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potatohead

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  1. potatohead
    Edit: So I bagged on the mouse for now. Released version 1.0, text only to the object exchange. I'll attach a code archive here that auto-detects HYBRID, HYDRA and Demoboard, that includes a nice text demo. The release candidates serve no purpose now, so I pulled them. If you have been using this, please download the 1.0 version as that's stable going forward.
     
    I've attached a new screenie at bottom, in 40 columns, showing off what got done.
     
    PotatoText01.ZIP
     
    This whole VCS on Propeller thing is escalating. More on another thread later, but that's the reason for punting on this right now. Text only is excellent, and useful. Mouse pointer can come later. The hooks and core graphics capability is there now.
     
    I got stuck on this and it took way longer then I thought. Got it done though! 80 characters in color on composite video is a big stretch. Only some color combinations work well, but there is the S-video option. When I get my next capture device in, I'm going to run the S-video and check it out. Hoping it looks really good.
     
    Eric Ball did a very nice starter Propeller video signal template. I have struggled and continue to struggle with getting the signal characteristics I want, but there is more progress than not, so I'm feeling good about that.
     
    This driver has an 80x25 text display memory, uses an Atari font in RAM, and has a word per character for color definition. All in all, a nice memory foot print for this kind of thing, and lots of color choices. Was going to go with just a byte and use a palette, but doing that kind of thing is a lot more expensive than I realized. So, the lesson learned on Propeller is don't go for color indirection. It's too slow for useful resolutions, or takes too many COGs. One or the other will occur. (unless I'm missing something, who knows?)
     
    The cool thing about this driver is that most of the functions are live and can be changed after the driver is launched. Acts just like a graphics chip does and that's just fun. There are a few more things to add to the live functionality, but no worries there. Easy to do.
     
    Display modes are 16, 32, 40, 64 and 80 x 25 text display, with 256 character re-definable font in RAM. Signal characteristics are:
     
    "Scan Doubled" interlaced 200 line vertical display. This really helps with clarity on the color. It was surprising to me how much impact doing this had.
     
    Non-interlaced 200 line display.
     
    Color burst on, or off for getting the most out of a display device. If you don't need color, or maybe just need intensities, this is the way to go.
     
    Two color per screen mode for speed and smaller run time memory foot print.
     
    Interlaced video screens shown. 40, 64 and 80 columns.
     

     
    Here's the code archive. Viewable as text, or with the downloadable IDE.
     
    The last bit of functionality to go into this thing is a mouse pointer object. I did the video using 4 color mode on the Propeller video generator hardware. Text only uses two, leaving two for the mouse to use anywhere on the screen. So, that will end up working just like a sprite does. The font is converted from a 1 bit per pixel to a 2 bit per pixel bit stream on the fly, using a 256 entry table. %01001111 = 01000001010101 Color 00 = background, color 01 = foreground for text. The other two colors will be used by the mouse pointer and will be consistent across the entire screen.
     
    It's really fun to play with video displays like this. Almost like building one's own graphics chips.
     
    One other thing is the Atari font and readability. I tried some others, and they display way more artifacts than the Atari one does. That kind of thick, two pixels almost anywhere style really plays out well on higher resolution TV displays.
     
    I just got done uploading the other screen captures. One is two color mode, blue on white, showing off the Atari font at high character densities. The other is a color screen, with the color burst turned off. The final is a monochrome screen, with no color burst. Very high quality.
     

  3. potatohead
    I wanted to use my Apple as a simple VT100 type terminal for various Propeller related things. I remembered Pro Term way back when, and it was a very solid product, employing then modern GUI type interaction. Interestingly, that interaction is familiar even now, tab, space, arrows doing what a modern Windows computer would do. Funny that. Really, some of the tools I needed to get Pro Term onto a 5.25" disk are handy for a lot of other things, and might not be obvious, so...
     
    Here is what I did:
     
    The Pro Term archive is a Shrink It archive. For that, you want Cider Press, which I have attached here. It can be obtained from Source Forge too.
     
    Cider Press can do lots of great things. Convert disk images, open archives, and most importantly, manipulate the contents of disk images, and create new ones. Pro Term can be started on 5 1/4" disks, which is what I have, but you've got to build your own disk images from the 3.5" disk archive. Neat.
     
