- I have a comment on HN about that. Fact is the Propeller chip can do quite a bit better than the 160 pixels included with the CODY.
On a TV, 720x440 NTSC is not hard. 640x400, 420 whatever here, is a better fit, as that rides in the safe area for NTSC.
There is a lot of video code, some written by me, for the P1 that can run on that configuration. The project author is using the reference Parallax video circuit.
This means you can get S-video, or composite. And you can get about 60 colors without special tricks, including 5 grey shades.
There is not enough RAM on the P1 to do full on one byte per pixel, or even 16 color 4 bits per pixel at those resolutions.
A 640x200 screen is basically 64k at 4 bits per pixel. 320x200 is 32K, etc...
So, one has to use tiles and sprites to make those resolutions and color depths useful. Drivers exist that do just that.
That said, 320x200 with 8x8 tiles, 256 of those defined in a table, plus sprites can be very robust under 16Kbytes of RAM.
Offering C-64 style color text, which could include the text mode shown on the CODY, given the C64 multi-color mode, is only... 1k for the text memory, 2k for the 256 possible 8 byte character definitions, and another 1K for a color / attribute map.
Then one has to choose! Do it C64 style, where the color map begins at a different address from the screen memory where the text is, or do it IBM style, where both start at the same address, and the screen memory is combined with the color map.
On the Propeller, IBM style is easier! Grab 16 bits per character, and 8 of those index into the character map, and the other 8 are used as color / attribute data directly. But, that means each character is basically 16 bits too.
Done the C64 way, the Propeller has to do two fetches per character instead of one, which limits some things like ultimate high resolution and number of sprites to be drawn, etc... but it makes for easy implementation of "Print commands" in that text can be dumped to the screen memory in sequential bytes, just as it's seen.
I'm in the weeds now!!
As I back out, yes!! The board is really clean, and there just are not a lot of components. It's NICE WORK and I sort of want to build one.
(I would modify the video to be 320x200 though, and keep the 40x25 screen, but just have nicer characters.)
- That is a nice little tribute. It is period correct in every way.
The color range and resolution are appropriate too, and they exceed what many systems were capable of.
- You are all welcome!
I really enjoy this little hole in the wall.
To: our gracious host
Do you need / want anything? Seriously!
I appreciate your time and effort needed to make this place happen and would gladly help.
- Me too. When Thomas first announced it for the Atari machines, I thought it would not spread that well because the Atari build made extensive use of the Atari SIO system.
Basically, it is device independent I/O, which was spiffy back in the day, and it meant that a ton of old software would just work via FujiNET.
Neat, but very Atari only.
Then Thomas just started porting and finding ways on other machines!
Another nice thing is FujiNET can get people onto Irata, the PLATO reboot Thomas also worked on.
And I have not had the time to explore that system, but it sure looks neato!
- Fun fact about Plato on the Atari. The deeper you went the darker the background colors got and the lighter the foreground text became.
- Kyrocera... there is a name I have not heard in a long while!
We had off and on luck with those. I worked for a CAD reseller / consultancy firm at the time. Did a lot of hardware, systems engineering type work and we were always looking for high performance deals.
The Seagate 10K drives were bread and butter, but it often made sense to try other drives for cost, size, and sometimes availability reasons.
- The SCSI Seagate Cheetah was amazing!
Used the crap out of those, mostly in SGI workstations, which delivered nearly 100 percent of what the drive could do. Loved those disks, hated the noise!
They did run hot. We used to put them in these little SCSI boxes. Each box had a fan. As long as that fan operated, life was good.
One day, while in the server room, we heard the death whine! A Cheetah was dying a heat death in its box!
The peeps in there wanted to shut it down, and I said no way! Get the data off of it RIGHT NOW.
And get me dry ice stat!
A copy began as soon as we could mount secondary storage, and it began!
I insulated the drive with a towel and baggie I found, and was about to apply the ice when a cord got bumped!
Bssssssuuuurclunk!
Shit.
This drive needs to spin one more time or we are screwed. Turns out the company data on that drive was important, as in we don't have jobs and why did the backup not work, OH MY GOD, type important!
Got it, check!
I buried the drive in the dry ice, got secondary storage lined up and ready, applied power and nothing.
Shit, shit, oh shit!
