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Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 12:57 am
by NekoNoNiaow
iss wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 4:39 pm
Dbug wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 6:44 am So, regarding this emulator build, it is not a new "exos mode" in Oricutron, it's actually a dedicated version of Oricutron that always boot in Exos mode, correct?
Absolutely correct - it's OricExos dedicated version and I think this the right way to go - no need to "damage" main Oricutron sources.
I actually think that modifying Oricutron to support multiple boards running in parallel is actually better for the modularity/quality of the emulator code as this forces to cleanly separate independent parts where one would otherwise tempted to use shortcuts.

But this is my refactoring inner kitten talking. ;)

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 10:00 am
by Dbug
iss wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 4:39 pm Actually, this is what I'm doing now - thinking is it worth to make a "non linear amplifier" for the real machine.
The idea is (speaking only(!) for 'direct' mix mode which is the default after boot)
to rise the brightness of lower values so the image is more visible like this:
It's a difficult choice.

On one hand, having a 75% brightness on a solo machine is good enough because it allows doing RGB split to get full 8 color picture without any constraint by just having each machine displaying one of the component, and I guess you can use the last one to add some additional brightness here and there if needed.

On the other hand, it means we can't have dark colors, so can't really make a gradient going from black to white, or a nice sunset.

Generally speaking, having a 100% intensity on one machine, 50% with two machines, 25% with three machines and 12% with four machines (working on the same component) would be easier to make pictures with than the 75% / 87% / 93% / 96% given by the "non linear amplifier" (assuming I understood the example!)

In short: It's easier to work with shadow than with light :)

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 3:12 pm
by ibisum
I second the call to have a special OricExos mode in mainstream Oricutron... this will make it a lot more viable for those of us who want to target OricExos at a later date without having multiple Oric emulators around.

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Tue May 14, 2019 9:11 pm
by iss
Some interesting today news!

New OricExos emulator release (2019-05-14)!
  • in config file 'oricexos.cfg': if gammacorrection is not commented and set to yes the image is with higher brightness,
    default is gammacorrection = no (or commented) then the color levels are as in real hardware';

Code: Select all

; Enable higher brightness
;gammacorrection = no
  • implemented 'R-2R-thing' mixer (i.e. 16 shades per color) and programagically switching between mixers;
  • added 4 LEDs in status bar - when lighted the RAM overlay is activated.
In the new release are 4 new demos for your fun. Try them, imo they are really nice:

Code: Select all

15.bars-16.dsk
16.graytime-16.dsk
17.bigfoot.dsk
18.mystic.dsk
demos.jpg

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 8:57 pm
by Dbug
That's getting seriously impressive :)

16 shades per color, that's actually a large palette than what the Atari STf can do :)

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 10:22 pm
by ibisum
What amazes me about this innovation is that it was all do'able in the 80's, too. Just, nobody really seemed to have had the idea to implement as smoothly as iss...

Just imagine if we'd had the ability to gang up 4 machines like this, out of the box in 1983 .. I mean, this is some serious alternative-reality food for thought.

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 4:46 pm
by mikeb
Nobody knew how to lock-step 4 ULAs in the 1980s, or if they did, they were keeping very quiet about it ;)

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Fri May 17, 2019 1:16 am
by NekoNoNiaow
mikeb wrote: Thu May 16, 2019 4:46 pm Nobody knew how to lock-step 4 ULAs in the 1980s, or if they did, they were keeping very quiet about it ;)
And even if they did, they would have needed to buy four Orics, which was not especially cheap, as well as design and print PCBs manually because there were no PCB design tools available on the Oric.
All in all, this would have been a much larger undertaking time and money wise than it is now.

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Fri May 17, 2019 4:45 pm
by mikeb
NekoNoNiaow wrote: Fri May 17, 2019 1:16 am ... buy four Orics, which was not especially cheap, as well as design and print PCBs manually because there were no PCB design tools available on the Oric.
Oh yes, at about £149-£169 (and those are 1980's pounds, not the current ones!) it would be a bit crazy, financially.

However, PCB design tools? It probably would have involved Veroboard (continuous strip)/VQ-board (broken into 5's) or Tripad (broken into 3's) and pen and paper, around here anyway :)

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2019 5:49 pm
by Steve M
I've got a load of Oric motherboards in the loft if anyone wants some to play with.
A lot have sockets fitted for the RAM and other chips and these are empty. It should be assumed that these won't work if you populate the board - I've tried quite a few. So they'd need stripping down and checking over, but if you want them .. ... ...

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2019 10:01 am
by ibisum
I'd seriously love to build an OricExos machine ..

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 5:49 pm
by Dbug
I was discussing computer cases for the Exos, and mmu_man suggested that instead of having the four machine stacked over each other, one could just be in the Atmos keyboard (the master), and the three others (slave) in a expansion box behind, would that be doable, or crazy complicated because of signal timings, length of cables, etc...?

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 6:20 pm
by ibisum
Why not just 3d-print a case that can be replace the bottom part of a normal Atmos case, and make a big stack with the keyboard on top? Might not be ergonomic, maybe .. but would surely kick ass..

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 10:23 am
by Dbug
ibisum wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 6:20 pm Why not just 3d-print a case that can be replace the bottom part of a normal Atmos case, and make a big stack with the keyboard on top? Might not be ergonomic, maybe .. but would surely kick ass..
If I go the "big tower way", I'd rather 3d print something that looks like a Cray-1 super computer :)

I kind of care about the look of the final system, it has to look sexy AND usable at the same time!

Re: OricExos - making the impossible

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 11:05 am
by ibisum
Roger that! I await news of your progress with much anticipation!