What's New - Archives (2000-2006)
December 28, 2007
I) Added Hi-Res Package 1 - Schematics and layouts. (4.2MB)
Schematics and layouts
II) Added Zipped PNG files of only schematics and layouts
from Hi-Res Package 1. These are included in the pdf version,
but these four files have not been compressed by Acrobat-- so
they may be easier to read or print. (5.3 MB)
Schematics and layouts
III) Added Hi-Res Package 2 - Low/High Resolution Modification Procedure. (1MB)
Describes what and how to modify the Astrocade motherboard plus wire
the RAM board, which contains video and user RAM.
Low/High Resolution Modification Procedure
IV) Added Parts Catalog and Schematics for Seawolf II
Seawolf II is, basically, a hi-res Astrocade. These are the schematics
and the parts catalog (which also contains schematics).
Sea Wolf II Schematics
Sea Wolf II Parts Catalog (with schematics)
December 27, 2007
I) Added Astrocade Bankruptcy Paperwork
This is the bankruptcy paperwork that Astrocade, Inc. filed in
February 1984. It's sixty-three pages.
Astrocade Bankruptcy Paperwork
II) Added General History of Astrocade, Inc. Article
This general history of Astrocade, Inc. is an excerpt from the
Astrocade, Inc. bankruptcy plans filed on February 10, 1984 in
Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division. The case number
is 2-82-04677. (Added December 27, 2007)
General History of Astrocade, Inc.
December 26, 2007
I) Added Low/High Res Package (Cover Letter)
A cover letter that discusses the five packages created by
Michael C. Matte in 1986 to convert an astrocade to use high-res
mode. This letter gives an overall view of the packages (which
have not been scanned yet).
Low/High Res Package (Cover Letter)
December 17, 2007
I) Added "Accurately Dumping an Astrocade ROM"
This article descibes how to dump the Astrocade ROM using
only an Astrocade and software (no EPROM/ROM reader needed).
This technique can be used to archive versions of the Astrocade
ROM that have not been dumped or for dumping the ROM for use
with an Astrocade emulator (such as MESS).
Accurately Dumping an Astrocade ROM Article
December 16, 2007
I) Added the heavily commented Z-80 source-code for the 300 to 2000
BAUD Loader utility program by Jay Fenton. This version is in
text format- it can be assembled using the Zmac Z-80 cross-assembler.
300 to 2000 BAUD Loader utility program (Text Version)
December 14, 2007
I) Added the heavily commented Z-80 source-code for the 300 to 2000
BAUD Loader utility program by Jay Fenton. This is the program that
appears in the AstroBASIC manual on pages 104-107. This program isn't
exactly the same as the one listed in the BASIC manual, but it
is obviously the same program, but probably an earlier version.
300 to 2000 BAUD Loader utility program (PDF Version)
December 11, 2007
I) Added Goldfish Demo source-code by Andy Guevara.
This source-code is available in both pdf and text format. The
program is ready to assemble. Goldfish Demo won’t run unless it
is loaded from tape into the Machine Language Manager cartridge.
The program is meant to reside at memory location $4B40. This is
not a cartridge.
Goldfish Demo
December 7, 2007
I) Added five Esoterica boxes:
1) Garberville
2) Great American Jigsaw (Old Style)
3) Star Trek (Old Style)
4) Treasure Island! (Old Style)
5) Wildcatter (Old Style)
Esoterica Box Pictures
November 5, 2007
I) Added a link to the Videogame Museum's Astrocade Screenshot Area:
Astrocade Screenshot Area of www.vgmuseum.com
November 3, 2007
I) Added twelve manuals to the WaveMakers' tape documentation area.
All manuals have a B&W version, most have a color scan, and
some also have an alternate version. The docs added are:
1) Castle of Horror
2) Character Analysis
3) Clue and Flying Ace
4) Collision Course
5) Dungeons of Dracula
6) Gate Escape, The
7) Guitar Course
8) L.T. (Little Terrestrial)
9) Monkey Jump
10) Pack-Rat
11) Slot Machine and Perversion
12) WaveMakers Loading Instructions
WaveMakers Tape Manual area
II) Added three manuals by L&M Software:
1) Candy Man & River City Gambler
2) Exitor's Revenge & The Mummy's Treasure
3) Secret of Pellucitar I and II
L&M Software Tape Manual area
III) Added high-resolution (300-DPI) pictures of two Spectrecade boxes (front
and back). Each picture is about 2MB. Much smaller, 150-DPI, versions
of these same pictures are already available on this page.
1) Blast Droids
2) Treasure Cove
Spectrecade Boxes
IV) Added several different pictures of the Life cartridge, including some
rare labels.
Cartridge Area (Including Life)
V) Updated one cartridge in the cartridge area:
1) Astro BASIC (now standard 150 DPI, with optional 300 DPI)
Cartridge Area
VI) Added two cartridges to the cartridge area:
1) Machine Language Manager (150 DPI and 300 DPI)
2) Quadra (150 DPI and 300 DPI)
Cartridge Area
VII) Updated four keypad overlays with 150DPI and 300 DPI versions. Also,
added an alternate overlay for Scribbing.
1) Bally BASIC
2) Machine Language Manager
3) Music Maker
4) Scribbling
5) Scribbling (Alternate Overlay)
Keypad Overlay Area
VIII) Added three cassette tape scans to the Miscellaneous Tape Picture Area.
There are 150DPI and 300 DPI versions.
1) Michigan Astro Bugs Tape
2) Niagara Bugs Club Tape (Side 1)
3) Niagara Bugs Club Tape (Side 2)
Cassette Tapes
IX) Revamped the screenshot area in preparation for additional screenshots.
This area has not been updated in a LONG time-- there are hardly ANY
screenshots available. That will eventually change.
Screenshot Area
November 2, 2007
I) Revamped the Astrocade Cassette Tape Manual area in preparation for
adding additional manuals. All documents now have a thumbnail of
the cover of the manual. Also, the area has been broken into catagories:
1) Dave Ibach
2) Esoterica Ltd.
3) Mike White
4) Miscellaneous
5) WaveMakers
Cassette Tape Manual area
II) Added three tape manuals by Esoterica Ltd. These three manuals cover
the following six games:
1) Mini Golf and Star Trek
2) Ten Pins and Garbersville
3) Wildcatter and Bomb Squad
Esoterica Tape Manual area
October 26, 2007
I) Added four pictures of third-party cartridge boxes by Spectrecade:
1) Blast Droids (Front)
2) Blast Droids (Back)
3) Treasure Cove (Front)
4) Treasure Cove (Back)
Spectrecade Box Pictures
October 25, 2007
I) Updated the Astrocade Game Catalog on Ballyalley.com. The checklist
had some print cut-off at the top of the page; Both the 150 DPI and
the 300 DPI version are now fixed.
Astrocade Game Catalog
II) Added the two-page instruction sheet for the Bally BASIC 300-BAUD
audio cassette interface. This document is in color.
Bally BASIC 300-BAUD Audio Cassette Interface
III) Added four ads:
1) Candy Man - L&M Software
2) Home Arcade Catalog 2
3) Sea Devil - Bit Fiddlers (Distributed by L&M Software).
4) Secret of Pellucitar - L&M Software
Four Advertisements
IV) Added nine original color Bally (not Astrovision) cartridge
instructions. Also added four third-party instructions.
Bally Instructions (NOT the later Astrocade instructions):
1) 280 Zzap / Dodgem (#2001) [Alternate, high quality version]
2) Astro Battle (#2009)
3) Bally Pin (#3005)
4) Football and Football (Blue Team Playbook) (#3002)
5) Letter Match / Spell ‘n Score / Crosswords (#4002)
6) Sea Wolf / Missile (#2002)
7) Space Invaders (#2008)
8) Speed Math / Bingo Math (#4001)
9) Star Battle (#2005)
Third-Party Instructions:
1) Blastdroids
2) Ms. Candyman
3) Music Maker (Draft Instructions)
4) Treasure Cove
Thirteen instructions for cartridges
October 23, 2007
I) Added updated "Arcadian Mailing Lists FAQ" by Paul Thacker. This is
from September 3, 2006.
Arcadian Mailing Lists FAQ
II) Added an alternate version of the first edition of the Bally BASIC Manual.
Bally BASIC Manual (Alternate Version)
III) Combined parts one and two of the AstroBASIC manual into one pdf file.
AstroBASIC Manual
IV) Added thumbnails of the covers for the Bally BASIC and AstroBASIC manuals
to the BASIC download area:
BASIC Download Area
October 22, 2007
I) Added an updated version of Connect Four (Enlarged) by Harry L Hanson.
Programs have been renamed according to which versions are the alternate
versions. Now the only two-player version (the one from Mike White) is the
regular (non-alternate) version.
Connect Four (Enlarged)(Harry L Hanson)
II) The "What's New" file was getting too big, so I archived all of 2006:
What's New Archives (2000-2006)
III) Added two pictures to the WaveMakers' cassette section:
1) Music Composer
2) WaveMakers (Label Close-Up)
WaveMakers Pics
IV) Added a picture of the tape for Hot Rod BASIC by R&L Enterprises:
Hot Rod BASIC
V) Added eight pictures of tapes in Dave Ibach's collection:
1) Amazin Maze
2) Avalanche! and Hang Up
3) Bug Puzzle #2
4) Contest Entry
5) Frog Leap 0 (and others)
6) General Video Assembler (for Manufacture)
7) Halloween Graphics
8) Honey Bear
Dave Ibach's tape collection
VI) Added two pictures of tapes by Esoterica Ltd.:
1) Frogger (Released as Road Toad)
2) Super Skier (Released as Super Slope)
Esoterica Ltd. Tapes
VII) Added four pictures of cartridges:
1) Hot Rod BASIC
2) Muncher (Alternate Version of the "Programme Label")
3) Sneaky Snake (Alternate Version)
4) Songs (Prototype)
Astrocade Cartridge Pictures
VIII) Added a news item from Video Games magazine from October, 1982. The item is
called Atari Vs. Astrocade. It gives the reason why Munchie (aka Pacman)
was never released.
Atari Vs. Astrocade
IX) Fixed a bad link on the Astrobugs newsletter page. The March 1983 issue
was pointing to the August issue.
Michigan Astrobugs Newsletter (March 1983)
X) Paul Thacker rewrote the entry for Munchie for the "Bally-Astrocade
Game Cartridge and Hardware FAQ" It is now at version 1.6:
Bally-Astrocade Game Cartridge and Hardware FAQ
October 14, 2007
I) Added three ads by George Moses:
1) George Moses Software - Programs A-E - Lists five programs:
A) Analog Non-Digital Clock
B) Astro-Zap
C) Timecard Calculator
D) Home Budget Keeper
E) Screen RAM Word Processor
In addition one more program, Life, by Jay Fenton is listed.
