@sinclairresearch.bsky.social USR is a function that returns a value, which must go somewhere. RANDOMIZE is a command that accepts a value. You can do it with any command that accepts a number e.g PRINT USR, but RANDOMIZE is handy because it silently swallows the returned value, usually harmless! (It seeds RND function)
@scw.bsky.social Is it [bronze] canon?
@crashonlineuk.bsky.social What was the best way of grabbing screens at the time? Something like “The Messenger” or PlusD that could capture SAM screens?
@jimtrinca.bsky.social Cheers, Jim!
@fuzzweed.co.uk Or, one might say, Across the Edge. 🌈🤘
@fuzzweed.co.uk The “multicolour” group in ZXDB lists quite a few:
spectrumcomputing.co.uk/list?group_i…
I think a lot of those are simple/static title screens, but a few like Buzzsaw and Complica DX use the effect in-game. (See also Nirvana and Bifrost game engines).
@sonicyoda.neocities.org It’s always good to seek professional advice.
@jimtrinca.bsky.social Have you tried the bakery aisle of a certain well-known supermarket chain?
@breakintoprogram.co.uk I’m not a PC gamer but I thought this technology was meant to be solving the problem of upscaling to modern resolutions and frame rates that traditional techniques aren’t keeping up with. This (sudden?) pivot (lurch?) towards /generative/ rendering seems to be what’s upsetting The Gamers.
@fuzzweed.co.uk Hahah!
@fuzzweed.co.uk Hmm, got me thinking about the aux socket. If you feel like hacking the ROM, you could replace the useless keypad scanning routine (~249 bytes at $3A42) which is called on every frame interrupt (in 128 mode, but hack that at $3870). 3 RAM bytes free at $5B88 as well. Automatic animated backlight? 🌈
@fuzzweed.co.uk Nice! Why optocoupled? I’ve got an unfinished side quest to do something “interesting” or at least a bit more elegant with my +3
@flatduckrecords.co.uk Thanks!
@flatduckrecords.co.uk Gasman’s “ZX Spectrum sizecoding for beginners” at Lovebyte 2021 — SAM has a similar floating point calculator to the Spectrum that can be used for generating a sine lookup table. (The codes are different but the concept is the same).
@flatduckrecords.co.uk Prior art: Plasmatic Boot Sector by Adam Dawidziuk
www.worldofsam.org/products/pla…
@flatduckrecords.co.uk Heheh, wait until you see my size-coded boot sector 510-byte plasma demo. 😉
But if you like that, I can reccomended @crtartbooks.bsky.social for gorgeous pixel photography.
@flatduckrecords.co.uk Thanks! I’m looking at how SAM “Mode 2” handles colour, this was just a quick test screen! It’s a lot like Hi-Colour mode on the Timex Speccies, but you can redefine the palette. I’m looking for a nice palette that “wraps around” for a plasma effect. The default (i.e. Speccy palette) is 😘👌 tho.
@jimtrinca.bsky.social Auld Ra Jim
@sonicyoda.neocities.org The E in EEPROM stands for Edmond?
@sloanysoft.itch.io Presh does such impressive work.
@sloanysoft.itch.io Wow!