💾 Archived View for gemini.spam.works › mirrors › textfiles › games › ATARIMAIL › vax89.txt captured on 2020-10-31 at 23:26:26.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Atari/Atari Games VaxMail 1989 Jed Margolin ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::HALLY 3-JAN-1989 09:01:01.61 To: DENCKER,RAY,HALLY,ROTBERG,BURGESS,MARGOLIN,COMSTOCK,NOBLE,MOSER,DIEKNEITE,FULLER,GROSSMAN CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. TEAM last update: 1/3/89 Project: S.T.U.N. RUNNER (571) Planned Field Test: FEB. 89 Planned Finished Goods Assy. JUNE 89 Project Leader: MIKE HALLY Programmer(s): ED ROTBERG ANDY BURGESS Engineer: JED MARGOLIN Technician: GLENN MCNAMARA Video Animator(s): SAM COMSTOCK WILL NOBEL KRIS MOSER Audio Designer(s): BRAD FULLER DON DIEKNEITE Product Designer(s): TBD Team Leader: JOHN RAY ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::GROSSMAN 3-JAN-1989 15:05:13.49 To: RAINS,MOORE,DOWNEND,RAY,HALLY,ROTBERG,BURGESS,MARGOLIN,MCNAMARA,COMSTOCK,NOBLE,MOSER,BRAD,DIEKNEITE,GROSSMAN CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. Runner Meeting Wednesday, Jan. 4 10:30 a.m. Central Conference Room S.T.U.N. Runner Marketing Meeting called by Jerry Momoda ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 3-JAN-1989 18:20:32.25 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BROWN CC: Subj: NEW HIRE JIM PETRICK JOINED ATARI GAMES TODAY AS A SR. SYSTEMS ENGINEER IN DAVE SHEPPERDS GROUP. JAMES COMES TO US DIRECTLY FROM INTERLINK COMPUTER SCIENCES IN FREMONT, BUT HAS ALSO WORKED FOR LAWRENCE LIVERMORE LABS IN LIVERMORE AND GENERAL SYSTEMS, INC. IN CLEVELAND, OHIO. JAMES' NEW "HOME" IS IN THE CUBICLE ACROSS FROM STEVE SUTTLES OFFICE. STOP IN, INTRODUCE YOURSELF, AND WELCOME HIM. HUMAN RESOURCES ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES "Talk data to me..." 4-JAN-1989 13:15:36.80 To: @sys$mail:everybody,SUTTLES CC: Subj: My retirement from the Facilities Department I've had my duties reorganized, and am no longer able to spend the time supporting Facilities that I have thus far. Instead, I'm going to be doing more computer programming, which is (theoretically) why I am here. This message is intended to let you know who to talk to when you would have looked for me. For any kind of telephone or terminal problems, contact Dennis Nale through the operator. The operator will be able to resolve some of the phone problems herself; those that she can't cure will be passed on to Dennis. For changes in Schlage access, contact Sandy Brown. For other facilities-related questions, talk to Bob Frye. This includes anything that doesn't work right except for telephones and terminals. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 5-JAN-1989 11:47:42.31 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BROWN CC: Subj: A REHIRE FRANK COSENTINO HAS REJOINED OUR RANKS AS A MIDWESTERN SALES REP., WORKING OUT OF ILLINOIS. FRANK ORIGINALLY STARTED WORKING FOR ATARI IN OCTOBER 1986. HE LEFT LAST YEAR BECAUSE OF PERSONAL REASONS. LOOK OUT WORLD, FRANKIE IS BACK! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::HALLY 5-JAN-1989 13:34:43.83 To: @[HALLY]STUN CC: Subj: STATUS STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JAN 6, 89 PL: MIKE HALLY DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 571 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: * 10 FEB 89 * MAY SLIP OUT A WEEK OR SO!!!! PROD RELEASE: 19 APR 89 FGA: 4 JUN 89 ACTION ITEMS: 1. HAD HARDWARE MEETING WITH STUN/DRIVER GROUP. DECIDED TO KEEP MAIN AND ADSP BOARDS THE SAME. (STUN WILL STUFF LESS PARTS) 2. WE DECIDED TO GO WITH A STANDARD RES. MONITOR. (512 x 240) MONITOR SIZE IS STILL A BIG QUESTION TO BE SORTED OUT. 3. A NEW UP TO DATE PROJECTION OF THE STUN HARDWARE COST IS REQUIRED TO HELP DETERMINE MONITOR QUESTION. 4. THE ISSUE OF THE GAME CONTROLS IS STILL AN OUTSTANDING ISSUE WHICH MUST BE ADDRESSED ASAP. A HI-LOW SPEED SHIFTER IS GOING TO BE TRIED IN ADDITION TO FLIGHT CONTROL VS. JOYSTICK. 5. WE DISCUSSED THE RESULTS OF THE FOCUS REPORT ON 1/4/89. 6. MIKE JANG IS STARTING AN UPRIGHT CABINET CONCEPT BUT MONITOR ISSUE NEEDS TO BE DECIDED ON. 7. WE HELD AN ANIMATOR-FIELD TEST SUPPORT MEETING ON 1/4/89. 8. 4 TH. REVIEW PUSHED BACK ONE WEEK TO 1/20/89. 9. MIKE IS WORKING ON A DETAILED WRITE-UP OF GAME GOAL. 10. ANDY IS WORKING ON A NEW EDITOR FOR ME. 11. ED IS JUST WORKIN......."I BE WORKIN BOSS" ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 6-JAN-1989 15:05:30.27 To: @sys$mail:everybody,BROWN CC: Subj: 401-K employer matching for 1989 We are pleased to announce that we will retain the same Atari matching contribution to the 401-K Plan for calendar year 1989 that we had in 1988. The matching contribution will work as follows: Employee Atari Total Contribution Amount Matching Contribution Contribution First $ 500 $1,000 $1,500 Next 3,000 1,500 4,500 Next 3,813 -0- 3,500 Totals $7,313 $2,500 $9,500 This means Atari contributes $2.00 for each $1.00 you contribute up to $500, thereafter from $501 to $3,500 Atari contributes $.50 for each $1.00 you contribute. Even if you can only contribute $10 per week you get $20 from Atari, which means at the end of one year you would have $1,500 in your 401-K account. Not bad! Please remember that your contributions can be spread over the entire calendar year, and that the above matching will apply throughout calendar 1989. Also, the $7,313 illustrated is the maximum that can be contributed by any employee based on 1988's maximum. This amount will be increased for 1989, and you will be advised of the new maximum amount at a later date. This Atari Matching Contribution is effective for 1989 only. A decision on Atari's Matching Contribution for 1990 will be made in December 1989. Human Resources ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::DAVE 10-JAN-1989 16:17:55.64 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: ikos pc-clone friends and neighbors: i am requesting anyone that intends to use the pc-clone that is hooked up to the ikos box to please refrain for the next month. i need all the disk space for clippy debug purposes. if this poses insurmountable hardships come see me and we'll "discuss it". also a policy of backing up all pc files to the vaxes will be in effect as of now, on the advice of jim morris. so if you have a file on this particular pc, and i need the disk space i will assume (after a 2 day grace period) that you have saved it to the vax and the pc disk space is fair game. i think i have already talked to the appropriate people in person, so this is the last warning if anyone in vax land has a comment about this policy. p.s. i have the keys to this pc if you have a legitimate (as defined by me, rich moore,morgan hoff or dave shepperd) need to get on it. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CAMERON 11-JAN-1989 09:05:46.94 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: TV TONIGHT Usually I like to recommend watching something (usually a film) of merit on broadcast television. Today, however, I would like to suggest a show that you should not watch - the Ronnie Reagan farewell Rah-Rah at 6 pm. As we all know, he will smile, wave, and chuckle while announcing all his great accomplishments in office. (Tripling the deficit, increasing taxes, cutting out needed programs, packing the Supreme court, stomping on human rights...) If you really must watch television at that hour, I could recommend some other shows that won't insult your intelligence as much. On channel 2 is "Three's Company", channel 20 is playing "A Team", "Hawaii Five-O" is on 36, and if you get channel 40, you can watch "Family Ties". Actually, there is a good flick on the tube tonight at 8 pm, channel 36. It's titled "The Train" with Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield. It is a World War II drama about trying to stop a Nazi train full of France Art Treasures. It becomes a personal contest between the two main characters. It is good, check it out. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::CYBER 11-JAN-1989 10:07:07.73 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Not a farewell.. Not to worry... Ronnie will be with us for a long long time. He will breath in our pollutants. He will run free in our drug tests. He will thrive in our deficit. He will be reborn in our courts. We won't need to miss him, we were all included in his will. jfs ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::FRYE 11-JAN-1989 11:37:37.67 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: BUILDING 675 - GAS SHUTDOWN SOMETIME AFTER 2PM TODAY THE GAS WILL BESHUT OFF TO OUR BUILDING FOR ABOUT ONE HOUR IN ORDER TO TIE-IN NEW HEATERS. THEBUILDING MAY GET A LITTLE COOL DURING THIS TIME BUT WE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORD TO HAVE THE HEAT RESTORED ASAP. THANKS, BOB ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::HALLY 12-JAN-1989 11:36:19.57 To: @[HALLY]STUN CC: Subj: STATUS STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JAN 13, 89 PL: MIKE HALLY DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 571 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: * 10 FEB 89 * MAY SLIP OUT A WEEK OR SO!!!! PROD RELEASE: 19 APR 89 FGA: 4 JUN 89 ACTION ITEMS: 1. HAD HARDWARE MEETING WITH STUN/DRIVER GROUP. DECIDED TO KEEP MAIN AND ADSP BOARDS THE SAME. (STUN WILL STUFF LESS PARTS) DETAILED COST SHEET AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. 2. WE DECIDED TO GO WITH A STANDARD RES. MONITOR. (512 x 240) MONITOR SIZE IS STILL A BIG QUESTION TO BE SORTED OUT. WE WILL DO A SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON OF 19 VS. 25 ON 1/12/89. 3. A NEW UP TO DATE PROJECTION OF THE STUN GAME COST IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. 4. THE ISSUE OF THE GAME CONTROLS IS STILL AN OUTSTANDING ISSUE WHICH MUST BE ADDRESSED ASAP. A HI-LOW SPEED SHIFTER IS GOING TO BE TRIED WITH A HALL-EFFECT JOYSTICK.(ASSAULT GRIP) THIS CONTROL SET-UP WILL BE READY ON 1/12/89 TO TRY OUT. 5. MIKE JANG IS STARTING AN UPRIGHT CABINET CONCEPT BUT MONITOR ISSUE NEEDS TO BE DECIDED ON. (SEE #2 ABOVE) 6. ADDITIONAL ANIMATION FOR FIELD TEST IN PROGRESS. 7. 4 TH. REVIEW PUSHED BACK ONE WEEK TO 1/20/89. 8. A DETAILED WRITE-UP OF GAME GOAL HAS BEEN WRITTEN AND IS AVAIL. 9. ANDY HAS COMPLETED A NEW EDITOR FOR ME. (MANY THANKS)! 10. HELD VOICE CUE MEETING ON 1/10/89. 11. ED IS JUST WORKIN......."I BE WORKIN BOSS" ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::RAY 12-JAN-1989 22:10:39.80 To: MARGOLIN,RAY CC: Subj: Stun meeting Jed-- You are welcome to come to this meeting, but it is not necessary, considering your workload. John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::RAY 12-JAN-1989 22:05 To: RAINS,FUJIHARA,MOMODA,HALLY,ROTBERG,BURGESS,STUN,TAKAICHI,MOORE,DOWNEND,MONCRIEF,GROSSMAN,RAY Subj: STUN cabinet configuration meeting 1/13/89 11:00 a.m. We need to nail down the cabinet configurations for S.T.U.N. Runner. There are numerous possibilities. The possibilities for which we have done cost estimates are (distributor prices -- 40% margin included): 19" Family cabinet -- $3,020 25" Family cabinet -- $3,335 25" Sit-down cabinet -- $4,125 (comperable to Hard Drivin') Those of you who are interested in helping with this decision, please meet in the STUN lab at 11:00 Friday (the 13th). Please invite others who should be in attendance. Thanks!! STUN team ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ARVIDSON 13-JAN-1989 11:16:53.99 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,ARVIDSON CC: Subj: 68000/68010/27C256 samples. I'm cleaning up some of the IC samples that are cluttering the Components Engineering area. The following are available if you can use them: DEVICE QUANTITY MANUFACTURER Microprocessor 68000 8MHz 15 Motorola " 68000 8MHz 13 Signetics " 68000 8MHz 12 Thomson Mostek " 68010 8MHz 10 Signetics EPROM 27C256 200ns 32 Texas Instruments They are located in the Components Engineering library area. erwin x-1751 ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::HALLY 19-JAN-1989 13:55:53.50 To: @[HALLY]STUN CC: Subj: STATUS STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JAN 20, 89 PL: MIKE HALLY DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: 27 JAN 89 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: * 10 FEB 89 * MAY SLIP OUT A WEEK OR SO!!!! PROD RELEASE: 19 APR 89 FGA: 4 JUN 89 ACTION ITEMS: 1. HARDWARE- NEW SAD AUDIO BOARDS WILL BE IN THIS WEEK. 2. WE DECIDED TO GO WITH A STANDARD RES. MONITOR (512 x 240) OF THE 19" VARIETY. 3. A NEW UP TO DATE PROJECTION OF THE STUN GAME COST IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. 4. THE ISSUE OF THE GAME CONTROLS IS STILL AN OUTSTANDING ISSUE. MAYBE AFTER OUR 4 TH. REVIEW WE WILL MAKE A DECISION FOR FIELD TEST. 5. WE WILL BE USING THE FAMILY CABINET FOR FIELD TEST. 6. ADDITIONAL ANIMATION FOR FIELD TEST REQUIRED AFTER REVIEW. 7. 4 TH. REVIEW PUSHED BACK ANOTHER WEEK TO 1/27/89. WE HAD A TEAM MEETING TO DISCUSS PLANS FOR REVIEW ON 1/19/89. 8. A DETAILED WRITE-UP OF GAME GOAL IS BEING WRITTEN. 9. THE NEW EDITOR SHOULD ALLOW FOR QUICK TUNNEL DESIGN! 10. VOICE FOR FIELD TEST RECORDED ON 1/17/89. 11. ED IS JUST WORKIN......."I BE WORKIN BOSS, MY LATEST CREATION IS THE JUMP RAMP WHERE THE PLAYER GETS AIR." ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::HALLY 26-JAN-1989 14:04:17.16 To: @[HALLY]STUN CC: Subj: STATUS STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JAN 27, 89 PL: MIKE HALLY DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: ** 10 FEB 89 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 24 FEB 89 10 FEB 89 PROD RELEASE: 19 APR 89 FGA: 4 JUN 89 ACTION ITEMS: 1. HARDWARE- NEW SAD AUDIO BOARDS IN-HOUSE. NOT USING YET. 2. WE DECIDED TO GO WITH A STANDARD RES. MONITOR (512 x 240) OF THE 19" VARIETY. 3. A NEW UP TO DATE COST OF THE STUN GAME IS AVAILABLE. 4. THE ISSUE OF THE GAME CONTROLS IS STILL AN OUTSTANDING ISSUE. MAYBE AFTER OUR 4 TH. REVIEW WE WILL MAKE A DECISION FOR FIELD TEST. (LOOKS LIKE THE FLIGHT CONTROL IS BACK) 5. WE WILL BE USING THE FAMILY CABINET FOR FIELD TEST. 6. ADDITIONAL ANIMATION FOR FIELD TEST REQUIRED AFTER REVIEW. 7. 4 TH. REVIEW PUSHED BACK ANOTHER WEEK TO 2/10/89. THE TEAM HAS BEEN SICK BUT PLANS TO KICK ASS AND TAKE NAMES SOON. 8. A DETAILED WRITE-UP OF GAME GOAL IS BEING WRITTEN. 9. THE NEW EDITOR SHOULD ALLOW FOR QUICK TUNNEL DESIGN! 10. VOICE FOR FIELD TEST RECORDED ON 1/17/89. 11. ED IS JUST WORKIN......."I BE WORKIN BOSS, MY LATEST CREATION IS THE ABILITY TO VERTICALLY SCROLL BACKGROUND" ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 30-JAN-1989 17:34:26.51 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,BRAD CC: Subj: BIBLE STUDY TAKES OFF AGAIN! We've had great success and fun with the first Bible study series. And, we are starting our second series entitled: "Proverbs and Parables". We will be studying the book of Proverbs and the corresponding parables from a booklet designed for group learning. If you would like to participate, learn more about the Bible, or just enjoy lunch with us, join us every thursday from 12:00 - 1:00 in the central conference room. If you would like to know more call: Chris Downend (x1719) or Brad Fuller (x3788) for more information. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::HALLY 2-FEB-1989 13:46:02.27 To: @[HALLY]STUN CC: Subj: STATUS STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: FEB 3, 89 PL: MIKE HALLY DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: ** 10 FEB 89 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 24 FEB 89 10 FEB 89 PROD RELEASE: 19 APR 89 FGA: 4 JUN 89 ACTION ITEMS: 1. HARDWARE- USING NEW SAD AUDIO BOARD. 2. WE DECIDED TO GO WITH A STANDARD RES. MONITOR (512 x 240) OF THE 19" VARIETY. 3. A NEW UP TO DATE COST OF THE STUN GAME IS AVAILABLE. 4. THE ABILITY OF SPEED CONTROL IS STILL AN OUTSTANDING ISSUE. MAYBE AFTER OUR 4 TH. REVIEW WE WILL MAKE A DECISION FOR FIELD TEST. (LOOKS LIKE THE FLIGHT CONTROL IS BACK) 5. WE WILL BE USING THE FAMILY CABINET FOR FIELD TEST. 6. ADDITIONAL ANIMATION FOR FIELD TEST REQUIRED AFTER REVIEW. 7. 4 TH. REVIEW PUSHED BACK ANOTHER WEEK TO 2/10/89. THE TEAM HAS BEEN SICK AND NEEDS THE TIME TO TEST OUT NEW ADDITIONS. 8. A DETAILED WRITE-UP OF GAME GOAL STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE. 9. THE NEW EDITOR SHOULD ALLOW FOR QUICK TUNNEL DESIGN! 10. VOICE FOR FIELD TEST RECORDED ON 1/17/89. ITS IN GAME. 11. ED IS JUST WORKIN......."I BE WORKIN BOSS, MY LATEST CREATION IS THE ABILITY TO VERTICALLY SCROLL BACKGROUND" ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::HALLY 9-FEB-1989 15:50:33.95 To: @[HALLY]STUN CC: Subj: STATUS STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: FEB 10, 89 PL: MIKE HALLY DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: ** 3 MAR 89 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 10 MAR 89 10 FEB 89 PROD RELEASE: 19 APR 89 FGA: 4 JUN 89 ACTION ITEMS: 1. HARDWARE- USING NEW SAD AUDIO BOARD. 2. WE DECIDED TO GO WITH A STANDARD RES. MONITOR (512 x 240) OF THE 19" VARIETY. 3. A NEW UP TO DATE COST OF THE STUN GAME IS AVAILABLE. 4. THE ABILITY OF SPEED CONTROL IS STILL AN OUTSTANDING ISSUE. MAYBE AFTER OUR 4 TH. REVIEW WE WILL MAKE A DECISION FOR FIELD TEST. (LOOKS LIKE THE FLIGHT CONTROL IS BACK) 5. WE WILL BE USING THE FAMILY CABINET FOR FIELD TEST. 6. ADDITIONAL ANIMATION FOR FIELD TEST REQUIRED AFTER REVIEW. 7. 4 TH. REVIEW PUSHED BACK TO 3/3/89. 8. WE HELD A BRAINSTORM MEETING ON 2/7/89 TO DEVELOPE A NEW GOAL. 9. DETAILS OF PLAN FORTHCOMING. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::LOGG 10-FEB-1989 11:47:11.04 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Slapstick File: [LOGG.DND]BYPASS.DOC Date: February 10, 1989 A company in the UK has come to us with a kit for Gauntlet II which bypasses the slapstick. This is how they did it. Please keep this technique in mind when you are doing your next game. The slapstick works by taking an address space of length 8000 and selecting one of four banks of length 2000. In general, the same bank repeats itself four times in the address space. If the slapstick is removed and two wires are substituted, then the full 8000 address space is available. In the case of Gauntlet, and I assume other Atari games, the addresses used to reference data or program in the slapstick area are for bank 0 only. Now, if someone were to change the addresses in all instructions which reference the slapstick to the appropriate bank, then they would have defeated slapstick completely. This is an oversimplification but you get the idea. This is what happened in Gauntlet. They changed our jump table from address in the range 0-1FFF to 0-7FFF. They never had to discover how the banking works. They could have easily tried all four possibilities to get the right address. In Gauntlet, I thought we were safer because the data was compacted in a very obscure fashion. This apparently didn't stop them either. We also checksummed portions of our program so they couldn't change our program. Unfortunately we did not checksum our jump tables in the slapstick area. Their method can be defeated in many ways. We could have used one instruction, like JSR 1000, to jump to either of the four banks depending on a condition set up previously. We could have put code in the slapstick area to make it a little harder. We could have put a JSR in the slapstick area which would return to another bank. There are many other techniques which I will not go into here. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SNYDER 10-FEB-1989 12:49:10.05 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: SLAPSTIC usage SLAPSTIC USAGE ATARI GAMES DOUG SNYDER 890210 When using slapstic to protect a game from being copied, two important items should be kept in mind. 1. The SLAPSTIC hardware should use the 2 SLAPSTIC select bits (BS0 and BS1) to page memory, not just select one of four areas of a homogeneous address space. Although banking makes SLAPSTIC slightly harder to work with, it more difficult to analyze and work around. TETRIS is a recent example of banking. It banks four 16K chunks into one 16K address space. 2. The SLAPSTIC software should bank program and data, not just data. The best way to use SLAPSTIC is if the program jumped from bank to bank within the banked address space. Rivera and Avellar did this very well in EMPIRE, but this technique is tricky to implement. Each project leader should verify that at least one, (preferably both), of these items are included in every game. Item 1 should be checked before the PCB is released and item 2 before the final software release. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 13-FEB-1989 10:03:24.91 To: FUJIHARA,MOMODA,BENZLER,BRAD,DIEKNEITE,COMSTOCK,NOBLE,MOSER,MONCRIEF,MARGOLIN,MEYETTE,TAKAICHI,JANG,JACKSON,DENCKER,CAMERON,LANDAVERDE,VISUALCOM,MCNAMARA,BURGESS,ROTBERG,RAY CC: Subj: Ed Rotberg new S.T.U.N. Runner Project Leader Effective today, Ed Rotberg is the new Project Leader for the S.T.U.N. Runner project. Thank you for your continued support!! John Ray ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 15-FEB-1989 13:38:45.71 To: @sys$mail:junk CC: Subj: Diamonds are forever (The following is a flame. Had it been an actual debate I'd bury you with statistics and it would be much longer...) If you really _like_ breathing smog and would rather never have a livable county just delete this message now and save time and effort for both of us. I just can't let Gary Stark's petition and mail stand unchallenged. Measure 'A' was sold to the voters by signs alledging (falsely) that the money would be spent to solve "the 237 problem". In fact (and the fine print of the measure) the express purpose of the measure was to fund the extension of Hwy 85 into the Almaden valley so that developers could get rich building condos on ex-open space and hwy 280 could get as jammed as 101 is now. I read the measure and voted against it. I lost, but I'm not crying about it now. Stop and think about the insanity of funding road construction _at_all_ with sales tax money when fuel costs are already the most massively subsidized of any nation. What happened to "pay as you go". The automobile is already massively subsidized by the extensive use of sales tax, income tax, depletion allowances artificially lowering oil prices, etc. The highway system was _built_ partially with ticket taxes levied on railroad (!) passengers. (The rest of the ticket tax money went to build airports, not one cent went back to rail). In short, the auto (and those who maintain their "right" to drive at our expense) has been massively subsidized at the expense of other forms of transportation for at least 50 years. The bitching and moaning when the rest of us get a small piece back (in the form of diamond lanes built with a sales tax) is ludicrous. There is no such thing as a free lunch Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::ROLM "SUTTLES, SHEPPERD, or ALBAUGH" 15-FEB-1989 14:29:09.40 To: @sys$mail:everybody,ROLM CC: Subj: Phones and Credit Cards (Those with bulletin boards, please post) WARNING! WARNING! DANGER!! DANGER!! I am sure we have concientious employees who arrange to pay for those personal calls they are forced to make from work. The most convenient way is to use telephone company credit cards. If you fall in this category, this message is for you. There are a few things you should know. MCI is the normal carrier of all long distance calls placed through Atari's phone system. By itself, this is not a problem. However, they have recently started a moneymaking scheme that you should know about. If you dial as though to make a regular credit card call, using another carriers card, THEY WILL PROVIDE THE "BONG" that AT&T callers are used to hearing. If you then key in your credit card number (usually AT&T), they will honor it, completing the call for you. When you get your bill, you will find that you paid four to ten times the going rate, and the charge is tacked onto your regular AT&T bill through a cooperative service. If you don't pay, AT&T loses, and they generally blackball you and rip out your cord by the roots. This information, incidentally, applies to pay phones as well as Atari's system. You should make sure of your carrier before giving the card number. Another nifty detail is that coin calls are cheaper, at least local ones. I have found through my own experience that what would have costed 20 cents in change can cost up to four dollars if you tell it your number. I am told that out-of-lata calls are cheaper by calling card, but infra-lata calls are definitely not. The lata we are in includes all of the 408 area code, all of 415, and most of 707. If you are in these area codes, (and I'm assuming that the phone your card is associated with is also) you should pay coins to coin phones if you have the option. If you are not within these area codes, use the card; it's easier AND cheaper. One more tidbit is that (to the best of my knowledge) only AT&T has long distance operators. If you have trouble with a long distance call, if it's not with AT&T, you just have to keep trying. The rest of this text is directions on how you can use your carrier to place a credit card call. It isn't necessary (or even desirable) to read those that don't apply to you. FROM INSIDE ATARI ON MCI DO NOT DIAL NINE. Instead, dial the pound key, and 624 (pound MCI). Wait for the dial tone AFTER it goes through (you'll hear rings first). Next dial the number you want to call. Wait for the bong, beep or bell (definitely NOT a dial tone). Now dial your credit card number. Your call should go through; the charge will appear on your home bill. FROM INSIDE ATARI ON AT&T DO NOT DIAL NINE. Instead, dial the pound key, and 600. Wait for the AT&T long distance operator. You will have to explain that our antiquated system will not allow you to direct dial. You may or may not convince the operator on the first try. Ask for a station-to-station call (unless you want person-to-person). You will be asked for the number you want to call and your card number. You will be billed on your home bill for an operator-assisted call. Sorry, but that's the best we can do; AT&T doesn't believe in these relay numbers that everyone else is using. FROM INSIDE ATARI ON SPRINT (using a FONcard) DO NOT DIAL NINE. Instead, dial the pound key, and 678 Wait for the dial tone AFTER it goes through (you'll hear rings first). Next dial the number you want to call. Wait for the bong, beep or bell (definitely NOT a dial tone). Now dial your credit card number. Your call should go through; the charge will appear on your home bill. FROM an OUTSIDE LINE ON MCI (on ANY telephone with a network-supplied dial tone) Dial 0, 10222, area code, exchange, extension. Wait for the bong, beep or bell (definitely NOT a dial tone). Now dial your credit card number. Your call should go through; the charge will appear on your home bill. FROM an OUTSIDE LINE ON AT&T (on ANY outside telephone) Dial 0, 10288, area code, exchange, extension. Wait for the bong, beep or bell (definitely NOT a dial tone). Now dial your credit card number. Your call should go through; the charge will appear on your home bill. Optionally, you can just dial 0, 10288, and wait; an operator will come on the line, and you can explain whatever it is you want to do. FROM an OUTSIDE LINE ON SPRINT (using a FONcard) (on ANY outside telephone) Dial 1-800-877-8000. This connects you to the Sprint network. Any carrier must get you to any 800 number, free. Wait for the dial tone AFTER it goes through (you'll hear rings first). Next dial the number you want to call. Wait for the bong, beep or bell (definitely NOT a dial tone). Now dial your credit card number. Your call should go through; the charge will appear on your home bill. TO DETERMINE WHAT COMPANY WILL CARRY YOUR CALLS IF YOU DON'T SPECIFY: (this only works on outside lines) Dial (700)555-1212 yes, 700. You will get a (free) recording saying who your long distance company is at that time. This number is intended as a service for people who are changing carriers so they can tell if it worked or not. IF YOU'RE STILL LOOKING FOR YOUR LONG DISTANCE CARRIER, I don't know how to do it yet, so let me know and we'll experiment. I'll publish the results so everybody can learn how. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 15-FEB-1989 16:29:48.22 To: @sys$mail:junk CC: Subj: More phone info In general Steve's memo was quite informative and accurate, but you should note the following: Our LATA does _not_ include all of 408. Carmel peninsula and perhaps as far north as Aptos are not included, but are (408). Inter-Lata calls _may_ be cheaper by credit card, but this is totally at the discretion of the COCOT (Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephone). Many (if not all) of these contract with an AOS (Alternative Operator Service) for any billing, and apply a totally unregulated surcharge (300% is not uncommon) for the "work" of forwarding your credit card number to your LD carrier. ATT have the only "in-house" operators so far, but all the others, to my knowledge, have contracts with AOS's to handle "operator-assisted" calls. The surcharges range from annoying to extortionate. As a rule of thumb, if you find yourself talking to an operator who does not specifically identify him/herself as ATT, HANG UP or be prepared to pay through the nose. Note also that these people are carefully trained to give the impression that they work for the LD carrier you thought you were using without actually stating it (which would be illegal). It may be legally true that any carrier must get you to any 800 number free, but it is not the case that any COCOT necessarily will place the call. These leeches make big bucks by forcing you through their LD carrier and AOS, and will desist only as and when forced to do so by state attorneys general. At present about six states are looking into the widespread abuses of COCOTS and AOSes but California is not among them. If you think this is bad, don't even _think_ about placing a call from a hotel! Would now be a good time to suggest that the next time you run across a COCOT, you inform the proprietor of the establishment that if they do not value your patronage more than an extra quarter, perhaps they can do without it? Flame off Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 16-FEB-1989 10:04:00.24 To: @STATUS.DIS CC: Subj: STUN RUNNER Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: FEB 10, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: ** 31 MAR 89 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 10 FEB 89 PROD RELEASE: 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 The project has lost the services of Mike Hally. Ed Rotberg has now assumed the responsibilities of Project Leader and lead Game Designer. A mini-brainstorming meeting was held last week to discuss possible new game themes and goals. This was in light of the almost universal feeling that while the game "looked" good, the play appeal was noticably lacking. As per that brainstorming session and the team meeting following it, a new direction for the game has been established. A document describing the new direction has been written, including a somewhat detailed plan for the first three waves of the game. This document has been distributed to those directly involved with the project. If you are interested in a copy, please see Ed Rotberg. In light of this change of direction, new dates have been established for the 4th Review, Field Test, Production Release, and FGA. These are indicated above. These dates were arrived at based upon a reassesment of the tasks that needed to be completed before the game would be ready for Field Test. HARDWARE The Rev. 2 MutiSync PCB is up and working with only one mod. This is a component change in the SCUM circuitry requiring an 'F' part for the clock buffer. We have abeen allocated one Rev. 2 board which we will probably use for the field test unit. Jed Margolin has also been converting his Driver self-test to run on MultiSync standard speed. This will be a great help to the project. CONTROLS Milt Loper has started working on cost reducing the flight controller. Current pricing gives the Namco plastic handles at $8 per set, but Milt reports that the reliability of these parts is questionable at best. The tooled metal handles currently cost $40 per set. Milt is looking into die-cast metal parts. There is no cost projection on these parts but the lead time looks like 8 - 10 weeks including drawing time. He is also looking into getting our own molded plastic parts from a new vendor that believes they can produce them with a lead time of 4 - 6 weeks. The projected cost for these would be about $8 per set. Milt is also going to look into getting the entire assembly costed by the vendor supplying the steering wheel stop mechanism for Hard Drivin' as they gave us an excellent price on that part. CABINET We are planning on using the Family Cabinet for Field Test. Mike Jang has figured out a way to mount our board set and power supply in that cabinet. GRAPHICS As per the change in game design, much of the graphics for the game will need to be reworked. A meeting was held Wednesday with the animators, and we will be supplying them a new prioritized list by the end of the week. AUDIO Much of the audio done for the game will be able to be used in the new game theme without change. However, many of the voice cues will certainly need to be changed. I will be providing a prioritized list of required audio to Brad and Don this week, but it will not include voice cues at this time as we would like to see how the game plays in its new guise before deciding what voice cues we need. Brad says that lead time for voice may be as much as 2 - 2 1/2 weeks so that will be a consideration towards getting him that list as early as possible before field test. SOFTWARE As per my conversation with Rick Moncrief and Max Behensky, we will be getting Max and Stephanie's time between now and Teusday 2/21/89. Their help is required for the following action items: 1) Giving us the capablitiy to to BLIT objects both directly to the screen and onto polygons (growth BLITs) 2) Implementing a method to display the control panel using the "fast background" method. 3) Implement vertical scrolling of the background. 4) Give us the ability to modify a small subset of the color-map. 5) Give us the ability to convert Fonts supplied by the animation group to the format needed for the MultiSync system. 6) Help us conform the Driver coin & stats package to our needs. On a lower priority level, the animation group has requested that Max modify one of the 3D CAD systems to use a tablet instead of the mouse. Additional software changes as per the new game design are under implementation by Andy and Ed. This will include designing the first 3 waves, and spending time tuning them. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 23-FEB-1989 14:11:26.71 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Thurdsday Afternoon Attendence Some people in the Electrical Engineering Department took an extended lunch to wish a departing employee farewell Weds., 2/22. Some people returned by 3:00PM. Some returned much later...as late as 6:00PM...or 10:00PM ???. I was not informed. If you report to me, THIS ISUNACCEPTABLE. You are expected to keep me informed if you will be gone during the work day. Under the circumstances, I can tolerate an extended lunch (say til 3:00PM?) but only if I am informed. Rob Rowe left me a note. Did anyone else? Please let me know if you were gone and for how long. I would also like to know if you think you should make this lost time up, or if multi-hour farewell lunches are your inalienable right and a company-paid benefit. Yes, you might say I am upset. I would appreciate at little more consideration from you guys. Your Boss (I think) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::MCCARTHY 23-FEB-1989 15:40:38.36 To: @sys$mail:hardware,MCCARTHY CC: Subj: Programmable logic. If you are interested in a programmable device compiler then read on. I have information packets for ABEL and CUPL. If you want to see the packets then let me know. I will send them out on a distribution list to anyone interested. I also have demonstration software for ABEL, CUPL and XILINX on the PC in my office, if anyone wants to look at them. Here is a summary of the software. We currently have PALASM2 and AMAZE programmable device assemblers in both DOS and VAX/VMS formats. These products are FREE from AMD/MMI and SIGNETICS respectively. They are good for devices from those companies, and second sources. e.g PALASM2 does not program AMD PAL18L8s, but this may have been corrected since AMD bought MMI. AMAZE covers mostly FPLAs (IFLs). I have not used a recent version of AMAZE so if someone knows of expanded capabilities please let me know. Neither program works with some of the newer devices like EPLDs (ALTERA, INTEL) and ERASICs. PALASM2 (DOS vesion only) can program state machines, and has a simple MINIMIZER algorithm. PALASM2 and AMAZE are assemblers. The logic equation input is restricted to a strict set of rules that are determined by the device being programmed. CUPL and ABEL are compilers. Logic equation entry is free format and device independent. Tables and state machine descriptors can be used as well as standard logic equations. Vectors and macros allow great flexability in both design specification and simulation. The same design specification could be used for a PAL, PLA, GAL or EPLD. Design time with a logic compiler is probably half that of an assembler. Debug time is probably half to one tenth depending on design complexity and use of the simulator. Cost: PALASM2 and AMAZE : FREE ABEL : DATA I/O, Redmond, WA ABEL on microvax : $3995, includes 1 year maintenence ($600 value) ABEL under DOS on a PC : $2275, includes 1 year maintenance ABEL version 3.1 ships in February CUPL : LOGICAL DEVICES INC, Ft. Lauderdale, FL CUPL on VAX (unlimited users) : $3495 CUPL on VAX (MAX 3 users) : $2495 CUPL under DOS single user : $1250 CUPL maintenance : $360 for 1 year, $595 for 2 years. CUPL version 3.0 is "Upcoming" and will add the EP1800 from Altera/Intel and a few other new devices. I am interested in getting either ABEL or CUPL, mainly because I want to prototype a custom chip using mainly programmable logic, and because I have used as many as 6 PAls in a production game and find PALASM2 error prone and cumbersome. I need feedback from the other engineers on their potential usage. See the next mail message for a feedback questionaire. Comparison of ABEL versus CUPL. This is a transcript of an excerpt from a marketing newsletter dated 3rd quarter '88. put out by EXEL who makes the 78c800 ERASIC. PLD Software: ABEL vs CUPL Comparisons of the two most widely-used PLD design software packages, ABEL and CUPL, seem never-ending. In actuality, these best-known logic compilers are no longer in a two horse race. Data I/O's ABEL is now, because of its recent enhancements (rev. 3.0), the industry's recognised leader. ABEL supports more manufacturers' devices (Altera, Cypress, Intel) and has improved its syntax, logic reduction and simulator. It has the ability to handle asynchronous or multi-level logic (such as ERASIC's) and configurable flip-flops, which include resets-presets. CUPL, in direct contrast, is an orphan looking for a home. It was originally the property of Assisted Technology and in 1986 was acquired by Personal CAD Systems (PCAD). CUPL has since been sold to Logical Devices Inc. of Florida. CUPL has not been enhanced in over two years and no enhancements are projected for the near future. Moreover, PCAD evidently did not provide Logical Devices with CUPL source codes, so when EXEL attempted to create an enhancement package for use with CUPL (similar to MultiMap/Multisim, our ABEL enhancement software), our efforts met without success. ABEL is the only universal logic compiler that has made a long-term commitment to its original customers and to the established design community. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::WOOD 23-FEB-1989 17:46:33.89 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Lawsuits with Nintendo The following interoffice memo was distributed to Tengen employees today regarding the most recent developments in our lawsuits with Nintendo. As matters develop we will keep you informed. As I indicated previously, if you get any inquiries regarding the lawsuits, please direct them to me. CONFIDENTIAL - COMPANY PRIVATE NOT TO BE SHOWN OUTSIDE THE DISTRIBUTION LIST There are various matters pending before the court in the lawsuits involving us and Nintendo, and the judge has taken these matters under consideration. The only verbal or written comment that any party may make in these matters is "The matters have been taken under consideration by the court." Any inquiries about the present lawsuits should be responded to with the sentence within the quotes above. Until otherwise notified, your comments and activities must be strictly and simply limited to promoting and selling TENGEN PRODUCTS ONLY! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MCNAMARA 28-FEB-1989 10:45:36.42 To: MARGOLIN,MCNAMARA CC: Subj: Jed, Ed Rotberg would like to have a vcr connected to STUN as soon as possible. When you have time I need to have you show me the hardware mod that needs to be installed on the main board. The document that will tell us how to do this is [salwitz.vcr]vcr.doc. I have the video board and optical transmitter that is mentioned in the document. Thanks, Glenn. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 2-MAR-1989 09:28:18.81 To: @STATUS.DIS CC: Subj: Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: MAR 02, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: ** 31 MAR 89 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 10 FEB 89 PROD RELEASE: 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 HARDWARE Glen has been bringing up the second moded Rev 1 MultiSync board as we have not yet received our Rev 2 board. This board now appears to be up and running as well. Glen is also adding the hardware necessarr to drive a VCR for Field Test. CONTROLS There will be a meeting today (3/2/89) at 2:00 PM to discuss the status and plans for the flight controller that we are planning on using. GRAPHICS The Animation Group has committed to a schedule for S.T.U.N. RUNNER graphics that will get us to Field Test as per the current schedule. We have already received a lot of new graphics. We have new bacgrounds, new tunnel segments, and a complete animation sequence for the player getting into the TTV at game start. AUDIO No work on audio at this time, as we are still evaluating our needs. SOFTWARE Max Behensky has been giving our project a lot of his time, and as a result, many of the action items have been completed. These are: 1) Giving us the capablitiy to to BLIT objects both directly to the screen and onto polygons (growth BLITs) 2) Implementing a method to display the control panel using the "fast background" method. 3) Give us the ability to modify a small subset of the color-map. 4) Help us conform the Driver coin & stats package to our needs. Other items specified on the previous list have been dealt with in other ways. At present, we are only looking for an improved vector rendering algrorithm in the GSP, and our immediate needs from the Applied Research group will have been met. Software changes to the game include: 1) New opening animation sequence. 2) Scrolling backgrounds (horizontally & vertically). 3) "Glowing" hotspots. 4) Cycles now enter from behind player. 5) No Bonus time. This next week we will be integrating and tuning the new game play in the first three waves. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::WOOD 6-MAR-1989 16:04:39.99 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Atari Games granted preliminary injunction against Nintendo MILPITAS, March 3, 1989 -- Atari Games and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tengen, today were granted a preliminary injunction which prohibits both Nintendo America and its Japanese parent company, Nintendo Co. Ltd. from suing retailers who carry Tengen products for infringement of Nintendo's patent. Atari Games and Tengen's motion, granted in the United States District Court in San Francisco, was hotly contested by Nintendo. The injunction prohibits the video game giant from filing suit against Tengen retailers until patent infringement disputes between the companies are formally resolved. The court decision places similar conditions on Atari Games with respect to its claims of patent infringement against Nintendo. The motion was filed by Atari Games and Tengen after they had learned that several of Tengen's retailers, including some of the nation's largest toy chains, had received letters from Nintendo's outside legal counsel insisting that they immediately remove all Tengen products from their shelves. The letters stated that failure to comply would result in Nintendo taking legal action against retailers for third-party patent infringement. "Nintendo has tried to wage this battle on the retail front, rather than in the court where it belongs," said Hide Nakajima, Atari Games president. "This decision takes the retailer out of the middle, and places matters in the appropriate forum. "Nintendo's intimidation tactics have created fear and confusion among our retailers," said Nakajima. "We believe this decision represents the first step towards creating the kind of fair, open market we've been seeking." The motion was filed in connectionwith the anti-trust lawsuit filed by Atari Games and Tengen against Nintendo claiming monopoly, wrongful business interference and patent infringement. Tengen is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari Games Corporation and is headquartered at 1901 McCarthy Blvd., Suite 210, P. O. Box 360782, Milpitas, Calif, 95035; (408) 435-2650. Atari Games is a privately held company, is not affiliated with Atari Corporation, and should be referred to as Atari Games. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 9-MAR-1989 11:09:40.53 To: @STATUS.DIS CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. RUNNER Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: MAR 09, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: ** 31 MAR 89 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 10 FEB 89 PROD RELEASE: 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 HARDWARE Glen has added the circuitry necessary to drive the VCR from the MSYNC board. We have hooked this up to the developement board in order to work out glitches in using the VCR as well as using the VCR to help debug the game. Jed is starting to bring up our REV 2 MSYNC board. CONTROLS There was a meeting last Thursday (3/2/89) at which we discussed the flight controller, the current costs, and ways in which we might be able to reduce those costs in both the near term (i.e. for S.T.U.N. RUNNER) and in the long term. See the Mechanical Engineering Status report for details. CABINET Mike Jang says that we should have a "Family" cabinet by one week prior to our scheduled Field Test. This means we should have the cabinet by the scheduled 4th Review. GRAPHICS Graphics proceeding according to schedule. AUDIO Don has been given a new list of SFX for the game. There is still no request for voice audio, as the phrases needed have not yet been determined. SOFTWARE Software changes to the game include: 1) Added "inertia" in turns on the flats 2) Added friction when touching the rails on the flats. 3) Two new tunnel sections have been added. 4) We have taken a number of passes at tuning the first two sections. 5) Implemented a warp sequence to higher levels. 6) Added the code to run the VCR under 68010 control. This involved rewriting the timing loops that John Salwitz had written for a 7.19 Mhz 68000 to work on a 8 Mhz 68010. Thanks to Mike A. This week we will be working on: 1) Map and instruction sequences before each level. 2) High Score entry for each level for each of four categories. 3) Improved steering dynamics. 4) Improved traffic routines. 5) Tuning traffic/markers/hotspots into levels 3,4, & 5. 6) Capturing game play statistics and associated display screens. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 14-MAR-1989 13:00:34.81 To: @SYS$MAIL:HARDWARE.DIS,GROSSMAN,RAY CC: Subj: Hardware Meeting Tuesday 3/21 1:30 Engr. conf. room The next hardware meeting will be next Tuesday at 1:30 in the Engineering Conference room. Some of the exciting topics will be: Introduction of new audio engineer -- Byron Sheppard Welcome Doug back from vacation (back to work!) Update on 1M EPROM prices Pros/cons of JAMMAing (adopting the JAMMA standard edge connector). ??? See you there! John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 16-MAR-1989 10:58:24.37 To: @STATUS.DIS CC: Subj: staus report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: MAR 09, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: 31 MAR 89 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 10 FEB 89 PROD RELEASE: 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 Carole Cameron has joined the S.T.U.N. RUNNER project team as Project Coordinator. Her responsibilities include coordination of all Design Services and Visual Communication functions concering this project. She will report to Ed Rotberg with regard to her responsibilities in this area. HARDWARE Glenn has two more PCB sets up and running. GRAPHICS Graphics proceeding according to schedule. AUDIO No change. SOFTWARE Software changes to the game include: 1) The Map/instruction screens have been implemented. 2) The steering dynamics have bben adjusted but are still not what I would like. 3) New Graphics have been added. 4) Added the ability to fade into and out of screens, so that the slow process of background decompression is not evident to the player. 5) Rewrote the main routine to make it easier to follow/manage. This week we will be working on: 1) Devise & implement a new scheme for game continuation - level qualification. 2) Improved traffic routines. 3) Tuning traffic/markers/hotspots into levels 3,4, & 5. 4) Adding two new attract modes: a) Scenario description that sets the tone for the game. b) A points screen showing what enemies/targets are worth what points. 5) Capturing game play statistics and associated display screens as per marketing input. 6) Implement add-a-coin fully. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RUSTY 17-MAR-1989 15:55:00.78 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,RUSTY CC: Subj: Due to popular demand... In attempt to try to keep up with my game schedule I am going to establish "office hours." This is to try to minimize the number of interruptions I am experiencing on any given day and clump them all together at one time! This is primarily directed at the RPM users group (audio), the ARIUM benevolent society, the MO driver movers and shakers, and the PC haters club. During these hours, I will be available for general consulting on any topic I know (or don't know) anything about, and do my best to bash any bug that has dared to show its ugly little head in any of the code I am responsible for. However, if you have a question or a bug that is theatening a production release, field test, or other IMPORTANT event and that needs immediate fixing, you can still track me down right away (this has never been a problem up till now!) For now, I am setting aside 1:00 - 3:00 Tues & Fri as the times to nail me. If I'm not in the office, I'll probably be somewhere close by (like in the lab). Rusty P.S. I don't expect (or want) everyone to just leave me alone and not ask questions, this is primarly an attempt to try to get them all to happen at once if possible. P.P.S. Madam Q has ordered me to state that this doesn't apply to anyone needing me for anything having to do with "ThunderJaws." ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 21-MAR-1989 11:35:16.35 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BROWN CC: Subj: NEW HIRES If the name Franz Lanzinger sounds familiar to a lot of you old-timers, it's because Franz worked for Atari Coin-Op from 1982 to 1984 as a Software Engineer. He is back (well, sort of---he is at Tengen). Franz is working in Steve Calfee's group as a Sr. Programmer, but I am sure we will see a lot of him here at Atari. Also starting this week is Chuck Eyler. Chuck has joined that whimsical group called the Animation Department. Chuck has been animating since 1977, and has just recently finished a stint with Colossal Pictures in San Francisco. Welcome guys!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES "Doctor DCL" 21-MAR-1989 12:14:39.49 To: SLOBS,SUTTLES CC: Subj: (see above) The printer room is a continuous disgrace. Again, I've cleaned up after others, thoughtless people who extract what they came for, without paying any attention to the mess they leave behind. If you need to get a printout from the printer, fine. But don't rip yours out of a chain and leave the rest. Nobody wants their printouts looking like a used kleenex, or trampled from not hitting the basket. If you don't want to clean the mess, FINE. Just don't make it any worse! When you leave the prior printouts wadded in the basket, whether they were that way or you're just too damn lazy to fold the tail in after you snatch your printouts, you are causing the very problem you think you're avoiding. And somebody else has to clean up the mess you should have quickly straightened, PLUS the disaster that will occur from the new listings that have nowhere to go. Now, not everybody does this. Each of you already know if you qualify. Many of us have a pretty good idea who the offenders are, even if they are particularly careful to take the sheets before and after their job with the identifying information. (Q: If you aren't doing anything so wrong, why are you so careful to take these identifying headers and trailers?) However, the identities can be determined without the headers and trailers, and this information could be made public, if that seems required. We could also arrange for your printouts to be saved til last, for example...Maybe we'll take a poll over what to do about continued abuse... Incidentally, any printouts over two weeks old are encouraged to be tossed by anyone who wants to. They should be shredded, if there is any doubt; just because they weren't picked up doesn't mean they're not sensitive. A quarter of the printouts in there were from 1988; it's a lot easier to find your own printouts now. And if you find that you printed something out, and don't need it by the time you get to the printer room, please dispose of it. There is a trash can and a shredding basket right there; it makes it easier for everyone, including yourself. Also incidentally (co-incidentally?), a restatement of long-standing policy: IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO SERVICE THE PRINTERS, ==> DON'T!! <== Ask anyone in the computer group; we'll be ecstatic to show you how, and would rather do it ourselves than have the guy after you complaining about how the printer is screwed up (alignment, ribbon, paper jam) and that his mail message was deleted as it was printed. Of course, if you can do it WITHOUT screwing it up, by all means, go right ahead. We can use all the help we can get. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 22-MAR-1989 14:44:55.77 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: MAR 22, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: 31 MAR 89 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 10 FEB 89 PROD RELEASE: 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 HARDWARE Jed needs to determine the maximum draw for 5 volts with our configuration so we can determine power supply size (is 10 amps enough -- 15 too many??) CABINET Cabinet wood should be completed today. CONTROLS Controls for field test with plastic handles & down stop by 3/29. HARNESS Field test harness by 3/29. CABINET ART Kyoko to start cabinet art next week. GRAPHICS Graphics proceeding according to schedule. AUDIO No change. SOFTWARE Software changes to the game include: 1) New traffic routines have been implemented. 2) A "points" attract screen has been added but needs to be changed. 3) New Graphics have been added. 4) Added "vertical splits" to be used for warping to higher levels. This week we will be working on: 1) Devise & implement a new scheme for game continuation - level qualification. 2) Tuning traffic/markers/hotspots into levels 3,4, & 5. 3) Adding new attract modes: a) Scenario description that sets the tone for the game. 4) Capturing game play statistics and associated display screens as per marketing input. 5) Implement add-a-coin fully. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::RAY 22-MAR-1989 15:54:18.00 To: @SYS$MAIL:HARDWARE,RAY CC: Subj: Hardware meeting 3/21/89 summary Hardware Meeting 3/21/89 J.Ray 3/22/89 Attendees: Mike Albaugh, Chris Downend, Tim Hubberstey, Pat McCarthy, Glenn McNamara, Rich Moore, John Ray, Byron Sheppard, Doug Snyder, Gary Stempler. Byron Sheppard was introduced as a new hardware engineer in Brad Fuller's audio group. Welcome Byron! The latest 1 Meg EPROM info from TI is: They are not in production yet. Parts will be available in the summer for $18-20. They will not be cost-effective for us until early 1990 when they should cost about $14. Pat McCarthy reported that he is 90% done with the schematic. He will be implementing most of the chip in TTL to keep the Thunderjaws project progressing. The expected size of the chip is 3000 gates. He is hoping to get the Priority and Shifter chips done for Tjaws as well, but is not sure yet if this is possible. Doug and Mike reported that they will probably be visiting Mississippi next week to check on the design of the ASAP chip. Proto chips are expected late May or June. The first two boards for the development system (Mother and 68000) should be ready in May. The next two boards will be the RAM board and the Pod board. The Analyzer will be wire-wrapped before it goes to PC. The ASAP development system will be packaged in a "baby AT" case due to its cost-effectiveness and readily available components (eg. power supplies). Mike is working on the software, and will need an AMS for the 68000 development. The ASAP development system software committee has written the first pass report on what they would like to see in the system. Pat will be writing up a purchase req. for Data I/Os ABEL software for the VAX. This will be an upgrade from the PALASM software currently used. Pat will arrange a demo of Viewlogic schematic capture and simulation software for the PC. We then discussed moving towards the JAMMA standard edge connector. Chris gave a synopsis of the reasons Atari needs to move towards this standard: The only games that are selling now are blockbuster games (Hard Drivin') and kits. Upright games in the $2000 price range are just not selling. This change in the market demand requires us to adapt our games to the kit market. The kit market is dominated by the JAMMA standard. JAMMA PROS Increased kit sales Possibly increased whole game sales Economies of harness standardization: Engineering Manufacturing Field service (test fixtures) JAMMA CONS Increased PCB costs Increased connection costs Increased FCC problems Reduced power supply capabilities Inflexible edge connections Reduced audio volumes Changes "Standard Audio" methods (increased engineering) Doug Snyder agreed to coordinate documenting the Atari JAMMA specification. This specification will cover: Edge connector pinouts Video timing, polarity, levels Audio levels Power supply requirements Byron Sheppard agreed to come up with a standard audio amp configuration (for use on JAMMA games) that is cheap and uses readily available components. We discussed monitor usage on JAMMA games. The JAMMA edge connector only provides for -CSYNC. However, Doug said that the kits he has seen also provide taps somewhere on the PCB for separate positive syncs. He suggested we do the same (as a minimum) on our boards (on Tetris, he provided a separate Atari standard monitor header on the PCB). We should also make sure that the monitors we will be using will accept -CSYNC. (Some monitors accept -CSYNC on both -HSYNC and -VSYNC terminals). We should NOT use (on our JAMMA compatible cabinets) monitors that only accept positive sync signals. Regarding current and future games: TETRIS and TETRIS cocktail are both JAMMA compatible. ESCAPE upright will not be a JAMMA cabinet. ESCAPE kit will have an adaptor board and minor mods to the SA audio board to make it JAMMA compatible. SKULL & CROSSBONES main board will be re-designed to incorporate the JAMMA connector. The SA II board (with minor mods) will mount on top of the main board and have connections only to the main board. Games beyond these were not discussed. I would presume that all games currently in development except for S.T.U.N. Runner will be converted to JAMMA. Incorporating the audio board onto the main board should be seriously considered for cost savings (keeping the software drivers as compatible as possible, however). Please let me know if you have any additions or corrections. John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 23-MAR-1989 17:06:47.31 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: ATARI ALUMNI SEARCH - STEVE EHRET If anybody knows the whereabouts of Steve Ehret, or knows somebody that might know how to reach him, please let me know. He worked on a patent long ago that has new relevance regarding the legal/patent dispute with Nintendo. Apparently our legal staff would like to discuss the patent with him. Steve Ehret was a Coin-op technician back in the 1975-1979 timeframe. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::GROSSMAN 29-MAR-1989 10:49:23.81 To: ROTBERG,BURGESS,MARGOLIN,MCNAMARA,COMSTOCK,NOBLE,MOSER,BRAD,DIEKNEITE,RAY,CAMERON,MOMODA,MONCRIEF,MOORE,DOWNEND,RAINS,GROSSMAN CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. Review Friday, March 31 2:00 pm S.T.U.N. Lab S.T.U.N. REVIEW called by Ed Rotberg ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 30-MAR-1989 09:50:47.95 To: @STATUS.DIS CC: Subj: STUN Runner status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: MAR 30, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: 31 MAR 89 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 10 FEB 89 PROD RELEASE: 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 There will be a game review of this game tomorrow, Friday March 31, at 2:00 PM. CABINET The cabinet has been delivered to the Lab. GRAPHICS Graphics proceeding according to schedule. AUDIO We've started receiving new audio. The new stuff all sounds good. SOFTWARE Software changes to the game include: 1) Enemy intelligence has been improved. 2) The "points" attract screen has been modified. 3) New Graphics have been added, including new title screen. 4) New tunnel sections have been added. 5) Continued to tune the game parameters. 6) Improved collision detection on flats. 7) Game continuation/ add-a-coin has bee fully implemented. This week we will be working on: 2) Tuning traffic/markers/hotspots into levels 5,6, & 7. 3) Adding a new attract mode: a) Scenario description that sets the tone for the game. 4) Capturing game play statistics and associated display screens as per marketing input. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 30-MAR-1989 19:11:32.37 To: ROTBERG,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Credit Screen Please add Erik Durfey to the credit screen. He worked with me on the MultiSync boards. Thanks, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 31-MAR-1989 09:49:33.03 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: Credit Screen Will do Jed, The credit screen is in no way completed, probably will be in flux untill production release. Can you think of a good "title" for Eric? Let me know. - Ed - ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BEHENSKY 4-APR-1989 12:12:30.75 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: The end of the greenhouse effect and smog, bankruptcy of Exxon, etc. For those of you who have been intrigued by the reports of ROOM TEMPERATURE!!! fusion experiments by the two scientists at the university of Utah, I have a limited number of copies of a science times article from last week about the issue. Considering the earth-shaking implications of the news, it is puzzling that there has been very little discussion of the issue in the press, especially considering all the hoopla afforded the recent advances in superconductivity. It is also intriguing that the scientists who developed the process felt they had to go public in such a big way. They say that a reporter in Utah was about to write a story about their experiments, but I wonder if they were afraid of their discovery being suppressed. With the extremely powerful interests who will be effected by a potentially very cheap source of fusion energy small, simple, and safe enough to be placed in your car for propulsion or basement for heat, it would not suprise me in the least that someone might try to prevent the information from being released. Fortunately, with the current publicity, the cat is now out of the bag. The technique is simple enough that you could duplicate it in your kitchen, given the necessary heavy water and palladium wire. Of course, the whole question is moot if the process doesn't work, but given the solid reputation of the scientists involved, and the relative ease of confirming that fusion is occuring (unexplained energy release, presence of helium-3, presence of released neutrons) I think it probably does. The energy release is particularly telling; they are claiming a 4 to 1 payback in energy ouput versus energy input. This should be impossible to miss, and unless Drs. Stanley and Fleishmann are intent on throwing their careers away, I'm sure they got it right. Still think it doesn't work, and that the government has nothing to do with what's going on? News flash this morning: The current head of NASA is leaving his job to oversee the Utah fusion project! See you on Mars in 1995, folks, in our personal fusion powered spaceships. Max ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ARVIDSON 4-APR-1989 14:06:06.61 To: MARGOLIN,ARVIDSON CC: Subj: PQFP Assmbly, Housing, Cover. Can you tell me how the assembly, AMP 821932-4, which consists of a housing and a cover, are shipped? Are the housing and cover in separate containers or are they paired and partially assembled when received? Jeff refuses to assign an Atari p/n if the housing and cover arrives in separate boxes. Other than part numbers, what is the difference between ordering one assembly and ordering one each of the housing and the cover? If you can't shed light on the way these are shipped, I will call Bob Grant at AMP. thanks, erwin ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::WOOD 4-APR-1989 16:35:19.12 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Oakmead-San Jose Land Sale In April 1988 Atari Games purchased 15.62 acres in the Oakmead-San Jose Business Park to build a new factory and a new office building. The site also provided us with room to build another building to handle future expansion. Recently, the Executive Committee made a decision to sell the land, because it was discovered that much more management time than originally anticipated would have to be devoted to the project to make it a success. Further, the matter was complicated by the ongoing litigation with Nintendo. For these reasons, we believe it is better to continue leasing our present buildings, as we have very good leases, and sell the 15.62 acres. In addition, we purchased the land at a rock bottom price, so we stand to make a nice profit when the land sale is final. We certainly can use the money to grow our business with Tengen's. If you have any questions on the land sale, please see your departmental Vice President. Dennis Wood ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::OWENS 5-APR-1989 14:18:59.29 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: SANYO DISPLAYS FOR ENG PROTO-GAMES Several people have asked me about the problems they are having getting the correct brightness levels on the Sanyo displays. After looking at several different displays, I have concluded that the samples we are receiving from MFG are "RAW" units. As in they have not had the Black Level adjusted, and they have not been white tracked per Atari specifications. I recommend that on all future MTO's the requester specifies on the MTO that the displays need to be set-up prior to delivery to Engineering. It is important that the displays used in game development represent the actual displays that will be used in the product build so that the correct RGB signal levels can be set via the bias resistors on the video output circuits. It is very hard to set the Black Level on the displays once they are mounted in the cabinet, so the best I have been able to do on the field test, and show games is bump up the low end of the RGB outputs of the displays to compensate for the loss in the brightness range. Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated. RLO ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 5-APR-1989 15:23:55.79 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BROWN CC: Subj: MANAGEMENT CHANGES Effective April 3, 1989, the following personnel changes were made at Atari Games and Tengen. Mr. Dan Van Elderen has been appointed Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Tengen. Mr. Randall Broweleit will continue as Sr. Vice President of Tengen, reporting to Mr. Van Elderen. Mr. Broweleit will assume all the responsibilities connected with sales and marketing. Mr. Van Elderen will be responsible for the administration, finance and engineering functions of the company. As the Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Van Elderen will also be responsible for the overall functions of Tengen. The aforementioned personnel changes were made in anticipation of Tengen's annual sales expanding to potentially three to four times it's current 30M. Mr. Lyle Rains, ready for something new, is stepping aside as Sr. Vice President of Engineering and his new functions within Atari will focus on technological developments. Atari Games expects great contributions from Mr. Rains in this area. Mr. Richard Moore has been promoted to Vice President of Engineering and will be responsible for all engineering operations. His more than 10 years of experience in game design and junior management certainly enables him to be a great asset to Atari Games in his new capacity as Vice President. Mr. John Klein has resigned from Atari for personal reasons. Mr. Robert Sheffield has been promoted to Vice President of the Finance Department and Chief Financial Officer of Atari Games. Mr. Klein, however, will continue to serve as a consultant, assisting us with his vast knowledge of finance. Let's continue our strong support of this new management as they address their new responsbilities and help lead our companies toward future prosperity. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ARVIDSON 5-APR-1989 15:54:23.83 To: MARGOLIN,ARVIDSON CC: Subj: PQFP SOCKET ASSEMBLY/COVER/HOUSING. Bob Grant returned OUR calls. He is checking on delivery (qty=500) and will have an answer by tommorrow. Reason for price discrepancy of assembly vs cover & housing separately: Your pricing from C. Eppley in Pennsylvania is almost eight months old and the market conditions have changed since 8-17-88. The pricing that I gave you is today's pricing. His office is checking on the condition that the assembly is shipped in and will let me know how we will receive the cover and housing under AMP 821932-4. If you wish anything more from him let me know. erwin ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 6-APR-1989 13:41:05.62 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: APR 06, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 14 APR 89 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 PROD RELEASE: 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 The Fourth Review was held as scheduled. There was a lot of good input on the game play and the team has started to implement some of those ideas already. As per marketing's input, we have pushed back our Field Test date by one week, and the also the Production Release and FGA dates by one week as well. It was decided to look into as deluxe sit-down cabinet version of the game, in addition to the upright version already planned. CABINET The Field Test cabinet is being readied for Field Test. SOFTWARE Software changes to the game include: 1) New Graphics have been added, including new title screen. 2) New tunnel sections have been added. 3) Continued to tune the game parameters. 4) Added a new attract mode, a Scenario description that sets the tone for the game. 5) Improved Enemy intelligence, and added a variable difficulty feature. 6) Added new sounds to the game. This week we will be working on: 1) Capturing game play statistics and associated display screens as per marketing input. 2) Tuning all the waves on a time basis. 3) Fixing bugs in readiness for Field Test. 4) Adding 50 cents to start 25 cents to continue feature. 5) Getting the game into the common area. 6) Getting the VCR power detect working. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::STUN 6-APR-1989 15:40:20.13 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Jed, See me if you have any questions. Thanks, Ed. From: KIM::RAY 6-APR-1989 15:37 To: ROTBERG,STUN Subj: Audio PCB self test Ed -- Jed's self test does not report on the status of the SA II audio PCB. You need to get with him so he can change his self test program to look for the following info. from the audio bd. John From: KIM::BRAD 6-APR-1989 13:58 To: RAY,BRAD Subj: diagnostic results from RPM Below are the bits that RPM set when the following test(s) fails: P1BAD = 080 ;80 = 1st (4000) PROM bad P2BAD = 040 ;40 = 2nd (8000) PROM bad P3BAD = 020 ;20 = 3rd (C000) PROM bad R1BAD = 010 ;10 = 1st (0000) RAM bad R2BAD = 008 ;08 = 2nd (0800) RAM bad IRBAD = 004 ;04 = IRQs not present YMBAD = 002 ;02 = YAMAHA timed out MLBAD = 001 ;01 = mainline not running This byte is reported to the master when S_STAT is called. - brad - ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::GROSSMAN 6-APR-1989 16:31:45.77 To: @SURPRISE CC: Subj: SURPRISE THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS INTENDED AS A SURPRISE FOR DAN, LYLE & RICH !!! Tomorrow at 4:00 pm - Atari Cafeteria Cake and Champagne for Dan, Lyle & Rich. Karen Graham and Ken Hata have designed a paper "yellow power tie" (no time to order T-shirts) which will be passed out in the morning. Marty Viljamma will be taking a group photo of "Dan's kids" before during or after the cake and champagne which I'm sure will be hung with distinction in Dan's new executive office. Please dress according. If you would like to contribute to the cake and champagne (donut fund is truly on it's last legs), please drop off a $1.00 on my desk. Remember we would like to keep this as a SURPRISE! cynde ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 6-APR-1989 17:47:41.49 To: LICHAC,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Component Bracket Last week we got a fax from Jim Seward wherein he complained about a bunch of stuff including: " The Component Bracket cannot be secured when two coin counters are fitted." What do you think? Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LICHAC 7-APR-1989 07:21:20.67 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: COMPONENT BRACKET I WILL FORWARD YOUR MESSAGE TO MIKE JANG... JERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 10-APR-1989 12:32:34.33 To: MEYETTE,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: 5 Volt 10 Amp Supply Will the +5V 10 Amp supply put out 7.5 Amps at 50 degrees Celsius? Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::MEYETTE 10-APR-1989 12:54:36.13 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: 5 Volt 10 Amp Supply If the power supply is approved under 149003-XXX then it will put out 10 amps,. from 0`C to 50`C. Rick ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 10-APR-1989 13:22:17.03 To: RAY,ROTBERG,CAMERON,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Stun Runner Stun Runner ----------- In order to use existing coin software: 1. The Coin Switches will be connected to the MultiSync Board instead of to the SA II. 2. One end of the Coin Counter will be connected to the Coin Counter driver on the MultiSync Board. The other end will be connected the CC1+ on SA II to pick up +14V through a resistor. Carole will find out if the Counter Counter has an internal protection diode. If it doesn't, she will put one at the Coin Counter Connector. Carole will add a power ground from SA II to the MultiSync Board to augment the ground in the SCUM Cable. The Stun Runner current requirement from the +5 Volt supply is 7.5 Amps. Rick Meyette assures me that tne +5 Volt 10 Amp supply is rated to supply 10 Amps up to 50 degrees Celsius. Therefore, Stun Runner can use the +5 Volt 10 Amp supply. I have obtained a series number for Stun Runner Programmed Parts. I have received a memo on diagnostic test results from RPM. I need to know: 1. What is the protocol for communicating to SA II? 2. How do I call S_STAT? 3. Is there a period after which, with no reponse, I can assume the SA II is broken? 4. The Status bits indicate three ROMs (at 4000, 8000, and C000). The SA II schematic shows only one program ROM. If this ROM is good will all three ROM status bits be set or just one? If one, then which one? 5. The situation for RAMs is similar. 6. Does the SA II program deliver ROM checksums? 7. Does the SA II test the ROMs connected to the MSM6295? Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::STUN 10-APR-1989 15:51:38.96 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. RUNNER in the Common Area Alright everybody, this is it, S.T.U.N. RUNNER is finally out for all of you to beat to death. The Engineering Common Area has the lastest version (it will be updated daily to reflect all your wonderful comments, observations, and bug detections). Please use the pad on the side of the cabinet to record all your comments. Thanks in Advance!! The S.T.U.N. RUNNER TEAM ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MCNAMARA 10-APR-1989 17:07:59.84 To: MARGOLIN,MCNAMARA CC: Subj: STUN COIN COUNTER Jed, I want to let you know that the coin counter on the STUN cabinet is connected the way you want it, and it seems to work fine. I didn't look at the signals yet to see if any noise is injected into the MSYNC bd from the grounding method we use. I haven't noticed anything strange happen to the game when the coin counter is activated, like resets that you were worried about. We have another monitor now. This one seems to be much better than the last monitor, which was too dark. We also connected the development system to the game to look at the pot values, and were able to zero the vertical aim pot with this data. The game seems to be working fine at this time. Thanks, Glenn. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::JANG 11-APR-1989 07:40:17.30 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: SEWARD COMPLAINTS I NEED TO KNOW WHICH GAME HE IS TALKING ABOUT AND WHICH COMPONENT BRACKET HE IS USING. CAN YOU GET THIS INFORMATION FIRST? WE HAVE USED TONS OF COMPONENT BRACKETS (YOU KNOW, THE TYPICAL 10 VERSIONS OF ANY STANDARD PART WE HAVE BECAUSE SOMEONE ON A PROJECT TEAM DECIDED TO IMPROVE THE PART FOR HIS OWN GAME) SO WE NEED TO SEE SPECIFICS. WE WOULD BE GLAD TO SEND THEM A RECOMMENDATION SINCE THEY HAVE ECN CONTROL OF TYPICAL SHEET METAL PARTS. IN OTHERWORDS, THEY DON'T NEED AN ECN FROM US BECAUSE WE SET UP THE IRELAND DOCUMENTATION SO THAT THEY COULD MAKE DESIGN CHANGES AS THEY PLEASE. MIKE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 11-APR-1989 08:02:44.31 To: BERT::JANG,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: SEWARD COMPLAINTS He is talking about Hard Drivin' so I assume he is using whatever component bracket is called out for Hard Drivin'. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::MCCARTHY 11-APR-1989 12:15:40.75 To: @sys$mail:engineer,MCCARTHY CC: Subj: GALs.. GALs.. GALs PAL users and buyers read on. I am recommending that Karen Bjornquest stock LATTICE GALS instead of PALs for most applications in engineering. It may be beneficial to also use them in production instead of PALs. A GAL is an electrically erasable multifunction PAL. The G stands for GENERIC. Basically there are three GALs : GAL16V8, GAL20V8 and GAL39V18. The GAL16V8 will accept the fusemap for a PAL16L8 and most other PALs in the 20 pin series. They can be programmed with our current software and hardware. The DATA I/O configures the GAL to look like the PAL you intended. You just enter the GAL family pin/code. (The JEDEC file has the pal type you intended). The GAL20V8 is a generic form of the 24 pin PAL series (8 outputs only). The GAL39V18 is a generic form of the PAL22V10 and IFPLs (Signetics 82S153 etc.) and includes user selectable latches or flipflops on the inputs and outputs and 8 buried state registers. If you want the change the logic in a GAL, simply take the same device back to the programmer and program it again. Available speeds are 10nS, 15nS and 25nS for the GAL16V8, 15nS and 25nS for the GAL20V8 and 30nS for the GAL39V18 Costs / availability Jerry Greiner, sales manager for Lattice and Joan Alpen from Merit Electronics (distributors) indicated that Atari could buy GALS for production (at least the GAL16V8-25) at the current going rate for PALs of $0.95 even though the the "street" price is around $1.40 The Atari special on GAL20V8-25 would be around $1.60, (street price $2.25) The GAL39V18 (soon to be renamed GAL6001) has a current price of around $9.00 moving towards $6.00 by the end of the year. For production purposes these parts can be programmed at the distributor, and should we need to change the program, or over-order a part, they can be returned to the distributor for reprogramming. They have a definite cost advantage for engineering prototype development, since they are reprogrammable, and since we buy our PALs for engineering use at anything up to $2.50 at FRYs. Instead of stocking 16L8s, 16P8s, 16R8s, 16R6s, 16R4s and 16RP8s, we could just stock 16V8s. Footnote. Lattice are developing a 2000-3000 gate LCA (XILINX look-alike) that will use EEPROM technology for configuration instead of RAM as Xilinx uses. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::STUN 12-APR-1989 16:40:12.69 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: YASV (Yet Another Stun Version) There is the latest version of S.T.U.N. RUNNER in the engineering common area. Please play it. We are in desperate need of playtime statistics in order to tweek the time allotted for each track (level) in the game. Thanks in advance. Andy ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 12-APR-1989 18:52:45.11 To: ROTBERG,STUN,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Monitor Stuff Monitor Problem: When I heard that the video output wasn't right, I assumed it was too low. Rick Meyette says the problem is that the Stun Runner board produces Too Much video output voltage for the Sanyo Monitor. The way to fix it is to install the 3.3K resistors at R97, R108, and R112. Heretofore they were not loaded in order to boost the video output. With these resistors loaded, the maximum video output should be 3.0 volts. If it isn't we will adjust the value of the resistors until it is. There may be a problem with threshhold brighness values. To wit: Wells-Gardner Sanyo ------------- ----- Max Video 3.5 Volts (255 DAC) 3.0 Volts (255 DAC) Gray 1.5 Volts (85 DAC) 1.5 Volts (102 DAC) Threshhold 1.0 Volts (42 DAC) 1.0 Volts (51 DAC) Min Video 0.5 Volts (0 DAC) 0.5 Volts (0 DAC) The Sanyo cannot be adjusted to work with Wells-Gardner video levels. Meyette say the Wells can be adjusted to work with Sanyo levels. I suggest we use Sanyo levels. Let's plan on adding the resistors to a board and connecting it to a Sanyo monitor. It may be necessary to adjust the gray levels in software. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 12-APR-1989 19:10:47.07 To: GROSSMAN,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Status Report Atari Confidential Hard Drivin' Status Report Date: April 13, 1989 Reported by Margolin This week's top story, filed by correspondent Rick Moncrief, concerns the Atari Games Distributers' Show. Moncrief reports: "Things went well at the Show. There were favorable comments about both the Sitdown and the Compact..... . There was some concern about the security of the cash box." In local news, the problem with the Hard Drivin' Motor Amp has been addressed and, with Erik Durfey's help, hopefully solved on this, the second attempt in as many days. A petition for an ECN will be filed after it has been verified that these new mods solve the problem. -30- ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LINDA "Evening Receptionist" 12-APR-1989 21:06:29.59 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Message Rick says Super Deal!!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 13-APR-1989 10:50:41.64 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN RUNNER status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: APR 13, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: 14 APR 89 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 PROD RELEASE: 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 CABINET The Field Test cabinet is nearly ready for Field Test. Kyoko should have the control panel finished today, and the attract plex by early tomorrow. HARDWARE We will be using a Wells-Gardner monitor for the Field Test as the Sanyo monitor was not compatible with the voltage levels output by the Multisync board. We will address this problem sometime after Field Test and correct it. SOFTWARE Software changes to the game include: 1) New Graphics have been added, including new title screen. 2) Continued to tune the game parameters. 3) Capturing game play statistics and associated display screens as per marketing input, including backdoor for display of histograms without opening up the game. 4) Added new sounds to the game. 5) Added 50 cents to start 25 cents to continue feature and fixed all coin messages appropriately. 6) Got the game into the common area. 7) Got the VCR power detect working. 8) Modified other games routines as needed for game play. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::STUN 14-APR-1989 12:36:50.80 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. RUNNER Field Test Yes folks, The moment has finally arrived. S.T.U.N. RUNNER is officially out on field test. Wish us luck!! The S.T.U.N. RUNNER TEAM Ed Rotberg, Andrew Burgess, Glenn McNamara, Don Diekneite, Jed Margolin, Sam Comstock, Will Noble, Kris Moser, and the rest of the support staff. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 14-APR-1989 15:23:00.99 To: BURNIAS,ARVIDSON,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Degrading 74AS573s TIs request for a waiver is for the following parameters: Parmeter From To Datasheet Waiver -------- ---- -- --------- ---------- TPLH D Q 6.0 ns max 8.0 ns max TPHL D Q 6.0 ns max 7.0 ns max TPLH C Q 11.5 ns max 13.0 ns max I have looked at the Driver Main circuit where the 74AS573s are used and I believe these degraded parts will work, BUT ALL BETS ARE OFF IF OTHER PARAMETERS ARE ALSO DEGRADED, ESPECIALLY: tsu Setup time, data before enable C low transition th Hold time, data after enable C low transition Also, I object to their insistence that these parts be non-cancellable and non- returnable. If these parts don't work properly in the circuit we ought to be able to return the parts not used and cancel the parts not received. Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 14-APR-1989 16:23:40.57 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BROWN CC: Subj: PROMOTIONS AND NEW HIRES PROMOTIONS: Please extend congratulations to Elaine Shirley who has been promoted to Director of Customer Service. Elaine's excellent work record during her 16 years at Atari as well as her new responsibilities within Tengen, has justified her promotion. Elaine and her group are highly committed to their jobs, and will put out the extra effort to keep their department on schedule. Way to go, Elaine! Congratulations also go to Bart Carlee. Bart has been promoted to the position of Quality Assurance Manager of Atari Games, on assignment to Tengen. Bart has made significant contributions to Tengen's growth and success during the previous year. In addition to source inspection, his responsibilities include process improvement and long-range manufacturing strategies. Good job, Bart! NEW HIRES: ATARI Richard Dickson is our new Shipping and Receiving Supervisor, reporting to Tom Smith. Just recently from Digital Communications Associates, Inc., in San Jose, Richard will be responsible for shipping and inventory control. Having started out at Atari as a temporary employee in the Human Resources Department, Rhonda Allen is now a secretary asing department, replacing Marie J ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LINDA "Evening Receptionist" 14-APR-1989 16:47:04.39 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: FREUDIAN SLIP Due to a minor glitch, Sandi has accidently promoted Rhonda Allen to an erroneous position in the previous promotion announcement. Please disregard: correction to follow......... ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 17-APR-1989 13:05:58.02 To: FRYE,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Old Chair Please return my old office chair. I have a problem with a compressed nerve in my leg and the old chair is the only one that does not cause me problems. Possibly the new chair would be ok but I am not interested in finding out. Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 17-APR-1989 15:19:25.84 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BROWN CC: Subj: PROMOTIONS AND NEW HIRES I am re-submitting this message. I sent it unfinished and garbled on Friday, but I hear that some of you didn't receive it anyway. So here goes again... PROMOTIONS: Please extend congratulations to ELAINE SHIRLEY who has been promoted to Director of Customer Service. Elaine's excellent work record during her 16 years at Atari as well as her new responsibilities within Tengen, has justified her promotion. Elaine and her group are highly committed to their jobs, and will put out the extra effort to keep their department on schedule. Way to go, Elaine! Congratulations also go out to BART CARLEE. Bart has been promoted to the position of Quality Assurance Manager of Atari Games, on assignment to Tengen. Bart has made significant contributions to Tengen's growth and success during the previous year. In addition to source inspection, his responsibilities include process improvement and long-range manufacturing strategies. Good job, Bart! NEW HIRES: ATARI RICHARD DICKSON is our new Shipping and Receiving Supervisor, reporting to Tom Smith. Just recently from Digital Communications Associates, Inc. in San Jose, Richard will be responsible for shipping and inventory control. Having started out at Atari as a temporary employee in the Human Resources Department, RHONDA ALLEN is now a secretary in the Purchasing Department. Rhonda has replaced MARIE JULIAN who transferred to Tengen as Steve Calfee's secretary in the Product Development Department. Replacing Katy Dwyer in accounting, is PHYLLIS WHITEHURST. Phyllis is Accounts Payable Accounting Assistant, reporting to Rick Thompson. Phyllis started her accounting career while serving in the U.S. Army Reserve, but has also worked for Eggo Foods and Counterpoint Computers. NEW HIRES: TENGEN PAT RILEY started working for Steve Calfee at Tengen as a temporary Game Player earlier this year, testing the Gauntlet software. He has now been hired as a Game Counselor. Patrick, along with the two other Tengen game couselors, has to play-test games as well as answer telephone inquiries. Also joining Steve Calfee's Product Development Department recently is LISA CHING. Hired as a Sr. Programmer, Lisa has nine years experience in the computer field, with application programming emphasis. Let's give all of these new Atari and Tengen employees a big "HOWDY". ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MORRIS 18-APR-1989 12:14:45.38 To: MONCRIEF,MARGOLIN,BEHENSKY,MOTT CC: Subj: more hd usenet feedback FYI === Path: dms!motcsd!hpda!hplabs!hp-sdd!ucsdhub!sdcsvax!ucsd!ucbvax!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!attcan!lsuc!ncrcan!ziebmef!mdf From: mdf@ziebmef.uucp (Matthew Francey) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Re: Atari: Hard Driving! Message-ID: <1989Apr12.200433.15706@ziebmef.uucp> Date: 13 Apr 89 00:04:31 GMT References: <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu> Organization: Ziebmef Public Access Unix, Toronto, Canada Lines: 19 In article <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu>, bw0i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Bryan Wu) writes: > Real Physics! I dunno... the collisions are VERY elastic, and in some regions of the "universe" (while off road), you encounter some very strange zones where angular momentum is definitely not conserved. But on-road... wow. My only problem is with the stick shift/clutch. I find I have to put all my weight behind a single gear change. Since I don't drive a Real Car (wimps drive cars.. Real Men drive motorcycles :-), I ask the net if this is (in general) the case in real life ("heavy" stick shifts). By the way.. has anyone else seen the new Sega "Out Run - Turbo"? Like most sequels, a major disappointment. Compared to Hard Drivin' a huge joke. Sega should be ashamed of itself. -- Name: Matthew Francey Address: N43o34'13.5" W79o34'33.3" 86m mdf@ziebmef.UUCP uunet!utgpu!{ontmoh!moore,ncrcan}!ziebmef!mdf Path: dms!motcsd!hpda!hplabs!decwrl!decvax!ima!haddock!eli From: eli@haddock.ima.isc.com (Elias Israel) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Re: Atari: Hard Driving! Message-ID: <12720@haddock.ima.isc.com> Date: 17 Apr 89 14:15:34 GMT References: <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu> <1989Apr12.200433.15706@ziebmef.uucp> Reply-To: eli@haddock.ima.isc.com (Elias Israel) Organization: Interactive Systems, Boston Lines: 68 In article <1989Apr12.200433.15706@ziebmef.uucp> mdf@ziebmef.uucp (Matthew Francey) writes: >In article <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu>, bw0i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Bryan Wu) writes: > >> Real Physics! > > I dunno... the collisions are VERY elastic, and in some regions of the >"universe" (while off road), you encounter some very strange zones where >angular momentum is definitely not conserved. The elastic collisions are kind of unreal, especially when viewed alongside the stunning realism of the rest of the game. But I don't understand what you mean by angular momentum failing to be conserved. What symptoms of driving off-road are you referring to? > But on-road... wow. My only problem is with the stick shift/clutch. I >find I have to put all my weight behind a single gear change. Since I don't >drive a Real Car (wimps drive cars.. Real Men drive motorcycles :-), I ask >the net if this is (in general) the case in real life ("heavy" stick shifts). No, cars in general have much lighter sticks and race cars in particular have shorter "throws", that is a shorter distance from the gear position to the neutral position. While this makes for quicker shifts, your hand position and timing have to be more accurate. This, I think, is the reason that the game is set up the way that it is. After all, what's the use of an arcade game that can't be played by gum-popping high schol teens who, for the most part, have never driven before at all? Also, I have seen that these games take a fair amount of abuse (the shifter is a prime candidate for rough handling) and the shifter can become even harder to use. Really, the major strength of the game is the nearly complete realism of the control inputs and the results that you see. I was amazed when I was able to take what meager knowledge of performance driving such as I have and apply it and see it WORK! No other driving game does this. I was able to see places where I was failing, hypothesize about the reasons why from a knowledge of cars and driving (not from a knowledge of the game's workings), test my hypothesis in the game and prove it correct! It's also major loads of fun to try all kinds of nasty things that only fools would try in a real car, like taking the car to the top of the loop and throwing it off, taking jumps at incredible speeds, and generally driving to endanger. Things to try: (1) On the first turn of the stunt course, there is a barn with a cow standing next to it. Hit the cow. (2) At the very start of the race, make a hard left turn as soon as you get the car started. You'll find another road there. (3) The game does not keep you from driving the course in reverse. You can't get any extra time that way, but it can be used for general mayhem. (4) Stragely enough, although the game allows you to drive almost anywhere, there is one place you can't drive. It causes a collision with an invisible object. (5) Hitting different objects produce different sounds. Try hitting a sign post, another car, a building... People who want more hints can send me mail. If enough people ask for it, I'll post to the net. Elias Israel | "Justice, n. A commodity which in more or Interactive Systems Corp. | less adulterated condition the State sells Boston, MA | to the citizen as a reward for his allegiance, ..!ima!haddock!eli | taxes, and personal service." | -- Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 18-APR-1989 13:16:21.40 To: ROTBERG,STUN,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: SA II Self Test I need the information about SA II Self Test soon. Refer to my previous mail message for the specific information I need. Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::STUN 18-APR-1989 13:40:31.49 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: sa II self test From: KIM::BRAD 18-APR-1989 13:28 To: STUN ,BRAD Subj: RPM status bits Below are the bits that RPM set when the following test(s) fails: P1BAD = 080 ;80 = 1st (4000) PROM bad P2BAD = 040 ;40 = 2nd (8000) PROM bad P3BAD = 020 ;20 = 3rd (C000) PROM bad R1BAD = 010 ;10 = 1st (0000) RAM bad R2BAD = 008 ;08 = 2nd (0800) RAM bad IRBAD = 004 ;04 = IRQs not present YMBAD = 002 ;02 = YAMAHA timed out MLBAD = 001 ;01 = mainline not running This byte is reported to the master when S_STAT is called. Since S_STAT is an EXCEPTion routine it is processed immediately. The status byte should come back within 50 microseconds. If you wait 16ms it will be plenty of time ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::WOOD 18-APR-1989 15:44:31.35 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Press release regarding litigation For all Atari Games, Tengen and AOI employees, the following is a press release that was sent out concerning the latest developments in the ongoing litigation with Nintendo: ATARI GAMES FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST NINTENDO CHARGING COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT ON SOVIET-DEVELOPED GAME MILPITAS, Calif., April 18, 1989 -- Tengen Inc., the wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari Games Corporation, filed a lawsuit yesterday charging Nintendo of America and its Japanese parent with infringing Tengen's exclusive copyrights in its new home video game, Tetris. According to the lawsuit filed in U. S. District Court, Northern District of California in San Francisco, Tengen has the exclusive right to manufacture and distribute Tetris cartridges for play on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). In a news release last week, Nintendo announced plans to manufacture its own version of Tetris, which Tengen alleges infringes Tengen's copyrights. Tetris is an internationally acclaimed home computer game originally developed by two Russian computer programmers. The game tests a player's dexterity and spatial perception. According to the lawsuit, Tengen acquired worldwide exclusive rights to Tetris in May, 1988 from Mirrorsoft, one of Europe's largest and most reputable software publishing companies. Mirrorsoft is a subsidiary of London-based Maxwell Communications, one of the world's largest communications conglomerates. Under the licensing agreement with Mirrorsoft, Atari Games has been manufacturing and marketing the arcade version of Tetris since February 1989. "We have an air-tight, iron-clad agreement with one of the largest and most reputable publishing companies in the world which gives us exclusive rights to manufacture and market Tetris for the NES," said Hideyuki Nakajima, president of Atari Games. "Nintendo is aware of the validity of our licensing agreement, and has known that Tengen intended to exclusively market Tetris since we announced the agreement over a year ago. "Tengen had presented Tetris as a potential title to Nintendo when Tengen was a Nintendo licensee. Nintendo never questioned the validity of Tengen's rights when the game was presented to them for approval, and was quite aware of Tengen's plans to bring the game to market," Nakajima continued. "This is another example of the kind of harrassment we have been facing from Nintendo since we decided to challenge Nintendo's monopoly of the video game market." Nakajima was referring to an ongoingbattle between Nintendo and Atari Games/ Tengen. In 1988, Tengen and Atari Games introduced the first independently manufactured Nintendo-compatible game cartridges and Atari Games simultaneously filed an antitrust lawsuit against Nintendo claiming monopoly and restraint of trade. That lawsuit was expanded in February to include allegations of wrongful business interference and patent infringement. Atari Games and Tengen subsequently were granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting Nintendo from suing retailers who were selling the Tengen game cartridges for patent infringement. Yesterday's lawsuit charges that Nintendo has no right to manu- facture or distribute NES-compatible Tetris games, and that to do so would infringe on two Tengen copyrights. The suit seeks declaratory relief and monetary damages, and asks that Nintendo be enjoined from selling products which infringe Tengen's copyrights. Tengen is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari Games Corporation and is headquatered at 1901 McCarthy Blvd., Suite 210, P. O. Box 360782, Milpitas, Calif., 95035; (408) 435-2650. Atari Games is a privately held company, is not affiliated with Atari Corp. and should be referred to as Atari Games. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::STUN 19-APR-1989 13:41:55.70 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: SAD Board self test procedure SAD Board Self Test Procedure 1) Do a WORD write to SNDRST ($604000). This is alledged to reset both the SCOM chip AND the 6502. 2) Do a BYTE read of RDCHAR ($600000). This is the initial read of the port, it should be $FF, but if not keep reading unitl it is. A time out of 16 milliseconds is plenty long for this -- should be $ff almost immediately. 3) Do a BYTE write to WCHAR ($600000) of $07. This is the send status command. 4) The 6502 should respond within about 50 microseconds with a value that can be read from RCHAR. A time out of 16 milliseconds will be plenty long. The following bits in the returned status byte indicate the corresponding problem. P1BAD = 080 ;80 = 6502 program PROM bad P2BAD = 040 ;40 = 6502 program PROM bad P3BAD = 020 ;20 = 6502 program PROM bad R1BAD = 010 ;10 = 1st (0000) RAM bad R2BAD = 008 ;08 = 2nd (0800) RAM bad IRBAD = 004 ;04 = IRQs not present YMBAD = 002 ;02 = YAMAHA timed out MLBAD = 001 ;01 = mainline not running Note that P1BAD, P2BAD, or P3BAD all indicate a problem in the 6502 program PROM. This is probably for historical reasons. I am told by Brad that there is currently no way to test the validity of the four PCM PROMs. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 19-APR-1989 14:05:07.67 To: CHARM::STUN,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: SAD Board self test procedure Thank you. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 20-APR-1989 09:32:33.13 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN RUnner status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: APR 20, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 PROD RELEASE: 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 STUN Runner went out on Field Test on 4/14/89 as scheduled. We have been receiving early results that indicate that the game times are too long, and that some players are able to play through the game for their initial 50 cents. We have addressed these problems as follows: * Increased the difficulty of the game in the higher levels. This involved reworking the program so that the upper levels were not necessarily exact repeats of earlier levels, allowing us to modify the difficulty on a level by level basis. We also increased the Probot difficulty more at higher levels of game play. * As there were considerable problems tuning the wave times, we adjusted the game's time clock to run relative to frame time as opposed to real time. This made the timings more consistent, and independant of how the display was changing, allowing us to tune the wave times accurately. * Fixed a bug which did not allow the game Difficulty setting to drop below the initial Difficulty setting (medium) with each coin drop. This made it so that the game did not get easier with each coin drop as it was supposed to. In addition to fixing this bug, we also increased the effect from game difficulty. A new version of the game, with these changes, was installed at the test location on Wednesday evening, 4/19. There will be a meeting on Monday 4/24 to discuss a sitdown cabinet for STUN Runner. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 21-APR-1989 10:38:33.83 To: MARGOLIN,BEHENSKY,MOTT,MONCRIEF,DURFEY CC: Subj: More Hard Drivin reviews from UseNet Path: dms!motcsd!hpda!hplabs!hp-sdd!ucsdhub!sdcsvax!ucsd!ucbvax!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!attcan!lsuc!ncrcan!ziebmef!mdf From: mdf@ziebmef.uucp (Matthew Francey) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Re: Atari: Hard Driving! Message-ID: <1989Apr12.200433.15706@ziebmef.uucp> Date: 13 Apr 89 00:04:31 GMT References: <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu> Organization: Ziebmef Public Access Unix, Toronto, Canada Lines: 19 In article <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu>, bw0i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Bryan Wu) writes: > Real Physics! I dunno... the collisions are VERY elastic, and in some regions of the "universe" (while off road), you encounter some very strange zones where angular momentum is definitely not conserved. But on-road... wow. My only problem is with the stick shift/clutch. I find I have to put all my weight behind a single gear change. Since I don't drive a Real Car (wimps drive cars.. Real Men drive motorcycles :-), I ask the net if this is (in general) the case in real life ("heavy" stick shifts). By the way.. has anyone else seen the new Sega "Out Run - Turbo"? Like most sequels, a major disappointment. Compared to Hard Drivin' a huge joke. Sega should be ashamed of itself. -- Name: Matthew Francey Address: N43o34'13.5" W79o34'33.3" 86m mdf@ziebmef.UUCP uunet!utgpu!{ontmoh!moore,ncrcan}!ziebmef!mdf Path: dms!motcsd!hpda!hplabs!decwrl!decvax!ima!haddock!eli From: eli@haddock.ima.isc.com (Elias Israel) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Re: Atari: Hard Driving! Message-ID: <12720@haddock.ima.isc.com> Date: 17 Apr 89 14:15:34 GMT References: <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu> <1989Apr12.200433.15706@ziebmef.uucp> Reply-To: eli@haddock.ima.isc.com (Elias Israel) Organization: Interactive Systems, Boston Lines: 68 In article <1989Apr12.200433.15706@ziebmef.uucp> mdf@ziebmef.uucp (Matthew Francey) writes: >In article <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu>, bw0i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Bryan Wu) writes: > >> Real Physics! > > I dunno... the collisions are VERY elastic, and in some regions of the >"universe" (while off road), you encounter some very strange zones where >angular momentum is definitely not conserved. The elastic collisions are kind of unreal, especially when viewed alongside the stunning realism of the rest of the game. But I don't understand what you mean by angular momentum failing to be conserved. What symptoms of driving off-road are you referring to? > But on-road... wow. My only problem is with the stick shift/clutch. I >find I have to put all my weight behind a single gear change. Since I don't >drive a Real Car (wimps drive cars.. Real Men drive motorcycles :-), I ask >the net if this is (in general) the case in real life ("heavy" stick shifts). No, cars in general have much lighter sticks and race cars in particular have shorter "throws", that is a shorter distance from the gear position to the neutral position. While this makes for quicker shifts, your hand position and timing have to be more accurate. This, I think, is the reason that the game is set up the way that it is. After all, what's the use of an arcade game that can't be played by gum-popping high schol teens who, for the most part, have never driven before at all? Also, I have seen that these games take a fair amount of abuse (the shifter is a prime candidate for rough handling) and the shifter can become even harder to use. Really, the major strength of the game is the nearly complete realism of the control inputs and the results that you see. I was amazed when I was able to take what meager knowledge of performance driving such as I have and apply it and see it WORK! No other driving game does this. I was able to see places where I was failing, hypothesize about the reasons why from a knowledge of cars and driving (not from a knowledge of the game's workings), test my hypothesis in the game and prove it correct! It's also major loads of fun to try all kinds of nasty things that only fools would try in a real car, like taking the car to the top of the loop and throwing it off, taking jumps at incredible speeds, and generally driving to endanger. Things to try: (1) On the first turn of the stunt course, there is a barn with a cow standing next to it. Hit the cow. (2) At the very start of the race, make a hard left turn as soon as you get the car started. You'll find another road there. (3) The game does not keep you from driving the course in reverse. You can't get any extra time that way, but it can be used for general mayhem. (4) Stragely enough, although the game allows you to drive almost anywhere, there is one place you can't drive. It causes a collision with an invisible object. (5) Hitting different objects produce different sounds. Try hitting a sign post, another car, a building... People who want more hints can send me mail. If enough people ask for it, I'll post to the net. Elias Israel | "Justice, n. A commodity which in more or Interactive Systems Corp. | less adulterated condition the State sells Boston, MA | to the citizen as a reward for his allegiance, ..!ima!haddock!eli | taxes, and personal service." | -- Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 21-APR-1989 10:41:38.86 To: STUN,BURGESS,MARGOLIN,MCNAMARA,CAMERON CC: Subj: STUN #1 !!!!!!! From: BERT::FUJIHARA 21-APR-1989 10:21 To: ROTBERG,RAY,MOMODA,MOORE,BENZLER ,FUJIHARA Subj: STUN COLLECTIONS First full week pulled in #1 collections at Regency. Stun $340 2coins start/1 continue Off Road 335 Op. T-Bolt 310 2 coins C-Ball 291 C-Ball 317 Turbo Out 300 2 coins start/1 continue H. Drivin 295 Down 1/2 week - 2 coins Tetris 229 Total 8334 The manager says several regulars have complained that the new version is too hard...as we expected. Ed - One of the employees who is an avid player wanted to talk to you about the game so he may call you today. His name is Mike. The arcade volume is certainly lower than in the past few months, however, compared to this time last year, they are at least the same, if not better. Therefore, the collection on Stun is real strong for the current period. Mary ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 21-APR-1989 14:54:39.19 To: BENZLER,FUJIHARA,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: H.D Compact Shipment When Ralph and the guys removed the front piece to clean the monitor on one of the H.D Compacts they are getting ready for shipment, they noticed that the monitor bracket was bent. Nobody noticed it in the game. We were primarily concerned that it reach Ireland in one piece. The options were: 1. Replace the monitor which would require mechanical time as well as electrical time to reverse the yoke wires and perform monitor setup. Erik isn't here today so I would have to do it. (It would take me longer to do it than it would take him, and apparently the truck is waiting.) 2. Remove the monitor and ship it in a separate box. 3. Not send the game today. Ralph was pretty sure that the monitor bracket will hold together so we decided to send the game as is. The reason for this memo is so: 1. You know what we did. 2. You will alert Ireland that the monitor bracket is bent. I assume we are sending it to Ireland so they can convert it to 220VAC operation. Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 21-APR-1989 15:55:33.06 To: MARGOLIN,CAMERON,RAY CC: Subj: Stun cabinet meeting From: BERT::GROSSMAN 18-APR-1989 17:44 To: TAKAICHI,JANG,MOORE,RAY,ROTBERG,BURGESS,FUJIHARA,MOMODA,GROSSMAN Subj: STUN Runner Cabinet Review Monday, April 24 2:00 p.m. Engineering Conference Room STUN RUNNER Sitdown Cabinet Review called by Jerry Momoda Jed -- You are welcome, but not required, to attend. John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::FUJIHARA 24-APR-1989 09:53:40.08 To: KIM::MARGOLIN,FUJIHARA CC: Subj: RE: H.D Compact Shipment Thanks for your message Jed...I forwarded the info on to Ireland so they will resolve the problem. MF ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 26-APR-1989 13:22:42.25 To: RAY,ROTBERG,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: ADSP II We have film and fab for ADSP II. How many boards do you want? Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 27-APR-1989 09:52:01.72 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: APR 27, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 PROD RELEASE: 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 The cabinet meeting held on Monday turned into a general marketing, pricing, and scheduling meeting. While many options for the cabinet, and eventual pricing of the game were discussed, there were not a lot of hard decisions made. What follows is a brief summary of of what was agreed upon. Pete's group will design and build a sit-down cabinet for STUN Runner. We will go to the market with this version first, as a high-end deluxe piece distributor price around $4995). We hope to have a prototype for test in 6 weeks. This version will feature a 25" monitor, and be designed to enhance the STUN Runner tunnel theme with a sectional plex canopy. We will explore the possibilty of a "compact" upright version that will also feature a 25" monitor, and be priced considerably higher than an "average" upright piece ($3495). The idea would be to make it a "deluxe" game in the same sense that Hard Drivin' Compact is a deluxe game, and not worry about trying to meet a specific low-ball price to the distributor. The idea of a low-end game with a 19" monitor that tries to get to the distributor for a lower price ($2995) has not been completely abandoned. At present, its feasability is questionable. While I have not changed the Production Release and FGA dates on the above schedule yet, they will certainly change in the near future. It is pretty apparent that with the sit-down cabinet, and the current release schedule of other games, that STUN Runner will probably go into production sometime in the September time frame. This additional time will also be invaluable for the game-play development. The Field Test unit has been further "tweaked" in response to the statistics that have been collected to date. The player survey is scheduled for this weekend. The first week's collections were very good. Game developement continues. We are adding new levels, and some new features. We now have film and fab for ADSP II boards (expanded graphics memory space) (film at 11:00). 10 boards have been ordered. Seven of these are slated for the STUN Runner project. Thanks to Jed we also have a new, customized hardware self-test for the STUN Runner multisync board. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 27-APR-1989 12:27:47.14 To: BEHENSKY,DURFEY,MARGOLIN,MONCRIEF,MOTT CC: Subj: More reviews Thought you folks would be interested... If you want to answer any questions raised here, send me mail and I'll post it... Mike Path: dms!motcsd!hpda!hplabs!decwrl!ucbvax!pasteur!ames!ig!bionet!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!attcan!lsuc!ncrcan!ziebmef!mdf From: mdf@ziebmef.uucp (Matthew Francey) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Re: Atari: Hard Driving! Message-ID: <1989Apr24.205442.4426@ziebmef.uucp> Date: 25 Apr 89 00:54:40 GMT References: <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu> <1989Apr12.200433.15706@ziebmef.uucp> <12720@haddock.ima.isc.com> Reply-To: mdf@ziebmef.UUCP (Matthew Francey) Organization: Ziebmef Public Access Unix, Toronto, Ontario Lines: 58 In article <12720@haddock.ima.isc.com> eli@haddock.ima.isc.com (Elias Israel) writes: >The elastic collisions are kind of unreal, especially when viewed alongside >the stunning realism of the rest of the game. But I don't understand >what you mean by angular momentum failing to be conserved. What symptoms >of driving off-road are you referring to? (below) >Also, I have seen that these games take a fair amount of abuse (the >shifter is a prime candidate for rough handling) and the shifter can >become even harder to use. All the machines I know of are now "automatic only" because of this. :-( >Really, the major strength of the game is the nearly complete realism of >the control inputs and the results that you see. I was amazed when I was >able to take what meager knowledge of performance driving such as I have >and apply it and see it WORK! No other driving game does this. I was >able to see places where I was failing, hypothesize about the reasons why >from a knowledge of cars and driving (not from a knowledge of the game's >workings), test my hypothesis in the game and prove it correct! Indeed. I do much the same thing. I find that the few minutes in that machine are extremely enjoyable ones for this very reason. (Though the cursing and swearing might not be the best way to express this :-) >(1) On the first turn of the stunt course, there is a barn with a cow > standing next to it. Hit the cow. Sick! Absolutely sick! (Ok, I will admit to hitting it a few times myself, but for purely scientific reasons, I assure you...) >(2) At the very start of the race, make a hard left turn as soon as you > get the car started. You'll find another road there. Has anyone figured out what this is for? The one I know of leads to a large circular black track with a "post" in the middle of it. What is it purpose in life? >(4) Stragely enough, although the game allows you to drive almost > anywhere, there is one place you can't drive. It causes a collision > with an invisible object. This may be one aspect of the "conservation violation" above. On the speed track, just before the 1st check point, is a dip then a bridge. If you are unlucky enough to leave the road before the bridge and hit that sign/fence on the left, your car goes into a wild state of rotation. A similar effect is observed when you fly off the banked section of the stunt track. >People who want more hints can send me mail. If enough people ask for >it, I'll post to the net. Please post. There is far too much Nintendo-related stuff here, and not enough Real Honest-To-God Video Games. -- Name: Matthew Francey Address: N43o34'13.5" W79o34'33.3" 86m mdf@ziebmef.UUCP uunet!utgpu!{ontmoh!moore,ncrcan}!ziebmef!mdf ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::RAINS 27-APR-1989 13:29:12.06 To: MONCRIEF,BEHENSKY,MOTT,MARGOLIN,MOORE CC: Subj: from UseNet Path: dms!motcsd!hpda!hplabs!decwrl!ucbvax!pasteur!ames!ig!bionet!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!attcan!lsuc!ncrcan!ziebmef!mdf From: mdf@ziebmef.uucp (Matthew Francey) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Re: Atari: Hard Driving! Message-ID: <1989Apr24.205442.4426@ziebmef.uucp> Date: 25 Apr 89 00:54:40 GMT References: <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu> <1989Apr12.200433.15706@ziebmef.uucp> <12720@haddock.ima.isc.com> Reply-To: mdf@ziebmef.UUCP (Matthew Francey) Organization: Ziebmef Public Access Unix, Toronto, Ontario Lines: 58 In article <12720@haddock.ima.isc.com> eli@haddock.ima.isc.com (Elias Israel) writes: >The elastic collisions are kind of unreal, especially when viewed alongside >the stunning realism of the rest of the game. But I don't understand >what you mean by angular momentum failing to be conserved. What symptoms >of driving off-road are you referring to? (below) >Also, I have seen that these games take a fair amount of abuse (the >shifter is a prime candidate for rough handling) and the shifter can >become even harder to use. All the machines I know of are now "automatic only" because of this. :-( >Really, the major strength of the game is the nearly complete realism of >the control inputs and the results that you see. I was amazed when I was >able to take what meager knowledge of performance driving such as I have >and apply it and see it WORK! No other driving game does this. I was >able to see places where I was failing, hypothesize about the reasons why >from a knowledge of cars and driving (not from a knowledge of the game's >workings), test my hypothesis in the game and prove it correct! Indeed. I do much the same thing. I find that the few minutes in that machine are extremely enjoyable ones for this very reason. (Though the cursing and swearing might not be the best way to express this :-) >(1) On the first turn of the stunt course, there is a barn with a cow > standing next to it. Hit the cow. Sick! Absolutely sick! (Ok, I will admit to hitting it a few times myself, but for purely scientific reasons, I assure you...) >(2) At the very start of the race, make a hard left turn as soon as you > get the car started. You'll find another road there. Has anyone figured out what this is for? The one I know of leads to a large circular black track with a "post" in the middle of it. What is it purpose in life? >(4) Stragely enough, although the game allows you to drive almost > anywhere, there is one place you can't drive. It causes a collision > with an invisible object. This may be one aspect of the "conservation violation" above. On the speed track, just before the 1st check point, is a dip then a bridge. If you are unlucky enough to leave the road before the bridge and hit that sign/fence on the left, your car goes into a wild state of rotation. A similar effect is observed when you fly off the banked section of the stunt track. >People who want more hints can send me mail. If enough people ask for >it, I'll post to the net. Please post. There is far too much Nintendo-related stuff here, and not enough Real Honest-To-God Video Games. -- Name: Matthew Francey Address: N43o34'13.5" W79o34'33.3" 86m mdf@ziebmef.UUCP uunet!utgpu!{ontmoh!moore,ncrcan}!ziebmef!mdf ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 28-APR-1989 14:52:05.62 To: OHARA,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Spinwriter ribbon cartridges Yesterday I installed the second to the last ribbon cartridge for the Spinwriter. I thought I should tell you because the person who uses the Last Spinwriter ribbon cartridge probably won't. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::PPS 1-MAY-1989 10:07:04.53 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: New Celprocess Release Notification of a new release of Celprocess. Following Changes: 1) /blank = n This option requested for NES programs. Allows the substitution of a flag number (n) in place of storing blank (all zeros) stamps. 2) /nobuffer This option requested for G1 (Growth Motion Object Hardware). Does not buffer any graphics (.IMG file) data. So, no matching or optimization of any kind is done with the graphics. 3) Text output of CEL numbers (/debug = 1) does not include any Backspaces when SYS$OUTPUT is directed to a file (such as during a batch process). 4) Bug was fixed which generated false multiple palette error messages. Specifically, this occurred when the size of a CEL was not an integer multiple of the /stamp parameter (extraction) size. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 1-MAY-1989 17:43:52.99 To: BEHENSKY,DURFEY,MARGOLIN,MONCRIEF,MOTT CC: Subj: Yet more UseNet commentary More of the same. Are you folks _sure_ you don't want to reply to some of this speculation? (just asking...) Mike Path: dms!motcsd!hpda!hplabs!decwrl!labrea!rutgers!bellcore!decvax!ima!haddock!eli From: eli@haddock.ima.isc.com (Elias Israel) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Re: Atari: Hard Driving! Message-ID: <12867@haddock.ima.isc.com> Date: 30 Apr 89 17:42:43 GMT References: <MYCGHGy00XodM0Ym1m@andrew.cmu.edu> <1989Apr12.200433.15706@ziebmef.uucp> <12720@haddock.ima.isc.com> <1989Apr24.205442.4426@ziebmef.uucp> Reply-To: eli@haddock.ima.isc.com (Elias Israel) Organization: Interactive Systems, Boston Lines: 87 In article <1989Apr24.205442.4426@ziebmef.uucp> mdf@ziebmef.UUCP (Matthew Francey) writes: >In article <12720@haddock.ima.isc.com> eli@haddock.ima.isc.com (Elias Israel) writes: > >>(1) On the first turn of the stunt course, there is a barn with a cow >> standing next to it. Hit the cow. > > Sick! Absolutely sick! (Ok, I will admit to hitting it a few >times myself, but for purely scientific reasons, I assure you...) The funny thing is that you can't damage the cow! You'd expect little (and big) bits of electronic beef to fly everywhere, but if you turn around, the cow is still standing there! >>(2) At the very start of the race, make a hard left turn as soon as you >> get the car started. You'll find another road there. > > Has anyone figured out what this is for? The one I know of leads to a >large circular black track with a "post" in the middle of it. What is it >purpose in life? This is a skid pad, I think. The purpose of a skid pad is to give you a nice circular course that you can run at high speed. I think that you use it like this: You run the course, increasing the speed of the car until you can't keep it in the circle anymore. From the maximum speed and the (known) radius of the circle, you can figure out the lateral acceleration that the car's suspension can withstand. Usually, you can find this figure for a given production car in the write-up done by the more respectable auto magazines. The number is usually expressed as a decimal fraction of the acceleration of gravity (G). For example, a Chevy Corvette can withstand a lateral accelaration of about 0.95G (95/100 of the accelaration due to gravity) without losing its footing. >>(4) Stragely enough, although the game allows you to drive almost >> anywhere, there is one place you can't drive. It causes a collision >> with an invisible object. > > This may be one aspect of the "conservation violation" above. On the >speed track, just before the 1st check point, is a dip then a bridge. If you >are unlucky enough to leave the road before the bridge and hit that sign/fence >on the left, your car goes into a wild state of rotation. A similar effect >is observed when you fly off the banked section of the stunt track. I don't think so. What I was referring to is that while you can usually leave the track for a short time and return to it, you can't use that trick when it comes to the loop on the stunt course. If you try to go around the loop, you will have a collision, no matter how carefully you navigate the obstacles or how slowly you drive. I think what you may be experiencing is the different tractions on the different surfaces (asphalt vs. grass). Grass can't give the tires nearly as much bite as the asphalt, which means that the car will tend to understeer much more on grass than on asphalt. The event on the dip/bridge combination is also tricky, but I think that I have figured it out. I think that it is important that when you leave the ground and when you hit it again at that jump, you must keep your wheels straight. Otherwise, one of the front wheels may hit the ground first or (if the wheels aren't straight when you land) the turn of the wheel may yank the car around. I have found that if you line up the jump and keep the wheels straight, that particular jump is much easier to do. In general, there are some driving habits that we have from our normal cars that work (more or less) in those circumstances but fail in performance driving. For example, when taking turns at high speed, the car is naturally pushed to the outside of the curve. The first impulse is to correct the drift with the steering wheel, but at the speeds that you are travelling, this may cause total loss of control of the car. Instead, plot a gentle arc through the turn with the steering wheel and hold it. When the car begins to drift to the outside of the curve, release the accelerator just a bit until the drift is controllable. Don't bre afraid of using the oncoming traffic lane if it looks clear (but beware of blind turns and hills). Don't slow the car so much that it doesn't drift at all, just enough so that all four wheels stay on the asphalt. Whenever possible, take the car through the widest arc possible in the turn (because the wider the arc, the smaller the lateral acceleration and the greater the speed you can safely manage). Anyone else have any tidbits worth sharing? Elias Israel | "Justice, n. A commodity which in more or Interactive Systems Corp. | less adulterated condition the State sells Boston, MA | to the citizen as a reward for his allegiance, ..!ima!haddock!eli | taxes, and personal service." | -- Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::DENTON 4-MAY-1989 11:00:23.71 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: CUSTOMER SERVICES NEW ARRIVAL WHAT'S A FOOT AND A HALF AND WEIGHTS 6 lbs & 12 ozs. ? NO ! IT'S NOT TODAYS SPECIAL AT THE CAFETERIA NO TRY AGAIN, NO IT'S NOT A NEW T-SHIRT EITHER!! NO NO! FORGET THE FOOD GROUP. COME ON NOW CAN'T YOU DO BETTER THAN THAT? NO ! WRONG AGAIN , IT'S NOT TAMMY FAYES MAKE-UP KIT EITHER. OK OK I'LL TELL YOU, it's MARK and JACKIE SHERMANS new born baby JACKIE AND MARK ARE RECOUPING AT LOS GATOS GOOD SAM HOSPITAL WHILE DEBATING OVER A NAME FOR THEIR BEAUTIFULL GIRL. MARK IS ESPECIALLY HAPPY FOR HE'S ALREADY GOT CHARGE CARDS FROM NORDSTROM & MACY'S PRESSED FOR HIS LITTLE GIRL "ROXANNE" OR IS IT "CAROLYNN ELIZABETH " OR WHATEVER THEY'LL FINALLY DECIDE ON CALLING HER. CONGRATULATIONS TO JACKIE & MARK SHERMAN Ritchie ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::STUN 4-MAY-1989 11:22:55.25 To: @STUN.DIS CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. RUNNER STATUS REPORT (ajb) STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: MAY 04, 89 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 PROD RELEASE: 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 SCHEDULE ISSUES: ---------------- While we have not changed the Production Release and FGA dates on the above schedule yet, they will certainly change in the near future. It is pretty apparent that with the sit-down cabinet, and the current release schedule of other games, that STUN Runner will probably go into production sometime in the September time frame. This additional time will also be invaluable for the game-play development. Once we know what management's decision is on STUN Runner's placement in the scheduled release of games, in particular, which games are going to AMOA in September, the sooner we can supply an updated schedule. HARDWARE ISSUES: ---------------- We are eagerly awaiting the new ASDP boards. These boards will have more graphics ROM sockets (see GRAPHICS ISSUES). We have currently been alloted four multisync boards for development and field test purposes. ID ISSUES: ---------- Jess Melchor and Milt Loper are still working on a Family Cabinet version of the upright STUN RUNNER (code:FC). This cabinet is not to be confused with the proposed "fancy" upright we talked about at last week's cabinet design meeting. The FC cabinet will be available early next week. This cabinet will be used if a deluxe cabinet cannot be ready for our next field test, though we would prefer to go out with the deleuxe version. GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER Pete's group is currently in the design stages for the Deluxe STUN RUNNER sit-down cabinet. Via input from the marketing/sales staff, they are working on several conceptual designs. These designs include a high end deluxe sit-down similar to the sectional plex canopy proposed last week and a smaller streamlined deluxe sit-down. They hope to have a proposal package prepared by the end of this week and will set up a meeting (Monday??) to present these new designs. The 25" vs. 19" monitor issue still needs to be resolved. Most likely a mock-up for a sit-down will be created with the 25" monitor in order to address the possible visual perception problems. MARKETING/SALES ISSUES: ----------------------- Jerry Momoda has received the player survey forms for the STUN Runner 2 week field test at the Regency Game Palace. He will be writting up a summary report as soon as he finishes his current CyberII responsibilities. Mary Fujihara and the sales staff have been discussing various cabinet and monitor issues in order to help ID determine which route to take in their conceptual design for the STUN Runner project. SOFTWARE ISSUES: ---------------- New tracks have been designed by Andrew Burgess, Glenn McNamara, and Ed Rotberg. We currently have 12 unique tracks, the last 3 are still without any traffic. We hope to have somewhere around 20 unique tracks by the next field test, with the capability to loop back on them for longer play time. We are currently designing new traffic intelligence for the various enemy vehicles, particularly the flyiung vehicles. A new game over sequence is being designed so that the player will be able to see just how far the got on a track that they were unable to complete. Sparks have been added to help the player recognise that they are scraping against various objects. Inparticular, when a player scrapes against the rails in the flats or lands from one of the jump ramps. We still need to address an END-GAME scenario. Some ideas that have been proposed are: 1) a phantom driver race similar to "Hard-Drivin", 2) a super-track with a T-Shirt give-away. We would deeply appreciate any additional ideas people would like to submit. GRAPHICS ISSUES: ---------------- New object graphics have been received: 1) more 50' and 75' diameter tunnel pieces, a shockwave (super-blaster). There are more in the design stage. Unfortunately we are currently out of object ROM space and will not be able to add anymore objects until we get the new ADSP boards. GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER New station backgrounds have been supplied by Kris Moser and are currently in the lastest version. New outside backgrounds have been supplied by Sam Comstock and are currently in the lastest version. Will Noble is currently working taking more jaggies out of the STUN Runner attract screen and hopes to have it available for us in the next few days. AUDIO ISSUES: ------------- No new audio at this time. We still need to get together with Don Diekneite and the audio group to discuss various voice and sound effects. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 9-MAY-1989 08:51:57.73 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,BRAD CC: Subj: ATTENTION ALL IBM PC USERS The 'offical' catalog of shareware products for IBM computers and compatibles from the Association of Shareware Professionals is now available. The catalog is in two parts and can be found in ee$userdisk:[brad.public]. The files are: cis1701.txt (main catalog) cis1701.upd (update to cis1701.txt) - brad - ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::MORRIS 9-MAY-1989 14:15:07.28 To: @sys$mail:engineer CC: Subj: PC interrupt list For any interested partys, a very complete (and LARGE) list of all documented (and some undocumented) PC interrupts can be found in a file charm$userdisk:[morris]interrup.prn. If you print this file out make sure you do a print/nofeed as it contains FF's. Also a summary of the interrupts is in a file called interrup.sum. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 11-MAY-1989 14:35:01.78 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: Status Report for STUN Runner STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: MAY 11, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 PROD RELEASE: 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 Another cabinet meeting was held on Monday, and the general consesus is now to go with a "ride-on" type of cabinet, probably with the 19" monitor. Two mock- ups have been delivered to the STUN lab and hooked up to the game development for evaluation tommorrow. A meeting was held with John Ray, Jerry Momoda, Andy Burgess, and Ed Rotberg on Wednesday, to discuss the agenda for development. We are currently unable to add any more object graphics until the ADSP II boards are available. Will is working on a new concept for the presentation of the maps in the game. Sam is working on the "ring-o-fire" weapon. The "ring-o-fire" weapon has been added to the software, and is currently always available. We are still trying to decide on the rules for when the player will receive this weapon, and how to visually indicate that he has it. The "Momo" switch has been implemented, allowing the steering in the tunnel to be the reverse of the way it has been so for. This is set up on an option switch so that we can evaluate this option fully. The audio self-test has been re-written. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MCCARTHY 12-MAY-1989 16:20:55.20 To: @sys$mail:hardware,MCCARTHY CC: Subj: Programming your GAL. The DATA I/O logic programmer is now upgraded to version 9.1 (it was at version 2.0). It can program GALs from Lattice, National, and apparently several other companies making GALs (I didn't know that there were others), as well as a bunch of other newer programmable logic types. We have 500 GALs in stock in engineering (25nS 16V8 variety). A new wall chart is up showing family/pin codes. ABEL should arrive next week. Pat. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::MCCARTHY 15-MAY-1989 13:38:59.33 To: @sys$mail:hardware,MCCARTHY CC: Subj: Gal update. If you are trying to program a GAL using a PAL jedec file (this is called cross programming) you must supply the Data I/O with the RAL family pin code of the device you are emulating. (RAL is reconfigurable array logic.) This tells the Data I/O what configuration to use. e.g. You have a Lattice GAL. You have a jedec file for a PAL16L8. Give the Data I/O programmer the Lattice 16l8 RAL f/p code of 36/17 instead of the Lattice GAL f/p code of 36/55. That is all that is required. The new chart does not give RAL numbers, but the old one does and the manual does. Pat. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LINDA "Evening Receptionist" 16-MAY-1989 16:31:52.29 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: TWINS: THE SEQUEL Congradulations are in order for Pat McCarthy and his wife Louise who have just given birth to twins. The male twins are Alex (weighing in at 6lbs, 10 oz., and 20 in) and Kyle (weighing in at 6lbs, 12 oz, 20 in.). Mother and babies are doing great. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LINDA "Evening Receptionist" 16-MAY-1989 16:31:52.29 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: TWINS: THE SEQUEL Congradulations are in order for Pat McCarthy and his wife Louise who have just given birth to twins. The male twins are Alex (weighing in at 6lbs, 10 oz., and 20 in) and Kyle (weighing in at 6lbs, 12 oz, 20 in.). Mother and babies are doing great. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::SAMANIEGO "Steph" 17-MAY-1989 15:29:52.04 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Judy Tolonen Tomorrow at 5:00pm you are all invited to go to Riffs in the Sheraton down the street. We are saying good bye to Judy Tolonen, Friday is her last day here at Atari, so if you can please come on down and party you buns off with us. Steph ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SUTTLES "Doctor DCL" 17-MAY-1989 16:58:43.45 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,SUTTLES CC: Subj: spreading rumors... Attention mass mailers! I've been asked to document POST, and have done so. You'll find it in DOK:POSTIT.DOC. TYPE (or PRINT) this file to get the new and latest in how to spread the word. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::THEURER 18-MAY-1989 13:36:13.13 To: @SYS$MAIL:ANIMATORS,@SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: RADMOD update RADMOD update: 5/18/89 MAJOR: > ability to write files with 1024 cells (used to be 256). > handles merging of files with different palettes. > TARGA conversion produces a lot better results (better color reduction). MINOR: > cell chooser list function now displays "DONE" by cells already operated on (in case you forgot what you were doing). > "destination cell #" (MOVE option question) now has a default reply (which is 1st cell number after the last one in the output file). > the program no longer terminates if you enter "x" to cell chooser without having selected any cells (it simply goes back to the menu). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Writing files with 1024 or 256 cells: The default output rad size is 256 cells, since this takes a lot less disk space. If you want to have the output rad size be 1024 cells, either -- use the OUTT (change output type) menu option and enter RADB (for RAD BIG) OR -- start with a source RAD file that has 1024 cells. If your output RAD file size is 256 and you try to write higher cells, you're outta luck. > Merging files with different palettes: This is a real messy situation. When you're combining several RAD files, (using the OPEN menu command) RADMOD will check each RAD file as you open it to see if its palette agrees with the current palette. If all the colors are the same, then no problem. Otherwise it's time for you to make a decision about how you want to resolve this problem. The unused palettes will be listed on the screen. Your options: -- ignore new palette and use the original. -- discard original palette and use new palette. -- offset new palette (if there's room it can be relocated after the original palette). You simply enter the palette offset (1 to 15). The new palette will start at this number, and all the new pixels will be adjusted to point to it. -- remap new palette to best matches in original palette and ignore sub- palette boundaries. Don't use this if you've got stamps that require the primitive 16 colors/subpalette. -- remap new palette to best matches in original palette, but respect sub- palette boundaries. This keeps colors within their original 16 color subpalettes. -- try 3 things in indicated order, respecting subpalette boundaries: 1> remap new subpalettes to identical original subpalettes. 2> remap new subpalettes to black (unused) original subpalettes. 3> remap new subpalettes to closest original subpalettes. This last option is the RECOMMENDED one. (A subpalette is a set of 16 colors, starting at color 0,16,32,48,64,80...) Dave T. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 18-MAY-1989 15:36:00.58 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: Status report for STUN Runner STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: MAY 18, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 PROD RELEASE: 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 Another wrench has been thrown into the control issue. A "new" Slider control was tested, and many feel it is clearly the superior control. By the same token, many feel that it is seriously worse, not better. We are planning on Focus testing the two controllers with the hope of getting some unbiased feedback on this issue. The ADSP II board has been delivered, stuffed, and is being tested. Graphics developement continues. We have a new Map screen, and are trying to speed up the decompression routine in order to make it fit seamlessly. Software development continues. Unfortunately so much time has been spent on things like the cabinet and the controller issues that we are falling behind on the tunnel design. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ADS 23-MAY-1989 14:50:50.28 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Intermetrics Librarian For the upcoming Asap development system, I am going to need at least _some_ of the functionality of the Intermetrics librarian. Being nearly 100% non-Intermetrics, I'd like to replace the *&^%%% thing. I assume that there are others out there with similar feelings. I need the ability to add "asap" object modules without it croaking and would like it to handle .ob (or .obj) as well as .ol formats. The add/delete/update could be much cleaner too. Now here's where _you_ come in. Please reply to this message if you use the librarian, or would if some particularly annoying bug were removed. Please let me know _how_ you use it, so I can implement it the way we use it, rather than blindly mimicking their somewhat strange commands. Remember, "Qui tacit, consentit", which means, roughly: "We'll just tack this here consent form to your forehead, if'n you have no objections..." Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 24-MAY-1989 10:29:06.16 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: JAMMA Power Supplies Components Engineering has the official word on all this, but I have some PRICE info that I want to pass along. So, if you are designing electronics for a game that is to be JAMMA compatible, read on. You currently have (or will soon have), two choices for triple-output switching supplies for JAMMA games: higher current lower current MFG: HITRON HITRON MFG P/N: HFA130 HSA130 Atari P/N: 149013-XXX 149014-XXX PRICE: $44.00 $31.50 qty. 1 to 1001. + 5 volt rating (amps) 11 7 +12 volt rating (amps) 2 1 - 5 volt rating (amps) 1 1 TOTAL WATTS, OUTPUT: 84 52 PRICE PER WATT: $.52 $.60 Remember that a complete power supply includes a sheetmetal base, isolation transformer, line filter, fuse block and misc. components as well as the triple output switcher. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 25-MAY-1989 09:40:44.63 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,@SYS$MAIL:TEAMTACO,CC::FUJIHARA,MOMODA,RAY CC: Subj: STUN Runner "Focus" Regarding the STUN Runner testing that is going on .... It is VERY important that you not say ANYTHING to the people who are playing STUN Runner or filling out the questionnaires. Thank you! John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 25-MAY-1989 09:52:13.10 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: Status Report for STUN Runner STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: MAY 25, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 PROD RELEASE: 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 The "Focusing" of the two controllers was done yesterday, and Jerry has collected the questionaires. Hopefully we will have some definite direction from this input. The graphics decompression algorithms have been rewrtitten in assembler in order to spped up the decompression of backgrounds (thanks to Mike A. for his assistance). The code really screams now and as a result, the new map screens which look a lot better can be used. We are planning on swithcing over to the ADSP II board today or tomorrow and will be adding new graphics as a result. This may have to wait because of further control testing, or because we need some of Max's time to implement the banking required with the new scheme. The Audio group has been given a list of voice cues to implement. The new Galaxy background has been added to the game and looks great, as does the latest title screen. The first run of the Ring-of-Fire graphics has been done. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::WOOD 30-MAY-1989 12:00:45.57 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Atari Games and Tengen v. Nintendo On Thursday, May 25, we were successful in opposing a temporary restraining order sought by Nintendo to prevent the sale of our Tetris cartridges. The press release we issued as follows: COURT DENIES NINTENDO RESTRAINING ORDER; TENGEN REASSERTS RIGHTS TO "TETRIS" MILPITAS, Calif., May 26, 1989 -- Judge Fern Smith of the United States District Court in San Francisco yesterday denied a motion by Nintendo to temporarily restrain Tengen Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari Games Corp., from distributing its independently manufactured, Nintendo-compatible version of the video game "Tetris." "Tetris," a highly popular video game developed by two Soviet computer programmers, has been the object of an ongoing legel battle between the companies over who owns the exclusive rights to distribute the game for play on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). In her ruling, Judge Smith stated that "Nintendo has failed to meet the high standard necessary for this Court to grant the relief requested. Although Nintendo claims that it has the exclusive rights to the 'Tetris' video cartridge, the moving papers fail to fully support this claim. Further, Nintendo has failed to show that it will be irreparably injured by allowing Tengen to meet its existing commitments." On June 15, the Court will hear motions by both Tengen and Nintendo, in which each will seek to enjoin the other from selling its "Tetris" cartridges. The request for a temporary restraining order accompanied Nintendo's response to a Tengen copyright infringement lawsuit filed in April. The lawsuit was filed after Tengen learned that Nintendo was claiming it had negotiated the rights to "Tetris" on the NES from the Soviet Foreign Trade Association, Elorg. According to Tengen, however, exclusive rights to "Tetris" for play on the NES and other computers had previously been granted by Elorg to Andromeda Software Ltd., a London-based software company. Those rights were transferred to Mirrorsoft, a U. K. subsidiary of Maxwell Communications, one of the world's leading publishers. Tengen acquired the exclusive rights to develop and market an NES version of the hit game from Mirrorsoft in May 1988. Atari Games released its highly successful arcade conversion of "Tetris" last February. Tengen began taking orders for its NES-compatible "Tetris" cartridges at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 1989 and began shipping the product earlier this month. "Tetris" is currently available in retail outlets nationwide. Tengen is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari Games Corporation and is headquartered at 1901 McCarthy Blvd., Suite 210, P. O. Box 360782, Milpitas, Calif. 95035; (408) 435-2650. Atari Games is a privately held companyy, is not affiliated with Atari Corporation and should be referred to as Atari Games. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 1-JUN-1989 12:48:05.79 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JUNE 1, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: 16 JUN 89 PROD RELEASE: 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 The schedule above now reflects our current plands to have Finished Goods by mid-Spetember. The controller survey was completed and we will be using the Star Wars controller as originally planned. Max Behensky will be working on a change to ADSP code to help us deal with the controller response problems. Hopefully he will be able to get this soon, but it will not be until after Compact HD release. We have swithced over to the ADSP II board and it works as advertised -- Thanks to Jed M. Currently plans include: * Getting game out to common area 6/12/89 * Finishing end-of-game map sequence to show how far player got. * Adding Ring-of_fire weapon into the game play * Re-laying out the levels and re-tuning them in order to introduce the different enemies more slowly. * Adding more "personality" to the flying enemies. * Giving bonus points for each shield piece left at end of level * Awarding one new shield piece, if needed, after successful completion of a level. * Try to emphasize intermediate goals. * Add new audio. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ROWE "Rofo" 1-JUN-1989 14:35:06.14 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: I am stupid I left myself logged in at the printer room. I am very, very sorry, but I don't know how sorry, yet. Anyone wanting to make fun of me, please get a form from Cindy first. DELETE *.*;* exit ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::MCCARTHY 1-JUN-1989 16:21:34.07 To: @sys$mail:hardware,MCCARTHY CC: Subj: ABEL is running. Abel is up and running. Here is what you need to know and do. Create a source file with a .abl extension. eg. GALS.ABL Many examples may be found in ABEL$ROOT:[EXAMPLES], including one called gals.abl. I have the manual with full syntax and execution details. Before you can do any compiling you need to do : @ABELEXE:ABEL_LOGIN Put this in your login or wherever you want, or define a shorter symbol for it. Then to process your source file do : ABEL your_source_file eg. ABEL GALS Leave out the extension. You can put optional switches after the filename. There are restrictions on the computer node that this can be run on. Read on. ABEL (a symbol for @ABELEXE:ABEL.COM) runs PARSE TRANSFOR REDUCE FUSEMAP SIMULATE and DOCUMENT programs using default options and settings. Use ABELMAN to find out what these are. See below. The Abel copy security check is embedded in FUSEMAP and SIMULATE only. These programs must be run on a microvax II such as BERT, SANDY, or ICY. However you can PARSE, TRANSFOR and REDUCE on any computer (eg GAWD). FUSEMAP is the program that generates the JEDEC file so you have to do that sometime before you try burning the device. You can copy ABEL.COM from ABELEXE: and hack it so that the repetative task of parsing can be done on whatever computer you want and then submit the fusemap and simulate portions to one of the microvax_II queues when you are ready. You may want to adjust the default reduction level anyway from 1 (simple) to 2 (best for PALs). By the way, if you are interested in logic reduction, ABEL can use both PRESTO (three levels) and ESPRESSO. Here are some more useful commands: ABELMAN program displays on your screen a text file about 'program' where 'program' can be any of : ABEL ABELLIB DOCUMENT ESPRESSO FUSEMAP IFLDOC JEDABEL PARSE REDUCE RFILE SIMULATE TOABEL TRANSFOR Any of these can be printed by printing ABEL3DEV:'program'.1 The ABELMAN program consists of the one line : type /page abel3dev:'p1'.1 FINDDEV device searches for 'device' in a master file of devices. This is a simple DCL SEARCH of ABEL3DEV:DEVICES.TXT. By the way, this file includes family/pin codes for all devices (except RALs for some reason) so it is useful when you actually burn the device. The FINDDEV program consists of the two lines : write sys$output "MFG Part Type Package F/P Code Device" $ search abel3dev:devices.txt 'p1' EZSIM source_file executes PARSE TRANSFOR and SIMULATE with doing any reduction, fusemap or document. CLEANUP cleans out all ABEL files except source codes from the current directory. The CLEANUP program consists of the one line : $ delete *.tm%;*,*.out;*,*.jed;*,*.sim;*,*.lst;*,*.doc;*,*.p8%;*,rfile.*;* Note ABELEXE, ABEL3DEV and ABEL$ROOT are system logicals. Here is the text of ABELEXE:ABEL.COM $ ! ABEL.COM Mar 18, 1989 $ ! Run ABEL (release 3.1) package on source file. $ ! $ ! Use: $ ! @abel sourcefilename { option } $ ! $ ! In order to use this batch file the following logicals $ ! must be defined: $ ! ABEL3DEV: points to the directory where the devices are $ ! ABELEXE: points to the directory where the executable files are $ ! $ write sys$output "ABEL(tm) Version 3.1 Copyright 1983-1989 Data I/O Corp" $ ! $ docexe := "$ abelexe:document" $ on error then goto errparse $ tempexe := "$ abelexe:parse" $ tempexe -i'p1'.abl -o'p1'.tm1 -l'p1'.lst 'p2' 'p3' 'p4' 'p5' 'p6' 'p7' 'p8' $ on error then goto errtrans $ tempexe := "$ abelexe:transfor" $ tempexe -i'p1'.tm1 -o'p1'.tm2 'p2' 'p3' 'p4' 'p5' 'p6' 'p7' 'p8' $ delete 'p1'.tm1; $ on error then goto erreduce $ tempexe := "$ abelexe:reduce" $ tempexe -i'p1'.tm2 -o'p1'.tm3 'p2' 'p3' 'p4' 'p5' 'p6' 'p7' 'p8' $ delete 'p1'.tm2; $ on error then goto errfuse $ tempexe := "$ abelexe:fusemap" $ tempexe -i'p1'.tm3 -o'p1'.out 'p2' 'p3' 'p4' 'p5' 'p6' 'p7' 'p8' $ delete 'p1'.tm3; $ if (f$search("rfile.in")).nes. "" then delete rfile.*;* $ on error then goto errsim $ tempexe := "$ abelexe:simulate" $ tempexe -i'p1'.out -o'p1'.sim 'p2' 'p3' 'p4' 'p5' 'p6' 'p7' 'p8' $ on error then goto errdoc $ tempexe := "$ abelexe:document" $ tempexe -i'p1'.out -o'p1'.doc -g -q2 'p2' 'p3' 'p4' 'p5' 'p6' 'p7' 'p8' $ exit 1 $! $errparse: $ write sys$error "Error(s) in PARSE" $ exit %X10000002 $errtrans: $ docexe -i'p1'.tm1 -o'p1'.doc -g -q0 'p2' 'p3' 'p4' 'p5' 'p6' 'p7' 'p8' $ write sys$error "Error(s) in TRANSFOR" $ exit %X10000002 $erreduce: $ docexe -i'p1'.tm2 -o'p1'.doc -g -q1 'p2' 'p3' 'p4' 'p5' 'p6' 'p7' 'p8' $ write sys$error "Error(s) in REDUCE" $ exit %X10000002 $errfuse: $ docexe -i'p1'.tm3 -o'p1'.doc -v -g -q2 'p2' 'p3' 'p4' 'p5' 'p6' 'p7' 'p8' $ write sys$error "Error(s) in FUSEMAP" $ exit %X10000002 $errsim: $ docexe -i'p1'.out -o'p1'.doc -f -g -v -q2 'p2' 'p3' 'p4' 'p5' 'p6' 'p7' 'p8' $ write sys$error "Error(s) in SIMULATE" $ exit %X10000002 $errdoc: $ write sys$error "Error(s) in DOCUMENT" $ exit %X10000002 ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 8-JUN-1989 09:22:11.79 To: @STATUS.DIS CC: Subj: STUN Runner Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JUNE 8, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: 16 JUN 89 PROD RELEASE: 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 Finished end-of-game map sequence to show how far player got. Added shock-wave weapon into the game play. Re-layed out the levels and we will be re-tuning them in order to introduce the different enemies more slowly. We are now giving bonus points for each shield piece left at end of level as well as awarding one new shield piece, if needed, after successful completion of each level. We are also adding an initial level select screen. The animation group has given us new graphics for the shcok-wave, an "energy splash" against the player's car for when it is hit by a Probot shot, satelites for the space wave, and all the new maps we could ever want. The audio group has been getting our voice cues digitized, and shoudl be ready in plenty of time for the upcoming Field Test. We should have the prototype "ride-on" cabinet sometime around 6/30. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 8-JUN-1989 16:53:16.70 To: BEHENSKY,DURFEY,MARGOLIN,MONCRIEF,MOTT CC: Subj: More comment on Hard Drivin The not ethat this is sort of a reply to was pretty much more of the same, so I didn't save it. This one brings up the "mystery spot" which I think I've seen mentioned before. Would any of you care to elaborate (to me, not the net)? Mike Path: dms!motcsd!hpda!hplabs!decwrl!ucbvax!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!orstcs!bigtime!larryg From: larryg@bigtime.fidonet.org (Larry Gilbert) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Re: New game comments -- Hard Drivin' from Atari Message-ID: <385.248D7177@bigtime.fidonet.org> Date: 7 Jun 89 17:16:00 GMT Organization: Big Time Television Lines: 21 Ken Streeter writes: > a satisfying driving experience (except for the $1.00 cost!) Dude, you got ripped off. Come to Oregon State University, visit the Rec Center, and you can play all the Hard Drivin' you like for 50 cents a pop. So it's a little far to travel... It's worth saving half your income, right? :-) My only complaint with the game is that, occasionally, after landing on the other side of a hill at just the wrong angle, the simulation enters the Twilight Zone, and the scenery flies by wildly for about 10 seconds before the car finally "crashes". The instant replay shows the car doing something pretty crazy, such as spinning on one corner of the front bumper. <sigh> If they could fix that, it'd be *perfect!* :-) . -- Larry Gilbert, larryg@bigtime.fidonet.org, 1:152/201, +1 503 753 3511 (bbs) "Coming to you live and direct from Big Time Television." ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 9-JUN-1989 12:16:20.30 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BROWN CC: Subj: EMPLOYEE MEETING THERE WILL BE A GENERAL EMPLOYEE MEETING FOR ALL PERMANENT EMPLOYEES ON MONDAY, JUNE 12. THE MEETING WILL BE AT 2:00 P.M. IN THE CAFETERIA. ALL PERMANENT EMPLOYEES ARE ASKED TO BE PRESENT AND PROMPT. HUMAN RESOURCES ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::PETRICK "Jim Petrick" 13-JUN-1989 16:17:01.41 To: @SM:ENGINEER,PETRICK CC: Subj: New Celprocess A new version of CELPROCESS is now in [PPS.UTILITIES]CELPROCESS.EXE. This version has two new formats for the NES system. They are similar to the older formats 3 and 4, except they output NES color tables and output the CEL data run-length encoded. The new format types are /FORMAT=5 - NES decimal byte .MAC file output /FORMAT=6 - NES hex byte .MAC file output There is also a bug fix applied to horizontally flipped, optimized cels which have enough non-zero data so they don't actually get reduced in size. The horizontal offset of these cels was not being calculated correctly, and now is. Let me know if any problems occur with this new release. (version 1.63) -- jim ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::STUN 15-JUN-1989 08:59:53.88 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. RUNNER The latest and greatest version of S.T.U.N. RUNNER is now in the engineering common area. Please come over and give it a try. We need to find any bugs or excessive difficulty before we go out to field test this weekend. Thanks in advance, The S.T.U.N. RUNNER Team ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 16-JUN-1989 14:28:11.86 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Suspect Parts - LS374 Drobny has found problems on Skull PCB's and Nintendo Development cards traced to what looks like a bad batch of LS374's. SUSPECT PARTS: TI SN74LS374N BRAZIL 843 D BEWARE....BEWARE....BEWARE....BEWARE....BEWARE....BEWARE....BEWARE.... ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 19-JUN-1989 11:02:03.65 To: SNYDER,MCCARTHY, PAAUW,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: EEPROM, Flash EEPROMs....an idea... The programmers are always gripping about the logjam at the EPROM programmers. What if...Game PCBs (at least the pre-production revs) supported EEPROMs or flash EEPROM's and the programmers could download and "burn" EPROMS right in their game PCB, and then erase them there too. Another alrenative has already been prototyped by Doug and is in use on the G1 hardware: Doug designed a aux PCB full of SRAM that exists in the memory map of the processor AND the game graphics space. Programmers can then download graphics just like program with this scheme. Doug may want to give us a quick report on the results of his two protos. Any comments? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::WOOD 19-JUN-1989 12:12:38.34 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Press Release The following press release was issued by Atari Games and Tengen on Friday, June 16: COURT HEARS TENGEN AND NINTENDO TETRIS MOTIONS; RULING DUE JUNE 21 MILPITAS, Calif., June 15, 1989 -- Judge Fern Smith of the United States District Court in San Francisco said today that she will rule on cross-motions for preliminary injunction filed by Tengen Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari Games, and Nintendo against the sale of the popular Russian-developed video game Tetris by Wednesday, June 21. In the interim, both sides voluntarily agreed to refrain from shipping Tetris cartridges until the court has made its ruling. Both Tengen and Nintendo filed cross-motions last month, in which each side is seeking to enjoin the other from selling Tetris for play on the NES. Tengen is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari Games Corporation and is headquartered at 1901 McCarthy Blvd., Suite 210, P. O. Box 360782, Milpitas, Calif. 95035; (408) 435-2650. Atari Games is a privately held company, is not affiliated with Atari Corporation and should be referrred to as Atari Games. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::KWINN 19-JUN-1989 13:38:27.78 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Entertainment Software Bargains To Those of You Who Can't Get Enough of this Computer Games Business At Work and Own Computers of Their Own So They Can Play Games At Home, Too, I received a postcard from a company called Products Plus last week, telling of a big Sale of theirs, so I went to look this weekend. The thing most worth mentioning is a stock of Firebird/Rainbird (makers of Starglider and Carrier Command, among others) games they have. They have titles for Mac, Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM, Amiga, and (largest selection of all) Atari ST. These games (mix and match as you like) are: $2.59 each or 5 for $10 !!! =========================== They only have Carrier Command and Universal Military Simulator (2 of their biggest) for the ST, but they have Starglider for several machines and illustrated text adventures (The Pawn, Jinxter, etc.) and a few other games. They also have some other Mac software and modems (I don't know prices), IBM shareware, disk boxes, bulk 3.5" (DSDD, w/ labels, 25/pack) @ $.65 each, bulk 5.25" (DSDD, 25/pack) @ $.23 each, and other stuff. Some of the prices are only good for the sale (thru 6/24). Products Plus 800-544-3472/408-727-9048 3350 Scott Blvd., Ste. 1903 Santa Clara, CA 95054 From Atari Games: Take 237 West to Great America Parkway. Turn left on G.A.P., go past Great America and over 101 (G.A.P. becomes Bowers as it crosses 101). 2nd light after 101 is Scott. Turn right, go through 1 light to Garrett. U-turn at Garrett, then take the next driveway on the right (into Koll-Oakmead complex). Products Plus is on your left. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 21-JUN-1989 13:11:42.79 To: DOWNEND,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Development It sounds good to me. Intel makes flash EPROMs that require +12 Volts for programming. Texas Instruments is supposedly working on flash EPROMs that require only +5 Volts. In Hard Drivin' the only memory not supported by RAM is the Sound Data ROM. Everything else uses either emulator memory, has internal RAM like the GSP VRAM, or has an optional external board like the 1 MB Program RAM board or the ADSP Graphics RAM Board. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 22-JUN-1989 11:30:21.20 To: @STATUS.DIS CC: Subj: STUN Runner status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JUNE 22, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: 7 JUL 89 PROD RELEASE: 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 4 JUN 89 Missed last weeks status report... oops, sorry! STUN Runner is at Milpitas Golfland, and has been Friday (6/16) afternoon. We have made these minor modifications to the game twice since that time: * Put in a "teach" function that allows us to freeze the game and display a text message on the screen -- such as when we detect the player riding on the wrong side of the tunnel in a curve. * Adjusted the time limit on Level 16. * Updated some graphics including showing boost pads in the maps. We are currently working on adding new tunnel sections, and improving enemy variety, especially with the flying enemies. We have PCB sets for the two "ride on" cabinets. Glenn is in the process of assembling the board sets and readying each for Field Test on 7/7/89. One set has been given to Carole Cameron. The date for the "earnings" Field Test with the ride-on cabinet had to be slipped as the fiberglass prototype for the control panel (vacu-form) piece will not arrive in time to have the cabinet ready for 6/30. As the next week is a 3-day week, we have changed the Field Test date to 7/7. There will be a meeting today (6/22) to go over cabinet graphics concepts. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::WOOD 22-JUN-1989 12:05:15.55 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Press Release The following press release was issued yesterday by Atari Games and Tengen: TENGEN REASSERTS RIGHTS TO SOVIET VIDEO GAME; INJUNCTION HAS NO IMPACT ON POPULAR TENGEN PRODUCT LINE MILPITAS, Calif., June 21, 1989 -- Tengen Inc., the wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari Games Corporation, reasserted its claim to the popular Soviet video game, Tetris, despite the awarding today of a preliminary injunction against Tengen. Judge Fern Smith of the United States District Court in San Francisco issued an order prohibiting further distribution by Tengen of the Tengen-manufactured Nintendo-compatible version of the game pending the outcome of litigation currently before the Court between Tengen and Nintendo regarding the ownership of the Tetris video game rights. "Tengen believes it has legitimate rights to Tetris," said Dan Van Elderen, Tengen chief operating officer and executive vice president. "We have a valid and binding agreement for Tetris which we believe will be upheld in the Court's final decision. While we are disappointed that we must temporarily refrain from shipping additional Tetris cartridges, we are confident that we will eventually prevail." Tengen has been distributing its highly popular NES-compatible version of Tetris since early May. The Tetris matter is one of many legal issues between Tengen and Nintendo, and is completely separate from the $100 million lawsuit filed by Tengen against Nintendo last December. That complaint concerns larger issues such as Nintendo's alleged monopolization of the home video game industry, its wrongful business practices and Tengen's rights to manufacture and distribute its full line of Nintendo-compatible products. "This preliminary decision over Tetris is not related in any way to the other, more significant charges facing Nintendo, and has no legal affect on our ability to manufacture and market our other Nintendo-compatible titles," said Van Elderen. "Tengen products have been extremely in demand and well received by both our consumers and our dealers. We willl continue to provide our customres with the highest quality home video games." Tengen is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari Games Corporation and is headquartered at 1623 Buckeye Drive, P. O. Box 360782, Milpitas, Calif.; (408) 435-2650. Atari Games is a privately held company, is not affiliated with Atari Corporation and should be referred to as Atari Games. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::KHODADADI "Farokh Khodadadi" 22-JUN-1989 14:34:04.46 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Hard Drivin' racing jackets A lot of people want to know where they can buy the new Hard Drivin' racing jacket.Well,the same nice people in customer service who brought you the T-shirts can help you. A limited quantity of these jackets will be available on special order only.You can choose the color and size in black,red,or white.Also at no extra charge your first name can go on the front of the jacket for a totally custom look. So hurry to customer service and place your order before FRIDAY THE 13th. Oh I almost forgot I have a sample that you can look at too.Just look me up around lunch time in the cafeteria or call me at: ext:1775 crazy hard driver Farrokh ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 27-JUN-1989 10:27:18.22 To: ROTBERG,STUN,CAMERON,MARGOLIN,FYI::TAKAICHI,RAY CC: Subj: STUN long lead items Rich has asked us to put together a list of long-lead ( > 6wks ) parts for STUN Runner. Carole is working on the cabinet, controls, etc. Jed -- can you mark up Rick's list of Hard Drivin's long-lead or common parts with STUN? Please have these lists (with cost estimates) to me by Thursday. Ed -- Rich also reminded me that your program must use SLAPSTICK so customers cannot convert a Hard Drivin' Multisync to a STUN Multisync. It should be in a socket. This needs to be done before the first game is shipped to a customer (pre-prod?). Thanks!! John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 27-JUN-1989 15:13:53.79 To: MARGOLIN,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: 1 of 2 To: John Ray Fr: Jed Margolin Re: STUN RUNNER Parts that are common with Compact Hard Drivin' Dt: 6/27/89 ADSP II ------- We have ECNed Hard Drivin' and Compact Hard Drivin' to use ADSP II on the next buy. Therefore, ADSP II is common to Hard Drivin', Compact Hard Drivin', and Stun Runner. (Stun Runner will presumably make use of the two extra ROM sockets.) MultiSync Board --------------- 1. Stun Runner uses a 40 MHz oscillator module at XOSC4 instead of the 32 MHz unit that Compact Hard Drivin' uses. Oscillator modules frequently require several weeks' lead time. 2. To reduce costs the Timekeeper will be replaced with another ZeroPower RAM. 3. Slapstik 17 was reserved for Hard Drivin' but not used. I assume it is available for Stun Runner. 