Omega-TI Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 The TI-99/4A has a few 'screen saver' type programs, like the lines demo, and I suppose someone could use Tursi's slideshow program or the cassette based Grono's sound show. But what about the F18A and/or something possibly using the TIPI? What could you come up with that would really dazzle the TI community and possibly even be practical? Would it be a 24/7 weather program with graphics, a better lines program or a higher resolution slideshow program or something entirely different and new? Possibly a fusion of two programs, like a lines program that switches to Chatti when a new message is posted? Who knows... IT'S UP TO YOU! How long would it take to create such a program? If Fest West is at it's regular time next year, you would have 5 & 1/2 months to create your masterpiece. Even if you could not make Fest West this year, you could get someone to make the presentation for you, have it recorded and put on You Tube for all the world to see and live on for decades to come. Anyone(s) willing to take it on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 Does anyone have a copy of the Ekmelsoft screensaver program? He had fishbowl and a bunch of other things as well, IIRC. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted November 9, 2018 Author Share Posted November 9, 2018 Does anyone have a copy of the Ekmelsoft screensaver program? He had fishbowl and a bunch of other things as well, IIRC. I'd like to see that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 I think he sold them at the Faire a few years ago... I know some folks bought copies, so I'll ask around this weekend at the Faire to see if I can locate a copy, physical or otherwise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 (edited) The properties that distinguish a screensaver from a demo are that it appears automatically after a period of inactivity and it disappears again, restoring everything to its previous state, when it senses activity again. The problem is we don't have any way to reserve some memory for a screensaver on a unexpanded machine. Even with 32K, placing a routine in the lower 8K and running it on the ISR hook doesn't quite do the tick IMHO. Any software except BASIC programs can, and probably will, overwrite it. The F18A, however, has 2K private memory that hardly any software is using. The F18A GPU can run a routine concurrenty with the CPU to detect inactivity. The problem is that it only has access to VDP RAM, so the detection cannot be based on keyboard input but would have to be based on whether the screen is changing. This would not work for BASIC, for instance, where the cursor is blinking, but it would work for the color bar screen, many menus, and lots of other software. Once inactivity is detected, the screensaver would save the VDP RAM and registers that it's going to use, and then run the actual screensaver, which would have to be very simple to fit into the 2K together with the saved VDP RAM. The VDP RAM could also be saved to the F18A flash memory, which would free up more RAM and allow the screensaver to use all the VDP memory. While the screensaver is running it would continue to detect if the CPU is changing the VDP RAM. I imagine this could be done by calculating a VDP RAM checksum after each screensaver frame and check if it matches with a checksum calculated before the next frame. As soon as changes were detected it would stop the actual screensaver and return to background mode. I once made a F18A demo where the whole screen was wobbling by changing the scroll offset for each pixel line. That would be a good candidate for trying out this idea because it's not changing the content of the VDP RAM at all, which eliminates the need to save/restore the RAM and makes it easy to detect changes to the RAM. Edited November 9, 2018 by Asmusr 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 The properties that distinguish a screensaver from a demo are that it appears automatically after a period of inactivity and it disappears again, restoring everything to its previous state, when it senses activity again. The problem is we don't have any way to reserve some memory for a screensaver on a unexpanded machine. Even with 32K, placing a routine in the lower 8K and running it on the ISR hook doesn't quite do the tick IMHO. Any software except BASIC programs can, and probably will, overwrite it. The F18A, however, has 2K private memory that hardly any software is using. The F18A GPU can run a routine concurrenty with the CPU to detect inactivity. The problem is that it only has access to VDP RAM, so the detection cannot be based on keyboard input but would have to be based on whether the screen is changing. This would not work for BASIC, for instance, where the cursor is blinking, but it would work for the color bar screen, many menus, and lots of other software. Once inactivity is detected, the screensaver would save the VDP RAM and registers that it's going to use, and then run the actual screensaver, which would have to be very simple to fit into the 2K together with the saved VDP RAM. The VDP RAM could also be saved to the F18A flash memory, which would free up more RAM and allow the screensaver to use all the VDP memory. While the screensaver is running it would continue to detect if the CPU is changing the VDP RAM. I imagine this could be done by calculating a VDP RAM checksum after each screensaver frame and check if it matches with a checksum calculated before the next frame. As soon as changes were detected it would stop the actual screensaver and return to background mode. I once made a F18A demo where the whole screen was wobbling by changing the scroll offset for each pixel line. That would be a good candidate for trying out this idea because it's not changing the content of the VDP RAM at all, which eliminates the need to save/restore the RAM and makes it easy to detect changes to the RAM. Cool flying toasters here we come Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 Mmmmmm...... Flying toasters...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digdugnate Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 (edited) i miss After Dark. Remember Guernsey Madness? Edited November 11, 2018 by digdugnate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 That was in a later package. The one I had (After Dark 2.0) had only Starry Night, Flying Toasters, and maybe 1 or 2 more. It was shortly thereafter when we bought the Star Trek TNG screensaver which we had through 7 years and 3 computers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 I wonder how long it would take the TI to crunch one SETI at Home packet in screen saver mode... not that a program could ever exist for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckoBrand Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Hi. I am new to this topic and i don't really know what's going on, but a screensaver for the TI sounds incredibly cool. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Vorticon Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Does anyone have a copy of the Ekmelsoft screensaver program? He had fishbowl and a bunch of other things as well, IIRC. I have it. He sold them for $5 at one of the Chicago Faires maybe 7 or 8 years ago... I would upload a copy but since it was a commercial product I would prefer not to unless we have permission from the author. I don't know if he lurks around here or not.... His name is Greg Ekmel. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 True. He is a member here, EKMELSOFT. Haven't seen him in a while though. I'll drop him a line 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swim Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 I use "Fishtank 5" all the time. Fish tank "5" added "Shark Tank" to "Fish Tank 4." Greg has had serious medical issues over the past few years and is now in recovery. Greg is an outstanding programmer and has other software in addition to his "Fish Tank" series. Hopefully he will once again take up programming when he is able. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Actually, if I recall correctly, his name is Greg Lemke.... Ekmel being his name backwards. I had some communications with him over the years, but not in a while. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 What year was he at the Faire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 2007 for sure. Maybe other years as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 From the 2007 Faire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Vorticon Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 From the 2007 Faire Yup that's Greg alright with Jeff White and Greg's non TI'er acolyte! And yes, his last name is indeed Lemke and not Ekmel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Anyone know if it was ever included on one of the Faire disks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 I've been talking with Gregg. He is mailing me copies of his screensaver programs and also a copy of his text adventure game "The Search for Bigfoot." He has given permission to freely distribute these disks with the stipulation that the code not be altered. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted November 15, 2018 Author Share Posted November 15, 2018 I've been talking with Gregg. He is mailing me copies of his screensaver programs and also a copy of his text adventure game "The Search for Bigfoot." He has given permission to freely distribute these disks with the stipulation that the code not be altered. COOL!!! So... where iz dey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 Real mail. Not eMail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted November 15, 2018 Author Share Posted November 15, 2018 Real mail. Not eMail. Real diskettes? (shudder) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 Shudder? Why's that? That's a big part of my hobby joy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.