    The Pro Term disk archive can be found at the links below. Not attached, because I think it just needs to live where it lives. It's freeware, with the request that it be sourced from specific places.
     
    http://lostclassics....rec_A2-PT31.pdf (The manual describing what needs to be on your 5.25" disks)
     
    , and
     
    http://lostclassics....PT31A2GM2K9.SHK (The software archive you need to work from)
     
    You also will want ADT, found at:
     
    http://adtpro.sourceforge.net/
     
    What I did was download ADT and follow the bootstrapping instructions for my machine. I've got a //e with Super Serial, so it was easy. You can use just about anything the Apple can do to transfer disk images. Damn cool.
     
    The ADT software is just a directory with a batch file to launch, and it contains a "disks" sub-directory. I downloaded the Pro Term archive, some games I wanted to play again, and the PDF documentation into that directory. When you transfer a file to the Apple, ADT looks here first. Nice to just have it all in one place. I will very likely organize some, but for now, I just wanted a game or two and the terminal, so this works.
     
    Once you have ADT working, and you've tested it with it's own boot disk, a game or two, you are ready to do other things.
     
    Run Cider Press, and open the Pro Term archive and use it to create two 5.25" floppy disk images. One is the boot, the other is the program, and I just used one disk, flipping it for each set of files.
     
    To make things simple, just assume the Pro Term archive is in your ADT "disks" folder, and then do the following things:
     
    1. Open the Shrink It archive. It will look like this:
     

     
    The file selected is important in the steps below. Note it.
     
    2. Select the files needed for the boot disk image. Then choose, "Actions", "Convert To Disk Image". It will ask you for a disk name, use "PT3" for both disks, and a file name. I used, "PT3-boot.po" ".po" = Pro Dos Ordered Disk Image. Use the step 3 screen shot to see which files you need to select here.
     
    3. Open up that disk image. It should look like this.
     

     
    You are done with this disk. It should boot in your Apple just fine. Test it, if you want to. I did. Just boot ADT, use the Receive function, write the front side of your Pro Term floppy, reset and see if it works.
     
    4. Now it's time to create the program disk. This one is tricky. Again, select the files you need to make this disk image, and use the "Convert To Disk Image" function as detailed above. There are two steps to this from what I can tell. Maybe somebody knows better than me. If that's you, please comment.
     
    Use the screen shot in step 5 to see which files you need to select here, then write the new disk image. I used "PT3-program.po" for my disk image, and don't forget to name it "PT3", just like the other one.
     
    5. Open up that disk image, and it should look like this:
     

     
    6. Now fire up another copy of Cider Press, and open your original Pro Term archive file. (shk) You need to select the one file here that has a path name! If you just select it in the step above, it won't get created in a sub-directory like it is supposed to. Select the file, and choose "edit", "copy" off the menus, per the screenie below:
     

     
    7. Now return to the running instance of Cider Press that has your Pro Term program disk image open, and select "Paste Special"
     

     
    8. And make sure you have the path name option selected:
     

     
    9. Your finished Pro Term Program disk image should look like this:
     

     
    Close your Cider Press windows. They operate directly on disk images, so there is no "save" operation here. Remember that, and make copies of things. For example, to illustrate this flow, I took my PT3program.po file, copied it to "junk.po", then ran Cider Press on it to re-do the steps above, not wanting to trash the working image I had already completed.
     
    10. Boot up ADT again, and use the receive function to create the flip side, "program" disk image to complete your working Pro-Term floppy disk for use on a real Apple //e computer. I don't think this program runs on lower memory machines. 128KB or more is needed, meaning Apple //e enhanced or better. Check the PDF.
     
    You might not want Pro Term, then again you might too. That's ok. What is nice to know is how Cider Press does things, and that copy, paste mechanic. Pro Dos has volume names like a PC does, sub-directories, and file permission attributes, among other things. Building disk images may or may not require these things. Some of the good tricks are illustrated here.
     
    Here's my running pro-term, fed into a S-video capable capture device to strip the color. For this, I use a custom S-video cable, like a C64 user might use. One RCA is color, the other RCA is luma. Very handy for getting higher resolution captures.
     

  5. potatohead
    [dials phone]
     
    "Hi! Welcome to the automated help system! Press 1, if you need help."
     
    [presses 1]
     
    "If you feel better about it, press 0, otherwise press 1"
     
    [presses 1]
     
    "Hi! Welcome to the automated help system! Press 1, if you need help."
     
