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Mike Harris

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Posts posted by Mike Harris

  1. Posted

    The issue that I have found is boiling down to a format that will work in a Coleco setting.
    TNIASM is another one.

     

    What I gather is that this is using compressed data, expanded into VRAM then page flipping...

     

    I take it that this is also the reason why Rally X is for the SGM because of the expanded memory.

    Being as Destructor, Zaxxon and a few others work on stock Colecovision I suspect that they used other formulas. They also are choppy in execution.

     

    If someone out there with z80 code for 8 way scrolling in Coleco format is reading could you post it please.

  3. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    BTW, my first couple games are PD learning curve for me and freely available when ready.

     

    Once I start selling something I can assure you I have legal means to protect my investment.
    It wouldn't be fair to those who paid and limits the quality of my future games.

     

    As a matter of fact, can someone PM me if there are any "inside" literature for sale or programing guides for the SGM, Collectorvision and what not.

  4. Posted

     

    An SD card slot is just one of dozens of ways to run copyrighted software. There's no putting that genie back in the bottle. No reason to limit new creations to maintain a mere illusion of propriety in our hobby. There should be enough people in our hobby who are willing to support creators with purchases to make up for the unavoidable abusers.

     

    To give foundation to your statement you guys don't know the loyalty of this community so I will share that.

     

    I have yet to find in any of my searches, forums, usenet, torrent or any other ANY collectorvision or homebrew game that has not been released to the community through PD means. That is not saying someone makes a personal copy then sells their games on ebay but people collect these things for more than just the game, the box, the instructions so locking down the system would be a slap in the face.

  5. Posted

    An SD card slot is be a problem. I suggest to remove it.

     

    Developpers can buy flash cartridges to test their works.

     

    Of course, put any copyrighted games in flash cartridges are still illegal but again, they have to pay flash cartridges first.

     

    SD cards are too easy to play copyrighted games.

     

     

    As a businessman and a consumer I will be very blunt that removing your SD Card, or as a hypothetical, block running of roms, your are going to kill this project and limit the sales.

     

    I never understood outside of a licensing aspect why producers such as Sony, Western Digital and others lock features of their products only to find someone hacks them to work again.

     

    As I am not the author of this machine I can not dictate it's direction but if I did I would be in a parallel direction but design bigger with USB ports, Wifi access, advanced graphics and sound. Make it the next generation ADAM but unfortunately you do not hold the license to Coleco which is unfortunate because we have an opportunity.

     

    Then again, I am just some guy that has a deep passion for the Colecovision over all other consoles that ever hit the market and if I had the smarts I would use my capital to finance the next gen retro console that anyone can use, create games and share them freely.

     

    We are here to have fun guys and when you lose that passion then why bother.

     

  6. Posted

     

    I'm working on a brawler game on Colecovision.

     

    Supporting two player would be a challenge since the console can't use more four sprites in a row without flickering.

    See, that's where the Collectorvision could make up the difference.

    Backwards compatible, turn off the 4 sprite limitation, have MORE sprites and tiles.

     

     

  8. Posted

    Instead of skimming and looking for answers I need to know one extremely important selling point for me.

     

    Will this be able to launch Coleco Roms directly from the SD card without having to inject them in some kind of Copycart wrapper.

     

    I mentioned this before but my focus is on developing games to run on an actual device instead of an emulator on a computer.

     

    I would also think it would be 100% cycle, NMI correct with setting that would look like raster screen.

    Those are important because when I tried out my first Coleco game on a real system it was an eye opener.

  9. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    The Roller Controller is already proof that you can have two steering wheels on the Colecovision.

     

    At this point the only incentive to actually making an adapter would be bragging rights.

     

    The opportunities for the Collectorvision, in my opinion, are being wasted.

    New backward compatible OS with the ability to use multiple controllers, players, paddles, expanded graphics of the Coleco theme.

     

    Let's see how far they go.

  11. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    Study this code for msx

    Same vdp, same z80, no need of ram

    https://github.com/artrag/scroll_8_ways

     

    A simple solution for rallyx is that all tiles are prerotated in rom and a given subset is loaded in vram when needed according to the car direction

    Can I just ask, and this is a serious question...

    Why could I not find this with just Google?

     

    I am seriously grateful...on all fours groveling in appreciation.

     

    My point being I hate to ask for help if I can figure it out on my own but I am learning the ins and outs of the Colecovision where the graphics are not as bad to access as the TI-994A but they are horrible compared to a lot of other machines.

     

    When I seen Rally X I was floored and I knew there was no way a thousand line hack was going to create the same result.

    If there is a directory somewhere with these types of routines please pass that along because if this has what I need then I will be back on track in no time.

     

    Thank you again.

  13. Posted

    It has been a challenge.

    Ever since I tested my first game on a real ADAM it has been a discovery of blah.

     

    Maybe I thought I could do anything but I am not discouraged and want to finish the game.

    However, the port has to be updated to a Super type game because I just can't create a direct port so I might as well update to an improved tribute.

    That said...

    My next phase is that my character stays in the middle of the screen with the environment scrolling around you.

    I looked at Rally X for Coleco on Youtube and was blown away so I know it is possible.

