My attempt at a 128-byte intro

[ssg]

I was convinced to release it at 7dx 2012 party. It's not complete or perfect but I'd like to hear opinions.


I'm basically abusing firmware to get over size restrictions and create the full screen logo. I'm using CRTC R2 to get scrolling effect. I wonder if this is too simple or decent for my first non-zero byte production under 128-bytes?



http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=60859

[Gryzor]

Well, certainly boring, but also great looking. Some tearing there, but I don't know if it comes from WinAPE. Also, at some point the logo looks like it jumps a bit upwards?

Nice - and it reminds me of old ST cracktros - especially if you add a raster to the background (ok, it'll go over 128b)!

[ssg]

good catch! that's the thing with hsync pos but i think can be fixed with tweaking vertical position as well. that's why i chose black as the color to reduce the contrast to make "jumping" less noticeable. i think this can be made much more exciting in 256b but i didn't have the time. i can release a v2 maybe thanks.

[Gryzor]

Hey, if you do one, can you also do a CPCWiki one?

[MacDeath]

I guess you should use this as a basis for a 4K then...No wonder in a 4K version it could get quite less "boring".

I also saw the 1 pixel (or more ?) jump up.
Also I guess I should test it on a real CPC too to see how it compare with Emulator (I use winape)

Nice to use overscan anyway, after all it is one of the few CPC-only feature while most of the other 8bit mostly can't.

my first non-zero byte production under 128-bytes?

non-zero byte

Haha, I also do a lot of Zero Bytes productions, everydays...  

Sadly I would say the CPC need more mega demos instead, but it takes times and more than words to happen.

http://www.pouet.net/party.php?which=522&when=2012
So you won or you were the only one ?
Clever man you are... it is a common sight in Demo parties to have categories with no cotestants so it is sweet easy victory.
Sometimes you can get really nice prices in the process and to be fair, your mini demo is not bad...
I mean, Can a C64 do this kind of Overscan screentext ?

http://www.7dx-party.org/2012/index.php
ok I will check this then.
It is a Türkish Demo party ?
You had to bring a CPC to participate according to this page :
http://www.7dx-party.org/2012/en_competitions.php

looks like they're all thinking only C64 exists in retro too.

Anyway congratulation, you held up the CPC banner against the hordes of Speccy and Commodorks.
You did it in 128bytes but it looks like the category was 256bytes... so you had a good margin too...
I guess you had no time to do more.

[ssg]

Hey, if you do one, can you also do a CPCWiki one?

Can't fit it in screen but a greets could be in order in a bigger product?

[ssg]

I guess you should use this as a basis for a 4K then...No wonder in a 4K version it could get quite less "boring".

Yeah it seems so.

I also saw the 1 pixel (or more ?) jump up.
Also I guess I should test it on a real CPC too to see how it compare with Emulator (I use winape)

At the party Alcofribas' floppy disks didn't work that's why I couldn't test it on real CPC. I need to get my home setup working (which exists thanks to Alco again).

Haha, I also do a lot of Zero Bytes productions, everydays... 

I actually released it http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=56451

So you won or you were the only one ?

I was the only one by luck. Skate was actually coding a C64 intro in 256-bytes (and would DEFINITELY win, and be a world first I guess) but he couldn't finish squeezing it into 256-bytes  (it was around 400-bytes or so I think).

Clever man you are... it is a common sight in Demo parties to have categories with no cotestants so it is sweet easy victory.
Sometimes you can get really nice prices in the process and to be fair, your mini demo is not bad...

Thanks! I wasn't planning on releasing it. I just brought it over to show it to Matahari and when Skate saw it running he urged me to release it and I said "hey why not?"

I mean, Can a C64 do this kind of Overscan screentext ? 

it could but probably not in 128-bytes

http://www.7dx-party.org/2012/index.php
ok I will check this then.
It is a Türkish Demo party ?

