[Coco] Back to BASIC

[Steve Strowbridge]

Thanks Alexander, me too, on the assembly part.

It's turning out the book I grabbed from the archive doesn't seem to cover
the "standard" BASIC graphics modes, so I'm going to have to probably get
out my hard copies and do some of that, because I really like the low-res
set/reset modes of 9 glorious colors.


Steve Strowbridge, aka
The Original Gamer Stevie Strow
http://ogsteviestrow.com
ogsteviestrow at gmail.com


On Sun, Apr 9, 2017 at 9:28 PM, Alexander Wallace <
alexander.o.wallace at gmail.com> wrote:

> That’s great Steve,
>
> I watched up to 13 yesterday so you have a few minutes before needing to
> make the next one :)
>
> JK, Thanks for all you do!
>
> Anxious to get to Assembly!
>
> > On Apr 9, 2017, at 12:14 PM, Steve Strowbridge <ogsteviestrow at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > I have just added two more chapters in the BASIC programming series..
> >
> > Chapter 14, plotting pixels with the PSET command
> > Chapter 15, creating lines, boxes, and filled boxes with the LINE
> command.
> >
> > My head is about to explode so will take a break before moving on :)
> >
> >
> > Steve Strowbridge, aka
> > The Original Gamer Stevie Strow
> > http://ogsteviestrow.com
> > ogsteviestrow at gmail.com
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 7:37 PM, John Lochey via Coco <
> coco at maltedmedia.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Yeah emulation has changed everything!
> >> Now I can "own" them all, so to speak!
> >> But right now I'm really enjoying the CoCo2 and the MC10 that I have.
> >> So I'm happy to play with those.  Definitely assembly is in the future
> for
> >> me, and is quite exciting!
> >> I have a CoCo with the SDC unit, but still find emulation awfully handy
> as
> >> I go back and forth between home computers and work computers.
> >>
> >> Really appreciate this community too, can't possibly say that ENOUGH!
> >>
> >> Johnny
> >>
> >>
> >>      From: Steve Strowbridge <ogsteviestrow at gmail.com>
> >> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> >> Sent: Thursday, April 6, 2017 5:25 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [Coco] Back to BASIC
> >>
> >> Hey John, nice to hear from other people who look in on Tandy as drool
> >> worthy, not quite sure I heard it put that way before.
> >>
> >> I always loved my Coco, and was proud of it, but I did drool over some
> of
> >> the games that were available on the C-64, Atari 800, etc., as those
> >> machines had much better color, sound, graphics, etc (compared to a CoCo
> >> 1/2 at least).
> >>
> >> Now, I can at least afford some of the computers I never could have back
> >> then, so I hope to eventually get my hands on a lot of them and dig in
> and
> >> try and create a little.  For the foreseeable near future, though, that
> >> exploration will remain focused on the CoCo.
> >>
> >> I want to learn Assembly in general, create a CoCo 1/2 project or two,
> then
> >> work at some CoCo 3 stuff taking advantage of higher resolutions and
> color,
> >> hardware scrolling, etc.
> >>
> >> But, if the time permits, and the passion is strong enough, may branch
> out
> >> and try and do the same thing on other platforms, but the Coco is always
> >> top priority.
> >>
> >>
> >> Steve Strowbridge, aka
> >> The Original Gamer Stevie Strow
> >> http://ogsteviestrow.com
> >> ogsteviestrow at gmail.com
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 3:22 PM, John Lochey via Coco <
> coco at maltedmedia.com
> >>>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi all,
> >>> My BASICS came on the VIC-20.
> >>> I badly wanted a Commodore 64 or a Color Computer, but for my Commodore
> >>> friends and I, the Tandy machines were "the other guys".
> >>> But RS's were everywhere in the Midwest, so the Tandy's were always
> very
> >>> "drool worthy".
> >>> My friend and I did some type-ins and some small games and life moved
> on.
> >>> Now, I just want to get back to ALL that stuff that I wanted to learn
> >> then
> >>> and never did.  Assembly Language still seems super cool to me, but
> >>> definitely filled with "smoke and mirrors and magic" at the moment!
> >>> Funny, I work by day managing a US IT Datacenter for a large chemical
> >>> corporation, but the only computers I like to play with at home are
> >> retro!
> >>> :)
> >>> For the the Retro-World is still wide open!  Lots to learn, lots to do.
> >>> Heck, I'd just like to know as much as some of you have already
> >> forgotten!
> >>> ;)
> >>> Thanks,
> >>>
> >>> Johnny
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>     From: Steve Strowbridge <ogsteviestrow at gmail.com>
