Nostr notes by Colin McMillen

a low effort meme for a low effort release ...

2026-10-13T09:55:21Z

a low effort meme for a low effort release

I figured out what annoys me SO MUCH with the flood of "I ...

2026-09-22T13:57:52Z

I figured out what annoys me SO MUCH with the flood of "I made a thing" posts in the #retrocomputing community and it's evidently LLM vibe-coded.

It's about the same as if hundreds of people arrived in some woodworking forum, proudly posting "I built a bookshelf" with pictures of an IKEA Billy, or "I cooked lasagna" with pictures of a microwaved defrozen industrial crap labelled "Lasagna" on a recipes website.

I don't mean to gatekeep, but maybe if you're not interested in getting good at something as a hobby, just don't pretend you're good at something?

There's a fix to that! 6502 & cc65 :-) Also in all ...

2026-09-17T20:02:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…nnp4
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There's a fix to that! 6502 & cc65 :-)
Also in all seriousness, it's different, compilers are deterministic.

Yesterday someone "optimized" Karateka. They fed their ...

2026-09-17T06:26:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…zlyu
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Yesterday someone "optimized" Karateka. They fed their LLM a floppy image and got back a game that runs faster. Mechner took months or years to build it.
That person doesn't know how it's faster in detail. "It added lookup tables in the language card".

All of that kind of took the wind out of my sails. Why even invest time and energy getting good at something when everyone else is pretending and it's hard to see the difference and no-one cares about the difference?

But, at least two people fed that AmigaOS archive into their LLM, ...

2026-09-17T06:22:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…sser
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But, at least two people fed that AmigaOS archive into their LLM, and got back a functional decoder.
I have not looked at it. I will if plan A fails. But...
Where's the fun in that?
What's the use of honing skills if any datacenter, given enough energy can do the same without even having to *think* about the problem?
That happened the same day I stumbled upon at least three "I built a..." that no you didn't build it, you instructed a thing to do it.
That happened a few days after two different "built" an Apple II file manager, two-panes, with every bell and whistle.
I did an Apple II file manager last year. Manually. The LLMs took from it.

So I've ordered yet another cheap old digital camera from the ...

2026-09-17T06:16:54Z

So I've ordered yet another cheap old digital camera from the 90s. It's a hardware clone of the Kodak DC-50, with just the resolution changing (640x480 instead of 786x512).
Thought it'd be just to check it works with the same driver, but discovered it encodes pictures differently. No support in dcraw, almost no info on internet. I only found a demo binary for AmigaOS, which I looked into with Ghidra (I'm not good at Ghidra OR m68k asm so not a great start for me).
I found the author's name in the binary. He's now involved in #MorphOS development. I contacted him and he's going to look for docs and source, which should get me started.

Dear corporate overlords with millions to fund useless projects: ...

2026-09-09T17:16:53Z

Dear corporate overlords with millions to fund useless projects: fund my Apple II projects, it will also not bring any practical value to the world, but at least it won't go to fucking fascists.

It wouldn't work, it's stupid

2026-08-16T09:56:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…gmyd
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It wouldn't work, it's stupid

Anyone like image processing, decoding algorithms, and would like ...

2026-08-16T09:22:00Z

Anyone like image processing, decoding algorithms, and would like to pick their brain to help me understand how these 80x60 thumbnails are encoded ?
Here is a little Sunday challenge, that hopefully might end with one new small bit of knowledge:
https://www.colino.net/wordpress/archives/2026/08/16/thumbnail-decoding-challenge/

Implemented the "YCbCr4:4:4 (1 1)" (aka YH1V1) subformat ...

2026-08-09T16:56:35Z

Implemented the "YCbCr4:4:4 (1 1)" (aka YH1V1) subformat of JPEG in #QuicktakeForAppleII 's decoder. The QT200 doesn't use it (it's YH2V1), but other cameras from the same decade do, so that's a first step towards maybe supporting more cameras!
#RetroComputing

Notre jardin punk vs le jardin rotofilé du voisin, après 1 ...

2026-06-28T11:12:13Z

Notre jardin punk vs le jardin rotofilé du voisin, après 1 semaine de canicule.

BurgerDisk/DominoDisk firmware v2.6 is available, adding support ...