2) Geroge Moses Software - Lists tapes 1-5:
1) Bach's 15 Two-Part Inventions
2) 27 Arcade Christmas Songs
3) Bally Arcade Ragtime
4) 3 Voice Screen RAM Music Assembler
5) Sinfonia to Cantata 29 by J.S. Bach
3) George Moses Software - Lists the four music tapes:
1) Bach's 15 Two-Part Inventions
2) 27 Arcade Christmas Songs
3) Bally Arcade Ragtime
4) Sinfonia to Cantata 29 by J.S. Bach
George Moses Ads
II) Added two ads from Astrocade Inc:
1) Astrocade Hand Controls Sale
2) Astrocade Sale Astrocade Sale
Astrocade Inc. Moses Ads
III) Added an ad for the Life, the game by Jay Fenton. According to this
ad, the game came with a 10-page manual.
Life Ad
IV) Added as Astrocade Support list ad. As stated in the ad, "Here's a list of [19]
professionals who support your computer with programs, hardware and information
to help you enjoy your Astrocade to the maximum!"
Astrocade Support list Ad
V) Added order form for the RMH Sourcebook:
Order Form for RMH Sourcebook
VI) Added alternate versions for five different programs:
1) 256 Color Display
2) Artillery Duel
3) Connect Four (Enlarged)
4) Halloween Ghost
5) Puzzle
VII) Added six early Bally cartridge manual scans to Ballyalley.com:
1) Amazing Maze / Tic-Tac-Toe (#5001)
2) Baseball / Handball / Tennis / Hockey (#3001)
3) Baseball / Handball / Tennis / Hockey (#3001) [Alternate Cover]
4) Blackjack / Acey Deucy / Poker (#5002)
5) Brickyard / Clowns (#2004)
6) Red Baron / Panzer Attack (#2003)
Six Early Cartridge Manuals
VIII) Added Bally Videocade Cassettes Catalog (Alternate Version). A color
catalog of the cartridges available for the Bally Professional Arcade.
1) Bally Videocade Cassettes Catalog (150 DPI)
2) Bally Videocade Cassettes Catalog (300 DPI)
I added a two-page advertisement for the Blue Ram and accessories to
Ballyalley.com. This ad was already available in B&W, but Paul Thacker scanned
the pages in high-quality color. Each file is available in 150DPI or DPI versions:
IX) Added two-page advertisement, in color, for the Blue Ram and accessories:
1) Blue Ram Advertisement (150 DPI, Blue Ram OS Available) - 447K
2) Blue Ram Advertisement (300 DPI, Blue Ram OS Available) - 1.26MB
3) Blue Ram Advertisement (150 DPI, Blue Ram OS Sold Out) - 447KB
4) Blue Ram Advertisement (300 DPI, Blue Ram OS Sold Out) - 1.26MB
Color Perkins Engineering Ad
X) Added three games from the early Bally Boxes:
1) Amazing Maze / Tic-Tac-Toe
2) Baseball / Tennis / Hockey / Handball
3) Red Baron / Panzer Attack
Early Bally Boxes
XI) Added Richard Degler's Michigan AstroBUGS membership card.
Michigan AstroBUGS Membership Card
October 5, 2007
I) Added pictures of the multicart developed by CPUWIZ. Also added DIP switch
settings. This can all be found in a new hardware section.
Here what was added:
1) A picture of the CPUWIZ multicart.
2) Another picture of the CPUWIZ multicart.
3) Another listing of the DIP switch settings for one version of the
CPUWIZ Multicart. (pdf)
4) A listing of the DIP switch settings for one version of the
CPUWIZ Multicart. (text)
Multicart by CPUWIZ Section
II) Added two pictures of the multicart made by Mike White in 2007 called
Beatles Music from Richard Degler.
Beatles Music from Richard Degler Section
III) Added a two page Montgomery Ward Catalog.
Cartridge listings for the classic early 1980's game systems (including,
of course, the Astrocade).
Montgomery Ward Catalog
IV) Added pictures of cassettes to the WaveMakers section:
1) Lookout for the Bull (Side 1 and 2)
2) Pack-Rat (Side 1 and 2, Master Tapes)
WaveMakers Cassette Pictures
V) Added picture of the Solor Conqueror (prototype):
Solor Conqueror (prototype)
VI) Added Cursor business card:
Cursor Business Card
VII) Added three postcards:
These are postcards sent to (or to be sent by) Astrocade's owners trying
to get their business or offering warranties:
1) Arcadian - Order the Arcadian newsletter for just fifteen
dollars... in 1982.
2) Montgomery Ward - Return this postcard to the Montgomery Ward
Cartridge Club for periodic mailing offering discounts for
new cartridges.
3) Spectre - Cartridge Warranty Card.
Astrocade Postcards
September 29, 2007
I) Added four screenshots of the Solar Conqueror Prototype.
Solar Conqueror Prototype Pictures
II) Added a screenshot for the Blue Ram BASIC game Wack-A-Mole by WaveMakers.
Wack-A-Mole (Blue Ram BASIC) by WaveMakers
III) Added a screenshot for the Blue Ram BASIC game Collision Course by WaveMakers.
There are also a few pictures of the AstroBASIC version of Collision Course.
Compare them and see the difference that some extra RAM and added colors makes! The
BRB version looks, as the newsletters used to say, "cartridge quality."
Collision Course (Blue Ram BASIC) by WaveMakers
September 28, 2007
I) Added eleven high resolution internal pictures of the rare Blue Ram expansion unit.
These pictures are quite large; they average about 500K each. Plus, each picture is
probably larger than your screen resolution, so your browser will likely
automatically reduce them when each picture is done downloading. A special thanks
to Al Skaggs for these high-res pictures of the inside of the Blue Ram unit. The
pictures are:
1) Top view.
2) Bottom view.
3) Front view.
4) Top view of the data port.
5) Top view of the ZIF socket. This is the socket that you would plug
in a keyboard, modem, printer or EPROM burner
6) Bottom view of the data port.
7) Bottom view of the RAM capacitors.
8) Bottom view of the wired RAM.
9) Bottom view of the two switches.
10) 50-Pin Card Edge Connector. This is the end that connects to
the Astrocade.
11) 50-Pin SCSI-Type Connector. This is the end that connects to
the Blue Ram.
Blue Ram Expansion pictures
II) Added pictures, links and PDFs of the multicart developed by RetroKidz into a
new hardware picture section.
This RetroKidz multicart is/was available on the 8-Bit Domain website. Here what
was added:
1) A picture of the RetroKidz multicart.
2) Another picture of the RetroKidz multicart.
3) A PDF of an ebay auction for one of the multicarts before they were
available for sale. This auction was held in May 2006. The "Buy It Now"
price was $74.50 (plus $7.50 shipping).
4) A PDF of the 8-Bit Domain webpage that sells the mulicart. This is dated
September 28, 2007. There is a link to the main page of 8-Bit Domain.
Multicart by RetroKidz Section
III) Added a new section for the S-Video modification upgrade by 8-Bit Domain.
The annoucement for this product was made on Tuesday Nov 28, 2006 at 9:17 pm
on the Bally Alley Yahoo Message board by the user multicart4me. Here is what
was added:
1) A picture of the S-Video modification.
2) Another picture of the S-Video modification.
3) A close-up picture of the S-Video modification's main board.
4) A picture of the S-Video modification installed in the Astrocade.
5) A picture of the S-Video modification with a close-up of the
resistor connection.
6) A picture of the S-Video modification with a close-up of the
ground connection.
7) A PDF of the 8-Bit Domain webpage that sells the S-Video Upgrade.
S-Video Modification Section
IV) Added a new section for 8-Bit Domain's Classic Console Development Platform
On May 19, 2007 Mike from 8-Bit Domain posted a PDF schematic of his
proposed Classic Console Development Platform. A lively discussion
ensued. You can read the compiled discussion and view the pdf.
Classic Console Development Platform
September 21, 2007
I) Added seven machine language utilties for AstroBASIC.
Each of these utilities is from the Arcadian. None of these have been archived
from tape; I typed each utility into AstroBASIC back in May 2007. Each one
comes with extensive documentation and some comes with example program runs.
I've also modified a few to make them easier to use (these are listed separately
in each zip archive). The utilities are:
1) Base Conversion by Ron McCoy
ARCADIAN, 2, no. 10 (September 1980): 88-89.
This program converts from one number system to another. Input is in either
binary, decimal, hexadecimal or octal format and then is converted into the
three other number systems.
2) Convert Hex to Decimal by Ernie Sams
ARCADIAN, 1, no. 5 (March 1979): 36.
This program accepts a two-byte hex number such as $D5FF and converts it to
a decimal number that can be input into BASIC.
3) 'Game Over' Routine by Tom Wood
ARCADIAN, 1, no. 4 (February 1979): 25.
This very short AstroBASIC machine language routine has been modified from
its original Bally BASIC form to displays the words "GAME OVER" from the
Bally ROM.
4) Hex Poker by Al Rathmell
ARCADIAN, 3, no. 7 (May 1981): 78.
This program inputs hexadecimal numbers into memory. There is no need to
swap hexadecimal pairs because the program does it for you.
5) Memory Contents - Binary by Max Manowski
ARCADIAN, 1, no. 6 (May 1979): 43.
This program takes a decical number as memory location for input, then
prints out the input number, followed by the contents of the memory
location in AstroBASIC decical format, then the program prints out the
contents of the memory location in binary format (also in AstroBASIC
format). Since AstroBASIC PEEKs at locations two bytes at a time, the
binary output will be 16 bits. Finally, the output will be in hex pair,
reverse order (i.e. $FF00 = $00FF).
6) Memory Contents - Hex by Gary Moser
ARCADIAN, 1, no. 6 (May 1979): 44.
This program takes a decimal beginning memory address and an decimal
ending memory address and then prints out the hex pairs. The output
is NOT in AstroBASIC format- the hex pairs are in the correct order.
7) Memory Display by Chuck Thomka
ARCADIAN, 1, no. 8 (July 1979): 67.
This program displays input memory locations in both Hexadecimal
format (with hex pairs in reverse order) and Bally BASIC
decimal format.
II) Changed the online versions of L&M Software's Alien Invasion, Candy Man,
and Claim Jumpers. Also changed WaveMaker's Memory Lane and Music Keyboard.
These small changes were made back in April-- I can't honestly remember what
was changed in the text files, but the names were also brought into line with
the current naming convention.
September 16, 2007
I) Added a section to the 300-Baud area with four audio test programs for
the 300-Baud Interface.
1) 10 PRINT 'HELLO' - By Ronaldo Goulart
Very short test program:
10 PRINT "HELLO"
2) Astrocade Character Code Table - A-Z - By Mike White
This is a 300-BAUD audio file of the Astrocade Character Code Table, A-Z.
The table can be found on page 98 of the AstroBASIC manual. This is the
progam that generated the file:
10 :PRINT ;FOR A=65TO 90;TV=A;NEXT A;:RETURN
3) Astrocade Character Code Table - Complete (0-127) - By Mike White
This is a 300-BAUD audio file of the complete Astrocade Character Code Table, 0-127.
10 :PRINT ;FOR A=0TO 127;TV=A;NEXT A;:RETURN
4) Astrocade Character Code Table - Partial - By Adam Trionfo
This is a 300-BAUD audio file of the partial Astrocade Character Code Table.
