Atari 8Bit Freeware / free-download - Statements:

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1) KE-Soft Software:

Here is the official statement:

„Alle Atari-Programme stehen als ATR-Dateien für den Emulator auf CD bereit und sind von mir als Public-Domain freigegeben.“

(taken from: http://www.kemalsatariarchiv.gmxhome.de)

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2) Plastron by Harlequin:

commented by Ben Mills on the atarimania site:

Ben Mills - 12/05/2009	
Oh an just incase you want to know i feel ok if any one wants download this game as it is no longer made.

Thou i cant speek for my Dad and Andrew i am mostly shure they dont mind eith as i no my Dad has downloaded a rom for this (an im shure you cant be aressted for pirateing your own game lol) to remind me of it in the past so everyone feel free.

Aslong as the publisher aint gona be arsey about it.

Ben Mills - 12/05/2009	
Hay there my dad is Andy Mills co-creator of this game.

The game shipt with me (Ben mills) as like 2nd or 3rd high score.

Im 22 now an love that ppl still remember this game. Almost epic that ppl still remember this game that Andy Mills (my Dad) and Andrew Dickinson made thanx Jonny EOL made me very happy today.

(taken from: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-plastron_4002.html )

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3) WASEO-Software:

Here is the official statement (from WASEO / T. Helbing, the author):

Betreff:  WASEO (Freeware) Programme
Von: Thorsten Helbing <thorstenathelbing.info>
An: andikoatweb.de
Cc: Probst, Michael
Datum: 17.12.2009

Hiermit bestätige ich, dass alle auf den folgenden Disketten befindlichen 8Bit-Programme von WASEO Public Domain sind und damit frei und unentgeldlich verwendet und kopiert werden dürfen:

* WASEO Publisher (Editor, Konverter, Fonteditor, Bildschimzeitungserstellhelfer, Malprogramm)
* WASEO Designer (Photopräsentor, Pageprinter, Pagedesigner)
* WASEO Triology (Geburtstagskalenderdrucker, Lettermaster und Kurzbriefdrucker)
* WASEO Grafinoptikum (Textskalierer, GIAZ-Konverter und Symmetriker)
* WASEO Labouratorium (Photocolorant, Graphics 0/12-Maskenersteller, Notizuhr)
* WASEO Practoscope (Briefumschlagdrucker, Scrollfarbeditor und Bildmaß-Master)

Good Byte, Thorsten (WASEO)

(taken from an e-mail which T.H. did send to Andreas Koch)

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4) ANG-Software

Here is the official announcement (from the Abbuc forum):

Betreff des Beitrags: ANG Software = freeware now!
Verfasst: Do Mai 04, 2006 10:55 pm 
Autor: Fred M.
Registriert: Do Jan 01, 1970 2:00 am
Beiträge: 35
Wohnort: Schiedam, Niederlande

John Maris has announced on the dutch retro computer forum www.retrocomputerdag.nl that from the 1st of May 2006 ALL ANG Software titles (including the Polish Mirage titles) will be freeware. All ANG titles may be freely distributed. It is still prohibited to change any of the code and to distribute the software in its original (or reproduced) packaging. 

For all collectors outhere, original stock of ANG software titles are still available exclusively through www.rewindgames.com for (almost) PD prices. 

Fred Meijer

Or in the dutch words of John Maris himself:
"En dan nog legaal ook, want met ingang van 1 mei 2006 zijn Alle ANG-Software titels, inclusief de Poolse titels van Mirage freeware."

(taken from the Abbuc forum: http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2251&p=12725&hilit=ANG#p12725 )

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5) Steve Hales Software: 

Here is the official statement (from the homepage of Steve Hales):

Because of the 'rise of the emulator', these old [Atari] games and many others are available. You can get them here.

(taken from http://www.igorlabs.com/etc/games/index.html)

Now, there is a newer content available at igorlabs.com which reads like this:

Classic Games
My, now classic, games are for the Atari 2600, and Atari 400/800. While there was a few ported to other platforms, the best versions run on Atari’s.
The reason for this, is because I designed them specifically with specialized features that Atari had and no other platform could emulate.
They were all written in 6502 assembly except Mindwheel which was a compiled byte code interpreter.

