RE: [stella] Formats (64K Flat Model??)

Subject: RE: [stella] Formats (64K Flat Model??)
From: Erik Mooney <emooney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 17:24:20 -0400 (EDT)
> Sync automatically??  I thought you *had* to do the vsync ritual to get a
> stable display.  Hmmm... I wonder if when a TV syncs automatically if they
> all end up generating the same number of scan lines before automatically

Definitely not.  In fact, you can change the number of scanlines that one
TV will do by turning the vertical-hold knob. :)

> doing the vertical retrace?  Could you do a stable game with automatic
> synchronization?  Other than a game with one dimensional graphics.  Vertical
> bars moving back and forth ;-)  In fact, there's a little explored 2600
> sub-genre. ;-))  One dimensional games with no kernal.
 
> Of course this would make the diagnostics even easier to do. Just clear out
> the player graphics and the playfield graphics and set the background color.
> Of course I'd also have to modify the emulator to support games that don't
> do a vsync!

That you could certainly do.  In fact, it's basically what Video Chess
does while the computer is thinking.

> > Well, yeah, fine on the switches, if you can get by without collision
> > registers or paddles.
> 
> Yeah, maybe you would need to do it a line at a time still.  But I find
> myself wondering what the real advantage of a separate CPU would be?  Would
> it really be possible to break the mold, or would it still *walk like a
> duck* no matter how fast the processor was and how much memory you had?

It'd walk like a really fast duck :)  You can load and store to any
register in 5 6507 cycles, instead of the nine or ten it can sometimes
take with indexed loading and storing.
 
> > This *would* allow the helper CPU to generate sound any way it wanted, and
> > send it to the TIA at 15 khz or even faster... anyone for a 2600 .WAV
> > player? :)
> 
> How would this work?  By changing the volume register really fast?

However Pitfall II does it.  I'm notsure offhand.



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