The CoCo Nation News stories for Episode 291, December 3, 2022 ================================================ (November 26-December 2) Collected by L. Curtis Boyle CoCoTALK! is becoming The CoCo Nation in the new year. Steve Strowbridge has retired CoCoTALK! and the show will continue under the new name and new management. Coco 1/2/3 (and multi-platform) ------------------------------- Alan @ AC's 8-bit zone released a video about installing the CocoDV on a variety of Coco 1 & Coco 2 models: https://youtu.be/ZztOCo-0GKI Damon Beals in our Discord posted a webpage devoted to installing a 6309 in a Vectrex, and running Scramble modified to run in 6309 native mode (you can see the scrolling terrain is faster/smoother, especially on the right hand side where terrain comes in): https://itwww.hs-pforzheim.de/daten/mitarbeiter/johannsen/vectrex_lab/projects/mc_6309/mc_6309.htm Glen Hewlett (of various arcade transcodes fame) posted a blog post to explain how to stream large files from the CocoSDC, including a library of ASM routines to do so. He also points out a few things that are not currently in the documentation; 1) a stream file must be at LEAST 79,360 bytes long, and 2) it must be padded to a 512 byte boundary; otherwise the CocoSDC will lock up: https://nowhereman999.wordpress.com/2022/11/30/streaming-large-files-on-the-cocosdc/ Allen Huffman made a blog post about a program he wrote for Laverne Ricks back in 1987. It originally started out as a Coco Pen-Pal log and ended up being a Paper Route database for Laverne. He goes through how the program ran and it's features that he wrote just he completed high school in 1987. https://subethasoftware.com/2022/11/30/my-1987-paper-route-program-i-wrote-for-laverne-ricks-in-lufkin-texas/ Allen has also been experimenting with the ChatGPT AI (that has been covered this week by The Verge and other big tech websites), and is fairly impressed with it, including it's (sometimes partially) figuring out BASIC, assembly and C source code. The Coco related blog posts about his experiments: 6809 assembly: https://subethasoftware.com/2022/12/01/chatgpt-ai-can-analyze-6809-assembly-language/ BASIC: https://subethasoftware.com/2022/12/01/openais-chatgpt-knows-basic/ The November episode of the Coco Crew has dropped, including a review of Paul Thayer's recently released CocoBan: cococrew.org Ron Klein has a couple of updates for the CocoPi - XRoar 1.2.719 WIP is now available, as well as MAME 0.250. The MAME update includes Tim Linder's Elanco AgVision & Videotex emulation: https://coco-pi.com/2022/11/ Floyd Resler (author of one of the "new-to-EOU" games in Version 1.0.0, SpaceZap) posted an interesting question/poll on Facebook - How did everyone get their first Coco/Dragon? https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10160322056912641/ Antonio Caballero posted a remastered box template that you can use to replace the box for Direct Connect Modem Pack, on the Coco Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10160320838247641/ Alderson Retro Computing released a brief YouTube video showing his Coco 3 playing GFL Championship Football II, and also his first time on camera: https://youtu.be/I4Q_PIMiy1c Vintage Geek on YouTube did a preview/behind the scenes video of the of the fist exhibit (a computer classroom) that they are setting up for their Vintage Geek Museum in Knoxville, Tennessee (not quite open yet). It has Coco's prominently displayed during the presentation & interview: https://youtu.be/B_y5AoqkAqc Nik Brisevac posted a picture of a 3D printed joystick/paddle controller he got off of Thingiverse, which he has adapted to the Coco: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10160325702397641/ James Ross posted an interesting poll (with over 150 votes already) - what machine did one migrate to for daily work after the Coco? In my case it was the TC-9, and then finally a Windows 98 PC (way after Windows 98 was obsolete): https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10160325673502641/ MC-10 ----- Jim Gerrie continues his semigraphics country flags series, this time rendering the Chinese flag and a strong political statement: https://youtu.be/IJysPa3ZTjQ Robert Sieg posted his Full Screen Project sprite software package for the MC-10, including source code. This used the Gameboy Sprite Generator software make tiles/sprites for the software package in 4x6, 8x8, 8x16, 16x16 and 32x32 resolutions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/731424100317748/posts/5558762370917206/ Dragon 32/64 ------------ wayland on YouTube took up the Mandelbrot Challenge 8 bit Battle Royale Text mode: https://youtu.be/wirvwHVokz4 He then uploaded a semigraphics version to add some color: https://youtu.be/uaamZzfBqJU (This is similar to a BASIC09 version I did about a year ago, on the Coco 3 for both the 6809 and 6309. EOU version 1.0.0 will run a little faster, too) https://youtu.be/5HSlruKzCxk Game On news (all Coco related platforms): ========================================== Color Computer Programing has changed his YouTube channel name to TRS- 80 Retro Programing, and has release a no-commentary update video to his "Tales of Suburbia" graphical adventure game, now in it's second program for Stage 2: https://youtu.be/3cFMfi6XyHg Jim Gerrie has released a port of the Dungeons of Doom RPG game originally by Les Howarth, Cheryl Evans and Chris Oxlade for the 1984 "Write Your Own Adventure Games" book. The version Jim did is based on the BBC Micro, and he added a simple 3D view using the 64x48 SG6 graphics system made by Erico Patricio Monteiro. The game lets you make your own characters and even your own maps: https://youtu.be/aL1-510kX3w Pere Serrat posted the 7th Supersprite FM+ enhanced AGD games for the Coco and Dragon. The 4 games in this pack is: Papyrus Sprouty Stars UFO http://archive.worldofdragon.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11056 Pere also has released the first BIG PACK (a collection of all Supersprite FM+ enhanced AGD games to day - so all 7 separate packs combined - 28 games): http://archive.worldofdragon.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11057 Pere also posted a ZIP file with screenshots from the original Coco/Dragon AGD converted games, to help people select the next games to port to the SuperSprite FM+. He also notes that any games to be converted can not have sprites other than 16x16 - the V9958 chip on the board only supports sprites of that size, and that he is thus working on a list that will exclude games that can't be ported: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dragon32/posts/3333481016911544/ Robert Sieg posted the download for his game port of Flipull, that requires either the VMC-10 emulator or an MCX-128 card on a real MC-10 (screenshot in the comments) and can be found in the MC-10 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/731424100317748/posts/5558938100899633/ The Games Version Comparison channel on YouTube did an interesting video covering the evolution of games based on Robert Heinlein's book, Starship Troopers (unfortunately it doesn't show any gameplay attacking bugs - just running around the map). And it starts with the 1982 Coco game Klendathu by Leo Christopherson: https://youtu.be/zsnF70FAIXc The Video Game Magazine channel on YouTube put up their "slideshow" of Electronic Games magazine issued #1 (October 1981 issue), which actually has a 2 page spread about the first Color Computer. Cool to look at if you have never seen it before: https://youtu.be/AI26yFQWX8Y?t=111 (Also, at 5:21, it has a quick review of Space Trader by Spectral Associates for the Coco, and also a comparison of Football games, including a screenshot of Tandy's Coco Football at 6:12) Ken of Canadian Retro Things put up a video last night of not one, but two new Coco games: CocoBan (by Paul Thayer) and Jumping Joey (by Nick Marentes). He also shows how to use the table of POKE values that Nick put up on his Jumping Joey webpage to get the graphics of other higher semigraphics games from the Coco 1/2 working on a Coco 3 (although text characters will be lost): https://youtu.be/SeDY-eggVWc