Brief program explaination: Line 20 prints 0-9 to tape, 30 prints A-Z to tape,
40 prints the "Words" to tape and 50 lists the BASIC program to tape:
10:PRINT
20 FOR I=48TO57;TV=I;NEXT I
30 FOR I=65TO 90;TV=I;NEXT I
40 FOR I=104TO118;TV=I;NEXT I
50 LIST
60 :RETURN
Four Audio Test Programs for the 300-Baud Interface.
September 16, 2007
I) Added three songs by various authors in MP3 format:
1) Carnival Rapture - An original composition by Tim White.
2) Happy Days - By Peggy Gladden.
3) Rockin' Robin - By Peggy Gladden.
Songs by Various Authors
II) Added sound effects in MP3 format from two L&M Software games:
1) Candy Man - Sound effects, including:
1) Jumping 'Candy Man' Intro
2) Background Music
3) Background Music with Dot Eating Sound
4) 'Candy Man' Death
5) New 'Candy Man'
2) Exitor's Revenge - Sound effects, including:
1) Ship Moving and Firing Intro Screen
2) Character Intro Screen
Sound Effects for L&M Software Games
III) Added (in MP3 format) twenty-one songs and sound effects from
the Songs cartridge by New Image:
1) Mountain King - Song
2) William Tell - Song
3) Star Wars Lasers - Sound Effect
4) National Anthem - Song
5) Doz Wer Da Days - Song
6) Crowd Chant - Sound Effect
7) Spinning Wheels - Song
8) Bike Built For Two - Song
9) Bozo's Boo Boos - Sound Effect
10) Revelie - Sound Effect
11) Taunt - Sound Effect
12) The Sting - Song
13) Wolf Whistle - Sound Effect
14) Aw Too Bad - Sound Effect
15) Explosion - Sound Effect
16) Clementine - Song
17) Three Tags - Song
18) Meadowlands - Song
19) Anchors Aweigh - Song
20) Lida Rose - Song
21) The End - Sound Effect
Songs cartridge by New Image
IV) Added updated source code for Balcheck. This is version 1.1 (January 21, 2006),
with thouroughly commented memory test section by David Turner. It is
twenty-seven pages and is 44k.
Ballycheck 1.1 Source Code
V) Added "Official Astrocade Scoreboard" to the article section. This is the
last high-score table that the Arcadian newsletter published. ("Official
Astrocade Scoreboard," ARCADIAN, 6, no. 11/12 (Oct. 31 1984): 111.) Not all
of the titles are cartridges (some are tape games). This is meant to be a
start toward a list of that games could be played against each other using
the Yahoogroups Bally Alley message board. (September 16, 2007)
Official Astrocade Scoreboard 1.0
VI) Added "Spectre Controller Docs" in text format (the PDF file was
already online:
Spectre Controller Docs (in text format)
VII) Added an updated version of Astro Zap 2000 by George Moses. This version
has MUCH better descriptions of each of the alternate programs. Paul Thacker
investigated the six different versions of Astro Zap 2000 and discovered
these differences:
These programs are noticeably different, though sometimes in buggy ways.
Four of these alternate versions are from Brett Bilbrey, who was in a Bally
user group with George Moses. It's possible these are beta versions of the
program from George himself.
1) Regular (non-alternate) Version - Probably the official version.
It's the only version with that uses the knob to select the number
of players, and isn't missing any features that other versions have.
The title screen dates it 9-28-82.
2) (a1) - From Brett, and plays like the standard version (from Mike
White), but it has a simpler player select screen.
3) (a2) - Nearly the same as alternate 1, but the player select screen
is blue instead of black.
4) (a3) - Alternate 3 is about like alternate 2, but some of the gameplay
graphics are drawn on the title screen. Also, the ships that fly in
circles around your base seem to appear more often. This one was
dated 7-25-81 by Adam back when he recorded it. I assume this was on
the tape or something.
5) (a4) - This version has a different title screen and different sound
effects. I don't think there are any circle-flying ships in this version.
6) (a5) - This version is unstable, crashing with an error in line 100 after
playing for a little while.
Astro Zap 2000
VIII) Fixed a typo that Paul Thacker noticed in message 2922. It said "isting"
instead of "listing" in the Arcadian Program Download area (A-H) section.
IX) Added CD compilation from May 2007 with one-hundred-eighty-four programs
for the Astrocade that load with AstroBASIC! These can be loaded from the
computer as WAV files, or made into three convenient CDs for use with a
portable CD player. This isn't everything for the Astrocade, not even close,
but it is a great sampler by some of the best companies:
CD 1 - Music by George Moses
CD 2 - WaveMakers and Mike Peace
CD 3 - Esoterica Ltd., George Moses (non-music), L&M Software, New Image and The Tiny Arcade.
For a list of all of the programs read this
Download Size: 3.28 MB.
184 Astrocade Program Compilation
September 14, 2007
I) Added the Beatles Greatest Hits tape by George Moses in MP3 format:
1 - She Loves You
2 - A Hard Day's Night
3 - Let It Be
4 - Yesterday
5 - Can't Buy Me Love
6 - I Feel Fine
7 - Paperback Writer
8 - Eight Days A Week
Beatles Greatest Hits (MP3 Format)
II) Added screen captures of each of the songs from the Beatles Greatest Hits
tape by George Moses. These show the "garbage" on the screen which is actually
the notes for the song. In addition to the screen shots of the eight songs, there
is one more which is of the last message that appears on the screen after the
tape ends. The captured screens are:
1 - She Loves You
2 - A Hard Day's Night
3 - Let It Be
4 - Yesterday
5 - Can't Buy Me Love
6 - I Feel Fine
7 - Paperback Writer
8 - Eight Days A Week
9 - Last Song, Rewind Tape
Beatles Greatest Hits (Screenshots)
III) Added the Beatles Greatest Hits tape by George Moses to the 2000-Baud
program download area. This one file plays eight songs in a row; each song
loads right after the other automatically. The last song, Eight Days A Week,
repeats endlessly. The songs included are:
1 - She Loves You
2 - A Hard Day's Night
3 - Let It Be
4 - Yesterday
5 - Can't Buy Me Love
6 - I Feel Fine
7 - Paperback Writer
8 - Eight Days A Week
Beatles Greatest Hits (2000-Baud Program File).
IV) Added She Loves You by George Moses to the 2000-Baud program
download area. This song is included in the Beatles Greatest Hits,
but this version is from Astro-Bugs Club Tape #4. There is also a slight
difference; unlike the version included with the Beatles Greatest Hits,
this version lets you replay the song at the end.
She Loves You
V) Removed "She Loves You" and "Yesterday" from the George Moses Miscellaneous
MP3 area. These are redundant now that the complete Beatles Greatest Hits
is available.
VI) Added music from two diffent Astrocade cartridges:
1) Music from the Bally Professional Arcade Demo cartridge.
2) Music from the Bally BASIC Demo cartridge.
Music from Astrocade Cartridges
September 13, 2007
I) Added a sound effect from MazeMaker II by Mike Peace. This is a ten second
recording of a sound loop. It is from page 91 of the AstroBASIC manual. Doesn't
this sound like the theme music from the movie Blade Runner?
MazeMaker II Sound Effect
September 12, 2007
I) Added three songs and one set of eight sound effects by WaveMakers:
1) Chopsticks - From Music Keyboard.
2) Man on the Flying Trapeze, The - From Music Composer.
3) Oh Susanna - From Music Composer.
4) Sound Effects - From Sound Effects. Eight different sounds:
Cop Car, Gun, Machine Gun, Go to Light Speed, Boings, Chimes,
Westminster Chimes, and Explosion.
WaveMakers Songs and Sound Effects
II) Added eight songs from the Bally BASIC manual:
1) Bagpipes
2) Golden Slippers
3) I've Been Working on the Railroad
4) March
5) Marine's Hymn
6) Melody
7) Music Medley
8) Stars and Stripes Forever
Music from Bally BASIC Manual
September 11, 2007
I) Fixed comments about "She Love You" on the George Moses Misc. music page.
The version online is not from 2003- the comments are from 2003.
September 10, 2007
I) Added George Moses' Tape #1: "Bach's 15 Two-Part Inventions" in MP3 format:
1) Two-Part Invention #01
2) Two-Part Invention #02
3) Two-Part Invention #03
4) Two-Part Invention #04
5) Two-Part Invention #05
6) Two-Part Invention #06
7) Two-Part Invention #07
8) Two-Part Invention #08
9) Two-Part Invention #09
10) Two-Part Invention #10
11) Two-Part Invention #11
12) Two-Part Invention #12
13) Two-Part Invention #13
14) Two-Part Invention #14
15) Two-Part Invention #15
Bach's 15 Two-Part Inventions
II) Added George Moses' Tape #2: "27 Christmas Carols" in MP3 format:
1 - Oh Christmas Tree (Oh Tannenbaum)
2 - Silent Night, Holy Night
3 - Deck the Hall
4 - Away in a Manger
5 - Here We Come A-Wassailing
6 - Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
7 - Up on the Rooftop
8 - Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
9 - We Three Kings of Orient Are
10 - O Come, All Ye Faithful
11 - Lullaby, Thou Little Tiny Child
12 - Joy to the World
13 - What Child is This (Greensleeves)
14 - The First Noel
15 - Hark the Harald Angels Sing
16 - Angels We Have Heard On High
17 - O Come, O Come Immanuel
18 - Good King Wenceslas
19 - March of the Toys
20 - It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
21 - Toyland
22 - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.mp3
23 - Jingle Bells
24 - O Little Town of Bethlehem
25 - We Wish You a Merry Christmas
26 - Prepare Thyself, Zion
27 - Auld Lang Syne
27 Christmas Carols
III) Added George Moses' Tape #3: "Scott Joplin Ragtime Classics" in MP3 format:
1 - The Easy Winners
2 - Crush Collision
3 - The Entertainer
4 - Maple Leaf Rag
5 - Solace
6 - The Chrysanthemum
7 - Antoinette
8 - The Cascades
9 - Sensations.mp3
10 - The Sycamore
11 - A Breeze from Alabama
12 - Elite Syncopations
13 - Peachtree Rag
14 - The Strenuous Life
Scott Joplin Ragtime Classics
IV) Added George Moses' Tape #5: "Sinfonia to Cantata 29" by Bach in MP3 format:
Note that this tape only has one song. Also, this digitized version includes
parts one and two of Sinfonia to Cantata 29 as one file. The two separate parts
have been seamlessly joined (digitally); the silence between the songs (as when
played on the Astrocade) has been completely eliminated.
1 - Sinfonia to Cantata 29
Sinfonia to Cantata 29 by Bach
V) Added miscellaneous music by George Moses in MP3 format. The six songs added are:
Allemande (Part 1) - Bach
Allemande (Part 2) - Bach
Over the Rainbow - [No longer a WAV file]
Remember When You Were a Kid? [No longer a WAV file. Previously named "Red Pop Music"]
She Loves You - The Beatles
Yesterday - The Beatles
George Moses - Miscellaneous Music by Bach
September 3, 2007
I) Added the demo of the game Nautilus (1982) by L&M Software.
