Games Bought Thread 3

[A Black Falcon]

So I have another more expensive purchases to talk about, or should I say admit to, and I actually fixed a certain broken, expensive other thing from last year.

Let's go in chronological order in terms of purchases, I guess.

So, in June 2019, I got an Atari Jaguar. I mentioned it in a post last December. I said then that the laser broke fairly quickly, and that was true. I didn't mention that I actually bought a replacement laser for it some time later in 2019, but with my somewhat irrational fear of soldering (even though I do have a soldering iron kit now...) I never finished installing it, as I thought soldering was required.

But the laser was dead, so I decided to look up repair. Fortunately, there is a site online leading you through exactly how to replace a Jag CD laser, with pictures. I bought a replacement laser, it's the Phillips VAM1202 and is very easy to find new on ebay. Howver, the VAM1202, while mostly identical to the one in the Jaguar CD, has one difference -- the connector on its six-wire cable is a different width from the one on the Jag CD. You need to attach your original wire from the laser on your Jag CD to the six points on the new laser, then put it in this plastic/rubber housing and attach it to the system board. But that requires soldering which I still can't quite get myself to do, so I didn't do it. I did install the new laser into that plastic housing, though. Getting the old laser out was QUITE tricky to do without damaging the housing, so that was no easy feat! -- and... put the board back in the Jag CD, put the Jag CD next to my computer, and left it there for a year.

Occasionally I would have those thoughts, like, 'seriously, you spent over $400 on that thing, fix it!' And recently I finally decided to try. And then I had a revelation that I feel kind of dumb for not thinking of a year ago, because I should have -- I don't even need to solder! I mean, it'd be better if I did, but I don't need to. Actually all I need to do is just cut off the new laser's connector, tie the old wires to the new ones, and plug the old connector into the board. I have wire-strippers and electrical tape, so it should be fairly straightforward, and indeed it was. I just set the wire-stripper to the thickness of that wire, cut the wire midway, remove some of the sheathing from the wires on both the old and new lasers, take careful note of which color attaches to which (they are not the same), sort of wrap each wire together by twisting them together and such, and then wrap each connection with electrical tape.

So, I did that a few days ago. I wasn't expecting much; things I leave sitting around for that long usually end up dead, after all, like how my Turbo CD drive ended up needing a new board inside when it got repaired, probably because of me leaving it around. It was in the case, but I hadn't put any of the screws back in until the repair. Somehow I managed not to lose any of the screws, though; amazing, that! And I didn't know if the replacement laser worked, either. So I finished wrapping up all of the wires after binding them, put everything back together, put it in the Jaguar, plugged in its power supply and set it up, put in Blue Lightning as a good test game, plugged in my Memory Track save cart, and...

Black screen. I wasn't too worried though, I thought that maybe a cable had come out. And indeed it had, the s-video cable and one of the audio cables from the Jag had fallen out of the switch. With that problem solved, I turned it on again, turned it on, and...

The game booted up and worked perfectly. What. I actyually FIXED it? That's crazy! My Jaguar CD works now! I'm still kind of stunned... and yes, annoyed at myself for not doing this a year ago, but oh well, that's not too bad; it's not a system I was going to be using a lot anyway, certainly. The system even plays CD-Rs now, which it would not do last year as that laser was failing. There are some interesting freeware Jaguar homebrews, and I'm trying out some of them.

There is one problem, though -- I only have those three games, and the homebrews that are freeware are mostly fairly limited stuff. The other Jag CD games, both modern releases and classic, are mostly pretty expensive, and this issue has only gotten worse thanks to the great 2020 classic game price hike on ebay. Jag CD games always were expensive, but checking now? There are only two on ebay for less than $60! So wanting SOMETHING new but not wanting to spend that kind of money right now on top of everything else I've gotten recently, I got the cheap one even though it's a game I dislike. It arrived today, so now I have a new, still-sealed copy of Space Ace for Jaguar CD. It was $15. I will get more of the more expensive stuff later, including some of the post-discontinuation releases and homebrew games, and Battlemorph for certain.