    [presses 1]
     
    "If you feel better about it, press 0, otherwise press 1"
     
    [presses 0]
     
    "I'm glad we could be of service! Acceptance is a powerful thing. Don't hesitate to call again."
     
    *click*
     
    I have this programmed into our phone system. Have been debating for quite some time whether or not I should take it live for April fools day. Each year, I pass...
  6. potatohead

    Battle Pong!

    By potatohead,

    I quickly fired off a bunch of PONG power up options on a thread a while back, and it's been nagging at me. So, I think I'm going to explore this and do some Batari Basic again. Ooze! was a real kick. I had a good time, and enjoyed the feedback on the game. The home brew itch is coming to me again. Time to start scratching...
     
    The bB has paddle support now, and a LOT of options! Time to revisit that.
     
    So, it's setup the environment again. Last time I was on Linux. This time it will be XP as that is where my Propeller stuff lives currently.
     
    Been musing about the control mechanic. Putting english on the ball makes a lot of sense. Deffo want to do that. Using the button to activate the power up, when it is captured makes sense too. I think both are needed to make a game of it.
     
    Any BATTLE PONG ideas? Post them up here. I'll be looking at them, and maybe having a bit of conversation as I flesh out the game ideas.
     
    Can TWO paddles operate with bB, or does that mean assembly for me? That's the very first question I've got to resolve. If you know, great! If not, when I get setup again, I'll find out soon enough.
     
     
     
     
    ----------------Original Game Ideas------------------------------------
     
     
    I think being able to put "english" on the ball would be cool, in combination with the power ups! That way, it's a game to get them, and attempt to put the other player off balance.
     
    Some powerups:
     
    English - or not... see above
     
    hold ball
     
    advance paddle position forward
     
    sticky ball
     
    random bounce
     
    little ball
     
    big ball
     
    two balls --player releases a ball, and another one, and triple score if other player misses both sequentially, otherwise ordinary score based on remaining ball. No point given for miss of first ball.
     
    fat paddle
     
    narrow paddle
     
    reversed paddle
     
    random paddle - jitters for a while
     
    two paddles -- one in front, one in ordinary position
     
    god wall - player can't miss for a while
     
    bullets - get three shots at the other player
     
    gravity ball - ball attracted to players paddle, motion influences ball movement
     
    center wall, for a mini break out session, with a risk of point given, should player that has the ball miss!
     
    bent paddle - for limiting possible returns to other player
     
    invisible paddle
     
    switch controls! - for a time each player gets the other players paddle, point given to non-controlling player for a miss, so the game is just mirrored for a short time
     
    Call it battle pong!
  7. potatohead
    Download Stella Here: http://stella.sourceforge.net/
     
    Download bB Base Build Here: http://www.bataribasic.com/download.html
     
    Download bB Latest Build Here: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...p;#entry1752068
     
    It seems only the base build is on the Batari web site. If this entry is dated, ask where the latest can be found in the Basic Programming forum, and get that build, or ping Batari and see what the deal is.
     
    Download Visual bB Here: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=123849
     
    1. Install Stella
     
    I just took the defaults so that program lives at c:\program files\stella\stella.exe
     
    2. Create directory c:\Atari2600\bB
     
    3. Extract the contents of the bB base build into the new directory.
     
    If using the Microsoft deal, point the extract wizard at c:\atari2600\bB
     
    4. Set the following environment variables: (Control Panel, System, Advanced, System Environment)
     
    bB=c:\Atari2600\bB
     
    This sets the install directory for Batari Basic.
     
    path=%path%;c:\Atari2600\bB (Append ;c:\Atari2600\bB to your existing path statement, paths are separated by the semicolon. Just tack it on to the end of the mess that's probably already there!)
     
    This insures the bB compiler can work from any command prompt.
     
    5. Do a test build of the sample progggy!
     
    start, run, cmd [enter]
     
    cd c:\atari2600\bB\samples
     
    2600bas sample.bas
     
    It should say build successful!
     
    dir *.bin should show sample.bas.bin
     
    6. Run this binary in stella
     
    7. Make two new directories under c:\atari2600
     
    Projects and VisualbB
     
    8. Copy the contents of the Visual bB archive to the new VisualbB directory created above.
     
    9. Run VisualbB.exe with a simple double click.
     
    In the configuration wizard, specify where things live. The batari basic default is fine. You will have to specify stella.
     
    Stella lives in c:\program files\stella\stella.exe by default, as noted above.
     
    That's the setup!
     