I've included it with the Nautilus game (which was already online):
Nautilus (with Demo)
II) Added The Collatz Conjecture (Aug. 1984) by Jim Dunson.
This program is a mathmatical demonstration. From the game loading screen: "About 30
years ago [1937] a professor named Collatz created this thought provoker. Start with
any whole number. If it is odd, triple it +1. If it is even, take half. Repeat.
The final result will always be one. Why is that? After all, the odd number is
tripled + 1. This more than compensates for the halves???"
The Collatz Conjecture
III) Added Quadra - Marathon Tape (June 1983) by Mike White.
This is the full 2000-Baud version of Mike White's epic. One side is the marathon
where you try to beat all of thegames. The other side has practice programs.
Includes the following progams:
Marathon Selector
Quadrant 1 (Smash-Up)
Quadrant 2 (Laser & Slide)
Quadrant 3 (U.F.O. Attack)
Quadrant 4 (Safe Cracker)
Practice programs:
Ping
Smashup
Laser Blaster
Landslide!
Safe Cracker
U.F.O. Attack
Quadra - Marathon Tape
IV) Added Michigan Astro-bugs Tape II.
This is the complete tape working as intended; you choose a game from the
menu and it will load automatically. This version preserves the original
distribution process of the tape, but it is slow to load a game. For
convenience it is recommended to load each program serarately (the programs
can be found elsewhere). The eight programs that are included are:
Side 1:
-------
Starbase I - By Creg Miejski
Wack-A-Mole - Wavemakers
Happy Days (Music) - Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox (Peggy Gladden)
Rockin' Robin (Music) - Bobby Day (Peggy Gladden)
Side 2
------
Snare A Bear - Stanley Kendall
W&W Racetrack - W&W Software Sales
Memory Lane - Wavemakers
Color Patterns - Stanley Kendall
Michigan Astro-bugs Tape II
V) Updated Alien 2000 (1984).
This game is a program from the Arcadian newsletter programmed by Henry
Sopko. Two versions were online, and were byte-for-byte identical. One
was attributed to L&M Software (who never made any such progam). I
removed the old version and updated the naming convention of the
correct version.
Alien 2000
VI) Added Aldo's Trilogy (1987-1991) by Dave and Benjamin Ibach.
This game is for the PC running DOS. These games do not run on the
Astrocade. These games will run well under Windows when using a program called
DOSBox (an emulator, of sorts). The games included are: Aldo's Adventure,
Aldo Again, and Aldo's Assault. While these games won't run on the
Astrocade, they do give a continued history of what Dave Ibach did (with his son)
after he moved on from the Astrocade. The main character in this series of
one-screen platform games looks suspiciously like someone named...Mario. Give
these games a try-- you'll like 'em.
Aldo Trilogy for the PC with DOS
VII) Added RAM Test pdf.
This source code is from Z80 Assembly Language Subroutines by Lance A.
Leventhal and Winthrop Saville. Since I've had a few requests for this, I thought
that it would be a good idea to post it for convenience.
RAM Test (PDF)
VIII) Added What-Zit (1981) by L&M Software.
This game is very-much like the board game Mastermind-- except you don't need
a second player, and the entire game can be played with the hand controller.
What-Zit
IX) Added Darts (1981) by Bill Mead.
This program allows up to four players to play a very simple game of darts. Each
player uses a different hand controller. This game has simple graphics and sound.
They get the job done; nothing more. When I say get the job done, that's exactly
what I mean. For, who has ever heard of a SQUARE dart board?
Darts by Bill Mead
X) Added Darts (1982) by Al Roginsky.
This game is graphically impressive for an AstroBASIC game that doesn't even use
machine language graphics. It's amazing how much like a dart these characters
look like: "-=<" Nice effects and worth a look for a simple game. This game runs
circles around the other AstroBASIC game also called "Darts" by Bill Mead.
Darts by Al Roginsky
XI) Added Stategic Air Command (1981) by Bob Weber and George Moses.
This game is sort of like a SUPER simple Missile Command. Press the trigger to
fire the missiles while holding left/right to steer them. Read the included text
file for quite a few additional comments about this game lifted from the Yahoo
message group.
Stategic Air Command
September 2, 2007
I) Added MPEG videos of the four programs that are in the Astrocade's internal ROM:
1. Calculator - 49 seconds, 12.1MB
2. Checkmate - 26 seconds, 6.56MB
3. Gunfight - 57 seconds, 14.1MB
4. Scribbling - 29 seconds, 7.18MB
These videos are so large that if you just click the picture to watch the video
it may not work properly. It is highly recommended that you click the picture
and then save the video to your hard drive. (In Internet Explorer: Right Click
on the picture and then choose 'Save Target As')
Four Videos
II) After reviewing the 300-BAUD area of the website, I have noticed that several
programs are online, but are not reachable from any web pages. Also, some
of the larger collections of 300-BAUD programs have been broken up into smaller,
more usable programs (i.e. rather than downloading a whole "tape," with several
programs on it, you can now download just the files that you want). For this
reason I have deleted the following program collections that were online (but
not reachable from any web pages):
1. Mike's Tape 2 300 Baud (zip) - 43MB
2. L&M 300 Baud Collection (zip) - 108MB
I have been very careful not to delete programs that are not online someplace
else (I did a byte-for-byte comparison). In all, I shaved off about 150MB
of online storage. If you didn't know this already... 300-BAUD programs
take up a HUGE portion of the website.
III) Added the 300-BAUD Bally BASIC Sampler by Bally (1978) to the miscellaneous 300-
Baud program area. It contains the following programs on a two-sided tape:
Side 1:
1. Electric Doily (Graphics)
2. Line Graph
3. Monthly Records (Not Usable)
4. Electronic Music
5. Number Match (Guessing Game)
Side 2:
1. Lunar Lander
2. Gravity Game
3. Newtonia '500' (Strange Doodling Program)
The original tape has markers for 'Monthly Records' to save its records at/into.
As this is useless when piping tape audio from the computer, they were removed
from the recordings to reduce size. This makes 'Monthly Recordings' potentially
unusable even if restored to a cassette tape. (9MB Uncompressed, 6MB compressed).
Note: This collection was already online, but it seems that it has not been
reachable for quite some time from any web pages. This has been fixed. Also,
the program names have been brought into line with the current naming convention
on Ballyalley.com.
300-BAUD Bally BASIC Sampler
IV) Added "Mike's 300-Baud Demo Tape." This collection was put together by Michael
White in 2004 to show some of the ways that programs can be loaded automatically
with 300-BAUD BASIC using the much more flexable 300-BAUD tape interface.
Includes extensive comments by Michael White. The programs on this tape include
(in alphabetical order, but NOT in order of appearance):
1) Bingo Caller
2) Bowling
3) Fireworks
4) Hangman
5) Landslide
6) Laser Blaster
7) Ping
8) Put-Put Golf
9) Quadra Practice Programs
10) Safe Cracker
11) Smash Up
12) Space Mission (Part I)
13) Space Mission (Part II)
14) The Tin Pants Gang
15) U.F.O. Attack
Like the 300-Baud BASIC Sampler, this collection was already online, but it seems
that it has not been reachable for quite some time from any web pages. This has
been fixed. Also, the program names have been brought into line with the current
naming convention on Ballyalley.com.
Mike's 300-Baud Demo Tape
May 3, 2007
I) Updated the Bally/Astrocade FAQ to version 3.24. The only change
in this update is a fix to the Z80 clock speed: 3.579 MHz to the
proper speed of 1.789 MHz. For more information about how
this fix came about (and was realized), see the Astrocade Message
board thread titled "Z80 clock speed." More specifically, read
Frank Palazzolo's reply in message number 3912 and Tony Miller's reply
in message number 3913.
II) Added Horserace, by Paul Slezak, to the Arcadian section of
the 2000 Baud area.
Horserace has a strange history on Ballyalley.com. The program
was originally thought to be by L&M Software and was named "Arlingdung
Park." Paul Thacker pointed out on the Bally Alley message board
(thread "Arlingdung Park", number 3792) that this game was misnamed.
I loaded the game onto an Astrocade, compared the listing in the
Arcadian and found it to be Horserace (with a few unnoticeable
programming differences). Since this program was written for Bally
BASIC, perhaps these small differences in the code are fixes so that
the game plays properly in AstroBASIC. I saved the game with a new
title screen that lists the program's name and the author.
Horserace by Paul Slezak
April 6, 2007
I) Added a listing of the original playing order for the tape, 27 Christmas Carols.
'27 Christmas Carols' by George Moses Co.
II) Added some corrections to the WaveMakers 300-BAUD page:
1. Flying Ace - "Doesn't work correctly. Unplayable in
current condition."
2. WaveMakers Fortune Teller - "Doesn't work correctly. Will give
one fortune before crashing."
3. Removed some comments at the top of the page that said that no
Master Tapes are available.
WaveMakers 300-baud Download Area
III) Changed the miscellaneous Astrocade audio section so that now there is a
WaveMakers and a George Moses section.
Miscellaneous Astrocade Audio
IV) Replaced a WaveMakers flyer/catalog with one of higher quality. The
file that Paul gave to me to work with was originally 45MB. I got the
file down to 3.5MB-- which replaces the file that was already online
(and was about 9.5MB).
WaveMakers Catalog
V) Added cassette pictures of "Secrets of Pellucitor I and II." You can view
them on this page:
L&M's Cassettes
VI) Added an additional four versions of Astro Zap 2000 (from Brett Bilbrey's
collection). Also combined the different versions of "Buggin' B.C." and
renamed the files to the TOSEC standard.
George Moses Game Area
April 5, 2007
I) Created a new section to hold miscellaneous Astrocade audio (non-progam) files.
Two files were added today:
1. Gate Excape, The [Intro] - A spoken introduction by Mike Peace to the WaveMakers
game. WAV format. 214K.
2. Invasion Force [Intro] - Three spoken introductions by Mike Peace to the WaveMakers
game. WAV format. 1MB.
Miscellaneous Astrocade Audio
II) Added fourteen songs to the George Moses Co. "27 Christmas Carols" area. This area is
now complete; all twenty-seven Christmas songs are available for download!
1. Angels We Have Heard On High
2. Auld Lang Syne
3. First Noel, The
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
5. Good King Wenceslas
6. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
7. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
8. Jingle Bells
9. March of the Toys
10. O Come, O Come Immanuel
11. O Little Town of Bethlehem
12. Prepare Thyself Zion
13. Toyland
14. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
'27 Christmas Carols' by George Moses Co.