Suicide Mission, created in 1981
Did this along side reverse engineering the Atari 2600 for Starpath. The result of many ideas and experiments from myself, Stephen Landrum, and Scott Nelson. The game took about 4 months to create, and ended up being about 4k of code and data. Hand optimized and tweaked 6502 assembly. This was the summer that the 6502 opcode set became burned into my memory. (A9 0, 60) See it here. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Slime, created in 1982
This was a take over project for the Atari 400/800. The original coder decided that games wasn’t his bag, so he bailed. I was working on Fort Apocalypse at the time, and the designer, Ihor Wolosenko asked me to take over. I ended up starting the code over, using only a small fragment of the graphics. This ended up being a fun game to code. Lots of cool sound programming. Took about 4 months, 8k of code, data. Download it here. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Fort Apocalypse, created in 1982
This idea came to me in a dream the summer before I saw Choplitfer. If you remember, 1981 was the failed helicopter mission to rescue people from the Iranian US embassy during the last days of the Carter Administration. Probably a connection, and I suspect Dan Gorlin had the same dream. Download it here. Check out this niffty t-shirt. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Dimension X, created in 1983
This was a graphics special effect created by Stephen Landrum. He had no interest in creating a game for it, so he passed it along to me. Some days, in the following year, I had wished he had never done that. This turned out to be the hardest game design I’ve ever created. Mainly because of the limits to the design imposed by the forced perspective nature of the effect. The design is my take on the old ‘Trek‘ games of the time. Download it here. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Atari 400/800 emulators are plentiful now. The best one on Mac OSX is Atari800MacX which is a port of David Firth’s fantastic Atari 800 Emulator. It can be found here. Follow links from there for other platforms.

Mindwheel, created in 1983, 1984
This was a mind blowing experience. My first experience with many computer science concepts that are commonplace now. Object oriented programming, Virtual Machines, AI, language processing, cross platform coding. High level operating systems. This was a team of people, in which I was the lead for this title. I worked with then William Mataga, Bill Darrah, David Bunch. While Robert Pinsky wrote the story, approved of all text changes, and generally inspired a sense of whimsy into this game. This was the first game I was involved in that could surprise me by its actions during game play. Download it here. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

( taken from: http://www.igorlabs.com/classic-games/ )

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6) Scott Adams Software:

Here is the official statement (from the Scott Adams homepage): 

The Scott Adams original text Adventure games 
are still copyrighted by Scott Adams 
and are not Public Domain. 
They may be downloaded and enjoyed though.

The Classic Scott Adams Adventure Games Downloads

(taken from his webpage http://www.msadams.com/downloads.htm)

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7) Gray Chung Software:

Here is the official statement (from Gray Chung`s homepage):

Two-Player Games for Atari 8-bit Computers from the early 1980s by Gray Chung.
Now available for free to download and run on your Windows computer!

Bumpomov's Dogs (1983), Dog Daze Deluxe (1982), 
Claim Jumper (1982), Dog Daze (1981)

These games were designed to run on the Atari 8-bit Home Computers of the early 1980s. Now you can use an Atari 800 emulator to run these 1980s-era programs on your modern Windows-based PC. For instructions, go to my Atari800 Emulator web page. 

Read an interview with Gray Chung at http://atari8bit.org/interviews/13.php - here is a single quote from this interview: „Please direct your readers to my web site 
http://www.concentric.net/~ktchang/
to download and play Bumpomov`s Dogs (or any of my other games) for FREE!“

(taken from http://www.concentric.net/~ktchang/index-games.shtml and the single quote from the interview taken from http://atari8bit.org/interviews/13.php)

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8) Philip Price Software (A.R.):

Here is the official statement:

Concerning the distribution of Alternate Reality The City and Alternate Reality The Dungeon, Philip Price has said the following:

" Agreed. It goes without saying that the copies that were produced while
the contract was in force can still be sold (ie. A person can sell a Model
T ford even if Ford no longer sells it). On the other hand, Datasoft and
it's sucessor can no longer sell it. But if someone has bought a copy
they are free to do with it what they will just as any consumer can with
any product.

                     -Phil

P.S.: Plus as I have said before, in regards to the existing product, if you can't find a person to sell it to you or you need to run it on the transformer, then do what you have to do ;)."

(taken from http://www.eobet.com/alternate-reality/ - subject 6.1 What is the current legal status of AR ?)

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9) Ulf Peterson / LDS-Software:

Here is the official announcement (from the Abbuc forum):

Betreff des Beitrags: Freigabe als PUBLIC DOMAIN und Ankündigungen
Verfasst: Di Mai 08, 2007 10:13 pm 
Autor: Kuestensturm
Registriert: Do Jan 01, 1970 2:00 am
Beiträge: 16

Hallo. 

