Alternate Reality - by Phillip Price

[child of Thor]

Update 25/06/05 - I've done more experimenting and would point people to the Atari800 win emulator over the Xl-it! one(unless running a low spec pc).

I've found a wonderfull thing recently, and decided to share it with anyone who might be interested

I first started playing this game in 1986 on my Atari800XL. And since then it has remained one of my all time favourite RPG series(they released the second in the series, The Dungeon, later on - both games are inclueded in the Xl-it! emultor you can download from the link below).

Anyway my Atari 800 is in someones attic somewhere - so i haven't been able to play this for the last few years or so.

IGNORE THIS BIT BELOW IF YOU WANT TO RUN THE GAME IN WINDOWS AND YOUR PC IS MORE THAN A P266 - GO TO THE ATARI 800 WIN download

Below in the zip file is a couple of programs to add to the atari emulator program(XL-it!) to run the origonal atari 8bit version of the game on your PC(if you've tried the PC version of the game, you will know what a dissapointment it is, compared to the origonal Atari version).

basicaly unzip the zip file, then make sure to move/copy the files 'Ar.bat' and 'Turbo.exe' so all the files are together inside the 'Xlit' folder.

Ar.bat is the same as comes with the Xlit! emulator(so just click the 'ok' to overwrite prompt when it pops up), with a few added functions in the command line, as i found without them the emulation software was proving difficult to run Alternate Reality - The City with.

The Dungeon.bat runs fine as is though.

All you need to do now is click This new Ar.bat to run the game with no hassel

Turbo.exe is a slow down utility(if you dont already have one). On the PC i run the Xlit! emulator on i dont need to use any slowdown program, its a P166 and it runs Alternate Reality at the origonal Atari8bit speed. But if your PC is more of a power beast than mine you'll need a slowdown progam running.

XLiT! - For P2 233MHZ and below!(DOS)

you can get the Xlit! emulator from this site:

http://kang.aroo.tv/ar/games.html

Its worth noteing that you need a real soundblaster(old style) card to get the sound+music(which is 60% of the greatness of the game), with this emulator. On my newer PIII566 with some nasty onboard synth thing it was silent


Other good sites for Alternate Reality stuff are:

The origonal Alternate Reality web page -

http://www.eobet.com/alternate-reality/

And some fun stuff in the forums here, where you can also get info on running the game using a different emulator(Atari800win) if your having problems with the Xl-it! one:

ATARI 800WIN - For P2 400Mhz and above!(windows)

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=69356

[child of Thor]

Time for some screenies


'All is normal in the busy city'

[child of Thor]

'But the Aliens come to beam you up and steal you away!'

[child of Thor]

'walk through the strange portal to set your stats, but beware of going cross eyed!'

note: if i hadn't been busy getting a screenshot i would have had the best starting character ever!

[child of Thor]

'Here i am, not in a good situation to fight(no weapons/armour anything!)...but lets see...'

[child of Thor]

'Wow! victory!(ok i was evil and 'tricked' the poor fighter). I feel myself move closer to the dark side....and vow to be stronger'

Still the loot is a good un, worth a few 'evil' points on my char

[child of Thor]

UPDATE NEW INFO - FREE GAME!

Ive been very impressed with the Atari800win emulator, and have switched to useing my pIII 566 as the sound and graphics are perfect versions of the origonal 8bit game

1. Download the windows friendly Atari emulator here: A couple of the links are down, so if you haven't got the files yet, i'll post them on poly as attatchments soon

OK

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

Its called: "Atari800WinPLus-4.0beta6.exe" - 672 172 bytes(approx)

2. run the setup program to create the emulators directory you will unzip these other files into.

3. Now download and unzip these ROM files into the emulators directory. get them from here:

OK

http://numen.scene.pl/download/atari_roms.zip

4. download and unzip into the same emulator directory the 'Alternate reality - The City' files from here:

URL DOWN. GO TO THE POSTHERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FILES LISTED BELOW:

These are the game disk files and relate to the origonal atari disks and work like this:

CITY11.ATR = Disk 1 side 1
CITY12.ATR = Disk 1 side 2
CITY21.ATR = Disk 2 side 1
CITY22.ATR = Disk 2 side 2
CITYCHAR.ATR = the character save disk

So when in the game it asks for Disk 2 side 1 to be inserted, just use 'Alt+D' to access the disk menu and click 'D1: and then click on the CITY21.ATR file, click OK and when back in the game request screen hit F2(acts as the 'Start' key it asks for) to load the relevant disk.

If using a 'full-screen' mode then use the 'Alt-D' method for changing disks.

(taken from the AtariAge forums website - by one Xebec's Demise, with a few added points by myself):

Once you've got all the files:

1. Run Atari800win.exe. The setup wizard should start. Click on Search button and select the Atari800win ROM folder where you unzipped the Atari ROM files from the above download. Then click Finish.

2. In Atari800win go to menu Atari>Memory size and select 128k.

3. Go to Atari>Disk drives…>D1: and locate and select the CITY11.ATR file from the unzipped Alternate Reality: The City folder you downloaded above, this is Disk 1 Side 1 of the game.

Click D2: and select the CITY22.ATR file for drive 2. Alternate Reality only makes use of two disk drives, so you should just leave CITY22.ATR in D2: drive – you don’t ever need to change D2:.

You will swap the other disks in D1:, including the Character Disk, when prompted by the game.

4. The F2 key on your keyboard is the Atari Start key, F3 is Select, F4 is Option and F5 is Reset.

Now that you have the CITY11.ATR disk loaded in drive D1: press F5 to Reset the Atari800win emulator and load the game.

Note: if you press F2 briefly, immediately following F5, when the game copyright text appears, then you will skip the game intro and go straight to the character login screen in a matter of a few seconds.

