Antic The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Neil Harris: Commodore, Atari, GEnie Neil Harris started at Commodore as a member of the VIC-20 launch team, then continued to be a writer, programmer, and product manager there. He moved to Atari, where he was from 1984 to 1988. There he was hardware products manager, director of communications, and director of publications. He worked on Atari Explorer magazine, and wrote a bit for other publications including Compute!'s First Book of Atari and STart magazine. He later moved on to the GEnie online service. This interview took place on March 31, 2016. In it, we discuss Bill Louden, whom I previously interviewed. Teaser quotes: "The Ataris were really good computers. ... The view inside of Commodore was that the Ataris, especially the 800, was over-engineered." "Every person in Silicon Valley either had a close family member or a close friend who had been laid off by Jack [Tramiel]. ... You know, we were not the golden children. We were not Apple." Color Wheel for the Atari: http://www.atariarchives.org/c1ba/p

Jay Jaeger, APX Space War Jay Jaeger released one program for the Atari computers: Space War, which was published by Atari Program Exchange. It appeared in the fall 1983 APX catalog. This interview took place on March 16, 2016. Teaser quote: "It took a couple revisions back and forth. The program was fine; getting the documentation right, and yet have them be happy with it, was a little frustrating. But managed to get it done." Space War in the fall 1983 APX catalog Space War at AtariMania Creative Computing — the Origin of Space War: http://www.wheels.org/spacewar/creative/SpacewarOrigin.html Jay's web site: http://webpages.charter.net/thecomputercollection/collect.htm

Joel Gluck: Babel, Attank!, Pushover, Fun-FORTH Joel Gluck published four programs through Atari Program Exchange: Babel, Attank!, Pushover, and Fun-FORTH. The first, Babel, was published when he was just 16 years old. He later worked at Atari's corporate research under Alan Kay. He also wrote a few articles for A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazine. Babel was available in the first APX catalog, fall 1981, where it won second prize in the Entertainment category. Pushover first appeared in the summer 1982 catalog. Attank! first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 catalog. fun-FORTH was first available in fall 1982, which won third prize in the System Software category. This interview took place on November 20, 2015. In it, we discuss Jack Palevich, whose interview is already published. Teaser quotes: "I wasn't so aware of the royalty checks because, I think, my mom was intercepting them. She told me later that I earned enough from APX royalties to put me through a year at M.I.T." "I came out wearing a white robe and we

Ted Kahn, Atari Institute for Educational Action Research Ted Kahn was creator of the Atari Institute for Educational Action Research, which  awarded major grants of Atari home computer products, and consulting services to individuals, schools, and non-profit organizations. The group granted more than $1.25 million in products and services to about 100 innovative people and projects around the US and overseas. He also co-wrote the books Atari Games and Recreations, and Atari PILOT Activities and Games. This interview took place on October 9, 2015. In it, we discuss Ted's bother, Bob Kahn; and Tandy Trower, both of whom I have previously interviewed. Teaser quotes: "Its purpose is not just to give stuff away, but it's purpose is to really make sure that if it's given away, it's going to be given to people and organizations who can make some impact with it." "A thing, behind closed doors, in Washington, in which we had an entire group of Senators and Congressmen, for a period of about a day, to learn about all

  Rob Zdybel, Star Trek, Missile Command, Bug Hunt Rob Zdybel was a long-time employee at Atari, having worked there from 1979 to 1996, when the Tramiels left.  Rob has a long line of credits including Pigs in Space, Real Sports Football, Stellar Track and Star Trek for the Atari 400/800, SOS for the Atari 2600, Missile Command for the Atari 5200, and Bug Hunt for the Atari XE.  He also designed the system BIOS for the Atari 5200. Rob mentions the SYLVIA game system in the interview, although he couldn’t remember the name of the system at the time.  It was the machine that was supposed to come between the 2600 and the 5200 and which Doug Neubauer worked on. Niles Strohl and Doug Neubauer are both mentioned in the interview, both of which I’m working to get interviews. Please note that this interview does have some profanity. This interview took place on January 17, 2016. Teaser Quotes: “I said Good Lord, Man, I don’t know if I can stand the idea of using computers to kill people more accurately.” “They were

Lane Winner: Graph-It, XEP-80, De Re Atari Lane Winner was an Atari employee for about a decade: he worked in the software development support group, as a programmer, and as an engineer. He is the author of Atari's Graph-It, contributor to De Re Atari, and designer of the XEP-80 80-column peripheral. Lane wrote several early releases for Atari Program Exchange: BASIC Cross-Reference Utility, BASIC Renumber Utility, and Variable Changer. This interview took place April 20, 2016.  "OK, Lane. When you get your ... head and your heart together, you can be useful, and help the company out and help other people out." Inverse ATASCII podcast explores Graph-It AtariMania's list of Lane's software