What I like the most about the Jag CD, though, isn't the games, is Jeff Minter's VLM light synthesizer that is built in to the Jag CD. Now, of course, I'm on record as not liking music much. And light synthesizers? Some have neat effects, but they've never been something I care about too much. I rarely turn on visualizer windows in Winamp and such for example. But this one? This is the best visualizer ever! It's really, really cool, and is the Jag CD's main selling point for sure. All you do is put a music CD in and grab your Jag controller, and you're good! The keypad on the controller is actually really useful here -- you can directly switch to any of the 81 effects the VLM has directly, with a simple two-button entry. Most are just a visual effect, but nine are interactive. Being able to directly switch between 81 effects with quick button presses is fantastic and shows one of the few really good uses of the Jaguar's keypad; any other controller would have a much harder time matching this. Of course I have very few audio CDs to use this with since I don't care much about music, but I will definitely be using the VLM, no question. It's amazing.

But yeah, I'm still kind of stunned that the repair actually worked. I imagine this is not this Jag CD's final laser, with the known design issues it's likely this laser will eventually fail too, but at least replacements are plentiful and not too hard to install.



Meanwhile, in August 2020, I saw something interesting in a local shop one of the few times I've been in them this year. I saw a Commodore 64, complete in box, for $175. There was also a complete in box (with manual and everything) Commodore 1541 disk drive for $99, with a box of 24 ... backup ... disks from the collection of the person who had had the drive, full of lots of games. He also had four legit C64 games in their original boxes there, three in the EA record-style cases and one a similar foldout thing, for $25 to $48 each. I was interested, but didn't buy right away; that was a lot of money and I have spent a lot recently on games.

A few weeks later, though, on my birthday, I decided to go back and see if they were still there, and maybe buy. I brought a bag with me (it's about a half hour walk downtown), but not one big enough for both the system and disk drive. I was leaning towards getting all of it despite the cost, but still wasn't sure; for one thing, the original C64 is not the best model. Its power supply is infamously failure-prone, for example, and they can kill chips in the computer itself when they fail. The power supply in the disk drive also can fail, so using that as your main disk drive can be trouble. Also, there are good disk replacement options available now, to use USB or SD card disk images instead of the highly unreliable real 5.25" disks, namely the cheaper SD-based SD2IEC and the more expensive and more full-featured Ultimate II+ cart.

When I got there, I didn't see the system, but saw all the other stuff. The regular guy wasn't at the store either, the other person who works there who knows little about games was. After looking around for a while, I almost didn't buy anything, but then decided to buy the disk drive and the two $25 games, Russia: The Great War in the East 1941-1945 and EA's interesting-looking Gauntlet knockoff Demon Stalkers. Indeed, Demon Stalkers is what primarily sold me on the system; I love Gauntlet, and I'd never heard of this pretty interesting-looking clone! There is apparently also a PC version, but it's 4-color CGA, which would be an unpleasant thing to look at. (It turned out that the system had been moved into the store window, but neither of us noticed. It was for the best, and I'm still not sure if I would have bought the computer too or just do what I did and just get the drive... I thought it was unlikely that it had sold, since all the other stuff was still there, but didn't see it and was kind of relieved to not spend all that money straight out; online purchases through ebay can be paid over time with no interest with PayPal Credit, an offer I definitely take advantage of, but no such option exists for purchases in a store...) Regardless, I decided to wait on buying the other two games until later, after I decided what to do about a computer -- go back and ask the owner whether he still had that system somewhere, as seemed likely, or buy something better online.