    When in the nice batari IDE, start a project and create a directory under the projects directory created above, and start to building stuff.
     
    I've a PS2 to PC USB device that I'll use for Stella in the shorter term. Since I'm gonna be working with paddles this time around, I think I'll also get setup to run stuff on an actual VCS. For now however, this is a solid setup.
     
    Thanks to the creators of the IDE, DASM and bB. This whole deal is SO much better than it was long ago. Nicely done! I think I'll have a bit of fun!
  9. potatohead
    Well, most of the electronics have arrived. I've got some 2Mhz 6502's, a 6809, just because, misc resistors, a coupla buffers, and static RAM on the way.
     
    This project has me seriously intrigued:
     
    http://www.parallax.com/tabid/708/Default.aspx
     
    Basically, the Propeller clocks the 6502, and can read the 6502 address bus, and can control the data bus. The included demo programs show how to load the RAM, and how to have the 6502 interact with the Prop, like it would in a classic computer or console.
     
    I want to do some retro gaming on a Propeller, and that's been happening with nice game projects being completed. Really though, it would be excellent to have it run VCS games. Attempts at 6502 emulation were over my head, and for those who knew better after giving it a go, too slow to make this happen.
     
    Other projects like this have been done, but were expensive or complex, or both.
     
    This simple circuit might actually be capable of doing some good emulation of some retro hardware, and I'm gonna give it a go. I targeted both the Apple and VCS as they don't make use of interrupts. In the case of the VCS, none at all. In the case of the Apple, interrupts are used, but not used to get a machine booting into a simple Applesoft environment. From there, who knows?
     
    I'm also very intrigued by Batari seeing success with the Harmony cart. There is lots of retro + modern goodness coming down the line, making this a good time to try something like this.
     
    For now, completing FREEWAY, then building and debugging this circuit have my attention.
     
    The purpose of the poll question is simple: Let's say this simple circuit could run VCS games unmodified, say from SD card, or something like that? Or even better, could run them from a cart! Would that be interesting, or a curio?
  11. potatohead
    I'll go ahead and post up some images and such later. Didn't have a lot of time for that today, but I did have time to install the card and get it configured well enough to go and run some stuff.
     
    My Apple only has a single Disk ][ That's been a little limiting, simply because it's not enough storage for some of the better things you can run on an Apple. Don't get me wrong, an Apple ][ computer with ADT and a single disk is a lot of fun, and much is possible. I've been able to do some light programming and run a few favorite old games. Very good solution, though it is necessary to keep a few floppies around. What I ended up doing was to simply just write what I was interested in doing to one of the disks, then do it, recycling as needed. I have maybe 15 floppy disks that are in very good shape. Worked for me, though it was cumbersome to deal with.
     
    The CFFA ships with a nice, large PRODOS hard disk image already setup. Booting that takes about 3-5 seconds. It's just amazing, and more zippy than I remember hard disks being back when I got to use real ones. Love the storage, don't miss the fiddly hard disk at all.
     
    I chose to employ USB, simply because I didn't have a CF card handy, and an extension cable is easy to route out the back of the machine and onto the desktop where I can just plug it in. This rocks really hard. Very well done, and easily the most simple and robust 8 bit storage solution I've used, and I've used a few and on a few machines, Atari, CoCo, Apple, some tethered to a PC, some using SD Cards.
     
    Of course the Apple is so damn nice because of the slots and the ROM featuring the basic options needed to just use the devices. Now, when I boot the Apple, it drops right into PRODOS running off that large image. I don't have a lot in there yet, but I probably will as I do some projects. If I want to boot a real floppy, insert it and issue PR #6 to boot from that real disk ][. If I want to boot a virtual disk ][, that's in slot 5 on my apple, so it's PR #5. Simple. Pressing M after a boot gets me to the CFFA menu where I can deal with disk images and such, and for multi-disk programs, I can either load up a drive or two, or toggle among a set of images using the remote thing.
     
    That remote is just a board, so I've gotta enclose it somehow, just so it doesn't break easily. Other than that, it's just cake. Push the button to shift to the next sequential disk image setup in the menu, and it's just like moving a floppy.
     
    Highly Recommended. This device is very well executed, and I had a lot of fun today giving it a test run.
  12. potatohead

    Civics

    By potatohead,

    Remember these?
     
    http://youtu.be/0dVo3nbLYC0
     
    Remember what it was like when you watched them?
     
