[Coco] OS-9 is not for me

[Nick Marentes]

On 8/11/2014 1:20 AM, Jason Law wrote:
>
> Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I worked out ‘my’ 
> side-scrolling technique 5+ years ago and posted the details in 
> various places. Even explained more about it the day I visited.
>
> If you think I’ve copied something from you without due credit 
> (nothing copied or borrowed from you), send me a message off-list and 
> I’ll be happy to send you links and old disk images to back it up.
>
> Just that I’ve put countless hours into this over the years, and to 
> read you calling it ‘yours’ twice in one sentence is a bit of a kick 
> in the guts :)
>
> Also to clarify for others if they've seen my demos and wondered if 
> I'm using your ideas and neglecting to mention it (all my work, not 
> copied or borrowed from anyone).
>
> Jason
>
You are DEFINATELY reading too much into it.

My code is 100% my code. I haven't looked at anyone elses code. I've 
poured countless hours too... would have been way easier if I had just 
copied someone elses code but where's the fun in that?   :)

I don't see any problem if 2 or more people both make the same 
"discovery". It doesn't mean that the person who creates it first 
suddenly has ownership and has an immediate "intellectual property" on 
the concept. As long as we write our own code and not use the other's 
code without his consent.

My "inspiration" for hardware scroll has come from seeing other systems 
such as the C64, Atari's and Amiga's doing hardware scrolling way back 
in the 80's. I saw how they did it and wondered if I could create a 
technique on the CoCo.

I don't know exactly what your scrolling does but mine does split 
screen... meaning that I hold some parts of the screen static and other 
parts can scroll. The 1 byte scroll split screen was a technique 
SockMaster and I spoke about many years ago. He actually explained it to 
me over 10 years ago, around the time he did his Moon Patrol game. I 
have the split screen scrolling  integrated with my sound routine and it 
also creates an Amiga'like "copper bars" effect. This is all integrated 
in the same routines... essentially extending on my interrupt sound 
routines which I have been evolving over many years.

But I'm not claiming it's MY idea. My code is just my interpretation of 
utilizing the existing GIME capabilities (they're in there for all to 
use). Anyone who sits down and gives it some thought could come up with 
it. I wanted the feature for my game so I did it.

If we were to give credit to someone for the initial breakthrough, I'd 
have to say the crown goes to Sock Master (John Kowalski). Neither me or 
you. John even did the Gloom 3D engine of which he explained to me in 
1999 and I based my GateCrasher game on. I've always said that it uses 
John's gloom engine and he was just happy to see someone else take his 
work and make it into a complete game. Oh, and I used 100% my code for 
that, John explained to me the concept and inner workings of it and I 
went from there with my custom version (different resolution, different 
requirements).

The important thing to highlight is that I have not created it by 
looking at someone elses code. My code is my code, your code is your 
code... the outcomes are very similar.

I prefer to see it as... "Great minds think alike".

If it makes you feel better, I'm happy to say to everyone that "Hardware 
horizontal scroll was invented by you". I really don't care for that 
whole ownership thing and neither does John. It takes more than that to 
swell my head. I just want to write a game and have fun.

Nick