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Keatah

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Posts posted by Keatah

  3. Your modified, pre 1990 retro computer setup (any brand with photos).

    in Classic Computing

    Posted

    I haven't modded my Apple II with anything much beyond what was available back in the day.

    The only modern stuffage I use is all socketed and simply plugs into slots. A more modern memory card of the same capacity used back in the day, just low-power & low-parts-count. I have a VGA output daughtercard that plugs into the RamWorks III and IV memory card. And I use modern flash storage solutions, which aren't any different than a vintage 10MB HDD from back then. Just more capacious. And one solution plugs into the actual Disk II controller card for even more authenticity.

    I don't do accelerators beyond 3 or 4 MHz, if/when I do them at all. And I definitely don't do graphics chips or super sound boards or arcade sprite boards. I also don't do ethernet. I figure if I want speed I can have a 1GHz 6502 via an emulator on an i9. That gives me 10x machine language speed in Applesoft BASIC. I figure if I want connectivity I'll just use a modern PC with all the creature comforts of a modern browser like Firefox.

    Another thing is hardware which enhances sound and graphics usually doesn't have widespread software support. Only a few titles tend to take advantage of such things.

    I'm not a purist and do not require things be exactly like they were in the halcyon days of the 70's and 80's. I just believe that equipping a vintage system with too much modern tech takes away the flavor and essence of machine. It becomes less nostalgic. The very things that made it so advanced back then and so endearing today suddenly go missing when you mod too much. I mean after all that's why we do this hobby, for enjoyment of 45 year old rigs as they were.

  8. Atari 5200 What is wrong with it?

    in Atari 5200

    Posted

    I clearly remember the Atari 400/800 being the perfect arcade companion and alternate computing platform, and used it right alongside my Apple II+ and //e back then. We all know the super hits that were.. like Defender, Star Raiders, Centipede, Galaxian, Qix, Pole Position, and so many more.

    I soured on the 5200 after getting one and rapidly discovering the software was essentially the same as what I had on the 400/800. Really soured. And upset at the money I spent on it. Combine that with ratbaggy controllers and weird switchbox (which tied me to one TV), and I wasn't spending a lot of time on it. Certainly not enough time to develop nostalgia like I did with other unique platforms.

    Today the best part of the 5200 is the styling and futurism about it. That's still memorable and desirable. And in a big expansive living room entertainment center it fits well. On a small shelf not so much.

    Since I do vintage gaming almost exclusively via emulation, I rely on Altirra to bring me the 8-bit goodness. When playing I sometimes don't even know the 400/800 vs 5200 version of any game. But I do gravitate away from the analog controller versions. Prefer the crisp digital switching of plain'ol switches.

  9. Why I appreciate emulation and the joy and nostalgia it brings.

    in Emulation

    Posted

    On 9/9/2021 at 4:29 AM, MaximumRD said:

    Anyone do things like this simply because they can?

    Not really. It's a chosen way of life for me.

    On 9/9/2021 at 4:29 AM, MaximumRD said:

    Has emulation helped you enjoy a platform or games or operating systems that you just might not be able to enjoy otherwise today due to lack of original hardware / software or perhaps financial or space restrictions?

    Absolutely. Not too much on the financial restrictions - but we don't appreciate the recent inflated prices, WATA grading prices, "because Apple" syndrome prices, "because old" prices. Scalping. Speculating. Extra outlet for thrift stores being not so thrifty. Not interested in watching bids and hunting for the cheapest. Not anymore. So time consuming.

    Additionally having arcade games through MAME alleviates 2-hours worth of driving to get to the not-so-local arcade. And they're not likely to have StarJacker either. There's the creature comforts at home. Instant snacks. A clean toilet. My choice of music. Fresh air. Sit. Stand. Recline. Controls always in top shape. Adjust the screen & sound effects however you see fit, if that's your gig.

    I've got my hobby room. It's filled with electronics lab stuff and books and other paraphernalia, so there's really not much space for loads of consoles and carts. Emulation takes up but a tiny corner. Necessary hardware fits in with the rustic decor theme because its unobtrusive. Think NUC and MiSTer and R-Pi sizes.

    So many practical things add up in favor of emulation.

    On 9/9/2021 at 4:29 AM, MaximumRD said:

    Share any stories of emulation that bring you joy. Myself I am so thankful that the emulation of AMIGA that I laughed and scoffed at back in the day continued to grow and improve to the point I can simulate a setup I could have never dreamed of owning back in the day let alone today, I am thankful for it.

    Well. I can enjoy a 1000 FPS 900 MHz Apple //e via AppleWin. Certainly not practical for action game playing, but perfectly amusing for working with disk images and recreational Applesoft BASIC programming. Among other experiments and just farting around. Back in the day a 3.5MHz Transwarp accelerator was astounding!

    I remember writing short Sci-Fi stories and we never thought that far ahead in speed, most we guessed would be maybe 100MHz.

    In the Amiga ecosphere, hardware was not easy to acquire back then. It was always too expensive, all through mail order, and not always compatible. Adding in an accelerator would break other things. And the Bridgeboards couldn't do all PC software. So lots of caveats and trip-ups. Some software needing KS 1.2, other needing 1.3, or a new WorkBench. Granted PC was that way with DOS and WINDOWS 3.1, 98, and XP, but hardware was so cheap and available everywhere. Common to have 2 rigs going.

    So here, emulation makes the Amiga a more enjoyable platform. Virtual add-ons that don't play nicely in one configuration can simply have their own as necessary. Any version of ROM, KS, WB is but a few clicks away.

    Emulation has evolved and changed so much for the better over the last 30 years. Each platform is like a full-featured virtual machine module.

  10. SoftRAM or SoftSCAM?

    in Classic Computing

    Posted

    I tried SoftRAM or something similar for Windows98 and even XP. I didn't see any real change. There was RamDoubler from Connectix for both MAC and PC - and it actually did compression, but gains were minimal. Was also unstable. Either way I quickly reasoned that any data compression would thrash the CPU cache and not be any better than HDD based Virtual Memory. So I thankfully lost interest and recouped any money I spent.

    With 32GB standard in entry-level rigs, there is zero need for RAM compression. Though Windows 10 & 11 does it for real. A automatically.

    But. Now. Disk compression was a whole other animal. The thought of doubling my HDD space was almost too good to be true. But it was true! Overall disk compression increased space for real by 1.3 to 1.7 for an honest-to-goodness ratio. 200MB suddenly became 260-300MB - depending on the datasets. BMPs compressed well, JPGs did not. And gamedata anywhere in-between. That's what was reported. Had good experiences with DriveSpace in MS-DOS 6.22. If I had been been into PCs earlier I would've used Stacker from Stac Electronics.

    In the 486 days, the speed of hard drives and the processor and the bus were just right to notably benefit from compression. Most pre-VLB systems were I/O bound. The CPU running at 2x clock could whip through the compression routines on the fly fast enough to see gains from lesser amounts of data being transferred.

    Once set up I found it reliable and transparent, even being able to load the driver high. Sure, there was one more layer going but I didn't experience any data loss. Though I see how that could happen. And if it were to occur it was of no consequence with backups.

    DriveSpace even worked with Norton Utilities SpeedDisk. You would first make the host drive contiguous. Then you could organize the files within the compressed volume.

    Additionally I still have it on my vintage rig. And it made imaging the HDDs - already done. All I had to do was copy the .CVF file to my modern PC and put it and the driver into PCEM virtual disk.

    A lesson learned in the Apple II days payed off well here. Never turn the system off till all disk activity is done. With a compressed volume this meant getting up from my workstation AND THEN turning it off. Allowed SMARTDRV cache to flush pending writes.

    All in all a great tool that saved me hundreds by allowing me to push off bigger capacity disks till even BIGGER ones were available.

  11. Overlooked and mostly forgotten -- The TRS-80 Model III (Sort of?)

    in Classic Computing

    Posted

    On 3/28/2021 at 9:32 PM, - Ω - said:

    let alone the will to spend Ebait prices on an old beat up piece equipment that would in all probability need to be restored.  In this case EMULATION IS WHERE IT'S AT...  for me.

    That's something I believe a lot of folks don't consider when browsing ebay. The amount of work needed to do a good restore and clean-up. And now with today's inflation, cost of those clean-up & shop supply materials add up pretty quick.