    Now consider this:
     
    http://youtu.be/S6ZsXrzF8Cc
     
    Get as aggressive as you want in comments, but be very prepared to support what you say. Enjoy!
  13. potatohead

    Closing the Loop

    By potatohead,

    I'm currently writing up some how-to stuff for the Propeller. That's got KABOOM! and a coupla other things on hold, but that's not really what this blog entry is all about.
     
    Over time, I've been facinated with the idea of closing the loop on a conversation. What I mean by closing the loop is say you and I talk about something. I post this up, you read it, then maybe comment later on. That's a closed loop. Another example is somebody at the radio station says something and somebody else phones it in to talk about it. That's another closed loop.
     
    This thread:
     
    http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...=100537&hl=
     
    is a most excellent and valuable closed loop! Long ago Donald wrote Gaunltlet and many of us played it. We all had some stuff we would have liked to say to the author, but the loop just remained open for a lot of reasons. Recently, Don shows up and that loop gets closed up, friends made and experiences shared after all this time.
     
    It's one of the very coolest things about the Internet. If you've not read through that thread, you really should. It's been an interesting ride.
     
    We now have people exchanging info with Don, and each other, in the context of some shared experiences many years ago. What a wonderful way to learn, share and enjoy the hobby.
     
    Thanks go to Don for his game, willingness to share and most importantly, his getting something out of all his experience through sharing it with us, in the gaming context. I'm totally learning and enjoying the experience. Thanks Don, and thanks to the others giving that thread the energy it needs to carry on.
  14. potatohead
    Check 'em out!
     
    These are NTSC artifacted images. ~200 + colors, captured off a real CoCo 3. Check the Kings Quest one... And the 130 color Sonic one at top!!
     
    Unlike other CoCo 3 hi-color methods, this one requires only a composite display. No interrupts, or CPU time required. It's just a full on 160x200x256 bitmap, with some of the colors duplicates, resulting in a 200+ color display.
     
    (Yes I geeked out on a CoCo 3 this weekend, but I've wanted to render some pictures on it for a long, long time. Got some help from Jason and Briza.)
     

     

     

  15. potatohead
    Images snagged from my capture card, from composite output of Color Computer 3.
     
    Color Computer is running 640x200x4 color mode. Palette colors are the 4 intensities available on the machine.
     
    A short Extended Basic Program: (Captured Intensity Only)
     

     
    256 possible byte values on screen: (captured intensity only)
     

     
    256 artifacting colors: (captured color)
     

     
    Coupla people asked why I posted this. It's basically documenting a technique for color that I should have done 15 years ago. Better late then never!
     
    And it was an excuse to get a Color Computer 3 again. Kind of missed it actually. Nice little machine.
  16. potatohead
    There are basically two approaches to artifacting on the color computer 3. My blog entries from before use the 640 pixel, 4 color mode to generate artifacts. That's a good palette, with lots of texture, some bright colors, some dim colors, but lacking in red, and generally kind of coarse in places. When artifacting in 640 pixel mode, the 4 grey scale values are used.
     
    320 pixel mode artifacting is a bit different, because the computer has 4 bits per pixel avaliable, meaning colors can be mixed with other colors, and the intensity levels for a wider palette.
     
    The 4 screenies attached are some samples that appear to support the idea that somewhere around 1024 colors are avaliable on the machine, with 256 on screen at any one time, unless scan line interrupts are used to dynamically change color registers, like we would do on Atari machines.
     
    16 palette entries are available, each one can be set to one of 64 stock colors, meaning a scan line color change will impact multiple colors at once, not just one particular screen color.
     
    Jason Law and I have been working with the color computer and it's interesting video options, and I thought this expanded palette might be of interest to others here.
     
    One other very interesting software register in the machine is the color phase register. It's used to correct older school red / blue artifacts, where odd pixels might be red or blue, depending on the power up state of the machine at the time. The older Color Computers suffered from this, often featuring a color test & reset screen so users could get the right colors, or twiddle the tint knob on their display screen.
     
    When this register is toggled quickly, many artifact effects occur. This might prove interesting in the future, if used in a way that is synced with the screen.
     
    In these screen shots, they are in pairs, each one showing the phase bit set, and unset, which does not always result in the same color space. Some analysis of the resulting colors will need to be done to figure out whether or not the colors are actually the same, or if different, how many are different.
     
