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Commander X16

commanderx16.com

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Re: Commander X16

#21

Post by codeflo »

user-the-name wrote: post #19
codeflo wrote: post #17

Something I’d buy, and that the Raspberry Pi almost might have been, is a computer running a “retro OS” (instantly boots, BASIC-like commands, direct access to hardware) on a semi-modern ARM chip with a few megs of RAM and HDMI out. That would be fun to tinker with and program for. The problem with this is that it’s so incredibly hard to do anything in 8-bit, I can’t imagine many people going to all that trouble if t…

32-bit, megabyte-order-of-magnitude is a much more interesting place to be than C64-equivalent hardware. You can actually make things that look and feel good, but you still need to be clever about it. Nintendo GBA and DS are very much in this space, and are great fun to work with.

I’ve actually tinkered with GBA programming, and you’re exactly right. It’s surprisingly accessible. Of course, it’s built as a console, not a computer, so you can’t actually program on it. But give it more RAM instead of ROM, a keyboard, and you’re almost there.

Re: Commander X16

#22

Post by mysterydip »

codeflo wrote: post #17

Something I’d buy, and that the Raspberry Pi almost might have been, is a computer running a “retro OS” (instantly boots, BASIC-like commands, direct access to hardware) on a semi-modern ARM chip with a few megs of RAM and HDMI out. That would be fun to tinker with and program for. The problem with this is that it’s so incredibly hard to do anything in 8-bit, I can’t imagine many people going to all that trouble if t…

Not exactly what you want but there's Dosbian which boots the Pi to a dosbox instance, no login or desktop.

Re: Commander X16

#23

Post by bluescrn »

hvs wrote: post #2

I'm a big retrocomputing enthusiast (in the C64 and Apple // realms) and the people doing this project are well-known in the community, but I just have trouble believing this will be successful. I don't want a computer that's kinda like a C64. I have a C64, and anyone who really likes that platform can either buy one on ebay or emulate it. A new platform that is a shadow of a platform from 40 years ago is such a nich…

There’s now quite a few of these ‘new retro’ projects around, but right now you can’t actually buy any of them from stock (Foenix, Commander X16, Mega65, ZX Spectum Next)

These projects often seem to get bogged down in the costs and practicalities of creating the plastic parts rather than the electronics/software. Large injection-molded enclosures aren’t cheap (for lowing-volume products) and custom keyboards/key caps are even harder to do. (Still waiting on Amiga key caps from a Kickstarter about 4 years ago… apparently it’s still happening eventually…)

That can lead to long delays and high prices.

Re: Commander X16

#24

Post by jhbadger »

user-the-name wrote: post #19
codeflo wrote: post #17

Something I’d buy, and that the Raspberry Pi almost might have been, is a computer running a “retro OS” (instantly boots, BASIC-like commands, direct access to hardware) on a semi-modern ARM chip with a few megs of RAM and HDMI out. That would be fun to tinker with and program for. The problem with this is that it’s so incredibly hard to do anything in 8-bit, I can’t imagine many people going to all that trouble if t…

32-bit, megabyte-order-of-magnitude is a much more interesting place to be than C64-equivalent hardware. You can actually make things that look and feel good, but you still need to be clever about it. Nintendo GBA and DS are very much in this space, and are great fun to work with.

Maybe it is a feature of how old you are? To me at 50, GBA/DS just doesn't seem very retro. It's just a slightly worse version of modern gaming with no real charm of its own. But I suppose if you are 30, it has nostalgia value because it was what you grew up with.

Re: Commander X16

#25

Post by bartread »

bluescrn wrote: post #23
hvs wrote: post #2

I'm a big retrocomputing enthusiast (in the C64 and Apple // realms) and the people doing this project are well-known in the community, but I just have trouble believing this will be successful. I don't want a computer that's kinda like a C64. I have a C64, and anyone who really likes that platform can either buy one on ebay or emulate it. A new platform that is a shadow of a platform from 40 years ago is such a nich…

There’s now quite a few of these ‘new retro’ projects around, but right now you can’t actually buy any of them from stock (Foenix, Commander X16, Mega65, ZX Spectum Next) These projects often seem to get bogged down in the costs and practicalities of creating the plastic parts rather than the electronics/software. Large injection-molded enclosures aren’t cheap (for lowing-volume products) and custom keyboards/key cap…

I have pissed and moaned at length about the ZX Spectrum Next so I'm not about to recapitulate all of that here.

