[Coco] Alternate font sets

[Arthur Flexser]

Come to think of it, there were a number of programs that pitched into the
print command and rerouted its output to a graphics screen.  I recall
including one on the original ADOS disk called RSV, so you might give that
one a try with your adventure games.  The ADOS disk is here:  http://www.
colorcomputerarchive.com/coco/Disks/Operating%20Systems/
ADOS%20(SpectroSystems).zip
(Thanks for posting it, Barry!)

As Bill pointed out, adventure games often poked text directly into screen
memory, and it won't work in such cases, or in cases where there's a memory
conflict.  (I think RSV was relocatable, but I'm not sure.)  It is also
pretty simple to change the number of characters per line, though I don't
recollect the details--might be as simple as changing the PMODE value and a
number-of-chars-per-line value in the Basic loader program for it.  I think
it gave a 42-column screen by default.

Art


On Fri, Aug 26, 2016 at 6:30 PM, Bill Pierce via Coco <coco at maltedmedia.com>
wrote:

> Ron, for DECB, most adventures use the HW 32x16 text screen and that can't
> be alterred without external hardware. Also, a lot of those programs wrote
> directly to the screen area (for speed) and so even patching to the "PRINT"
> routine would not even work.
> But if you're wanting to create fonts for the SECB hires graphics screens
> (Coco3), the font can be loaded directly into the rom area given the proper
> addreses.
> A good source for the where the fonts are is in the "Super Extended Color
> Basic Unravelled". According to that book, the hires font table starts at
> $F09D.
> This does not affect the HW 32, 40, & 80 column text screens, only the
> hires graphics screens.
> There were several utilities for creating new hires fonts, but it's been a
> long time and I haven't played with that for years.
> It's actually a pretty simple task to write a font editor in Basic. I
> wrote one or two for SECB back in the late 80s, but those disks were lost
> to hurricane Floyd in '99
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Bill Pierce
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ron Klein <ron at kdomain.org>
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Fri, Aug 26, 2016 5:33 pm
> Subject: Re: [Coco] Alternate font sets
>
> Hi Barry,Thanks for the info.  I was hoping it might be usable from
> DECB.Thanks!-RonOn Fri, Aug 26, 2016 at 4:25 PM, Barry Nelson <
> barry.nelson at amobiledevice.com> wrote:> You have to be running OS-9 Level
> II or NitrOS9 Level II. You type "merge> font_definition_file" at the
> prompt. To use the font you must be in hires> graphics mode. OS-9/NitrOS9
> draws the letters on the graphics screen.>> > Ron Klein ron at kdomain.org>
> > Fri Aug 26 09:54:07 EDT 2016> >> > Hello everyone,> >> > Is it possible
> load alternate font sets for the Coco that are compatible> > with many of
> the text adventure games out there?  I'm also looking to see> > if there
> are any 80 column font sets available for the Coco 3.> >> > If so, how is
> this done?  A binary EXEC that gets loaded?  Not sure how> > this would
> work.> >> > Thanks!> >> > -Ron>>> --> Coco mailing list>
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