neil@cs.hw.ac.uk (Neil Forsyth) (11/30/89)
Could Atari not make a pin compatible MMU chip that could replace the normal one in the ST and give us all word alligned and segmented video RAM just like the STE. From looking at the circuitry I don't see how these features would require any pinout changes. Delaying the scan and adding the extra colours to SHIFTER would be another matter. If Atari would make this MMU then scrolling would improve right across the ST range. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ! DISCLAIMER: Unless otherwise stated, the above comments are entirely my own ! ! ! ! Neil Forsyth JANET: neil@uk.ac.hw.cs ! ! Dept. of Computer Science ARPA: neil@cs.hw.ac.uk ! ! Heriot-Watt University UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!neil ! ! Edinburgh, Scotland, UK "spam spaM spAM sPAM SPAM, lovely SPAM" ! +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
dac@ukc.ac.uk (David Clear) (12/01/89)
In article <3846@brahma.cs.hw.ac.uk> neil@cs.hw.ac.uk (Neil Forsyth) writes: > >Could Atari not make a pin compatible MMU chip that could replace the normal >one in the ST and give us all word alligned and segmented video RAM just like >the STE. This sounds good. Ahhhh, I remember back to my 8-bit 800XL days (I've still got it!!!). Such lovely things like smooth scrolling, display lists and DLIs... And of course, sprites (oh, sorry, player-missile graphics :-) ). >From looking at the circuitry I don't see how these features would require >any pinout changes. Delaying the scan and adding the extra colours to SHIFTER >would be another matter. The problem with this I can see is that then, rather than people having to write software for two types of Atari, they would now be faced with three. Games software would like to take advantage of the new STE modes, but a half decent game would probably try to do a half decent job on an old ST. I think the STE is a very good idea. I'd like a 68000 Atari to perform as well as a 6502 Atari, although if you scale everything up you still end up with a machine that is less than it ought to be. Here's something for the guys at Atari: Post the hardware specs of all Atari products (ie memory maps and programming information) to the net. I don't want developer support. I can't afford to buy the developer's kit. Nowadays some of the best games (and lets face it, hardware scrolling, etc *is* for games), are written by enthusiasts at home. Give these people the opportunity to harness the power of the machines you produce. The more information that is public domain, the more people can program your systems, the more software is written, the larger the software base, the more computers you sell, etc. Come on Atari, what have you got to lose? Oh yes, gimme TOS 1.4 uuencoded, on the net, suitable for burning into EPROM. Why not? It's free (isn't it?). All this "give me this", "give me that", you may wonder what you get in return. Well, you get USER SUPPORT. You be nice to us and we'll like you for it. Dave. -- % cc life.c | David Clear <dac@ukc.ac.uk> % a.out | Computer Science, University of Kent, Segmentation fault (core dumped) | Canterbury, England.
chad@norge.dec.com (12/02/89)
RE: Atari dispersing info "free" about the ST(e) etc. Remember on the 8bits the book "DE RE ATARI"?? And the OS guide and hardware guide that were available (don't remember the names -- the loose leaf ones)??? Why can't Atari do or condone something like that for the STe and other 68k products for the average Joe to use. Those above mentioned resources were what got me really interested in Atari -- a lowly high school kid could learn all about how to make a computer do neato stuff. And I didn't have to become a registered developer, pay too much money, etc. Chad DEC has no opinions! -------------------------