OTOH David Murray (The 8-bit Guy on YouTue), who is leading the Commander X16 project, does have a strong history of executing well and shipping.

I haven't been that interested in other "new retro" computers, apart from the ZX Spectrum Next (which at least retains 100% compatibility, and for which I have significant nostalgia), but I'm interested in the Commander X16 simply because I tend to enjoy David's work in general.

Re: Commander X16

#26

Post by kwanbix »

What I would love is an affordable Amiga 500 clone. Extra points if it can also work as an Atari ST. Anyone knows if such thing exists? By affordable I mean 100~200 USD. HDMI and SATA for SSD/HDD. Thanks1

Re: Commander X16

#27

Post by selfhoster11 »

chalcolithic wrote: post #18

While I love, love, love retrocomputing I don't understand why 99% of it is "retro-next" computing - instead of designing computer from some era people like to design much beefier next-gen machines. 2MB of RAM? 640x480? Why not use Amiga instead? Designing a machine that would beat c64 is insanely appealing to me. Designing a machine that would beat c64 because it came out a decade later and had larger ram chips and…

At a guess, it's harder to get your hands on weaker chips in larger quantities. Larger chips are dirt-cheap, while for weaker ones you'd either have to raid NOS from warehouses, or fab it yourself (which is expensive, and sometimes outright impossible - I don't think we've got the tech to fab a SID chip any more, for instance).

Re: Commander X16

#28

Post by codeflo »

jhbadger wrote: post #24
user-the-name wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

32-bit, megabyte-order-of-magnitude is a much more interesting place to be than C64-equivalent hardware. You can actually make things that look and feel good, but you still need to be clever about it. Nintendo GBA and DS are very much in this space, and are great fun to work with.

Maybe it is a feature of how old you are? To me at 50, GBA/DS just doesn't seem very retro. It's just a slightly worse version of modern gaming with no real charm of its own. But I suppose if you are 30, it has nostalgia value because it was what you grew up with.

Well I'm 37. We might split hairs here about what is and isn't retro. The GBA came out in 2001, which admittedly isn't that long ago, but in many ways, it was simply a modernized, mobile variant of the SNES. Indeed, many of its most successful titles were simply ports of SNES games from the 90s, like Super Mario World. So in my mind, it's a mobile 16-bit console in spirit (I know it actually has a 32-bit ARM CPU). That's less true for the DS.

And I don't think many people would argue that 16-bit gaming had "no real charm", I consider it to be the peak of the 2D era. In fact, Super Mario World is often held as one of the best platformers of all the time. With all its fan mods, it's still widely played to this day. It's the early 3D era that followed that's mostly forgotten.

Re: Commander X16

#29

Post by selfhoster11 »

mysterydip wrote: post #22
codeflo wrote: post #17

Something I’d buy, and that the Raspberry Pi almost might have been, is a computer running a “retro OS” (instantly boots, BASIC-like commands, direct access to hardware) on a semi-modern ARM chip with a few megs of RAM and HDMI out. That would be fun to tinker with and program for. The problem with this is that it’s so incredibly hard to do anything in 8-bit, I can’t imagine many people going to all that trouble if t…

Not exactly what you want but there's Dosbian which boots the Pi to a dosbox instance, no login or desktop.

AFAIK, the "instant on" aspect is a big part of the draw. Linux boot time doesn't cut it.

Re: Commander X16

#30

Post by selfhoster11 »

yc-kraln wrote: post #16

I think the lack of USB, as irritating as it is to implement, relegates this to the "curiousity" bin--not for keyboards, per se, but for storage and other connectivity. Still a cool project, though.

I imagine you could always use third-party peripherals for this.
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