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The home computer war

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Re: The home computer war

#11

Post by mghackerlady »

x______________ wrote: post #5
bitwize wrote: post #3

I only had one game for my VIC-20, the pack-in game, called BASIC. I never beat it, but I got a few levels in!

You sure on the name? I'm having a hard time finding a reference, Wiki amongst a few other searches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_VIC-20_games

I'm younger than the vic-20 by a few decades but this comment made me feel old, jeez

Re: The home computer war

#13

Post by MisterTea »

mghackerlady wrote: post #12

I wish these kinds of computers would come back. Maybe with a language like Lua or Ruby instead of BASIC in ROM. The closest is the 400 and 500 series of Pis but those just aren't the same :(

The fun part about old computers we won't get back with microcontrollers is actually building the computer part. You started with a CPU and from there you added memory such as DRAM, SRAM and ROM like EPROM/EEPROM and Flash, UART controllers, IO controllers, and interrupt/DMA controllers. Then you mapped those into memory or IO space and routed interrupts. The you started writing code and watch your computer come to life. Did that in uni and it was a life changing experience.

You could preserve some of that with an FPGA ecosystem starting with perhaps a simple RV32 core that you drag and drop UART, SPI, I2C, memory controllers, counters/timers, DMA, MMU, Ethernet, USB and other peripherals.

But part of me would want the old school preserved where we still make a series of hobby/trainer components in DIP (or PLCC/QFP) form and let people build a working computer from core components. Similar to how there was a line of support ICs for the Intel 808x and Motorola 68xx CPU's. Maybe some newer chips like a DIP USB host/device and a serial controller for SPI/SDIO/I2C. Perhaps a simple RV32 core in DIP 40 with a muxed 16 bit bus and 20+ bits of address.

Re: The home computer war

#15

Post by mghackerlady »

MisterTea wrote: post #13
mghackerlady wrote: post #12

I wish these kinds of computers would come back. Maybe with a language like Lua or Ruby instead of BASIC in ROM. The closest is the 400 and 500 series of Pis but those just aren't the same :(

The fun part about old computers we won't get back with microcontrollers is actually building the computer part. You started with a CPU and from there you added memory such as DRAM, SRAM and ROM like EPROM/EEPROM and Flash, UART controllers, IO controllers, and interrupt/DMA controllers. Then you mapped those into memory or IO space and routed interrupts. The you started writing code and watch your computer come to l…

for what it's worth, there are kit computers you can buy still. It's a niche market, but there are a good few z80 kits out there and ben eater sells a kit for building a custom 8bit CPU on a breadboard and a 6502 based kit

Re: The home computer war

#16

Post by mikestew »

x______________ wrote: post #5
bitwize wrote: post #3

I only had one game for my VIC-20, the pack-in game, called BASIC. I never beat it, but I got a few levels in!

You sure on the name? I'm having a hard time finding a reference, Wiki amongst a few other searches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_VIC-20_games

Some mistakenly documented it as an application, and not a game:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIC-20#Applications (First sentence.)

Re: The home computer war

#17

Post by cfmcdonald »

mghackerlady wrote: post #12

I wish these kinds of computers would come back. Maybe with a language like Lua or Ruby instead of BASIC in ROM. The closest is the 400 and 500 series of Pis but those just aren't the same :(

While writing this post I actually got an itch to buy a Commodore 64 Ultimate, even though I never owned a Commodore 64 before. (I believe I used one once at friend's house.) Nostalgia by contagion.

Re: The home computer war

#18

Post by x______________ »

ido wrote: post #8
x______________ wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sure on the name? I'm having a hard time finding a reference, Wiki amongst a few other searches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_VIC-20_games

BASIC was a programming language, it was a joke.

Thanks for validating my initial assumptions.. Was hoping for something more than hello, world :/

Re: The home computer war

#19

Post by muziq »

bitwize wrote: post #3

I only had one game for my VIC-20, the pack-in game, called BASIC. I never beat it, but I got a few levels in!

I was lucky enough to be able to mail £5 notes to Llamasoft in Mount Pleasant, and receive freshly reproduced tapes from Jeff Minter, or more likely his mum or dad.. The sheer joy of getting home from school and there being a Jiffy bag with Yaks latest game was like nothing else.. From GridRunner, LaserZone, HellGate, MetaGalactic Llama Battle At The Edge Of Time..

Re: The home computer war

#20

Post by timbit42 »

mghackerlady wrote: post #12

I wish these kinds of computers would come back. Maybe with a language like Lua or Ruby instead of BASIC in ROM. The closest is the 400 and 500 series of Pis but those just aren't the same :(

Do you think you could squeeze them into an 8K or 16K ROM? Better would be Forth or Logo.
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