Yep. It's been going around for 10 years. Had some world firsts and world records here and there. (Matahari's fullscreen 256-byte scroller for CPC was released at last year's 7DX party).

You had to bring a CPC to participate according to this page :
http://www.7dx-party.org/2012/en_competitions.php

We had a CPC but broken floppies. It was mercy of organizers (Skate being one of them) for the sake of demo spirit.

looks like they're all thinking only C64 exists in retro too.

They've got a point there. Even C64 is quite orphaned in Turkey. In order to get demo scene kindled they have to invest more to the most popular platform. They are not disallowing other platforms or anything. We have Turkish C64 demo groups who won Breakpoint 2010 but nothing much on other platforms (I think there was a group called RETURN making Speccy demos, but it's only at that).

You did it in 128bytes but it looks like the category was 256bytes... so you had a good margin too...
I guess you had no time to do more.

Yeah as I said I didn't plan on releasing it,  it was just an experiement but people liked it too much  Yeah if I used full 256-bytes it could be much more enjoyable. I'm thinking of a v2

[MacDeath]

We had a CPC but broken floppies.

You means couldn't even find a working old 3"1/2 Floppy disk drives and diskettes ?

I happened to have the same sort of problem when i went to the Alchemy111111 with my 6128PLUS (and only this...) equipped with an inbuilt 3"1/2 diskdrive (working well) but......
nobody there had a 3"1/2 Disk drive on a "recent" PC (so with internet connection) so I couldn't simply download new disks from the internet... can you believe it ?

I was pathetic as my Batman Demo floppy was the "wrong one" = I screewed up its writing so the Demo was missing more than half its content, ouch.

I9 guess it is important to stick to 3"1/2 disks, find some stock of "brand new" floppies and have a few drivers...
But also to have a modern USB floppy drive so you can get access to all the .dsk on the net too...

Needless to say, a decent HxC floppy emulator is also a nice thing to have...


The sad part is that even though you may have a vintage portable PC (like a good old 486...) it may have a proper Disk Drive but lack a decent easy USB or any way to link with the internet or a decent moderner PC...


Clearly to bring some Old school Retrojunks needs a good logistic and to verify the hardwares a few times before attending the event.

[ssg]

You means couldn't even find a working old 3"1/2 Floppy disk drives and diskettes ?

No we had 3.5" floppies but didn't have a PC with a floppy drive to format floppies for CPC format.

Needless to say, a decent HxC floppy emulator is also a nice thing to have...

Agreed. That seems to be the way to go in the long run.

Clearly to bring some Old school Retrojunks needs a good logistic and to verify the hardwares a few times before attending the event.

Yeah at least now I know what to bring the next time

[MacDeath]

Good point as I told is to have a "semi-retro" portable old PC with still a disk drive and and Harddiskdrive...


First because you can run old school Dos games, second because you can store a nice amount of .dsk on it too.


Still can be hard to get those from the internet into even such an old PC..

[remax]

That's what i have but sadly my AC 97 soundcard has no legacy support so i dont have sound in my games (but it's very convenient to transfert to and from floppies)

[MacDeath]

AC97 ?

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/SOUND-CARD/REALTEK/Realtek-AC97-Audio-Codec-Driver-A397.shtml

like this one ?

Soundcard is actually a big issue on old portable PCs... most of time you have to stick to the beeper because those machines cruelly lack the proper connection to actually plug a soundcard but they also often have a huge connector at the back that wad used po plug the PC as some sort of terminal... (can't remember the name of thos connection) but is quite unused unless you can find old industrial machines I guess.

oh yeah, the proper word is Laptop for portable computer... sorry.


Also sorry to parasite this post too.

[Gryzor]

Portable old PC? Why not a virtual machine? DOSBox is quite accomplished...

[MacDeath]

Because an old laptop will certainly have an in-built Floppy disk drive while the latest ACER or whatever won't...
And to pull out a 486 Compaq laptop can be fun at a demo event...   Win3.1 anyone ?