2026-06-18T09:21:05Z

BurgerDisk/DominoDisk firmware v2.6 is available, adding support for DOS3.3-ordered .dsk images. (of ProDOS volumes, of course). No need to rewrite .dsk images to .po images anymore, but this comes with a performance penalty as DOS3.3-ordered images require to "cut" ProDOS blocks in two sectors, seek twice, and read/write twice.
https://github.com/colinleroy/BurgerDisk/releases/tag/v2.6
All devices on my shop at https://colino.net/wordpress/shop/ now ship with that firmware.

#RetroComputing #AppleII #BurgerDisk

faut déjà payer l'urssaf ??

2026-06-12T10:33:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…uee9
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faut déjà payer l'urssaf ??

Here's the thing. It's a dual serial hat for Raspberry Pi ...

2026-06-06T17:59:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…rntm
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Here's the thing. It's a dual serial hat for Raspberry Pi 4 and 5, so you can now go on Mastodon or listen to music or share photos with your Apple II, in style!
#RetroComputing #AppleII #RaspberryPi

Very much back to my bullshit #RetroComputing ...

2026-06-05T21:50:01Z

Very much back to my bullshit
#RetroComputing

Hi all, Just restocked DominoDisk, the very small daisy chainable ...

2026-06-01T18:26:10Z

Hi all,
Just restocked DominoDisk, the very small daisy chainable Apple II hard drive that works.
They also have 5€ off for the whole Pride month, and 10% of benefits still go to Clar-T (npub1fy6…5pk3)
Enjoy!
https://www.colino.net/wordpress/wordpress/shop/apple-ii-hardware/dominodisk/
#RetroComputing #AppleII #TransRightsAreHumanRights

Waking up for work: tired Waking up to see a nice article on my ...

2026-05-19T07:07:54Z

Waking up for work: tired
Waking up to see a nice article on my last project: wired 🙂
https://www.hackster.io/news/colin-leroy-mira-s-sixforty-offers-social-photo-sharing-on-your-apple-ii-7c9d35cdb5e1

#RetroComputing #AppleII #Quicktake

Quelqu'un.e veut adopter Flamby à #Toulouse ? Il est mignon, ...

2026-05-16T17:18:23Z

Quelqu'un.e veut adopter Flamby à #Toulouse ? Il est mignon, en demande de câlins, il ronronne quand on s'occupe de lui, mais mais un vrai sale con avec les autres chats. Il lui faudrait une maison sans autre chat.
Il est en fin de guérison d'une patte arrière cassée. On en a profité pour le castrer. Pas encore vacciné.
#caturday

My cat asks "I can haz pancakes?" (yes, I'm old) ...

2026-05-11T14:23:08Z

My cat asks "I can haz pancakes?" (yes, I'm old)

10% off my daisy chainable Apple II Smartport hard drives for the ...

2026-04-25T07:19:17Z

10% off my daisy chainable Apple II Smartport hard drives for the weekend! (The occasion is the Apple //c's birthday, the computer that made me love computing).
Coupon HAPPY42 on https://colino.net/wordpress/shop/
#RetroComputing #AppleII

Now that I am not worried about having enough connectors for my ...

2026-04-09T18:21:40Z

Now that I am not worried about having enough connectors for my #BurgerDisk device, I am instead worried that everybody who wanted one got theirs, and nobody else likes it, and one day, I'll die and be inhumated with my 300 unused connectors 🤡
I love my brain sometimes. /s
#RetroComputing #AppleII

Allow me to introduce #MLL coding, the counterpart to #LLM vibe ...

2026-03-22T11:54:36Z

Allow me to introduce #MLL coding, the counterpart to #LLM vibe coding. MLL (Manual Labor of Love) coding allows one to spend more time doing a thing, and lets one get better, faster, and 100% understood code.

Oh 😞 what's your compiler?

2026-03-11T14:17:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…uetv
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Oh 😞 what's your compiler?

Depends whether it's always-used or not. You can pull in code ...

2026-03-11T14:11:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…gdqu
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Depends whether it's always-used or not. You can pull in code when needed, overwrite it with something else when it's not needed anymore. Like the menu code for example, or even the death animation, etc. But I suppose you already do that wherever you can?

looks good in green too 🤩 ...

2026-03-04T16:14:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…5mfq
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looks good in green too 🤩

Can you use segments to load/unload parts of your code as ...

