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F-Cycles

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Posts posted by F-Cycles

  1. Posted

    There is a low-cost plastic injection system I found... for 1500$ US

    http://techkits.com/

     

    However, the molds is a bit too small for a cartridge and as I look more carefully about the plastic injection process, I found out that the surface of plastic is proportional to the pressure you need to apply and that per square inch.. it could be up to 5 tons!

     

    I wonder how we could reduce the pressure? As the ABS plastic need to be at 400F (200C), I wonder if the aluminium mold would be around 210F (100C) instead of room temperature during the injection.. if that could help the plastic to flow correctly using a lowest pressure. I am thinking about having a contact water system where hot or cold water could be use to keep the mold warm during injection and cold water once the injection is completed.

     

    Without having access to a factory or lab for experiments... I think so far the best for producing injection plastic with your custom mold + small productions could be a website like this one:

    http://www.protolabs.com/production

  2. Posted

    Hi everyone,

     

    I was not sure if I should post that news... as the project get cancel. But, you might wonder why and what's next???

    Or, it might be a thread which we can discuss about copyright? Do you get agreement of the author first?

     

    here is my article...(below)

    You might be interested to get a look for other type of projects, as I describe other idea of projects from AI, Sound Synthesizer to hardware projects as well...

     

    http://superdoriath.blogspot.com/2014/05/super-doriath-cancelled-why.html

     

     

    Thanks,

  4. Posted

     

    A good solution for this problem is to place two colliding sprites (eventually transparent) on the line where the SATs have to swap and poll the status register on the collision bit.

    This guaranties you to swapp at the exact line.

    The back off is that if sprites collide in the upper side of the screen you get a false line interrupt...

    Another solution is to place 5 transparent sprites at the line you like and poll for the 5h sprite flag

    Also this solution guaranties you to swap at the exact line, but wastes 5 SAT positions

    On the other side, this time if in the upper part of the screen there is a genuine 5h sprite condition you can "filter" it testing the number of sprite plane. As you know witch planes are used as placeholder you can distinguish between genuine 5h sprite situations and line where you need to swap the SAT's
    My two cents

     

     

     

    This idea of querying the 5th sprite flag is very interesting. I guess we can even determine the exact scanline by doing a binary search on screen (as long we make sure we are in the visible area).

     

     

    The first idea I was having...

     

    One article I read about security was mentioning that time spent in a function to decrypt could be use to analyze which path of the code was used. According to the article, that was a security failure in an early version of Internet Explorer. And that today, writing code to decrypt or encrypt something also involve to make sure that any path of the code give the exact same CPU cycles.

     

    That could also be a way to solve it... if the main loop of a game is coded in order to always produce the same number of clock cycle for each function (like: play_music, update_screen, update_ai, ...). Then, you can divide the screen based on each function.

     

    The additional delay in the CPU introduced by other components could not be control, but if the resulting jitter is inside the tolerance, we can still cope with that.

     

    One other feature that can be done when you have precise control over what happen on screen. The music will sound better as the update will be periodic. We can also start to call update_music a few time per interrupt and start modifying the audio structure instead of being modifying the rhythm structure. (interesting video about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEjcK5JFEFE)!

     

     

    For me, all ideas are interesting and depending of what we need to do, one method will be more suitable than another one else. :)

    I will try to keep in mind this 5-th bit... and collision bit.

  6. Posted

    Hi F-Cycles

    Greetings for your findings! How do you get 48 sprites ?

     

    PS

    I think you could interested in the fact that the TMS 9918 supports in graphic mode two screen pages that can be used for double buffering

    The restriction is that you can use only the lower two 3dr's of the screen and the 512 tiles share the same color table.

     

    Each page needs 2K+2K for patters +2K for colors = 6K, so both pages need 12K

     

    The Coleco has no interrupt setup elsewhere than at the bottom of the display area. For this test, I setup a delay to reach the area where the sprites 17 to 32 are display and change the sprite attribute address. (see my reply below to hardhat for more info. :) ).

     

    About the two screen pages in graphic mode 2. Hum, I did a test with graphic mode 2. At first I got hard time to setup the screen. I am not sure anymore if I have test more than one screen page, but I count on it for what I want to do... Now that you are telling me that, I should double check my stuff when I have time.

     

     

    Ages ago (maybe 1987) I did the rainbow edge demo, where you change the background colour every few scanlines. And I found when I ran it on the Coleco Adam, the AdamNET devices which do NMIs can affect the timing. Also the roller controller/super action controller/turbo steering wheel spinner interrupt of course takes CPU cycles to service. If you are on a ColecoVision without those things, most likely it would be consistent from frame to frame.