    There are some colors roughly the same between these screen captures, however, there are also a lot of color combinations not shown. Many combinations will be redundant, making for an interesting problem to sort out what really can be put on the screen. However that goes, it's 8 bits per pixel, for 256 choices per scan line, per palette register set. I don't know how many registers can be written between scan lines. I don't think it's the whole set, but I could be wrong on that.
     
    Full screen color possibilities do exceed 256 colors at a time, but with some vertical limitations that have not been sorted out just yet.
     
     
    For now, here are some reference palettes, showing off what 320 pixel mode artifacting does. Effective resolution here is 160x200, just like it is for the 640 pixel mode, with the difference being two 16 color pixels being mixed together, instead of 4, 4 color ones.
     

  17. potatohead

    Dems take House.

    By potatohead,

    Not gonna post much about this, save that it means we no longer are under one party rule.
     
    Been too long. Having some checks and balances back is a good thing long overdue.
  18. potatohead
    I do and kind of went on a flashback tour....
     
    https://www.youtube....h?v=MJG5ewAgKhw
     
    https://www.youtube....h?v=okGfFYKCwYU
     

     

     

     

     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2o99jGlZ2o
     
    https://www.youtube....h?v=ucQ6FMUszNY
  19. potatohead
    I remember when Slashdot added this feature. At first, there was this flurry of activity. Picked up a batch of friends, and a coupla foes. After that, it all tapered down to a point where nobody cared.
     
    Are we there at AA? This community is significantly different from the Slashdot one. People know each other, the focus is far tighter in general, than Slashdot is, fewer users overall and a much higher signal to noise ratio, likely from the high number of regulars all sharing the same interest.
     
    That's it really. Just wondering aloud about the whole thing, which I'm likely to continue to ignore...
  20. potatohead
    Man oh man! Moving sucks! Well, getting a new and bigger home doesn't, but basically everything else does. One never realizes just how many little tech bits one has until they are all yanked and stuffed into a box! Basically nothing works anymore. My ReplayTV does not work with the new Directv sat receivers, DSL was hosed until today, computers are gonna take forever to reconnect, on and on and on...
     
    I think I'm going to be looking for a new 400. Hooked my old one up and it's flaky now. Tried reseating the chips and still it just goes nuts after about 10 minutes. The combination of old age and being moved has probably done it in. The 7800 still works great though! Most of the other computers doom won't be known to me for a while yet. Hoping the SGI isn't in any trouble or that's a trip to ebay for sure. Can't live without that one.
     
    While I'm here, I suppose I should post a coupla ideas I had for later:
     
    Was thinking about Ooze a bit and reread the comments collected so far. It's not quite a game, though it is fun. One thing that's been getting to me is the use of the joystick for controls. Mostly I did this because the Batari Basic environment limits keep the paddle from being part of the equation. I'm torn between taking the game into assembly land, adding the paddle and polish and just doing something new. Controls are at the heart of this because the lack of them prevent me (or so I think --feel free to chime in) from getting the core game elements where they need to be for a viable game. So, last night while unpacking my Atari stuff, I bumped into my driving controllers. I'm thinking those might be just the trick for Ooze.
     
    I want the game to be fast like Kaboom! That's where the trance comes into play and is the core, for me at least, of what makes really great old 8bit games. The joystick just isn't going to cut it because with speed comes the need for really fast player interaction with a far more dynamic and aggressive Ooze. Having not touched the thing for a while, it seems more like a great Bb tech demo than it does a game. (And the solid comments reflect that if taken as a whole.) For those of you out there, starting on the game journey I'm currently on, I highly recommend putting your work aside for a while. When you come back, your perspective is far more objective and valuable. You really get sucked in while working on the project. Core goals can get lost in the shuffle, thus blocking the creative process. At least I've discovered this to be true for me. Take that for what it's worth!
     
    Using driving controllers with Bb should be dead simple and they work a lot like paddles, but for the lack of absolute positioning. Maybe that's enough to get the experience where it should be. So I'm going to try that and see where it goes.
     
    My gut says it will be a coupla more weeks before things are in order enough to begin hacking on the game again. I'm gonna move everything over to the SGI. This will slow the project at first, but it will be worth it. If you have ever used an SGI, you know about the IRIX environment. It's insanely addictive and very pleasing to work with for long periods of time. On SGI, the emulator scene is good, but getting dated. I think it's time to compile the latest Stella and see if that's viable. If so, Atari game development on the platform will be solid again, which will make me very happy. There is something cool about using a 64Bit platform to develop for old 8bit systems. (That and the excellent screen fonts --easy on the eyes.)
     
