[Index]
The Coco Nation News stories for Episode 377, August 31, 2024
===================================================================
Collected by L. Curtis Boyle
Special Guests today:
---------------------
We have a whole panel to talk about WORC (World of Retro Computing)
show that is happening in Kitchener, Ontario on Sep. 14-15:
Justus (who is in charge of WORC (World of Retro Computing)), Frank of
Retrorewind.ca (who is a sponsor), Trina (of Trina's Technobabble (and
other shows) on YouTube) who first attended last year and is going again
this year, and Stacey Vetzal, a former Commodore employee and long time
Coco user who will be showing off some stuff on her Coco at the show.
Video clip from last year's show (and you may remember that Frank took us
on a little live tour as well) (1:19) briefly shows a Coco 3 playing Glen
Hewlett's PacMan transcode):
https://youtu.be/tzimLoh97I8?si=0NymsOHf7yaavkjE
Interview schedule:
--------------------
None
Upcoming conventions/trade shows of interest to Coco people:
------------------------------------------------------------
VCF-Midwest has moved (slightly) again to the 50,000 square foot "Convention
North" space (they sold out of table space with the original "Exploration
Hall" area which was 33,000 square feet at the Renaissance Schaumburg
Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL. Sept 7-8, 2024 (Sept 6 evening (Friday)
is reserved for vendors, etc to set up). They have added multiple hotels
which people can book into, as the original sold out quickly.
https://vcfmw.org/
The same weekend as VCF-Midwest is VCF Europa. This is the VCF for Europe,
held at the Multi-purpose hall of ESV Munich East in Munich, Germany
(and one should know that the talks will be in German) September 7-8,
2024. There are 1 and 2 passes for both individuals and families.
http://vcfe.org/E/
The World of Retro Computing 2024 is September 14-15 in Kitchener, Ontario,
Canada (west of Toronto). This year it is located in the old Goudies
Department Store, 8 Queen Street North. Free admission, and this covers all
kinds of retro computers. Some people in the Coco community are planning on
going, and Stacy Vetzal from the Coco Facebook group is planning on having
a booth. We are hoping to have 4 guests on next week to talk about the show:
https://worldofretrocomputing.com/2024-worc-expo
Tandy Assembly for 2024 has been announced for Sep 27-29, 2024. An update
from Pete on August 9 - they have now sold out of tables for the show! And
another announcement - Steve Leininger, the designer of the TRS-80, is
the keynote speaker!
http://www.tandyassembly.com/speakers.html">http://www.tandyassembly.com/speakers.html
Courtyard by Marriott Springfield
Springfield, Ohio
http://www.tandyassembly.com/
Also that weekend is the Amigos next live ICC (International Computer
Club), which will be at 4 PM EST on September 28. This is for all retro
computers & gaming consoles. It streams live on their Twitch channel and
YouTube channels)
The Dragon Meetup is 100% official now: October 12-13, 2024 at the Museum
of Technology in Cambridge, England:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dragon32/posts/3776261519300156/
Retro Computer Festival 2024: November 9-10, 2024
Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England
In the early stages of planning for this year, this is (I believe) the
largest general retro computing show in the UK (it's their VCF style show),
covering all retro machines. Tickets can be ordered online for individual
days or both days.
All of their events (including separate entries for both days) at the
bottom of this page:
https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/pages/30677/What-s-On/
The Saturday event specifically:
https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/
VCF East has had a date change for next years show due to a scheduling
conflict. It is now April 4-6, 2025 - same facility as this year. Info
Age Science Museum, Wall, NJ.
