Sprites in Pascal

[Rossman]

It's been quite a few months since I ran anything on real TI iron. All the while I was using the emulator to build out the text UI, then build the graphical UI, and of course experiment in code, I just stopped running on real h/w. In the process, my VDM99 process fell apart as the PC I was using had some configuration problems.

 

I corrected that this weekend. I opened up my first new box of 5.25" diskettes in a long, long time. I got VDM99 working again. And I ran my little card game in full animated Sprite glory on real iron.

 

The screen image isn't as clear as it is in the emulator, probably due to RF interference. I am not using the RF modulator, I soldered a component video adapter a couple of years ago. But the game works, and it is certainly usable, and I find it fun.

 

But I noticed there is something uniquely satisfying about seeing it run on the real h/w.

 

This adds an exclamation point to a week where I got a table saw and a planer from the 1950s, a drill press stand from the 1960s and a lapidary saw/arbor from the 1960s all functioning again. Having tools that were built to last is one thing; using tools that were built to last is entirely another.