    I'm not sure how I'm going to do controller interfaces however. Might be keyboard / mouse only for the moment. If push comes to shove and I need to do something else, I'll just use the Linux box for that and display the window on the SGI.
     
    Sorry for length, but that brings me to another "Why Unix and the X-Window system kick so much ass it's not even funny" post. I'm not sure the lions share of computer people fully understand just how big of a gift the X-Window system really was in it's time. Heck, that's still true today for those in the know.
     
    Basically it comes down to true multi-user computing. Not user switching, or a limited remote desktop environment, terminal server, etc... but true multi-user. That's what Unix has been from the get go. When networked computing became a reality for the masses, Unix and X were there in all their glory ready for what should have been a great time. Instead we got single user win32 boxes.
     
    Well, most of us did anyway. Those few who were running Unix in networked environments with the X window system took a different path...
     
    X allows any user on any machine to serve graphics to the user on the display they are located at. It's like VNC, but for any number of users and not just for the whole desktop, but for any application. It's possible, for example, to have the machine you are sitting at handle input and display graphics while another runs your window manager and a third machine to run the application. The implications for the desktop are powerful, if not so obvious. For me, this means I can use an SGI (once I get it hooked up again) for my primary desktop, and display Linux programs on it as well, thus having one nice environment. I will typically script the access to resources running on other machines so that my favorites are only a coupla clicks away. Done right with shared network storage and the average user will have no idea they are running stuff across a batch of machines instead of just one local machine.
     
    Sounds goofy I know, but it's very cool. Let's say my local machine is a bit slow (which my old SGI is), but a remote machine is much faster. Once I've asked for the program to be displayed on my box, it's pretty much like having a faster machine without the hassle of changing boxes, KVM, VNC, etc... From an IT standpoint this has serious advantages as well. Say you have a group of users who all need a very strong machine 10 percent of the time. Do you buy 10 strong machines, or buy one and let them share it as I've described above? Another example lies with shared applications. In this day and age, many software companies do not let their licenses float, depending on the single user win32 system to force folks to buy lots of copies of their software --even for casual users. With the X window system, this is not necessary at all. Just install one and let people share it to their local desktops as if they actually had the application running on their local box.
     
    Finally, there are lots of solid computing choices besides the sometimes problematic client-server approach. Client server is great, but does require some tinkering on both ends to work correctly. The more robust choice of application server can eliminate these problems. Have a difficult or expensive application? Put it on an application server and let all your users run it from there. One copy of the software, one configuration, etc... Or, maybe you want to manage some data. Keep it out of users hands. With the X window system, you can have sensitive data located on a server with the managed application that interacts with it. Users are limited to only those things the application allows when running over X, because they are not running code locally! There is no need for them to even be able to see the data, but through the application itself.
     
    Ok, that's enough. Best get connecting or I won't be doing any of this stuff!
  21. potatohead

    Got My Apple!

    By potatohead,

    Ok, so I got sucked in. It was a great deal, and I usually know better than to go using e-bay...
     
    The plan is to play some older games. I've a copy of Ultima on disk that I've not played for years. Hope it works.
     
    At some point, I want to put Propeller chips on cards for use with the Apple as a retro-dev station. Just getting started thinking about that.
     
    What I really need is some quick tips on how to get that Apple running some software. It has 80col card, disk, and I think the serial or parallel card. Won't know until it arrives.
     
    Hints?
  22. potatohead
    I've got to get setup to run screen captures and such.
     
    Here's the link for now:
     
    http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=33&m=417068
     
    Eric Ball saw my crude 6502 emulation project and wrote up a nice core, deciding it wouldn't do VCS well at all. Left for some others to tinker with, and this is the next project outta the gate.
     
    A low memory Apple computer will be in the works shortly.
  23. potatohead
    Missed out on the sale posted here recently, and it just solidified my desire for a classic Apple ][ series computer.
     
    I'm not too particular about the model. Would prefer the e, but a nice plus, with 8 col card, language card, etc... would be just fine.
     
    Ping me. ...or just know I want one, and maybe post up what you want, just because we can!
  24. potatohead

    I've had it!

    By potatohead,

    Thought I would just engage in a bit of personal therapy...
     