2026-02-26T21:02:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…rzcq
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Can you use segments to load/unload parts of your code as required?

And don't tell me about mass storage !last box of 10*140kB ...

2025-12-17T20:09:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…5kny
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And don't tell me about mass storage !last box of 10*140kB floppies was $54, which is $40500/GB

(but you can make it twice cheaper with this weird trick that Big Storage hates!)

- I upgraded my RAM - In this economy !? - Yeah, 10.47€ ...

2025-12-17T19:07:20Z

- I upgraded my RAM
- In this economy !?
- Yeah, 10.47€ isn't that much
...
*calculates price per GB
*realizes it'd cost more than my house if I could somehow fit 32GB in this Apple IIc

Hi! I see captionPath is deprecated from the VideoCaption API ...

2025-11-26T11:13:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…42ys
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Hi! I see captionPath is deprecated from the VideoCaption API object, replaced by fileUrl.
I cannot find since when does fileUrl exist? Thanks!

Look at these pants my partner made me 🤩 These are ...

2025-11-15T15:17:02Z

Look at these pants my partner made me 🤩 These are #RETROCOMPUTING selvedge jeans!! With floppies on the pockets!

Coding for speed on 6502 (1st version: ~200 cycles) (2nd version: ...

2025-08-28T19:01:29Z

Coding for speed on 6502

(1st version: ~200 cycles)
(2nd version: 38 cycles)
(3rd version: 12 cycles)
(4th version: 4 cycles, but requires 256 bytes of memory)
#RetroComputing

This new release of #Mastodon for #AppleII mostly brings you the ...

2025-08-24T19:34:20Z

This new release of #Mastodon for #AppleII mostly brings you the ability to view pictures and send pictures in DHGR - Double High Graphics Resolution! 560x192 in monochrome, or 140x192 in 16 colors.
You can find it via https://www.colino.net/wordpress/en/mastodon-for-apple-ii/

Attached are two examples, courtesy of [@GLaG_38](https://mamot.fr/@GLaG_38 ) and Marion :gmcg: (npub1vq9…ghfv)

Implement quote-toot viewing in Mastodon for Apple II: +605 bytes ...

2025-07-03T19:27:32Z

Implement quote-toot viewing in Mastodon for Apple II: +605 bytes (https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/1c7b243a0d0abec9de04e3908204b8b4a00de73d).

#RetroComputing #AppleII

Annnnnd I bit the bullet, and sacrificed a bit of memory, and did ...

2025-06-08T12:36:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…zp2h
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Annnnnd I bit the bullet, and sacrificed a bit of memory, and did 16-bit arithmetic, because Bresenham is just so much faster.

My adventures in 6502-land: I discovered that drawing lines is a ...

2025-06-07T10:27:07Z

My adventures in 6502-land: I discovered that drawing lines is a pain in the ass. The reference algorithm is Bresenham's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bresenham%27s_line_algorithm), which is really smart and good, but requires to check which point is at the right/the top of the other one to know where to start from, then which kind of slope the line has (to know whether to iterate on X or Y), and even if it involves no division, it involves a lot of additions/substractions/absolutes and branches.
Another, albeit much slower, possibility is to find the middle point (which just requires two additions and two right shifts, no 16-bit arithmetic involved), plot it, then recurse on both sides.

The first beta version of Shufflepuck Cafe for the Apple II is... ...

2025-04-19T19:49:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…7ajy
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The first beta version of Shufflepuck Cafe for the Apple II is... published!

https://www.colino.net/wordpress/en/archives/2025/04/19/first-beta-release-of-shufflepuck-for-apple-ii/

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2 #AppleII #RetroGaming

The Hand is in!! And I have a full 1024 bytes left in the CODE ...

2025-04-18T20:20:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…8684
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The Hand is in!!
And I have a full 1024 bytes left in the CODE segment.

Big commit, I had to move lots of init code to the ONCE segment, but this had to be done at some point, and I *think* I have everything I want in ??

This week-end is probably be beta-release week-end!

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

I don't have enough space to add a score-updating robot ...

2025-04-18T16:18:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…mpuf
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I don't have enough space to add a score-updating robot hand... coming from the left of the screen.

But do I have enough to add it if it comes from the top (which would make a smaller sprite) ?

