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Plotty Bird: flappy bird on the HP7440A pen plotter

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Re: Plotty Bird: flappy bird on the HP7440A pen plotter

#11
The most insane device in this vein IMO is the Panasonic Penwriter. It's a four color typewriter (!) and plotter. Yes. It was using pens to write whatever you typed. And this was in 1985! If it'd been more reliable (surprise: it wasn't) it would've taken the world by storm. (I think Brother had one too.)

Lately someone worked it out how to connect it to a modern PC. https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/a/7936/3722

Re: Plotty Bird: flappy bird on the HP7440A pen plotter

#12
post #7

I just realized such plotters can be useful in many cool applications (eg diy pcb). Where can I get hold of one for cheap?

You could possibly get a very cheap 3D printer and rig it for 2D plotting fairly easily (using the printer itself to manufacture the missing parts even!)

Re: Plotty Bird: flappy bird on the HP7440A pen plotter

#13
post #7

I just realized such plotters can be useful in many cool applications (eg diy pcb). Where can I get hold of one for cheap?

My dad used a 3D printer with a Dremel attached to carve PCBs. The PCBs were those that you normally etch, i.e. they had a full copper coating.

Re: Plotty Bird: flappy bird on the HP7440A pen plotter

#15

That hashtag (plottertwitter) is one of the few exciting, non-hateful things left on Twitter. Great stuff.

There’s a friendly in-person community too, in SF and NYC (next NYC meetup is in a few weeks: https://plotterpeople.github.io/nyc.html)

Re: Plotty Bird: flappy bird on the HP7440A pen plotter

#16

The memories of the game and the subsequent rise and then the fall (if you want to call it that) of it. Does anybody have any updates on the developer and the game?

Looks like Dong Nguyen's company has been making some games since: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DotGears

Re: Plotty Bird: flappy bird on the HP7440A pen plotter

#18
This is really neat. If you got a large-format X-Y pen plotter, you could get it to play D&D, exploring a large dungeon map, having skirmishes, etc. This would be even better with a flatbed plotter, rather than a rolling one.

I love these devices, though they're expensive to run. We used the large-format HP pen plotters for various large software analysis&design diagrams, and for keeping huge project management charts posted. On the side, I wrote an optimizer that would take an HP-GL file and optimize for pen travel (shorten time spent between pen-up and pen-down positions for various graphics operations) and for pen changes.

Re: Plotty Bird: flappy bird on the HP7440A pen plotter

#19
post #18

This is really neat. If you got a large-format X-Y pen plotter, you could get it to play D&D, exploring a large dungeon map, having skirmishes, etc. This would be even better with a flatbed plotter, rather than a rolling one. I love these devices, though they're expensive to run. We used the large-format HP pen plotters for various large software analysis&design diagrams, and for keeping huge project management chart…

> though they're expensive to run

The pens are expensive? Or they use some special paper? Or they wear through some component like belts? What's the expensive bit?

Re: Plotty Bird: flappy bird on the HP7440A pen plotter

#20
post #18

This is really neat. If you got a large-format X-Y pen plotter, you could get it to play D&D, exploring a large dungeon map, having skirmishes, etc. This would be even better with a flatbed plotter, rather than a rolling one. I love these devices, though they're expensive to run. We used the large-format HP pen plotters for various large software analysis&design diagrams, and for keeping huge project management chart…

> though they're expensive to run The pens are expensive? Or they use some special paper? Or they wear through some component like belts? What's the expensive bit?

The TCO of the large X-Y pen plotters seemed subjectively expensive, for hobby purposes, which I suspect is most of the reason to still use a pen plotter. Large paper (maybe you can use the current inkjet ones), expensive pens that you go through quickly (I don't know whether they're made anymore, or whether there's a viable DIY way to keep them refilled and working, or to adapt current off-the-shelf non-plotter pens), and keeping the mechanics of old machines working (and perhaps stockpiling backup/parts units, when you can find them).
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