Of course I couldn't use the games without a system, so after getting home I looked up options. To start, that day, I started out by ordering a XU1541, a homebrew PC USB adapter which you plug a Commodore disk drive in to on one end, and connects to your computer on the other. It's a bit tricky to install, as you need to manually install some software through the command line to get it to work, this is no plug-and-play USB device with automatic drivers, but I followed the instructions and figured it out. I found that the drive seems to work, to my relief. The XU1541 cost me $43 shipped, which is not cheap. Getting a SD2IEC would be a lot cheaper than a 1541 + XU1541, and wouldn't be reliant on real floppy disks either. A Ultimate II+ would probably be about the same price, but again you'd get the near-infinite space of USB there, not tiny double-density floppies. So yeah from a price standpoint, my choice to buy a 'this thing that lets me write real disks is my way of getting software from the internet to the Commodore I will buy' adapter is not a great one. I can't say I regret it though, because as much as I dislike floppy disks, they are part of the experience with a computer like this and I want to be able to use real hardware; otherwise, why not just emulate everything, after all? I will probably get an SD2IEC and/or Ultimate II+ (or the Rasperry Pi-based drive emulator solution, or several since they each do slightly different things; I'm not sure) later, but for now, real disks is fine.

As for a system, after looking at my options I ended up picking... the very most expensive one, for some reason. Yes, I did not get that C64 at the store, or another one like it. Instead, even though it has almost no software worth mentioning that wouldn't run just fine on a C64, I got a Commodore 128D (the US DCR model). It was $410 shipped, which is a resonable price for one, for the computer with a power cord and keyboard. Yeah. The Commodore 128 was the C64's failed successor, and it is fully backwards compatible but has some additional hardware that very few games use, and an added higher resolution graphics mode that mostly only productivity software and some text adventures made use of. The high-res mode also requires a separate video output cable that uses RGB, so you can't just hook it up to a TV without conversion like you can the regular low-res output from the system. Yeah, this thing is kind of a mess.

The 128D has an internal disk drive instead of the previous requirements for an external one, and an internal power supply too, much more modern so it's not going to destroy the system unlike the original C64. As for that external keyboard, it is quite nice that it has a cable so you don't need to sit right in front of the machine like you do with, say, my TI99/4A, but the cord is EXTREMELY short -- it's two feet long at most, and being a 25-pin serial cable (with no screws on the ends to hold on a regular serial cable), it's not exactly easy to just grab an extender. Still, being able to put the keyboard in my lap instead of reaching up to built-in keys is a nice feature I quite like, it's the main advantage of the 128D, no other C64s have external keyboards. The keyboard was not reported as tested, but it mostly works. Unfortunately the D key is very sticky and often sticks down when you press it in. I tried taking it off and cleaning it, but that didn't help. Fortunately everything else seems to work; the spacebar was also pretty bad at first, but removing the key and cleaning under it helped a lot with that one. I got a key puller ($6.73) to help me get those keys out, they are harder to remove than PC keyboard keys without one. It's a nice thing to have regardless. Otherwise the computer is in good working order and seems to run perfectly, its internal 1571 disk drive included. That is very nice.

Additionally, I got a few more accessories from ebay -- for $22, I got a Commodore 64/128 S-Video cable; I have a compatible composite cable, which looks impressively sharp, but s-video looks even better. For $27 from ebay, I got two Commodore 64 controller adapters that let you use a Sega Genesis controller on your C64. The port shape is the same, but while the C64 natively will work with C64, Amiga, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, and Sega Master System controllers (the latter two with one button only, since the C64 only supports one button), the Genesis pad's additional buttons use additional hardware and you do NOT want to plug them into a C64, it may damage the system apparently. With an adapter like this you fix those issues, and the Genesis controller is one of the best ever, very dramatically better than Atari 2600 or 7800 or SMS controllers in my book. Plus, with this adapter you can use a mode where Up is mapped to ab utton, making the C64's platformers much, MUCH more playable! Up to Jump is standard in (mostly European) games on these one-button computers like the C64, Atari ST, and Amiga, but with this you can fix that problem and map up to a button. Awesome option. And for $42, I got a box of 50 DSDD floppy disks, the format that the C64/128 requires -- you need smaller-capacity double density disks, not the high density disks a PC 5.25" drive uses. This box also came with a second box with 8 DSHD disks in it, if I ever want some homemade PC 5.25" floppy disks. I did not have any blank 5.25" disks of either density, since back in the '90s we had only bought 3.5" disks for our use and not the older 5.25" disks, so I could not do much with this computeru ntil this box arrived, and it took a while -- shipping got held up and it took over a week, which was kind of frustrating since everything else was here and working, but I was still waiting for the disks that would let me use most of it. Oh well, they showed up eventually.