    For the last 6 months, it's been just treading water. I've finally come to the realization that I either need to seriously go hard professionally, or live a bit smaller so I can feed the soul better. There is no doing both at this time, as far as I can see.
     
    So... Feeding the soul is going to trump climbing the corporate ladder. Having recently turned 40, I find I have gained some perspective on wealth that is surprising to me!
     
    Wealthy people have larger amounts of liquid time. And that's time that can be for any purpose, or just simply wasted. Secondly, this time is in fewer segments than not so wealthy people experience.
     
    I'm not currently wealthy then! My time is a freaking mess! I have chunks of it, but they are little ones, scattered about. Not time enough to dig in and get something cool done. Retro stuff is damn cool, and always makes me happy, but my setup time for it is significant. It takes a bit to get things fired up, my brain in the right mood, etc... As a result of this, I don't do it as often as I want to and that kind of sucks.
     
    The reasons are many. One is my current day job. We are still in semi-startup / growth mode. This is taking it's toll. I suspect that will pass, but I'm not happy with the progress, nor am I happy with the idea that I'm really giving up wealth to help somebody just get more money. Because insurance is mandatory for my wife right now, I'm going to deal there and see how it shakes out. I love what I do, but am teetering on burn out.
     
    Money... Spend a ton of time managing money because of things that have happened. It's difficult for me to do things electronically, and that means lots of time spent dealing with simple money matters. Of all the things, I really, really hate that.
     
    Despite the issues, I managed to score a decent house. It has space, is in a nice neighborhood, etc... Problem is I really can't enjoy the thing. Living on one income essentially sucks. Also, I really don't want to HAVE to live on two. My wife is going through some nasty stuff and looks to eventually get through it. Why go through that only to just slave away again? We've missed out on a lot of time.
     
    So, I'm gonna move, scale down, live small and build my wealth (in terms of time). That means moving out of the city, enduring a longer commute (that isn't bad time though --lots of thinking and listening to things can happen), and have less space.
     
    The flip side is the money issues are going to go away. With that comes electronic management of things, far fewer monthly dependancies and some leverage professionally as I can set limits with little fear of really getting into trouble. Not having to have the money means focusing on where my real value adds are, not having to always invest too much for little gains. Growing the thing isn't so much my problem. Happy to be there, good at what I do, lots of great relationships --in short I'm valuable, so no worries there. However, I am also not up for too much exploitation and dependency either. That will absolutely change. Right now, I'm obligated to do the heroics thing because not doing so means others get harmed --and they know I'm right on the edge.
     
    Fix that, and it's heroics when the value add is there and I always feel good about that. Likely to be a more healthy scene.
     
    My wife can play poker like no other. She has been teaching me and I really enjoy the game. We can only play online, or for small stakes once in a while for time and money reasons. Moving out means a proximity advantage and a financial advantage. Poker is not one of those things that is healthy to engage in when dollars are tight. The pressure ends up ruining the game and that also taints the reward. Ideally, one plays, builds their bankroll, and then leverages that to play the really good games and get the really good rewards, keeping risk to a safe minimum. The way it is now, when we do come out up, it gets consumed just living life. Not cool.
     
    For me, there is that good time spent with my wife, and there is the retro scene just calling there. I need some build some better skills so I can realize the better projects. The why is just passion really. I just love this retro era and Atari / Propeller stuff is right there in the sweet spot. Doing that works the same way the cards do. I've noted the same pressure dynamics tainting the hobby and that's just got me at full stop at the moment. Also not cool.
     
    Anyway, that's it for now. Going to go dig in, endure a coupla months of moving life sorting hell, then come out on the other side a more wealthy person.
     
    We will move out of PDX.
  25. potatohead
    Make it so it is possible for the player to clear the ooze! This ends the level, instead of the timer. Use the timer for something else like bonus points, etc...
     
    Each level puts the ooze on screen in different configrations, and the game attributes are changed to make it difficult. Do this with some goofy sound effects and it should then be good.
     
    If the player gets through all the levels, then play a little tune!
     
    That will make it a game.
     
     
    level 1
     
    000000000000
    000000000000
    000000000000
     
     
    level 2
     
    000 000
    000 000
    000 000
    000 000
    000 000
     
     
    etc....
     
    Edit: forgot to publish this. After some time away from Bb, I think this is probably where the game should go. The new features will add a lot to Ooze. This will get a re-write at some point. Wanted to archive the idea here for later on.
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