Answer in a few hours but I have hopes.

#retroComputing #GameDev

Uggggh it seems I'm running out of space and don't have ...

2025-04-17T21:05:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…mk7a
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Uggggh it seems I'm running out of space and don't have enough room to add the score-updating robot hand. This is bothering me too much.
Luckily I added the tournament logic and screens already. I have to show it to you but I'd like to win a tournament first and I'm having hard time with Nerual.
#RetroComputing #GameDev

✅ Splash screen! #RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2 #PixelArt ...

2025-04-14T21:36:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…zm9u
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✅ Splash screen!

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2 #PixelArt #Shufflepuck

Working on my data loader so I can add a splash screen. ...

2025-04-14T15:59:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…tlwm
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Working on my data loader so I can add a splash screen. Shit's gonna be cleaner the second time!

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

I have searched for a way to have a splash screen instead of ...

2025-04-13T17:47:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…45f6
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I have searched for a way to have a splash screen instead of LOADING... text, but didn't find one yet. So instead I made a few cute animations !

#RetroComputing #GameDev #PixelArt #Apple2

"I'm just debugging, officer" #RetroComputing ...

2025-04-13T14:42:40Z

"I'm just debugging, officer"

#RetroComputing

Biff is done. It's basically Eneg but harder. I've ...

2025-04-12T20:36:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…n8q3
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Biff is done. It's basically Eneg but harder. I've started on DC3, the robot bartender, and will finish tomorrow because he's supposed to be configurable and making text UIs in assembly is tedious!

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2 #shufflepuck

Oooooh, FUUUUCK. I had to test Biff on my Apple IIgs, which is a ...

2025-04-12T16:09:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…5mzg
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Oooooh, FUUUUCK. I had to test Biff on my Apple IIgs, which is a US Apple IIgs at 60Hz, to *finally* think of the fact that the puck and opponents are faster at 60Hz than at 50.
Either I patched EVERY delta to account for the 20% difference (and it fucked up A LOT of cases where rounding errors made an opponent too easy or too hard), or ....

I went the easy way, and I drop 1 frame out of 6 at 60Hz.

Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/1aa3acab860d33037669089ba5d115a404e310bd

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

Is Biff taunting enough? #RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2 ...

2025-04-12T13:38:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…830v
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Is Biff taunting enough?

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2

Look at this shameless cheater. #Shufflepuck #RetroComputing ...

2025-04-12T11:55:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…qp2c
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Look at this shameless cheater.
#Shufflepuck #RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

Thank the 8bit gods, Bejin wins and loses silently (her serving ...

2025-04-11T22:00:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…3lac
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Thank the 8bit gods, Bejin wins and loses silently (her serving sounds, even looped, are long enough to take all the space in the opponent segment)

Nerual is done! he was fun but hard to write. The fact he ...

2025-04-11T17:58:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…ugy7
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Nerual is done! he was fun but hard to write. The fact he "cheats" exposed a few bugs in the engine. Nevertheless, I'm rather happy with how he performs.

I added an 8px random on his "magic line", otherwise serving at max delta-Y was always succeeding or always failing, which was frustrating.

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

I'm reverse-engineering Nerual. He (they?) have a very cool ...

2025-04-09T19:19:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…98cd
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I'm reverse-engineering Nerual. He (they?) have a very cool algorithm. First of all they 100% mimic your hits - speed and angle. They'll send you the puck back how it arrived. They'll serve exactly how you served first. And finally, they seem to have a "magic band" where they guess (or look into the matrix) the puck's arrival point. The only way to avoid this magic positioning is to send a huge hit, so fast the puck's Y coordinate goes from "too far" to "too close"... And hope their standard movement speed is too slow to reach it - otherwise, you're getting the same rocket right back at you.

Demo in the screencast of the Mac version:

So, opinions ?

2025-04-09T06:38:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…jlvr
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So, opinions ?

Also the very first Shufflepuck used this method - either for ...

2025-04-09T05:36:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…l5k2
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Also the very first Shufflepuck used this method - either for cycles sparing, or memory saving, I suppose !
#RetroComputing #GameDev #apple2

Fell out of bed today and tried something I wanted to. I can draw ...