> >>> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> >>> Sent: Thursday, April 6, 2017 9:24 AM
> >>> Subject: Re: [Coco] Back to BASIC
> >>>
> >>> Thank you Alexander for the kind words!
> >>>
> >>> Seven Chapters!! Wow!! I hope you didn't get bored to sleep and end up
> >>> injuring yourself in the work shop :)
> >>>
> >>> BASIC on the CoCo was my entry into computer programming, like most
> kids
> >> of
> >>> the day, I'm sure, I followed the very user friendly book, actually
> >>> "learned" the language and was able to apply it and create original
> >>> programs, I rarely "typed in" any programs, I enjoyed the process of
> >> coming
> >>> up with the ideas, then working out the logistics of making everything
> >>> work.
> >>>
> >>> I started on a 16K Standard BASIC, and cut my teeth on that for a year
> or
> >>> two, my 2nd CoCo was the 64K white CoCo 1 with Extended Color BASIC
> and I
> >>> went to town with that, loved doing high res games with PMODE 3 and 4,
> >>> using PCOPY and GET/PUT to create sprites, move objects without erasing
> >> the
> >>> background, experiment with screen scrolling, etc.
> >>>
> >>> All the things I saw the pros do in assembly, I tried to mimic in ECB,
> >> and
> >>> other than the vast difference in speed, I was able to recreate most of
> >> the
> >>> tricks.  For whatever reason, it never occurred to me that I could also
> >>> attempt to learn assembly myself, I was a kid, and I thought that was
> >> what
> >>> grown ups did.  I went to college for computer programming, and thought
> >> it
> >>> would be taught to me there, I was disappointed that it wasn't, they
> were
> >>> covering DBase, Fortran, Cobol, and BASIC, and BASIC I already knew,
> and
> >>> those others, I had no interest in, so I didn't say in college for
> >>> programming.
> >>>
> >>> I transitioned from CoCo to the Tandy 1000 in 1986, I got ahold of MS
> >>> QBasic sometime after that, and enjoyed many years through up to the
> late
> >>> 90's programming in Quick BASIC on MS-DOS based systems.
> >>>
> >>> Anything I ever made was always a game, I had no interest in anything
> >>> "serious".
> >>>
> >>> My biggest claim to fame, with my own software was a game I made, which
> >>> actually started as an "I told you so" in College, where I told the guy
> >>> sitting next to me "I can make a space invaders game", and he said "no
> >> you
> >>> can't" and before the class was over, I already had the skeleton of the
> >>> game up and running in QBASIC.
> >>>
> >>> That became a game called "Cosmic Aliens", it was DOS Text based, the
> >>> smiley faces characters were the aliens, they dropped bombs, there was
> a
> >>> text character that looked like a bomb, and your ship was two
> characters
> >>> together that looked like a line graphic space ship, you shot arrows up
> >> in
> >>> the air like Galaga.
> >>>
> >>> That game grew over time, was circulated through BBS systems, I put the
> >>> usual shareware messages on there, like "if you'd like to support this
> >>> game, mail a check to..." and at one point and time, the "mail to"
> >> address
> >>> what the retail store I worked at in Fort Lauderdale called the Byte
> >> Shop.
> >>>
> >>> Turns out, the game was a favorite of a person in the military, and he
> >> said
> >>> he and his buddies like the game, I found this out, because he came to
> >>> visit me at the Byte Shop to tell me that.  I was blown away by that.
> I
> >>> grabbed the source code and modified it, and created a custom version
> for
> >>> him, and gave him the updated EXE file, he was happy about that.  I
> >> think I
> >>> also got a random product review of that game somebody mailed me, and
> >> even
> >>> an offer to buy it by a company in Canada called Ninga software or
> >>> something like that.  My 15 minutes of game fame were under a very
> small
> >>> spotlight, but it was very rewarding to know somebody in the military
> was
> >>> able to entertain themselves while at a base with my game.
> >>>
> >>> Another game I made for DOS, which never got circulated was called
> >> "Garden
> >>> Worm" and it was a spin on Centipede, where you were the Centipede, so
> >> kind
> >>> of a hack clone of the various Snake type games, there was food to eat
> to
> >>> get larger, there were prizes for points, and there were special items
> >> that
> >>> would either make you bigger, smaller, faster, or slower, and there was
> >> an
> >>> enemy centipede "worm" you had to avoid.
> >>>
> >>> I wrote a ton of games on the CoCo, my most interesting was a Donkey
> Kong
> >>> clone based on the rivets level where you jumped over rivets to clear
> the
> >>> board, to make this game, I created a level editor, and then it became