Ok, give it 5.5 volts and try again! Nothing. Give it 6! Seven! It whined and moved a little.
Ok, back to 6, and I took the "do not remove" cover off and nudged the platters as the power was applied and it spun up!
Yes! Hell yes!
I slapped the cover back on, tightened just two screws and buried the screaming drive in the ice and time to copy?
FIVE LONG MINUTES
We got the data. That drive almost died twice, and I would pick it up gently, change orientation, until it got quieter, and then just freeze in place, holding it.
Right after I heard, "copy complete', I heard and felt a thunk as the thing tried to leap out of my hand!
It locked solid.
Whew!
Was an intense 5 minutes. And I got kudos for mooching a few more minutes out of what should have been a dead drive.
- Jeeeezus. I broke out in a cold sweat reading this. Need a cigarette now. Nothing pushes my stress like failing drives ….
- Right?
I was a smoker at the time. Yeah, knocked one back the instant the task was done.
- If you work in computers and you don’t drink. Start.
- Lolol, or do other things, ahem.
Fortunately, I left high end systems engineering in the early 10's. Faced a choice:
Level up and really commit, probably end up in a datacentre, or consultancy of sorts
, or...
ditch it all and do something else.
So, I went and did something else!
Literally cleared out the bunker full of sgi machines and several higher end PC's. I piled it on the front lawn and gave it to some guy who was absolutely stoked! I still grin. Those machines were well loved. No doubt about it.
I then went small. Back to my roots! Cleaned up my Apple //e and wrote some code, 6502 and, or 65816 acting as 65802 of course due to how the hardware works.
And banged around some on my Atari 800XL too.
Then a friend sent me the datasheet for the Parallax Propeller chip, and OH My!
Those things are fun, and I would easily call the P2 the Amiga of microcontroller!
And have pretty much stayed small since then. No regrets.
Embedded systems are a lot of fun, and my retro skills are entirely relevant.
Now, that is not to say vices are not a part of computers. They are. Deffo.
But, doing fun things is for sure a great alternative to medicating ones [insert it here] away!
- Mine too.
TEMPEST
ROBOTRON
DEFENDER
ASTEROIDS
KABOOM!
All these games have simple dynamics that play out in interesting ways. KABOOM! is on the list for one reason in common with all these games, and that is the game ramps up to real human limits.
Flat out, not everyone can play these games to their potential.
The other common attribute all these have in common is they all can trigger what I call, "the trance" and I have heard others call, "The Zone." Basically, the world kind of fades away, leaving the game and you in a state where thought is action!
And that state is very highly addictive.
It also changes a person in subtle ways. When we reach that state, we become aware of our minds in a way not too many experiences can bring on.
Those simple dynamics in combination is where the magic lives! Each enemy has agency of sorts, and behaves in specific ways too.
All of that makes the game playable. If it were more random, it would just be frustrating. Some things are random, spawn points and such, but the rest is governed by rules intended to just punish the player while taking them to human limits!
Awesome gaming if you ask me.
- Kaboom for Atari was amazingly mindless and addictive.
Defender/stargate. I think I actually played the sequel more.
Galaga
Outrun
Xevious
Star Wars/ESB
- Nice selections both of you. Mines would be in no specific order: Battlezone. Asteroids. Pacman. Tempest. Pole Position.
BTW, even if those are my favorites I'm really bad playing them.
- Your addition of Battlezone made me remember the Cinematronics games!
Star Castle, Armor Attack, Tail Gunner (I think), and both vector goodness and real sound, full with bass notes front and center.
- Nice. I spent lots of money on all of these games
Bad. Lol. I think I got to red levels on Tempest once. Maybe twice. I still play play because it’s fun. My top score on asteroids is in the 70,000. And I’m sure I never completed any run on outrun despite owning the actual standup for a couple of years.
- Right on!
There is something like magic at work with Kaboom! It is one example I show people what racing the beam means. The game is simple and the graphics are crisp. All good, buy then we get to motion...
That is compelling and fast! Too fast for some people.
- Wow! This is interesting.
I want a 6502 one now.
- Seriously! This is a very clever technique. It seems to trade a bit of quality for speed, but not enough to matter in most cases.
- That is a very nice speed boost. For some tasks, running on the Z80 may well be peak performance.
- More
Here's to you and yours having a great new year.