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Mike Harris

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Posts posted by Mike Harris

  1. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    7 hours ago, Asmusr said:

    Newcoleco mentions a similar tool for the Coleco that would most likely be better suited.

    His tool just plays a sound list and does not rip or do anything while your tool actually gives a notes and duration list ect...

     

    Anyway....It was a thought that would be extremely helpful to myself and the programing community at large and I have yet to find a post of where he released his ripper in DOS from a long time ago.

     

  3. Posted

    What would be really awesome if this was modified to output Assembly language to other formats such as Coleco.

    It would be awesome to rip sound effects and/or music from established games which would cut down programing time for those of us that can't hum a digital tune.

  4. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    Just curious as to why when it's running the TI Splash screen pops up.
    I an thinking now that this is not original code after all.

     

    Hey, if you can get it to run just by altering a few things then why reinvent the wheel.

     

    I do want the ADAM Colored Collectorvision but am going to wait until it's been released for a couple months after they get any kinks out that might show up.

  5. Posted

    Every game that was on the TI994A should be on the Colecovision being as they has the same graphics chip.
    I am working on Blasto as of this entry.

    I suspect the only reason why TI games have not been ported is because they are not MSX games and it takes effort to reprogram the code to a Z80 CPU.
     

    You need to rewrite the routines and the most you can really use from the TI994A would be pattern and color data where as MSX is pretty much add a Super Game Module and there you go.  (simplified but you get the idea)

    My Adventure clone, which is almost done, had to be completely rewritten from the Atari 2600 due to so many differences that I could go on for another thousand words.  TI games...Not so hard.
     

    • Like 1

  6. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    56 minutes ago, FiveJay said:

    Actually I see the larger problem with this approach; what is the output method of this power supply? It doesn’t have the customizable posts like the ones you guys mentioned so I don’t think I’ll be able to make it work

    Trust me when I say I have looked, I have asked, I have prodded, I have knocked...
     

    You don't need such a complicated power supply.
    The only reason why you would try that large PC power supply is if you can't spring for the $20 or so dollars for whichever link you follow.  Nothing implied, just you want to use what you have handy.

    The one that I ended up with is just the right size to go inside the ADAM Well and not block any of the expansion ports.

     

    A switch, a plug for the wall and a few pieces of wire.  Of course minimal soldering skills and whatever to make it look fancy even a power LED.

    So far it has been a solid device and just works.  Why complicate things more than they have to be.

    • Like 1

  7. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    3 hours ago, NIAD said:

    How can it be a ripoff when no one owns the rights to the program unless you are referring to the price.

     

    CGP / Project Name by Line is a Coleco In-House utility program that was originally made available on Disk and DDP. Jim Walters was the first to make it available on a cartridge at a reasonable price. I think the one pictured in the eBay listing was made by the consortium of eColeco / Telegames / CBS or this was made and sold at CGE in the early 2000s.

     

    There are two versions... one that will capture the currently displayed screen when the Cartridge Reset switch is pressed and one that will not.

     

     

    Ripoff in the fact that I have seen so much bogus software and then trying to sell it for $200.


    The idea was to get more information about it.  Whoever is selling it has the right to make whatever they want off it.
    When I can not find it in the public domain anywhere or my collection I just thought it was fake.
    I read that Walters Software was now legal to share but still have yet to see it.  Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.
    Either way, the more I research the more I learn about Coleco history.

     

     

    And just found it by a different name...

  8. Posted

    1 hour ago, mr_me said:

    Qwak could probably be done on colecovision, although the side scrolling might take a bit more effort.  The game reminds me a bit of Konami's Loco-motion.

    When you have a game like Diablo then there is no reason why you can't make this.

    There are similar things I am working on but coming across movable tile patterns is one of those BIOS functions that getting information is hard to come by so it takes longer to develop new routines.

  9. Posted

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T9RKD2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

     

    Solder lines to your power supply plug.

    Connect to a power line.

    Works perfectly at least the one I bought.

    Of course this is a quick and dirty way to write this but that is the basics.
    As part of a larger guide I am going to put this in my blog along with the disk drive emulator and RECAP.

     

    I am not the first one to do any of this so any one of these guide should do.
    However, I am suggesting that if you change the power supply to something more stable and strong that you might want to RECAP your ADAM for a smoother ride for years to come.

