[Coco] Space Invaders - Translated from Intel 8080 to Motorola 6809 for the CoCo 3

[Dave Philipsen]

And in that sense, I do agree with you Ed.  But in another sense, I 
truly believe that there are a lot of 'new' things that can still be 
done with the old 8-bitters.  Now I'm not exactly talking about the 
retro platforms you were referring to but more the use of the older CPUs 
for certain applications, perhaps embedded.  The odd thing is that so 
many of the newer embedded processors nowadays are being programmed in 
high level languages that in my mind really detract from the whole 
purpose behind using an embedded CPU.  Some things just still lend 
themselves well to getting down to the nitty gritty with machine code to 
make it happen.

There's also something to be said for an embedded application (or a 
retro computer for that matter) that can boot up almost instantaneously 
without having to wait for loading an operating system.  I'm still a big 
fan of using the old 8-bitters when the circumstances lend themselves to 
it and I've still been able to do some things (a few) that the guys with 
the new processors and high-level languages couldn't figure out how to 
do.  One example might be to ask a 16 or 32-bitter with a high-level 
language to do the equivalent of the CoCo bit-banger serial port without 
a hardware timer or the use of interrupts.  Another would be to create 
the 32 kHz modulation and data transmission of an IR LED transmitter 
completely with software.  It can be done but a lot of the high level 
programmers are left scratching their heads or asking why you just don't 
do it in hardware.


Dave



On 12/28/2016 10:14 AM, Zippster wrote:
> In some sense, everything we’re likely to do with these old 8-bits has already been done.
> Some where, in some way, if not on this particular retro platform, then certainly on another.
>
> The important thing is that enjoyed your project, and you learned something.  And you even
> shared it with others so they could have a better hobby experience too.
>
> That’s what it’s all about, so nicely done Glen!  :)
>
> - Ed
>
>
>> On Dec 28, 2016, at 9:54 AM, Glen Hewlett <glen.hewlett at sympatico.ca> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Guys,
>>
>> I didn’t find out about Mark’s version until I was halfway finished my version.  I did this as a learning experience so it’s all good, I also supplied all my source code so if someone else wants to learn how to do this for similar hardware or just to learn from they can look through my code and maybe use the ‘C’ program to help translate 8080 or Z80 assembly to 6809 for other games.
>>
>> Also someone can also use the source code to rotate the graphics so they can play it on a real CoCo
>>
>> I was thinking that with a 6502 to 6809 translation that someone could port the Apple II or Pet to the CoCo 3.  Of course you couldn’t play any machine language games but you probably could run basic games made for those systems on the CoCo translated version.  I think that would be cool to see…
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Glen
>>
>>> On Dec 27, 2016, at 6:39 AM, Mark McDougall <msmcdoug at iinet.net.au> wrote:
>>>
>>> On 27/12/2016 5:02 PM, Nick Marentes wrote:
>>>
>>>> This has already been done by Mark McDougal. Go here to see all his
>>>> emulation conversions including Space Invaders for the CoCo.
>>>>
>>>> http://retroports.blogspot.com.au/p/blog-page.html
>>> As Nick said. I was half-way through rotating it, changed tack for a bit, then decided to go back to my original plan, but yet to complete it. I have released the non-rotated version though on the link Nick provided above. Should play exactly like Glen's in theory...
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Mark McDougall
>