Toucan Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Got this in my e-mail today, thought I would share it here: Hi, I'm working on a Parsec remake for the iPhone and iPad. I saw your site about Parsec and read with interest! I've done a lot of research and used original hardware as part of the project. See my YouTube videos of it so far: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgsd0ynw4r_FI_FZY3L2uNQ Let me know if you'd like to beta test! Thanks, Yesung. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Got this in my e-mail today, thought I would share it here: Hi, I'm working on a Parsec remake for the iPhone and iPad. I saw your site about Parsec and read with interest! I've done a lot of research and used original hardware as part of the project. See my YouTube videos of it so far: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgsd0ynw4r_FI_FZY3L2uNQ Let me know if you'd like to beta test! Thanks, Yesung. I would be game to beta test for you. it looks good so far.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Android 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ti99iuc Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 I haven't an iphone but really nice videos !! congrats ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Vorticon Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 The 3D Monster Maze would be a perfect Forth project 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftTango Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Hi, Let me know if you'd like to beta test Parsec on iPhone or iPad. All feedback is of course very welcome and even if you just want a sneak peek at it! Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) Hi, Let me know if you'd like to beta test Parsec on iPhone or iPad. All feedback is of course very welcome and even if you just want a sneak peek at it! Thanks! Welcome to AtariAge. Very nice. I also began a remake (of Parsec) at one points with the intent to replicate details, but also to expand the universe gradually after the first level. In 2006 target was the TI and in 2013 it was PC (to begin with). There was a change here at AtariAge with the option of embedding media content. It has since been fixed somewhat, and I haven't had time to tune most of what I have posted. So you can't see anything, which wasn't much anyway. At some point someone came along and announced a remake of Parsec for Windows Phone 8. I'm guessing it didn't happen as he asked TI for permission. And at the time one reason why I focused a bit on other TI projects. I see a few deviations in your videos. Maybe intentionally in technical playability (like your laser seem to fire more often and without overheating), and change of graphics. What tools / programming language are you using ? Edited March 1, 2016 by sometimes99er 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftTango Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) Yes I think that at least some of the videos are prior to me implementing laser overheating. Permission from TI is a tricky one. I contacted the author of Classic99 who informed me that some 10 years ago he badgered TI until they found someone who even knew what the TI99 was and game him permission to distribute Parsec and other roms. Sadly that TI contact is no longer available as I tried to email him but got an undeliverable... At present I'm going maverick and just doing it. I've remove the TI logo from the landscape though. It's written completely in Swift using Apple's SpriteKit library. I never knew about that Windows Phone remake. Interesting to see a similar-ish approach for the controls. I'm supporting bluetooth controllers too which is a lot more comfortable to play with. I wonder if he'd be interested in reviving it... I noticed he mentioned redoing all the sounds and speech. I used TI hardware to sample all the sounds and dismantled a speech synthesiser to capture the speech before it mixed with other game sounds. I'm very pleased with the results. Glad to have you as a tester, let me know your Apple ID email address and I'll add you in! Edited March 1, 2016 by SoftTango 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) I'm supporting bluetooth controllers too which is a lot more comfortable to play with. Always nice to have the option. I used TI hardware to sample all the sounds and dismantled a speech synthesiser to capture the speech before it mixed with other game sounds. Nice. I was considering having to do that too, or at least sample from MAME/MESS emulation. Glad to have you as a tester, let me know your Apple ID email address and I'll add you in! PM sent. Would have to borrow an iPad occasionally for this. They're uncertain if they can create a private ID for me. I'll watch your videos instead. Sorry. Edited March 1, 2016 by sometimes99er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftTango Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Always nice to have the option. Nice. I was considering having to do that too, or at least sample from MAME/MESS emulation. PM sent. Would have to borrow an iPad occasionally for this. They're uncertain if they can create a private ID for me. I'll watch your videos instead. Sorry. The emulation just didn't give clean enough speech, even using the speech DLL from Classic99. I also noticed that the speech sounded a bit different on different emulators, so I opted for good old fashioned TI hardware. No problem on the testing, I understand if it's someone else's iPad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 You'll get better speech out of MESS -- Classic99 is using a really, really old speech core for the wrong speech chip, so even when everything works smoothly the speech comes out muddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftTango Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) Wow - I found an