March 22, 2007
I) The WaveMakers, 300-BAUD, download area has been created (there were no previous
WaveMaker 300-BAUD programs online). Paul Thacker was able to contact Mike Peace
(the programmer behind WaveMakers). Mike sent Paul the master tapes that he used
to create all of the WaveMakers tapes. From these tapes, Paul was able to remaster
most of the Wavemakers titles. Paul used the TOSEC naming convention to name all
of the newly archived files. See the Wavemakers, 300-baud download area for more
informtion. The files that have been uploaded are:
1. Backgammon
2. Clue
3. Flying Ace
4. Guitar Course
5. Horse Race
6. Invasion Force
7. Lookout For the Bull! I & II
8. Max (Robot From Space)
9. Maze Race, Obstacle Course
10. Mazemaker I & II
11. Mouse In The Hat
12. Music Composer
13. Obstacle Course Tournament
14. Pack-Rat I & II
15. Perversion
16. Sideswipe
17. Slot Machine
18. Space Chase
19. Speed Math, Note Match
20. WaveMakers Fortune Teller
21. Whiz Quiz- Common Knowledge
22. Yahtzee
WaveMakers 300-baud Download Area
March 21, 2007
I) Made numerous small fixes to the WaveMakers page as noted by Paul Thacker. For a complete run down of these fixes, you can read message #3709 on the Bally Alley message board: Bally Alley Message Board II) I've updated the Z80 documentation area. Two documents have been updated with newer versions, plus I've added nine other documents (some of these are complete books!). I didn't scan any of this myself; I found it all on the Internet at one place or another over the last few weeks. I am finally putting it all into one place as I think most or all of it would be useful to anyone trying to understand the Astrocade. Notice that one of the books is the complete "Programming the Z-80, 3rd Edition" by Rodnay Zaks. This book has come up quite a few times on the Bally Alley Message Boards as probably the best book on learning how to program the Z80. The Two Pieces of Documention That Has Been Updated Are: 1) "Undocumented Z80 Documented," The by Sean Young. Documents all of the undocumented Z80 commands. Written by an emulator author. 51 Pages, 265K, PDF. 2) "ZINT Z80 Interpreter Assembler Handbook" by James Moxham. Introduction to the Z80 Instruction Set based on ZINT (the Z80 Interpreter). This has Z80 opcodes with detailed usage. 41 Pages, 78K, Text. The Nine Pieces of Documention and Books that Have Been Added Are: 3) "ASM83 Guru - TI-83 ASM Tutorials" by James Matthews. ASMGuru is your one-stop file to learning 83 ASM! This help file should be just about all you need to learn ASM proficiently (and time, of course), as I’ve written over 50 tutorials, and included a large reference section for you to look at. Unknown number of pages, 226K, Windows Help File (Zipped). 4) "Introduction to Z80 Assembler" by James Hollidge. This document will give an introduction to all aspects of the Z80 assuming no knowledge of programming. 11 Pages, 30K, Text. 5) "Learn TI-83 Plus Assembly In 28 Days v2.0" by Sean McLaughlin. This guide is intended so people who have little or no experience in assembly can learn how to make calculator programs. While this is obviously intended for TI-83 calculator users, other Z80 users will probably get some use out of it as well. HTML and Windows Help File. Unknown Number of Pages, 295K (Help File) and 400K (HTML), 6) "Programming the Z-80, 3rd Edition" by Rodnay Zaks. This is the complete, highly acclaimed, book. Many programmers say that this was the book that they learned to program the Z80. If you're going to read ANYTHING on this page, then read this book. 630 Pages, 13.3MB, PDF 7) "Z80 Assembly Language Programming" by Lance A Leventhal. This is just one chapter on the book. It is chapter 3 - The Z80 Assembly Language Instruction Set. Worth a look; pick up the entire book if you can get your hands on it. 171 Pages, 4.95MB, PDF. 8) "Z80 Assembly Language Subroutines" by Lance A Leventhal. This is the complete book. 512 Pages, 25.3MB, PDF. 9) "Z80 Assembly Optimization Tricks" by Adam Ziemba and Leif Åstrand. In hopes of getting Z80 Assembly programmers to write more efficient programs, this list of optimization tricks has been comprised. It is suggested that you memorize these tricks so that you can become quick and adept at writing efficient assembly programs. 15 Pages, 40K, HTML (Zipped). 10) "Z80 Microcomputer System" by Zilog. Databook for the Z80 and Z80A. This is very hardware oriented. There are many diagrams and timing diagrams. This book was printed by SGS, but I'm pretty sure this is actually by Zilog. 86 Pages, 8.28MB, PDF. 11) "Zilog Z80 Assembly Code Optimization" by Unknown TI-Calculators Coder. Programs can be made to run substantially faster by optimizing their code. This document gives some pointers on how to do that. 3 Pages, 8K, Text. You can find all of this documentation here: Z80 Machine Language Documentation
March 20, 2007
I) The WaveMakers, 2000-BAUD, download area has been reworked. Paul Thacker
was able to contact Mike Peace (the programmer behind WaveMakers). Mike
sent Paul the master tapes that he used to create all of the WaveMakers tapes.
From these tapes, Paul was able to remaster most of the Wavemakers titles.
Paul used the TOSEC naming convention to name all of the newly archived files
(I went back and renamed the previously archived files). All of the previously
released programs have been combined with the newly archived material. See the
Wavemakers, 2000-baud download area for more informtion. The files that have
been uploaded are (these replaced all of the older archived material):
1. Backgammon
2. Brick 'n the Wall
3. Castle of Horror
4. Character Analysis
5. Chicago Loop
6. Clue
7. Collision Course
8. Dungeons of Dracula
9. Flying Ace
10. Four Famous Freebies
11. Game Selector I
12. Game Selector I - Space Chase
13. Game Selector II
14. Gate Escape, The
15. Gong the Kong
16. Guitar Course
17. Horse Race I and II
18. Invasion Force
19. L.T. (Little Terrestrial)
20. Lookout for the Bull! I & II
21. Max (Robot From Space)
22. Maze Race, Obstacle Course
23. Mazemaker I & II
24. Memory Lane
25. Monkey Jump
26. Mouse in the Hat
27. Music Composer
28. Music Keyboard
29. Obstacle Course Tournament
30. Outpost 19
31. Pack-Rat I & II
32. Perspectives
33. Perversion
34. QB-2B
35. Sideswipe
36. Slot Machine I & II
37. Sound Effects
38. Sound Port Study
39. Space Chase
40. Speed Math, Note Match
41. Tomb Pirates
42. Wack-A-Mole
43. Wavemakers Fortune Teller
44. Whiz Quiz
45. Yahtzee
WaveMakers 2000-baud Download Area
II) Paul Thacker wrote an excellent article on how the Wavemakers update came
about. Read the article here:
"How the Wavemakers "Masters" Update Come About" by Paul Thacker
February 10, 2007
I) Updated the Astrocade Manual (Cartridge Area) with suggestions that
Paul Thacker suggested:
1. Seawolf/Missile, Space Invaders, Spell 'N Score/Crosswords/
Lettermatch and Speed Math/Bingo Math each has a note next to it
that says, "Poor quality, B&W, early 1980-era photocopy used
for source."
2. Fixed the bad link for Space Fortress.
3. Rotated the second page of the non-alternate version of Tornado
Baseball/Tennis/Handball/Hockey so that it is readable without
tilting your head sideways.
4. Made a note next to the Quadra manual that says, "This is the
documentation for the tape version of the software-- it is not
BASICart specific. This documentation doesn't talk at all about
the toggle-switches located on the cartridge."
5. Made a note next to the top of the page that says, ""I will post
your manuals here if you send them to me. I prefer scans of
original manuals at 300-DPI (color front and back with the inside
pages scanned in B&W-- unless the inside pages have color on
them too). If you can't scan the manual yourself, then I can scan
it for you and then send it back to you. Finally, if you can't
scan the manual in and you prefer not to send it to me, then
sending me a text file of the manual is fine too."
6. I indented the start of the manuals links after each cartridge
title to make the page a little easier to read.
7. Changed yesterday's entry to be 2007, not 2006.
Astrocade Manuals (Cartridge Area)
II) Added three pictures of Astrocade cartridges (thanks to Paul Thacker):
These pictures are 300-DPI rather than 100-DPI, so they take longer to downloaded,
but the quality is much better.
1. Bally BASIC Demo (with Chain)
2. Bally Demo
3. DNA Final Test (Bench)
Cartridge Picture Area
III) Added four manuals to the Astrocade Manual Cartridge Area:
Thanks to Paul Thacker for sending these manuals to me.
1) 280 ZZZap / Dodgem - Manual by Bally.
2) Blackjack - Manual by Astrovision.
3) Football - Manual by Astrovision.
4) Football - Yellow Team Offense Playbook
Astrocade Manuals (Cartridge Area)
.jpg){kind=link}
-300dpi.jpg){kind=link}
February 9, 2007
I) Astrocade Manual (Cartridge Area) Revision:
I've revised the entire Astrocade Manual (Cartridge Area). It has been
broken into three different parts: Released Cartridges, BASICarts and
Prototypes / Unreleased Cartridges/ No Official Release. You can
check out the updated section here:
Astrocade Manuals (Cartridge Area)
II) Added eight manuals to the Astrocade Manual (Cartridge Area):
1) Amazing Maze / Tic-Tac-Toe - Prototype Manual by Astrovision.
(Blank pages inside)
2) Astrobattle - Manual by Astrovision.
3) Galactic Invasion - Manual by Astrovision.
4) Incredible Wizard, The - Manual by Astrocade.
5) Music Maker I - Prototype Manual by Astrovision.
(Blank pages inside)
6) Seawolf / Missile - Manual by Astrovision.
7) Star Battle - Manual by Astrovision.
8) Tornado Baseball / Tennis / Handball / Hockey - Manual by Bally
(Alternate Scan).
III) "Inside the Box" Area Revision:
I've revised the entire "Inside the Box" area. The table now has only one
column. It makes reading a little easier, and it also cuts down on repetition
of data.
"Inside the Box" Area
IV) Added the Astrovision version of the Bally Professional Arcade Owner's Manual:
Bally Professional Arcade Owner's Manual - Astrovision Version
V) Added Blue Ram 32K Add-On Schematic:
This one page schematic was designed by Ken Lill in October 2006. This is
a highly readable PDF that Ken uploaded to the Bally Alley Discussion Group
on January 24, 2007.
A few notes directly from Ken: "This is all on one page, except the
different configurations for different SRAM chips. The page already posted
shows memory configurations, but it doesn't show hoe the ~CE connection is
connected when multiole chips are commected (E.I.) 8K x8, 16K x 1, etc."
Thanks Ken!
