Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 11 - Hamurabi by Richard Houser
Release Date: 01/06/2020
Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 19 - Astrocade Newbie with Brian (Ballistik Coffee Boy)
Bally Alley Astrocast
In episode #19 of the Bally Alley Astrocast podcast, the host, Adam, talks with his friend Brian, the host of the "Ballistik Coffee Boy" YouTube channel. Brian has no previous experience with the Bally Arcade console and he explores it with Adam for the first time and talks about what he thinks of it. Since Brian lives locally to Adam, they both look at the console together in person. Recurring Links - Bally Arcade / Astrocade Website - By Chris Federico Show Notes We have limited show notes again for this episode. If there's something in the podcast that you want to hear more...
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Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 18 - BASIC Games - Cross Country Racer and Star Wars
Bally Alley Astrocast
In episode #18 of the Bally Alley Astrocast podcast, the hosts, Chris and Adam, cover two games written in Bally BASIC called "Cross Country Racer" and "Star Wars" by Doug Shaeffer, an amateur Astrocade programmer. These games were archived, along with other programs, by Paul Thacker in February 2022 from an Astrocade collection bought on Ebay by Nate Reeder in January 2022. Paul says, "These seem to me to have been made for personal use rather than with a goal of publication, but there's still some cool stuff in here [...]." Also covered is one piece of feedback and some recent updates to the...
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Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 17 - News, Updates, List All Cartridges
Bally Alley Astrocast
I play a bit of catch-up to bring the podcast semi-current and also to get me back into the podcasting mood. I cover all of the my Bally Arcade/Astrocade videos from 2020 about the Astrocade. I go over all of the updates to the BallyAlley.com website dating back to February 2020. I list all of the Astrocade games on cartridge and BASIC that have been covered so far in previous episodes. Plus, I talk about the cartridges that still need to be covered in upcoming episodes.
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Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 16 - Interview with Andy Guevara of Bit Fiddlers
Bally Alley Astrocast
In episode #16 of the Bally Alley Astrocast, Kevin Bunch interviews Andy Guevara. The interview took place Saturday, May 16, 2020. Andy wrote three programs that were released on cartridge for the Bally Arcade/Astrocade. The first cartridge was Machine Language Manager (MLM), released by The Bit Fiddlers in 1982. L&M Software approached Andy due to his machine language skills and a collaboration got underway that produced Ms. Candyman and Sea Devil, which were both released on cartridge in 1983. Andy also wrote some additional software: Chicken and the Goldfish Demo were released on tape,...
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Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 15 - User Interview with David Kindred
Bally Alley Astrocast
In episode #15 of the Bally Alley Astrocast, Adam conducts a user interview with David Kindred. David got his Astrocade console in 1981 when he was 11 years old. He learned to program in Bally BASIC, which caused a spark that eventually ignited into a flame that drove David to college where he studied computer science and information technology. He worked for 25 years as a computer programmer, beginning with Fortune 500 companies, before he moved into IT management, where he works to this day.
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Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 14 - Arcadian (Oct 1979) and 1979 Newsletter Correspondence
Bally Alley Astrocast
In episode #14 of the Bally Alley Astrocast, Adam and Paul cover the October 1979 issue of the Arcadian newsletter (vol. 1, #11) along with sixteen letters, postcards, notes and even one telegram that were sent to Bob Fabris, editor of the Arcadian newsletter, in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The two programs in this issue are "Microtrek" by Bill Andrus and "Resequencing" by Ron Schweitzer. This episode also covers many letters to the Arcadian that were sent in the fall of 1979. Recurring Links - Bally Arcade / Astrocade Website - By Chris Federico Arcadian,...
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Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 13 - Cosmic Raiders by Astrocade, Inc.
Bally Alley Astrocast
In episode 13 of the Bally Alley Astrocast, Adam and Chris review the Bally Arcade/Astrocade game "Cosmic Raiders," a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up. "Cosmic Raiders" is a game released in 1983 on an 8K cartridge by Astrocade Inc. It is part of the Action/Skills Series and is part #2019. It was written by Bob Ogdon, Scot L. Norris, Julie Malan, and Lisa Natting. "In deep space lies the alien sector Larkin. You are there on a mission to obtain energy sources that have been seized by the evil Larkins. Radar and a superior guidance system help you avoid attacking fighters and...
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Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 12 - ICBM Attack by Spectre Systems
Bally Alley Astrocast
In episode 12 of the Bally Alley Astrocast, Adam is joined by his good friend, and sometime-co-host, Chris++. Adam and Chris review the Bally Arcade/Astrocade game "ICBM Attack." This is one of the very rare third-party programs that was released on cartridge. This 4Kb game was released in 1982 by Brett Bilbrey, Mike Toth and Marian Nalepa (Spectre Systems). It requires a special controller called the "Spectre Handle" to play the game. Recurring Links - Bally Arcade / Astrocade Website - By Chris Federico "ICBM Attack" Notes ICBM Attack by Spectre Systems - Video...
