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robc

@robc@mastodon.social

Programmer by day, thinks about old games a bit too much by night by making videos on them.

Existentially tired and here for interesting games talk, and not quick dunks or s*itposting.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

vampiress , to random
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This “winter” malarkey is bad. I’m going to take a stand and say it’s not good.

If we could stay forever in Spring and Autumn that’d be solid.

robc ,
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@vampiress Co-signed.

(And it's not just 'cause I woke up to it being 0 degrees down here!)

vampiress , to random
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Jesus. Mighty Kingdom being 'rightsized'. What gross corp-speak.

An official post from Mighty Kingdom, game dev studio based out of Adelaide here in Australia. It partly as follows: (1500 char limit for alt text sucks) Last week Mighty Kingdom advised its people of a strategic rightsizing to streamline our operations and prioritise core business to align with our vision for the future. This has resulted in a restructuring of roles and a 28% reduction in our workforce. This decision is made with heavy hearts and we never wanted to find ourselves in this position and we have exhausted all possible avenues to avert these changes.
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    • robc ,
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    @vampiress It's so gross. And with all the shenanigans going on these the last few years, it's almost malicious.

    Wonder if those they've cut loose are getting decent packages at the very least :(

    vampiress , to random
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    EXTREMELY excited to be working on @grumpygamer's next game.

    It's already got me thinking about it at random hours, scribbling ideas down in my various sizes of notebook.

    (Anyone else have a stationary problem when it comes to their design notebooks?)

    https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@grumpygamer/112401714030473672

    robc ,
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    @vampiress @grumpygamer oh so very exciting. :D

    vampiress , to random
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    I used to be really excited for what the next smart phone would offer. Or the next tablet. Or hell, the next smart watch.

    Not any more. And of course this happens when all technology (or gadgets) become old-hat.

    Thing is there IS new stuff that might be exciting. VR. MR. AR. They haven't hit their stride yet. I SHOULD feel excited to see what happens when they do.

    But I don't.

    Why/? I honestly think is the software. The monetisation. The -companies- themselves.

    The companies selling the new gadgets make me not care.

    No matter how fancy the tech, it won't stop it just straight-up boring me. Even when Apple or even Meta show off something new with a VR headset, I never do more than glance at it for a moment, before browsing away to a different article or video.

    Basically, what I'm saying is: capitalism killed my interest in gadgets and technology, almost entirely.

    I'm more excited by weird $40 open source bits of hardware, despite many using decades old tech.

    So that's what I think I'll focus on. The weird shit. The cool shit. The bizarre re-uses of 8-bit Z80 or 6502 processors. Of cheap e-Ink displays on 2010-vintage microcontrollers.

    Maybe I'll find some joy again there.

    robc ,
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    @vampiress I feel this A Lot.

    Honestly, I don't think I've experienced anything which got me as excited as the neo-vintage micros. Something about having some, but not all the limitations was really fun.

    vampiress , to random
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    As objectively cool as it is that anyone squeezed simulations this complex onto a 1MHz computer with 64kb of ram, I'm not going to lie... the serious load times to CHANGE SCREENS make Epyx's "Destroyer” a wee bit tough to actually play when you're used to even vaguely "modern” naval sims.

    The navigation screen. You hit ‘fire’ to change your course, then select a destination. Hitting fire again places a waypoint market, and if you tap it twice on the same spot it confirms the course as plotted.
    What happens when Elissa gets entirely too excited by playing with the blinkenlights, and fails to notice a coral reef in front of the USS Daring. (In other words, it’s a “game over, all hands lost” screen)

    robc ,
    @robc@mastodon.social avatar

    @vampiress Sadly the result of crackers 😢

    Epyx's stuff had an amazingly fast disk turbo, but that typically was ripped out by the crackers.

    (Sadly not sure if it's been given a more modern crack which supports something which'll give some extra speed)

    robc , to random
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    Time for some 64k of fun (and b-roll recording).

