Re: RE: Space Wars

>No offense taken, and none intended in the following. If you're thinking
>"big picture" then Scenix shouldn't even come to mind. At least drop a
>DSP on there. Or better yet, a power PC of some sort. Anything 32bit
>in the 10s of MHz should have faster math than a Scenix.

Ewwwwww... Too many address/data lines, external program storage required,
more current to run everything, more boardspace, more complex surface mount
packages... The Scenix is cheap, low power, has cheap development tools,
takes up very little space, easy to buy in small quantities, and the whole
solution to get almost 200x math performance is only two chips and about 2
sq/in of PCB realestate.

>BTW I hope
>you were at least going to provide a way for the 6502 to flash the
>coprocessor :-)

That's not a bad idea... Maybe a jumper block that would connect up the
serial programming lines and allow an "upgrade". Hmmm.

>I like the cart idea and I think those processors are neat, but lets be
>realistic here. I'm not going to modify my Space Duel to add in a 21st
>century 8 bit processor with 128 bytes of RAM to use as a collision
>detector :-) BTW, a fast 16 or 32 bitter could probably emulate the 6502
>and the Cinematronics processor.

True, but in reality we're stuck with "what might actually get done" and
"what's good enough". I've proven to myself that people can be trusted to
remove a 6502 and some EPROMs and plug in a daughtercard in their place.
I've also proven to myself that people get a kick out of new games (Vector
Breakout on the Tempest Multigame). So, it seems to me that a little card
that plugs into the 6502 and VROM sockets on a Space Duel or Gravitar and
allows them to play the game as normal, and then also makes available a
bunch of new games would be pretty cool. (And it would also make for a
standard programming model and distribution platform for people that wanted
to try writing new stuff but might otherwise be dissuaded by the hardware
requirements.)

Sure, we could just make an all new PPC computer board with vector outputs,
but I doubt it'd sell for $149... On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I
could make a little daughtercard that gives a bigger memory map and 6-8 game
"sockets" plus some enhanced hardware features (math co-pro) and probably
bundle it with a new game for around $149.

It's definitely a few months out there, but kinda fun to think about. ;-)

-Clay
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Received on Thu Feb 3 22:49:02 2000