Coco 1/2/3 (and multi-platform)
-------------------------------
1) Lots of Coco specific updates/bug fixes for ugBASIC, both on the main
branch and beta:
Main:
Fixed memory exhausting re-using static strings (6809)
Fixed wrong IRQ usage in BELL command (coco / coco3)
Fixed add with 32 bit constants under 6809
Fixed disruptive optimization rule under 6809
Beta:
Fixed DUP instruction
Fixed memory exhausting re-using static strings (6809)
Fixed wrong IRQ usage in BELL command (coco / coco3)
Fixed add with 32 bit constants under 6809
Fixed MID function under 6809
Fixed disruptive optimization rule under 6809
Fixed note selection on PLAY
Fixed default duration and octave for PLAY command
Fixed error messages
https://ugbasic.iwashere.eu/changelog
2) George Janssen has released Lesson 13 of his Coco 3 assembly language
tutorials, this one about Structures and macros (and it actually applies
to all 3 Coco's). He has already put the DSK image of the source into his
channel on the Coco Discord:
https://youtu.be/KClvWSJD5Yc?si=UpY7ZLj33SeC3i5c
3) Bob Emery released a video on building the Artemis keyboard version
2. This is condensed version of the livestream he did during The Coco
Nation Show two weeks ago, and with extra explanations and information
that was not present on the original live stream:
https://youtu.be/G2QLdrBMWnM?si=FcMLZvWCcR38jMXJ
4) Coco Town released Game Revolutions cycle 20 for his Moon Patrol style
game - this time adding hit detection and animated explosions. Bugs and
hilarity ensue:
https://youtu.be/qcT5xE-r1iw?si=cxwZ-FT2n5JmeTat
5) Glen Hewlett has a new version 2.00 release on his Github for
BASIC-to-6809 compiler, as well as an expanded readme file that shows all
the changes done on recent versions. The 2.00 version handles a lot more
variables, an improved token parser, internal changes to make adding new
BASIC commands much easier, greatly improved horizontal line drawing speed
(which also speeds up box and filled box options):
https://github.com/nowhereman999/BASIC-To-6809/tree/main
6) epooch on the Coco Discord (sorry, have no idea who that is) has
announced Retro Challenge for October 2024 (I believe that this is an annual
event?). The challenge is to do at least one of: 1) Do something new with
your retrocomputer, 2) learn something new involving your retrocomptuer,
3) Just play with it over the month. Further details on their website,
including two themes for this particular one:
https://www.retrochallenge.org/
7) Jim Mullis is using a new technique in his Super Powers game, and has
freed up some graphics memory. He is taking a poll this next week on what
people would like to see that freed up RAM used for (in the #super-powers
channel on the Coco Discord), so please go and vote. The 4 options are:
a) Add another super-villain to fight on each level
b) Make each level longer
c) Add more attacks/moves/animations for each character
d) Make some big animations going on in the background
8) Pedro (Rocky Hill on YouTube) put up a video of him building his own
Artemis keyboard for the Coco:
https://youtu.be/HwkgT6ArVU4?si=gMpvBsVr-75Sj7ew
9) For those that want to see all 64 colors at once for the Coco 3, Marc
Maltais uploaded a DSK image to the Coco Facebook group that lets you see
them. I *think* this is the one that Rick Adams and Dale Lear wrote way
back in 1986?
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10161583618167641/
10) Thomas Cherryhomes is currently working on a network Shell for the,
and released a video about it (He has CD and DIR working). Unfortunately,
as he writes about in the comments, he had to stop due to file based access
with HDB-DOS and CMOC:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10161577460957641/
Github for the project:
https://github.com/FujiNetWIFI/fujinet-apps/tree/master/nsh/coco
11) David Collins posted a video demoing the staging environment and upgrades
to the Dunfield mono09, on David's 63C09 single board computer that we
have been covering. He also talks about his upcoming display at VCF-MW:
https://youtu.be/3bMhbnmMmfc?si=gF-jdM8wnIZ35Ruz
12) Mark Overholser let me know that Dave's Garage posted a video about
the former Living Computer Museum in Seattle (the one that Paul Allen,
co-founder of Microsoft, had created and his family is now selling everything
off after his passing. Seemingly against his wishes). Mark pointed to a
particular bit that showed a Coco 3 playing Dungeons of Daggorath in one
of the "period" rooms:
https://youtu.be/OohnXELGQ74?t=212
13) And, in the general computer history category, Henry Strickland pointed
out that the Internet Archive has recently digitized 53 episodes of the
radio show "The Famous Computer Cafe" (a radio show 1983-1986 that was
on multiple radio stations in central and southern California). The ones
that have been found and digitized are from November 17, 1984 to July 12,
1985, and includes many big names from the computer industry and tech
enthusiasts. Many more episodes are still missing, and there is now hope
that they can be found:
https://blog.archive.org/2024/08/19/archiving-the-famous-computer-cafe/
Two interesting interview are:
A) Jon Shirley while he was the president of Microsoft... this was after
he was recruited from Radio Shack where he had been at for 25 years,
including as Vice President of Computer Merchandising):
https://archive.org/details/the-famous-computer-cafe-1984-12-12_John_Shirley_Microsoft
B) Douglas Adams (author of the Hitchikers Guide book series, amongst
others) and Steve Meretzky of Infocom on making the Hitchhikers Guide to the
Galaxy text adventure, which came out on many systems, including the Coco):
https://archive.org/details/the-famous-computer-cafe-1984-12-21_Douglas_Adams_and_Steve_Meretzky
(Henry also mentions that those of us who can afford to, to please donate
the Internet Archive. They archive software, magazines, etc. including Coco &
Dragon stuff, and have had some legal hurdles to go through in recent years).