I also went back to the local place a few weeks later, and was pointed out the system in the window. I was glad I had missed it before, since I got a better system instead. I did buy the other two games while I was there, getting me The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown, Volume I complete for $31.50, and Legacy of the Ancients complete for $44. Both are 5.25" disk games. Additionally, at another local place I bought their one C64-related thing, a loose cart C64 cartridge copy of Congo Bongo for $3. The games and stuff all seem to work, impressively. Some of the disks don't work first try, so they may be failing, but they do read.

Unfortunately, due to poor design on Commodore's part, a C64/128 does not easily support multiple disk drives. The internal drive in the 128D is mapped to drive 8, and this cannot be permanently changed unless you hard-mod the system. You can, through some code, temporarily change the number or disable it, but that only lasts until power off. The 1541 disk drive I have also is hard-mapped to device 8, with no way to change it apart from taking the drive apart and cutting a certain wire. A deveice 8/9 switch was apparently a popular mod to C64 disk drives, and I get why. But even if you do that, apparently many games only run correctly from device 8. So, for things like the SD2IEC or Ultimate II+, that internal drive is a big problem; you need to either disable it through software each time or hard-mod the system to get lots of software to run right through the flash or SD card-based drive options, with this model. What a pain! You would never have problems like this with an Apple or PC from that same era, they all were designed with multiple disk drives in mind. Commodore was cheap and aimed this at people without enough money for an Apple Ii or a PC, and it shows with hassles like this. You can't even copy a disk from one drive to another on a C64 through the system's internal built-in Basic commands! Yes, the only kind of disk copy option available is for you to do it with ONE drive, swapping disks back and forth over and over and over as you wait the tediously long time for it to finally copy everything over. It's pretty bad design. I am sure there is a software solution that allows disk copying, but it should be there in the OS, particularly in this later, more powerful successor! The 128D adds a few nice new Basic commands, I have learned, such as an easy Directory listing, but not disk copying. Anyway, for now I will just leave it as it is since with my current real-disk based setup everything works perfectly, but I'm not sure what I'll do longer-term, once I decide to upgrade to the flash options someday; if I want them to work I'll need to see if I can figure out a mod or something. I do not regret getting this model though, the external keyboard is great and this also is a lot easier to power. See, C64 disk drives require their own power supply, so I'd need two power outlets for the two systems if I had a regular C64 or C128 with external drive. I am quite low on outlets at the moment, so having something that has both in one, with only one outlet, is fantastic. Having the drive internal is also nice, it looks better and saves space. The 128D's more modern computer look is great, the classic all-in-one look the C64 has also works but I do think I prefer the more "modern computer" look of the 128D. I know that paying twice as much money for mostly the same result (playing C64 games), with an added hassle this device number problem adds, and without many of the 128's added features over the C64 since they were mostly aimed at business users in a failed attempt to slow down IBM PC adoption at home and not gaming, but I think the benefits of this model outweigh the drawbacks. Seriously, the 'I can move the keyboard around" advantage is huge.