If you miss it and get the spaceship doors closing, just press F5 and then F2 to try again. Don’t press F2 before the game copyright text or you will boot into Basic. In this case you can push Shift+F5 to do a cold boot and try again.

5. Once you have booted to the character login screen, you will need to insert the CITYCHAR.ATR character disk under Atari>Disk drives…>D1: before creating your character. After creating your character, you will be asked to insert Disk 1 Side 2 and press Start (F2). Once again, just go to Atari>Disk drives…>D1: and select CITY12.ATR.

6. In order to move around The City use the keys I= forward, K=back, J=left and L=right. When in a Bank or other shop where you dont have a keyboard option to leave, use the downwards cursor on the numeric keypad(this simulates moving the joystick backwards).

7. for the best looking game setup when you run the Atari800win emulator go to 'View' > 'Graphics Options' in the emulator menu and select '640x480(partialy clipped)'.

This will turn the windowed area into full screen. You can switch between these screen modes by pressing 'Alt+Enter'.

8. When in full screen mode and you get a prompt to switch disks(usualy on first running the game and then when loading/saving your char), use 'Alt+D' to enter the disk selection screen.

simply click on 'D1:' and insert the correct disk file, then when your back in the game prompt press 'F2' on the keyboard(this is the 'Start' key). And thats it

I'll be here to help anyone who is willing to give this all a go.

[child of Thor]

Why bother with this ancient rpg?

Well for those that have played it, it usualy remains one of the best games we've ever played. This Atari8bit version(the origonal) had something special to it, something none of the other versions managed to reproduce.
Philip Price(programmer), Gary Gilbertson(musician) and Craig Skinner(artist) who made this game for the Atari made something nearly perfect.

Not bad for a guy who lived in a shed+showered on the beach in Hawaii while working on it!

For me i like the survival rpg aspect of the game, it's very much a game where trying to survive is a tall order. You start with only your bare hands and some grey rags as clothing and a few coppers in your possesion.

money is difficult to come by in the early stages, its easy to get mugged and loose your loot you carry with you, luckily there are various banks to keep your horde in, but they all have varying account interest and failure rates. shop around for the best deals.

And the sound and music and the graphics were a great combination, as you'll find out.

You can catch diseases, starve to death, or simply be killed by an enemy. Or if your lucky, get a character to beyond level 10.
Oh death is permenant by the way - once dead you'll have to create a new character, it keeps it intense

If your happy to be evil(yes it has a good side vs darkside aspect - years before KOTOR made popular a simular thing), you can use your Charm or Intelligence skills to defeat an opponant. These are very handy tricks, but if you want to play a good aligned character then you can only use these skills when fighting 'evil' creatures. Something worth noting is that the only 'evil' humanoid in the game is the Assasin. Human enemies like thieves+muggers(or any human encounter where you get the evil sounding music) are neutral in the game, and using 'Trick' or 'Charm' to kill these enemies will turn you to the darkside. As with many aspects of the game the music is intregal to the game play, so keep your ears open to any clues.

Why worry about that, you may ask. Well when you are reguarded as evil enough - pretty much anyone and everything will attack you, certain shops may refuse to serve you. You life becomes more difficult.

As yoda said to luke "The darkside is quicker, more seductive, but once down that path you tread,forever shall it shape your destiny"

below is the map that came with the game, you start in the middle near the 'floating gate'

[child of Thor]

The friendly local where you get food+drink and maybe buy a round for the house while singing along to the songs

[child of Thor]

The safest place to keep your money, although bank robbers(and bad investments!) do exist.

[child of Thor]

Now i've used my past experience of the game to survive to reach level 4. It wasn't easy and i think the many times i became 'starving' and 'parched' caused me some stats damage? A visit to a healer will resolve the issue(i hope!), but they dont come cheap, and at the moment i'm still living hand to mouth one day at a time.

Atleast i have pleanty of HPs now and after a good nights sleep(best taken from evening to early morning) i am fully restored, ready to take some damage

[child of Thor]

So a few hours later and after a visit to the local to stock up on food packets(pemmican is cheaper and adds to your foodpacket count), and water flasks(these are seperate from just 'water'); I stop to watch the sunrise(useful for navigation without a compass)

[child of Thor]

And after a few bruising encounters i'm pleased to see the rather camp mugger, dressed in his fetching lilac 'boob-tube'

For a low level adventurer these guys are good prey, but be careful, they are 'neutral' so you need to wait for them to attack you first. And no 'trick' or 'charm' or you will pick up evil points.

As you can see Muggers miss you quite often and dont have many hit points, and they also sometimes carry gems or jewels

[child of Thor]

If you want to play this in the purist manner, you need to make a grid on paper that is 64x64 boxes, so you can map out the city.

There is an online map available that is unmarked, but it does give you the locations of all the buildings, which destroys a bit of the mystery of discovery.
Luckily i can pretty much remember my way around now.

I'll post a few more screenshots tomorrow and maybe give a few starting tips.

I'm level6 now and doing really well - i decided to risk drinking a potion, and it was a 'treasure finding' type. Although its effects lasted me about 16hrs(in game). I've never had one last that long before, so now my bank manager is very happy, and i'm going shopping to change my grey rags to something a little more up-market

Still be careful with potions - i also took a 'delusion' one and had to spend 500 coppers at a healers to get rid of its effects(your stats wildly fluctuating).

[child of Thor]

a quick glance at this screen and you can see underneath my foodpacket and water flask count it says i'm 'weary' and also 'treasure finding!'.

Its 4am + the treasure finding is still active even after i had slept for 6hrs! a new one on me that I think i'm still weary(the first stage of fatigue) because i'd not wanted to sleep to try to maximise my treasure finds the previous evening. I had reached tired stage before sleeping, but got lots of loot