Zerosquare

For those who didn't buy the CD version, Reboot has kindly released downloadable versions of two of their games for personal use: Full Circle: Rocketeer Kobayashi Maru

Since someone asked me if it was possible to use Atari ST joysticks on the Jag, I made a simple adapter Here's the pinout : Male Sub-D 9 Male Sub-D 15 connector high density connector (Joystick side) (Jaguar side) 1 (Up) 14 (J8) 2 (Down) 13 (J9) 3 (Left) 12 (J10) 4 (Right) 11 (J11) 6 (Button) 10 (B1) 8 (Ground) 4 (J0) Can't test it since I don't have any Atari joystick, but it should work fine. The button on the joystick is mapped to the A button on the standard Jag controller (using another button would have required a more complicated adapter). Note : this will only work with "dumb" joystick/gamepads. Anything more evolved (controllers with turbo features, Sega Master System/Mega Drive controllers, etc.) will not work correctly. Now it's up to you to create joystick-friendly games

Several games on the Jaguar are more fun to play if you have a rotary controller (there's Tempest 2000 of course, but also Kobayashi Maru by Reboot for example). Here's a little tutorial to build one from a standard Jaguar controller, without losing the ability to use the D-pad for "normal" games. What you need : - a standard Jaguar controller, obviously - a mechanical encoder, preferably without detents (i.e. that rotates freely without "clicks"). The number of steps per revolution will determine how sensitive the knob is ; 24 to 36 steps is fine. - a knob to put on top of the encoder - a DPDT switch. It will be used to switch between "normal" and "rotary" mode. - some wires, a soldering iron with solder, some heatshrinking tubing if you want to be neat The encoder, knob and DPDT switch are not very expensive ; I paid 5€ (about $6.50) for all three. The first step is of course to take your controller apart. The screws are hidden under round, adhesive pieces of rubber ; lift them gently with a screwdriver. Then pretty much everything you need to do is summed up in this picture : Before closing the controller, check that everything is working fine. If the rotary part works backwards, swap the outputs of the encoder. And this is how the result looks like :

The RGC association is happy to announce the upcoming AC 2011, which will take place on April 16th and 17th. This 6th convention dedicated to 8, 16 and 32-bit vintage computers will be located in Congis (France) in a friendly atmosphere. As usual, software and hardware presentations will be featured, as well as the yearly Medieval Mayhem tournament (on Atari 2600). You'll also be able to discover and play freely on machines from those iconic brands. For 3 years, the AC has included a gaming-centered speed-coding contest. Previous editions have seen the birth of ambitious projects. A new challenge in 2011? We'll let you know more soon. If you're an Atari, Amiga, Commodore, Amstrad, MSX, Thomson (or any other brand you'd like to promote) enthusiast, you'll be welcome. Be sure to circle the date on your calendar not to miss this must-attend event for the retro-gaming community. For more information: www.retro-gc.org

This topic is a repository for all files, tools and links that are useful for Jaguar development. Click on the titles to download the files. If you think something is missing, find a broken link, or have a suggestion to improve it, don't hesitate to post. (work in progress, unsorted as of now) Developer documentation (contributed by Starcat and Jon Matthieson) These are scans of the paper documentation which was included in the Jaguar's SDK. They are believed to be the most up-to-date version available. Beware : the archive also includes the Techref v8 file made available by John Mathieson in 2001 ; while it is more convenient to use, it appears to be an older version. JAGUAR.INC JAGUAR.INC is the include file which contains hardware registers and constants definitions. You'll need it to program in assembler or C. This version has a changelog dated 05/16/1995 and is believed to be the latest one. JagView (contributed by dox) JagView is an utility to find and display uncompressed Jaguar pictures embedded in a ROM file (or as separate files). 8-bit, CRY and RGB formats are supported. Beware : it is known to display slightly wrong colors in some circumstances. Lo_inp An updated BJL uploader which works under Windows 2000/XP, as well as Windows 9x and Linux. Sources included. Jaguar Image Converter A modern and more flexible replacement for TGA2CRY. Sources included. bmp_cry, 8bit_to_bmp , view_jag Quick-and-dirty programs to view and convert pictures to and from Jaguar formats. Sources included. Virtual Jaguar 1.0.7 with BIN files support Virtual Jaguar 1.0.7, patched to allow the loading of straight BIN files, and compiled for Windows. Orion's GPU/DSP debugger What it says in the title Sources included. The Removers Library's Q & A Question and answers about the Removers' C library. Mindebug The core of a Jaguar remote debugger using BJL. Can also be used as a basis for reliable bidirectionnal BJL communications. Sources included. Encrypting CDs using the BJL cable How to encrypt CDs if you don't have any JagLink or serial cable. Cartridge dumping tool Allows you to dump Jaguar cartridges, including flash carts. Sources included. Workaround for the UART bug How to use the network without crashes. Sources included. Jagpads, teamtaps, rotaries and other controllers Single topic about the different type of controllers and the way to support them. Jagfiles (contributed by Curt Vendel) Lots of source code from games, mechanical drawings, various Atari documentation, etc. Atari Showroom (Jaguar section) A local mirror of Glenn Bruner's former site. Lots of technical information about Jaguar hardware, both common and rare. Includes schematics, Tom & Jerry netlists, Alpine-related documents, etc. Thanks to Glenn Bruner for providing the files! JagDev A mirror of CTS' former site. A few dev tools there, and some 3D stuff. Some files are unfortunately missing. Universal cartridge header (contributed by Glenn Bruner) The cartridge header that can be added in front of any ROM code to allow it to run on non-modded Jaguars. MPEG cartridge documents (contributed by Glenn Bruner) Technical documents related to the MPEG 1 decoding cartridge that Atari planned (but never released). Adding a rotary on a standard Jagpad Cartridges mechanical drawings / dimensions Fastboot header for carts (contributed by Tursi) A special header for cartridges that speeds up the boot process. The Jaguar Server home page A mirror of Roine Steinberg's Jaguar Server page. (A few images are missing, unfortunately) Flare II Jaguar technical reference manual (pre-Atari, 1992) For archeology buffs, the oldest version of the docs.

(old posts are there, I chose to create a new topic to have a central location for download and comments) I've just updated my modified version of Bastian Schick's and friends BJL uploader program, called lo_inp, which supports Windows NT/2000/XP. Support for Linux has been (re)-added (by special request from SebRmv , and minor tweaks have been made. Enjoy, and please give feedback ! lo_inp.zip

Here's a little idea I had to circumvent the Jaguar's UART bug. The ZIP file contains a detailed description and a demo program (the source code is included). Enjoy ! TestUART.zip