Alternate Reality: The City

[Tomass]

Hey All,
My first time here and I was looking to see if anyone has a copy or original of Alternate Reality: The City. I bought one from a guy off ebay that is supposed to work for both the Atari XL/XE and the C64, but when I try to use it I die in the first 20 seconds of play. Please let me know if you know anyone who could help point me in the right direction. I'm really glad I found this site!
Thank you,
Tom Keeler

PS - What emulator do I need to play the games that are on the dump list??

[Andre]

Hi Tom,

I bought one from a guy off ebay that is supposed to work for both the Atari XL/XE and the C64,

did you buy the original disks?

but when I try to use it I die in the first 20 seconds of play.

Because of the enemies or occurs there a program failure?

Please let me know if you know anyone who could help point me in the right direction. What emulator do I need to play the games that are on the dump list??

For Windows-PCs you should try Atari800Win PLus 4.0, which can be downloaded at

http://atariarea.histeria.pl/PLus/index_us.htm

Another way of playing the game is to use a real Atari 800/XL/XE with the SIO2PC interface which connects your Atari with a PC. This allows for loading of Atari 8-Bit files from your PC harddisk (to be more precise: the PC emulates an Atari disk-drive). A professionally made interface and respective software (APE) for Windows PCs can be purchased at

www.atarimax.com

Ok, costs some money - but believe me, it's worth it! I use it and I am really satisfied.

For Linux-Systems (and for Windows also) another interesting emulator is available at:

http://www.math.tu-berlin.de/~thor/atari++/

I was told this emulator has the SIO2PC software built-in, but I never tried this emulator.

Of course other emulators float around, but the above mentioned are the best that is currently available.

Hope this helps,

André

[Tomass]

Hi André,
Thank you for all the information you have provided. To answer your questions:

1. I bought the original disks, all in the original box with the original documentation.
2. There is a program failure - the program boots correctly, but as soon as I insert Disk 2 Side 2 it shows that my character is Diseased, as soon as the game begins I die.

I think I'm going to go to ebay and buy a SIO2PC interface, that sounds like the best idea. I bought a 130XE so that I could play the old games on it, and if I have to use a modern computer to help, so be it.

You've been a huge help to me, thank you again!

Best regards,
Tom

[Andre]

Hi,

1. I bought the original disks, all in the original box with the original documentation.
2. There is a program failure - the program boots correctly, but as soon as I insert Disk 2 Side 2 it shows that my character is Diseased, as soon as the game begins I die.

then you probably have a defective disk, since AR checks its copy protection during the loading sequence. If the protection is missing or in the case a loading error occurs the program assumes that the disk contains a pirated version of AR and then "kills" your character.

André