Dave Menconi, Atari Customer Service and User Group Support Dave Menconi started at Atari in 1982 doing customer support for the Atari computers. Later he moved to the marketing group, where he helped support the Atari users groups. Dave wrote the program "Dancin' Man" for Antic magazine, and wrote several articles for Atari Connection magazine. In this interview, we discuss Chris Crawford, Ted Richards, and Mike Albaugh, whom I previously interviewed. This interview took place on April 19, 2016. Teaser quotes: "...A light bulb went on above my head. That, it's one thing to know how to program but it's a much harder thing to know what to do with the skills that you have." "He identified what the problem was and proposed a fix, and they fixed the product. And then afterwards, I remember him saying, 'And don't ever come back.'" Dave featured in "User Group Support" article in Antic: http://www.atarimagazines.com/v1n2/insideatari.html Dancin' Man: http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n3/startingline.html Database 20

Stan Ockers, public domain game programmer Stan Ockers started on the KIM-1 single board computer, where was was co-author of The First Book of KIM with Jim Butterfield. He later got an Atari 400, and became a prolific author of public domain programs which were distributed by users groups and in Antic magazine. His game credits include Chicken, Frog, and Bats, all of which were published in early issues of Antic magazines. Some of his programs were also published in Page 6 magazine.  This interview took place on March 10, 2016. Teaser quote: "I put in like, I figured, something like about 40 hours to write a program before I was satisfied to get rid of it. Or, got sick of it." Stan's articles in Antic magazine AtariMania's list of Stan's games

Harry Guiremand, SynChron Harry Guiremand wrote SynChron, a calendar application, which was published by Synapse Software in 1983.  This interview took place on April 15, 2016. Thanks to Wade at the Inverse ASASCII podcast for his research and suggestions. You can hear Wade's thorough review and walkthrough of SynChron at the Inverse ATASCII podcast. Teaser quote: "I had a password system where if you didn't guess the password correctly, you had to wait a little bit longer each time you missed it. Somebody who was trying to break the password with brute force method would end up having to wait days and days for the next chance to make a guess." Inverse ATASCII review of SynChron

Greg Thrush and Marian Dillashaw: Stock Management and WordGo Greg Thrush published two programs through Atari Program Exchange: Stock Management and — with his wife Marian Dillashaw — Wordgo. Stock Management first appeared in the fall 1982 APX catalog, where it won first prize in the business and financial applications category. Wordgo first appeared in the summer 1983 catalog.  This interview took place on March 4, 2016. Teaser quote: "If nothing else, it got them a little excited about technology. They could see that they could actually make some things happen." Stock Management in the fall 1982 APX catalog Wordgo in the summer 1983 catalog

In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast, we are joined by Rob McMullen to discuss hacking on Jumpman, we explore several new hardware projects and new games. And we jump in the time machine to visit computer clubs in the 1980s. Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin’s Book “Terrible Nerd” New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge ANTIC Facebook Page What we’ve been up to SpartaDOS X Super Cart SIO2BT - Interview with Marcin Sochacki SIO2BT ordering thread on AtariAge breakout PCB Atari 10-liner BASIC Contest entries part 1 Atari prize unboxing — NOMAM 2016 BASIC Tenliners contest Unboxing Atari mystery boxes from Art Leyenberger Atari - Keeping In Touch - Atari computer user groups K-dos cart Atari Jumpman — Grand Puzzle III — solution Less mysterious mazes New Jumpman level - Welcome Back   Which got written up at Vintage Is the New Old and Atariteca Best Electronics - CB101921 APEl

Wes Horlacher, Magic Melody Box Wes Horlacher published one program in Atari Program Exchange: Magic Melody Box. Magic Melody Box first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog, where it was awarded second prize in the education category. It was also published as Boîte à Musique by Atari France. Teaser quotes: "These machines aren't just for accounting and computation and mathematics. We can do creative things. Let's see what we can do with these machines to actually inspire the least thing you would expect from a deterministic machine like this: how can it inspire a human being to create?" This interview took place on February 15, 2016. Magic Melody Box in APX catalog Article in Softside Magazine Review in Antic magazine: http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue42/gamesgrowup.php

Steve Smith, ANTIC chip Steve Smith was an engineering technician at Atari from 1977 until 1979, where he worked on the development of the Atari 400 and 800 computers. He was one of the technicians who designed the ANTIC and CTIA chips. In this interview, we discuss Liza Loop, whom I previously interviewed. This interview took place on February 9, 2016. Teaser quotes: "...Huge roomful of 1 MhZ but not 1.1 MhZ devices. So that's what they put in the peripherals, was 6507 that they had surplus lying around." "The first chips came into the lab, and I was plugging in the CTIA, the first one. Completely untested. And I dropped it and it broke in half."

