[Coco] The Coco Nation News stories for Episode 402, March 1, 2025

Sun Mar 2 23:31:19 EST 2025

Thank you for keeping us updated on the news story postings! :D

Sincerely,
David Ladd
***END OF LINE***

On Sun, Mar 2, 2025 at 7:16 AM R. Allen Murphey via Coco <
coco at maltedmedia.com> wrote:

> The Coco Nation News stories for Episode 402, March 1, 2025
> ===============================================================
> Collected by L. Curtis Boyle
>
> Upcoming conventions/trade shows of interest to Coco people:
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The Interim Computer Festival is happening at Intraspace in Seattle
> Washington from March 21-23. This is the Pacific Northwest Show that is
> hoping to get back to VCF status in the near future:
>   https://sdf.org/icf/
>
> VCF East is April 4-6, 2025 - same facility as this year. Info Age Science
> Museum, Wall, NJ.
>   https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/
>
> The next Manitoba Retro Computer & Gaming club meetup is at the Fort Rouge
> Leisure Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba on April 12. This is the same one I
> attended last weekend, along with D. Bruce Moore and David Kroeker. This
> next one is more themed around the Commodore 128, but I expect a wide
> variety of machines like they had this past one, which was TRS-80 themed
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/mbretro/posts/1830196931063991/
>
> CocoFest is May 2-3, 2025 (with takedown on the morning of May 4/Sunday) at
> the Holiday Inn & Suites in Carol Stream (Wheaton), Illinois. Hotel rooms
> at the special Fest rate are available now ($122/night for two queens or
> 1 king bed), and apply for May 2-5. You will need to use the Group Rate
> code of G30 to get this rate, and getting the special rate ends April
> 7. Bookings for tables will be going up in January.
>   https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/
>
> VCF-SW in Texas has been booked with dates: June 20-22, 2025 at the
> Davidson
> Gundy Alumni Center, University of Texas, Dallas, Texas.
> Tables & Tickets will go on sale January 2025. $20/adult ($25 if bought
> at the door), $10/student ($15 at the door). 17 and under are free (with
> accompanying adult). Tables are $50.
>   https://www.vcfsw.org/
>
> BoatFest (now International Retro Computer Expo) will be July 11-13 in
> Hurricane, WV. There is now a promo video for it:
>   https://www.ticketsource.us/ircexpo2025/t-eanjyje
>
> VCF-Midwest (the largest retro show in North America, I believe) is
> September
> 13-14 at the Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, Illinois. This
> year
> is the 20th anniversary of this show, and there is a lot of collaboration
> between CocoFest and VCF-MW, so expect a large number of Coco and Glenside
> people at the show! Still free admission, and hotel booking is open
> already.
>   https://www.vcfmw.org/
>
> That same weekend, Retro World Expo will be held September 12-14 at the
> Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Tickets and vendor
> applications aren't quite ready yet but will be soon. This is a gaming
> oriented retro show (including tournaments) but also includes things
> like wrestling:
>   https://retroworldexpo.com/
>
> Tandy Assembly for 2025 dates have been announced - it will be Sept 26 to
> Sep
> 28 at the Courtyard by Marriott Springfield Downtown in Springfield, Ohio:
>   https://www.tandyassembly.com/
>
> This year's Portland Retro Gaming Expo runs from October 17-19 in 2025
> (they just had this years Sept 27-29).