Will run Dune2 or Monkey Island most probably...


Point was, to have this portable piece of equipement with both HardDiskDrive and a Floppy enable to store a few .dsk on it so it can help to ripp Disks for a CPC.
Extra points if you can find one with both CD-ROM and Floppy... (not sure it exists though)

One trick could be to simply remove the monitor and instead use an external modern one (our 21th century Monitors are flat and practical)... those old laptop LCDs often had terrible remanescance effect so couldn't be good for animation, but all Laptop even in those "dark ages"  used to have a good old VGA plug for external or second monitor.
(CGA for even more ancient piece of equipment...)

Never actually saw an EGA laptop though...  
Seems then went straightly from CGA into VGA age...

But a good solution is certainly to find a decent USB external  floppy disk drive...

Does those work to "burn" Floppies for CPC ?
I do have one USB external DiskDrive but never tested it actually... because my Desktop actually still have a good old in-built Floppy disk drive...




Whatever, I guess a nice CPCNet solution is still a clear must/should have...

[remax]

AC97 ?

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/SOUND-CARD/REALTEK/Realtek-AC97-Audio-Codec-Driver-A397.shtml

like this one ?

Soundcard is actually a big issue on old portable PCs... most of time you have to stick to the beeper because those machines cruelly lack the proper connection to actually plug a soundcard but they also often have a huge connector at the back that wad used po plug the PC as some sort of terminal... (can't remember the name of thos connection) but is quite unused unless you can find old industrial machines I guess.

oh yeah, the proper word is Laptop for portable computer... sorry.


Also sorry to parasite this post too.

Yeah... AC97 is an Intel standard for onboard soundcard. It included legacy support, but some constructors (like the one who did my Toshiba motherboard) didn't care and "forgot" the Soundblaster Pro emulation part.

Point was, to have this portable piece of equipement with both HardDiskDrive and a Floppy enable to store a few .dsk on it so it can help to ripp Disks for a CPC.
Extra points if you can find one with both CD-ROM and Floppy... (not sure it exists though)

Mine have all three (DVDrom, floppy, harddrive)... sadly again the cd-rom drive is totally dead


But it's not a big deal with USB and ethernet port.

One trick could be to simply remove the monitor and instead use an external modern one (our 21th century Monitors are flat and practical)... those old laptop LCDs often had terrible remanescance effect so couldn't be good for animation, but all Laptop even in those "dark ages"  used to have a good old VGA plug for external or second monitor.
(CGA for even more ancient piece of equipment...)

I think you over-age the laptop that can do this. Mine is from 2002 and has a totally correct LCD screen.

[db6128]

Because an old laptop will certainly have an in-built Floppy disk drive while the latest ACER or whatever won't...
And to pull out a 486 Compaq laptop can be fun at a demo event...   Win3.1 anyone ?

Don't laugh! Now you've made me tempted to find one!

But a good solution is certainly to find a decent USB external  floppy disk drive...

Does those work to "burn" Floppies for CPC ?

As I found out recently, only with sizeable limitations:
Is there any way to write 3.5" discs for CPC from PC using a USB floppy drive?
We have to save the DSK onto an MS-DOS–formatted  3.5" disc and then use Arkos's WriteDSK on the CPC to read that and rewrite it (to the same or another drive, 3.5" or 3") as a 'real' AMSDOS-readable disc.
So, it's not a great solution – workable with the help of programs, sure, but not ideally fast or convenient. I haven't tried it myself yet, as I'm waiting for my cable for connecting the 3.5" drive to the CPC.

I do have one USB external DiskDrive but never tested it actually... because my Desktop actually still have a good old in-built Floppy disk drive...

Yep, I'll have to use this if I ever want to read discs from the CPC or to write without having to use WriteDSK as an intermediary.

[Snake_Plissken]

Nice try