    I plugged my ADAM in that was never used and it blew a TANT cap which controlled the 12 volt line.
    Meaning all of these old parts can go at any time.

    • Like 2

  11. Posted

    1 hour ago, G8rDuc said:

     

    I think a lot of Trans Am owners would take offense to your statement ;)

     

    ADAMs were far from garbage. And the classic label is all determined by the users. There's obviously a strong base if this machine is still sought after and being developed for. So what exactly defines a classic if not age and following?

    I bought my 1982 Trans-Am because of Knight Rider and when it wasn't broke down it fish tailed when turning corners thanks to being heavy in the front where the engine was and nothing in the back where the ONE drive wheel touched the pavement.
     

    I'll still defend ADAM to this day but it was garbage in it's design and about the only cutting edge development would be the ADAMnet aspect of it.

    If I tried hard enough I am sure that I could connect an Arduino up to it so it could control my entire house.

     

    If Coleco didn't bail and continued development on the damn thing they would be running the show today and the competition would be the Amiga.

  12. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    Seriously, what are the odds Steven Spielberg actually played video games in the 80's.

    In every one of the movies that they rely on ticket sales to go to some middle aged dude reliving his teenage or childhood years.

     

    They throw a ton of crap together, obviously from a thrift store, with no theme to it then put a kid from today that would spit on a console from back then after growing up around an XBox 360.

    Add Tom Sayer as background music and there you go.
     

    Both Pixels and Ready Player One were lame and I have a love hate relationship with the 80's.
    The best time growing up, would not mind visiting with a time machine but I would not want to settle there.
     

    Bally's Alladin Castle at the mall was it but that also came with a lot of broken hearts dating.
     

    And that's my rant.

  13. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    I am STOKED about developing for the ADAM however here is the consideration...
    The differences between the ADAM and the Colecovision but not what you think.

    The main is the Disk Drive and the Digital Data Drive while all else is moot unless you create a game or software that uses the keyboard.

    Sure, a tiny bit of extra memory but the same sound and the same graphics chip.

    So, you want to make a DDP based game within the 256k world then you are giving or selling to someone with that drive.
     

    When you create a nostalgia game for the Commodore 64 the norm was a C64 and disk drive.
    You create a disk or a tape with all the packaging...

    For the Coleco ADAM the norm is pretty much Cartridges or DDP.  Very little was released on Disk.

    In any case, bring it on...

    I'll contribute where I can.
    Upgrade the CPM to 2.3

    Create a new Smart Basic

    Create a version of Dos that could run old EGA games???

    Who knows

  14. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    This is not to sound negative but the ADAM was a piece of garbage that I loved.
    I write programs for it the best I can but as far as original hardware they are like the FBody Trans AM  GARBAGE and not a classic no matter how you slice it.

    The only reason why the drives are so high on ebay is because people can sell them for that price buying into the illusion that just because they are from the 80's they are worth it.  Maybe last year but not now when there are alternatives.
     

    I wanted one just to transfer my old files but you have some unreasonable dude that wants to over price them so I put an old disk drive in my PC and backed up all my disks that way.  Now they are all on an SD card along with every other piece of Coleco software I can get my mitts on and it did not cost me $300.
     

    If I were a collector then I would buy and set it on a shelf.
    After my mothers funeral where all her stuff went to good will or the garbage...All I see is my collection going back on ebay for some estate sale, trash or the recycle center.


    So at the end I decided to use my money for vacations and my family.

    Get what you can for them and move on.

  15. Posted

    Being as this is specific and I see no hardware area to post in then I will do it here.

    Can I safely assume that the Digital Data Drives Hardware is nothing more than a motor control unit and that the independent 1601 CPU that controls with BIOS instruction is mounted on the ADAM logic board?

    Unlike the Disk Drive which is an all in one device that connects to the ADAM NET.
     

    I am finding that the pin outs on the main board for DATA do not connect to the DATA on ADAM NET directly.

    Technology that makes sense in the 80's, especially when you would have redundant chips and space on the DDDrive.
    Definitely not for today especially with surface mount.

     

  19. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    13 hours ago, artrag said:

    Use Magellan from the Ti99 forum for tiles and sprites 

    Use ix and iy to access to data structures. This is their main purpose and they lead to code both effective and readable when used for structures. 

    If you are using sjasm as assembler you can also give names to each field. This leads to code easy to understand and modify. 