unspoken phrase in the Parsec ROM - "Laser overheated"! Anyone heard this before? Looking at the code it's never used (commented out). I managed to get Classic99 to speak this phrase tonight and record it to an MP3. I found an unused sprite in the Parsec ROM too, but I never expected to find unused speech - but there it was! Listen : http://picosong.com/hHSZ Edited March 1, 2016 by SoftTango 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) Could you tell me the address in ROM or GROM? Never mind, I found my table again: 7fcc: a000 DATA >a000 Press fire to begin 7fce: a0ed DATA >a0ed Good shot 7fd0: a17f DATA >a17f Countdown 7fd2: a1f1 DATA >a1f1 Five 7fd4: a24a DATA >a24a Four 7fd6: a280 DATA >a280 Three 7fd8: a2b5 DATA >a2b5 Two 7fda: a2e5 DATA >a2e5 One 7fdc: a31d DATA >a31d Advanced: the next level 7fde: a426 DATA >a426 Nice shooting 7fe0: a4d1 DATA >a4d1 Great shot, pilot 7fe2: a590 DATA >a590 Enemy destroyed 7fe4: a69b DATA >a69b Laser on target 7fe6: a798 DATA >a798 Warning: Time to refuel 7fe8: a908 DATA >a908 Laser overheated 7fea: aa22 DATA >aa22 Sorry, you are out of fuel 7fec: ab8b DATA >ab8b Extra ship 7fee: ac16 DATA >ac16 Caution: Asteroid belt 7ff0: ad60 DATA >ad60 Alert: Alien craft advancing 7ff2: af2e DATA >af2e Alert: Ships attacking 7ff4: b046 DATA >b046 Congratulations! 7ff6: b146 DATA >b146 Nice flying Edited March 1, 2016 by mizapf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftTango Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) Yep there it is.... I've altered the Parsec ROM and fired it up under Mess. It sounds a LOT cleaner, but still not authentic to TI hardware really. No warmth to the voice. With MESS : http://picosong.com/hHDT Edited March 1, 2016 by SoftTango 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 (edited) It seems as if the source code also has speech data for "GAME OVER" (page 106)"PLEASE PRESS THE REDO OR BACK KEY" (page 110)"PILOT ERROR ---- SHIP LOST!" (page 123) Edited March 2, 2016 by sometimes99er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftTango Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 (edited) Wow - ok I got a new mini project Update : On looking closer, that other speech data is commented out so maybe isn't in the ROM... However, since we have the source code, it should be possible to re-enter the bytes of LPC data and have the speech generated to hear Aubrée Anderson's dulcet tones speaking long-lost phrases! Edited March 2, 2016 by SoftTango 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 (edited) Update : On looking closer, that other speech data is commented out so maybe isn't in the ROM... However, since we have the source code, it should be possible to re-enter the bytes of LPC data and have the speech generated to hear Aubrée Anderson's dulcet tones speaking long-lost phrases! Yes, it's not in the GROM (as with the others). And yes, you could re-enter it one way or another. I think Willsy has a short assembly program that speaks any length phrase - overrunning the speech queue and halting the CPU until released on real hardware IIRC. Edit: Source code mentioned above: http://www.planet-99.net/wotw.htm Edited March 2, 2016 by sometimes99er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 No warmth to the voice. Right, this is what we could not yet figure out completely. Maybe there is some kind of low-pass filter. Apart from that, the fellow devs already did a quite good job, I think. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 One of my first projects in assembly language back in 1989 was SPEECODER which is a tool to decode and encode LPC data. You can easily dump speech from cartridges when you know the address. This works also nicely in MESS together with the LOAD interrupt switch (which is located on the END key by default). You can load the program in Editor/Assembler option 5 (please press the space bar shortly before loading is complete, or you will run into a nagging copyright screen, and I also included an integrity check in those days which I'd need to understand again to be able to remove that screen ...), then switch cartridges, and press END to re-enter the program (or disable Auto-Reset in the Settings). You can store the LPC code as assembly code lines or as Extended Basic MERGE programs, but only if it fits into a 256 byte string (which is too short for most phrases from Parsec, unfortunately). speecoder.dsk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftTango Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Right, this is what we could not yet figure out completely. Maybe there is some kind of low-pass filter. Apart from that, the fellow devs already did a quite good job, I think. Oh they did an excellent job! But even the best emulation is not *quite* the original hardware 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Oh they did an excellent job! But even the best emulation is not *quite* the original hardware Word up there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftTango Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 True... but without emulation I'd need millions of pounds and a games-room the size of Westminster Abbey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I have a contact at TI who helped me obtain my license for making and selling apparel related to the TI-99/4A. PM me and I will send you her information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 True... but without emulation I'd need millions of pounds and a games-room the size of Westminster Abbey I resemble that remark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftTango Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I have a contact at TI who helped me obtain my license for making and selling apparel related to the TI-99/4A. PM me and I will send you her information. Great thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.