Port tetris.8b to C64, VIC20

[bobbimanners]

tetris.8b uses Apple II lo-res graphics and other Apple II specific low-level hardware access.

Should do a port to C64 and VIC20 also!

[Crispinophur]

Please, do it. FYI: we already suggested 8Ball as a programming choice for TheC64 Mini at TheC64 Wiki (unofficial). Here: https://gurce.net/c64mini/coding#at_c64_-_mini_native_development Now it is coming "Maxi" version of same beasty (Dec 2019), supplied with real keyboard (supposed for coding etc) and VIC 20 mode! More info here: https://retrogames.biz/the-c64

[bobbimanners]

It has been a while since I looked at EightBall. I have been busy with my other project (Zapple-II) the last little while. It would be good to return to EightBall at some point before too long though.

The C64 version could use some love. All the more recent work has been more aimed at the Apple //e with 128K. Memory is probably pretty tight on C64 at this point (but Apple II ProDOS is pretty big so the situation is better than it would appear at first for the C64, which doesn't have that issue.)

It would like to improve the VM to make it a bit faster. Maybe I can enlist some help from the Plasma (https://github.com/dschmenk/PLASMA) folks :)

[Crispinophur]

Thank you for reply. I am not native English speaker, so I am not able to express my thoughts in a quick and simple way, apologies for that.

Thank you for Plasma link, although it is not easy to adapt it for native CBM platforms I am interested in, as far as I see. I am aware that you prefer Apple ][ instead C64, although we are talking here about same 6502 (6510) CPU.

Well, for me, we have clear situation here - I have to use actual, notorious sentence here - it is quid pro quo :) or more precisely, it is about synergy.

At the one side, you have last year product, pretty much successful TheC64 Mini, cute gadget that lacks real keyboard (although it could be attached). The sibling product, which is now coming, so called Maxi version is redundant in a way. Main 2 diffs are that "big brother" has real C64 keyboard (supposed to be of high quality, something that was C64 famous for). Other one is instant native VIC20 mode. Retrogames, owners of product, already suggested that this product is intended for introducing to programming, old fashion way. You can see examples at link below, or at suggested links section. https://thec64.com/support/programming-in-c64-basic https://thec64.com/support/links https://retrogames.biz/support/links But, as you are probably aware of, VIC20 lacks those kinds of tools. It is kind of bottleneck for this product.

At the other side, there is EightBall, providing just what TheC64 Maxi lacks, actually for both platfoms! Even more, it is kind of precious WORM https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/worm.html (transplattform) project targeting many 8-bit platforms, even Linux (which I am fan of, btw). FYI - core system of TheC64 is kind of low level Linux, just crippled in many ways (although I managed to bring e.g. MIdnight Commander to my hacked version of Mini).

@Apple II retro revival: As you probably know, there is a big retro revival trend, bringing back many legacy computers and cosoles (NES, SNES, C64, Atari, ZX Spectrum and so on). It means that there is a serious probabilty that some will make Apple II remake (although it is heavily copyrighted and Apple itself does not want to follow this trend afaik). Unfortunately, there was recent Apple II Raadiation https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/raadition-apple-ii-in-back-retro-computer-case#/ project that was scam as it seems, so it made things much more complicated. However, there are exisitng DIY projects for retro lovers: most notable Apple II emus for RPi http://ivanx.com/ivanx/raspberrypi/raspberrypi_emulators.html, ready-made or DIY RPi case https://retroconnector.com/products/miniatures/apple-ii-raspberry-pi-case/ and adorable Apple II on C.H.I.P https://hackaday.com/2017/06/13/the-mini-apple-iie-that-runs-on-c-h-i-p/. I have to mention here D. Schmenk's (of PLASMA) Apple II Pi project http://schmenk.is-a-geek.com/wordpress/?p=167 also.

I found EightBall as very promising project (althought I didn't fiddle with very much, just spent a week last year playing with). It will be funny to say, but it could be a commercial project - kind of - too (although it is supposed to be a hobby project afaik). I mean, there are dozen of stuff unoficially offered as companion ebooks etc for TheC64; check our wiki for instance (faq - books https://gurce.net/c64mini/faq?s[]=books#any_books_for_c64_-_mini). Saying that, I am not affiliated to Retrogames nor do I am interested in any of those projects in a commercial way. I am just a retro lover, fan of different programming languages and amateur retro-archaeologist.

I will be out of game for several months, but I suppose that I'll be able to help you with EightBall project, if you decide to continue your precious work, mostly related to (the) C64 / VIC20. I am not a low level coder, but I do have some various skills and pretty deep knowledge about it. For instance, I can easily make ready-made (preloaded) EightBall dev environment at default "Carousell" menu of TheC64, sideloaded with various related projects. It is supposed for those (many of us) who have already "opened" (modded) our Mini, to be able to put in software that we like more. Whatever you decide or have questions about, I'll be glad to support you in you noble goals. Fell free to ask anything.

Kind regards, Darko Bednjanec aka Crispin

On Tue, 26 Nov 2019, 02:14 Bobbi Webber-Manners, notifications@github.com wrote:

It has been a while since I looked at EightBall. I have been busy with my other project (Zapple-II) the last little while. It would be good to return to EightBall at some point before too long though.

The C64 version could use some love. All the more recent work has been more aimed at the Apple //e with 128K. Memory is probably pretty tight on C64 at this point (but Apple II ProDOS is pretty big so the situation is better than it would appear at first for the C64, which doesn't have that issue.)

It would like to improve the VM to make it a bit faster. Maybe I can enlist some help from the Plasma (https://github.com/dschmenk/PLASMA) folks :)

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