Clyde Spencer: Stereo 3-D Graphics and Isopleth Map Making Clyde Spencer published two programs through Atari Program Exchange: Stereo 3-D Graphics Package and Isopleth Map-Making Package. Stereo 3-D Graphics Package was first available in the winter 1982 APX catalog, and Map-Making in the Spring 1982 catalog. Clyde was also co-founder of the Bay Area Atari Users Group, and wrote some reviews for Antic magazine. This interview took place on March 1, 2016. In it, we discuss Liza Loop and John Crane, both of whom I previously interviewed. Teaser quote: "I actually withdrew my teacher's retirement money out to help fund the startup on that. ... About a year or two into that project, Atari went bankrupt. ... I was left with an orphan then at that point in time." Stereo 3-D Graphics Package: Winter 1982 APX catalog Isopleth Map-Making Package: Spring 1982 APX catalog Clyde's articles in Antic magazine

Robert Waldman, Financial Asset Managment System Robert Waldman wrote Financial Asset Managment System, which was published by Atari Program Exchange. It first appeared in the Fall 1981 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the personal finance and record keeping category. As explained in my interview, Robert submitted a program called Atari 800 Olympic Gamebook System to Atari Program Exchange but it was not accepted or released. Robert sent me his only copy of the never-before-published Olympic Game Book System software, which was lost in the mail. He scanned the manual and a small part of the program listing, which I've uploaded to archive.org (you'll find a link in the show notes at AtariPodcast.com). But it appears that the complete program is gone forever. This interview took place on February 8, 2016. Teaser quote: "I remember writing long BASIC programs. I would come home from work and then stay up all night coding." Atari 800 Olympic Gamebook System manual Financial Asset Managment System catalo

Tod Frye, Asteroids Hi, there!  Welcome to the next in the series of Atari-related interviews being produced by Antic, the Atari 8-bit computer podcast.  My name is Randy Kindig and I’ll be leading this interview.  Most notably, while working at Atari, Tod Frye developed the 400/800 version of Asteroids and the 2600 version of Pac-Man, converting them from the coin-op version.  He has many other games to his credit.  He later worked for Axlon, Nolan Bushnell’s company. This interview was conducted on January 3, 2016. Teaser Quotes “While I was at Atari, it went from a pretty big company, to a huge company, to a complete flop.” “I didn’t work at Atari; I LIVED at Atari; and I loved it.” “Because of the CTIA and GTIA and Antic, the sprite hardware was WAY better than the sprite hardware on the Commodore.” “The hard parts were: writing code that was fast enough, writing code that was small enough to fit in the cartridge, and writing code that would fit in the RAM.  Basically everything was hard.” Links Tod Fr

Ursula Wolz, early computing and education Ursula Wolz was thinking about computers and education in the early days of personal computing. She worked on Apple ][ games for Children's Television Workshop, consulted for Atari Research on their endeavors in educational software, and taught Logo to some of the first students who learned it. This interview took place on February 12, 2016 Teaser quote: "It was one of the first games that was completely graphical ... Because the kids using it might not be able to read the text, we did everything through gestures." Ursula's site: https://sites.google.com/site/theimpatientcoder/

Owen Rubin: Major Havoc, Space Duel Owen Rubin worked in Atari's coin-op division from 1976 to 1984 — he is best known for his programming work there on Major Havoc, Space Duel, and Battlezone. He also served as a go-between between the arcade division and the consumer division, where the Atari home computers were created. After that, he was a game designer at Nolan Bushnell's Bally Sente.  In this interview, we discuss Ed Rotberg, whom I previously interviewed. This interview contains some coarse language.  It took place on February 12, 2016. Teaser quotes: "And I lost it. I just completely lost it with him ... and I slammed the listings down on his desk, basically clearing his desk of just about everything else, and I said, 'Do it yourself, I quit.'" "I find MAME both very cool that you can see it, and very sad that you don't get the right feel." "We really wanted coin-op games to be about a 90-second experience. Up to a couple minutes if you got good at it." Owen's web site: http://www.orubin.com Owen on T

Randy Glover, Jumpman Randy Glover is the creator of one of the best games for the Atari computers, Jumpman, which was published by EPYX. He also created the sequel, Jumpman Junior, and programmed the swimming competition portion of Summer Games. Randy ported Jumpman to the Commodore 64 and created another C64 game, Lunar Outpost. This interview took place on May 7, 2016. I am joined on this interview by Rob McMullen, host of the Player/Missile Podcast, who has been working to reverse engineer Jumpman using the Omnivore binary editor that he created. For more background on EPYX, you might enjoy Antic’s interviews with Jon Freeman, co-founder of EPYX; and Michael Katz, the CEO of EPYX — he oversaw the development of Jumpman, Pitstop, and Summer Games. Teaser quote: "My guy ran around in this environment purely based on his collision with the environment. I like to think that made him more interesting, more spontaneous. He wasn't pretty -- he was just a little stick man -- but he ran around with a certain flair

Mike Silva, Syncalc Mike Silva worked at Synapse, where he wrote the Syncalc spreadsheet application. In this interview we talk about Ihor Woloseko, whom I previously interviewed. This interview took place on February 11, 2016. Teaser quotes: "If I had put out a game ... it would have sold a few thousand copies and that would been it. So I just got dumb lucky by being talked into writing a spreadsheet instead." "These guys, a lot of them, they were in the world - some of them - before they were ready for it. I remember a couple of young programmers, they were just freaked out about having to make decisions, and having to pay taxes. It was almost too much success too early for some of them." Atari Synapse Commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkpbIbFHDQU SynCalc at AtariMania: http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-syncalc_s12808.html Ihor Woloseko interview: http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-13-the-atari-8-bit-podcast-ihor-wolosenko  Inverse ATASCII reviews SynCalc: https:/