     

    Unless there is something I missed, I think that is the only way to get 48 sprites.

     

    Yes... hardhat that's how I do it in my test. Ahh.. interesting to know that some controller trigger additional interrupt which cause unpredictable delay to be introduce. I thought that I could measure the time I spend in my code... can does interrupt caused by other type of controller be handle in software (like can we have it call our code or it's fix to some address in the ROM of the machine?).

     

    For the 48 sprites, there is a big gap of 64 scanlines so it might be manageable to have it while having those interrupt. If you use 8x8 sprites, you can go for a 96 sprites, but then you need to change things every 32 scan line.

  7. Posted

     

    You mean more than Pixelboy paid me??? :-o :-o :-o :-o :)

     

    Unfortunaly i developped that game 30 years too late... :_(

     

     

    Well, sad to say that the one who will get all the money might not be the one making the game, but the one selling it. One of my friend told me how much money he receive from a game he made with one of his friend in the '80... 0$! The company selling his game was arguing that they have sold none. But, he saw his own game in his local game store! They did try to get a lawsuit against the company, but turn out that their contract was not filled correctly, lack of proof about the sales and expenses required to market their game and so on.

  9. Posted

    Hi, i am from the TI-99/4a community, our computer also uses the TMS9918(a) as VDP. Your tests look very promising. I wasn't quite able to follow/see, how you achieve more than 16 colors.

    Are you using some some special video hardware, or is the Atarimax Ultimate SD cartridge solely used as ROM storage here to execute your prog?

     

    If you do it in software: Are you flipping two color tables in VRam for every frame update? Or are you changing the color table somehow while the frame is drawn?

    The download package only contains png and text files in the _Colors Folder, so I wasn't able to verify or understand the test.

     

    I need to study the 48 sprite example.

     

    Hi kl99,

     

    Currently, the extended colors are simulation with 2 combined colors out of the 15 available. I have not program anything yet on the Coleco for that test but the best render would probably consist of drawing a pattern of color 1 & color 2 where each adjacent pixel is the other color. Have these two color swap at each frame and check it on a CRT.

     

    This trick can work with the vertical interrupt, unlike the other stuff I code which need to be in sync with each scan line. I tested the other first in order to verify when the video chip is reading the VRAM and that there are no shadow registers. :) The hardware I have show that no... the registers are not shadowed and that a bit change on them will have immediate effect on the circuit.

  10. Posted

    A nice feature of the ADAM is that you could remove the 2 or 3 SmartWRITER rom chips from their sockets (labeled U##) on the ADAM Logic Board and replace them with ANY program that was 32K in size or smaller. SmartBASIC was a very popular choice to burn to a rom chip and install inplace of SmartWRITER back in the day and really made a lot more sense for people like me that were programmers... turn on the system and SmartBASIC loads up instantaneously.

     

    SmartBASIC was also a popular choice to have placed on cartridge for people that didn't want to disassemle their Memory Console to replace the rom chips on the Logic Board.

     

    Wow.. I did not know that. Did someone also made a ROM with some feature to rip/debug stuff on Adam?

    like this cartridge?

    http://ar.c64.org/wiki/Super_Snapshot

     

  11. Posted

     

    I think Luc wants to develop a cross-compiler BASIC Ianguage IDE based on PC, and you're thinking in a BASIC running over Colecovision like ADAM but that would need a keyboard.

     

    Yup... well, I was just thinking like that.. but having a Basic language IDE based on PC is more useful nowdays than if it was a new ROM... But, seeing all different sort of projects and remake.. anyway.. a bit out of topic! ;)

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    Uhh... What? I don't follow... :?

     

    Well, for me when I think about old computer, the one I was use was the C128. Back then, inside the ROM you got Basic (and even a sprite editor). I think the Adam was more like the Apple II, which the rom was containing the basic stuff to operate the computer and you got to load a software for doing Basic or any other computer language.

     

    I admit that nowdays, it's a different story... most developer are using PC to program their stuff on other machine. But, back then, I think it would have been super cool to get a ROM upgrade (as long it's not buggy and that it's popular enough to become the standard that most people use).

  13. Posted

    Oh sure. The main reason there's only one game on my release schedule this year (namely Jewel Panic) is not so much that I am unemployed, but mostly because I wanted to clear the table for getting started on BasicVision. But then I got some info that revived my interest in the trading card project, so BasicVision falls to the wayside again. :P The good thing here is that I can make fast progress with the trading cards since I suddently have a lot of free time on my hands.