14) Randy Kindig interviewed Steve Leininger (Line-ing-er) who designed the
original TRS-80 and did work on the Coco as well, although that is just
lightly touched on in this interview) for his Floppy Days podcast. Steve
will also be the keynote speaker at Tandy Assembly this year:
https://youtu.be/RtUCaUlJkkU?si=3H4Hgyuh_-hzcNQp
15) Ciaran Anscomb has put up a snapshot of XRoar for testing a new keyboard
layer that should allow non-US/non-UK keyboards to match keys across foreign
keyboards, and would like that tested (particularly under OS's other than
Linux). There is some feedback already in the worldofdragon.org forums:
https://archive.worldofdragon.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11189
16) Davy Mitchell put up a blog post about his SepTandy project for this
year - he is going to work on a sound effects utility for BASIC that will
help "you compose those PLAY statements - usually at Tempo 255 to create
those bleeps and burbles for my BASIC programs. This will run on both
Tandy and Dragons":
https://davysretrocorner.blogspot.com/2024/08/septtandy-project-announcement-2024.html
MC-10
-----
1)
Dragon 32/64
------------
1) Robert Lister posted some photos of "Big box" programs for the Dragon
from back in the day (both front and back). Better than 95% of what we
got for the Coco in North America:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dragon32/posts/3792153651044276/
2) John Whitworth posted a photo of his DragonPlus board - with the 6845 80
column card installed, which allows screen output from both it and the VDG:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dragon32/posts/3786619258264382/
Game On news (all Coco related platforms):
==========================================
1) Brent and Aaron return on The Coco Show episode 54 with their review
(and reviews from others) of Demolition Derby by John Gabbard of Spectral
Associates, and sold by Tandy:
https://youtu.be/TnIy8M-J0uM?si=If4EySGOfpVGvUdQ
2) Jim Gerrie has ported one of Greg Zumwalt's earliest Coco games (Lunar
Lander, written in February of 1981 and sold by American Small Business
Computers) to the MC-10 with MCX-BASIC (either the MCX-128 or the MC32-SD):
https://youtu.be/97kjSOvddHc?si=GHoX4yvU-RQ7xix0
He then updated his port of "Cavernes dans le poquette", originally by
Charles Feydy in 1982 in TRACE magazine for the TRS-80 Pocket Computer
1. Originally written in French, it is not only translated but now also
includes an "alternate exponent function" to overcome a limitation in
the MC-10's BASIC exponent. The PC-1 had 8 decimal points of accuracy
(the MC-10 apparently has 7) which was used for room directions for each
room. This is a long play video (12.5 minutes), and it should be pointed
out that the PC-1 I think had a 26 character x 1 line screen, which is
partly why the descriptions are rather short:
https://youtu.be/M8UySLhMr80?si=LZP1NzSPa-9j-hUK
Jim ported some others as well that he just has screenshots for in the
MC-10 group on Facebook:
Death Ship from Aardvark, to which he added an SG4 graphics title screen,
and The Tofu game we mentioned earlier (pics in the comments as well). The
comments also has links to the programs:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/731424100317748/posts/7966767973449955/
3) Paul Shoemaker showed a brief animated clip of his new Coco game in
progress:
(show local "Lava_Hero preview (Paul Shoemaker).gif")
4) Chronologically Gaming covered some more Coco and Dragon games from
October 1982 this week:
Enchanted Forest - an early graphical adventure game for the Coco:
https://youtu.be/kCg_OowKcms?si=AG1KgaA0161MUP_F&t=1438
Dunkey Munkey (with the wrong colorset):
https://youtu.be/_AY7CB7zwcY?si=5tkN2s1SExHnRxoV&t=1389
Flipper (Coco):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie0IfviiVJE&t=44s
Flipper (Dragon):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie0IfviiVJE&t=278s
On yesterday's show, a brief mention of Jigsaw for the Dragon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLIJju6_x_E&t=431s
5) Erico Monteiro finally got to play is COCON fighter game on a CP-400
with one of it's original joysticks:
https://youtu.be/jVgid3dPXc0?si=FmCiQNBUQM8LHeJc
6) Sibling Rivalry, with Tim and AJ, released a monster gameplay video
yesterday - almost 2 hours of Dungeons of Daggorath goodness! And this is
just part 1! (This of course means that they are doing it *right*!)
https://youtu.be/ibmIO-sJOzQ?si=Xxwnhjz2G7rXWbV4
7) Davy Mitchell has another Dragon 32 game type in (from Dragon Magazine
January 1984, originally by C. Garrington), which is a Lunar Lander style
game except that it takes place on Mars. David also did some updates to
the original, adding a fuel gain, fancier crashing effect, adding a title
screen and fixing some bugs:
https://youtu.be/H2dRRfGkjzI?si=2dk-kpxfHQtIMOEd
8) Nostalgiavault on YouTube did a playthrough of the MC-10 version of
the new Inufuto game, Osotos:
https://youtu.be/o8Hui2-pRMo?si=jpr6tHN8IriwdwVr
9) Radiant Mythology on YouTube put up a super quick review of Galagon on
the Dragon. It shows the original cassette first, and then has a simple
text screen with his review of the game (no screenshots or gameplay):
https://youtu.be/oT2WMew-U08?si=PpR9orsBrmJmzf4f
Speak your mind! Let us know what you think at:
==============================================================================
feedback at TheCoCoNation.com
Get connected with more of the CoCo, Dragon and MC-10 community here:
==============================================================================
https://thecoconation.com/community/