     

    Could you provide a link.

    I have searched far and wide for this and others but it seems all the familiar spots have dead links or the tools just do not work including this website.

     

    If you have a copy could you post it.

    That's the thing about 30 year old system is that the modern tools of today are meant for modern programing.

    Until I get something it's all by hand like tradition.

  20. Posted

    On 7/17/2019 at 6:09 AM, Tony Cruise said:

    I use IX and IY where the importance of readability is higher than raw speed.  As mentioned above it is a simple way to access structured data, and can is supported for 16-math operations i.e. ADC.

    So keep IX and IY out of your NMI routine where every cycle is important, but use them elsewhere where you should have plenty of cycles available and it's more important to simplify your code so it is readable, easily understandable and thus easier to complete your actual code logic (and debug it).

    Speed of a single instruction is not important, it is how a whole section of code runs and can be understood (so you can diagnose and fix bugs).

    Try my Sprite and Tile Editor, the tile part still needs a bit more work but it can do most of what you want.

    I use your editor all the time and I like the 3 tab that you have a screen layout.

    However, in my opinion, being able to draw within those squares then expand each square for finer details.

    After that then send all the patterns to the pattern list so it can be output to ASM or C.

    The way you have it now is too exhausting going back and forth between tabs, no docks for the colors.

    I am in no way criticizing or ungrateful, I wish I had your abilities and I would make a version that fits my needs.
     

  21. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    Bit of a quandary here...So now it comes to THE BRIDGE!

     

    I changed the title because it doesn't attract the right attention.

     

     

    In my Adventure clone I am stuck on one of the most ordinary objects in the game namely the Bridge.

    Mind you it's not the moving through objects, that was the easiest things to solve just by turning off the boundary check.

    My issue is with the size of the bridge.

    I have two choices, a) is to leave the bridge thin and just say hey, it's Coleco's limitation or b) make one using the pattern system.
    I understand they are slower and what not but I wanted to at least try but using the movable object system is almost non existent in the programing documentation outside of the description.

    I know I used it in SmartBasic with Shape Tables if my memory is correct, hell I don't even know if they were Shape Tables or that was just a feature of SB, no idea what was actually under the hood at a programing level.

    All that said can anyone give an example of setup and execute even if it is very brief.
     

    This would be a tremendous help otherwise I am going to do a third option that I cringe which is chain sprites together.  This will work but limits to what I can do on screen being 4 sprites per line.

    TIA...

    A few more things and then it is bugs and polishing then release.

  22. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    Thanks, I think I have it now or a basic understanding.
     

    When I really take a close look it seems to just be a register that handles one extra step that I can already do with DE or HL.

    I am really finding out that my only limitations on the Coleco are speed and the tools to create stuff.
     

    It would be nice if we had a modern paint program that breaks your image into 8x8 tiles then converts it to assembly language.  I looked in MSX forums and around but nothing that will do the job.

     

    The game was challenging but in it's final stretch but the title screen and maybe a tune???  Is the most time consuming.

     

    Thanks brother....be back sometime next week

  23. Posted · Edited by Mike Harris

    This is a basic programing in Z80 question that I hope someone will answer by the time I return on the 15th.

    All I really know about the IY and IX registers is that they take more cycles but them being index registers exactly why would I need to use them outside of an array or some similar deal.

     

    Why even use them unless you run out of other registers...


    I've seen them used for moving sprites, I've seen them in Joystick routines but I only see them being used just like every other register.

    Do they hold some special power, can someone elaborate because on the flip side, I can look it up in a Z80 manual but then I have to decipher the jargon.


     

  24. Posted

    I dig this and would like to get one.

     

    I have two VDD's from MicroFox and although they do the job there are shortcomings.

    Personally to do what I want it's just a hassle with the MF VDD's and my emails just to put it frankly is there will be no updates or improvements.

     

    So, I have no issue buying at least one of these and use the MF for backups or sell them.

     

    If I had a wish list it would be one that you can literally place it in a DDP drive space and plug it in to the DDP connectors.
    Powered by ADAM and a direct connect to ADAMNET.

    I really wish I took electronic engineering in school instead of puzzle and game theory.

     

    Someone PM me who is selling these things.

    I seen it a picture on FB but no address or links by someone named John Lundy but I deleted my FB account a long time ago because of their security issues.

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