    I am not asking for proprietary information but obviously there is a formula to all of this taught somewhere.

     

    I know I can pound the code and get a blah result when at the end of the day it probably is some type of SRL optimizations with a direct OUT command for speed... I don't know I just want to be professional and I can not find real info anywhere.

     

     

    So if someone out there willing to share some efficient Z80 8 directional scroll code I would be most appreciative.
    Or point me in the right direction. I am not asking anyone to write my code for me, I just need schooling and it's not like you can go to your local university and take classes on Coleco programing.

     

  15. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    Is it possible that we can stop with this exclusive use of SD Cards?

    If you guys are smart enough to get this far then there would be no reason why you couldn't have some built in flash ram that emulates a disk/hard or whatever drive on the ADAMnet that you can access with a long USB cable connected to your PC

     

    Put it this way, if you were looking for "investors" and came to me, then I would emphasize that request.

     

    BTW, I am retired and have some beer money if you need investors but we would have to discuss that on more private channels.

     

    I believe in the project because the Coleco ADAM has a special place in my heart and despite being able to do everything here on an emulator and save the desk space I think this has a place in history as being the true evolution of ADAM if Coleco continued the series.

    What I would do is use it as a development kit.
    If I had to request that you have a development version with an Assembly language programing manual. Maybe even update the EOS and make EOS 8? 9? that is backward compatible but has functions for the SGM and any banked memory, drives???

     

    Why can't this be the next gen ADAM?

    Fully backwards compatible, updated OS, updated graphics and sound, GUI? The ability to increase the CPU speed for more complicated games and learning software. With a proper IDE to make brand new software that is not ports from MSX.

     

    And if you can't sell it as a Coleco product with a LOGO then make it a brand new nostalgia product with Coleco compatibility.

     

    If you want to release this and then work on a separate product with my ideas then we could chit chat about that as well.

     

    Someone with insider info PM me so we can talk. I am 100% on the level with this.

  16. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    I'll buy once an actual product exists as long as it will run everything ADAM.

     

    If I did have one request it would be to be able to place a rom on an SD card and run it directly without having to inject it into some program like copycart.

    I've been finding that developing a rom on a real ADAM to be quite the pain.

  19. Posted

    I have seen several games and anyone can chime in.

     

    In your experience how smooth can this get.

    Is it smother vertical or horizontal?

     

    For giggles, how plausible would you say scrolling a full screens worth of patterns?

     

    I am doing some research for a new function and I really would appreciate the scoop.

  22. Posted

    I don't want to beat this dead horse but when I am going over my long list of candidates for my next game I was thinking Fix it Felix Jr. Possible or not.

     

    So I wanted to get the specs of the game thinking it would have been 8 bit patterns etc.

     

    Well this came up for sale;

    https://www.amazon.com/Fix-Felix-Jr-Genesis-Homebrew-Collectors/dp/B0176Y7AIW

     

    So this guy is selling a homebrew of a Disney Title.

    As per the dead horse. Is there a guide anywhere concerning Hombrew titles because we had a subtle debate over Smurfs and other copywrited material.

     

    I will leave it at that and eagerly await the release of the mystery rom but being this was the thread all of that came up I just wanted to get anyone's input.

  23. Posted

    Thats a way to do it too, but I think this routine is slower and take up more space than mine :) anyway its not a problem. If you use HL besure to push and pop it, if you are sure you dont use HL before you call your joystick routine, its not a problem, else you would want to push hl just before you set the H,0, and pop it on each of the adresses in JOY_DIR_TABLE.

    Well, I may change some aspects based on directly accessing the ports. Of course that is faster but my concern was that your version only shows 4 directions where as I am shooting for 8.

     

    Mind you I didn't test your code but all I am ready is only 4 directions.

     

    That said, I have to have 8 pure directions because my barrier hits also go against a wall in a diagonal direction.

  24. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    This is what I ultimately ended up with.

     

    MOVE_PLAYER:

    CALL POLLER
    LD A, (CONTROLLER_BUFFER+3)
    CP 0
    JP Z, NO_MOVE

     

    LD H, 0
    LD L, A
    ADD HL, HL
    LD DE, JOY_DIR_TABLE
    ADD HL, DE
    LD A, (HL)
    INC HL
    LD H, (HL)
    LD L, A
    JP (HL)

     

    NO_MOVE:
    RET

    JOY_DIR_TABLE:
    DW DUMMY,NORTH,EAST,NORTH_EAST,SOUTH,DUMMY,SOUTH_EAST
    DW DUMMY,WEST,NORTH_WEST,DUMMY,DUMMY,SOUTH_WEST

    DUMMY:

     

     

    It works great.

     

    But if you guys can really help me out I need a better routine that creates a wall in the tiles that a sprite can not go through.
    I have a routine that checks what patterns are underneath or adjacent to the sprite but it has issues and does not work all the time.

  25. Posted

    Copyrights are the same for everyone and thanks to disney, terms are longer than they use to be. You are certainly free to argue parody for your game; a judge will have the final say on fair use. A cease and desist letter is just a threat and not always fair or just.

    The great thing about a cease and desist order is that by the time you get it, it's already been released.

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