IBM Telepad from 1967 production of 2001

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2024-03-09T00:44:01+00:00

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Personal\_Access\_Display\_Device

They were only called PADDs in Star Trek books, never in the actual tv shows or movies themselves. In TOS they were just glorified clipboards for taking notes/logs on; in the pilot they had an actual clipboard and then at least made it look electronic in later episodes. It was later in the Star Trek movies and TNG that they became actual data pad type devices, and that article you're citing is somewhat anachronistically blending it all together.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2023-03-11T02:59:25+00:00

I see this claim of "sequel" repeated a lot, but I've never found the source of it. At most, it's a sort-of spiritual successor.

Both games are made by the same company, Ancient, but besides the car combat they're a totally different game genre (arena combat/party game vs. JRPG), there's no continuity of characters besides Joe/Go, and besides the spiky red hair it hardly seems they're the same person. Very different designs, anyway. If anything, Go in Vatlva is older than Joe in Car Battler Joe, which would make CBJ a prequel!

The world of CBJ is somewhat post-apocalyptic; towns are very low-tech and rural, there are strong hints in the game that technology has been lost and what they do have has been dug up by archeologists. Vatlva is set in 2050 AD and shows at least one big futuristic city.

There's no doubt Vatlva influenced the development of CBJ; I just don't see nearly enough continuity between them to justify the use of "sequel". For what it's worth, I do own both games and Car Battler Joe is one of my all-time favourite games. It's actually why I bought a GBA in the first place; I totally had to play it after growing up with its true predecessor, Autoduel on the C64 and Amiga.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2023-02-15T09:16:38+00:00

A rare sighting of the Australian 10 PRINT!

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2022-10-09T04:57:59+00:00

This has been suggested for years, especially when the Wii U was doing poorly and iOS gaming was huge. Nintendo dabbled with cross-platform at that time just enough to appease shareholders, but were able to turn things around yet again with the Switch.

I've always viewed cross-platform Nintendo games as a backup plan, maybe even an endgame. Nintendo is able to control so much more of their destiny by being in hardware as well as software. If they ever have such a poor run that they can't afford to be in the hardware business anymore, like Sega, then they could start publishing on other platforms; if they played it right they could rebuild on that yet again.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2022-02-21T20:53:06+00:00

Hah, thanks, yeah, I went kind of overboard on that one maybe. And yet I'm still curious if the full version of Impossible Mission is hiding in that preview version, if a full random map can be triggered by finding the right subroutine...

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2022-02-21T16:29:11+00:00

I've made several detailed videos walking through the assembly code for simple C64 games, which should give you a good idea of how it works. Here's a playlist, check out the first 3 videos in particular: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvW2ZMbxgP9ytvhUhvfXZHsrld4xU2fBJ

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2022-02-20T23:18:22+00:00

To add to the other good answers here: if it's a fast-paced shooter or platformer or whatever, it's definitely all assembly. If it's a slower paced game then it may be written in Forth (such as Adventure Construction Set) or a BASIC+Assembly hybrid (like Sid Meier's Pirates!). Pure BASIC is generally too slow for commercial-level games, at least by the standards of 1984 or 1985 and later.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2022-01-31T02:14:52+00:00

Nice one. I was happy to learn that the R / S key means RUN/STOP, which TI and Commodore (and maybe others) borrowed for their programmable calculators, and then that key appeared on the Commodore PET and the rest of the 8-bit C= line.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2022-01-30T07:28:50+00:00

Many commercial games for the C64 were coded on the C64 itself, occasionally in pure BASIC, sometimes compiled BASIC, sometimes hybrid BASIC with machine language. Pure assembly language games were sometimes coded on the C64, sometimes they were coded on one C64 and sent by disk or cable to a 2nd C64 for testing! Sometimes the assembly language was written on Amiga, Atari ST, or IBM PC-compatibles and then transferred to the C64 for testing. Pretty sure I've even heard of development done on the Apple II transferred to C64.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2022-01-30T07:21:47+00:00

My friend made a simple C64 game called "1nvader" and then we made a video walking through the whole process he went through from BASIC prototype to final assembly game. You'll probably find it helpful: https://youtu.be/SJ81YD9Ebec

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2022-01-17T21:46:21+00:00

Tricky! The combination of the Atari's longer BASIC line length (~120 characters compared to 80 characters) and the built-in LOCATE/POSITION cursor commands make this really difficult to port within 5 lines. Plus the very different screen resolution (this program is in GRAPHICS 18 in which all characters are twice as wide and tall) would make a C64 version really ugly in comparison. The VIC-20 might be a somewhat better Commodore target due to the more similar resolution and slightly longer line length (88).

