ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Monty Webb, APX Seven Card Stud Monty Webb published one program through Atari Program Exchange: Seven Card Stud. The program first appeared in the summer 1982 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the entertainment category. He also self-published the program as Real Poker I, his publishing company was called Real Software. This interview took place on September 14, 2016. Teaser quotes: "And then I could call up a certain sector on a track...and then WHAM, I'd knock a hole in the disk." "There were shortcuts to try to get that to fit in 16K. ... Somebody was really hot because he has a straight flush that's higher than someone else's straight flush, and the pot split. So he goes crazy and writes me a nastygram..." AtariMania's list of Monty's software Seven Card Stud in the summer 1982 APX catalog

Elizabeth MacRae, APX Mankala Elizabeth MacRae published one program for the Atari 8-bit computers: Mankala, which was published by Atari Program Exchange. It first appeared in the fall 1982 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the entertainment category. This interview took place on September 13, 2016. After the interview, Elizabeth sent me a scan of the Mankala manual, which is now available at the Internet Archive. "They didn't think personal computers on everyone's desk was the way to go, because everything worked fine the way it was, with the mainframe handling all of the applications, and that was it." Mankala in fall 1982 APX catalog Mankala manual: https://archive.org/details/APXMankala

Douglas Crockford: Galahad And The Holy Grail, Burgers! Douglas Crockford worked in Atari's Game Research Group under Chris Crawford. There he created a variety of demos -- including Ballsong and Crockford's Trench -- and games. He created Galahad And The Holy Grail, which was published by Atari Program Exchange in summer 1982; and Burgers!, which was published by APX in winter 1983. After Atari, he worked at LucasFilm where he worked on Atari games including Rescue on Fractalus! and Koronis Rift. This interview took place on July 16, 2016. Teaser quotes: "For most of what we wanted to accomplish it was not possible to do things correctly. So it was all about cheating." "If they hired an executive and he wasn't working out, it was too much trouble to fire him, so they would assign him to special projects." Crockford's web site: http://crockford.com Galahad And The Holy Grail in the summer 1982 APX catalog Burgers! in the winter 1983 APX catalog Crockford's games at AtariMania Wikipedia on Crockford: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Crockford

Dewitt Robbeloth, AKA Robert Dewitt, Editor of Antic magazine Dewitt Robbeloth, who went by the pen name Robert Dewitt, was editor of Antic magazine, STart magazine, and the short-lived II Computing magazine. He also freelanced for InfoWorld and other computer magazines. He was the editor the book "The Best of Antic Volume 1," published by Antic Publishing. This interview took place on July 14 and 15, 2016. In it, we discuss Jim Capparell, whom I previously interviewed. Teaser quotes: "The bathroom flooded. So someone had the bright idea, since we were giving the paper away ... they decided to take our magazine and put it on the floor of the bathroom so it would sop up the water." "I had to go up and sit at the big table. I had to keep my back to the wall so that nobody would see that my pants were split open." Antic articles credited to Robert DeWitt and DeWitt Robbeloth Best of Antic book at archive.org Best of Antic book at AtariMagazines.com: http://www.atarimagazines.com/index/?issue=vbook Jim Capparell interview

Bob Smith: Video Pinball; Imagic co-founder; Sleazy Adventure Bob Smith worked at Atari, where he created Video Pinball for the Atari 2600. He also wrote two programs for the Atari 8-bit which were sold by Atari Program Exchange: Sound Editor and Sleazy Adventure, which both appeared in the inaugural APX catalog, fall 1981. He left Atari to co-found the game developer Imagic, where he programmed Riddle of the Sphinx, Dragonfire, Moonsweeper, and other games. Then he went on to work on games at Bally, Electronic Arts, and Accolade. This interview took place on June 24, 2016. Teaser quote: "I have two kids, no degree. I walked in to Atari and said, "I've written a game and sold it. ... Wanna hire me?' And Dennis Koble did." Sleazy Adventure in the fall 1981 APX catalog Sound Editor in the fall 1981 APX catalog Gaming After 40 blog Plays Sleazy Adventure National Videogame Museum: http://www.nvmusa.org

