need help finding (Atari) M.U.L.E. ROM

[Chauncey]

Hi. I am a mac user, I have the Atari Emulator "Stella" for the mac OS, and a few games which work fine, but I can't find a MULE game ROM that will work. Grew up with the C64 version, just want to play the original Atari version for fun. Atarimule is not for mac, so I thought emulator would be best bet.

[Chuckie Chuck]

Try downloading from this page

http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=GameMuseum.Detail&id=114

[Chauncey]

I tried that site, Chuckie. the file wasn't compatible, it says emulator used: Atari800Win which sounds like windows. Theres a couple things to download there - I think I just downloaded the game - I have the emulator working just fine, so I should just need the game, right?

[Chuckie Chuck]

So the Mule.atr files inside Mule.zip doesn't work in your emulator?

Here, try this site.  May work out better.

http://www.emuasylum.com/index.php?page=roms&type=list&system=Atari%20800&letter=M

Also if you still find Stella won't run it, here is a multi-platform emulator that should run under osX that will.

http://atari800.sourceforge.net/

[Chauncey]

Ok - Thanks for that link. Seems the ones I've opened on that site (opened 3) are .atr files which the mac seems to interpret as some kind of movie file. I just checked, and all my games have the extension .a26. I'm glad there is a good crossplatform emu out there, if need be. I'll save that link - I might have to get that, but I'd rather stick with what I have for simplicity's sake if at all possible.

Anyone use a mac, and know where to find a Mule.a26 file?

[Chuckie Chuck]

Perhaps change the extension to .a26 and see what happens?

.a26, I'm guessing represents an Atari 2600 Cart (which could be used on the 400/800 computers)
.atr represents a floppy disk image.  M.U.L.E. was on a disc, not a cart.  (Although I've heard people have copied it to cart format because it is faster loading (plug in, turn on the machine, bam, M.U.L.E. vs Disc (Loading...   45 seconds later, M.U.L.E.)

[Chuckie Chuck]

Yeah, that solution "Might" work, but the ATR file may not be constructed the same way as the A26 file.

Stella is a 2600 Emulator.  The 2600 is a Console, not a PC, it was only designed to run the cartridges.  As such, M.U.L.E. as originally released was never available for the 2600.  Mule to my knowledge required a keyboard at the start of the game to configure game options.  A feature the 2600 doesn't support even if the game will boot.

Here is another new link for you, a complete list of Atari Emulators for the Mac, you need something that emulates an actual Atari 8-bit PC (400,800,65xl,etc)  Game was designed specifically for the original 800 with 4 joystick ports and runs perfectly on the 400 with full ram expansion.  Will run on new models as well, but only the original 400/800 has 4 joystick ports (not that any of the matters in the emulator.)

http://www.cheek.org/atari/emulator.htm

[Chauncey]

Thank you for that information, Chuckie. Turns out that urge to try the Atari Version has temporaily passed for me, but I'm sure it will return sometime soon, when I am bored/have some extra time. I'll have to get an Atari 800 emulator.

That is interesting, I never played an Atari 800 i guess. Thought they were all consoles before the ST. That makes sense, I was somewhat shocked when I first heard that MULE was first on the Atari, and the graphics looked too good when I saw the screenshots.

[Chuckie Chuck]

The Atari 2600 did come before the 400/800 series, but it was named the Atari VCS and came out in 1977.  It was renamed to 2600 in 1982.

The 400/800 Series came out in 1979, and was very comparable and in many aspects superior to the Commodore 64 from the get go (and the 64 didn't come out until 1982)

Atari was wise enough to make the 400/800 capable of playing VCS carts.  The initial versions of the 400/800 were discontinued in 82, but various successors with the same software capabilities were released throughout the 80s, but lacked the 4 joystick ports (and to my understanding, that really ruined things for M.U.L.E. on the Atari, which was released with 4 ports in mind and didn't have an alternative)  There may be some sort of expansion for at least some of the newer PCs in the 400/800 series that allowed 4 joysticks, I'm not well versed enough in Atari to know for sure.

I did score an Atari 400 with ram expansion to 48k when I was 12 or 13.  I had several carts with it, but didn't have a disk drive, and I sold the computer to an Atari collector through a local BBS, since my world revolved around the Commodore and I didn't follow the Atari crowd.  (I think I made $35 or so, that was big money to me back then.)  In hind sight, wish I had kept it and learned more about Atari.

M.U.L.E. was released only on Floppy Disk and therefore, was not planned to function on the VCS/2600.

Want to see Atari's timeline?

http://www.landley.net/history/mirror/atari/museum/Atari-Timeline.html