Nachdem ich inzwischen mehrfach darauf angesprochen worden bin, möchte ich hiermit die von mir ehemals erstellte und vertriebene Software (unter anderem unter dem Label Liberal Dreams Software, auch der Black Magic Composer gehört hierzu) und die (Disketten-)magazine (User-Mag) für den Atari 8-Bit als PUBLIC DOMAIN freigeben. 

Es würde mich sehr freuen, wenn jemand die Artikel ins XFD- oder ATR-Format konvertieren könnte, so dass sie auch über Emulatoren nutzbar sind. Ist ein langgehegter Wunsch von mir, aber bevor das SIO2USB-Interface nicht draußen ist, werde ich leider nicht selbst dazu kommen. Wer könnte das machen und die Files schon jetzt veröffentlichen? 

Es gibt da noch einiges mehr, was veröffentlicht werden könnte. Bevor ich aufgrund eines Auslandsaufenthaltes meine Atari-Aktivitäten komplett einstellen musste, habe ich noch an einigen Spielen gearbeitet (unter anderem eine Fassung des Spielhallenklassikers Metrocross und Solomon`s Key). Ich muss die aber erst noch aus meinen diversen Diskettenkisten heraussuchen. Vielleicht findet sich dann ja jemand, der diese Spielprojekte vollenden könnte. 

Freundliche Grüße aus Kiel im hohen Norden, 

Ulf Petersen

( taken from the Abbuc forum: http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2914&p=17305&hilit=Freigabe+als+PUBLIC+DOMAIN#p17305 )

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10) Jeff Minter / Llamasoft:

Here is the official statement:

"I think emulators are a wonderful thing. It means that now our old games and systems are in the digital domain, and proliferating across the planet - they are *immortal*. Somebody, somewhere, will always have a copy and will always be able to run them on an emulator of an emulator of an emulator or whatever... Being digital, they will never erode by being copied... perfect copies of our old games will be around in the datasphere, *forever*. Somebody 1000 years from now will be able to do research on the early days of computers, and they *will be able to play Gridrunner*. I think that's amazing, and for that reason, my personal take on the emulation scene is: if code is old enough that it can run on emulators, then it should be in the public domain, because I am certainly not going to be making anything on it by that time! So as far as I am concerned, as long as they are freely distributed and not sold for profit, all old Llamasoft game images for use on emulators can be freely uploaded on any site anywhere, with my full permission. I hate it when you go to download an emu and there are no games because everyone is so scared of getting busted by some selfish old dinosaur. So - emu sites everywhere, feel free to use my Llamasoft game images. 

\
(:-) - Y a K
/

LLAMASOFT 8-BIT GAMES FOR EMULATOR USE
========================================

These game images may be distributed free of charge to anyone who wants to use them on emulators. Please feel free to carry them on emulator sites or whatever. Llamasoft feels that software old enough to be running on emulators is not going to be exactly generating a huge amount of revenue, and as such the images are considered by Llamasoft to be in the public domain, and there will be *no* legal hassles if your site carries the images.

Enjoy!
http://www.magicnet.net/~yak/

\
(:-) - Y a K 1/12/96
/ 

llamaman@ix.netcom.com

Jeff Minter

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11) Advan Basic (+ Compiler + Runtime):

Here is the official statement:

* From: "FujiMan" <Rory.A.McMahon@xxxxxxxxx>
* Date: 30 Jun 2006 07:15:24 -0700

Hi All!

William Graziano and I wish to announce the release of Advan BASIC compiler suite to public domain as of July 1st, 2006. He has removed the copy protection from the disks which are now available in ATR format (for diskettes and emulation). The documentation is available in text, ms word, and pdf.

Files are available from me via email, or off the webpage http://fujiman.no-ip.com/Advan.htm AFTER July 1st. I'd prefer to email it, as the web page is on my home computer.

(taken from: comp.sys.atari.8bit)

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12) Mirage Software:

Here are the official statements:

a) 14.05.2003 Retroattack!
For all you retro fans we made a special page with old Mirage games. :] Have fun!

(taken from: http://web.archive.org/web/20031206100700/www.mirage.com.pl/index.php?id=news   since the original Mirage news-page disappeared)

b) Retroattack!
Here you will find many retro games that were made and published by Mirage. Many of them became classics in Poland. You may need emulators to play some of them. Enjoy!
Please note there is no technical support for any of those games below! They are all delivered here on a do-it-yourself basis...

8-bit Atari
Only a few games from our library of over 100 published titles!

