RAMBIT UPDATE¢-------------¢¢Article by Richard Gore¢¢In my Gaming column in the last News-Disk I talked about the game Ace of Aces and how I found out about it's bank switching operation, however I neglected to mention just how fast the Rambit converted tape is. The full game loads in about two minutes with no flipping the tape over etc. If you have ever waited over 30 minutes for this game to load from standard tape you will appreciate just how much of an improvement the Rambit system is. All you disk users out there will probably be thinking, well what use is this to me, the answer is plenty. Many of you disk owners will have games on tape that you cannot convert to disk using Transdisk etc, so what do you do? Never play them again or wait nearly half an hour for them to load!¢¢What about converting them to Rambit turbo tape format?¢¢It is quite easy to do once you have the appropriate hardware and software and the converted games will load nearly as quick as a disk drive and with a much lessened chance of a load error.¢¢What exactly is a Rambit turbo tape enhancement?¢¢Basically it consists of a small interface module that has to be soldered inside your Atari tape deck, versions are available for the 1010, XC11 and XC12 models. Once installed your tape deck will act just like a normal one until it encounters some Rambit turbo converted software. Supplied with the interface is a tape in turbo format that contains the software for converting your commercial game tapes into turbo format. Two versions are supplied with the first version most suitable for converting single stage cassettes, while version two has more features and can be used for converting multi-stage tapes. Instructions are provided for both the installation and the conversion processes.¢¢Where can you get a Rambit turbo tape system?¢¢Well, Derek Fern sells them for 15pounds each (he also has XC12s with them already installed for 43pounds), but I suggest you contact Dave Richardson (the man behind Rambit - his address is given later) first as he may be able to give you a better deal. Should you have difficulties fitting one a fitting service is available. Dave can also convert many of your tape games into Rambit format for you should you be unable to do so. There is a small charge and games can only be converted and written back onto the ORIGINAL games tape for copyright reasons.¢¢Well there you have it, the Rambit turbo tape system. The following data provides an idea of just what is available and how powerful the system is:¢¢ Title LOAD TIME STD RTT¢ (seconds)¢¢ DRACONUS 884 110¢ FRED 914 135¢ STACK UP 511 050¢ ZYBEX 995 110¢¢In addition there are also some Rambit turbo tape only games such as Gauntlet and HawkQuest available from Derek Fern, and for printer users PRINT LAB is available in disk and Rambit turbo tape format. PRINT LAB works with 1020 and 1029 printers (as well as Epson compatibles) which must surely make it the only commercial 1020 and 1029 utility to be accessible to those without a disk drive. I can also reveal that some of the games from Tiger Developments MIGHT be converted to Rambit format but nothing is certain yet.¢¢Also available in turbo format is that great programming language TURBO BASIC, with built in fast tape load and fast tape save features instead of the disk operations. This program is a must for anybody wanting to do any programming on their 8-bit machines, and if you don't have a disk drive or you have friends who don't own a disk drive the Rambit version is ideal.¢¢In issue 13 of the News-Disk there was an article and program for use with the Rambit system, entitled 'Tape Wiz', however due to a slight breakdown in communications this is in fact not the title of the program. The program which was intended for use by software developers for disk to Rambit turbo tape conversions is in fact untitled and I wrongly suggested that it should be called Tape Wiz, for this I apologise and I hope it didn't cause any confusion.¢¢Dave Richardson is still actively supporting the 8-bit Atari and is very willing to help out with any problems/queries you might have. He can be contacted at:¢¢RAMBIT, 16 THE GREEN, THURLBY, BOURNE, LINCS., PE10 0HB¢¢Telephone (0778) 424450 (evenings)¢¢Editors notes:¢¢We are currently in the process of trying to convert the three PPP games and even QUICK to turbo-tape.¢¢You will have read elsewhere on this disk, that we are now selling Print-Filer and TaskMaster from RAMBIT on their behalf. Buy a copy today!¢
