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#POSTSCRIPT
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PS. TO OUR CO SUNDAY NIGHT:
The coin-op Star Wars used a 6809, along with a bit of TTL widgetry to do fast
math for the 3d vectors. From Star Wars on, Atari coin-op switched from 6502 to
6809. The Atari 400 and 800 were originally designed with 6809's but Moto
couldn't deliver on time, at least that's the scuttlebutt. Williams electronics
used 6809 from their first game (Defender). Most Japanese designed games e.g.
Pac Man were Z-80 based. Interesting to note that coin-op hardware designers
pushed the technology to the limit, no other micro applications at the time
came close to the complexity or innovation of a typical video game. Some of
them are fun to hack on. For example, QIX, by Taito America, has dual 6809's, a
6800 for sound, 64k of video ram, and, get this, a standard db-25 rs-232 port
for your terminal or host computer.
The 6809 was (is) the best 8/16 processor ever made … I think it is even
better than the 8088, particullary when running high level languages …. it
can also be used in a multiprocessor system quite nicely …. by the way …
you are right the Atari 800 was supposed to be a 6809 (as so goes Rome)… The
Mac was also a 6809 originally….
The 6809 was (is) the best 8/16 processor ever made … I think it is even
better than the 8088, particullary when running high level languages …. it
can also be used in a multiprocessor system quite nicely …. by the way …
you are right the Atari 800 was supposed to be a 6809 (as so goes Rome)… The
Mac was also a 6809 originally….
Tim, yes.. RJ MICAL wrote SINISTAR at Williams, he also had a hand in StarRider
(video disk game) but left before it completed. He moved to a little company
in Los Gatos, called Amiga! (Wrote Intuition) — Jez.
Lots of Williams alumni in Los Gatos. Sam Dicker worked on parts of several
games from defender on… Jack Haegar was a graphics designer there. One
shouldn't mention Williams without a bow to Eugene Jarvis and Larry Demar, the
world's hottest 6809 hackers!
You seem to know far too much about the coin-op industry to merely be an
innocent bystander. Lets hear YOUR resume!?? — Jez.
Never wrote a game program in my life. Just an >interested< bystander!
Never wrote a game program in my life. Just an >interested< bystander!
You seem to know far too much about the coin-op industry to merely be an
innocent bystander. Lets hear YOUR resume!?? — Jez.
Lots of Williams alumni in Los Gatos. Sam Dicker worked on parts of several
games from defender on… Jack Haegar was a graphics designer there. One
shouldn't mention Williams without a bow to Eugene Jarvis and Larry Demar, the
world's hottest 6809 hackers!
Tim, yes.. RJ MICAL wrote SINISTAR at Williams, he also had a hand in StarRider
(video disk game) but left before it completed. He moved to a little company
in Los Gatos, called Amiga! (Wrote Intuition) — Jez.
Forgot to say.. the whole point of me talking about RJ was that Sinistar is a
6809 too, as was most of their games. Naturally, 99% of Coin-op's are 680×0's
these days! Marble Madness, Pack Rat, paperboy, Gauntlet, and many new
Williams titles. Atari Star Wars was only 6809 u say!?? Gosh, I'm
mega-impressed! — Jez.
What is this "*only* 6809"?! The first 68000 coinop I recall is Food Fight.
There could have been an earlier one, though. It really didn't live up to
expectations.
Didya ever see I, Robot!? It came out here a year or so ago.. and flopped.
Pity, I loved its solid 3d graphics! Stunning! Any idea what hardware is
in there? I assume a 68000, but does it have a polygon-fill hardware, or is it
pure processing power?
(I'm working on incremental 3d solids at this very moment.. but it'll be
months before I get it right!) — Jez.
Yes, I Robot, my supreme ultra favorite! (for a few weeks, anyway). I don't
know FER SURE, but I heard that I Robot was 6809 based. Hmmmm. Doesn't really
sound right. Anyway, I heard that all that solid stuff was coming out of a
GIGANTIC ROM TABLE. and that it was NOT generating and filling poly's on the
fly. Sure looked that way, though. I'm on the lookout for a used I Robot now.
If I find one, I'll let you in on its nasty little secret.
I reckon its a 68000 processor, with a Trig co-processor! The Solid stuff can
be done with incremental Filling techniques (I'm hard at work on them right
now!) but its a lotta work! Someone (the programmer) is damn good, cos I Robot
is stunning! — Jez.
I reckon its a 68000 processor, with a Trig co-processor! The Solid stuff can
be done with incremental Filling techniques (I'm hard at work on them right
now!) but its a lotta work! Someone (the programmer) is damn good, cos I Robot
is stunning! — Jez.
Yes, I Robot, my supreme ultra favorite! (for a few weeks, anyway). I don't
know FER SURE, but I heard that I Robot was 6809 based. Hmmmm. Doesn't really
sound right. Anyway, I heard that all that solid stuff was coming out of a
GIGANTIC ROM TABLE. and that it was NOT generating and filling poly's on the
fly. Sure looked that way, though. I'm on the lookout for a used I Robot now.
If I find one, I'll let you in on its nasty little secret.
Didya ever see I, Robot!? It came out here a year or so ago.. and flopped.
Pity, I loved its solid 3d graphics! Stunning! Any idea what hardware is
in there? I assume a 68000, but does it have a polygon-fill hardware, or is it
pure processing power?
(I'm working on incremental 3d solids at this very moment.. but it'll be
months before I get it right!) — Jez.
What is this "*only* 6809"?! The first 68000 coinop I recall is Food Fight.
There could have been an earlier one, though. It really didn't live up to
expectations.
Forgot to say.. the whole point of me talking about RJ was that Sinistar is a
6809 too, as was most of their games. Naturally, 99% of Coin-op's are 680×0's
these days! Marble Madness, Pack Rat, paperboy, Gauntlet, and many new
Williams titles. Atari Star Wars was only 6809 u say!?? Gosh, I'm
mega-impressed! — Jez.