>   https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/
>
> Canada is getting it's own official VCF - Montreal, January 25-26 of
> 2026. I don't see any more details (the venue, for example) yet:
>   https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/
>
>
> Coco 1/2/3 (and multi-platform)
> -------------------------------
> 1) George Janssen has uploaded the video for Lesson 15e of his Coco 3
> assembly language programming series:
>   https://youtu.be/SpqlQa1TxIQ?si=_HScjLN8Rcvjjs5o
>
> 2) Pierre Sarrazin announced that his host website for his CMOC compiler
> (and various projects written with it) has moved to a new location:
>   http://gvlsywt.cluster051.hosting.ovh.net/dev/cmoc.html
>
> 3) Coco Town, having completing his "Bumbling in NitrOS9" series, gets a
> bit
> more serious and delves into assembly language in NitrOS9 - thus saving me
> from having to do a Coco Tech episode on it (just kidding, probably still
> will, but using it's own assemblers). He goes into learning some of the
> quirks of writing PIC, OS9 data memory areas, etc.:
>   https://youtu.be/RV0VYWGPx1Q?si=1NJL-ASm4NxDr9qM
>
> 4) Henry Strickland posted a 2&1/2 minute video showing his updates to
> the Bonobo board on both Coco 2 & 3. Quoted from Henry:
> " My new BONOBO 2.4 circuit boards are working in both a coco2 and coco3
> now
> (and a year ago we did roughly the same thing with a 4K coco1).  These
> cards
> simply have a Pi Pico wired up to do three things: 1) Spoon-feed a boot
> program into the Coco's RAM.  2) Be a "device" for the coco with a Control
> port and a Data port (similar to a Becker Port idea).  3) Can optionally
> create FIRQ or NMI interrupts for the coco, mainly for sending Audio
> samples
> out the coco's DAC port [these are untested yet].  Eventually these boards
> should be one way to provide network to the nekot-game-os."
>   https://youtu.be/DxUBmvOEaiI?si=9Foexm_vzrNwiuSN
>
> 5) Allen Huffman posted a question on the Coco Facebook group - does
> anybody have an archive of the princeton university Coco list (a usenet
> style list) messages? I remember referencing this myself (and may have
> even posted occasionally), but as Allen points out, it the old archive of
> it seems to have disappeared:
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10162333363427641/
> He has also been busy on his Sub-Etha Software Facebook page and blog this
> week, going through old disks of sourcecode and finding some gems he had
> completely forgot about:
> (Scroll down for the various things he has found)
>   https://www.facebook.com/subethasoftware
> These include:
>  - A newer version of the SEMaze demo that we have included in NitrOS9/EOU
> -
>  2 revisions higher:
>  - InfoPatch - a program to patch Infocom game disks to run on Coco 3 80
>  columns plus 6ms track speed (rather than DECB's default 30):
>  - Source for what may have eventually became a Missile Command style game,
>  written in C and even using Mouse signal events:
>  - Source for his Phantom's Lair game project (sort of a port of Phantom
>  Slayer to the Coco 3/OS9) that was never finished:
>  - ADFedit - a utility to make Auto Dialer Files for the Supercomm OS9
>  terminal program
>  - Updated Towel 1.05 - newer than the release included with EOU
>  - Labor program - for making work schedules for employees, etc.
>  - Ethamate - a Deskmate style program for the EthaWin text-window
> interface
> A Blog post about a bug in Super Extended BASIC - where a large CLEAR will
> cause WIDTH 40 or WIDTH 80 to crash the computer (BASIC maps in the 40/80
> column screens at a certain fixed MMU block - and that clear will cause it
> to get completely lost when trying to run a BASIC program at the same time,
> as the system stack is now pointing into the block BASIC just mapped out):
>  https://subethasoftware.com/2025/02/28/how-to-crash-a-coco-3/
> A Blog post about Coco 3 BASIC quirks with ON ERR GOTO and negative line
> numbers because of the way BASIC handles 16 bit line numbers:
>
>
> https://subethasoftware.com/2025/02/25/coco-3-basic-and-on-err-goto-and-negative-line-numbers/
> This was actually a follow up to an earlier blog post about the quirks
> of decimal, hexadecimal and octal, and how some are signed and some are
> unsigned, which gets odd to work with when doing AND, OR, etc:
>
>
> https://subethasoftware.com/2025/02/24/color-basic-decimal-hex-and-octal-are-not-the-same/
>
> 6) TRS-80 Retro Programing posted a quick video showing his using PMODE
> 4 graphics in Extended BASIC to simulate a rotating asteroid like in the
> arcade game Asteroids:
>   https://youtu.be/wDA613YFBKA?si=GT3tosRobND-b6_9
>
> 7) Mauricio Matte posted a photo of what he is calling the "Brazilian
> Black Beauty" joystick - looks pretty slick!