As for future purchases, there is one more that I absoltuely must get, as soon as I can -- a fast loader. See, the C64 is infamous for having insanely, absurdly, unacceptably slow disk load speeds. For various reasons they messed things up bad, and the C64 has the slowest disk drive probably ever. However, fast-load cartridges exist which can dramatically speed up loading, and I need to get one. The SD/USB drive options all have limited to full fast-load support, but for now I'd rather go with a cheaper and more original choice and just get an Epyx Fast Load cartridge. It speeds up loading times up to 5x faster than stock and they're cheap, sub-$30 things. Farther off, there are lots of upgrades you can do for this -- the three SD/USB loader options I have mentioned, replacement chips to go in the system to add more functionality (JiffyDOS is one that sounds useful, and the one that makes the Ultimate II+ work better with a C128, since it has serious issues otherwise outside of C64 mode), and such. But that is for probably much later (likely not this year), this is more than enough for now. I also may get a disk notcher, to be able to use the other sides of disks I write on the 1541 more easily than "try to punch out the right part with a hole punch". (The other can of worms to consider getting into sometime is a digital RGB monitor or adapter so I can use the 80 column mode, for the few games that use that. Not now, that setup is expensive!)

So let's sum up all of the C64 purchases.

1541 disk drive, complete in box with manual, and 24 C64-format disks, in a 5.25" disk case, full of ... backup ... games - $100
Four CIB 5.25" disk games - Demon Stalkers, $25; Russia: The Great War in the East, 1941-1945, $25; The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown, Volume I, $31.50; Legacy of the Ancients, $44.
One cartridge C64 game, Congo Bongo, $3, cart only.
C64/128 s-video cable, $22.
Box of 50 DSDD disks for the C64/128, plus 8 DSHD disks for a PC - $43
Commodore 128DCR (US model) computer with keyboard, $410
XU1541 C64/128 drive to PC adapter, $43
Two 64JPX adapters, $26.50 (Purple model, but with no SNES adapter so they're only for Genesis controllers, which is fine with me, that's what I wanted to use with it.)

So yeah that adds up to quite a bit, but it's a pretty interesing thing so I don't mind it, particularly when the big expense, the C128D itself, is on one of those 'you have a year to pay it off with no interest' PayPal payment plans. The C64 has a vast game library that I have very little experience with, it's definitely a piece of gaming history I know little about but should get to know a lot better.


And finally and at a lot less cost, last month I also bought a few other games from ebay for another system I got last year, the CD-i. These all arrived in late August.

CD-i, games from ebay
--
Mega Maze - $12, complete (jewelcase and slipcover) - This is a tricky puzzle game. Some good ideas here, too bad there's no ingame music and saving is password only.
TR-I: No World Order - $12, jewelcase (complete I think). This is a mostly-electronic music album with graphics that you can customize as it plays with the controller. Unique early interactive-music thing.
International Tennis Open, Two Player Edition - $15, complete jewelcase with slipcover. I have the one player version of this game already, but this two player edition, as the name suggests, added a two-player mode. This is the rarer green-background version of the box, most have a blue backdrop.
The Wacky World of Miniature Golf starring Steven Levy - $24, complete (jewelcase and slipcover). This game is a FMV minigolf game with voice from comedian Steven Levy, perhaps most famous as the dad in American Pie (some years after this).
Mystic Midway: Phantom Express - $13, complete (jewelcase and slipcover). This second Mystic Midway game is a lot more ambitious than the first, it is a FMV rail shooting/navigating game, somewhat in the style of Loadstar or Sewer Shark. (I do not have the first Mystic Midway game, the carnival target-shooting game Rest in Pieces. I'll get it someday.)
Kether - $9, complete jewelcase with slipcover. Kether is an interesting early FMV game. It's one part FMV dodging game, basically a FMV rail shooter but without a gun so you just need to avoid stuff coming at you, and one part tricky and frustrating weird puzzle game with a series of tough logic puzzles to figure out. This kind of game only could have been made in the early '90s, it's classic stuff for the era.

These six titles are all pretty interesting stuff, though I still don't have the CD-i game I most want, The Apprentice, which is probably the system's best platformer. It costs more... I'll get it eventually though.