with a ... baseball cap that you'd put on and you could move the cursor with your eyes."

Mark Pelczarski, Penguin Software

Mark Pelczarski was the founder of Penguin Software — later renamed to Polarware. Penguin published many graphics programs and games for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and other platforms. The company's programs included Magic Paintbrush, Graphics Magician, Pie Man, Spy's Demise, The Spy Strikes Back, and Transylvania.

Mark was editor of Softside Magazine for a time, and an editor of the book The Creative Apple, published by Creative Computing.

This interview took place on January 10, 2017.

Teaser quote: "It was not a competitive industry, really ... There wasn't too much as far as trade secrets. It was like, 'Hey, I figured out how to do this.' There was a lot of exchange of ideas and collaboration between the companies."

The Digital Antiquarian on Penguin Software: http://www.filfre.net/2012/09/the-magnificent-penguin/

Wikipedia on Penguin Software: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Software

Mark's web site: http://graphicsmagician.com/polarware/

Graphics Magician at AtariMania

Penguin Software games at AtariMania

Wikipedia on Mark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Pelczarski

ANTIC interview with Doug Carlston

Sheldon Leemon: Instedit, Circuit Lab, Mapping the Commodore 64

Sheldon Leemon was the creator of Instedit, a character set editor; and Circuit Lab, an electronics learning program that he co-created with with Mark Davids. Both programs were published by Atari Program Exchange. He wrote for several computer magazines, including Softside — where he wrote many reviews, and a game called Outer Space Attack; Compute!, and Creative Computing. He also wrote several computer books, including Mapping the Commodore 64, Compute's AmigaDOS Reference Guide, and Inside Amiga Graphics.

This interview took place on January 9, 2017. In it, we discuss Arlan Levitan, Jerry White, and several other people that I've previously interviewed. There are links to those interviews, and Sheldon's programs and articles, in the show notes at AtariPodcast.com.

Teaser quotes:

"They're having so much fun that they don't want to take time to stop. Having a meal? It could take half an hour or an hour! You could be doing really cool stuff with that half an hour or an hour."

"We looked at people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs as the really bad guys. ... He wants to charge money for something that everybody else is giving away for free."

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/PnaFEyaJm_E

Instedit in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog

Circuit Lab in the summer 1983 APX catalog

Outer Space Attack in SoftSide magazine

Some of Sheldon's articles in Compute! magazine: http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/index/index.php?author=Sheldon+Leemon

Some of Sheldon's articles in Creative Computing magazine: http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/index/index.php?author=Sheldon+Leemon

Arlan Levitan interview

Jerry White interview

Ronald Borta, Roklan Software

Ronald Borta was co-founder of JACC, which made educational software under contract for Atari, where he programmed Atari States and Capitals and Atlas of Canada, and other software for the the Atari 400 and 800 computers. He moved to Roklan Software, the company that programmed hundreds of titles for the Atari computers and many other platforms of the time.

Roklan published a number of cartridges for the Atari computers, including Deluxe Invaders and Gorf. The company also produced Pac Man (published by Atari), Gyruss (published by Parker Brothers), Wizard of Wor (published by CBS), Mickey in the Great Outdoors (published by Disney), and myriad other game and educational titles. The company also created software for the Atari 2600 and 5200, Apple //, Commodore 64 and VIC-20, Texas Instruments 99/4A, ColecoVision, Intellivision, and other platforms.

He is known as the first person to have patented software.

This interview took place on December 9, 2016.

Teaser quotes:

"$25,000 that I got from Atari doing Pac Man turned out to be the best investment I ever made."

"I only did video games that did not feature violence against people. Then I end up in weapons systems."

Roklan software at AtariMania

1994 interview with Ronald in Atari Explorer Online: http://cd.textfiles.com/crawlycrypt2/txtfiles/aeo/aeo_0314/aeo_0314.txt

Roklan listing at GDRI: http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Roklan

ANTIC interview with Fred Thorlin: https://archive.org/details/FredThorlinInterview

Paul Cubbage, Atari Program Exchange

Paul Cubbage was Director of Atari Program Exchange. There, he was head of reviewing software submissions and publishing the APX catalog. He worked at Atari from April 1981 through January 1984.

This interview took place on October 3, 2016.

Teaser quotes:

"First catalog, we went around and found every last utility or piece of software that we could put out there, unashamedly."

"People used to complain about our royalty and I'd say 'Go to a flea market and sell [your software] off the back of your station wagon. The royalty is the royalty. I know it's not much."

Fred Thorlin interview: https://archive.org/details/FredThorlinInterview

John Palevich interview

Art Prag interview

Gray Chang interview: https://archive.org/details/Atari_Gray_Chang_Interview