Alchemia, Around the Planet, Atomia, Axilox, Bank Bang, Beryx, Battleships, Caveman, Crypts of Egypt, Cywilizacja, Dark Ab´bys, Duch, Dziedzic, Eureka, Historia Polski, Jaffar, Janosik, Kapitan Kloss Kolony, Magia, Midnight, Mozgprocessor, Operation Blood, Pong, Problem Jasia, Pyramid, Raszyn, Robal, Rockman, Roderic, Rycerz, Sexversi (Make sure you are 18!), Special Forces, Starball, Tanks, Tawernia, Technus, Thinker, Top Secret, Wladca, Wyprawy Kupca, Zbir; [all games were listed as links, to download them directly !]

(taken from: http://web.archive.org/web/20031207045936/www.mirage.com.pl/index.php?id=retroattack   since the original Mirage webpage disappeared)

c) [Here is the] Game Covers and Screenshots Directory for your enjoyment [link]

(taken from:  http://web.archive.org/web/20040326084310/www.mirage.com.pl/retroattack/Atari/covers/   since the original Mirage webpage disappeared)

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13) Magic World: (by Satantronic)

there exist two freeware information pages:

a)
!!! Now is Free  Magic World  Now is Free !!! 
(92 KB) 
1994 
code: -XI- 
music: Bengysoft 
simple game for your Atari XL/XE and your Atari emulator 
Technical informations: 
Run on all Atari XL/XE with min.64KB RAM and Atari emulator. 
Size - one 5,25 MD disk 
11 rooms to explore 
1 good tune, 
Some screenshots here. 
Download here in ATR format.

(taken from: http://www.napri.sk/web/satantronic/AtariXE.htm )

b)

Magic World download [1994]

Bengysoft, -XI-
game for Atari XL/XE with 64kB RAM

(taken from: http://satantronic.atari.sk/?str=xe_games )

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14) LK Avalon games:

Here is one of the official statements:

Thu Jun 10, 2010
From: Miroslaw Liminowicz <mlatlkavalon.com>
To: Andreas Koch <andikoatweb.de>
Subject: Re: Atari XL/XE  LK Avalon programs...

Hi,

Most of atari games published by LK Avalon was developed by third 
parties and I should contact the authors before giving you the statement 
that that's a freeware now. But it's extremely difficult, and I have no 
time to do this.

I can guarantee you only that programs which I am the author. So, FRED 
and LASERMANIA are oficially freeware.

All the Best,
Miroslaw Liminowicz
www.lkavalon.com

( taken from an e-mail which M.L. did send to Andreas Koch )

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15) John Foskett programs:

Here is the official statement:

Important Note
Please note that some of my programs and disks particularly those found elsewhere may
contain an address, if so then please note that the address stated is no longer 
relevant. All my Atari programs wherever found are released into the public domain. 
Any of my Atari programs may be modified in whole or in part and redistributed provided 
that my name remains within the listing and/or on the screen within the program as the
original author and copyright holder. If you do modify any of my Atari programs, please
forward me a copy because I would be interested to see it.

( taken from the website of John Foskett:  http://www.johnap.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ )

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16) Ultima series:

a) „...In 1999, Richard Garriott declared that Ultima IV was now freeware, meaning that if you find a version online, you can legally download and play it...“
(taken from: http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Ultima%20IV )

b) Ultima IV is the only Ultima that is freeware, and therefore which can be legally downloaded. The story of how it became freeware is called The Tale of the Kicked Ass: and can be read at The Lair of Contrapuntal: (taken from:http://gigi.nullneuron.net/ultima/u4.php) 

The Tale of the Kicked Ass: http://www.thatfleminggent.com/ultima/contrapuntal.html#kickass-story
The Lair of Contrapuntal: http://www.thatfleminggent.com/ultima/contrapuntal.html

[Note: This needs further inspection, there is no note, e-mail, etc. from Richard Garriott himself officially declaring Ultima 4 as freeware]

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17) Sprong/Pogotron:

Here is the author`s private-mail answer about Sprong / Pogotron being freeware:

(Sent Thu Jul 25, 2013 12:13 AM, via atari-age PM)

Of course I am happy to declare it [Sprong/Pogotron] being freeware. I did have it available for download from my website but I removed it about 10 years ago as it seemed irrelevant, too old to be of any interest to anyone.

I've just checked atarimania.com and it looks like they only have a cassette version and I can't remember whether that has the golden pogostick at the end (should anyone actually complete the game). So I'll send them a disk image and the scans for both Sprong releases.

Best regards,
Paul (Lay)

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18) Hawkquest / Laserhawk:

Here is Harvey Kong Tin`s* private-mail answer about Hawkquest and Laser Hawk being freeware:  (* the programmer Andrew Bradfield passed away in 2002)

(Sent Wed Jul 24, 2013 11:49 PM, via atari-age PM)

I don't have any problems with that... meaning it is a 'Yes'. And yes, I have noted that they are already available at other sites, who have not asked permission etc etc.

