Why emulation isn't enough...

Schlowski · Post by **Schlowski** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:33 pm

Touché

It's really too bad, I run this editor on 4 different machines, 2 W2K, 1 XP Home and 1 XP Professional without any problems - beside my own bugs, of course

I don't think that you are in posession of VB 6, otherwise I would send you the source and then you could try to find out what's going on.

But back to topic, I think that just because everything is stuck together it's more important to have each basic line on it's own screen line so that at least finding line numbers as jump destinations is not as difficult as now - you always have to look that you don't mess up constant values and line numbers only because they are at the beginning of a screen line...

Even back in the beginning of the eighties I disliked the 22 columns on a vic as I saw 40 columns on our school PETs and on the TRS80-clone a friend of mine had.

Björg

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 3:40 pm

Wasn't there a computer with only 16 columns?

TMR · Post by **TMR** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:14 pm

carlsson wrote:Also, many of the larger software houses in the old days, in particular for the C64 but probably for VIC-20 too, seem to have used mainframes or at least PCs for developing...

Imagine used Sage minicomputers to develop games, the Commercial Breaks documentary shows an office full of 'em connected to Spectrums and C64s so it's possible that the earlier VIC titles (the documentary covers the crashing and burning of Imagine, well worth watching because it's like seeing a car accident in slow motion!) were written the same way.

Jeff Minter's later VIC titles were, i believe, assembled on a C64.

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:04 pm

Too bad about Imagine. One of my Swedish magazines features an interview with Eugene Evans at the age of 16, an arrogant but skilled programmer and businessman.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:53 pm

carlsson wrote:. . . at the age of 16, an arrogant but skilled programmer and businessman.

What 16 year old wouldn't be?

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:58 pm

Hm, true. But I think 16 year olds in 1983 on the average may be a bit more humble than 16 years olds are today. Or maybe a fair bit of arrogance is needed if you have the talent and want immediate success as well as some money for your work.

He started at the age of 12 (1979 or so) with an Acorn Atom, upgraded to an Apple II and later began making VIC-20 games. In 1983, it was reported that he made at least a few hundred thousand pounds a year.

-"Our VIC and Spectrum games are among the best in the market."

-"Look at my games (Wacky Waiters, Catcha Snatcha) where I use something similar to sprites. That routine took me two weeks to develop, and I then use it in all my programs. I fit more stuff into a 3.5K program than most people can fit in 16K."

The article ends with a comparison to "Cavern Club" in Liverpool, where Beatles once was founded. Maybe in 20 years from 1983, people will travel there to see where Imagine software once started. Now we're there, but I doubt the place still exists and no tourists - not even home computer fans like us - would go there to look.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 6:50 pm

Among nerds there is always the "arrogant nerd" -- picked on in grade school, rich too soon, compensaatory cocky-ness.

TMR · Post by **TMR** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:07 am

carlsson wrote:Maybe in 20 years from 1983, people will travel there to see where Imagine software once started. Now we're there, but I doubt the place still exists and no tourists - not even home computer fans like us - would go there to look.

Actually, i know a few people who do that kind of thing already with the Acclaim and Software Creations offices in Manchester... me, i've always found it a little pointless; there's a solitary logo on the building in one case (i believe it's still there) and no signs of it's former occupiers at all in the other. i just go to Manchester to see friends. =-)

CurtisP · Post by **CurtisP** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:04 pm

carlsson wrote:Wasn't there a computer with only 16 columns?

The only computer I can think of with 16 columns would be various Sharp/Tandy Pocket Computers.

As for computers that use a CRT display, I would say that the Vic 20 wins for least columns. Even the ZX-81 had 32 columns.

Leeeeee · Post by **Leeeeee** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 2:53 am

The Ohio Superboard claimed 24 characters/line but on a domestic TV that could be as few as 22 visible across the entire screen. This is with no borders, 22 characters from screen edge to screen edge.

Lee.