4. There are several parts that Compact Hard Drivin' uses that Stun Runner does not. The following are not used on Stun Runner 5 137540-150 1 IC, 48T02-15, RAM 200E 8 137543-001 1 IC, 68681 200A 46 137580-001 1 IC, 4066B 205B 47 137546-003 4 IC, 4464, 64K X 4, DRAM 5K,15K,25K,35K 83 136068-1135 1 IC, PROM, 82S123 195U 84 137403-001 1 IC, MC1488 210A 85 137263-001 1 IC, MC1489AL 210B 89 137614-001 1 IC, AD711KN 15B 136 144000-011 1 XTAL, 3.6864, STANDUP XTAL1 138 144008-005 1 XTAL, 50 MHZ, OSCILLATOR XOSC3 miscellaneous other ICs, connectors, resistors, and capacitors 2 of 2 5. There are a few parts that Stun Runner uses that Compact Hard Drivin' does not. They are: 137526-001 1 IC, SCUM 175W 137484-001 1 IC, AS08 175T 137134-001 1 IC, 74LS245 175R 144008-004 1 Oscillator, 40 MHz XOSC4 137412-117 1 Slapstic 17 200K 6. Parts with changes in quantities: 137538-002 IC, 34010-50 Uses One instead of Two 179237-068 SOCKET, 68 PIN Uses Two instead of Three 137442-150 IC, 48Z02-15, RAM Uses Two instead of One I need Ed to tell me that the special board I had made up for him works, so I can give Art the schematic, so we can get an official Stun Runner parts list. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 29-JUN-1989 11:11:47.00 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JUNE 22, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: 7 JUL 89 PROD RELEASE: 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 19 APR 89 FGA: 27 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 STUN Runner is still at Milpitas Golfland, and has been giving us good feedback on gameplay changes. Software changes include adding "kamakazi" intelligence to the HoverBot, another new level (19 in all now) has been added, reworked the opening animation sequence to tie into the "ride-on" cabinet theme. In addition, we are continuing to tweak the game play as per input from field test. Max Behensky has been working on improving the vector mode of the GSP and has also been improving overall performance for us. Stephanie Mott will be making changes to the ADSP code to help us improve control response time when she is fully recovered. Will has been supplying us with the graphics for the new opening animation sequence, and Kris Moser has been giving us new Depot backgrounds. We are anticipating new audio including a new music track as well as some additional voice and sound effects. The fiberglass prototypes for the seat and control panel have both arrived and they look "excellent!" A meeting was held this week to review cabinet graphic concepts, and Kyoko is in the process of reworking the concepts as dictated by that meeting. We should be able to make the "ride-on" cabinet field test date of 7/7 comfortably. "Th-th-that's all folks!" ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DURFEY 29-JUN-1989 14:31:50.21 To: MARGOLIN,BEHENSKY,MOTT CC: Subj: in the dark ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BJORKQUIST 29-JUN-1989 14:30 To: DURFEY Subj: OKBYE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 22-JUN-1989 13:47 To: @ALPHAGANG.DIS Subj: Product Bonus plan changes !!!!!!! THIS IS CONFIDENTIAL: ATARI EYES AND EARS ONLY !!!!!!!! There are two changes in effect on the bonus plan - Rich asked that we mention these verbally since it will be a while before the changes are published: 1) Previously, the cap on overhead was $325; now it is $350. Additionally this applies to "Standard single display games". For games like 4-player Cyberball there would be no cap on overhead; instead the standard overhead rate would apply fully when calculating profit. Games like Compact Hard Drivin and Stun Runner are likely to be treated as "non-standard" although a final decision has not been reached as near as I could tell. For reference, the standard overhead on Cyberball was $353. The standard overhead on Escape is $325.50 derived from 4.34 hours of labor times the new $75/hr overhead rate. 2) In games (like coin-op Tetris) where the implementation existed previously, and the coin-op game is a conversion of a pre-existing game, then there is a cap or maximum on the bonus pool of $240,000. Additionly the funding percentages are different - they are 3% and 6% as opposed to 4% and 7%. As I recall the profit levels are the same, i.e. 0% for the first $500,000, 3% between 500,000 and $3,000,000, and 6% above $3M up to the 240,000 cap. !!!!!!! THIS IS CONFIDENTIAL: ATARI EYES AND EARS ONLY !!!!!!!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 29-JUN-1989 23:57:36.61 To: @SYS$MAIL:HARDWARE.DIS,RAY CC: Subj: Hardware Meeting 6/26/89 Summary Hardware Meeting 6/26/89 J.Ray 6/29/89 Attendees: Chris Downend, Tim Hubberstey, Farrokh Khodadadi, Jed Margolin, Pat McCarthy, Glenn McNamara, Rich Moore, John Ray, Doug Snyder, Alex Taccir. NEW EMPLOYEES: Tom Clark is the new Component Engineer in Rick Meyette's group. Welcome aboard, Tom!! Farrokh Khodadadi is a "new" technician in Chris Downend's team. He most recently worked in Atari's Field Service. Welcome aboard, Farrokh!! ANALOG PC DESIGN: What will increase our success at designing analog PCBs that work? Doug and Pat feel that the hardware engineer should do the placement on Scicards. The knowledge required to interact with the system can be obtained fairly quickly with the help of the PC designers. Jed feels that a PC-based layout program would be a worthwhile investment. JAMMA EDGE CONNECTOR CURRENT CAPACITY: John Ray announced that the standard we will use (for the near term) is 3 Amps per terminal + 1 redundant terminal. So both +12V and both -5V terminals need to be used to bring power to the board. For a game that requires 5A at +5V, you should use three of the four +5V terminals for power. John will publish a memo in the near future that will be more specific and incorporate some exceptions that Rick Meyette suggested. Pat McCarthy will request data from the manufacturers that will help us decide on the long-term standard. EPROM PROGRAMMERS: John Ray announced that the version 4.0 Data I/O 288 release (expected late July) will incorporate TI's SNAP programming algorithm. This algorithm will allow us to program TI parts significantly faster. We will need to use only TI EPROMs, however, but this is not expected to be a big problem. Chris Downend is investigating other EPROM programmers. The hardware engineers should keep abreast of flash EEPROMs, as they will someday allow each development station to burn their EEPROMs right in the PCB!! ELECTRO-STATIC DISCHARGE (ESD): Our games are subjected to shocks from players who have walked across a carpet and then touch a metal part of the game. The game must not do anything weird when this happens. Pat McCarthy reminded us that Rick Meyette's group needs to perform an ESD test on every new game, just like the FCC test (and the heat test??). Pat and Rick should look at structuring the procedures so that they do not get left out on any new games. The Hitron power supply was shutting down when subjected to ESD. Rick Meyette has a fix to keep it from doing this. RF COMPONENTS ON ALL PCBs: Rick Meyette should look at a plot of all new PCBs for EMI component placement (before the PCB is fabbed). The hardware engineer should make sure this happens. 32K X 8 85nS: The hardware engineers responded that this speed will work in any current applications where this part is being used. DOUG LEAVING: Doug Snyder has decided to leave Atari effective July 7. Doug has been an extremely creative, productive, valuable employee. We will miss him!! Doug -- Best of luck for your future!! Thanks for a job well done!! Please forward any additions, corrections, or questions to John Ray. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 30-JUN-1989 00:43:43.25 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,LEON,POPKIN,DIEU,@SYS$MAIL:MARKETING,RAY CC: Subj: Doug Snyder's retirement lunch -- 7/7/89 I am planning on setting up Doug's retirement lunch at Stuft Pizza (Landess [Montague] and 680) on Friday, July 7. I have not called the restaurant yet to confirm, but I don't expect any problem having a large group. Please respond by VAXmail if you would like to attend. Thanks!! John (I will give further info. to those who respond.) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::PIERCE 5-JUL-1989 12:35:09.51 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Summertime Brainstormin' Hello: Dave Akers and myself are about to embark on our next project together and would like some help from the many talented, innovative and handsome people hear at Atari. We have informally run a number of possible game types past some of the grande fromages here at this company and have decided to explore the genre of the low cost puzzle type game. Pong, Tetris and Arkinoid being prime examples of these types of games that have been successful in the past. Hopefully this NEW game will be added to that list in the future. So we are going to have a little "PO-like" get-together to try and compile as many ideas as possible and y'all are invited. Friday afternoon the 14th of July @ 3:30 Central Conference Room 675 Sycamore. A variety of beverages, snacks and various materials will be available for your personal consumption and enjoyment. Remember: Think cheap, think simple, think addictive. Formal attire optional. Thanx, MSP PS If you are not talented, innovative or handsome we will have a short meeting before the 3:30 meeting to determine any new catagories that need to be established to fit your circumstance. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::STUN 6-JUL-1989 10:13:50.78 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: RIDE-ON S.T.U.N. RUNNER Yes folks, the new and improved S.T.U.N. RUNNER is now in the engineering common area. This new version is now available in the new RIDE-ON cabinet. Come over and play!!! NOTE: Please play one (1) credit at a time as we are trying to verify the coin stats routines. Thanks, The S.T.U.N. RUNNER Team ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 6-JUL-1989 14:12:43.11 To: GRAHAM,@STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JULY 6, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: 7 JUL 89 PROD RELEASE: 4 AUG 89 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 STUN Runner has been pulled from Milpitas Golfland after giving us good feedback on gameplay changes. We were #2 for two weeks (behind Hard Drivin') on 25 cent play! We are continuing to tweak the game play as per input from field test. Max Behensky has finished working on improving the vector mode of the GSP and has also improved overall performance for us. Stephanie Mott has made changes to the ADSP code to help us improve control response time and we are curretnly implemneting the changes neede to take advantage of her efforts. We are anticipating new audio including a new music track as well as some additional voice and sound effects. We have received the Field Test cabinet and set it up for test. The game is currently in the Engineering Common area. "Th-th-that's all folks!" ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::SAMANIEGO "Steph" 6-JUL-1989 15:46:41.28 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: In our continuing efforts to provide the best benefits, a supplemental Universal Life Insurance program is once again available. This program, called Benefits 360, is underwritten by Aetna Life Insurance and Annuity Company. We selected Benefits 360 because we think it offers our employees a good way to improve their financial security. Many financial experts say the type of universal life insurance offered in this plan is a smart choice because it features: Death Benefit protection when you need it, even if you move or retire. Cash Value that earns a competitive interest rate, with all interest earned tax-free until withdrawal. This excellent insurance is available to you with the advantages of "mass purchasing power". These include favorable underwriting, easy enrollment, and favorable rates. If you have been a full time or part time employee for the last 12 months and are over 21 years of age, you are eligible to participate in the Benefits 360 program. Participation in the program is voluntary, but I hope you will seriously consider what the plan can mean to you and those who depend on you. Keep these three points in mind: You will own your own policy and can purchase policies for your spouse, dependent children and grandchildren even if you don't have a policy yourself. Plan premiums are flexible enough to fit most budgets an you pay premiums through payroll deduction. If you should ever leave Atari Games employment, you policy goes with you without a premium change. To help you learn all you want to know about Benefits 360, you will have the chance to meet individually with an Aetna benefits counselor. Individual meetings are planned to start the week of July 10, 1989. Thank you, Yvette P.S. If you are not interested in this plan, you have to sign a waver. Please contact Yvette at x5850. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 6-JUL-1989 16:59:44.19 To: RAY,ROTBERG,CAMERON,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Stun Runner Stun Runner ----------- Last week I gave Art the inputs for Stun MultiSync, which requires marking the schematics to show what is loaded on the board and doing the parts list. It does not involve any PC layout changes. We have been bumped from the schedule by a job they are doing for Tengen. I have not been given a reschedule date. ADSP II ------- The parts list for the Stun Runner version of ADSP II is ready to be signed off. This assumes you want all six graphics ROMs stuffed. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 7-JUL-1989 14:49:26.66 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: Stun Runner Jed, Yep, we want (read as NEED) all 6 roms. Thanks -- will sign it off on Monday. Ed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 9-JUL-1989 15:27:19.99 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,RAY CC: Subj: Promotion of Pat McCarthy I am pleased to announce the promotion of Pat McCarthy to Supervisor, Electrical Design. Electrical Design is a new department created to centralize the hardware design and support efforts for the Alpha, Nu, and Omega teams. The personnel transferring into Electrical Design are Don Paauw, Tim Hubberstey, Cris Drobny, Farrokh Khodadadi, Glenn McNamara, and Alex Taccir. Pat will report to John Ray. Pat has been a key contributor in the hardware design area for many years. His broad background in customer service, digital design, ASIC design, and system design prepares him very well for his new role. Please lend Pat your support as he takes on his new responsibilities. Congratulations, Pat!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::GRAHAM 10-JUL-1989 15:47:24.39 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,@SYS$MAIL:TEAMTACO,WOOD,BROWN,SHEFFIELD,THOMPSON,FUJIHARA,SHIRLEY,MSHERMAN,BENZLER,MOMODA,WALLIN,SMITH,STEWART,BRESHEARS,BRYANT,DICKSON,MAEDER,WILLIAMS CC: Subj: NEWS FLASH PITCHERS FINALLY HAVE THEIR DAY, AUGUST 23, 1989!!!! NO! This isn't a story about the ATARI Survivors (how are they doin' anyway?). This is about YOUR chance (THE PITCHERS) to present your game ideas to project teams (THE PITCHEES) in what we call a "PITCH SESSION". Remember those great ideas you had at the last brainstorming? Did you feel that your group had a great idea only to be destined to the dusty shelves of antiquity? If so (or even if you have a new idea) here's your chance to let others hear about it! (AND, just for doing the pitch, your team will receive an incentive of $100.!) CAN YOU AFFORD TO PASS UP THIS OPPORTUNITY????? Of course not! Get your buddies together and stop by LOIS TURNER's office for your free Pitch Session Packet. It will outline what a Pitch Session is and show you how to present your idea. DO IT TODAY!!!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MOTT 10-JUL-1989 16:17:41.72 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: say what From: BERT::GRAHAM 10-JUL-1989 15:47 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,@SYS$MAIL:TEAMTACO,WOOD,BROWN,SHEFFIELD,THOMPSON,FUJIHARA,SHIRLEY,MSHERMAN,BENZLER,MOMODA,WALLIN,SMITH,STEWART,BRESHEARS,BRYANT,DICKSON,MAEDER,WILLIAMS Subj: NEWS FLASH PITCHERS FINALLY HAVE THEIR DAY, AUGUST 23, 1989!!!! NO! This isn't a story about the ATARI Survivors (how are they doin' anyway?). This is about YOUR chance (THE PITCHERS) to present your game ideas to project teams (THE PITCHEES) in what we call a "PITCH SESSION". Remember those great ideas you had at the last brainstorming? Did you feel that your group had a great idea only to be destined to the dusty shelves of antiquity? If so (or even if you have a new idea) here's your chance to let others hear about it! (AND, just for doing the pitch, your team will receive an incentive of $100.!) CAN YOU AFFORD TO PASS UP THIS OPPORTUNITY????? Of course not! Get your buddies together and stop by LOIS TURNER's office for your free Pitch Session Packet. It will outline what a Pitch Session is and show you how to present your idea. DO IT TODAY!!!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ROLM "SUTTLES, SHEPPERD, or ALBAUGH" 10-JUL-1989 18:14:56.96 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,ROLM CC: Subj: Just when you thought it was safe to pick up the phone... Hey, Tengen affictionados: We can't dial Tengen directly as though they were extensions, cuz the hardware didn't work reliably enough, and it cost an arm and a leg. However, there is a system speed dial to help you along. At an INSIDE dial tone, you can dial pound-6, and the last 4 digits of a Tengen extension (which you can get off the phone list). The first two digits of this will be 94. So, if you wanted to call their operator, you would dial pound, 6, 9, 4, 0, 0 (their operator's phone number is 473-9400). DO NOT DIAL 9 first, or you'll get wierd (but inexpensive) (and also useless) results. For those of you with ETS sets, you can replace the pound-6 part with SYS SPD. So you dial SYS SPD, 9, 4, 0, 0 to get the operator. Of course, for those whose tired fingers can't learn new tricks, the old way (9, 473-94xx) will still work. As will the old corporate phone number (ends in 2650), which we are trying to phase out. The phone list is again being updated. Be patient; James has quite a few things to do before he can give you a nicely printed copy. Watch for them at your local mail station, and let your fingers do the talking! sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::SAMANIEGO "Steph" 11-JUL-1989 15:18:45.89 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: WATER DO NOT DRINK THE WATER ON THE PREMISES UNTIL TOMORROW, IT HAS TO MUCH CHLORINE IN IT AND THE WATER COMPANY WON'T HAVE IT FLUSHED OUT UNTIL THEN. BOB FRYE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::SAMANIEGO "Steph" 11-JUL-1989 15:40:08.32 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: WATER THE CITY OF MILPITAS WAS JUST HERE AND THEY GAVE US AN A OK ON THE WATER, SO YOU CAN START DRINKING AWAY!!!! STEPH ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 13-JUL-1989 09:46:22.94 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,BRAD CC: Subj: ********** REMINDER ************ R.S.V.P. to Lois Turner by Monday July 17th if you are interested in pitching your game idea on Aug 24th. ********** REMINDER ************ ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::KHODADADI "Farokh Khodadadi" 13-JUL-1989 10:19:44.11 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Hard Drivin jackets So you all know about the jackets, and you're probably trying to zero in on the color of your choice to match your set of wheels. But you also wann'a know how much $ it's gonna set you back, right? Well that depends on the total number of orders that Elaine gets from everyone, but the most it can cost is about $40 maybe less. By the way we've moved the dead line to next Friday July 21st. I know I said Friday the 13th before, I was looking at July of 1990. Don't forget to tell Elaine if you want to have your name on the front of your jacket, it is a service that the vender is offering us at no extra charge. If you still have not seen it, go check it out at customer service. They have one in white but you can get it in black or red, I think one of each will be perfect ! decisions decisions ... ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 13-JUL-1989 13:22:21.59 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BRAD CC: Subj: Not everybody received this message so we're resending it NEWS FLASH!!! PITCHERS FINALLY HAVE THEIR DAY, August 23, 1989!!! NO! This isn't a story about the ATARI survivors (how are they doin' anyway?). This is about your chance (THE PITCHERS) to present your game idea to project teams (THE PITCHEES) in what we call a 'PITCH SESSION'. Remember those great ideas you had at the last brainstorming? Did you feel that your group had a great idea only to be destined to the dusty shelves of antiquity? If so (or even if you have a new idea) here's your chance to let others hear about it! (AND, just for doing the pitch, your team will receive an incentive of $100!) CAN YOU AFFORD TO PASS UP THIS OPPORTUNITITY? Of course not! Get your buddies together and stop by Lois Turner's office for your free Pitch Session Packet. It will outline what a Pitch Session is and show you how to present your idea. DO IT TODAY!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LTURNER 13-JUL-1989 16:44:43.33 To: BRAD,BYRON,DIEKNEITE,MONCRIEF,MARGOLIN,BEHENSKY,MOTT,DURFEY CC: Subj: Monday Meeting There will be a meeting on Monday, July 17, in the central conference room at 2:00 PM. The engineering bonus plan will be discussed. If you are interested please plan to attend. LBT P.S. Payday is tomorrow. I will be in my office from 10:00 - 11:00 if you wish to pick up your check. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 14-JUL-1989 18:16:47.68 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BRAD CC: Subj: R E M I D E R ********** REMINDER ************ R.S.V.P. to Lois Turner by Monday July 17th if you are interested in pitching your game idea on Aug 24th. ********** REMINDER ************ ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::SMITH 18-JUL-1989 14:29:35.27 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Stockroom/Incoming Receiving/Incoming Inspection Reorganization. Sorry about the short notice but things seem to happen faster than we can communicate them. If you have been in the manufacturing area in building 735 anytime this week you would have seen some contractors working on lighting and new fencing which will illuminate and secure the manufacturing inventory. We had a very small window, in between Escape, Skull & Xbones, and Cyberball to accomplish this reorganization. We are currently planning to follow this simplified schedule: 1. Incoming Receiving - Shutdown Thursday July 20th at 12:30pm and re-open Tuesday morning July 25th. Possibly earlier ! 2. Stockroom - Shutdown Thursday July 20th at 2:00pm and re-open Tuesday morning July 25th. During this shutdown period we will restructure the stockroom strictly in part number sequence with locator addresses for the material that must be stored in bulk locations. Additionally we will do a complete physical inventory to insure an accurate on hand quantity. This is an extremely aggressive schedule and will require the complete focus of the entire materials organization. It would be of great help if any material requirement that you have during this four day period could be requested by 12:00pm on Thursday July 20th. We would do our very best to fill those orders by 2:30pm the same day. Also if you are expecting the receipt of a Purchase Order that MUST be received, please let me know, we'll make sure it is received and that you are notified. Thanx very much for your understanding and patience. We will be looking forward to showing you our NEW Stockroom in the very near future when we have our OPEN HOUSE. Tom Smith ext. 3923 ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::SAMANIEGO "Steph" 18-JUL-1989 15:59:11.58 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Armed and Dangerous Just a word of warning to ALL: Our Fed Ex man just informed me that there are two guys in the McCarthy area that are armed and dangerous, the police are in the area trying to trap them. So be careful when you leave today. Steph ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LINDA "Evening Receptionist" 18-JUL-1989 16:43:46.83 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: ARMED & DANGEROUS THE ARMED AND DANGEROUS INDIVIDUAL AS REPORTED BY THE MILPITAS POLICE DEPT. IS A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD ELMWOOD ESCAPEE THAT HAS ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTED SOMEONE WITH A GOLF CLUB. THE POLICE BELIEVE THAT HE IS STILL IN THE AREA. PLEASE BE CAREFUL LEAVING THE BLDG. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::MELCHOR 19-JUL-1989 11:09:04.57 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Indusrial Design/Product Design/Drawing File Reorganization Sorry about the short notice but things happen faster than we can communicate them. If you haven't noticed our AutoCad stations and Plot paper files are really a mess lately with the rush to release Ride-On Stun Runner. We have an extremely small porthole to work with in between Escape Graphics, Skull & Crossbones and Cyberball Kits to accomplish this reorganization. This will be an astronomically aggressive schedule and will require the most intensly focused effort of the entire I.D. and Product Design group. Tanks very much for all the support, in advance, since we will have to shut down the department for 67.89 minutes. we will be looking forward to showing you our drawers in the ever so close future when we have an open house. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::STEVIE 19-JUL-1989 11:19:29.43 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: DRAWING FILES/HARNESS PARTS/TELEPHONE LISTS/MTO REORGANIZATION SORRY FOR THE INCREDIBLY SHORT NOTICE, BUT THINGS SEEM TO HAPPEN FASTER THAN WE CAN COMMUNICATE THEM. IF YOU HAVE BEEN IN THE HARNESS AREA LATELY, YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THE HUGE PILE OF TIE WRAPS AND WIRE SCRAPS UNDER THE WORKBENCH. WE SEEM TO HAVE A TEENY TINY KEYHOLE IN BETWEEN ESCAPE, WANI-WANI, HATA-HATA, CROSS & SKULLBONES, STUNTED RUNNER, SKYBERBALL, AND DRIVIN' TO ACCOMPLISH THIS TOTAL REVAMP OF THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT. WE WILL BE SWEEPING ALL OUR WORK UNDER THE CARPET AT 2:37 THIS AFTERNOON, NECESSITATING A 34.6 MINUTE SHUTDOWN. IF YOU NEEED ANYTHING DONE BEFORE THIS TIME, JUST LET US KNOW IN THE NEXT THREE MINUTES AND WE'LL SEE WHAT WE CAN DO. WE WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO SHOWING YOU OUR NEW FACILITY IN THE NEAR NEAR FUTURE WHEN WE HAVE OUR OPEN HOUSE. MAYBE WE CAN ALL GET TOGETHER AND COORDINATE THE OPEN HOUSES. HARNESS DESIGN ext. 85 ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::EVELYN 19-JUL-1989 11:39:55.60 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Engineering Documentation Renumbering Sorry about the short notice but things happen faster than We can communicate them. If you haven't noticed lately the number sequence on the documentation has way too many digits in them. I have an outragously miniscule pinhole to work with what with the release of Stun Runner coming and all to accomplish this task. This will be an unbelievably aggressive schedule and will require the shutdown of the department for 17.27 weeks. thank you all for your understanding. The new system will begin with drawing number 0000001 effective in 17.28 weeks. I will have an open house when I'm good and ready!!!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 20-JUL-1989 10:13:50.83 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: Stun Runner Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JULY 20, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: 4 AUG 89 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 We have two games out on Filed Test now, both in the Ride-On cabinet. One game at Emerald Hills is set of 50 cent play / 50 cent continue. The other game at Sunnyvale Golfland is set on 50 cent player / 25 cent continue. Both games appear to be doing very well. Pete Takaichi has generated an updated Release Schedule for STUN Runner. For those needing specific information from this new chedule, see Pete for a copy. Specifically, however, the schedule addresses not only production and pre-prod issues, but the building of the 6 games for the AMOA show in September as well. Everything looks to be on shedule for both the show dates and the scheduled FGA. Rick Meyette ran a preliminary FCC test and temperature test on the Sunnyvale Test unit before it went out to test. Changes to placement of the PCBs and power supply are being planned as a result of that test. We will be delivering another game to Rick by the 27th of July for further testing. This one will be as close to a production version as possible. As for the temperature results, the attract header has been vented to bring the temperature of that section of the cabinet into acceptable range. Software developement continues. I will generate a complete list of remaining software action items by the end of the week. New scenarios have been programmed for the Chopper and the Ornobot enemies and a new attract demo sequence is nearly complete. Screen graphics are in pretty good shape. We will need some "end-game" animations done, but aside from that, some "text screen beautification" and fixing minor tunnel problems, everything is looking good. We have received new audio for the game. This includes new opening music, as well as an improved shockwave sound and a number of new voice cues. In addition, the SAII audio board has been modified to address the amplitude problems relative to the AD-PCM section versus the Yamaha section of the audio. Jed Margolin has given us what appears to the final version of the stand-alone self-test ROMS. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 20-JUL-1989 15:28:10.93 To: ROTBERG,STUN,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Stun Runner Self-Test The following things remain to be done in order for Stun Runner Self-Test to be complete: 1. Turn on checksums for the program ROMs that will be used; 2. Use final Sound ID number for the test sound; 3. Integrate the ROM with the Stun Runner program. (Self-Test uses about half of the ROM 0 pair.) I have specified Slapstic 17. According to MANMAN we have 2,745 Slapstic 17s in inventory and the part was assigned only to the Driver, which did not use it. If it is changed for any reason it will be necessary to change Self-Test which works through Slapstic to get ROM 7 checksums. Don Paauw is on vacation this week and therefore unavailable for comment if we are to release the Hardware this week. I have a list of the pulls and keys for Slapstic 17 if you want it. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 24-JUL-1989 15:36:17.84 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BROWN CC: Subj: 401(K) MEETINGS IF YOU ARE A PERMANENT EMPLOYEE, YOU SHOULD ATTEND ONE OF THE 401(K) MEETINGS TOMORROW. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU ARE OR ARE NOT PRESENTLY ENROLLED IN THE PLAN. TRY TO ATTEND THE MEETING SPECIFICALLY SCHEDULED FOR YOUR DEPARTMENT, BUT IF THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE, PLEASE TRY TO ATTEND ANOTHER. THE FIRST THREE MEETINGS WILL BE HELD IN THE CAFETERIA OF BUILDING 675. THE 3:00 MEETING WILL BE HELD IN THE LUNCH ROOM IN THE TENGEN/AOI BUILDING (1623 BUCKEYE, MILPITAS). MEETING SCHEDULE - TUESDAY, JULY 25: DESIGN SERVICES & ADMINISTRATION - 8:30 A.M. ENGINEERING - 10:00 A.M. MANUFACTURING - 1:30 P.M. TENGEN/AOI - 3:00 P.M. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 27-JUL-1989 11:02:42.62 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: JULY 27, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: 4 AUG 89 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 The PCB assemblies for the MultiSync board and the ADSP II board have been released. We have also given a parts list to manufacturing listing the parts and quantities required by engineering to build the 6 AMOA show games. The SA II audio PCB has been finished, and the parts list has been sent to manufacturing. The final release should happen by 8/4. Software developement continues. I have generate a completed list of remaining software action items. The new attract demo sequence is complete. The "Final challenge" has been added and debugged, and the track design and traffic for the final challenge level is nearly complete. We will now begin to add the intermediate challenge levels. Screen graphics are in pretty good shape. We will still need some "end-game" animations done, but Will is on vacation, and he should be able to get to that when he returns. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 27-JUL-1989 18:39:09.32 To: BYRON,ROTBERG,RAY,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: SA II ROMs ROMs for SA II -------------- The schematics for the SA II call for 300 ns 27512s. If that is what you really want, then that is what I will specify. However, you should know that a 27512 is an NMOS part and we do not stock them and they may be difficult to get. (CMOS has generally taken over.) Note also that we do not stock 300 ns EPROMs or OTPs. Tell me which part you want to use. EPROMs ------ Type Atari PN Speed Type Cost # in inventory --------- ---------- ------ ---- ----- -------------- 27C512-300 137448-300 300 ns CMOS $ none 0 27C512-250 137448-250 250 ns CMOS $ 4.50 52,238 27C512-200 137448-200 200 ns CMOS $ 5.70 17,487 27512-300 137444-300 300 ns NMOS $ 6.75 0 27512-250 137444-250 250 ns NMOS $ 6.50 0 27512-200 137444-200 200 ns NMOS $ 7.90 0 OTPs ----- 27C512-300 137454-300 300 ns CMOS $ 3.80 0 27C512-250 137454-250 250 ns CMOS $ 5.10 46,559. 27C512-200 137454-200 200 ns CMOS $ 5.35 23,511. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 27-JUL-1989 19:08:40.22 To: JOE,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Stun Runner SA II ROM numbers Here are the part numbers for Stun Runner SA II: The schematics calls for 27512-300 but since we don't have any, Byron has approved the use of 27C512-250 . 136070-1123 10C 27C512, 250 ns 136070-1124 1C/D 27C512, 250 ns 136070-1125 1D/E 27C512, 250 ns 136070-1126 1E/F 27C512, 250 ns 136070-1127 1F/H 27C512, 250 ns Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 28-JUL-1989 20:15:23.90 To: JOE,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: SA II ROMs I have looked at the SA II TOPP.LIS and although you have used the programmed part numbers I gave you, you have listed the parts as 300 ns even though I asked you to use 250 ns. Please explain. (Did someone tell you to do this?) Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::JOE 31-JUL-1989 13:00:41.67 To: MARGOLIN,JOE CC: Subj: SA II ROMS JED, BYRON SHEPPARD CHANGED THE PARTS TO 300N. HE WAS TOLD BY HIS SUPERIORS TO CALL OUT 300N BUT OK 250N WHEN PURCHASING ASKED TO SUBSTITUTE.THIS WAS A LAST MINUTE CHANGE BEFORE RELEASING THE PARTS LIST.I AM SORRY YOU WERE NOT KEPT INFORMED. JOE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::STUN 3-AUG-1989 11:24:00.59 To: @STUN.DIS CC: Subj: 8/6/89 Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: AUGUST 06, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: 4 AUG 89 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 18 SEP 89 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 14 JUL 89 /*=======================================================================*/ /* NOTICE */ /* */ /* Ireland has imformed us that STUN RUNNER is currently using the coin */ /* switches for various functions within Self Test. This, unfortunately */ /* creates a problem as Ireland uses electronic coin mechs. We are */ /* currently looking into altering our use of the coin switches but do */ /* know, at this time, how much work is involved. For the unit currently */ /* in Ireland, we recommend that they use the same fix procedure that */ /* was used on the Hard Drivin' units. If at all possible, we will */ /* supply Ireland with a software update. NOTE: we are currently making */ /* no promises as to when and if this problem can be fixed. */ /* */ /*=======================================================================*/ Ed Rotberg is at Siggraph this week. Software development continues on the design of various intermediate challenge levels. The "Ultimate Challenge", and "Bonus Marker Challenge" levels have been designed. Though the "Bonus Marker Challenge" is not fully implemented at this time. By 8/14, all challenge levels should be designed and implemented. Screen graphics have been cleaned up and are in pretty good shape. Will Noble is currently looking into the "end-game" animations, but will not be able to work on them until he has completed "ThunderJaws" focus graphics. The PCB assemblies for the MultiSync board and the ADSP II board have been released. We have also given a parts list to manufacturing listing the parts and quantities required by engineering to build the 6 AMOA show games. The STUN RUNNER action list is slowly dwindling. Even with the FGA move up, it looks like we should have no trouble meeting our schedule. Thanks, The STUN RUNNER TEAM ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 3-AUG-1989 15:36:41.76 To: MCNAMARA,AVELLAR,PIERCE,ROTBERG,FLANAGAN,MONCRIEF,BEHENSKY,MARGOLIN,DURFEY,RAY CC: Subj: 401K letter to Sandi -- FYI Inter-Office Memo Atari Games Corporation To: Sandi Brown From: John Ray Subject: 401K Money Market Fund Date: 8/3/89 _____________________________________________________________ As we discussed last week, there are several people who would like to see the Money Market Fund available as one of the options for the 401K plans. The main reason is that none of the other plans invest in securities "backed by the full faith and security of the U.S. government". Several people have indicated that they want to have some portion of their savings to be very secure, regardless of any financial crisis that may occur. As you suggested, I sent out a VAX message to the people who report to Chris, Rick Moncrief, and me asking who would like to invest in the Money Market Fund. The following people indicated that they would like to invest in it: John Ray Bob Flanagan Glenn McNamara Rick Moncrief Norm Avellar Max Behensky Mark Pierce Jed Margolin Ed Rotberg Erik Durfey I would appreciate it very much if you could approach Dennis Wood about adding the Money Market Fund to our list of options. Please let me know if I can do anything else to help accomplish this goal. Thank you!! c.c. Rich Moore ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 3-AUG-1989 15:36:41.76 To: MCNAMARA,AVELLAR,PIERCE,ROTBERG,FLANAGAN,MONCRIEF,BEHENSKY,MARGOLIN,DURFEY,RAY CC: Subj: 401K letter to Sandi -- FYI Inter-Office Memo Atari Games Corporation To: Sandi Brown From: John Ray Subject: 401K Money Market Fund Date: 8/3/89 _____________________________________________________________ As we discussed last week, there are several people who would like to see the Money Market Fund available as one of the options for the 401K plans. The main reason is that none of the other plans invest in securities "backed by the full faith and security of the U.S. government". Several people have indicated that they want to have some portion of their savings to be very secure, regardless of any financial crisis that may occur. As you suggested, I sent out a VAX message to the people who report to Chris, Rick Moncrief, and me asking who would like to invest in the Money Market Fund. The following people indicated that they would like to invest in it: John Ray Bob Flanagan Glenn McNamara Rick Moncrief Norm Avellar Max Behensky Mark Pierce Jed Margolin Ed Rotberg Erik Durfey I would appreciate it very much if you could approach Dennis Wood about adding the Money Market Fund to our list of options. Please let me know if I can do anything else to help accomplish this goal. Thank you!! c.c. Rich Moore ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 4-AUG-1989 17:02:04.69 To: MARGOLIN,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: This is the information I have on the AMP extraction tool for the PQFP used in ADSP II: [I don't have one; I have never used one; I don't know if it is any good.] EXTRACTION TOOL: 821958-1 (100 position) $98.00 The tool is for: Micro-Pitch Socket for Plastic Quad Flat Pack (PQFP) ICs Housing 821949-4, Cover 821939-1 AMP Bob Grant 255-3830 Corrinda (Sales Desk) Eric (Product Specialist) Kirk (if no one else will return your call). Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 7-AUG-1989 15:10:10.59 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BROWN CC: Subj: 401(K) ENROLLMENT FORMS R E M I N D E R R E M I N D E R R E M I N D E R R E M I N D E R 401(K) ENROLLMENT FORMS ARE DUE IN THE HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICE TOMORROW, 8/8 R E M I N D E R R E M I N D E R R E M I N D E R R E M I N D E R ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SMITHSON "Deja Thoris -- Princess of Mars" 8-AUG-1989 12:00:35.19 To: @[-]ATARICIZE.DIS,SMITHSON CC: Subj: Brainstorming A T A R I C I Z E B R A I N S T O R M I N G When: Wednesday, August 9th, 2:00 PM Where: Engineering Conference Room Please RSVP via VAXMAIL to this address You are invited to attend an Ataricize brainstorming meeting. Our initial thrust will be at the coin-op market with exercycle derivatives to follow on later. So bring your ideas about types of bikes, tracks, races, cabinet, controls, tournaments, ... and whatever else would make it a FUN arcade piece to the meeting. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 10-AUG-1989 11:51:51.27 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: AUGUST 10, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: < 4 AUG 89> 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 18 SEP 89 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 FGA has been moved forward by one week, as everything is proceeding smoothly. An ECN was issued for the formed seat part so that the drawing corresponded better with the tolerances acutally used for the part. Cabinet graphics have been released. The game graphics are in pretty good shape. Except for the ending sequence and some background for the "points" attract screen we are in pretty good shape. The audio is also in pretty good shape except for the male voice and the Boost sound. We are experimenting with a Yamaha sound for the boost right now in order to avoid priority problems. I don't know what is going to happen with the male audio voice. Program development continues. We have added the Ultimate challenge as well as the Marker challenge level and all the hooks to add the Kill challenge level. The Kill challenge level should be in by the end of the day. We are trying to get a new version ready for field test that includes the new Challenge levels in order to firm up the "legs" of the game. Other tuning and tweaking continues also. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LTURNER 10-AUG-1989 16:16:35.31 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Sho Graphics Press Release The following press release was placed in several computer graphics publications prior to the SIGGRAPH '89 Conference. NEW 3-D GRAPHICS ENGINE FROM ATARI GAMES TO BE ON DISPLAY AT SIGGRAPH SHOW MILPITAS, Calif., July 5, 1989 -- A new high-performance 3-D graphics engine, promising advanced capabilities at a fraction of the cost of similar products, will be on display at the upcoming SIGGRAPH '89 Conference, July 31 - August 4 in Boston. The new graphics engine, dubbed ShoView, is under development by Sho Graphics, a division of Milpitas, Calif.- based Atari Games Corporation. According to Rich Moore, Vice President/Engineering, ShoView will compete with a growing category of solid modeling engines designed for CAD/CAM, architectural, simulation, video animation and other sophisticated 3-D applications. ShoView will operate with an IBM PC and other IBM-compatible systems, Moore said. ShoView's impressive solid modeling performance allows a wide variety of users to create more complex and highly realistic 3-D scenes and images. The power of the ShoView architecture allows 1 million 3-D matrix transformations per second, breaking major price/performance barriers. In excess of 190,000 clipped and projected polygons per second can be processed. In contrast to other systems, Gourand shading and texture mapping are fully supported by the unique ShoView architecture without loss of frame fill rate. Application programs can use a high-level 3-D graphics library, allowing greatly enhanced levels of interactivity when dealing with complex 3-D objects and scenes. ShoView will interface with any standard multi- sync monitor having VGA line resolution, and displays over 65,000 simultaneous colors from a palette of 16 million. Lighting is automatically calculated using up to four independent white light sources. Also, each pixel has a 16-bit z buffer, and the system features a double-buffered display screen and fast screen clear. Sho Graphics expects to ship small quantities of ShoView systems to the field by fourth quarter 1989, with full scale production and shipping beginning in first quarter 1990. Specific marketing and distribution plans have not been finalized, Moore reported. "Our overall plan is to bring a product to market that will offer far greater processing power and more advanced features for less than half the cost of other advanced graphics products now entering the market," he said. Moore reported that Sho Graphics's primary goals at SIGGRAPH will be to demonstrate ShoView to industry insiders, as well as to continue the process of encouraging software developers to write new ShoView applications for other computer systems and workstations via the HOOPS library. "Our basic message at SIGGRAPH will be that we have developed a highly cost-effective hardware solution which allows a broad range of applications to tap the power of interactive 3-D graphics," Moore said. "We believe this product offers an extraordinarily high level of performance that will bring quality 3-D graphic capability to users previously priced out of interactive 3-D graphics, or those who were dissatisfied with existing systems." This year's SIGGRAPH conference is expected to draw up to 30,000 visitors to Boston's Hynes Convention Center. Sho Graphics will demonstrate ShoView in booth #2355. In addition, the firm will offer a hospitality suite, allowing software developers and other interested conference-goers a chance to meet with the ShoView development team and company officials. Sho Graphics is a new division of Atari Games Corporation, one of the world's leading video game software and hardware developers, and is headquartered at 675 Sycamore Drive, Milpitas, Calif., 95035-1110; (408) 434-3700. Atari Games Corporation is a privately held company, is not affiliated with Atari Corporation, and should be referred to as Atari Games. # # # # ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 14-AUG-1989 13:33:28.99 To: KIM::MARGOLIN,SHEPPERD CC: Subj: RE: Vax Version 5.0 We will eventually load up vms 5 (probably 5.2), but I can't say exactly when we will be doing this. To be sure, EVERYTHING will break when we do, and due to the nature of the beast, all the systems have to be set to vms 5 at the same time. We don't relish the problems this is going to cause and are certainaly in no hurry to get to them. The saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::STUN 15-AUG-1989 20:14:27.42 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. RUNNER Yes Folks! A new and improved version of S.T.U.N. RUNNER is now in the engineering common area. Come check out the new features: 3 new inter- mediate challenge levels (Bonus Markers, Enemy Kills, and Boost Pad Speed- er) and of course the Ultimate Challenge. Give it a try and please feel free to give us any feedback. The game is nearing completion and we'd like to clean up any problems you might find. Thanks in advance, The S.T.U.N. RUNNER Team ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::ROLM "SUTTLES, SHEPPERD, or ALBAUGH" 16-AUG-1989 16:03:19.60 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,ROLM CC: Subj: The difference between pay PHONES and PAY phones I just got a flyer from Pacific Bell with regards to a new rate proposal. The folder is very informative. It confirms much of what was speculated and surmised, and the new rates attempt to address some major discrepancies. The way things are now: Depending on whose pay phone it is, local calls can cost any amount they want to charge. Of particular significance is that some calls may be rejected. Also, calls from a pay phone may be cut off in the middle (or even in the beginning) if you are calling from a non-reputable (read non- Bell-Operating-company) pay phone. You may or may not be able to get to 800 numbers, 911, and even 0 may not work. Often you can't select long distance carriers. You probably won't be able to dial 411, or 555 numbers in any area code. The reason is that they can't charge you for those calls; they don't make money, you can't talk. Many pay phones are unmarked or misleadingly marked with regards to operating company and long distance carrier. As Mike has pointed out, many unethical companies go to great lengths to allow you to decieve yourself (they won't explicitly identify themselves as AT&T or Pacific Bell or any Bell operating company, but they will suggest it and allow you to believe it). There is a 40 cent surcharge per call for using calling cards from a pay phone. The way I read it, it is irrelevant whose card it is (Pac Bell, AT&T, MCI, Sprint, or Fly-By-Night Enterprises). There is also a $1 surcharge for collect calls, so don't expect to save money that way. They are proposing to fix many of these wrongs. The surcharges will remain, however. In addition, they are proposing a 30 cent surcharge for operator assistance (any number starting with 0), which will be charged in addition to the 40 cents or dollar charge for the call itself. The Bell operating companies (Pacific Bell, Nevada Bell, etc) are known to be reputable. You're not going to get screwed by these guys. The major long distance carriers (AT&T, MCI, Sprint, and there may or may not be others, but I know about these guys) are also in it for the long haul, and don't want to lose your business at home or work because of a single call. But the other guys (FBNE, etc) are out for the quick bucks, and specialise in pay phones and hotels. Some hotels are rejecting the low bidders on phone services because the guests get so inflamed. This is currently news...most allow the customer to pick up the tab, and the heat. If you travel, check at the desk BEFORE you pick up the phone. Some hotels even charge you to call the front desk. And check your bill; if you call somewhere on a calling card, sometimes the computer will charge you anyways, and at hotel rates. The point of all this is: The situation is very bad. It's easy to get taken, and for an awful lot of money. Don't use hotel phones unless you know in advance what carrier they use (you probably won't be able to select) and you know about the hotels phone rates, and you STILL want to make the call. On a pay phone, ALWAYS select your carrier. Don't make local calls on calling cards. And last but most important, if a pay phone or hotel phone is deemed unacceptable, COMPLAIN. Go down to the desk and ask the manager where you can make a call without getting reamed, just to let him know that he is losing business. Ask him "what other hotels use this phone system so I can better plan my next trip." If you can't dial information or the operator, mark the phone out of order. If you can't select your carrier at a pay phone (ALWAYS select your carrier, even for what you think are local calls), complain to the owner of the business that his phone service is inadequate, and ask to use his phone. When he says he won't, ask where to find another 7-11 or gas station or (whatever business it is) that has a pay phone that works. ALWAYS mark the phone out of order (and why) when you discover something you should be able to do but can't (like no 800 calls). Maybe these guys will wise up and clean up their act, or wise up and close up. And you'll save yourself a fortune, even if it is only calling for pizza to the hotel room. A local call from a hotel can run past $10. Selecting a carrier: There is a number (10288 or 1-0-ATT for ATT, 10222 for MCI, and another (102xx) for any other carrier. You insert this before the call. Your normal long distance carrier is trying real hard for you to memorize their number. You should. I don't remember the one for Sprint, but if Sprint is what you use, look on your bill, and I'm sure you'll find it. Only depend on what you know to be the case (your home carrier and the carrier at work (which is MCI, by the way)). The soapbox is now available for the next speaker. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 17-AUG-1989 11:42:57.79 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: AUGUST 17, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: < 4 AUG 89> 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 18 SEP 89 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 Game graphics are in very good shape. We are primarily waiting on the end-game sequence stuff. including fireworks and the kissy-kissy animation. Audio is also in pretty good shape. We need to do some fine tuning of amplitude levels, and decide whether or not to keep the male voice or add some more female voice. Program development continues. We have added the Kill Challenge as and the Boost Challenge level, and all attendant high score tables. All that remains for actual "game play" is final tuning. We have also added the automatic reset of high score table mode as an operator selectable option. Work is also in progress on coding the end-game sequence. Jed has given the final Self-Test code, and we are doing a trial run of adding all of the various and sundry checksums needed to the multi-sync and ADSP rom sets. Jed and Ed are currently working on putting together the operator's manual for the game. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::HOFF 18-AUG-1989 21:28:32.55 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Repeat showing of the ShoView demonstrations from Siggraph 89 Very few people at Atari have had the opportunity to see the interactive, graphic demonstrations of the ShoView product that were presented Siggraph 89 in Boston earlier this August. They will be on display in the central conference room of 675 Sycamore from 10 am until 12 noon: Please stop in and take a look. The Holy Grail/System3D/Sigma/ShoGraphics/ShoView team ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::HOFF 21-AUG-1989 11:28:45.27 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: ShoView Demo deschedule OOPS!! No ShoView demo today. I left out the date of the demo and the ShoView demo has been delayed until further vaxmail notice. (We hope to do it later this week.) The Holy Grail/System3D/Sigma/ShoGraphics/ShoView team ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::STUN 23-AUG-1989 12:34:40.89 To: @REVIEW.DIS CC: Subj: STUN RUNNER REVIEW UPDATE All in house versions of STUN RUNNER are currently upgraded for the thursday review: upright and sit-down in common area sit-down in ID area (currently in photo lab) Please take the time to play this new version before tomorrows review. The add-a-coin continue update is currently in the game (add-a-coin puts player in next level rather than forcing them to repeat the level they died on). Thanks The STUN RUNNER Team ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SHEPPERD 23-AUG-1989 22:06:36.23 To: @sys$mail:ee,SHEPPERD CC: Subj: New tools... Be on the alert. I released a new version of LLF (v3.0) which fixed a number of problems and has a completely redesigned internal expression evaluator. The new expression evaluator was to accomodate the requirements of the MACAS and MAC68K assemblers. I also released new versions of MAC65, MACAS, MAC68K and MACPP which have some minor bug fixes and one major change which you might want to use. Namely, the .ENABLE/.DSABLE LOWER_CASE option. Using this option will enable/disable case sensitivity on label, symbol, macro keyword and dummy argument names. This is the only way to get lowercase labels/symbols into the object file. Also, using .ENABLE LOWER will cause the assemblers to pass the psect name unchanged to the object file (i.e. it won't add the trailing "_" to the name). The defaults are .DSABLE LOWER for MAC65 and MACPP and .ENABL LOWER for MACAS and MAC68K. (Note that .ENABL LC does nothing, it is just for compatability with older MAC65 programs). I also added the "0x" prefix to numbers to indicate hexidecimal radix. I.e. a hex number can be expressed globally with .radix 16, or locally with ^X, ^H, 0x or 0X prefixed. The ^X or ^H options allow for temporary radix change in an expression, where the 0x is only recognised on an individual number: ^X<some_expression>+0x123456 - 0xFFFF The following is an exceprt from the changes files for LLF and MACxx in case you're interested: /********************************************************************** * * LLF edit history * * 890823_DMS - v3.0 (not released before this date). Fixed a bug in * the expression evaluator which inadvertanly zapped one * of the terms of a compound expression. Modules affected: * symdef and pass2. * * 890722_DMS - v3.0 no different from 2.9 but because of the substantial * changes in 2.8 and 2.9 (neither were released), this * version change indicates that the differences were major. * * 890720_DMS - v2.9 Changed the way segment names are handled. They now * are stored internally with a trailing space so they won't * match a like named global symbol (the space is removed * when the name is put in the output file). I also changed * the expression output such that if the expression resolves * to a constant, it is converted to a text string (.LB output * only). This makes the .LB output file quite a bit smaller. * Fixed a bug in .start handling. Modules affected: outx, * pass1, pass2, object. This version never released. * * 890104_DMS - v2.8 .TEST couldn't have worked with the way the expressions * were handled (seperate stacks). So expression handling was * completly re-written, now closely resembling the expression * handling in MACxx. Modules affected: Most of them but * mainly symdef, pass2 and outx. This version never released. * * 881108_DMS - v2.7 Added relational operator support and a new object * record type, .TEST, that displays a message if an expression * resolves to true (not 0). * Modules affected: * object,pass1,symdef * /*************************************************************************** * * MAC65 edit history * * 890823_DMS v7.7 (Not released before this date.) Incorrectly computed * the number of terms in a complex expression during * output resulting in LLF barfing on the expression * record. Module affected: OUTX. * * 890721_DMS v7.7 Added lowercase sensitivity for symbols and section * names. Added 0x as a hexidecimal indicator. The * .enabl lower option selects the lower case sensitivity * and defaults to off for MAC65 and MACPP and on for * MACAS and MAC68K. This version never released. * * 890124_DMS v7.6 Added features to support MAC68K including a new * .TEST directive which broke LLF. This version * never released. * * 881025_DMS v7.5 Added features to support the ASAP processor and * MACPP (mostly conditional compilation). Modules * affected: All of them. * ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 24-AUG-1989 09:48:09.00 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: ex STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: AUGUST 24, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: < 4 AUG 89> 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 18 SEP 89 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 Game graphics are in excellent shape. We pretty much have all we need with the possible exception of some final tweaking or re-working a few items (I would like to get all the seams out of the tunnels & fix the simple station pieces.) Audio is also in pretty good shape. We still need to decide whether or not to keep the male voice or add some more female voice. We also need the victory music added for the final sequence, and a few more explosions would be nice. Program development continues. We have changed the continue mode to proceed to the next game level instead of making the player play through each level until he completes it. This has solved a number of other related small problems. We have tweaked the attracted mode some more. Andy has almost finished the end-game animation sequence. When that is complete, we plan to spend the rest of our time fine-tuning the traffic layout in each level. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SMITHSON "Deja Thoris -- Princess of Mars" 24-AUG-1989 14:19:47.37 To: MARGOLIN,SMITHSON CC: Subj: Tilting pixblits Since this display is bit-mapped, could we get rotating pixblits by just specifying a delta scanline and delta pixel address for some rectangular pixblit picture as it is being output to the display? That is, start at the lower left of a pixblit buffer and for every x-pos you advance in the source, advance an x-pos and decrement the scanline in the destination to get a 45 degree angle. There could be a table of integer rations of delta rise over delta run for roughly 5 degree intervals of rotation. Then the program would select the nearest one. Would it still be too slow to be feasible? I figured it would be less distracting to have some scrolling which is less than smooth compared to the jarring effect of the scenery blinking out when the player's point of view is rolled. Bonnie ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::THEURER 24-AUG-1989 19:33:31.12 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE,@SYS$MAIL:ANIMATORS CC: Subj: RADMOD,VPIF,TEK update 8/22/89 RADMOD, VPIF, and TEK update: ------------------------------------------------------- If you would prefer not to be bothered by future RADMOD, VPIF, or TEK updates, stop reading and reply as such via VAXMAIL. ------------------------------------------------------- If you don't know what I'm talking about, "run [theurer.pps]radmod" will allow you to do almost anything imaginable to graphics files in the areas of file format conversion, palette management, image manipulation(scaling,rotation...), and usage reporting (palette & pixel usage, display on VT101, ...) . "run [theurer.ws]vpif" will allow you (with just a flick of your finger) to view graphics files on the VAX on one of our 2 GPX 19" color monitors (back in the Holy Grail 3d terminal room). This is great for weeding out trash files or checking things before burning EPROMS. "run [theurer.cop.tek]tek" will give you a color printout of a graphics file in almost any format. RADMOD, VPIF, and TEK all use the same file format decoding code, so if one can do it, they all can. RADMOD has undergone major internal reconstructive surgery (to make it easier to modify and to fix some bugs), and a few new features have been added. Please report any bugs to me ASAP. If you run into a problem with the new version and need to temporarily run the old one, it has been moved to RADMOD_SAFE. New features: --> Diffusion dithering is available when reducing the number of colors. This can sometimes produce amazing results with only 16 colors. --> Reads PICS type animation files. This means you can use Macromind's Director and EA's Studio/1 to create animation and then easily convert it to RAD format. --> Outputs to TEXTURE file format (for Holy Grail 3D hardware). --> Inputs and outputs ASCII format (the low byte of pixel). With this you can get a printout of the picture's actual pixel values. Or you can edit the picture from your VT101 keyboard. Warning on this: it only looks at the low 4 bits of a pixel, and it only transfers the 1st palette. --> Reads IFF/ILBM HAM files (4096 colors) from the Amiga. --> Reads old fashioned PICT1 files from the Mac. --> Attempts to handle merging of several input files with different palettes into one output palette. If it detects that you're trying to do this, it will present you with a list of 6 options. This works great for combining multiple RAD files into one. --> Reads and writes BOB file format (in honor of Bob Flanagan). This is your most basic format, where all you've got is the picture size, it's palette, and the uncompressed pixels. This is the format to use if you have a program that generates pictures that you want to get into RAD format. Minor changes: --> If you're converting a bunch of RAD cels to a format which only holds one cel per file (such as NEO), it will now tack the cel # onto the end of the filename for all files after the first. This makes it easier to figure out what's in those files. In the past it created new file names by tacking a 1,2,3.... onto the end of the filename. --> When you ask for a list of cells (the L answer to "choose cells?") it will now indicate which cells you've already done and which ones you're going to do. You can back out a selection by entering it with a - sign in front of it. And you can now exit without doing anything. --> DPIC (display picture on screen) now gives you the option of looking at the low 4 bits (the pixel value) or the high 4 bits (the palette number) for each pixel on your VT101 monitor.. Bug fixes: --> Occasional crashes due to memory allocation problems. --> DMUL (display multiple palette usage within stamps) used to give erroneous results if palettes higher than 3 were used. So there. Dave Theurer ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 24-AUG-1989 19:38:40.00 To: KIM::SMITHSON,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: Tilting pixblits I don't think the 34010 PixBlt routine will do that. You can draw lines (individually) which would be slow. You can do a polygon horizon. I can do new hardware (sometime). Ask Max and Stephanie when they get back. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 24-AUG-1989 19:50:44.66 To: BELL,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Stun Runner OTPs Please assign a series base number for Stun Runner programmed OTPs. Series 136070 will be used for EPROMs. Thanks. Jed From: MIKE::BELL "Component Engineering - Ext 1750" 25-AUG-1989 09:25:28.27 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: Stun Runner OTPs Can you explain why we need a separate number for OTP's now, after all, we've already assigned a series for Stun, and it contains OTP's. 136070 - STUN RUNNER MEMORY MASTERS 2-Aug-1989 Page 1 PART NUMBER DESCRIPTION 136070-1124 IC,Pr_EPROM,Stun_Runner,137454-300,1C/D 136070-1125 IC,Pr_EPROM,Stun_Runner,137454-300,1D/E 136070-1126 IC,Pr_EPROM,Stun_Runner,137454-300,1E/F 136070-1127 IC,Pr_EPROM,Stun_Runner,137454-300,1F/H From: KIM::MARGOLIN 25-AUG-1989 13:18:53.67 To: BELL,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: You are right The OTPs are for the SA II board which was done by the Sound Group. They doe not care what the part numbers (or checksums) are. At the time I was under the impression that these would be the only OTPs so I thought a separate series would not be necessary. Since then I have found out that there will be a confusing mix of EPROMs and OTPs. We will ECN the existing OTPs to the OTP Series. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SHEPPERD 28-AUG-1989 16:39:07.06 To: @sys$mail:ee,SHEPPERD CC: Subj: A new MIXIT A new version of MIXIT has been unleashed. This version has the /ONES_COMPLIMENT option on the OUTPUT command which causes the bytes in the output file to be 1's complimented. This feature apparently is required for the BATTLE hardware (Doug saved a couple of cents in his hardware by using [or not using] an inverting buffer). ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CLARK 29-AUG-1989 08:23:04.59 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: PGA CONNECTOR THE DISTRIBUTOR HAS PLACE A TRACER ON YOUR PGA CONNECTOR, WE SHOULD HERE BY TOMARROW (WEDNESDAY) TOM ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SHEPPERD 29-AUG-1989 10:51:08.55 To: @sys$mail:ee,SHEPPERD CC: Subj: MIXIT Complements... As pointed out by several people (my compliments to Dave and Mike), I complemented the spelling of complement to compliment. The option to MIXIT's OUTPUT command should have read /ONES_COMPLEMENT. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::DAVE 29-AUG-1989 14:57:23.89 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: WE MEANT NO HARM IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT THE NAMES OF JED MARGOLIN AND MAX BEHENSKY WERE LEFT OFF THE CREDITS LIST FOR SHOVIEW CONTRIBUTIONS. SO......THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT AND DOING THE OVERLAY BOARD. IF ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE IN VAX LAND FEELS SIMILARLY WOUNDED BY MY OR MORGAN'S OVERSIGHT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL MAKE SURE YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS RECOGNIZED. DAVE (X3796) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SHEPPERD 29-AUG-1989 15:33:36.27 To: @sys$mail:ee,@sys$mail:animators,SHEPPERD CC: Subj: The TEK I believe I've finally got the damn TEK que working again. I couldn't get it to work with the custom hardware on Bert, so I hooked it up to one of the 386/PC's we have running Unix (which doesn't require any custom hardware). Then I hacked to bits the TEK symboint code forcing it to open a network connection to the Unix system via TCP/IP and blasting your file to a daemon which is always listening on the Unix system. After the file is sent to the printer the Unix node sends a message back to Bert which in turn will send a message to your terminal that the job has completed. As before, the job completed message only means the file has been sent to the printer, it'll still take a few minutes for it to actually print your file. Let me know if you have any trouble especially if your print doesn't come out, but the system said it "completed". ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 29-AUG-1989 16:17:06.13 To: MEYETTE,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Stun Runner Kindly direct Mr. Bell to issue a series number for Stun Runner OTPs. I need it by the afternoon of Wednesday, August 30, 1989. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::THEURER 30-AUG-1989 16:34:53.14 To: @SYS$MAIL:ANIMATORS,HINDORFF,@SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: RADMOD update: merging files with different palettes 8/29/89 RADMOD update: palette conflicts when merging files with different palettes If you are trying to fit picture "A" with an alien palette into RAD file "B", and you want to remap picture "A" to a subset of the RAD's palettes, then use the new S option. Simply answer S when it asks you what to do about the palette conflict problem. Then enter the range of subpalettes to use for your new picture. A subpalette is any group of 16 colors, starting at color #0,16,32,48, etc. The range must be contiguous. So if you wanted to remap to subpalettes 3 and 4 (colors 48 thru 79) then you'd enter "3-4". Picture "A" will be inserted into the RAD file "B" and all the pixels in picture "A" will be remapped to use pixel values 48 thru 79, according to the closest color match. Other options: CR (default): Subpalette groupings are maintained. First I try to remap to identical colors, then I use up black (unused colors), then I go for closest colors. P: this will remap all pixels to the original palette "A". It will also maintain subpalette groupings, so each group of 16 colors will remain together. B: this will remap all pixels to the original palette "A". It ignores subpalette groupings. K: this will discard the new palette "B" and leave all pixel values as is. R: this will replace original palette "A" with the new palette "B" and leave all pixel values as is. 1-15: Whatever # you enter is the palette # to be added to every pixel in picture "B". The palette from picture "B" is then moved to palette "A", starting at the palette # which you entered. If you're totally confused by all this, then I've succeeded in my mission. Stop by my office and I'll explain in more detail. Dave Theurer ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 31-AUG-1989 15:42:25.51 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: LLF and .org incompatible It has come to my attention that using llf to "compress" your .ol files to .lb files is a bad idea for files containing ".org"s to absolute addresses. Dave says he'll fix it eventually, but meanwhile, _don't_ do it to xxx_root.ol (whatever program you have that includes gen_root.asm). Since this is (usually) the only file with absolute ".org"s (for the vectors), just using the .ol file should be a suitable work-around. If you are confused, call or e-mail me. If you have _no_idea_ what I'm talking about, it probably doesn't matter. Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 31-AUG-1989 16:05:21.63 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: AUGUST 31, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: < 4 AUG 89> 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 18 SEP 89 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 All the Game graphics are completed with the possible exception of extruding the polygonal character set. Audio is also in pretty good shape. We decided not to keep the male voice but added some more female voice. We also received the victory music for the final sequence, and another explosion. Program development continues. We have added a T-shirt contest mode, and all the associated trappings. We have also completed both Ultimate Challenge end- game scenarios. Cabinet Graphics were reviewed and approved with a few minor modifications. The manual continues along painfully. The promo video has been started, but still has a long way to go. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::BYRON 31-AUG-1989 18:25:14.29 To: RAY, MARGOLIN, MCNAMARA, BRAD, BYRON CC: Subj: double pot trouble on SA II/STUN Concern has been expressed about the fact that there are two volume pots in the sit-down STUN. People may become confused about how to set them and think they have a service problem when they don't. John, can we discuss the options for solving this problem first thing Fri. morning since the manual should address this issue if we don't, and the manual goes out Fri. byron ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::STUN 1-SEP-1989 14:10:31.62 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,@SYS$MAIL:MARKETING,@SYS$MAIL:ANIMATORS CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. RUNNER T-Shirt Contest As many of you might of heard, S.T.U.N. RUNNER will have a T-Shirt contest within the game. Players who make it to the ULTIMATE CHALLENGE and pass the T-Shirt marker will win a free T-Shirt. For this reason, we would deeply appreciate all of you playing the current version of S.T.U.N. RUNNER in the engineering common area, it has been set to automatically place you in the ULTIMATE CHALLENGE if you select the ADVANCED level. This level will tell you how many feet to traversed. From this we will be able to determine the appropriate place for the T-Shirt marker. Thanks in advance, The S.T.U.N. RUNNER Team ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SHEPPERD 2-SEP-1989 14:42:19.04 To: @sys$mail:engineer,@sys$mail:tengen,SHEPPERD CC: Subj: File renaming I wrote a procedure (not exhaustively tested) which you can use to rename files with wider output wildcard rules than those allowed by VMS's RENAME. This procedure comes in handy when you want to insert or remove some chars in the middle of a bunch of filenames for example. To run it: $ @UTL$COM:WILD_RENAME [input_file_spec [output_file_spec]] It will prompt you for missing item(s). You must have a wildcard (either a "*" or "%") in both the input and output filespecs. It only pays attention to the first wildcard found in either of the filespecs for the purposes of creating a new filename. It does, however, pay attention to all the wildcards in the input filename for purposes of finding the file. For example: $ WREN :== @UTL$COM:WILD_RENAME !shortcut $ wren abcde* abc* !The "de" will effectively be removed !from all files whose names begin with !abcde in the current dir. $ wren abcde%% abc* !The "de" will be removed from all files !named abcdexx where xx is any 2 chars but exactly !2 chars. $ wren abc*de* xyz* !files whose name begins with abc and there's !a "de" somewhere after that will have the !"abc" replaced with an "xyz" $ wren abc*de tvw*xyz !sorry, it'll ignore the xyz of the output filespec !so it'll just change the "abc" files to "tvw" files. $ wren old.a* new.b* !wild card rules work for filetypes too. $ wren abc*.def* xyz*.tvw* !or both names and types Note: if either the input filename or input filetype is unspecified, it defaults to "*". ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SHEPPERD 5-SEP-1989 14:02:30.94 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,@SYS$MAIL:TENGEN,SHEPPERD CC: Subj: Rename on the rampage Oops. The WILD_RENAME program had a small problem which made it rename rather wildly. I fixed it and added a third parameter which, if non-blank, will make it just display what it would rename without actually doing it. This lets you do a dry run to verify that it'll rename only what you want it to. $@utl$com:wild_rename input output [any_non-blank_string] ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 5-SEP-1989 18:02:24.45 To: ROTBERG,STUN,BYRON,MARGOLIN,CAMERON,MCNAMARA,RAY CC: Subj: Two volume pots The advantage for two pots is: The documentation currently calls out two. The disadvantage for two pots is: Operators can get confused. I recommend that: Byron and Ed verify that a short instead of the PCB pot sounds ok (you can't hear the clipping). Byron generate the ECN to insert a jumper instead of the PCB pot. (Work with Art to find the best way of doing this just for STUN, and not on future versions, if any.) Ed and Carole make sure the manual says the right thing (one pot instead of two). Let me know ASAP if you disagree. Thanks!! John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 6-SEP-1989 09:53:30.08 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: using gcc? Just a quick poll: How many of you folks out there are using the verb "gcc" to invoke the Greenhills C compiler. Most of the makefiles I've seen give it some other name, but I'd like to steal "gcc" to be the means of invoking the Gnu C Compiler for the ASAP and 68K (and Vax, and maybe Lint). Anyway, if it's a _BIG_ deal, i'll skip it, but please let me know. Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::OHARA "gems - faster then a speeding pullet" 7-SEP-1989 12:15:55.00 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,OHARA CC: Subj: memo from bob sheffield This year's AMOA Show is being held September 11 through September 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada. All employees who are not scheduled to attend but wish to attend on their own will be subsidized by Atari Games up to a maximum of $200 per employee. Additionally, in order to attend the show employees will have to take vacation days with approval by their department director and/or manager. Information relevant to the show is listed below. Date: September 11-13 Place: Las Vegas Hilton Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm Monday/Tuesday 10:00am - 4:00pm Wednesday A registration badge is required to get into the show. Our company allocation has already been used up so employees will have to buy a registration card for $50 at the door. Discount air fare is running approximately $130 round trip, but seats on these flights are limited. The Las Vegas Hilton is fairly booked at this date and may not have any vacancies available unless reservations have already been made. In order to be reimbursed for expenses incurred up to a maximum of $200, an expense report must be submitted with valid receipts. RAS/cmj ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 7-SEP-1989 14:09:52.59 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: Updated gen_eer.asm Actually to all game programmers. Others can stop reading and delete this message. OK, I have just fixed some bugs in gen_eer.asm. Truthfully, I just editted in the bug-fixes I have made over the last year or so for the games that needed them. I hadn't done this before, because it's going to require you folks to define a few constants which you didn't formerly need. But the "official" gen_eer.asm was getting _so_ out of date I decided to bite the bullet. If you re-assemble your xxx_eer.asm and get error messages, you need to check: definition of QSIZE (probably should be 4, but in any case you need it to be a power of two and to use it in the DS.L that allocates the write queue definition of MAXREC (should be 33 for 2804, or 135 for 2816) I have heard 2804's are getting scarce, so you should at least be _able_ to use 2816's definitions of M_HSCT and M_HSCTS. If you don't have them, see me or crib them off of someone who does. your macro definitions for references to numbers like 33 and $0C, which are now represented by MAXREC et al. In particular, a MOVEQ.L of 33 cannot safely be changed to a moveq.l of MAXREC, since 135 will not fir in a signed byte. Any other questions, you know where to find me (is your passport valid for Brazil?) Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 7-SEP-1989 15:29:01.13 To: MARGOLIN,BRAD CC: Subj: TI PASS Do you still want to purchase the TI PASS system? - brad - ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 7-SEP-1989 15:31:52.15 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: S.T.U.N. Runner Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: SEPTEMBER 7, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: < 4 AUG 89> 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 18 SEP 89 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 All of the game graphics, audio, and self-test will be completed by Friday, 9/8. We intend to release all of the ROM codes as final on 9/8 EXCEPT the 4 program ROMs. Due to SIGNIFICANT program changes made at the last minute, we will hold off releasing those four parts until after the AMOA show. Instead, we will release 4 new pre-prod program ROM parts to accompany the rest of the RELEASE ROM parts. We will take a test unit out to San Mateo Gold Mine arcade tomorrow, as well as updating the Sunnyvale golfland game. These games will feature the T-shirt contest. Artwork is being finished for the T-shirt contest posters, and then the T-shirts will be designed. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 7-SEP-1989 15:32:19.92 To: KIM::BRAD,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: TI PASS Yes, how much? (Does it still work? Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 7-SEP-1989 15:35:35.20 To: KIM::MARGOLIN,BRAD CC: Subj: RE: TI PASS Yeah, it works fine. I did ESCAPE on it and it worked great. As far as how much. I really don't know. I know how much it was when we purchased it but that was 6 or so years ago. Plus it's out dated. Although the new LPC chips (at least a few of them) will still take the 5220 data format. What do you think it is worth? - brad - ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 7-SEP-1989 15:47:25.68 To: BRAD,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: TI PASS It was $25K when we bought it. I know because I was the one who bought it. There was a big hassle because the way the purchase agreement was originally worded it looked like we might not have the rights to the data produced by the unit and would have to pay $100/word for the words that WE produced. Shortly after we bought the PASS they came out with a new one using 32010s. They also laid off the people who did the PASS so there are several features that were never finished, like communicating with a host computer. The first game it was used on was Star Wars which sold 15K units and which I figured paid for the PASS. My interest in the unit is mainly sentimental (I bought the VOTRAX system when it became available a few years ago) so what do you think of $100 ? Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 7-SEP-1989 16:38:57.69 To: KIM::MARGOLIN,BRAD CC: Subj: RE: TI PASS $25k to $100 mmmmmmm ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 7-SEP-1989 16:41:41.95 To: KIM::BRAD,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: TI PASS I accept. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 7-SEP-1989 16:43:01.66 To: KIM::MARGOLIN,BRAD CC: Subj: RE: TI PASS mmmmmmm ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 8-SEP-1989 12:42:00.43 To: BRAD,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: mmmmmmmmm What if, sometime in the future, someone needs to use the PASS system? If you sell it to someone outside the company, it is gone. If you sell it to me I will bring it in. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 8-SEP-1989 13:30:31.08 To: KIM::MARGOLIN,BRAD CC: Subj: RE: mmmmmmmmm Yes, but $100 is too little. I would rather just keep the machine. - brad - ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 8-SEP-1989 13:31:10.42 To: MARGOLIN,BRAD CC: Subj: for that price From: KIM::MARGOLIN 8-SEP-1989 13:59:14.90 To: KIM::BRAD,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: for that price How much do you want? Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::YAMAMOTO 11-SEP-1989 14:54:03.77 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK Subj: Litigation Update There has been a change in schedule by the court of our Nintendo patent trial. The matter was originally scheduled for November 14, 1989. The court has re-scheduled the trial date for January 29, 1990 The matter was originally scheduled for November 14, 1989. The court has rescheduled the trial date for January 29, 1990. With the next week or so we should have further information as to the scheduling of the Tetris trial. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MOTT 13-SEP-1989 10:31:17.24 To: MONCRIEF,BEHENSKY,DURFEY,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Steve Suttles' comments on the street driver... From: GAWD::SUTTLES "Doctor DCL" 12-SEP-1989 10:40 To: MOTT,SUTTLES Subj: hard drivin' supercompact You had a game out in the common area last week that I hope was the super-economy test model. For what it's worth, I think the test failed. Having a shift lever for drive and neutral (as opposed to high and low, or drive and park or reverse) is pointless. "Turn key to start" mapping to a button is confusing. No brake pedal is a surprise when you enter the turn, and the only justification for park or reverse in the gearshift. The loss of feedback in the steering wheel I realize is an economic decision, but the fact remains that the game suffers greatly. I still find myself frustrated by all versions of the game because of collisions with oncoming traffic that don't seem justified by the windshield picture preceding it (two cars entirely on their own side of the yellow line shouldn't hit each other). I also feel that when you are off-road (like around a curve or turn) and driving straight and level with no _apparent_ obstacles, that crashing and burning is a cop-out. I realise that the game is a smashing (sorry) success in general, and in particular with certain individuals here that are even more critical than I with regards to quality and even realism. Nonetheless, it is this frustration at things that I don't think should happen (I admit to being in the minority) that makes me walk away during a game. The preceding paragraph is really old news to you and your team, but the first paragraph is really why I sent this message. If you wanna make a super-cheap model for marketing reasons, fine...but please, not that one! sas ps: Even though I get frustrated at the game, I keep playing it...and that is one of the measures of a game's success... ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 14-SEP-1989 13:06:02.03 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: SEPTEMBER 14, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: < 4 AUG 89> 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 18 SEP 89 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 All of the game graphics, audio, and self-test have been relased. this includes all of the ROM codes as EXCEPT the 4 program ROMs. Based on feedback from the AMOA show, and on stats taken from the San Mateo test unit, we are making a few small changes to the program ROMS. We expect to release these last four ROM parts on Friday, 9/15 (tomorrow). A test unit has been taken out to San Mateo Gold Mine arcade tomorrow and we have updated the Sunnyvale golfland game. These games feature the T-shirt contest. Artwork is finished for the T-shirt contest posters and we are waiting for the T-shirts to be designed. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CLARK 14-SEP-1989 13:30:44.84 To: MCCARTHY,MEYETTE,MONCRIEF,MARGOLIN,WALLIN,CLARK CC: Subj: HYUNDAI'S 8KX8 SRAMS'S I HAVE DISQUALIFIED HYUNDIA'S 8KX8 SRAMS FROM P/N 137535-XXX. HYUNDAI HAS ADMITTED TO HAVING A PROCESS PROBLEM THAT SHOWS UP AS A PATTERN SENSITIVITY PROBLEM. AS OF TODAY THIS PROBLEM HAS ONLY SHOWN UP IN THE HARD DRIVEN SYSTEM AND IN ESCAPE IF THE PART HAS DEGRADED. ACCORDING TO HYUNDAI, THEIR LOW POWERED PARTS DO NOT SHOW THIS PROBLEM, BUT I HAVE INCLUDED THEM IN THE DISQUALIFICATION. IN ORDER FOR THEM TO BE APPROVED (LOW POWER), A SAMPLE OF 100 PIECES MUST FIRST BE BURNED-IN AT 125 DEGREE C FOR 48 HOURS WITH A PRE/POST DEVICE TESTING DONE TO ALL PARTS. WE WILL THEN RETEST IN OUR GAMES TO ASSURE FUNCTIONALITY. QUALITY SHOULD MOVE ALL HYUNDAI 8KX8 SRAM'S, P/N 137535-XXX, TO MRB UNTIL FURTHER DISPOSITION IS DETERMINED. ALSO, WORK WITH PURCHASING IN SETTING UP A TIME FRAME WITH HYUNDAI IN CREDITING OF FIELD FAILURES. PURCHASING HAS ALREADY LOCATED ANOTHER VENDOR'S PARTS, SO THESE SHOULD BE BROUGHT IN-HOUSE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ON OTHER THING: THE HYUNDAI PART HAS NOTE FAILED IN THE AUDIO BOARD, SO IF ENGINEERING HAS NO PROBLEMS WITH THE IDEA OF STILL USING IT IN THE AUDIO BOARD FOR THE STUN RUNNER BUILD, I'D SAY GO AHEAD AND USE IT. TOM CLARK ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 15-SEP-1989 17:01:03.83 To: ROTBERG,STUN,MARGOLIN,CAMERON,RAY CC: Subj: STUN test procedures Ed -- I spent all afternoon in production today primarily because they do not have a test procedure. I suggest you generate one soon or you will be spending your life over there. The specific problems they had involved flight control and monitor adjustments. They also had problems with option adjustments. Often, they don't know it is a problem, they did not know they had to check it. They are very competent once they know what they have to do. Please have this done on Monday if possible. Let me know the status and drop a copy of the finished procedure on my desk. John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 18-SEP-1989 16:55:54.77 To: MONCRIEF, MOORE, LOGG, MARGOLIN, BEHENSKY, DOWNEND CC: Subj: Logg's experimental project Ed has been considering a variety of ideas for his next project. Moore/Fujihara/Ray/Downend met with Ed and recommended that he should target either a low-cost-kit-only "puzzle" game or a premimum high-end game. Based on that input, Ed asked me 9/18 if he could experiment for a month or two (prior to official project initiation), with an aerial dog-fight theme with visuals similar to the Ace of Aces book game. Since Rich previously indicated that a 1-2 month experimental project would be a viable option, I agreed. Ed wanted to use the Stunrunner hardware since it would allow the quick rendering of the 3D objects (the artist part) as well as the real-time projection needed for the experiment. It would also make an excellent hardware for a final product targeted at the high-end segment of the game market. As of 9/18, Ed is proceeding on the project and has assembled the following: - A Stunrunner PCB from Glenn (a spare from AMOA) - A bench harness (From the auxilary bench in the STUN lab) - A std. res. display. Ed talked to Pat McCarthy and arranged for technical assistance from Farrokh. Ed also talked to Rotberg to help with software in terms of providing a "shell" extracted from the Stunnrunner program; Ed's intention was to minimize his demands on Max's time by starting with the Stunrunner program and to hopefully avoid having to become intimate with the hardware because of the experimental nature of the project. Due to the abrupt start of this informal project, Ed and I did not inform Rick Moncrief. Consequently, the Applied Research team was somewhat dismayed when Farrokh came requesting information. Since then, I talked to Rick Moncrief by phone, and as I understand it, the Applied Research team will be able to assist Ed and Farrokh to a limited extent. In particular, Farrokh needs enough information to hook an 8-position joystick to the hardware. Rick and I agreed that the abrupt start of this project resulted in poor communication for which I apologize. Rick, Ed and I will meet and discuss the full impact of Ed's project as soon as Rick returns from Idaho. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::KHODADADI "Farrokh Khodadadi" 19-SEP-1989 12:00:31.77 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: printer paper I have a simple answer. Although personally I prefer the white side of the paper, lets not try to convert the CHRISTIANS to JUDAISM by flipping the paper. Lets keep fresh ribbons on the printer instead. Farrokh. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 19-SEP-1989 16:14:05.18 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: Keep Calm I have once again stomped a bug which somehow refuses to die. If you are an hardware engineer, please consider including a (maskable) interrupt for "SCOM input empty". See (or write) me for the minimum requirments. Now, if you are a game programmer, _please_ do not attempt to circumvent the carefully designed code in snd_com.asm for "speed" reasons or because "it's too complicated to understand". It's complicated because the ^&{body}amp;*^%*&^ job is complicated. In particular, trash any and all old copies of the nefarious "keepcom.c" which keeps popping out of its little corner of code-hell. Any version which does not include the word "reptilian" in it is BAD BAD BAD. The version in [68k_us] is ok. If you come to me with a coin or sound problem, and you are using the old one, I will not only stop working on your problem right then, but I won't come back until somebody of director or higher rank tells me to. I know this sounds petty, but this is at least the third time I've had to deal with this, and posted a note saying "don't do that", and it apparently never penetrates. You might notice I haven't said precisely what is wrong with the non-reptilian keepcom. That's 'cuz I've said it till I was blue in the face and wanted to save it for last and in all caps: DON'T SEND EXCEPTION COMMANDS TO THE 6502 WITHOUT SAYING SO! IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHETHER A COMMAND IS AN EXCEPTIONS, DON'T USE IT! There, I feel a little better Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::OWENS 20-SEP-1989 10:20:59.61 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: A__Hole Dear A__Hole, I would like to take the time to thank you for pulling the wires out of the seat connectors on the two Four Trax games when you moved them. I'm sure you were way to busy to take the time to check to see if it was okay to move them. After all, why should you be concerned about the fact that those were an uncommon connectors, which we do not have replacement parts for, and now will need to replace with different connectors. Or that the games are due at a distributor show on Friday, and finally, the few days that the games were in-house, were needed to complete a variety of tests to determine if we would have any problems selling the games in the U.S. I mean it's not your responsibility right? So, thanks again, no problem, I can fix the games, after all I did'nt have anything to do today any way. RLO ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::MEYETTE 20-SEP-1989 10:48:44.17 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: LICENSED GAMES In regard of the recent damage to the Four Trax games located next to the storage cages, the following policy is in effect immediately. Any game that is not in the common area for player evaluation is not to be touched. This means that it is not to be played, moved, or anything without the specific consent of Rick Owens. This applies to games in the back, games in the labs, or games in storage. Rick Meyette ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 20-SEP-1989 11:46:23.98 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Data I/O next to IMI Ok, the full-service agreement on the Data I/O 288 (the one next to the IMI) is in place so now I can send it in for Upgrade to firmware Version 3.0 (includes fast programming algorithms for TI parts, "snap programming"). I would also like to get any problems repaired. Please send REPEATABLE bug reports to me so I can foward the problems to Data I/O for repair. So far, I have one report from Farrokh that the DIO reports parts in sockets 3,5,7 as non-blank when they really are blank. I need sample parts that show this bug... ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::KHODADADI "Farrokh Khodadadi" 20-SEP-1989 11:47:51.98 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: A__ hole I bet the same A__ hole who stole the white Hard Drivin sample jacket from customer service , who also borrowed the wire crimper tool from Karens lab and kept it ,yes this is the same a__ hole who wrecked your game too. Nice going who ever you are you 've done enough already ,It's a good time to retire and get the ___k out of here. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 21-SEP-1989 11:30:20.64 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner status report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: SEPTEMBER 21, 1989 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | <OCCURANCE> | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: < 4 AUG 89> 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: 18 SEP 89 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 All of the ROM codes have been released for both domestic and European English language versions. The game is being built on the line and should start shipping based upon receiving side-panel graphics and manuals. We still need T-Shirt art. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::SAMANIEGO "Steph" 22-SEP-1989 09:33:03.32 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: new phone systems By now I'm sure you've all read the memo that was sent out a couple of days ago by Steve Suttles. If you haven't you should, part of it is regarding the new way you'll be getting your messages. From NOW ON, when you have a message you won't have to worry about it sitting at the front desk too long, or calling me every hour to see if you have a message, or waiting for someone kind enough to carry it back to you, and so on... When you pick up your phone wait a second and listen to your dial tone, if there's a pause in your dial tone that means YOU WON THE BIG PRIZE... Ha Ha!! Or just that you have a message waiting at the front desk for you. Now, you will be responsible to check your dial tone for that pause. If you don't and you've had a message up here that you've been waiting for, don't blame me!! I'm sure the company spent alot of money upgrading the system, and you can bet I'm gonna use it. So please don't take ANY messages off my desk unless you let me know, otherwise I won't know to turn the message waiting signal OFF of that persons phone, and you can see the problems and wasted time that can cause. Thank You very much! Steph ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::GRAHAM 22-SEP-1989 11:20:38.47 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: SAD NEWS Gjalt Van Der Wyke, an ex-Atarian passed away yesterday. For those of you who remember, he worked in Visual Communications for many years, and has done alot of contract work for us in recent years. His wife Francesca also worked at Atari as a secretary for R & D. Services will be held tomorrow, Saturday at the Lima Family Mortuary at 1315 Hollenbeck, Sunnyvale. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 22-SEP-1989 16:09:56.83 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: EPROM Prices Tom Smith reports that the EPROM market is soft which means prices have dropping for the last 2-3 months. He further reports that the trend seems to be for them to drop more. Here are the current prices: 27C512-200 (137448-200) $5.70 27C512-250 (137448-250) $4.50 27C256-200 (137447-200) $3.20 (31,000 in inventory at this price) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 22-SEP-1989 17:36:46.43 To: CAMERON,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Stun Runner They have started Final Assembly and the left and right coins seem to be reversed. Bob Stewart would like you to see if you can do anything about the harness lying on the transformer. O Had I Nine Men in Idaho Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 25-SEP-1989 10:49:08.77 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: Yet Another EEPROM Bug Deck found a bug in the new gen_eer.asm, which has in fact been there for quite some time. Anyway, If you are including gen_eer.asm from [68k_us], you should re-assemble it. If you have a private, modified copy, you should change the three lines centered on the label "cs10:" to be: MOVE.L #EER_LOG-1,D2 * error log is first non-cleared stat CS10: CLR.L -(SP) * value = 0 MOVE.L D2,-(SP) * statcode You will also need to define EER_LOG in your xxx_eer.asm (the file that includes gen_eer.asm). It will probably be 10 (decimal), but in any case should be whatever it is in your eerdefs.h file. For reference, If your gen_eer.asm is so old that the next line is _not_ BSR eer_puts ...you don't have this particular bug, but you have so many others that you are in deep trouble already and I wouldn't sweat the thunder-showers. Sorry, Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::HUBBERSTEY 25-SEP-1989 15:47:29.34 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE,HUBBERSTEY CC: Subj: VAX Hardware Tools If you don't work with either SciDesign schematics or Abel, this doesn't apply to you. If you do use these facilities, I have created a couple of command procedures which may be of interest to you. EE$USERDISK:[HUBBERSTEY.CAETOOLS]ABEL.COM - This procedure wil run the Abel PLD compiler for you with a few added features over the standard procedure in ABELEXE:ABEL.COM. - It remembers the previous command line and will re-execute it if invoked with no parameters. - It only runs simulation if specified by a command-line flag, /S. - It chooses "Presto by pin" reduction (-R3) if not specified otherwise. - It will submit the FUSEMAP and SIMULATE executions to a Microvax II batch queue if you are not logged onto one. - It provides online help for ALL those pesky command-line flags by invoking with ? as the first parameter. The only restriction is that it must be run with a symbol defined by the following command line or strange things will happen: ABEL :== @EE$USERDISK:[HUBBERSTEY.CAETOOLS]ABEL EE$USERDISK:[HUBBERSTEY.CAETOOLS]SCIDXREF.COM - This procedure will generate a cross-reference list of all tag names in a set of SciDesign schematic sheets as well as a list of all tags referenced only once and, optionally, a list of the number of times each tag is used. This is intended mainly as a utility for generating node-name cross-reference lists but can be used for other things, such as figuring approximate bus loading (how many times is D0 used, for instance), locating components on back-annotated schematics (what sheet is R6 on?) and whatever else you can think of. It provides online help by invoking with ? as the first parameter. Feel free to use these or hijack portions for your own purposes. Tim ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::THEURER 25-SEP-1989 16:35:46.37 To: @SYS$MAIL:ANIMATORS,@RADMOD.DIS CC: Subj: RADMOD update RADMOD update: 9/25/89 NEW features: