Old Computer Appreciation Thread

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 16:37

@zering said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly I think it's a backup I created, but it supercedes the one in etc... Problem is when one system has different entries in both files I think it creates weird conflicts.
Anyway, PC6001 is showing up now! :D

Backup, think so too.

Zering · 27 Nov 2020, 16:39

@folly Mountain Climber, PC6001 :D

Seems most games for that system are on .cas files though, but I guess we've added enough games for one day (or one year ^^)

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 16:45

@zering said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly Mountain Climber, PC6001 :D

I also want to try ZX81 (last year I scored an original one for 15 euro's)
The one in retropie doesn't work that good.

Zering · 27 Nov 2020, 16:47

@folly The one in RetroPie doesn't work at all! ^^
Let me know how you get on.

I'm looking at the ZX80, the Amstrad PCW, the Acorn Atom, Archimedes and Electron, the BBC Micro, the Fujitsu FM8, and about a million others ^^

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 16:56

@zering said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly The one in RetroPie doesn't work at all! ^^
Let me know how you get on.

I'm looking at the ZX80, the Amstrad PCW, the Acorn Atom, Archimedes and Electron, the BBC Micro, the Fujitsu FM8, and about a million others ^^

ZX81 boots and keyboard works kinda.
(in real there are also commands, like print under the key p)
Have to work longer with it.
But seems to work better that lr-zx81.

Zering · 27 Nov 2020, 17:04

@folly Very exciting stuff.
I'm going to try and play some games now (I'm crazy, I know), but if you're interested I suggest you also take a look at the Apple IIGS. From what I've played mess handles it pretty well and the library is interesting.

Edit : I can confirm that Ys 3 on MZ2500 doesn't work the way it's supposed to with your script. Could you share the lines thing with all the extensions for that system?

The game boots, but it hangs on some sort of disk swap screen. In lr-mess it just launches. I'm not sure what the difference is.

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 20:25

@zering said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly Very exciting stuff.
I'm going to try and play some games now (I'm crazy, I know), but if you're interested I suggest you also take a look at the Apple IIGS. From what I've played mess handles it pretty well and the library is interesting.

Edit : I can confirm that Ys 3 on MZ2500 doesn't work the way it's supposed to with your script. Could you share the lines thing with all the extensions for that system?

The game boots, but it hangs on some sort of disk swap screen. In lr-mess it just launches. I'm not sure what the difference is.

$ /opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -listmedia mz2500

SYSTEM           MEDIA NAME       (brief)    IMAGE FILE EXTENSIONS SUPPORTED
---------------- --------------------------- -------------------------------
mz2500           floppydisk1      (flop1)    .d77  .d88  .1dd  .dfi  .hfe  .imd  .ipf  .mfi  .mfm  .td0  .cqm  .cqi  .dsk  
                 floppydisk2      (flop2)    .d77  .d88  .1dd  .dfi  .hfe  .imd  .ipf  .mfi  .mfm  .td0  .cqm  .cqi  .dsk  
                 floppydisk3      (flop3)    .d77  .d88  .1dd  .dfi  .hfe  .imd  .ipf  .mfi  .mfm  .td0  .cqm  .cqi  .dsk  
                 floppydisk4      (flop4)    .d77  .d88  .1dd  .dfi  .hfe  .imd  .ipf  .mfi  .mfm  .td0  .cqm  .cqi  .dsk

Zering · 27 Nov 2020, 20:29

@folly What do the lines stand for when they're all the same?

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 20:37

@Zering

I loaded a game in ZX81 .
You have to look on the layout for commands.

loaded a .p file.
press (j) for the (load) command
press 2x (shift+p) for (")
press (enter)
press (scoll lock)
press (tab)
goto (tape control)
press (play)
exit menu with (tab)
press (scroll lock)
press (r) for run

Configured my joystick in the lr-mes menu too.

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 20:39

@zering said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly What do the lines stand for when they're all the same?

first floppy
second floppy
etc

It's possible to make a commandline with more floppy's added.
But retropie and the valerino script lets you only run one floppy.

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 20:50

Can confim zx81 works quite good.

Zering · 27 Nov 2020, 20:55

@folly That has to be the single most crude version of Breakout I've ever seen ^^
I've heard good things about Mazogs, if you want to try that.

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 20:58

@zering said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly That has to be the single most crude version of Breakout I've ever seen ^^

indeed, quite a simple computer. Only 1Kb standard on board.
I tried galaxian for more ram but it did not work.

Zering · 27 Nov 2020, 21:05

@folly Apparently the ZX80 is even simpler. Did computers lag behind consoles in terms of gaming capabilities in the early 80s? It seems like the Atari 2600 and Colecovision were leaps ahead of systems like that.

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 21:09

@zering said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly Apparently the ZX80 is even simpler. Did computers lag behind consoles in terms of gaming capabilities in the early 80s? It seems like the Atari 2600 and Colecovision were leaps ahead of systems like that.

Well, this was in the very early stages. I think it wasn't developped for gaming. More as home computer to get affiliated with the computer. Something like the bbc micro but much simpler. But with an upgrade the video and games became better though.

Zering · 27 Nov 2020, 21:13

@folly I suppose it makes sense that hardware that was designed for gaming would fare better than hardware that wasn't! ^^
It makes you appreciate so much more how awesome the MSX and PC88 and the like were.

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 21:17

@zering said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly I suppose it makes sense that hardware that was designed for gaming would fare better than hardware that wasn't! ^^
It makes you appreciate so much more how awesome the MSX and PC88 and the like were.

I think they were all jealous of us having an MSX.;-)
They were quite expensive too with monitor and printer included, I think the were between 1000-1400 guilders.
Most MSX machine were bought seperate and connected to the tv with cable signal, Not so clear as a monitor.

Zering · 27 Nov 2020, 21:19

@folly I also feel like games were somewhat more complex than on 8-bit consoles, and vastly different. At least on MSX2, I can't speak for the rest.

I imagine Metal Gear was a pretty solid reason for owning an MSX too ^^

Folly · 27 Nov 2020, 21:21

@zering said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly I also feel like games were somewhat more complex than on 8-bit consoles, and vastly different. At least on MSX2, I can't speak for the rest.

You mean on other 8 bit computers.
MSX was 8 bit too.

I imagine Metal Gear was a pretty solid reason for owning an MSX too ^^

indeed, But metal gear came much later, I think.

Zering · 27 Nov 2020, 21:27

@folly No I mean 8-bit consoles. But I might be wrong, I'm no video game historian and the 8-bit era isn't my specialty. It just seems to me that before the Famicom and the Master System really hit their strides, you wound up with really complex games for their time on the MSX and PC88, like Wibarm, Thexder or Silpheed. Not to mention Xanadu and the other Dragon Slayer games, a couple of years before Zelda or Ys.