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retroclouds

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Posts posted by retroclouds

  2. Posted · Edited by kroy2049

    Welcome to the TI-99/4A programming group!

     

    To celebrate our spot right here at atariage, I'm starting a little competition.

     

    Rules are simple:

    * Create a new original homebrew game for the TI-99/4A, preferably an arcade style game.

    * Programming language doesn't matter (Basic, Extended Basic, Assembler, ...)

    * The game must run on a real TI-99/4A with 32K memory expansion

    * Report your progress and programming questions right here at atariage

    * Deadline: January 31st 2010.

     

    Winner will be announced on February 15th 2010.

     

    First prize: MECHATRONIC EXTENDED BASIC II PLUS CARTRIDGE... that's the one with apesoft built-in :D

     

    post-16219-125857218489_thumb.jpg

     

     

    retroclouds

  4. Posted

    Over at the TI yahoo list group, we've been talking about requesting a TI-99/4A programming subgroup at atariage.

     

    With the increasing interest in TI-99/4A homebrew games, we think this is the right time to take it to the next level :D

     

    So, if you have an interest in TI-99/4A game programming (Assembler, Basic/Ext. Basic, C, Forth, ...),

    let us know and perhaps we can get our own spot right here at atariage ;)

     

    retroclouds

    • Like 2

  7. Posted

    Hi folks,

     

    somehow this thread is peeing me off. Until now I have heard nothing but complaining.

     

    Look, this is free software -as in free- that a single person wrote during the last 5 years.

    There is no money involved, you don't have to pay anything to use it.

    As a matter of fact you don't even have to use it all.

     

    It is obvious that designing a tool that can be used for multiple systems is not as easy and its

    usage is perhaps not as intuitive as when dealing with a single machine

    (same goes for emulators like MAME and MESS).

     

    Now, if the author is willing to support our machine (meaning investing a lot of additional

    hours for implementation), you don't start to complain right away about what you don't like.

    Especially not based on a 5 minutes experience. The thing is your voice is heard and is

    influencing others.

     

    There is a saying: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

     

    For sure TommyGuns reactions were really harsh and out of line. And most likely due to the emotions

    involved not longer based on facts. I guess we all defend our own babies.

     

    Nonetheless I still hoped something could have been worked out once things cooled off a bit.

     

    I for one would like to have seen a single reply as "well I actually will take the time to properly

    test TommyGun. And you know what: the GUI might not be that shitty after all. Perhaps this IDE can

    even do something for me".

     

    But hey, no worries. This was the first and last time I proposed anything around here.

     

     

    retroclouds

  8. Posted · Edited by kroy2049

    I propose we all step back for a second and take a deep breath.

    There is too much emotion in the discussion right now.

    The thread has taken a spin where reactions are built on emotions instead of facts.

     

    I made the post here in the first place, because I think that Tommygun

    can be a valuable addition when developing games for the colecovision.

    It already has proven to be so for several important retro systems like

    Spectrum, Commodore, etc. (one benefit I see is that with a common IDE it gets easier

    to develop games for multiple target systems).

     

    Unfortunatly the discussion so far was only based on a first impression of trying the sprite editor.

    That is not all what the IDE is about. I also understand that Pixelboy is currently very busy and that

    is perhaps not the best time for testing new software....

     

    Personally, I see both TommyGun and Pixelboy as very talented people, each in their own right.

    So I hope that after everyone has cooled down a bit, Pixelboy gives the IDE a second look.

     

    I know that there is interest for TMS9918 support in the TI-99 scene and MSX scene, would be a shame if

    the colecovision scene missed the opportunity.

     

    Those are my 2 cents on the topic anyway.

     

     

    retroclouds

  9. Posted · Edited by kroy2049

    Interesting... :)

     

    I'd be curious to see if this IDE could be configured to use the SDCC compiler... I'd do some tests myself but I'm too busy right now with other stuff. Daniel Bienvenu (newcoleco) should be advised of this, at the very least. He once worked on such an IDE but never got very far into it, AFAIK.

     

    Thanks for bringing this to our attention! :)

     

    EDIT: I just downloaded it and tried the sprite editor in MSX mode, and I just have to say this: Rarely have I seen such a counter-intuitive interface. I'll stick with ICVGM, thank you very much.

     

    You have the possibility to specify the C compiler parameter options, so I don't see a reason why the SDCC compiler wouldn't work.

     

    As far as the sprite editor is concerned. Too bad you don't like the user-interface.

    It is a powerful software and might take some time to get used too.

    As a developer I still see the overall benefit compared to a loose collection of tools.

    So I'm hoping the other colecovision homebrewers will make their own picture :-)

     

    Some additional info: Best way to explore TommyGun features is to play with some of the included sample projects.

    Or look at the tutorial on the home page.

     

    retroclouds

  10. Posted

    Hi,

     

    I'd like to draw the attention of all Colecovision homebrew developers to TommyGun.

     

    TommyGun is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), A PC

    software that supports you in writing games for home computer

    systems. It has a plugin system and currently supports

    the commodore 64, ZX spectrum, Amstrad and partly MSX1.