     

    I don't know about trading card stuff. I guess it's similar to hockey cards collector?

     

    Did you manage to spend the required time you were looking at for Basic Vision? As you plan to have your own language, that was making me thinking if some people ever wanted to replace ROM of old computer.

  14. Posted

    First of all, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! May 2014 bring you loads of new ColecoVision games to play! :D

     

    2014 begins for me (and by extension for Team Pixelboy) under the shadow of uncertainty. I quit my job a couple of weeks ago just before Christmas (long story short, I could no longer tolerate the general climate within the company that employed me, and after 17 years working there, it was time for me to move on) and it may take several months before I find another job. So without a steady source of income, I have to put a lid on my Team Pixelboy activities, but not completely...

     

     

    Happy New Year 2014, Luc!

     

    I just read this news, I think sometime it worth it to make a big decision in life. I saw that the upcoming activities for Team Pixelboy did shrink a lot compare to before.. I mean, looking to the upcoming release list. But, I am sure your passion for Coleco Vision will remain intact! =)

     

    Your release inspired me to jump back to the first electronic game machine I got... Your website remain a source of inspiration!

     

    Again Happy New Year 2014 and may you have a very good time break before moving on to another job!!!

     

    Best regards,

  15. Posted

    My passion for the ColecoVision started during the holidays.

     

    My brother got the console as a gift, and I had a Commodore VIC-20.

     

    Wow... :) On my side, I remember me and my brother got a ColecoVision for Christmas with 2 games: zaxxon & smurf. The year.. 1987. Dad told us later that he got the machine and 2 games at 88$ at Canadian Tires. He was not sure to buy it... but he told us that he ask the saleman.. How much it was originally sold? 300$... Then he got suspicious about the drop of the price from 300$ to 88$, he though maybe that thing cost 8$ to make!? The reason which decide him to buy that kind of entertainment was to know the company was in bankrupt... okay that's why they sold it that low.

     

    That Christmas, we did not receive any other gifts... and that was the concern of my parents... would we play 5 minutes and get bored?

     

    Then any other gifts we asked for was... ColecoVision Games...

    We end up with around 24 games...

  16. Posted

    Hi everyone,

     

    Christmas Holidays will be starting soon... maybe for some of you, you already are on vacation? Or, maybe for other... this year, there will be no or little vacation.

     

    As I remember my previous Christmas Holidays when I was a kid and teenager... getting my first video game console... Coleco Vision, my first computer... to taking time to start some ambitious software projects in Basic on Apple IIgs (writing a word processor - and being enthusiast to see the automatic word wrapped to the next line appear on screen!)...

     

    I remember asking my brother... How they make game for Coleco Vision?

    And my older brother explaining me that they draw stuff on piece of paper and put the drawing in a machine (that was his believe :). And myself... scratching my head... but how the machine know what you draw will end up being a car or a plane? And why they don't draw with more colors then? hehe...

     

    please.. feel free to add your Christmas Holidays memories... maybe there was already a thread like that in the previous year?

     

    • Like 1

  18. Posted

    Sorry to go slightly off-topic, but have you started coding this game? The elaborate documentation you posted on superdoriath.blogspot.ca is nice, but what everyone wants to see is the finished game running on real hardware, myself included. :)

     

    As you may notice... the documentation posted and activities stopped...

    due to a NMI interupt in my life :P hehe

     

    I must admit, one day of code for exploring the machine so far.

    But, the project is still going on... graphics stuff mainly...

    it does slow down the project, but it worth it. :)

  23. Posted

     

    I don't know if this is possible for the TMS9928A.

    I'll leave it at 16K, unless there's a reason to increase it and if it's super easy to implement. I'm using a 32K RAM chip, by the way.

    Well, if you asked me... I would dig down design to allow more colors, more resolution, more sprites... linking even 2 TMS9928A together. Which could allow software developer to use the transparent color to display the output of the 2nd TMS9928A.

     

    If you take a look on my post in colecovision programming : My first test... on the TMS9918, you will see a "new" video mode (unless someone already done it before) : 64x192.

     

    If there was a bit to swap the 16 kb bank.. I could toggle it at each NMI and use color flickering tricks to enhance title screen for example.

     

    Well, so far I have just started to do something on colecovision. But, even if I won't be the one doing it, if the possibility are there... it give the opportunity for anyone who want to use it.

    • Like 1
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