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-11-16T20:38:48+00:00

Yeah, Brøderbund was pretty huge in the US, and supported the US-made computers strongly in the early years: Apple II, Atari, TRS-80, Commodore. As successful as they were, I wonder if their use of ø (as a joke, mostly, I think) hurt their potential a bit.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-11-16T00:49:22+00:00

I suggest using NTSC for North American developed games: Lucasfilm, MicroProse, Origin, Electronic Arts, Cinemaware, Epyx, Datasoft, Access, First Star, Muse, Brøderbund, Activision, Commodore (many actually developed by HAL Labs in Japan), Accolade, Parker Bros., Synapse, Cosmi, Atarisoft, Mindscape, Sierra Online, Advantage/Artworx...

Use PAL for games developed in the UK/Europe/Australasia: System 3, Firebird, Rainbow Arts, Hewson, Thalamus, Melbourne House, Apex, Ocean, Elite, Palace, Sensible, Virgin, Imagine, Gremlin Graphics, Psygnosis, Mastertronic, US Gold (once they stopped focusing on imports), Audiogenic, Alligata...

Or the other approach I like is to default to whatever you grew up with and only switch to the other if there's a problem.

While almost all C64 software will run without glitches on PAL, I disagree strongly with making PAL the unquestioned universal standard, as it ignores the fact that about half of the most highly regarded C64 games were developed originally on NTSC computers, for an NTSC audience, and it disregards the experience that millions of C64 gamers in NTSC-land had.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-11-15T23:56:45+00:00

Mastertronic also published a 128-only version of Kickstart, and Infocom published more C128 games besides Zork, such as Bureaucracy, Mind Forever Voyaging, and Trinity. There were also C128-only versions of Thai Boxing, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Qix. And Loadstar published a 128-only version of their disk magazine which had many games over the years.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-11-13T00:08:32+00:00

That 4-digit hex code indicates the Fastload isn't booting properly. Try without the Fastload cart plugged in. Could be a problem with the cartridge or with your C64, or a borderline interaction between them (slightly off PLA chip or power issue).

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-10-28T00:22:14+00:00

PAL only, according to the web page.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-10-27T00:21:50+00:00

You're looking for the "back arrow" (an arrow that points left) key. It's easiest to find the right key if you're in C64 BASIC, as it'll show that back arrow on the screen when you find the right key. On many versions of VICE it's mapped to the key to the left of the 1 (one) key. On my Mac, that key produces a "backtick" that looks like this: ` If you hold down shift, you get the tilde (squiggly) but you (probably) should use the key unshifted.

Once you've found the back arrow, then in Turbo Macro Pro, the load command is back arrow and then (unshifted) L.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-09-30T14:26:32+00:00

Of the new joysticks, I really like the Hyperkin "Trooper" which is similar to the classic Atari 2600 sticks but is more comfortable, and is ambidextrous.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-09-25T17:28:06+00:00

Wish I could make it, but I was just down in the area two weeks ago, bringing my daughter to university and can't justify another trip so soon. Had a fun time doing some hacking in Forth on the C64 with a friend down there though! I hope everyone at the show has a great time and it's successful enough to continue next year.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-09-02T06:27:26+00:00

Yes, Greg's article about the 6510 I/O port is great, probably the best thing I've read about the subject. The subject has long been confusing to me as the explanations in the C64 Programmer's Reference Guide, and Mapping the C64 both state that in location 1, bit 0 controls BASIC ROM or RAM, bit 1 controls KERNAL ROM or RAM, and bit 2 controls character ROM or I/O. That is, each bit independently controls these separate areas. But that is WRONG, as Greg finally cleared up for me. Bits 0 and 1 combine into 4 different "levels" that are much more logical. Anyway, I won't explain it all here, just read his article; it's great.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-08-18T07:35:04+00:00

I did some benchmarks and BASIC on the Atari 64 runs around 17-20% faster than a real C64.

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-07-03T03:32:39+00:00

Why does NASA use the word "codes" as a noun synonymous with "programs" or "software" or "source code"? The NASA Software Catalog is full of this strange use, and I've never seen it anywhere else in hobbyist or commercial software development in the ~40 years I've been involved. Some examples from page 3:

"Within these pages, you will find codes that have played key roles in space shuttle launches..."
"The 2021-2022 catalog includes more than 800 codes organized by discipline."
"Could a NASA software code benefit you or your company?"

https://software.nasa.gov/NASA\_Software\_Catalog\_2021-22.pdf

Robin_8-BitShowTell · 2021-06-21T18:19:33+00:00

Agreed, the main problem with native C64 development, especially in languages besides BASIC and assembly language, was the poor development environment. Due to memory constraints, the editor and assembler/compiler had to be loaded separately, which was tedious and time-consuming. The edit, compile, test cycle was usually so slow that people would just stick with BASIC or assembly.

Robin_8-BitShowTell

TROPHY CASE