Blue Ram 32K Add-On Schematic - By Ken Lill
VI) Added an alternative version of "Mass Impact of Videogame Technology"
This book is by Thomas A. Defanti. I found this version online someplace;
it might be a little easier to read than the version that is currently
online already:
Mass Impact of Videogame Technology - Alternate Version
VII) Added Viper board schematics:
These schematics were created by Lance F. Squire's father. Lance uploaded
these to the Bally Alley Discussion group on January 28, 2007. There are
five JPG images:
Viper Board Schematics
December 26, 2006
I) The 300dpi version of the Astrocade Game Catalog that I added yesterday
was actually twice as long as it needed to be; it was sixty-eight pages
instead of thirty-four pages. After fixing the file, the size of the pdf
still remains the same: 8MB. If you downloaded the file yesterday, then
download this fixed version:
Astrocade Game Catalog (300dpi) - 8MB
December 25, 2006
I) Added an Astrocade Game Catalog. This is a color catalog of the
cartridges available for the Bally Astrocade. Check out the ads for
the unreleased cartridges: Bowling, Creative Crayon, Conan the
Barbarian, Music Maker, and Soccer! This catalog is available in
two versions: 300dpi (8MB) and 150dpi(3.2MB). The twenty-eight games
included in the catalog are:
Amazing Maze / Tic-Tac-Toe
Artillery Duel
Astro Battle
Astrocade Pinball
Biorhythm
Blackjack / Poker / Acey-Deucey
Bowling (Unreleased)
Brickyard / Clowns
Conan the Barbarian(Unreleased)
Cosmic Raiders
Creative Crayon (Unreleased)
Dog Patch
Football
Galactic Invasion
Grand Prix / Demolition Derby
Incredible Wizard, The
Letter Match / Spell 'N Score / Crosswords
Music Maker (Unreleased)
Pirate's Chase
Red Baron / Panzer Attack
Seawolf / Missile
Soccer (Unreleased)
Solar Conqueror
Space Fortress
Speed Match / Bingo Match
Star Battle
Tornado Baseball / Tennis / Handball / Hockey
ZZZap / Dodgem
Astrocade Game Catalog (150dpi) - 3.2MB
Astrocade Game Catalog (300dpi) - 8MB
October 17, 2006
I) Added Bally Hi-Res Schematics. These are the schematics created
by John Perkins to make his hi-res version of the Astrocade. I
have been told that these are not 100% complete. Note: Unlike most
files here on Ballyalley.com, this document is not a pdf file; it
is a 310K grayscale TIFF file.
Bally Hi-Res Schematics
II) Arranged the Perkins area so that it is more readable and functional.
Also, this area has been alphabetized (finally!).
Perkins Engineering Area
September 23, 2006
I) Added "Google Search of Bally Alley" button to the bottom of the
index page. Try it out; it works pretty good. Don't expect it to
find everything that you're looking for, but it sure beats going
through page after page when you know that you've seen something
before. Also, just because you didn't find it in the search
doesn't mean that what you're looking for isn't on the website...
index.html
August 20, 2006
I) Updated the "Bally-Astrocade Game Cartridge and Hardware FAQ" with
information that Paul Thacker noted. The FAQ is now at version 1.56.
1. Removed some smart quotes from the FAQ and replaced them with
regular quotation marks.
2. Added some additional comments to "I.C.B.M. Attack" that Paul
Thacker noted after he reviewed version 1.54 of the FAQ.
3. Added that "Color BASIC" does exist and that it is/was owned by
Larry Anderson.
4. Added to "Desert Fox/Drag Race" that Brett Bilbrey saw a
prototype of the game.
5. Added "Munchie" to the Prototype section. I was going to add it
under "Pac-Man," but there is enough information here to give the
game its own section.
Bally-Astrocade Game Cartridge and Hardware FAQ
II) Updated the Box Picture Area. All of the pictures of boxes had been
lumped into one place, now they are separated into categories:
1. Esoterica Ltd.
2. L&M Software - One New Picture:
1) Candy Man
3. Misc. Boxes
4. Spectrecade
5. WaveMakers - Two New Pictures:
1) Lookout For the Bull (Box and Tape)
2) Seven WaveMakers Boxes
Astrocade Box Picture Area
III) Added additional cassette pictures:
1. Esoterica Ltd. Cassettes:
1) Mini Golf
2) Star Trek
2. Misc. Cassettes:
1) Bally Basic Program Sampler - Side A
2) Bally Basic Program Sampler - Side B
August 19, 2006
I) Updated the "Bally-Astrocade Game Cartridge and Hardware FAQ" with
information that Lance Squire noted. The FAQ is now at version 1.55.
The update that was made is:
1. Added the game "Grand Prix / Demolition Derby" to the
Released Cartridges.
Bally-Astrocade Game Cartridge and Hardware FAQ
II) Added Astro Battle picture to the cartridge picture page
(thanks Lance!).
Astro Battle cartridge picture
III) Fixed the links page:
1. Added Link: Digibarn Computer Museum - BPA Pics
2. Fixed Links: Bally FAQ, Patent 4301503, Patent 4475172, and
TI-ASM Help File
3. Removed Links: Astrocade Joysticks for $10, Frank's Site,
Screenshots and Virtual Arcade.
Astrocade Links
August 18, 2006
I) Updated the "Bally-Astrocade Game Cartridge and Hardware FAQ" with
information that Paul Thacker brought up in April 2006 on the
Astrocade Discussion group. The FAQ is now at version 1.54.
The updates that were made are:
1. Added "Sea Wolf/Bombardier" and "Seawolf/Missile" to the release
cartridge section. I don't know how this was overlooked in the
first place.
2. Added additional information about the rumored game "Escape."
3. Added additional information about the rumored game "Space Race."
4. Added "Home bookkeeping, Menu Planning, Business, and the Arts" to
the rumored section.
5. Added additional information about the rumored game "Astrology."
6. Added additional information about the rumored game "Backgammon."
7. Added additional information about the rumored game
"Desert Fox / Drag Race ."
8. Added "Word Hunt / Letter Match / Scramble" to the rumored section.
9. Added "Maneuvers" to the rumored section.
10. Added additional information about the rumored game "Robby Roto."
11. Added additional information about the game "I.C.B.M. Attack."
Bally-Astrocade Game Cartridge and Hardware FAQ
August 13, 2006
I) Added comments and short instructions by Lance Squire to Esoterica Ltd.'s
Mini Golf. I put the comments on the download page with all of
the other Esoterica games, plus I added them to the game download.
Mini Golf
August 12, 2006
I) Added Hangman and Home Budget Keeper by Esoterica Ltd. (and George
Moses). The archive of all Esoterica material is now totally complete!
Thanks to Paul Thacker for spotting this item on Ebay, purchasing it
and then archiving it.
1. Hangman Game
2. Home Budget Keeper
3. Instructions
4. Cassette picture
5. Box Picture
August 1, 2006
I) It was pointed out that the WAV that I uploaded yesterday isn't
just called "Red." It is called "Red Pop Music." Fixed.
Frank Palazzolo had some additional comments to make, which I
added to the webpage and to the text file included with the zip.
"Red Pop Music" WAV file
II) When I uploaded Flying Witch Demo yesterday I stated that it runs
under Bally BASIC. That is incorrect; it is written for AstroBASIC.
You can check it out in the Machine Language, Homebrew Area:
Machine Language, Homebrew Area
III) Added a FAQ called "Arcadian Mailing Lists" by Paul Thacker. It is a
short FAQ with two spreadsheet files with cumulative statistics about
Arcadian subscribers. It's more interesting than you think.
Arcadian Mailing Lists FAQ
July 31, 2006
I) Added two WAV recordings of songs that George Moses transcribed:
1) Red - Lance's comments: This is called "Red" in the tape menu
and displayed on the screen while it played, "Remember when you
were a kid." I was impressed with the quality of this song,
almost no bent notes. Recorded March 18, 2003.
2) She Loves You - Lance's comments: I was concerned that this
file was bad as garbage started showing up on the screen
partly through the load. Only it was consistent and there was
clear centered text below it. I wondered... was that a block
of ML code in the center of the screen? Then to my amazement
the classic Beatles song She Loves You (Ya Ya Ya) started
playing... with perfect 1/16 notes! Recorded March 18, 2003.
You can download both of the programs here:
George Moses WAV Recording Area
II) Reworded a few descriptions on the BASIC page:
BASIC Program Area
III) Added a very short description to the Peek & Poke manuals on
the Machine Language page:
Machine Language, Documents Area
IV) Deleted the online Multicart dipswitch settings (they were outdated). I
replaced them with the ones that were on the Bally Alley Discussion Group.
This zipped download includes two Word Documents and two PDF documents; use
the pdf documents, not the Word documents (which are included in case any
changes need to be made). Each document is the same information sorted into
two different ways: alphabetically and alphabetically sorted by extra RAM
needed or not.
Multicart Area
V) Uploaded three screenshots of the cartridge "Conan the Barbarian"
Conan the Barbarian, Screenshots
VI) Uploaded screenshot of the BASIC program "American Flag" by By Barry
Ellerson (Arcadian Vol.6 PG.96). Simplified by Mike White.
American Flag, Screenshot
VII) "Flying Witch-- not THE Demo" Changed the "Critter" pattern in Lance Squire's
"ProgramTests.asm" into the "Flying Witch" pattern (taken from the
General Video Assembler Sample Program 2.) No actual code was changed;
just the graphic of the "Critter." Like most programs in this section, this
will run as a cartridge under an emulator. (Feb 17, 2006).
Machine Language, Homebrew Page
VIII) "Flying Witch Demo" By General Video
From the General Video Assembler Documentation; (Appendix G). This is General
Video Assembler Sample Program 2, sometimes referred to as the Flying Witch
Demo. This program does NOT run as a cartridge, isn't mean't to; it runs
under AstroBASIC (with a RAM expansion). This program can be assembled fine using
ZMac, but there is no way to run it unless you assemble it under the General
Video Assembler. It is here for learning purposes only. Written in 1982.
Machine Language, Homebrew Page
IX) Moved all current miscellaneous pictures from the screenshots/cartridge/misc
area to a new truly miscellaneous picture area. Most of the pictures
that were there had grown beyond screenshots, so a new area was created
to hold them.
Miscellaneous Picture Area
X) Moved the Smurf Mockup by Kurt Woloch and the cleaned-up Smurf title screen
by Lance Squire to the new miscellaneous picture area. The Smurf Mockup
is a zipped file with a text document that includes part of the discussion
that went on at Yahoogroups after Kurt uploaded the picture back in
February 2006.
Miscellaneous Picture Area
July 30, 2006
I) Slightly changed and recreated the pdf for Bally Vector Tutotial
by Lance Squire:
Bally Vector Tutotial
II) Added moved four FAQs from the Bally Alley Discussion group file
archive to Ballyalley.com:
1. Arcadian Subscriber Statistics 10-29-82 - By Paul Thacker
This is a spreadsheet file with cumulative statistics about
Arcadian subscribers, from October 29, 1982.
2. Astrocade BIOS Comparision FAQ - By Adam Trionfo
This is a comparison of the two Astrocade BIOS that have
been dumped so far. These two ROM BIOS have nicknames: 3159
ROM and White ROM. There are forty-one bytes that are
different between the two. They are listed here with brief
comments followed by excerpts from the 3159 ROM Listing to
give greater detail.
3. Bally Technical Info (Cartridge Port) - By Ward Shrake, with Jay Tilton
This text is a collection of technical info that may be useful
to people either dumping ROM carts or trying to make a Bally
Astrocade software emulation system. It only discusses cartridge
port pinouts and the like; it does not attempt to go any deeper
into the Bally hardware than that.
