[Coco] Back to BASIC

Tue Apr 11 10:24:46 EDT 2017

Make sure you don't binge so hard that you puke ;)

On Apr 11, 2017 10:04 AM, "Alexander Wallace" <alexander.o.wallace at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> --
> >>>>>>>> Coco mailing list
> >>>>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> >>>>>>>> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> --
> >>>>>>> Coco mailing list
> >>>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> >>>>>>> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> --
> >>>>>> Coco mailing list
> >>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> >>>>>> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> --
> >>>>>> Coco mailing list
> >>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> >>>>>> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> --
> >>>>> Coco mailing list
> >>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> >>>>> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> --
> >>>>> Coco mailing list
> >>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> >>>>> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> Coco mailing list
> >>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> >>>> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Coco mailing list
> >>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> >>> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >
> > --
> > Coco mailing list
> > Coco at maltedmedia.com
> > https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>
>
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>