Bob Graves, Gridiron Glory Bob Graves co-wrote Gridiron Glory, a football game which was published by Atari Program Exchange. The game first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. His co-author was Mike Drury, who was unavailable for an interview. Bob and Mike created two other Atari computer programs: Asteroid Artist and Ramblin Gamblin, which were published by their own company, MicroMate Software. This interview took place on June 14, 2016. "We'd go to the state library and look up historial records for the different football teams and how they did under certain circumstances. ... We'd come up with tables that would be cross-referenced when different plays were called." Gridiron Grit - Computerized football for the ATARI - article in Antic magazine: http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n7/gridirongrit.html Gridiron Glory in the winter 1982 APX catalog Bob's software at AtariMania Gridiron Glory manual: https://archive.org/details/APXGridironGloryV3

Dan Rohr, Three R Math software Dan Rohr was the author of three educational programs which were published by Atari Program Exchange. Three R Math System first appeared in the summer 1982 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the education category. The Three R Math Classroom Kit was available in the spring 1983 APX catalog, where it won third prize in the education category. Finally, the Three R Math Home System was first available in the summer 1983 APX catalog. This interview took place on June 13, 2016. "Fortunately, the person that rejected it took the time to critique all of his objections that he had to it. And I said, 'Hmm, this person has never been in a classroom.'" Three R Math System in the summer 1982 APX catalog Three R Math Classroom Kit in the spring 1983 APX catalog Three R Math Home System in the summer 1983 APX catalog Dan's software at AtariMania

Marlin Bates, R-Time 8 Replacement Cartridge In 1986, ICD released the R-Time 8, a real-time clock cartridge for the Atari 8-bit computers. One reason this is an interesting cartridge is that it has a pass-through port: you can plug another cartridge into it, then plug the R-Time 8 into the Atari. In 2016, Marlin Bates created the R-Time 8 Replacement Cartridge, a workalike cart. On June 7, 2016, we talked about that project. Marlin is better known to people on the AtariAge forums as MacRorie. During this interview, we talk about Romox — I previously interviewed the CEO of Romox, Tim McGuinness. Teaser quote: "You don't know enough to not do it, and by the time you're halfway in you go 'Oh, I guess I gotta do it now.'" Macrorie on AtariAge Bates motel BBS: telnet://76.14.174.25:8888 Interview with Romox founder Tim McGuinness Video of this interview

Steve Robinson: Diggerbonk and Bean Machine Steve Robinson is the author of two games that were published by Atari Program Exchange: Diggerbonk and Bean Machine. Diggerbonk was first available in the spring 1983 APX catalog. Bean Machine first appeared in the summer 1983 APX catalog, where it won third prize in the Entertainment category. This interview took place on June 13, 2016. A video version of this interview is available, check the show notes at AtariPodcast.com for the link. In it, we talk about Jack Palevich whom I previously interviewed. Teaser quote: "When they first published the game, they took the wrong version. I sent them the wrong version, not knowing that it had a bug in it. And — I got third prize anyway." Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/eNBn40q_BQ4 Diggerbonk in spring 1983 APX catalog Bean Machine in summer 1983 APX catalog AtariMania's list of Steve's games Jack Palevich interview

Alison Woods, Atari Graphic Designer Alison Woods was a graphic designer at Atari from 1982 to 1984. She designed the packaging for the computer versions of Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Pole Position, Robotron, Food Fight, and other products. Later, she was Vice President and Creative Director at Kidsoft, a CD-ROM based software magazine for kids. This interview took place on May 26, 2016. Teaser quotes: "I wanted to have an exploding robot on the front of the package, and that was deemed too violent." "One guy said to the other guy, 'See? I told you not to pay 'em!' I'm thinking, 'Oh my god, what am I dealing with here?'" Alison's web site: http://www.alisonwoods.com