2025-04-09T05:30:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…zhrr
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Fell out of bed today and tried something I wanted to. I can draw the pushers using EOR (inverting the background pixels) instead of masking and saving background. This is less aesthetic, but
- it's faster enough that I can do 60 fps instead of 30
- it spares 3kB of RAM.

I'm not 100% sure yet but I think I'll go this route: Shufflepuck us a dynamic game, the smoother the better... What do you think ?

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2

Quickly added Eneg's basis (he's unbeatable for now), I ...

2025-04-08T06:47:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…lxs5
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Quickly added Eneg's basis (he's unbeatable for now), I think the commit shows how easy this is: Three sprites, three sounds, a single file with the opponent's logic (https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/bfdd118fc2e326c25f53bc7e2eb2b4436eb40996)

Sprite by JauneBaguette (npub1q56…e7nk) again!

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2 #PixelArt

I'm happy with the Cafe. Here's how it will feel starting ...

2025-04-07T19:22:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…z7n3
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I'm happy with the Cafe. Here's how it will feel starting #shufflepuck on the #Apple2.

#RetroComputing #GameDev

280x192 pixels is both not a lot of pixels when you want to add ...

2025-04-07T04:58:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…2eay
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280x192 pixels is both not a lot of pixels when you want to add details and half shadowing, and also a lot of pixels when you redo all of them manually.

Eneg, Biff, Bejin and DC3 courtesy of JauneBaguette (npub1q56…e7nk) !

#RetroComputing #GameDev #PixelArt #Apple2

Vinnie's done ! Sprite by @npub1q56…e7nk (thanks!), ...

2025-04-06T12:09:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…nkam
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Vinnie's done ! Sprite by JauneBaguette (npub1q56…e7nk) (thanks!), win/lose animation, lose sound, and algorithm. (https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/637f34a0b3f01adaa30fff02c5a463788e306195)

My #Shufflepuck now has its first four opponents, I've reworked the linking so that I have 11kB available per opponent, which should give me room for about 1 second of audio total per opponent. (https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/fce683c3f3ad35cf33ae0990242310d8236286fc)

Maybe I'll start implementing the bar so I can choose the opponent, before continuing coding them - their algorithms are HARD in assembly.

"Gotcha!" I added the required plumbing for the opponent ...

2025-04-05T12:09:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…9vd9
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"Gotcha!"
I added the required plumbing for the opponent to make a sound when they serve, lose a point, or win a point.

I probably won't be able to have any opponent with the three sounds, as they take a lot of room. But I *think* none of them have all three, so it should be good.

Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/b5880c21408b53a852d82402b156ef10da750168

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

Technical commit: I've changed the puck's X,Y coordinates ...

2025-04-05T09:33:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…l7m9
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Technical commit: I've changed the puck's X,Y coordinates from 8-bit integers in the range of 0-255, to 16-bit in the range 0-511. Along with one less division in the delta X/Y, this allows for twice the precision of movement.

In simple terms, it allows for the equivalent of having deltas 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 delta X/Y instead of only 0-1-2-3

Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/58a70c06c62d0e7416be25d3b25da504a64f43ab

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

Joining Lexan tonight are Skip and Visine. I drew them myself, ...

2025-04-04T20:18:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…vyxr
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Joining Lexan tonight are Skip and Visine. I drew them myself, and I'm... OK with the result!

Of course the three of them all have their own style of play. I try to mimic the original game, but it is approximative, as I'm quite sure the original game had either 16 bit ints or floats.

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2 #PixelArt

Hah I didn't pay enough attention, there are only four or ...

2025-04-04T16:38:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…7jmc
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Hah I didn't pay enough attention, there are only four or five done in this repo.
Guess people will have to look at my mediocre pixel art then!

Well hello, Lexan! As I very much suck at pixel art, I searched ...

2025-04-03T20:07:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…rwpq
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Well hello, Lexan!

As I very much suck at pixel art, I searched for, and found, *perfect* sprites for my Shufflepuck : the ones made by Awot83 at https://github.com/Awot83/Gamebuino-Shufflepuck_cafe

They're very well made *and* GPL3+!

I've contacted the author so I can credit them, and in the meantime, I overcame a little challenge of the opponent's sprite being bigger than 256 bytes, commited that (https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/735825275fce0f74da2dd9383af88b3c3d15c254) and am now playing against an embodied opponent!