    Sometimes it means I can have some fun, and other times (like now), it’s something infuriating.

    The fun of enjoying the 8-but days, that’s for sure.

    robc OP ,
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    @vampiress oh yes! New cases made from the original injection molds (which were recovered a few years back).

    Had to go with C16 styled charcoal, and distinguishes it from my childhood C64C (as this has a new Reloaded board which uses OG chips, but has a few nice features).

    robc OP ,
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    @vampiress The cases are available from Individual over in Germany - https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/product/c64c-case.html

    And the keycaps from CBMStuff, though it looks like they're out of Black for the main set - https://www.cbmstuff.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=59_83

    (I originally ordered the caps aaaaages ago via an IndieGoGo campaign, and gosh the delivery was painful, but they're quite nice as a finished result!)

    vampiress , to random
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    On the left side of my work desk is a monitor which used to be connected to a Windows gaming machine (before I moved to a combo of consoles + steamdeck). Now it's connected to a tiny windows dev / build NUC. Which I never really use.

    I am tempted to remove the monitor, and set up a C64 and the Sony PVM semi-permanently, just to have a nicer space to code / play with the thing.

    robc ,
    @robc@mastodon.social avatar

    @vampiress My answer to this should not be a surprise, but Yes (of course) :)

    (Even if you were to rotate your other machines every so often, it's a nice way to do it ;)

    vampiress , to random
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    It's been a while BUT... I got a few more big box games! Though, 'big' is subjective here. The first and most exciting one I've wanted for a while - the original 688 Attack Sub, which is one of those 1980s style 'mid sized' boxes. Slight, and a bit smaller than what'd become the boxed size standard later.

    I love the design - a 'classified' document containing orders.

    The back cover, advertising: “THE TARGET THINKS. THE TARGET FEELS. THE TARGET WANTS YOU DEAD.” and "This is the simulation that resets the standards in color, realism and 3D graphics: that puts you in command of a top secret billion dollar Los Angeles class U.S. attack sub: that pits you and your crew against deadly fleets of submerged, surface and airborne targets around the globe, that unfolds the dangers of espionage, evasion and destruction.”
    The box has one of my favourite things - a fold-out front cover. But unlike other boxes where that’s for additional marketing material selling you on buying the game, in this case it actually opens up the box - so you can extract the manual and floppy disks without fully unpacking the box (which I have nonetheless done here).

    robc ,
    @robc@mastodon.social avatar

    @vampiress The cover for that is damn cool, really hitting the secret vibe.

    Shame they ditched it when doing the Mega Drove port alas.

    (I guess that’s no surprise when considering audiences and what not…)

    robc , to random
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    Time for a new !

    I may not have grown up with them, but 's 8-bit line of micros has a lot of neat games, even if they weren't the first pick for a lot of the 8-bit era.

    And seeing there's that new mini hitting the market which might bring some new folks to the fold - here's a selection of games "I Just Think Are Neat", but also don't rely on loads of key controls.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh6YjZTO62c

    robc OP ,
    @robc@mastodon.social avatar

    @vampiress Even better: It originated there!

    The A8's are lovely, lovely beasts - if I were the enabling sort, I'd say any decent retro computing collection is incomplete without one :)

    It also doesn't help to see them as the mid-way point between the 2600 and the Amiga!

    robc OP ,
    @robc@mastodon.social avatar

    @vampiress I guess they were cribbing Zaxxon (which would have hit arcades), but on top of that, Synapse would get the license to port it over, and it adds a lot to it :)

    robc OP ,
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    @vampiress Who needs an ST when you’ve got an Amiga? ;)

    Unless you want to mess about with driving MIDI synths and what not :)

    robc OP ,
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    @vampiress It varies on the machine - RF is on all, and composite on all but the OG 400 (and US 600XL). The 130XE I'm using, and I believe the OG 800 have Chroma/Luma which can be turned into S-Video too.