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Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 11 - Hamurabi by Richard Houser
Bally Alley Astrocast
In episode 11 of the Bally Alley Astrocast, Adam is joined by his 25-year-old son Dominic. Dominic discusses his memories of growing up with an Astrocade in the house in the late-to-mid-nineties and early 2000s. Adam and Dominic review the Bally BASIC/"AstroBASIC" game Hamurabi. Recurring Links - Bally Arcade / Astrocade Website - By Chris Federico Some Astrocade News/Updates In this short episode, we decided not to cover any updates, as very few were made since our last recording. Introduction Notes - Pictures of Ward Shrake's Astrocade multicart from the early 2000s. -...
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Bally Alley Astrocast: Episode 10 - Gobblers
Bally Alley Astrocast
In episode 10 of the Bally Alley Astrocast, Adam and Chris++ review the modified version of the "AstroBASIC" game Gobblers. They also discuss just a few of the many updates to the BallyAlley.com website since March 2017. Finally, they talk about some of the recent occurrences in the Astrocade community. This is the first full-length episode in over 2 1/2 years; thanks to all those Astrocade fans who kept pestering Adam for another episode. Recurring Links - Bally Arcade / Astrocade Website - By Chris Federico Some Astrocade News/Updates - BallyAlley's YouTube Playlist -...
info_outlineIn episode 11 of the Bally Alley Astrocast, Adam is joined by his 25-year-old son Dominic. Dominic discusses his memories of growing up with an Astrocade in the house in the late-to-mid-nineties and early 2000s. Adam and Dominic review the Bally BASIC/"AstroBASIC" game Hamurabi.
Recurring Links
- BallyAlley.com - Bally Arcade / Astrocade Website
- What's New at BallyAlley.com
- Bally Alley Blog
- Orphaned Computers & Game Systems Website
- Bally Alley Discussion Group
- Bally Arcade / Astrocade Atari Age Sub-forum
- Bally Arcade/Astrocade High Score Club
- Bally Alley Astrocast Facebook Page
- The Classic Gaming Bookcast - By Chris Federico
Some Astrocade News/Updates
In this short episode, we decided not to cover any updates, as very few were made since our last recording.
Introduction Notes
- Astrocade Multicart - Pictures of Ward Shrake's Astrocade multicart from the early 2000s.
- Astrocast Multicart Title - 'Title Display' by Adam Trionfo. This homebrew ROM displays an Astrocade bitmap picture. This example displays an Astrocade Multicart title screen. (Nov. 30, 2003).
- Astrocast Theme by Dominic Lowhar - This is an mp3 recording of the theme music for the Astrocast, a podcast for the Bally Arcade / Astrocade.
- Astrocast Theme Sheet Music
Hamurabi Notes
- King Hamurabi by Richard Houser - "King Hamurabi," a Bally BASIC game appeared in Arcadian 2, no. 4 (Feb. 25, 1980): 32-33 and on the tape "Best of Arcadian - 1980." In this video, Dominic and I play a few games to help listeners of the Astrocast to better conceptualize how the game is played.
- 'Hamurabi' by Richard Houser - Bally BASIC Program (300-Baud)
- "Hamurabi" by Richard Houser - "AstroBASIC" Program (2000-Baud)
- "Hamurabi" by Bruce De Vries - BASIC Program Listing in "Cursor" Newsletter.
- "Hamurabi" by Bruce De Vries - BASIC Program Correction in "The BASIC Express" Newsletter.
- "King" and "Emperor" by Richard Houser - Two BASIC type-in programs that are sequels/updates for "Hamurabi."
- "Civilization" for the Atari ST (1993) - Richard Houser, who wrote the Astrocade version of "Hamurabi, used to sometimes play the Atari ST version of "Civilization" during the Atari User Group meetings in the mid-1990s. This is a video of this first version of the game.
- "Hamurabi" Hand-Printed Bally BASIC Program Listing
- "Hamurabi" Arcadian BASIC Program Submission - The original program submission letter for "Hamurabi" contains additional material not included anywhere else, including program subroutine breakdown and varaiables used,
- Atari 8-Bit Computers "Strategy - Hammurabi / Kingdom" Games - The game "Hamurabi" was popular enough in the 1970s/early-1980s that an entire genre formed around it. Here are some games of that genre that you can download from AtariMania.
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