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10162336498887641/
>
> 8) Simon Jonassen put up a photo from a real Coco 2 showing PAL type
> Semigraphics-24 artofacting, but on an NTSC system, showing some extra
> colors by "wobbling". Some combinations clearly show horizontal stripes,
> but some blend to give more than 9 colors (There is a screenshot in the
> comments from a CP-400 from Brazil as well):
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10162323505222641/
>
> 9) Terry Trap posted an update for his Coco 3 composite sync board that
> he was sending for manufacture earlier this week:
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10162316202862641/
>
> 10) Thomas Cherryhomes posted a note for Fujinet developers (all supported
> platforms, including the Coco) with an update on how to program for doing
> HTTP GET:
>
> https://fujinet.online/2025/02/23/developers-when-doing-http-get-use-mode-12/
>
> 11) David Collins posted an update to his 63C09 based SBC project,
> where he mentions that has all of the interrupt functions and handling
> now generated by his Arduino based micro-controller which also includes
> a priority interrupt control system:
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/6809assembly/posts/3596360817323941/
>
>
> MC-10
> -----
> 1) Following up on Jim Gerrie's release of Bally's Alley text adventure
> that he ported to the MC-10 from the Bally Astrocade BASIC cart, he did
> a full blog post on the subject:
>
> https://jimgerrie.blogspot.com/2025/02/ballys-alley-by-john-collin-1980.html
>
> 2) Jim Gerrie ported "Poetry Writer", a program originally written by Ron
> Clark in 1981 for Arcsoft Publishers. It has been ported to the Coco
> before,
> but I don't think that is where it originated. It creates poems:
>   https://youtu.be/QrN4GDbBBJU?si=Dhuznw1l8TTEUyBk
>
> 3) The Clueless Engineer released Part 4 of his video series on fixing
> up his Matra Alice. In this episode he finally receives his replacement
> 6803 to see if he can fix the keyboard issues that he has been having,
> and does some other hardware upgrades:
>   https://youtu.be/OvdkhOnV7no?si=_E2hOWNjN8psJVao
>
> 4) Robert Sieg did another update for his 128x96 24 bit BMP to MC-10
> converter (although it's using the VMC-10 emulator with enhanced graphics
> modes, I think - it might work with a CocoVDA upgraded MC-10?):
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/731424100317748/posts/9094891663970908/
>
>
> Dragon 32/64
> ------------
> 1) WhatHoSnorkers on their YouTube channel put up a BASIC little
> graphics/sound program for the Dragon 32 that draws a snorker, I presume? I
> am not sure what this is a reference too... can any of our UK or European
> viewers help?
>   https://youtu.be/i-iYAiVsFr8?si=1tc1RVXCtmsnZXTD
>
> 2) Julian Brown posted some board design updates for his Dragon ATX
> protoyping setup:
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/dragon32/posts/3953337948259178/
>
> 3) Tomeu Capo posted some pictures in the Dragon Facebook group of his
> running a Televideo 910 terminal logged in to his Dragon 64 with OS-9
> Level 1:
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/dragon32/posts/3951067318486241/
>
> 4) Quick update from last week - John Whitworth's run of 7 Supersprite FM+
> board kits are sold out.
>
>
> Game On news (all Coco related platforms):
> ==========================================
> 1) Chronologically Gaming returned after a week break this past Monday,
> with a fair bit of Coco gaming content from November 1982:
> Nibbler from Nelson Software Sysetms / Colorful Software:
>   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj1pWfAlD9M&t=31s
> Nova Pinball from Bumblebee Software - he was definitely having some
> issues with the keyboard controls on this one. Emulator issue or bugs in
> the current copy on the archive?
