no attack

OK, I deleted the config file then restarted the computer and re-downloaded the linked file, just for good measure. That appears to have fixed the sizing and frame rate/speed issues. The "PC Keyboard" option still doesn't work, but that's fairly low priority for me. I'll post back if anything odd happens again. ?

Will do—I'll let you know how it goes!

First, thanks again for making this. I know an emulator is an extraordinary amount of work, especially for a platform that doesn't have a large community. The debugger is something I absolutely need while I'm plodding along with Aquarius dev. However, I'm running into a lot of bugs. When I first launched AquaLite, everything seemed great. I poked around the menus, checked out the debugger, typed in a few BASIC commands, etc. and had a solid 60 FPS at 100% speed. I then made a few Options tweaks—I clicked the 'PC Keyboard' and 'Pause emulation...' options, selected NTSC timing, and changed my View to 200%. Once I dropped back into BASIC, I first noticed that the PC Keyboard option didn't work. Quotes, for instance, were still mapped to SHIFT-2, Aquarius-style, instead of standard PC keyboard quotes. I also noticed that the frame rate and emulation speed had dropped to half, creating significant lag in input. I thought I'd start again, so I deleted the folder and re-unzipped the download folder. The same problems continued. (I'm assuming some configuration file got written when I first launched the program?) When I tried switching Display options from GDI to DirectDraw and Direct3D (without a shader), a new bug appeared—the AquaLite window shrunk by half, so now 200% view looks like 100%. It's also clipped the menu text and information text at the bottom of the window. Closing and reopening the application doesn't help, nor did a fresh "re-install." I'm running currently-updated Windows 10 Lenovo ThinkPad w/ a core i7. It's about 18 months old, and it's not my primary computer—I use it almost exclusively for dev. I'm happy to help troubleshoot issues if needed. I really want to use this as my sole Aquarius dev emulator, but I fear I've "broken" the app with no way to get it back to its usual state. And at half speed, it's not particularly usable. The screenshot below shows the crowded lower display and speed (19%). I can't see the FPS ?

Thank you—I'll be giving this a test drive tomorrow!

Sounds great, can't wait to check it out!

jaybird3d, these docs are SO helpful—thank you for sharing them! So if I'm reading the tech specs correctly, it looks like the VSYNC status can be read from bit 0 on port $FD. And now I'm curious about your website/tutorials—what topics were you planning to cover? I was thinking of doing some of my own, since I may integrate some Aquarius work into a class I teach.

After programming my first Aquarius game in BASIC, then getting a bit of assembly working via BASIC's USR command, I've been looking to switch over fully to Z80 development. I now have a working program courtesy of SB-Assembler 3 and Virtual Aquarius, but I'm running into some major gaps in knowledge about the Aquarius' technical specifications. Namely, there's very little info online about the Aquarius' hardware registers, how to poll the keyboard, how to wait for VSYNC (if that's possible), etc. I'm aware of the Machine Language Programming thread here, the scattering of documents online, and the Aquarius Yahoo Group (which I can't seem to access?) but I'm wondering if there's some source(s) I'm missing. So, if you know where I can find more in-depth technical references for the Aquarius, source code examples (beyond the system ROM disassembly), or other helpful references, please let me know. Especially those folks that might still have access to the Yahoo Group and might want to share some of the info there. Thanks!

Hmm, curious. May be tough to diagnose without real hardware. If it's not a bother, could you let me know the line number(s) that caused the error?

So were the FC errors immediately on boot and then resolve themselves, or did you need to manually restart to get it to work? And thank you for testing this out!

Sounds good, thank you!

Oh nice—are there any other details other than the start time? I have a conference that day but I might be able to drop by for a bit. And yeah, a short run of carts might be nice. Just let me know what might be involved.

I recently wrapped up development of a new Aquarius game, rood, based upon an abstract board game I designed last year. I'd be delighted to have some folks test it out, especially on real hardware. I'm calling this release a beta, since there may be a few bugs or quirks I missed. If you're interested, I created a tiny web page with the ROM download and instructions for how to set things up properly in the Virtual Aquarius emulator. Due to the title screen and instructions, I had to require the 16K memory upgrade. Presumably this should work in MAME, but I haven't tested it there. And for those interested, the game was programmed with the excellent BLBASIC. The Aquarius is an odd, constrained system to design for, but that tool helped a lot. Please post back here if you try out the game and/or run into any issues. (Or you can ping me @circuitlions on Twitter).

Fantastic demo! Would you consider sharing the source code?

