[Coco] CoCo Game Master Cartridge developer offer

Salvador Garcia salvadorgarciav at yahoo.com
Mon Oct 23 10:49:24 EDT 2017 

 Actually, there is. While there is overlap, there are people both on the fb group and on here that aren't in the complementing group. Salvador


    On Friday, October 20, 2017, 5:45:38 PM CDT, John W. Linville <linville at tuxdriver.com> wrote:  
 
 I see no need to replicate this between here and the Facebook group. If
anyone needs help finding the corresponding discussion on Facebook,
then feel free to drop me a line...

John

On Fri, Oct 20, 2017 at 05:01:35PM -0500, Zippster wrote:
>  I'd hesitate to comment here, but since I have been specifically mentioned...
> 
> "His design is a more susceptible to that problem than some other designs, since
>  it is more elaborate and probably not appropriate for shipping a copy of the audio 
> hardware on cartridge with every game that supports it."
> 
> Perhaps not, but there is a large amount of flash available on the card that can easily
> be written by the CoCo, and games can be easily distributed by other means and 
> flashed to the cart, which could hold quite a few of them.
> 
> In addition, the PSG interface is flexible, compatible with disk based software and 
> Drivewire via HDB-DOS without modification, and provides digital joystick ports and
> and external audio jack for better sound quality at a price not a whole heck of a lot 
> greater than a single, stand alone game cart.
> 
> I'm not sure why having more than one sound option out there is seen as "the great race
> for CoCo audio supremacy”. 
> 
> Why isn't there room for more than one type of sound enhancement?
> 
> More options are better for the community and developers.  I'm glad you are offering your
> hardware to them to work with.
> 
> 
> - Ed
> 
>  
> 
> 
> > On Oct 20, 2017, at 4:19 PM, John W. Linville <linville at tuxdriver.com> wrote:
> > 
> > I'm not exactly sure when the great race for CoCo audio supremacy
> > began. I remember ruminating about the possibilities of adding audio
> > to a CoCo cart for at least a couple of years now, maybe more. It's
> > odd, it seems like not too long ago when just the idea of a basic
> > ROM cart for the CoCo seemed out of reach...
> > 
> > Anyway, somewhere along the way (especially after I demo'ed some
> > audio tech for CoCoFEST!) the idea caught on and suddenly everyone
> > wanted enhanced sound on their CoCo.  The main problem being, everyone
> > wanted their own version of a solution. Some of those ideas were odd
> > or questionable from the beginning, others had some legs but lacked
> > obvious purpose, while others remained plausible but with limitations
> > due to their own designs. In short, some of the proposed CoCo audio
> > solutions were more "sound" than others.
> > 
> > Earlier this week, one of the stronger contenders became available
> > "for experimenters and assembly language programmers who would like
> > to work with digital sound on the CoCo". The backer of that project,
> > Ed Snider, knows that software for new hardware can present a "chicken
> > and egg" problem. His design is a more susceptible to that problem
> > than some other designs, since it is more elaborate and probably not
> > appropriate for shipping a copy of the audio hardware on cartridge
> > with every game that supports it.  Nevertheless, even if a certain
> > design enables a game cartridge to economically ship with its own audio
> > hardware (removing the need to acquire the hardware in advance), there
> > are those that will insist on having such hardware before committing
> > to develop uses for it. The availability of the Game Master Cartridge
> > design in MAME alleviates this desire for some potential developers,
> > but apparently not for all.
> > 
> > So with that in mind, I am hereby offering an opportunity for folks
> > to acquire their own Game Master Cartridge hardware by pre-ordering
> > through me. A pre-order is merited based on the fact that I had never
> > intended to offer the Game Master Cartridge as an independent product,
> > but instead as a finished product shipping with a release game. So,
> > consider this as an offer for developers and other technical-minded
> > folks that are looking to experiment with the SN76489 on the Tandy
> > Color Computer.
> > 
> > I am offering the following options:
> > 
> >     Bare PCB        7.00
> > 
> >     PCB + parts kit        12.00
> >     (ROM socket, no ROM or EPROM)
> > 
> >     Assembled card        20.00
> >     (ROM socket, no ROM or EPROM)
> > 
> >     Assembled cartridge    30.00
> >     (ROM socket, "P-Touch" label)
> > 
> > If you wish to acquire one of the options offered above, please contact
> > me ASAP via email to "linville at tuxdriver.com" with a subject of "CoCo
> > GMC developer offer". Iff and when I acknowledge your email, you may
> > then pay for the item in question via Paypal to my email address. Do
> > not pay me unless and until I have explicitly accepted your inquiry, as
> > I may not have the capacity to handle every request in a timely basis.
> > 
> > Along with the SN76489 audio hardware, this cartridge includes ROM
> > "bank switching" hardware that is compatible with what was used for
> > Predator and Robocop. The bank switching hardware portion of the
> > design is documented in "Breaking the 32K Barrier" by Greg Zumwalt,
> > The Rainbow, June 1990. The bank switch register is addressed at $ff40.
> > 
> > The SN76489 audio hardware is addressed at $ff41. It is clocked
> > at 4 Mhz by an onboard oscillator. The oscillator speed value
> > could be changed for those determined to play very low notes
> > (e.g. octaves 0 and 1), but is sufficient for a wide variety of musical
> > entertainment. Tools exist for working with this chip on a variety
> > of other retro platforms, and some are beginning to be available for
> > the CoCo as well.
> > 
> > Since this hardware design was designed to be used as a ROM cartridge,
> > the address decoding makes use of the SCS! signal. This causes the card
> > to conflict with most (or all) floppy drive controllers, the CoCoSDC,
> > and probably some other hardware. These devices can coexist in the
> > same machine through use of the Multi-Pak Interface and its ability to
> > multiplex the SCS! line. I understand this limitation to be in common
> > with some of the other existing CoCo audio designs, including CoCoPSG.
> > 
> > A good option for using this cartridge might be as an HDB-DOS ROM
> > cartridge for using Drivewire. A small modification will need to be
> > made to the PCB to enable use with "DOS-style" ROMs, which I will
> > be happy to document. Such usage might be especially attractive
> > to software developers, since that would allow access to DSK image
> > from both the CoCo and a more modern development host acting as the
> > Drivewire server.
> > 
> > There is no specific limit on the number of cards/carts/kits
> > available. However, I reserve the right to withdraw this offer at
> > any time due to exhaustion, lack of interest, any other reason,
> > or no reason at all. Notice of such withdrawal may or may _not_
> > be given publicly or in advance. YMMV... ;-)
> > 
> > Respectfully,
> > 
> > John
> > -- 
> > John W. Linville        Someday the world will need a hero, and you
> > linville at tuxdriver.com            might be all we have.  Be ready.
> > 
> > -- 
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> > Coco at maltedmedia.com
> > https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> 
> 
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-- 
John W. Linville        Someday the world will need a hero, and you
linville at tuxdriver.com            might be all we have.  Be ready.

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