[Coco] Back to BASIC
Alexander Wallace
alexander.o.wallace at gmail.com
Tue Apr 11 10:04:37 EDT 2017
Great stuff!.
I’m traveling this week so I’ll let them accumulate for when I get back.
Thanks again!
> On Apr 11, 2017, at 8:01 AM, Steve Strowbridge <ogsteviestrow at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Chapter 16 has been uploaded, which covers SCREEN and PCLS commands, it's
> starting to get good!!!
>
>
> Steve Strowbridge, aka
> The Original Gamer Stevie Strow
> http://ogsteviestrow.com
> ogsteviestrow at gmail.com
>
>
> On Sun, Apr 9, 2017 at 11:29 PM, Steve Strowbridge <ogsteviestrow at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> 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=PLDfh7JjQaSYA1fP5KwRiO
>>> wefFIIF1
>>>>>> 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
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> --
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>>>>>>>> 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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