Hi all, I've been hunting for Peter Goode's rare Aquarius Program Book (mentioned in this old thread) for almost a year, and I finally tracked down an eBay UK seller who was willing to ship it my way. I've now scanned the book and uploaded it to the Internet Archive (and attached it to this thread), so it is rare no longer. I haven't typed in any of the programs yet, so if you do, please share the results here. ========== Nathan metopal.com pre83.com Peter Goode - The Aquarius Program Book (1983).pdf

Wow, pretty incredible news! So are these actually available to order anywhere yet?

Awesome, thanks for the replies—keep 'em comin'!

Thanks pongstroid, that's really helpful! So was the Odyssey set up with overlays in the store, and you were able to switch them out? Or did the Magnavox rep demo them for you?

I'm teaching a university seminar on computer archaeology/history, and I and my students have spent a few weeks studying the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey. We've looked at contemporary advertisements, watched commercials, played (and dismantled) the hardware, and even made new 'software' for the system. However, what's most difficult to find are accounts of how players reacted to the Odyssey when it was still new. Despite their importance, these stories don't often get written into history. So, if you played the Odyssey when it was new (or know someone who did), I'd love to ask you a few questions. Even if your recollection is vague or spotty or you were very young, I'd like to get a better picture of how Odyssey fit into peoples' lives. Here's a few things I'd like to know. + Why did you (or your parents) buy the Odyssey? + How did you hear about Odyssey? + Where did you buy it? + How old were you at the time? + What games did you play? Which were the most interesting? Which weren't? + How long did you play Odyssey? Days, months, years? + Who in your family played? + Where did you play (living room, basement, friends' house, etc.)? + Did you play videogames after Odyssey? If so, which ones? + What seemed novel or interesting about the Odyssey? Did it remind you of other media or did it seem completely new? + Did you own other accessories or games beyond the basic set? + How did Odyssey compare to other games you played (e.g., sports, board games, electronic handheld games, etc.)? + Was anything about Odyssey difficult to learn or understand? Feel free to answer here or contact me privately. Thanks for your help!

Thanks for the input (err, output), everyone! carlsson, if you do end up modding your console, please post back here—I'd love to see the results.

I know several of you have functioning Interton VC 4000s that you play on modern NTSC sets. I'm getting one shipped from Germany as we speak, and I was looking for advice on what I needed. From what I understand, I need: + A power transformer to convert the 220V signal to the American standard. + Some means to convert the PAL signal to NTSC. The transformer is straightforward, though I was hoping someone could suggest the maximum wattage I needed. For signal conversion, someone suggested the Orei XD-1190 PAL HDMI/RCA to NTSC HDMI Converter, though it appears to only support signal resolutions as low as 480i, and I don't know the VC's output. (I also don't necessarily need an upscaler.) Any suggestions are welcome, either for display on CRT or a modern HDTV. I'd also love any suggestions for multi-carts or other add-ons—I'd eventually like to run my own code on this thing. Lastly, if anyone has a manual scan for the system (not its games or hardware clones), I'd appreciate a link. I can't seem to find one online. Thanks!

Apologies for resurrecting this ancient thread, but how were the custom game card #11s made? I'm interested in making some new custom Odyssey cards.

Anyone here doing active Astrocade development? I've recently taken an interest in the machine and I've found it to be pretty fun (and straightforward) to get some rudimentary programs running. I've done more NES tinkering in the past, so it's a bit of a shift to switch from 6502 to Z80 (and totally different meanings for VBLANK). My next step is to get a working console, and I wanted to know if there were flash/development carts still in production. Emulation (especially for the keyboard and paddle controls) just isn't giving me a good feel for the machine. Anyhow, I had some technical questions and wondered if anyone had some programming insight. I've tried to join the Bally Alley Yahoo group, but can't seem to get them to accept me as a member...

3,197...Those later stages get insane. My tips: -When you get hit, keep moving. While you're busy watching fancy damage graphics, the enemies are usually firing another shot, which will arrive just as you recover. -If you're looking for life diamonds, they usually spawn one right after another, moving in a diagonal path. You can usually catch 2 or 3 in a row if you follow them. -This game is similar to Battlezone, so similar tactics apply. Keep the enemies in the periphery until they shoot, then sweep in for a kill. -Try to keep only a few enemies on screen at a time. If they swarm, it's tough to evade them all. -Go for those big bonus items. You can get more than one per stage, as far as I can tell.

2,713

2232 to start tin and goochman, i'm sneaking past...