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2

Another insomnia put to good use this morning with the scoreboard ...

2025-04-03T11:41:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…f4a0
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Another insomnia put to good use this morning with the scoreboard ! (Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/f87b515c44e5910e9610edc99cff41af406ae727)

And with that, I played my first full #Shufflepuck game after lunch.

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

this is a cool idea but I would need to remember all coordinates, ...

2025-04-01T21:28:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…nz90
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this is a cool idea but I would need to remember all coordinates, and code a line drawing function instead of using the Applesoft one...

The crash effect is now complete, after laboriously pulling a ...

2025-04-01T20:29:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…0yxg
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The crash effect is now complete, after laboriously pulling a recursive tree drawing in assembly. Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/c0f4c89b4abf29829a631da46f728c48c33f41d6

Yes, I have to reload the background, this is not ideal. But I can't resolve myself to add a buffer to hold a full copy of the background, even compressed. I'll add that last if room allows.

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

I added sound. It required adding a feature to the sound player ...

2025-03-31T20:16:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…fyd6
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I added sound. It required adding a feature to the sound player to be able to arbitrarily slow the samples playback speed.

I'm not super happy with the samples, but they must be REAL short in order to avoid visibly hanging the game.

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2

Commited my first opponent! ...

2025-03-30T20:04:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…g0lm
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Commited my first opponent! (https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/ee358e07527b80a9532115fee51bd4c125f9d953)

They're quite a good defender and not much of an attacker.

I have hopes of being able to implement multiple opponents' "personalities" by tweaking a few variables.

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2

I have procrastinated controlling the opponent's paddle ...

2025-03-30T09:55:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…3yre
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I have procrastinated controlling the opponent's paddle (because it scares me) and reworking my drawing functions for less artifacting. Before, I was clearing and repainting each sprite one after the other. It was hiding the puck when close to my pusher, and artifacting when close to the opponent's. Also it needed a full 8kB background copy.
Each sprite now saves its own background, and I'm doing clears and draws in order so that sprites can overlap. The clear/draw order changes depending on the puck's Y position. It makes the drawing much more satisfying. At the expense of more cycles, but that should fit.
Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/e6e7e8fb40a141dc9e252c42128d43eda7021d07

The X and Y scaling both require one 8bit x 8bit to 16bit ...

2025-03-29T22:18:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…dspd
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The X and Y scaling both require one 8bit x 8bit to 16bit multiplication, but I avoided the need for a division by generating tables of "256-entage" instead of percentage and it's fast enough : dividing a 16bit int by 256 means simply keeping the high byte.

For now, the far side bounces the puck (makes it easier to test ...

2025-03-29T21:25:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…uhlm
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For now, the far side bounces the puck (makes it easier to test what exists)
The XY transformation was easier than I thought! (once I found the correct perspective factors to generate three tables using : https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/59444b6f199dee0150bf4eccda3345c5ec26c2ff#diff-9803b9b889bf9903fded1c4efc18fb51531d812245e01f1be231dc5141c2e6c6)

#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2

Next project? I'm still at the "I'll never manage ...

2025-03-29T12:28:47Z

Next project? I'm still at the "I'll never manage it" phase.
#retrocomputing #gamedev #shufflepuck

Glider for Apple II's first beta release is available at ...

2025-03-16T09:17:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…sjrg
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Glider for Apple II's first beta release is available at https://www.colino.net/wordpress/glider-for-apple-ii/

I hope you'll enjoy it, and be sure to report issues if you find some!

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

Did four more levels, I think I should put out a beta version ...

2025-03-15T20:10:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…u966
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Did four more levels, I think I should put out a beta version soon(ish)

I've started working on a "house map" because ...

2025-03-13T20:23:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…aqw8
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I've started working on a "house map" because it's getting confusing to remember which level is which when I define them in the assembler sources.

Maybe I'll get super-wild and make a house map generator?

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #gameDev

Working on levels. I'll have you know that I steal most of my ...

2025-03-13T20:20:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…ertd
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Working on levels. I'll have you know that I steal most of my level elements from Shutterstock, scale them down, and use them to draw my things. Here, have a hot bath!

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev

I've implemented two levels with stairs. (one of them very ...

