[WTC 7]

Plus, weird stuff happens in disasters like that, natural or man-made, where one building is destroyed yet the one right next to it is left intact. You see it on the news all the time.

Good point. It's strange that only WTC buildings went down.

How else is a tall building supposed to collapse? Gravity is pulling it downward. If it fails at the bottom, all the weight above it will push straight down.

True, gravity pulls it downwards, but it shouldn't fall downwards all at once. The weaker points should fall first, meeting resistance from the less damaged points as it goes down.

 

Here's the 3rd hit from Google Images for earthquake: Earthquake Image

 

The big problem with the conspiracy theories floating around out there, is that to pull off a controlled demolition takes weeks of preparation. Weakening supports, wiring with explosives, lots of planning with demolition experts and structural engineers. Where's the proof any of that was going on prior to the 9/11 attacks? There's no way in six hours that a building of that size could be rigged to implode (especially in the midst of a national emergency), and more to the point - no reason to do so.

Be careful with that phrase conspircy theory. The official story about 19 Arabs doing all the damage is a conspiracy theory too. And no, I don't think a demolition could have been arranged in 6 hours either. And proof? I don't have proof of what happened. What I'm asking for is a real investigation. Did you know that we spent more money investigating Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs than the biggest terror attack in our history? I'm reading the official 9/11 Commission report, and I haven't yet found any mention that building 7 fell, let alone an explanation.

[WTC 7]

A little-known fact about the WTC towers is that they were not particularly well-built. As designed, they couldn't even withstand a brisk windstorm.

Fact? I'd love to see a source. What I've read is that the WTC was built designed to withstand all kinds of stress including multiple plane crashes. I'm looking back at my sources so I can get you more info. I'm just trying to figure out what happened.

[WTC 7]

The amount of gravitational energy released by the collapse of WTC 1 and WTC2 was comparable to the energy release of a small nuclear bomb. To be sure, the buildings collpased over a period of seconds while a bomb releases its energy over a period of miliseconds, but the collapse of WTC1 and WTC2 would nonetheless have subjected nearby buildings to stresses well beyond their normal design parameters.

I've thought about that possibility. The trouble is that other buildings around WTC1 and WTC2 that did not collapse, some of which were closer than WTC7. And even if it was seismic stress that caused WTC7 to fail, that doesn't explain why the collapse was so symmetrical, so neat if you will. Have you seen the videos? Compare the WTC7 to recognized demolitions and recognized collapses from earthquakes, and get back to me about which one is more similar.

[Four-Play To-Do List]

I've attached the title screen graphics to the top of the original post. Thanks, Nathan.

 

You're welcome! Thanks for the 52 pixels.

Glad you like the 52 pixels. Keep in mind that a 52 pixel image consumes a lot of ROM, so programmers may not always want to use it, especialy in a 4K game. The current version of the title graphics is about 3.33K.

 

Almost Live not available on DVD: Lame!

 

EDIT: There are a bunch of Almost Live clips at youtube.com.

[Four-Play To-Do List]

I mentioned it in my bloggy recap of NWCGE.

I've been keeping up with your blog, but I missed your mention of it. Looking back, I see it's called "David's Football game".

[Four-Play To-Do List]

"Almost Live"

Dang, I miss that show. It went national for a while. I still have an episode of "The Inneffectual Middle Management Suck-Ups on videotape.

[Upcoming 4A50 game: RUBY RUNNER!]

But yes, of course it's cheating

Of course it's been brought up before that bankswitching is arguably cheating too. Good cheating, not bad cheating.

 

I look forward to watching the development of this game, John.

[Four-Play To-Do List]

Well...LedHead saw a *very* limited release at NWCGE a few weeks ago. I think that makes it first out the door this year.

This is the first I've heard of it. After a quick search of the forums, I found out what LedHead was, but didn't see any sign that it was ported to the VCS. Anything else you can tell us about it, Bob?

[I'm losing my job.]

Good luck with the job hunting, Robert. I infer then that you think job hunting will be more time consuming than your work was? If so, it's not a big deal if you miss the minigame competition.

[Why can't a Black man win?]

That show is pretty good because the average person can learn things they may not pick up other places. You get tips from Trump about business and you get to watch educated professionals handle various tasks. You never know what you might learn from week to week. It's 'reality' TV that can be helpful and instructive instead of destructive like so many other 'reality' shows about dating or eating dog shit for prizes.

I saw Trump on PBS the other evening, during a Robert Kiyosaki lecture. My opinion of Trump has declined a little knowing he has endorsed Kiyosaki. If you're wondering why that would dissapoint me, take a look at Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and ask yourself why the author refuses to identify the character he calls "rich dad".

[Four-Play To-Do List]

I've attached the title screen graphics to the top of the original post. Thanks, Nathan.

[Best optical illusion ever]

Edit: Okay, now the dragon works really well. Keeping it out of strong light helps, but the real key is to look away from it for awhile, then back again. My problem was that after having assembled it, I kept looking at it waiting for it to work, and my brain wouldn't "let go" of reality.

Nice! I wish my printer weren't broken. The instructions suggest looking with one eye as well, and that would explain why the video looks so good. Did you try that?

 

p.s. I've seen the sidewalk art photos before, and I agree they are cool.

[4 International Kings]

I can see the whole picture on my TV. I'd choose a lighter shade of green though, it's barely visible. (Or maybe I need to adjust my brightness )

[Four-Play To-Do List]

You should have a revision tonight or tomorrow.

