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Atari Projects

Fun projects for your Atari 8-bit home computers and video game consoles

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Author: moorejh

Explore Atari 8-bit Computer Hardware Manuals (15-30 mins)

May 10, 2020 moorejh Books

Task: Explore Atari 8-bit Computer Hardware Manuals Needed: A web browser Time: 15-30 mins Introduction I love reading the manuals that came with Atari 8-bit computer hardware. I think it is because it reminds me of opening a new Atari. I still have a number

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Explore Atari-Related Posts on Hackaday (15-30 mins)

May 2, 2020 moorejh Media, Web Resources

Task: Explore Atari-Related Posts on Hackaday Needed: A web browser Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction Hackaday is a website that posts daily hardware and software hacks and projects. I was pleased to learn that they did a post about this Atari Projects resource. Their post, “Classic

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Read the Book “Unofficial Atari: A Visual History” (15-30 mins)

April 18, 2020 moorejh Books, Games, History

Task: Read the Book “Unofficial Atari: A Visual History” Needed: The book Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction “Unofficial Atari: A Visual History” is ~400-page book written by Darren Doyle and published by Greyfox Books. Much of the book consists of two-page visual layouts of 162 third-party

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Interact with Atari’s 6502 Processor in BASIC XL (10-15 mins)

March 14, 2020 moorejh Demos, Hardware, Programming, Software, Utilities

Task: Interact with Atari’s 6502 Processor in BASIC XL Needed: A BASIC XL cartridge or Altirra emulator Time: 10-15 minutes Introduction The 6502 processor developed by Chuck Peddle and his team at MOS Technology was the first inexpensive CPU available in the 1970s. This CPU

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Play The Goonies on an Atari 8-bit Computer (30-60 mins)

February 8, 2020 moorejh Games

Task: Play The Goonies on an Atari 8-bit Computer Needed: The Goonies disk or ATR file Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction The Goonies is an American kids movie that was released in 1985 and written and produced by Steven Spielberg. I recall really enjoying the movie

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Assemble a Minimal Atari 8-Bit Computer (30-60 mins)

January 16, 2020 moorejh Hardware

Task: Assemble a Minimal Atari 8-Bit Computer  Needed: Components listed below and about $200 to $225 for purchasing Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction I have a colleague at work who I have been helping set up his first ever Atari computer rig. I have been thinking

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Use Strings to Store Assembly Language Code in Memory for Execution from BASIC (10-15 mins)

January 4, 2020 moorejh Programming

Task: Use Strings to Store Assembly Language Code in Memory for Execution from BASIC Needed: A BASIC cartridge or Altirra emulator Time: 10-15 minutes Introduction I previously demonstrated how to POKE assembly language code into page 6 of memory for execution by BASIC using the

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Call Assembly Language Code from Your BASIC Program (10-15 mins)

January 1, 2020 moorejh Programming

Task: Call Assembly Language Code from Your BASIC Program Needed: A BASIC cartridge or Altirra emulator Time: 10-15 minutes Introduction In my previous post on writing, compiling, saving, debugging, and running assembly language programs with the MAC/65 assembler, I referred the reader to Chapter 5

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Compile and Run an Assembly Language Program for the Atari Computer (15-30 mins)

January 1, 2020 moorejh Programming

Task: Compile and Run an Assembly Language Program for the Atari Computer Needed: MAC/65 cartridge or Altirra emulator Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction I dabbled in assembly as a kid but never became a pro. I taught myself 6502 assembly later in life and became good

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Purchase a Retron77 Gaming Console for Emulating the 2600 (15-30 mins)

December 31, 2019 moorejh 2600 VCS, Emulators, Hardware

Task: Purchase a Retron77 Gaming Console for Emulating the 2600 Needed: Web browser Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction One of the most frustrating aspects of retrocomputing and retrogaming is getting old hardware to play nice with HDTVs over HDMI. This is especially true for the Atari

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Purchase a CRT Monitor (15-30 mins)

December 30, 2019 moorejh Hardware, Video

Task: Purchase a CRT Monitor Needed: Web browser Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction I started out on an Atari 400 and 410 cassette recorder connected to a color television in our family room in the early 1980s. We upgraded to an Atari 800 and 810 disk

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Explore AtariWiki (15-30 mins)

December 26, 2019 moorejh Programming, Web Resources

Task: Explore AtariWiki Needed: Web browser Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction One of the best web resources for Atari 8-bit computers and programming is AtariWiki. The following description is taken from their manifesto: “The AtariWiki is a collection of Information about the Atari 8-Bit computer line