>   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj1pWfAlD9M&t=559s
> Pac-Droids:
>   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj1pWfAlD9M&t=1673s
> Planet Invasion:
>   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHXlCxqr0EA&t=744s
>
> 2) Buzzsaw Gaming on YouTube did a tour of his 2025 Game Room, including
> many consoles, old PC's etc. Near the end, he shows his Coco 3 system:
>   https://youtu.be/d25VUtrMxs4?si=5vdVAeTia4C3di9h&t=1094
>
> 3) Pere Serrat posted on the World of Dragon forums that he has ported
> 11 text/graphic adventures originally by Channel 8 Software to disk (they
> were all originally cassette only). He has ported them to the Coco as well,
> although that currently only supports the text mode of the games (same with
> the Dragon 32). The entire sets can be downloaded in ZIP format. It should
> be mentioned that saving/loading games in progress are still cassette
> based;
> this simply lets them play properly from a disk system:
>   https://archive.worldofdragon.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11255
>
> 4) While he was at it... Pere also ported another Adventure International
> tape only game (Questprobe 1 - The Hulk) to run from disk. He has uploaded
> ZIP files for both the Dragon and the Coco that have all 13 of the original
> Scott Adams text adventures plus the new Hulk one, set up to run from
> disk. These also have a prompted option for true lowercase if you have a
> Coco 2B or Coco 3:
>   https://archive.worldofdragon.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11256
>
> 5) Jim Jewett has posted an updated DSK image of his Spacewar game that
> he resurrected from the 1980's. The new ZIP file in the Coco group on
> Facebook features game updates and an updated manual:
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10162333507037641/
>
> 6) NMI (Non Maskable Interrupt) psted another quick Coco gameplay video on
> his real Coco 3, this time covering Adventure International's Sea Dragon,
> played on a low skill level (the skill level determines the speed of the
> game, including scrolling):
>   https://youtu.be/9Mi3It1Ymhg?si=Mto2BBGZ63VmEoFT
>
> 7) Erico Monteiro posted a video of his entry for the BASIC 10-Liner
> contest
> (For the "Extreme-256" category, called "5 Tides at Purple Oyster Beach"
> on his YouTube channel. This is written in ugBASIC, but he has to cut it
> down a bit... He is currently just over 11 lines:
>   https://youtu.be/6XKbijcKlyg?si=as2SzgMIe_NV3Q-Z
>
> 8) RetroGamerDiaries on YouTube did a review of 12 ports of Robocop,
> and then ranked the versions. The Coco 3 version placed pretty low (10th):
>   https://youtu.be/5bn8nCUqfhs?si=eTxNcZJQicHfcpJw&t=2453
>
> 9) Ellimist on YouTube posted a half hour video showing speed runs on
> multiple platforms of the Scott Adams/Adventure International game Voodoo
> Castle, including the Dragon 32/Coco versions:
>   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNZdBX_v7os&t=572s
>
> 10) Polish YouTube channel gregok1973 did a couple of Coco gameplay videos
> this past week:
> 3D Maze by Scott Bain (from 1982) (escaping a maze written in BASIC). He
> shows both versions of the game, the wireframe version runs fairly quick
> but looks a bit messy, the filled in walls version looks much better but
> is much slower to render:
>   https://youtu.be/zR1_mGTykko?si=BH4nSQDBfbDdCLPt
> 64 Witches by Richard Ramella, who wrote columns for a variety of magazines
> including Hot Coco and Rainbow. This game has the player attempting to
> place 8 queens on a 64 square Chess board in such a way that they can not
> hit each other:
>   https://youtu.be/lv7GvHqCRV8?si=krQ-yjKko0GtyIRQ
>
> 11) BrewOtaku posted on the Coco Facebook group that they have re-released
> their first issue of their gaming magazine of the same name, which covers
> new game releases for retro systems, this time as a free PDF download.
> Looks
> pretty slicka, although they mention that they don't have many releases for
> the Coco / Dragon, and would like to cover any that are. From looking at
> their website, 4 issues are already out since they started a year ago. They
> both show new releases (with a screenshot for each) as well as more in
> depth
> reviews of close to 2 dozen per issue. They are published in Germany and
> you
> can get both physical magazines or digital downlads at a fairly decent
> price:
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10162332049167641/
> Actual first issue:
>   https://www.brewotaku.com/2024/01/brewotaku-001-january-february-2024/
>
> 12) Paul Shoemaker released an update video for his high res Star Trek
> MC-10 game. He has switched the music to on the the Star Trek movie themes
> instead of the original TV theme music... more famously remembered as the
> them for Star Trek The Next Generation. He also shows a bit more of the
> menu selection game play:
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10162330708707641/
>
> 13) Marco Spedaletti announced that the Dragon 32/64 version of his BASIC
> 10-liner entry using his ugBASIC is out (we covered the Coco version
> last week):
>   https://www.facebook.com/groups/dragon32/posts/3948001112126195/
>
>
> ==============================================================================
>
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>     feedback at TheCoCoNation.com
>
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>
> Get connected with more of the CoCo, Dragon and MC-10 community here:
>     https://thecoconation.com/community/
>
> --
> R. Allen Murphey <exile at weylan-yutani.com>
> Weylan-Yutani Corporation
>
> --
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>