Cool. No need to rush, of course.

[Four-Play To-Do List]

Hmmm. 

 

I'm willing to contribute some stuff; for sure you can take a look at my music driver; use it if you want.  Depending on your time frame, I could try writing a tune if you want.

You've been PM'ed.

[Sync'ing while thinking.]

I am making 259 scanlines (but 3 more WSYNCs will fix this.)

After getting a stable 272, adjusting to 262 was easy. What I did is similar but a little different from your code. I also ended up with 259 and padded it with 3 WSYNCs.

 

Check4InARow
      lda INTIM; poll timer
      bmi CheckVertical
      jsr Sync

Sync
     lda INTIM
     cmp #126
     bne Sync
    ; frame ends up at 259 lines here
     sta WSYNC
     sta WSYNC
     sta WSYNC
     lda #2
     sta VSYNC
     sta WSYNC
     sta WSYNC
     sta WSYNC
     lda #0
     sta VSYNC
     lda #146
     sta T1024T
     rts 

[Sync'ing while thinking.]

If you want stable sync, you really need to check when you're close to VSYNC time, and then wait for it to arrive precisely.

I think I understand now. This is what Fred just described, isn't it?

Cool. I just got a stable 272 lines per frame. Now that I understand what to do, it's simple.

[Sync'ing while thinking.]

If you want stable sync, you really need to check when you're close to VSYNC time, and then wait for it to arrive precisely.

I think I understand now. This is what Fred just described, isn't it?

[Four-Play To-Do List]

Re: Syncing while thinking... I decided to implement some of your original ideas in Maze Craze 2.

 

I was originally going to just blank the screen, but I realized that the generation algorithm ran in a fairly tight loop, so I did T1024T=147, and check INTIM periodically and break out when INTIM=128.  Once in VSYNC, I set VBLANK, render a playfield then wait for INTIM=127, then send VSYNC, clear VBLANK and continue calculating.  That last 1024 cycles provides more than enough of a margin so I never miss.

 

Is the problem here that you can't check INTIM at least every few hundred cycles or so?

Answered in the Sync'ing while thinking thread. BTW, Maze Craze 2 is looking good.

[Sync'ing while thinking.]

Re: Syncing while thinking... I decided to implement some of your original ideas in Maze Craze 2.

 

I was originally going to just blank the screen, but I realized that the generation algorithm ran in a fairly tight loop, so I did T1024T=147, and check INTIM periodically and break out when INTIM=128.  Once in VSYNC, I set VBLANK, render a playfield then wait for INTIM=127, then send VSYNC, clear VBLANK and continue calculating.  That last 1024 cycles provides more than enough of a margin so I never miss.

 

Is the problem here that you can't check INTIM at least every few hundred cycles or so?

The problem is that the frame size is not constant. I think what's happening is that it is difficult to read INTIM on a regular basis. The minimax search is sometimes busy checking for four in a row, sometimes adding marbles, and sometimes removing them. It is difficult to predict what the program is doing at a given point.

[TGIF....]

That's a nice view where you live. Do you have to move for your new job?

[Best optical illusion ever]

Try forcing yourself to actually see the truth.

It takes almost a minute until I manage to adjust to it and even then it's immediately slipping away once I loose concentration

Thanks for the suggestion. Originally I had to compare colors in a graphics program to convince myself, but now I can see it with my own eyes. It was tough at first, but it's getting easier. You can stop regarding A as a square and think of a parallelogram. Then sharply focus on A and ignore the overall picutre. Then shapes with the same color as A will stand out.

 

Have a look at these rotating snakes.

Thanks Chris, there a lot of cool illusions out there, more advanced than the ones from our childhood. "Best ever" was a bit of hyperbole. Another favorite I found just today is this dragon. It reminds me of a detail from Eternal Darkness.

[Bestseller!]

How about we give a hint on, say, April 16?

At first I wondered why the day after taxes are due, but I get it now. I think it'll be most fun if someone finds it on their own. I advocate waiting until the cart has been out for a year before givcing any hints.

[Sync'ing while thinking.]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did take a look at Activision checkers, and it does maintain sync during the thinking state, but the frame size is not constant. The frames range from 260 to 263 lines. I figure if Activision couldn't stabilize the frame size, that's good enough for Four-Play too.

 

I changed the code to read INTIM+1, (thanks, Eric) and now the frame size ranges from about 258 to 266*. Unfortunately there is a side-effect that does not show in z26. On the TV, there is a horizontal black line in the middle of the screen that bobs up and down. If I didn't know better, I'd say that VSYNC is happening in the middle of the screen. Is this an inevitable effect of the frame size changing? Does anyone have any idea what's going on, and how to eliminate the line?

 

Latest source and binary are attached to the top of this thread. Here is the part of the code that handles sync:

 

Check4InARow
      lda INTIM+1; poll timer
      beq CheckVertical
      jsr Sync

; the polling is repeated in other places as well

CheckVertical
     lda gamestate
.
.
.

Sync
     lda #2
     sta VSYNC
     sta WSYNC
     sta WSYNC
     sta WSYNC
     lda #0
     sta VSYNC
     lda #19
     sta T1024T
     rts 

* Except in the transition between thinking and game states, but that shouldn't be hard to fix.

[Finished Ico (PS2)]

I just played a little more Ico, starting from the beginning. It turns out that Yorda can eliminate enemies instantly while she opens one of the magic gates. So if there is a gate nearby, get her to it ASAP, and don't bother fighting. Wish I'd known that earlier.