[Coco] What do you use your CoCo for? (was: Games that don't fit floppies)

[Joel Ewy]

On 11/16/2011 11:01 AM, Paulo Lindoso wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I am a newbie here in the list.  I have used my CoCo (first the Brazilian
> Clone, then a Tandy CoCo3) throughout my 80s to do mostly everything a
> (then-)teenager could do with a computer: gaming, wordprocessing (school
> work).  I have also use it extensively as a hobby since I was studying
> electronics.  Eventually, I went to university, the PC era began and my
> CoCo3 was stored in the attic.
>
> Recently, I have dusted it up and found out (to my amazement) that it still
> worked (had to fix the keyboard mylar, but apart from that perfect) and I
> found myself a new hobby and hopefully - with the list - some new friends.
>
> To be honest, I was amazed to see what has been done to this 8-bit computer.
>
> As for me, I have recently bought a SuperIDE (Mark is "baking" it... should
> arrive in time fro Christmas!) and my main point of interest is using the
> CoCo for small HW/SW hobbies.
>
> As such, it seems to me that (1) I need something to exchange files to and
> from my Mac (S-IDE seems to do the job via CFs); (2) I need some
> quick/practical way to extend ROMs and (2) I need as much access to the
> extension interface as possible.
>

Hi Paulo,

To transfer files, I think you should look into Drivewire:  
https://sites.google.com/site/drivewire4/beta
And to move individual files to and from disk image files, you should 
download Toolshed:  http://sourceforge.net/projects/toolshed/files/

Since Drivewire uses the bit-banger port, it doesn't need the expansion 
bus for I/O purposes.  If you use an HDB-DOS ROM, you'll need a ROM PAK, 
or disk controller, but you can actually load the Drivewire client over 
the cassette port from your Mac's audio out, leaving your expansion bus 
completely free.  Or if you're making your own hardware, you can just 
put an HDB-DOS ROM on that.

JCE

> That in mind, I have ordered a S-IDE and a Multipak.
>
> I would like to know from the list what other stuff is being done with
> these 8-bit wonders... I have seen some sites and looked up the list, but
> perhaps people would like to jump in and write about their daily CoCo use
> these days.
>
> Regarding the late discussions... (1) Big games are cool.  I don't think
> it's a cheat to use up mass storage.  So long as there is interest (and
> perhaps a "market" of sorts) for this, I think these initiatives are as
> "noble" as NitrOS or any other...  (2) S-IDE vs. Drivepak:  I have chosen
> S-IDE over Drivepak mostly because of what I have written above.  I am not
> sure if it was the best choice yet, and would welcome comments!
>
>
> Regards,
> Paulo.
>
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