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Try BASIC Programming on the Atari 2600 (15-30 mins)

December 24, 2019 moorejh 2600 VCS, Programming, Software

Task: Try BASIC Programming on the Atari 2600 Needed: BASIC Programming cartridge, keyboard controllers, Atari 2600 Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction Programming in BASIC on the Atari 2600 is one of the most interesting things I have done with that machine. The BASIC Programming cartridge was

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Learn How to Make a Game in BASIC XE (30-60 mins)

December 21, 2019 moorejh Games, Graphics, Programming, Software

Task: Learn How to Make a Game in BASIC XE Needed: BASIC XE and extensions Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction My previous posts have demonstrated many of the programming techniques needed to make a game in Atari BASIC. A common theme is how slow BASIC is

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Explore the Antic Software Archive (30-60 mins)

November 29, 2019 moorejh Games, Magazines, Programming, Software, Web Resources

Task: Explore the Antic Software Archive Needed: Web browser Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction As I mentioned in my last post about Antic Magazine, one of the great features of Antic was the software that came in each and every issue. Most of these were software

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Explore Antic Magazine (30-60 mins)

November 29, 2019 moorejh Magazines, Web Resources

Task: Explore Antic Magazine Needed: Web browser Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction I very much looked forward to each and every issue of Antic Magazine after we got our Atari 400 and then 800 in the early 1980s. These were the days before the internet, and

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Add Missiles to Player-Missile Graphics in BASIC (30-60 mins)

November 23, 2019 moorejh Programming, Software

Task: Add Missiles to Player-Missile Graphics in BASIC Needed: BASIC Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction I have previously demonstrated how to implement player-missile graphics (PMG) in BASIC, and how to combine a player with a background or playfield using redefined character sets. The latter post includes

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Advice for Planning Atari Projects (10-15 mins)

November 13, 2019 moorejh Advice, Collecting

Task: Advice for Planning Atari Projects Needed: Some decision making Time: 10-15 minutes Introduction I aspire to do at least one Atari project each week. I don’t always accomplish this goal, but have been able to do at least 2-3 per month over the past

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Combining Redefined Characters Sets and Player-Missile Graphics in BASIC (30-60 mins)

November 10, 2019 moorejh Games, Graphics, Programming, Software

Task: Combining Redefined Characters Sets and Player-Missile Graphics in BASIC Needed: BASIC Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction It takes time to learn the ins and outs of Atari graphics. This is especially true if you aspire to make a game. I have previously demonstrated how to

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Play Haunted House on the Atari 2600 (15-30 mins)

October 31, 2019 moorejh 2600 VCS, Games

Task: Play Haunted House on the Atari 2600 Needed: Atari 2600 or emulator Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction Last year for Halloween I did a post on drawing pumpkins on the Atari 8-bit computer using re-defined characters sets in BASIC. This year I thought I would

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Play Dark Chambers on an Atari 7800 (15-30 mins)

October 25, 2019 moorejh 7800, Games, Software

Task: Play Dark Chambers on an Atari 7800 Needed: Atari 7800 or emulator Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction One of my all-time favorite arcade games is Gauntlet that was produced by Atari games and released in 1985. I enjoyed playing it back in the day on

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Install an Atari 7800 Emulator (10-15 mins)

October 25, 2019 moorejh 7800, Emulators, Games, Software

Task: Install an Atari 7800 Emulator Needed: Web browser Time: 10-15 minutes Introduction Emulation software for the 7800 is not as far along as for other Atari consoles and computers. I have tried two emulators that I recommend for those wanting to play 7800 games

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Purchase an Atari 7800 (15-30 mins)

October 25, 2019 moorejh 7800, Hardware

Task: Purchase an Atari 7800  Needed: Web browser Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction The Atari 7800 ProSystem was everything the Atari 5200 should have been. Released in 1986, the 7800 was smaller that the 2600 and was backward compatible with the 2600 cartridges and joysticks. This

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Watch the Documentary “Atari: Game Over” (1 hour)

October 13, 2019 moorejh Documentary, Games, Media

Task: Watch the Documentary “Atari: Game Over” Needed: Web browser Time: 1 hour Introduction One of the great stories of Atari was the “rumor” that they buried tons of E.T. cartridges for the 2600 in a desert landfill after the video game crash of 1983.

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Copyright (c) 2021 Jason H. Moore, Ph.D.