You can find my homepage, or a page I have set up, in which hopefully you'll find a modified Hawkquest, in which you do not need to do any disk swapping, on an emulator -that makes it easier and quicker to run.

Also include that page(s) where screenshots are available, and find the video of it on Youtube, which will show some hidden targets in the game, making the game easier to complete... Maps showing where all the hidden targets will one day become available - I had the handdrawn maps scanned but have not received scanned copies of these back yet...

The current project I am working on - GTIABlast! will feature a revisit to Hawkquest graphic screens, and have them updated, with improvements? ie. in it's final or near release....
I appreciate people who write/communicate with me regarding any of my old work/games...

Harvey (Kong Tin)

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19) Frederik Holst software:

Frederik Holst made his own A8 software available for free download. One can find the software here:

ftp://frederik.hol.st/atari/8-bit/mystuff/
or
http://frederik.hol.st/atari/8-bit/mystuff/

Evil as I am, I asked Frederik about the status of his software, this is my short conversation with him:

(Posted Mon Mar 3, 2014 8:43 PM, at atari-age forum)

„Hello Frederik, 

if I were evil and use  ftp://frederik.hol.st/atari/8-bit/mystuff , I can suddenly see all your A8 software. Most of these programs were once sold commercially. So, is your software freeware now ? Is it allowed for anyone to download it and give it to other Atarians (free of charge of course)...?!?

Greetings, Andreas Koch“

And this is what he answered:

(Posted Mon Mar 3, 2014 9:03 PM, at atari-age forum)
„Hi Andreas,

no, you're not evil in doing so - in fact, I offer all these programs in my "mystuff" folder publicly and free of charge for more than 10 years (among others, indexed by http://www.newbreeds...re.com/xlsearch )
So far I haven't declared them as freeware or public domain as i didn't want to allow others to charge users for commercial compilations etc. once i have time to figure out what would be the best way to maintain my rights as creator and be duly credited while at the same time make sure that people to get access to my software free of charge, i'll look into that.

Best, Frederik“

His software includes former commercial programs, once being sold by Power per Post or Powersoft or other german vendors. Now one can download the stuff at the author`s ftp or http page, including the following titles:

- Enrico 1
- Enrico 2
- Floppy Bird (new release in 2014 !)
- Mad Marbles
- PC-XL convert
- Phantastic Journey 1
- Phantastic Journey 2
- Scaremonger 2
- Scaremonger 2.5

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20) Micromiser Software:
(Turbobase, Turboword, Turbofile)

quoting from comp.sys.atari.8bit
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.atari.8bit/c/eHevLEFgcTg/m/F_R4KsJ1io0J

Steve Thornton
02.07.2002, 00:01:22
To: Everyone
From: Steve Thornton, Pres.
Micromiser Software

"I would also like to thank every 8-bit Atari user everywhere for using
our products, and for so long! It is a great feeling! Believe me when
I say I had no idea whatever that so many people still had an interest 
in our products as late as 1994. I would have taken a lot better care
of those disks. But I had no such feedback, and was not reading
newsgroups at the time.
Also, if there is any Atari user anywhere still using one of our Atari
products, copy them freely and do whatever you like with them! They
make great frisbees too! I would have said this in 1994 as well if I
had known about the persistent interest. Though I still would have
charged for support time if that was required.
Thanks for reading my piece. Ben, if you're out there, I sincerely
apologize for anything I said that offended you. Believe me it was not
my intention. I would like to make up with you if that is possible.
Steve Thornton, Pres.
Micromiser Software

Keywords: turbobase, turboword, turbofile, XP80, XP-80"

and another quote from the same newsgroup:

Steve Thornton
02.07.2002, 20:37:08

"Hi Russ, Paul, Mathy,
I can't believe you guys are still using those 8-bits including these
Micromiser programs. But of course that's great!
Besides the 8-bit programs Turbobase, Turbofile, Turboword being
completely in the public domain, this also applies to a program
for the ST called Ultrabase. Do anything you want with these
programs, disks, etc."

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21) ITHIX by Don Palmer:

ITHIX:

Freeware note by Don Palmer (author) on atarimania.com:

License info: This was originally a commercial product, the version here is a pirated version. As the current sole owner of the original publishing rights, I hereby place the program into the public domain as freeware.

I really would like to see my name restored to the opening screen credits though!

(Don Palmer 02/07/ 2007 on atarimania.com)

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