4. List of Astrocade and Arcadia 2001 Multicart Owners - By Ward Shrake
This is the final listing of the original owners of the hand-made
multicarts which Ward Shrake once sold, for two 1980's video game
systems: the Bally Astrocade and the Emerson Arcadia. Neither
"production run" went over 50 total assembled cartridges. What
is out there now, is all that will ever be made by Ward. (August 17, 2005)
The four FAQs can be downloaded here:
Astrocade FAQ Area
III) Rearranged the Astrocade FAQ area by adding descriptions to every FAQ
that was already online. I also made the area a little easier to read
and navigate:
Astrocade FAQ Area
IV) Made some small typographical fixes to the descriptions in the
cartridge image area:
Cartridge Image Area
July 29, 2006
I) Changed the descriptive text for "Astrocade Screen Operations - pdf" in
the Bally Alley, Articles section:
Bally Alley, Articles section
II) Changed the descriptive text for "Cartridge Conversion (AKA BASIC Cartridge
Swapping)" in the BASIC section:
BASIC section
III) Added the version number (.561) to the MESS Debugger in the Machine Language,
Tools section:
Machine Language, Tools section
IV) Made changes to the description of the Bally ROM Source code (text and pdf
file), Balckeck and AstroBASIC:
Machine Language, Source Code section:
V) Also added the source code for the cartridge versions of Checkmate and
Scribbling to the Machine Language, Source Code section:
Machine Language, Source Code section:
VI) Added the source code for three homebrew programs to the Machine Language,
Homebrew section:
1. Scrolltests - By Lance Squire. A menu with several test programs,
one of which is the first version of the game that Lance is
working on called BalZerk.
2. ScrolltestA - By Lance Squire. A menu with several test programs,
one of which is the second version of the game that Lance is
working on called BalZerk.
3. Smurf Title Screen - By Kurt Woloch. A title screen, with music,
for the proposed game Smurf.
There are now screen shots of both the Smurf title screen and BalZerk
in the Homebrew section, so check them out!
Machine Language, Homebrew section:
July 23, 2006
I) Removed the broken links to the Z-GRASS manuals from the misc_docs page.
These manuals were moved long ago to the Z-GRASS area:
Z-GRASS documentation area
II) I've uploaded ten 300-BAUD programs by Esoterica Ltd. to Ballyalley.com.
The programs are:
1) Big City Slick
2) Bomb Squad
3) Fox & Hounds
4) Garbersville
5) Great American Jigsaw, The
6) Mini Golf
7) Star Trek
8) Ten Pins
9) Treasure Island
10) Wildcatter
300-BAUD Esoterica Download Area
July 22, 2006
I) I've uploaded fourteen Esoterica Ltd. pictures of cassettes (seven different
cassettes, front and back). They are:
1) Big City Slick and Great American Jigsaw
2) Bomb Squad / Wildcatter
3) Fox and Hounds / Treasure Island
4) Garbersville / Ten Pins
5) Mini-Golf / Starship Command
6) Road Toad
7) Super Slope
Esoterica Ltd. Picture Area
II) I've uploaded three cassette boxes by Esoterica Ltd. I never even knew
that these existed until Paul made scans from Ian's loaners boxes. The
boxes are:
1) Great American Jigsaw
2) Road Toad
3) Super Slope
Box Picture Area
III) I've uploaded two manuals for tapes by Esoterica Ltd. They are:
1) Road Toad
2) Super Slope
Tape Manual Area
IV) I've uploaded eight 2000-BAUD programs by Esoterica Ltd. to Ballyalley.com.
The programs are:
1) Big City Slick
2) Bomb Squad
3) Fox & Hounds
4) Garbersville
5) Great American Jigsaw, The
6) Ten Pins
7) Treasure Island
8) Wildcatter
2000-BAUD Esoterica Download Area
July 21, 2006
I) Began rearranging the 300-BAUD section (finally!). Programs will now be
available to download one at a time instead of in HUGE batches. The
avarage 300-BAUD program size is about 7MB though, so this isn't really
a final solution as much as it is a stop-gap measure until there is a
way to digitally archive these programs.
300-BAUD Program Area
II) Separated eighteen 300-BAUD L&M programs:
1. Ayatollah Dartboard
2. Black Lagoon, The
3. Claim Jumpers
4. Color Organ, Light Show Demo
5. Coyote-Roadrunner Desert Race
6. Fox and the Hare
7. Kill the Vulcan
8. Light Show Program 2
9. Multi Program Format
10. Phantom Star Fighter 2003
11. Rescue Air Drop
12. Search and Destroy
13. Sink the U-Boat
14. Space Checkers
15. Space Quest 2001
16. Space Sleuth
17. Star Base 2000
18. Target
L&M 300-BAUD Program Area
III) Removed the title "Bally Alley v2.0" from the index page. It's been there
since the site was redesigned by Lance in about 2002-- it's about time to
remove it, I'd say!
IV) Added twenty-four 300-BAUD programs by W&W Software Sales:
1) Alien (Space) Patrol
2) Biorhythms
3) Block Buster
4) Calendar
5) Checkers
6) Clock
7) Computer Art
8) Checkbook Balancer & Compound Interest
9) Flight Simulator
10) Hangman
11) Inspector Clew-So
12) Mastermind
13) Menza Test
14) (Mortgage) Amortization
15) Othello
16) Riddle
17) Sequence
18) Solitaire
19) Space Dock
20) Sub Search
21) Tic Tac Toe
22) TV Ghost
23) Van Gam
24) W&W Racetrack
W&W Software Sales 300-BAUD Program Area
V) Added twelve 300-BAUD programs to the miscellaneous section:
1) 4D2 - Rusty Bloomart, Dale Smith, and George Moses
2) Astro-Zap 2000 - George Moses
3) Critter - Brett Bilbrey
4) Frog - Bob Wiseman
5) Fudd - Bob Wiseman
6) Grandfather Clock - Barry Ellerson
7) Line Resequencer - Mike Peace
8) Quadra - Mike White
Includes menu and four games:
1. Smash-Up
2. Laser & Slide
3. UFO Attack
4. Safe Cracker.
9) Stranded on Rigel 5 - Sean Walsh
10) Telling Time - Bob Hensel
11) Video Wallpaper - Jay Fenton
12) Z-80 Mini-Course Programs - Barry Ellerson
Includes nine Programs:
1. American Flag
2. Atari Logo
3. Color Formatter
4. Color Scribble and Record
5. Color Tunnel (4 lines per interrupt)
6. Color Tunnel (77 lines per interrupt)
7. Color Tunnel (142 lines per interrupt)
8. Color Tunnel and Art
9. Machine Programming Utility.
Miscellaneous 300-BAUD Program Area
July 20, 2006
I) Added the Bally BASIC Manual. It is 130 pages long (2.32MB). This manual
is for the first version of the Bally BASIC cartridge, the one that does
not have the built-in microphone jack.
Bally BASIC Manual (Version 1)
II) Added the 300-BAUD Audio Interface Leaflet. It is six pages long (346K).
This is the leaflet that accompanied the 300-BAUD BASIC interface.
There are some BASIC programs included with it too.
300-BAUD Audio Interface Leaflet
July 18, 2006
I) Added an Astrocade video:
1. Bally Color BASIC (Circa 1982) - 2:41 - 28MB
Lance shortened the Color BASIC video that I uploaded
yesterday down even more (he took out a middle portion that
was four minutes long).
Color BASIC Video (MPEG)
July 17, 2006
I) Added an Astrocade video:
1. Bally Color BASIC (Circa 1982) - 6:36 - 68MB
Lance shortened this video down a bit so that it's (mostly)
just Color BASIC.
Color BASIC Video (MPEG)
July 7, 2006
I) Added three Astrocade videos:
1. Arcadian Promotional Video (1980) - 23:07 - 236MB
Bob Fabris compiled these programs onto video from the Arcadian
newsletter. Not edited, so it is slow, but worth it for the
only known look at Color BASIC.
2. Astrocade Promotional Video (Circa 1982) - 5:22 - 55MB
This is a great "commercial" made by Astrovision.
3. Hot Rod Bally BASIC Video (Circa 1982) - 16:14 - 166MB
Jay Fenton narrates an insiders look at the unreleased Hot
Rod Bally BASIC. There are eight short programs that he
demonstrates. This is especially neat if you've ever
programmed before.
Astrocade Videos
April 17, 2006
I) Added "Seawolf / Bombardier" cartridge scan. Here are some comments by Lance
Squire: "You will notice that the 'Missile' cart is a first-run label while my
'Bombardier' is a second-run label. My Bombardier cart still says Missile on
the menu though." Thanks for the scan, Lance!
Seawolf / Bombardier Cartridge Picture
April 16, 2006
I) Added BalCheck source code for use with the BalCheck hardware. There is
conditional assembly so that is will assemble for the 3159 or the 3164 ROM.
This was actually finished February 7, 2004, but because of an oversight,
it was only added to the Bally Alley discussion group over at Yahoo.
balcheck.asm
April 15, 2006
I) This 'catalog,' from June 1978, was put together by Bally to
promote the Bally Professional Arcade to salespeople. This is a full-color
'catalog' that is a large download (9MB). It is 8 1/2" x 11" and is
sixteen pages long. I love the 1970's style art!
Chain Store Age 'Catalog' (June 1978)
II) The two original ads from the 1977 and 1978 JS&A catalogs. These are the
ads that people saw that got them interested in purchasing the Bally Professional
Arcade. I've setup an area where you can download these ads in high-quality, color,
300dpi pdfs (for those with fast connections), and also the same catalogs converted
to B&W for those that don't have fast Internet access).
JS&A 1977 and 1978 Catalog [Excerpts]
III) Added a Bally and Astrovision Ads and Catalogs area. I've uploaded three new documents:
1) Bally Professional Arcade Pocket Facts:
A small (originally, a booklet) 2-color handout that gives an overall explanation
of the BPA, including details about the on-board ROM games and calculator.
(Color and B&W versions available)
2) Bally Professional Arcade (Blue):
There were several flyers by Bally that were given to dealers to help promote the
machine. This one promotes the "fun and brains" of the system.
3) Bally Videocade Cassettes:
A color catalog of the cartridges available for the Bally Professional Arcade.
Check out the screenshots of the unreleased (and, as yet, unfound) cartridges:
Backgammon, Astrology and Dragrace.
Three New Bally Documents
IV) Added a Nitron area with five documents. These documents show the end of the line
for the company that worked with Astrovision to produce the Astrocade.
1) Everything Must Go! - No Date - This is it. Nitron loses their lease and they
must liquidate everything.
2) Final Inventory Letter - 11/14/1984 - The company is so out of money that
they don't have cash to send flyers to customers. It's a sad thing to see
a company fall.
3) Addendum Prices - 12/06/1984 - The end was in sight! They began to cut the
prices of the cartridges even more (though only by 10%). They also started to
offer a package deal where if you bought a system then you would get
twenty-four cartridges with it, all for $199.95
4) Final Inventory - 01/07/1984 - This sheet shows how many cartridges and
Astrocades that Nitron still had in inventory right at the end. There isn't
nearly as many as I expected, most cartridges are under one-thousand left
(though Galactic Invasion still had 18,000). There are 857 Astrocades left;
no wonder they're so rare!
5) Auction Announcement 03/13/1985 - This appeared in the San Jose Mercury News.
Not only was the inventory being sold off, but the whole facility was
auctioned as well!
Nitron Documents
V) Added nine JS&A documents. These documents give a better perspective of
the problems that plagued the beginning of the Bally Professional Arcade.