    But there's plenty of mods for RGB and what not too :)

    vampiress , to random
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    robc ,
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    @vampiress Maybe there's a small chance they want to channel their inner Gomez Addams and run a model train through it!

    (Granted, that poor model train, but y'know…)

    vampiress , to random
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    robc ,
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    @vampiress My benchmark BITD was probably F1GP on the Amiga. Had I actually seen MD Virtua Racing in shops or what ever, I think I might have lost my jaw at how fluid it is.

    A true shame the damn thing was so expensive, and Sega's plans all went nowhere :(

    vampiress , to random
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    robc ,
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    @vampiress I’ve gone out of my way to not set one up, ever since the day some rando was trying to find me on it, and it fucking spammed me with nonsense.

    Also had employers ask about it - not during interviews, but once I'd been hired and been there for a while too.

    vampiress , to random
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    robc ,
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    @vampiress Damn, that is intricate AF. Totally fits your vibe! :D

    vampiress , to random
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    robc ,
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    @vampiress om nom nom nom nom!

    Cookie GIF by NBC

    vampiress , to random
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    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    robc ,
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    @vampiress woohoo! Welcome to the best 8-bitter in the land :D

    robc ,
    @robc@mastodon.social avatar

    @vampiress Totally a fair assessment! C64 BASIC really isn't great - it was a port of PET BASIC, simply because CBM outsmarted MS and got a perpetual license for it.

    There's two different carts CBM put out which upgraded things - Simon's BASIC and the Super Expander, but I think most serious devs moved over to 6502 as soon as they could to get the most out of it :)

    vampiress , (edited ) to random
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    robc ,
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    @vampiress Just so long as they don’t reuse the original theme song. That’s one damn optimistic piece.

    But a post-modern on how these things could have helped, but didn’t? It’s be sad, but interesting to watch…

    vampiress , to random
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    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    robc ,
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    @vampiress There's something about using an actual vintage machine for those simple BASIC listings - punching a listing into an emulator just doesn't feel the same!

    robc ,
    @robc@mastodon.social avatar

    @vampiress YESSSSSSSSSS. YESSSSSSSSSSS. YESSSSSSSS.

    If you do, then this is the only device you need.

    https://ultimate64.com/

    robc ,
    @robc@mastodon.social avatar

    @vampiress Nice. The keyboard's the same across both the Breadbin and the C, but the angle is lower on the C, making it nice to type on (IMHO).

    Storage wise, there's a few options, but the Ultimate II+ cart is the cream of the crop unless you wanna futz around with a Pi (for a Pi1541).

    Once you nab one, I'd be happy to discuss more stuff based on what you wanna do :)

    (Because the legacy of the 1541 certainly leaves some fun in all of it!)

    robc ,
    @robc@mastodon.social avatar

    @vampiress If you wanna futz around with your own stuff, then that'll be fine - just be aware that anything which does low level disk stuff (eg. a fair chunk of big commercial games, and demo scene stuff will break).

    vampiress , to random
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    robc ,
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    @vampiress I had bad (by which I mean good) news: https://thehighnibble.com/imsai8080

    robc ,
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    @vampiress Yeah, it's a great bit of news - heard about it a while back, and being able to avoid the pains of stupidly high shipping is always a win.

    vampiress , to random
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    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    robc ,
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    @vampiress I love how the arrangement of machines on the first cover puts the C16 (which was a heck of a flop) ahead of the C64.

    robc ,
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    @vampiress Ah, it's interesting seeing the selection - CCI, Commodore User, Your Commodore et al.

    And of course the Amiga could, even if it had a slower start :)

    vampiress , to random
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    robc ,
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    @vampiress …and also sends a small jolt of electricity to the person responsible for ordering that "feature" to be added in the first place?

    vampiress , to random
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    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    robc ,
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    @vampiress Ahhhh. A lovely example indeed. Most importantly, it should be kept offline. Like all good computers.

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