Sorting out some things......

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dr beep
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Location: Boxmeer

Sorting out some things......

Post by dr beep »

Well, thanks to Kevin and his iPad emulator I was able to figure out that 2 games didn't load on real hardware.

So here are the new versions of THE EDGE and MARBLE RACER. Now also running on the iPad emulator.
marble.p
(895 Bytes) Downloaded 186 times
edge.p
(949 Bytes) Downloaded 187 times
I also did some reverse engineering on my game SHOGUN.
The source for the ZX81 was lost, so I did it from the .P file instead.

Here is the documentation of SHOGUN
Shogun.txt
(33.96 KiB) Downloaded 192 times
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kpalser
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Location: Dundee, Scotland

Re: Sorting out some things......

Post by kpalser »

dr beep wrote:Well, thanks to Kevin and his iPad emulator I was able to figure out that 2 games didn't load on real hardware.
Apple have approved in the last few hours the the latest version (v1.1.2) of the iOS emulator now with all of Dr Beep's released ZX81 games.

Many thanks to Dr Beep for allowing me to include your games and all the patience in answering questions and providing insights to get the emulator more up to scratch. And also thanks for the tweets about your games with the emulator.

Two big lessons I've learn't in the process:

i) never to to assume that there still won't be gotchas after years of working on the emulation core
ii) whilst Eighty One is superb, there is no perfect substitute to pulling out a real ZX81 for testing (with its faithful Chroma 81 side kick)

Regards,
Kevin
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RetroTechie
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Re: Sorting out some things......

Post by RetroTechie »

For machines like the ZX81, I think it's good practice to ALWAYS test on real hardware before doing a release. Kind of a standard quality control 'checkbox item'.

But given how good some emulators are, I can understand how tempting it is to skip that step ;) (which tbh can be a hassle depending on your setup). Or perhaps 'release' was a quick fix since last release which you're in a hurry to get out & don't expect surprises emulator <-> real hw wise...
dr beep
Posts: 2060
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:35 am
Location: Boxmeer

Re: Sorting out some things......

Post by dr beep »

kpalser wrote:
dr beep wrote:Well, thanks to Kevin and his iPad emulator I was able to figure out that 2 games didn't load on real hardware.
Apple have approved in the last few hours the the latest version (v1.1.2) of the iOS emulator now with all of Dr Beep's released ZX81 games.

Many thanks to Dr Beep for allowing me to include your games and all the patience in answering questions and providing insights to get the emulator more up to scratch. And also thanks for the tweets about your games with the emulator.

Two big lessons I've learn't in the process:

i) never to to assume that there still won't be gotchas after years of working on the emulation core
ii) whilst Eighty One is superb, there is no perfect substitute to pulling out a real ZX81 for testing (with its faithful Chroma 81 side kick)

Regards,
Kevin
Well, the edge loads, but stops when placing certain cards.
Kevin and I will give it a look.
dr beep
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Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:35 am
Location: Boxmeer

Re: Sorting out some things......

Post by dr beep »

THe Edge is now working and the short stack was not the cause, so the extra saved memory is used
to alter the program in the way I wanted in the first place.

1) better check on winning the game. The check is now done after setting the final card and not before.
2) difference in ending the game. When lost, a full cursor is shown, when won a dotted cursor is shown under the cards
3) better startscreen. The cursor under the cards is removed. This was placed to erase the titlescreen when starting the game.
Now the game will even start without a cursor under the cards.

A new version will be released here soon, as well as a new source.
dr beep
Posts: 2060
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:35 am
Location: Boxmeer

Re: Sorting out some things......

Post by dr beep »

New version and source at the new games thread,
http://sinclairzxworld.com/viewtopic.ph ... 075#p17075
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