1) jsa_backorders.pdf 09/01/1975 - Backorder Policies and Procedures.
2) jsa_warranty_card.pdf 1977 - JS&A National Sales Group Warranty Card.
3) jsa_oustanding_response.pdf 11/07/1977 - Outstanding response and
"How so cheap?"
4) jsa-bpa_delay.pdf December 1977 - Initial production of Bally Professional
Arcade delayed.
5) jsa-bpa_gift_certificate.pdf December 1977 - Gift Certificate of Bally
Home Library Computer.
6) jsa_newspaper_question.pdf 04/26/1978 - Newspaper answer, "Delay Blamed
on Production."
7) jsa_tiny_basic_delay.pdf 07/06/1978 - Tiny BASIC still on back order.
8) jsa_unable_to_fill_orders.pdf 11/27/1979 - Response from liquidation
sale so strong that not all orders could be filled.
9) jsa-retraction_letter.pdf 1979 - Retraction letter of advertisement in
Wall Street Journal.
JS&A Documents
VI) Added "Animating the Death Star Trench." Larry Cuba describes how he animated
forty seconds of animation for Star Wars: A New Hope. From The Very Best of
Fantastic Films, Feb. 1981. Six pages.
Animating the Death Star Trench
VII) Added an advertisement for the cursor group:
Cursor Group Advertisement
April 14, 2006
I) A letter written by Adam Trionfo to Bob Fabris in 1994. Bob was the editor
on the Arcadian newsletter from 1978 - 1986 and Adam started Ballyalley.com
in 2001.
My First Letter to Bob Fabris of the Arcadian (Circa 1994!)
April 2, 2006
I) Added an article called "Bally Arcade "Retro Astro" Handheld Unit by ToyMax!"
about the new handheld Bally Arcade (called "Retro Astro") by Toymax, makers
of the Atari Classics 10 In 1 TV Games:
Bally Arcade "Retro Astro" Handheld Unit by ToyMax!
II) Added cartridge manual for Ms. Candyman by L&M software:
cart_manuals/ms_candyman_manual.pdf
III) Added cartridge manual for Blast Droids by Esoterica:
cart_manuals/blast_droids-manual.pdf
IV) Astrocade Memory Expansion Project - Inexpensive memory upgrade project proposal
number two by Mike White, November 2004 (Version 1, was March 2002 and has been
deleted). We need feedback on this. Anyone have the will and know-how to
build this?
misc_docs/astrocade_mem_expander.pdf
March 21, 2006
I) I have added carriage returns to twenty-three text documents on
Ballyalley.com to make them easier to read in a web browser. No longer
will lines stretch off-screen seemingly forever, now there are no lines
that are longer than 79-characters. These are the files that I have
changed:
In the Bally Alley Article Section
----------------------------------
ballyalley/articles/articles.html
1) Arcade Games Based Around Astrocade Chipset, By Adam Trionfo
2) Astrocade Homebrew Game Ideas, By Glenn Saunders and Adam Trionfo
3) Astrocade, Xonox, Atari and John Perkins, By Adam Trionfo
4) Bally Astrocade Screen Operations, By John Perkins
5) Bally/Astro BASIC differences, Adam Trionfo (With some comments by
Lance Squire)
6) Bally's Blitter, Lance Squire
7) On the Bally BASIC Demo Cartridge, By Adam Trionfo
8) Overview of the Astrocade and Its Relation to the UV-1 Computer,
By Adam Trionfo
9) Poor Man's Memory Expansion, By C.J. Anderson
10) Sneak Up and Bite Ya Department, By Hoover Anderson Research
and Design
11) Z-80 Books - Here's a List of Four, Adam Trionfo
In the Bally Alley Interview Section
------------------------------------
ballyalley/interviews/interviews.html
1) Interview with Brett Bilbrey, By Adam Trionfo
2) Interview with David Ibach, By Paul Thacker
3) Comments from Tom Meeks, By Tom Meeks
In the FAQs Section
-------------------
faqs/faqs.html
1) Arcadian Articles FAQ, Volumes 5-7, By Adam Trionfo
2) Astrocade "Arcadian" FAQ, By Adam Trionfo
3) Astrocade Cassette Software - Introduction, By Michael White
4) Astrocade MESS Emulation Keyboard Mapping FAQ, By Adam Trionfo
5) Astrocade Public Domain Programs FAQ, By Adam Trionfo
6) Bally Astrocade Hardware Guide, The, By Michael White
7) Bally/Astrocade FAQ, The, By Adam Trionfo and Lance F. Squire
8) Bally-Astrocade Game Cartridge and Hardware FAQ, By Mike White
and Adam Trionfo
In the Miscellaneous Documents Section
--------------------------------------
misc_docs/misc_docs.html
1) Astrocade Reviews, By Michael Prosise
II) Added four games to the "Arcade Games Based Around Astrocade
Chipset" article:
ballyalley/articles/astrocade_arcade_games.txt
III) Added a Yahoo Groups "join" box at the bottom of the Ballyalley.com home
page to help promote the discussion group:
index.html
March 20, 2006
I) Subtitled both versions of New Image's "RND Art II" to "RND Art II: The Stairs
to the Temple:"
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/new_image/new_image.html
II) Corrected the spelling of "Candy Man" on the L&M Software web page (it was spelled "Candyman").
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/l&m_software/l&m_software.html
III) Corrected The spelling of "Candy Man" in the desciptor file. Also corrected some misspellings in
the review that is included with "Candy Man:"
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/l&m_software/candy_man_[l&m_software].zip
IV) Made some minor spelling corrections to the "Candy Man" section of 'Game Player'
Tape Reviews. It is now at version 1.21.
misc_docs/astrocade_reviews.zip
V) Added "What's New - Archives (2000-2005)" - These archives go back to October 22, 2000;
Bally Alley is actually older than that, but not by much-- the site made its appearance
in 2000. Most of the links won't work anymore (the site has been rearranged), but the
archives do make an interesting time capsule.
whats_new_archives_(2000-2005).html
VI) Added three programs by Steve Walters:
1. Avalanche!
2. Halloween Graphics
3. Hang Up!
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/misc/steve_walters/steve_walters.html
VII) Added Dave Ibach section with six new programs plus four additional alternate versions of
"Frog Leap." Some of the programs in this new section are also in other areas (for
instance, "Buggin' BC" is also in the George Moses section because they both wrote this game).
Here are the programs in this section (unless otherwise marked, then the programs are new
to Ballyalley.com).
1. Buggin' BC (Copied to this section)
2. Buggin' Me
3. Contest Entry
4. Converter
5. Frog Leap (Copied to this section, plus new alternate versions)
6. Machine Coder
7. Tree
8. BUG Puzzle #2 Solution
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/dave_ibach/dave_ibach.html
VIII) I have rearranged the "Astrocade Cassette Pictures" area of Ballyalley.com. This
area is found here:
pics/cassette_pics/cassette_pictures.html
The pictures of the cassettes have been separated from one large miscellaneous
category and broken into different groups. They are:
1. Esoterica Limited
2. George Moses
3. H.A.R.D.
4. L&M Software
5. Miscellaneous
6. W&W Software Sales
7. WaveMakers
There are nineteen new pictures by L&M Software (here):
pics/cassette_pics/l&m_software/l&m_software.html
The L&M Software Cassettes are:
-------------------------------
1. Ayatollah Dart Board
2. Black Lagoon, The
3. Claim Jumpers
4. Color Organ-Light Show Demo
5. Coyote-Roadrunner Desert Race
6. Fox and the Hare
7. Kill the Vulcan
8. Light Show Demo
9. Light Show Program #2
10. Multi. Program Format (Alternate Tape)
11. Multi. Program Format
12. Phantom Star Fighters 2003
13. Rescue Air Drop
14. Search and Destroy
15. Sink the U-Boat
16. Space Checkers
17. Space Quest 2001
18. Star Base 2000
19. Target
There are five new pictures by W&W Software Sales (here):
pics/cassette_pics/w&w_software_sales/w&w_software_sales.html
The W&W Software Sales Cassettes are:
-------------------------------------
1. W&W Tape 1
2. W&W Tape 3
3. W&W Tape 4
4. W&W Tape 5
5. W&W Tape 9
March 19, 2006
I) Noted the author of the New Image "RND Art" series as Chris Williams.
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/new_image/new_image.html
II) Changed the spelling of "Wave Makers" or "Wavemakers" to WaveMakers on the button and on
several pages. This will be ongoing, as "WaveMakers" is now the accepted standard.
III) Added two different versions of previously archived programs: "Memory Lane (v2)"
and "Music Keyboard (v2)."
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/wave_makers/wave_makers.html
March 17, 2006
I) Added "Secret of Pellucitar" by L&M Software:
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/l&m_software/secret_of_pellucitar_[l&m_software].zip
March 16, 2006
I) Added three programs by L&M Software:
1. Alien Invasion (A rather graphically detailed BASIC game):
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/l&m_software/alien_invasion_[l&m_software].zip
2. Candy Man (The prequel to the cartridge):
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/l&m_software/candy_man_[l&m_software].zip
3. Claim Jumpers (Very simple concept, yet one of my favorite games in Astro BASIC):
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/l&m_software/claim_jumpers_[l&m_software].zip
March 15, 2006
I) Mentioned the source of two archived programs (Astro Zap 2000 (v1) and Buggin' B.C. (v1)):
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/george_moses/games/games.html
II) Renamed 'Golden Slippers' so that it is clear that it is for the Player Piano.
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/basic_manuals/programs_a-m/golden_slippers-for_player_piano_[basic_manual].zip
III) "Sicko-Therapy 1" renamed to "Sicko-Therapy." (and deleted the bin file that was
included in archive):Also some added information was added to the text file" "A
computer psychoanalyst (ELIZA on TRS-80). ELIZA is probably a bit more
serious than the New Image one. From the Sourcebook entry (Summer 1982 G-24), it looks like
the title is just "Sicko-Therapy" (Not "Sicko-Therapy 1"). The sequel is called
"Sicko-Therapy Session II".
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/new_image/sicko-therapy_[new_image].zip
IV) Corrected spelling errors in "Quickdraw" text file (and deleted the bin file that was
included in archive):
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/new_image/quickdraw_[new_image].zip
V) Renamed the "RND Art" series of programs to have roman numbers instead of standard numbers:
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/new_image/new_image.html
VI) Moved the "RAM Expansion Required" program section from under the 2000-Baud area and gave
it its own section:
program_downloads/ram_expansion_required/ram_expansion_required.html
VII) Deleted the bin file from "Gamma Wars:"
program_downloads/2000_baud_programs/tiny_arcade/gamma_wars_[the_tiny_arcade].zip
March 3, 2006
I) Added the datasheet for: INS8154 N-Channel 128x8 Bit RAM I/O (This is the I/O chip
that the Blue Ram uses).
perkins/perkins.html
II) Added an interview with David Ibach, the programmer of the third-party cartridge
"Sneaky Snake." He also was part of General Video, the company that released
"The General Video Assembler," a two-pass assembler for the Astrocade.