    And the quality of the machines available at a reasonable cost aren't getting any better. They've been around the block a few times.

    I don't find it fun doing that kind of work too often. Maybe once every year or two. I'd rather get right to it and enjoy the essence of the software and what it does. That's what these machines are all about!

  12. Amiga A500 Mini Launches March 2022 With 25 Games!

    in Amiga

    Posted

    On 1/13/2022 at 4:17 PM, dauber said:

    Judging from the description on Amazon, it will have USB and is WHDLoad-compatible. Tempting, but...I don't know if it's worth it if I already have a MiSTer.

    I'd say that MiSTer in conjunction with WinUAE will cover you pretty well.

    They said it was emulation. So it appears you may be paying for convenience of having everything set up in mini-console.

  16. Let's Imagine a World Without Emulation

    in Emulation

    Posted

    Emulation will always be something I do. More now than ever it's become complementary to many (real hardware) Apple II activities - like preparing disk images or verifying concepts and ideas. And it keeps wear and tear off 40+ year old hardware.

    For other systems and arcade cabs it's the only practical solution for experiencing them. It's the only way (4me) to bring the experience into this modern era.

    So I say use it for what it's good at.

     

    On 12/19/2018 at 8:55 PM, Atari 5200 Guy said:

    But emulation is used so much that, in my opinion, has become overkill.  Arcade systems made with MAME are awesome but the smaller things like AtGames stuff have below par emulation.

    True enough. It's all over. And many implementations belong in the bargain barrel. Quality and hi-fidelity emulation exist like with Altirra being spot-on in color rendering colors. A huge amount of work has gone into making just right..

     

    On 12/19/2018 at 8:55 PM, Atari 5200 Guy said:

    I use emulation just to try before I buy games.  Other than that, for me, emulation will never take the place of real hardware.  The real thing will always be top dog.

    I see a time when old systems' custom chips will become impossible to find. Think the SSI-263P speech chip. Hadn't seen one for sale in over 5 years. The only way to experience it is through something like AppleWin. A niche example, sure, but stuff is heading that way eventually.

    I do hold out hopes that a CPLD or FPGA version of the SSI-263P will be made someday. Like they did with PokeyOne and the CPLD in the C64.

    Now I'll go watch the video!

  18. Is it normal to feel this way?

    in Classic Gaming General

    Posted

    Dealing with wonky equipment is certainly a downside of this hobby.

    I learned 'tronics at an early age and continued on through college. So it's all second nature. But there are things that formal training doesn't teach you. It's like that in every career. Formal training never ever covered vintage electronics and the special techniques & requirements when working with something 40 years old.

    Early on I learned how to correctly discharge static electricity, and exactly what it was, and why we were doing it. This from the Apple manuals that came with my II+ back in the day. Those manuals also taught us to check the power switch before pulling out cards. I only made that mistake once ever in the course of working on thousands of machines.

    Other tricky things might be turning on a CRT or power supply that has been sitting for 40+ years. Or repairing intermittent things - the worst kind of repairs.

    Point is this hobby will teach newbies and veterans alike new tricks.

     

     

  19. Do you own a console now for different games than you had BITD?

    in Classic Gaming General

    Posted

    I grew up with Atari VCS, Intellivision, Colecovision, Astrocade, Odyssey2, Commodore64, Atari 400/800, Vectrex, Amiga, Ti-99/4A, CoCo, and other pre-NES stuff. I kind of skipped the NES, PS1, SMS, Genesis, NeoGeo, and SNES generation while it was happening.

    Today I just have my original Apple from bitd. And all my gaming is done on a state-of-the-art PC, both vintage through emulators and a few select native modern titles.

  24. M-Network 1982 ‪Atari‬ 2600 Catalog

    in Atari Memorabilia

    Posted

    "It's a whole new challenge for your Atari VCS!"

    We used to mock that slogan so much because it was a challenge for my VCS to play those games. For whatever reason I found M-Network carts to be unreliable. Seemed like 2 out of 3 never worked, or worked for a while and then stopped.

    Ohh I was too young to troubleshoot and clean contacts. Besides, having been reading Omni and Popular Science and other pulp magazines of the era which glorified future tech as being the end-all be-all, I firmly got it my head that electronics were 100% reliable. They either worked forever or did not work at all.

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