2025-03-12T19:50:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…uzrw
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I've implemented two levels with stairs. (one of them very incomplete). It works quite well. Here's an example with a level that has three exit/entry zones.

Commit (mostly illegible as I renamed one level file): https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/bc971f5af2e900f9886824ef5fa7afc78c55e7d9

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev #MARCHintosh

Also I think it's time I officially asked John Calhoun if ...

2025-03-11T20:58:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…n32a
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Also I think it's time I officially asked John Calhoun if he's OK with my use of his game's name. https://github.com/softdorothy/GliderPRO/issues/14 (Yes, the original Glider game is now available as GPL v2, since 10 years apparently!)

I implemented dynamic exits (commit: ...

2025-03-11T20:39:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…wzde
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I implemented dynamic exits (commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/ff28f3b1ce923d93dd93836dd933a74f54e4a545) so I added exits on the left of levels too, allowing to revisit levels (commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/f8be708eb1426c1d21b94530b17d5b42a6c0c1db).
Time bonus is only counted once otherwise it's too easy!
Level state resets when we come back to one, but that's fine by me.
(Edit: and this demo showed me a wrong hitbox on level 3's table hitbox, so commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/291e624951a68c296018c6e6b6f755b91d300bde)

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev #MARCHintosh

So, with the possibility to ship 30 levels, tonight's work is ...

2025-03-11T11:22:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…pcvp
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So, with the possibility to ship 30 levels, tonight's work is cut out for me : I'll replace the "go to next level when the plane X reaches the right of the screen" with configurable level exits, as in the original game

The only annoyance is that it requires 4kB of memory to store the ...

2025-03-10T20:45:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…vf8g
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The only annoyance is that it requires 4kB of memory to store the compressed data before decompressing it in one go.
I should look into making it work with a 1kB buffer and decompressing in multiple reads. That's probably not obvious.

It even helps with loading times! The floppy is slower to read ...

2025-03-10T20:42:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…smuw
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It even helps with loading times! The floppy is slower to read 11-13 more blocks than the decompressor takes!
Double win.

(sorry for the flicker in the video)

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #MARCHintosh

I was a bit annoyed that I was on track to only be able to fit ...

2025-03-10T20:40:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…tjp8
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I was a bit annoyed that I was on track to only be able to fit nine levels on the floppy. I experimented with cc65's included LZ4 decompressor and it works really well. Now I should be able to put 30 to 40 levels on a single floppy!

Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/972c56cbfda32fcabaa72437f2b6ff032c871192

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #MARCHintosh

The high scores table is done and I didn't post a screenshot ...

2025-03-10T06:18:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…5a94
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The high scores table is done and I didn't post a screenshot yet because I finished it in HGR mode having reimplemented about the all the char ROM before figuring out it would be more practical to just switch to text mode. After that it was late.

#RetroComputing #apple2

Added the start of a high score table. There are four steps in a ...

2025-03-09T10:06:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…0rwx
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Added the start of a high score table. There are four steps in a high score table:
- load it
- figure if player has a spot in it
- ask them their name
- save it.

I've started with step three because I felt like it and also because it's easier to do steps 3 and 4 so I have data for step 1 and 2.

Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/9f0897c276dcae0c7a3c4d0142261a110288a2dd

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #MARCHintosh

I've done level 6 and am a bit happy with it, it's ...

2025-03-06T20:23:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…04mg
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I've done level 6 and am a bit happy with it, it's twisted, you have to think fast thanks to downward vents and an inconveniently placed switch, and if you don't you lose access to the extra life! and/or you lose one!

It's also the first level I can commit without touching the core engine, which must mean something's good in it!

Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/841822c22a0e3abc879c8d023894c32110f3cea9

#RetroComputing #Apple2

I've added a "you win" message at the end of the ...

2025-03-06T17:40:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…lprt
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I've added a "you win" message at the end of the game, a a going back to the start screen, instead of just quitting.

We know the game is won when loading the next level from floppy fails, so I wanted the victory message to acknowledge that, a bit tongue-in-cheek.

Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/acf87dadbc0582866ccd30734d550292eb12242d

#RetroComputing #Apple2

New side quest unlocked, extending cc65 in a satisfying way to ...

2025-03-05T20:37:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…6esx
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New side quest unlocked, extending cc65 in a satisfying way to include the original 48kB Apple ][

The start screen, integrated. Also just committed a ...

