Keatah

The neighbor's kids are too stupid to play classic games. All they know is concerts and chasing celebrities via social media.

Models with S/N typically less than 6000 support only 4 colors, black, white, green, violet. And there is no color-killer circuit so all text is fringed. This is a revision 0 board. Revision 1 boards gave you two more colors, blue and orange. A total of 8 hi-res colors in all if you counted "black 2" and "white 2". Black 2 and White 2 allowed for more artifacting and such, but at the cost of resolution.

These simply say we don't need another platform. Myself and millions of others are quite happy to watch the industry inch forward in an evolutionary style rather than come up with something revolutionary and have to start at day one again. Rather than new platforms I'd like to see a reduction in API quantity, bloat, and duplicity. Rather than developing new hardware to handle the bloat I'd rather see intelligent and efficient programming. And definitely less focus on getting into your wallet with subscriptions and excessive performance-sapping DRM.

It is important to remember Linux is too technical for the everyday user - unless a purpose built UI is used. Or if it's embedded into a device that serves a single purpose like a thermostat or a stand-alone GPS or even a phone.

That refractor telescope looks pretty cool.

As long as the stuff doesn't overrun the allocated space. A closet's worth of stuff is all I think I need compared to the previous 3 garages full I had a few years back. But don't go renting a warehouse or a even a small storage space. You'll end up paying $50-$100 to start and it only goes up from there as you accumulate. The best thing is to find a balance of manageable material vs available space and call it a day.

If it doesn’t introduce differences between the way the original system and emulated system look, then great. But it looks like it needs tweaking on a per-game basis. So meh..

Ain't worth it bro. The regular II (not+) is like an incomplete and unfinished II+. The II+ is when the II series starting coming into its own and really took off with the //e. The backward compatibility and enhancements offered by the II+ and //e trump the standard II left and right. The people that go after I's and II's are big on chip numbers and provenance and crap like that. By locking themselves into old hardware that can't really be repaired (unless you match date codes) you're eliminating all the fun and enjoyment that is the II series. And if they have multiple machines aside from the pride-n-joy to play with, well, the expensive stuff is now collecting dust or is just packed away. Whooptydooo!

I may be generous and offer 5 or 10 bucks MORE than the official catalog/list price. A storage or finder's fee if you will. If I really want the item. I think most Apple II+ and //e consoles are selling in the $150-$300 range. Slightly more if they are well equipped. This is depreciation because the consoles sold for $900-$2000 depending on era and options. I'm not going to play flunky for some eBay seller complaining they have a right to turn a profit. Go ahead. I ain't stopp'n ya! Too many eBayer's a full of self-entitlement. And yes pretty much "anything computers" isn't an appreciating asset anyway no matter which way you look at it. For me the value of an old rig lies in it being sentimental. Making the journey with me and having been there when I was a kid and all that hogwash. Like I would be uber-upset if my 486 soundcard blew up. I want the exact one I have now, the same one I had then. Not a replacement and definitely not a different make/model.

I've been watching the amount of stuff for sale (Apple II) on ebay. And it's steadily risen from like 2000 items in 2015'ish to about 3200 present-day. The highest prices appear to be from antique shops. They see APPLE, they see $$$. I am also pleased to see that the amount of die-hard collectors for Apple II has decreased. Many of them have transitioned into focus on preservation and simply enjoying the platform rather then hoarding everything. At one time that superdrive interface card would command $600.00, and now I think there is one sitting there for 350 for a long time. Some of that has to do with modern hardware replacements outperforming the vintage stuff. Things like disk emulators and such. CFFA still commands $250-300 outside of a production run. But not the 500+ they used to. As far as software, well, between TheInternetArchive and FTP ASIMOV there is Z-E-R-O need to pay anything near ebay prices. Besides, you want to work with disk images or freshly-written blank disks. Not ratbag stuff from 40 years ago. There's a few cranks there that'll sell original bagged floppies for 500% and more mark-ups. Because. Old. You know. So steer clear and happy computing!

What are the issues causing you to not do it?

If you bother reading the thread you will see several examples of games with PolePosition-like graphics. And you will see that it could be/was done.

Collecting to collect or for collecting's sake is beginning to slow down in the vintage gaming/computing sphere. I still have an extensive Apple II series collection of all kinds of stuffage, but in recent times I'm leaning more and more toward thinning it out. Reducing it back to what I had as a kid and little more. Going from one wall-to-wall packed-full bedroom to a desktop or two and a rubbermaid tub or two is my goal.

The hard truth is it is worth exactly and precisely what someone (or yourself) is willing to pay. It is prospective buyers that will set the tone and value. Sorry if that's not what you want to hear.

I would image that rendering a static chessboard is comparatively easy because it's free of time constraints unlike an action game. Also there's tons of memory available today and ways of accessing it compared to the 4k program of yesteryear. Have it generate an 8 digit code to allow setup on another VCS. Or as a save-state. Call it HyperChess, or SuperChess, or ViperChess..!

As a kid I was always impressed by VideoChess. All those complex rules and stuff! It was like artificial intelligence. I wonder why a new and improved version hasn't been done yet?

I'm doing exactly that with all my stuff. I said I'd give myself about a year or so before I start dumping the stuff. And a year has come and gone and I still feel exactly like that. And my keeper material is going to be exactly what I had as a kid, stuffage from 1976 through about 1990. It was after 1990 that I loaded up on ebay stuff, of which has very little sentimental value. Sure there are a few bits and pieces I've added that I'm going to keep. But over 90% of that crap is going. I'm enjoying occasionally reading about the old "stuff" AND new projects, especially software projects like the new ProDOS and emulator updates and preservation efforts. Among other philosophical stuff. I'm not interested in the "trenches" like getting hi-scores or going after exact factory serial numbers. Or even having to finish a game or a series of games. Those are pointless rabbit holes. Well you don't have to come here everyday. I too don't place much importance on AA like I used to. I leave a window or three open and read and reply when I'm doing boring things like taking a shit, or waiting in a long line or something. A lot of the better and finer members (of the Apple II community) have already left or are in lurking mode so to speak. And then there are the weirdo shits which keep lingering. So that doesn't add incentive.

Backups..backups...backups.. And keep your user & self-generated data cleanly separated from OS files and applications. Avoid highly custom niche solutions or things that push performance to the last 2%. They're always a pain to upgrade and fix and migrates to/from.

Smart move bud!!

Software Emulation and FPGA rigs really are THE BEST ways to reduce clutter and increase reliability.