> >> sort
> >>> of game engine oriented where basically you could create any level with
> >> any
> >>> arrangement and number of rivets, and as long as you could get to them
> >> all,
> >>> and pop them all, you could clear the level.  You would have to specify
> >>> where you wanted the animated donkey kong to stand, and how many fire
> >> balls
> >>> you wanted and their starting position.  Other than that, the game ran
> >> with
> >>> whatever design you could throw at it.  This was all done in the low
> res
> >>> 64*32*9 color mode, but was quite playable.
> >>>
> >>> My biggest regret is not having any of my original floppies, I had them
> >> all
> >>> until the early 90's even, let somebody borrow my CoCo and my floppy
> >> case,
> >>> they ended up getting evicted from their apartment, and they were never
> >>> seen again.
> >>>
> >>> Long answer, to your post, I'm sure, but... What I wanted to do with
> this
> >>> series, was to re-learn the language, perhaps get some new people
> >>> interested in simple programming concepts, and at the end of the book,
> >>> start working on a new, original CoCo game project in BASIC, maybe
> even a
> >>> few games.
> >>>
> >>> That's still the plan, and I also plan on learning assembly, which I
> >> might
> >>> as well also turn into a series, and then come up with a game at the
> end
> >> of
> >>> that, which, hopefully, I'll be able to debut at next year's CoCoFEST!
> >>>
> >>> -End of Line
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Steve Strowbridge, aka
> >>> The Original Gamer Stevie Strow
> >>> http://ogsteviestrow.com
> >>> ogsteviestrow at gmail.com
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 8:51 AM, Alexander Wallace <
> >>> alexander.o.wallace at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> I’ve worked as a software developer, mostly client/server and web apps
> >>>> since 1997, but my memory of CoCo’s Basic and other of it’s languages
> >> has
> >>>> pretty much disappeared as I’ve recently found out :)
> >>>>
> >>>> Your videos are a great companion tome while doing something else in
> >> the
> >>>> evenings, (metal or wood working or what not), I watched 7 yesterday,
> >> and
> >>>> really enjoyed it!
> >>>>
> >>>> I truly appreciate what you’re doing there and look forward to seeing
> >> all
> >>>> the videos for all the chapters, some for CoCo3 too and assembly :)
> >>>>
> >>>> Thanks a lot!
> >>>>
> >>>>> On Apr 5, 2017, at 3:30 PM, Steve Strowbridge <
> >> ogsteviestrow at gmail.com
> >>>>
> >>>> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> It's been a long time coming, but I got around to going through and
> >>>>> recording two new chapters in my programming in BASIC video series,
> >> so
> >>>>> chapters 10 and 11 are now available for your viewing discomfort.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The play list to the entire series is:
> >>>>> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDfh7JjQaSYA1fP5KwRiOwefFIIF1
> >>> Alid
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I started this series aimed at a non-technical, non-coco owner, so
> >> it's
> >>>>> based on using VCC as the emulator, and using the PDF of the CoCo 2
> >>>>> Extended color BASIC manual from the Color Computer Archive.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I had planned last year to finish the book, make a simple game in
> >> BASIC
> >>>> as
> >>>>> a project putting all the pieces together, and then move on to
> >>> assembly,
> >>>>> and try and learn that.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> That didn't exactly happen, so going to try and make that happen this
> >>>> year,
> >>>>> and have this series done, and some type of assembly project to show
> >>> off
> >>>> at
> >>>>> CoCoFEST 27.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Thanks to all who have encouraged me to continue to do these, it's
> >> can
> >>> be
> >>>>> quite brutal for me at times :)
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Steve Strowbridge, aka
> >>>>> The Original Gamer Stevie Strow
> >>>>> http://ogsteviestrow.com
> >>>>> ogsteviestrow at gmail.com
> >>>>>
> >>>>> --
> >>>>> Coco mailing list
> >>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> >>>>> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --
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> >>>>
> >>>
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> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
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> >>>
> >>
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> >>
> >>
> >>
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