2025-03-04T20:29:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…828k
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The start screen, integrated. Also just committed a reorganisation/cleanup of the code, splitting it into more functions rather than the previous enormous loop. This allows me to get nice call graphs with KCachegrind, in which I confirm that my whole screen drawing is just under 4000 cycles on average.
It makes it faster than it takes the ray to reach the top-left of the screen during vertical blanking (4550 cycles) and leads to no tearing or flickering!

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #MARCHintosh

Does porting Glider to the Apple II count as a #MarchIntosh ...

2025-03-04T11:41:04Z

Does porting Glider to the Apple II count as a #MarchIntosh project ?

I have prepared, very laboriously, a start screen. (Yes I did ...

2025-03-03T21:36:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…qd40
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I have prepared, very laboriously, a start screen. (Yes I did place every letter one by one haha). I'll install it in the game later because my eyes are tired.

#RetroComputing #Apple2 #PixelArt

By the way, @npub1zsq…3q2k, the game is now ...

2025-03-03T19:53:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…cprw
_________________________

By the way, circfruit (npub1zsq…3q2k), the game is now keyboard-controllable.
Not only that, but it can also run without a MouseCard installed!

✅ Here is level 5 ! With it there are two new sprites - the ...

2025-03-03T19:51:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…pgw5
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✅ Here is level 5 !
With it there are two new sprites - the sheet of paper (which gives the player an extra life), and the toast. As you can guess, the toast is fatal.

I'm happy about my toast's ballistics, which are approximated using maths and python. I am very smart.

This level is a little bit hard but can be made easier if one doesn't try to get the extra life. Dying after getting it means one can try again, I like that the player has options.

Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/0182b212b0ce4f3b169fdd18369c1fa84df68a2f

#RetroComputing #Apple2

I wanted to make level 5 also today, but the time bonus feature ...

2025-03-02T19:21:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…s0xx
_________________________

I wanted to make level 5 also today, but the time bonus feature took me more time than I expected and I'm gonna go to bed early!

Previously, but I forgot to post, I have, as you've seen from ...

2025-03-02T19:20:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…9vee
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Previously, but I forgot to post, I have, as you've seen from the previous video, implemented a interstitial screen between levels, showing your score and the next level.
It required completing my font, and a little bit of code: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/4f227989ad474025d5a041ca61556b6cd665354d

I implemented time bonus. Each second not used from an allocated ...

2025-03-02T19:18:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…24yg
_________________________

I implemented time bonus. Each second not used from an allocated 10s per level is now counted as score.
How to keep track of seconds on an Apple II? With the mouse interrupts, which come at 60 or 50Hz depending on the country.
How to know the frequency of the interrupts? Easy, calibrate by counting the number of loops between two mouse interrupts.

Commit: https://github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/commit/1a4fc760c12f27d3c25bbc26ece4ca3f7aad3f74

#RetroComputing #Apple2

Level 4 is done ! @npub1kz8…j78f you wanted to see real ...

2025-03-02T13:10:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…7klj
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Level 4 is done ! Santiago Lema :amiga: (npub1kz8…j78f) you wanted to see real phosphor so here you are 🙂

#retrocomputing #apple2

Done. Back to level design! ...

2025-03-02T11:01:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…rpuh
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Done. Back to level design!
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gimp/+bug/2100703

It happens only when the Patterns dialog is visible, and it's ...

2025-03-02T10:53:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…k2w3
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It happens only when the Patterns dialog is visible, and it's because the preview of a 40x1 copy buffer is scaled down to 16x0, and it's indeed fixed upstream (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/commit/64f45df6ce6)

The side quest of the day is to figure out why Gimp crashes when ...

2025-03-02T10:50:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…xn2p
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The side quest of the day is to figure out why Gimp crashes when I copy thin bands of pixels, patch it, figure out it's already fixed upstream, and provide an Ubuntu package patch.

Full write-up on how to use my sound player in a#cc65 Apple II ...

2025-03-01T20:47:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…n2zt
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Full write-up on how to use my sound player in a#cc65 Apple II binary.

https://www.colino.net/wordpress/en/archives/2025/03/01/apple-ii-a-simple-way-to-play-sound-samples/

#RetroComputing #Apple2