Let Us Play Pong, by Eisenfunk
Original Pong did not have any code or even a microprocessor
11–20 of 152 posts
Re: Original Pong did not have any code or even a microprocessor
#12It'll be exciting if the clock cycles keep stalling like they've basically been doing in the last few years and we end up having to learn and do things at this level again to squeeze out what we want happen out of a long-term fixed compute budget.
Re: Original Pong did not have any code or even a microprocessor
#13https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong states "TTL logic" with later IC versions for consumer mass production, whereas the subcircuits in this demonstration state "analog". Well, I guess everything's analog if you look at it that way. Certainly logic ICs are a long way from pure analog. The interface is https://lushprojects.com/circuitjs/
TTL was digital logic, chips that do boolean functions or that implement simple registers and latches.
Re: Original Pong did not have any code or even a microprocessor
#14Analog computers did not have a CPU, either.
Back before a CPU could be fit on one chip, small computers were built out of multiple chips, often TTL on a board.
Re: Original Pong did not have any code or even a microprocessor
#15I had no idea that could be done with Falstad. That's really amazing.
Indeed. I got curious how the display works, and apparently in the circuit there are just labeled nodes, and in the frame with the display the simulated CRT is just a bit of JavaScript looking at the voltage of those nodes (going to the next line or frame based on the voltage on the respective sync signals, monochrome CRTs are very simple in that regard).
That's enormously cool, I do use the falstad circuit simulator, but I've never thought I could add a separate frame with JavaScript for I/O.
Re: Original Pong did not have any code or even a microprocessor
#16Funnily enough, they made us build this in college 8 years ago
Re: Original Pong did not have any code or even a microprocessor
#17https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong states "TTL logic" with later IC versions for consumer mass production, whereas the subcircuits in this demonstration state "analog". Well, I guess everything's analog if you look at it that way. Certainly logic ICs are a long way from pure analog. The interface is https://lushprojects.com/circuitjs/
TTL was digital logic, chips that do boolean functions or that implement simple registers and latches.
Yes, TTL is a good description (from Wikipedia). The title less so.
Re: Original Pong did not have any code or even a microprocessor
#18It'll be exciting if the clock cycles keep stalling like they've basically been doing in the last few years and we end up having to learn and do things at this level again to squeeze out what we want happen out of a long-term fixed compute budget.
Good time to pivot towards embedded and systems level programming
Re: Original Pong did not have any code or even a microprocessor
#19In the year 1974, Practical Wireless, a UK magazine, published a design for a pong game that connects to a television, called PW Tele Tennis.
It uses sixty four NAND gates, twelve NE555 timers, two dozen diodes and some analog parts.
It's about the most basic version of the game. They later published a sound effects board and an on-screen scoring board that uses a couple of dozen more chips.
Re: Original Pong did not have any code or even a microprocessor
#20Funnily enough, they made us build this in college 8 years ago
At our school, pong was given as a freebie template for building your final project in the digital design course! A great time, ended up enjoy it so much I TAed it till graduation.