nonner242 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Maybe they makes those Genesis type of plastic DVD boxes that may fit a Intellivision game. The thick plastic case that came with Atari 2600, Mean Santa, fit an Atari 2600 games perfectly. I probably need to make you game called, Dr.Mario to treat your insanity. Take care. And how is plastic any better? What a world...research ppl...plastic is the devil! Evil I say! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonner242 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Nonner loves his boxes, he's just ashamed to admit it. Still DONT know where you get that. And I never inhaled! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I think this is what most people mean by going green....... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 And how is plastic any better? Because I'm insane. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Even Shatner is going green!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Trying to get this thread back on topic (please guys, perhaps there's a better thread for all this insanity), GroovyBee, what did you mean when you said that the other scenes needed a tool to generate data? Are you talking about graphics data, or something more to support your movies? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 Trying to get this thread back on topic (please guys, perhaps there's a better thread for all this insanity), GroovyBee, what did you mean when you said that the other scenes needed a tool to generate data? Are you talking about graphics data, or something more to support your movies? Its the Intellivision section. Some level of insanity is required The tool I need to code is to generate data for something neat .... hopefully . Its a one-shot bespoke tool that I expect won't be used again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 The tool I need to code is to generate data for something neat .... hopefully . Its a one-shot bespoke tool that I expect won't be used again. Its the Intellivision section. Some level of insanity is required The tool I need to code is to generate data for something neat .... hopefully . Its a one-shot bespoke tool that I expect won't be used again. Alright, then. Carry on! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfy62 Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Even Shatner is going green!!!! thenug-eHXcfUCIMi.jpg That stuff will make you Even Shatner is going green!!!! thenug-eHXcfUCIMi.jpg that stuff will make you insane, look what it did to Captain Kirk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted June 3, 2014 Author Share Posted June 3, 2014 Not much to report this week. The layout of the production version of the Bee3 PCB is under way. I'm replacing the standard .1" pitch, 6 way ATmega programming connector with a PCB edge connector because there is no point soldering a component that is only used once. A selection of candidate connectors are due in this week so I can evaluate them and then finish off the PCB layout. It means that programming a Bee3 will be as simple as plugging the PCB into the programmer (opposite end to normal), hitting a button on the PC and then waiting until its done. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+grips03 Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 Not much to report this week. The layout of the production version of the Bee3 PCB is under way. I'm replacing the standard .1" pitch, 6 way ATmega programming connector with a PCB edge connector because there is no point soldering a component that is only used once. A selection of candidate connectors are due in this week so I can evaluate them and then finish off the PCB layout. It means that programming a Bee3 will be as simple as plugging the PCB into the programmer (opposite end to normal), hitting a button on the PC and then waiting until its done. The other one I've seen is to hold / tape the .1 inch connector in place and program the chip, but the edge connector method is even cleaner. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted June 3, 2014 Author Share Posted June 3, 2014 The other one I've seen is to hold / tape the .1 inch connector in place and program the chip, but the edge connector method is even cleaner. Its possible to add copper test pads and use spring loaded probes to make contact with them. That'd mean making a mechanical jig of some kind. Thats certainly possible but not a route I want to go down for low volume hobby stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonner242 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Copper pads & and spring loaded probes... Sound like the s&m end boss for Rocketeer is quite Evil! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Copper pads & and spring loaded probes... Sound like the s&m end boss for Rocketeer is quite Evil! OMG! Nonner, go stand in the corner! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonner242 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 OMG! Nonner, go stand in the corner! OK, I will, butt I'm keeping my back to the wall! I DONT trust people after reading some above post. Im scared of "things". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonner242 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Scared of this! You should be. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slab0meat Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Now I am getting excited and can't wait for the finished product. You hangin' in there, man? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar G. Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thank you for the updates. They are very appreciated. By the way the gifeo looks fantastic. By the way, I have just read a quote that I found quite appropriate: "A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is forever bad" The quote is by Shigeru Miyamoto, so I guess that he knows what he is talking about. Take your time and give us the best game that you can make. Good luck amigo! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Latest update :- The bespoke tool needed to add the closing part of the intro sequence is complete, and its output data Run Length Encoded (RLE) to save ROM space. The RLE data de-packer and display code are in the sequence and the only thing missing is an animation that joins the two parts together. I've started adding extra functionality to the Bee3 BIOS to handle score to BCD digits conversion. Displaying binary numbers as BCD is quite a lengthy process on the inty because the CPU doesn't have a built in BCD mode. The game now saves/loads the high score table to/from the Bee3's EEPROM. I'll be adding a keypad "unlocking" sequence to reset the high score table in a future version. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 As they say on the Interwebz, pics or it didn't happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 As they say on the Interwebz, pics or it didn't happen. True! But in the case of the game's intro sequence (as it stands now) it doesn't make much sense without the "joining" animation . I'll be showing off the full intro sequence when its all done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catsfolly Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Latest update :- The bespoke tool needed to add the closing part of the intro sequence is complete, and its output data Run Length Encoded (RLE) to save ROM space. The RLE data de-packer and display code are in the sequence and the only thing missing is an animation that joins the two parts together. I've started adding extra functionality to the Bee3 BIOS to handle score to BCD digits conversion. Displaying binary numbers as BCD is quite a lengthy process on the inty because the CPU doesn't have a built in BCD mode. The game now saves/loads the high score table to/from the Bee3's EEPROM. I'll be adding a keypad "unlocking" sequence to reset the high score table in a future version. I sometimes find it easier just to keep the score in BCD form all the time. You have to do a little more work to add a number to the score, but it makes the score display routine simple... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Really? I found it more convenient to compute the decimal values when updating the score, rather than having to perform BCD arithmetic. The score display update is done out-of-band and independently from the actual score tracking. I can even imagine that it could be delayed by a few frames without much visual disturbance. In any case the code I used for Carol was based on one provided by GroovyBee in the Programming forum some time ago. I believe that Joe and Arnauld also provided optimized codes for it. dZ. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catsfolly Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 (edited) Really? I found it more convenient to compute the decimal values when updating the score, rather than having to perform BCD arithmetic. The score display update is done out-of-band and independently from the actual score tracking. I can even imagine that it could be delayed by a few frames without much visual disturbance. In any case the code I used for Carol was based on one provided by GroovyBee in the Programming forum some time ago. I believe that Joe and Arnauld also provided optimized codes for it. dZ. Sure, it's "more convenient" because the programmer has less to do. But it takes more cycles. I guess when I said it was "easier" to keep the score in BCD, I really meant that it takes less processor cycles overall. I wasn't very clear BInary to BCD conversion involves multiple "divide by 10 by successive subtraction" loops, which take time (even Groovy just said that it was a "lengthy process"). Sure you can have your code do it in the background, or only when the score changes, or once a second, but it still takes time. BCD arithmetic involves adding a number, and then rippling through the digits and adding a "correction factor" when you find a digit greater than 9. This takes a little time, but as a result the score display routine is trivial (for each digit - mask a digit, shift, table look-up, print). Catsfolly Edited June 15, 2014 by catsfolly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Sure, it's "more convenient" because the programmer has less to do. But it takes more cycles. I guess when I said it was "easier" to keep the score in BCD, I really meant that it takes less processor cycles overall. I wasn't very clear BInary to BCD conversion involves multiple "divide by 10 by successive subtraction" loops, which take time (even Groovy just said that it was a "lengthy process"). Sure you can have your code do it in the background, or only when the score changes, or once a second, but it still takes time. BCD arithmetic involves adding a number, and then rippling through the digits and adding a "correction factor" when you find a digit greater than 9. This takes a little time, but as a result the score display routine is trivial (for each digit - mask a digit, shift, table look-up, print). Catsfolly I understood what you mean, I just think that score computation is not a time-critical task; just as long as the display catches up with the score at some point, it should be good. Don't get me wrong, if there were available a binary to decimal converter on-board, I'd definitely use that instead. It's just that, in my opinion at least, there is greater value in keeping track of the score in binary and converting it only on display. It's more malleable that way, so any score-based triggers or game-play elements such as bonuses, extra lives, difficulty, etc. can then be reduced to simple binary arithmetic. Your mileage may vary, of course. -dZ. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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