     

    Check out: http://www.users.on.net/~tonyt73/TommyGun/

     

    Actually the author already began adding support for MSX1 but it

    stalled due to lack of interest. The implemented MSX part is very

    important to us, because it actually means support for

    the TMS9918 VDP processor.

     

    Note that IDE is not only of interest for programmers. Besides the

    code editor it also has a built-in image editor for creating artwork

    (sprite/pattern creation, a map design tool, music composing tool,

    etc.

     

    This is what the author answered upon my mail request:

    <snip>

    I an reconsidering finishing off the MSX1 support.

    But before I do invest a lot of my time and effort I would like to see

    more than 3 or 4 people asking for it.

    ....

    If you could get 6 or more people to request the MSX1 features to be

    completed then I will put the time in to finish it.

    If you get more than 10 or so I try really hard to finish it for you guys.

    </snip>

     

    Myself am currently mainly developing for the TI-99/4A, but have some stuff planned

    for the colecovision in the near future. Like most I have been using a loose collection

    of editors, assembler and image manipulation tools. That is why I think that

    the TommyGun IDE can be a great help....

     

    If you are interested please write the author a mail and ask for Colecovision support.

    We -the TI-99/4A, Colecovision & MSX developers- can then all benefit from it.

     

    The address is TommyGun.IDE at gmail.com

     

     

    Thanks!

     

    retroclouds

  14. Posted

    Hi,

     

    today I received my DINA 2-IN-1 game system :)

     

    The unit comes without instruction manual and without external AC power adapter.

    Does anyone have a scanned version of the instruction manual?

     

    What power adapter is required (voltage?)

     

    FYI I'm located in Europe (and have a modern TV that plays NTSC)

     

     

    Thanks

     

    retroclouds

  15. Posted

    Here's a question I did not yet find an answer too:

     

    What company designed and later on manufactured/assembled the colecovision ?

     

    I checked wikipedia, but did not find anything related to that.

     

    Can't imagine that Coleco did the whole thing by their own. Did they have any manufacturing plants?

     

    Do vaguely remember reading somewhere that Texas Instruments could have been involved in the design process.

    Is that true? I know that the colecovision does carry a Texas Instruments VDP and sound processor and

    perhaps Texas Instruments was realy involved in the actual design/manufacturing. we know that TI had the plants

    but I for one don't know if they also were into contract jobs.

     

    retroclouds

  17. Posted

    Interesting project.

     

    Probably a bit late now, but I noticed that you encoded all levels by hand. The 2600 original calculates them by using a really simple bidirectional LFSR. Have a look disassembly, its in the web.

     

    Thanks for pointing that out, I wasn't aware. Find it really astonishing to generate a 255 screen map with 1 byte.

    I Didn't look at the 2600 disassembly. I have seen the CV disassembly, but my TI version is pretty much written from scratch (except for tiles&snd).

    Ofcourse it is not hard to recognize that it is inspired by the CV version :)

     

    retroclouds

  18. Posted

    Hi !

    I'm ciro from Italy, please i'm interested too !!

    i've sended a lot of email about :-) thanks.

     

    Ciro B.

     

    Hi Ciro!

     

    Yes, I saw your youtube comment, thanks ;)

     

    You are on now on the waiting list for the 2nd batch of cartridges.

    If you want to check out the disk version (also suited for PC emulator), it is available at the TI Games Shelf ( http://tigameshelf.net/asm.htm )

     

    Retroclouds

  20. Posted

    I find the progress on BIOS XP very interesting.

     

    About 1,5 years ago I invested some time in looking at colecovision game roms.

    To be more specific I scanned the roms for OS7 calls.

    To my surprise I found out that most games were only using a few OS7 calls.

     

    I don't recall that the more advanced calls were even used at all (PUT_SEMI, deferred writes, etc.)

    Guess that most software companies (Konami, Activision) had their own libraries and did not

    want to rely on OS routines. Also rumour has it that OS7 calls are slow...

     

    Now my question is, will BIOS_XP also contain new updated game routines that can be used by homebrewers?

    Would be cool if BIOS XP would contain new stuff like advanced sprite driver, ...

     

    retroclouds

  22. Posted

    I currently have 28 pre-orders for Pitfall :)

     

    Due to the availability of the required components -and also for financial reasons-

    I can't accept any new orders at this time.

    This means that starting today new orders will be put on a waiting list.

    Depending on the feedback I'm considering doing a second batch once the first 28 cartridges are sold.

     

    I have noted following atariage friends on the pre-order list:

     

    Bill_Loguidice

    blackpanther

    adamantyr

    the.golden.ax

    nekonoko

    tjb

    dalder

     

    I will contact you as soon as we have a confirmed target date.

     

     

    Thanks!

     

    retroclouds

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

    Hi Eduardo,

     

    I've been reading about your progress on the OM with much interest. I think the OM will be a huge success,

    especially with such reasonable price.

     

    My question is regarding the BIOS XP: Will you consider opening the specifications for other homebrewers or will it

    be closed source? will for example other homebrewers be able to access the advanced features like compact flash, etc.

     

    Either way I think the OM will be a great product :-)

     

     

    retroclouds

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