MueThor

-

Dear jedimatt42, Where have you bought the female edge connector and pins that can be seen in your video (I would like to buy only them on their own for other projects)? Regards

Dear arcadeshopper, If you answer this question, would you also be so nice to specify a link (of course I can search for it on my own)? Regards

Dear retroclouds, Does this mean that a part of the code for the game Tutankham will probably have to be modified by you? Regards

Dear Tursi, Okay, thank you for your explanations. A last question: You surely also have tried to create full screen images by a bitmap (Mode 2)+"half bitmap" (Mode 1) flicker, or? It should be possible to create such full screen images... Furthermore, in both Modes 32 non-moving Sprites with edge lenghts of 16 pixels and 2 of 16 colors for each Sprite can additionally be generated. Thus the maximum graphic capabilities of TI for displaying one Hi-res image on the screen have not been exhausted up to this day by writing sophisticated code? Regards

Dear Asmusr, Thank you for your clarifications . Where can it be downloaded? You mean that TI has got only 32k RAM for the Assembly program and 16k VDP RAM and therefore a total of 48k RAM, which is still not enough? Offtopic: I newly discovered that you have programed Formula 18A demos, the latest one of them specified as demo 4. They have become very nice . At this point a hint for an improvement: For demo 4 you have created a too small racing car. The car should be bigger, but not as big as in demo 3. Regards

Dear guys, Does there exist in case of your game/demo at least one further reason besides higher execution speed in comparison with the speed, if it was realized as a disk image, and/or no necessity of 32 k RAM for realizing it as a cartridge image? Would your game/demo also run, if it was realized as a disk image? If not, which limitations/drawbacks would have to be accepted for your game/demo (e.g. lesser number of levels, colors etc.) to be realized as a disk image? Thank you in advance for providing me with additional informations. Regards

Hello retroclouds, Would your game also run on a CF7+/nanoPEB (with 32k RAM) and/or on a FinalGROM 99 without 32k RAM? Regards

Hello guys, Please take following assumption of mine into account, when you write your messages: In other words: Will your game/demo also run, if the file for it is uploaded onto a flash card to be used in a CF7+ and/or nanoPEB? Regards

Hello guys, Your help is needed. This new thread is necessary, because I am a dummy that needs an overview of the required technical devices for running newer games/demos on real iron TI 99 and simple explanations on how these devices work and for what or why these devices are needed with regard to the corresponding game/demo. Thereby some games/demos seem to work solely as a "stand alone" cartridge to be purchased, while for others a file has to be uploaded into a FinalGROM 99. It would be nice, if beside each needed possible combination of devices also the address would be mentioned, where to download the file for the corresponding game/demo and the special combination of devices used therewith (if there are different combinations of devices possible, then please document it). I discovered following newer games/demos: 1. Alex Kidd on Miracle Island by TheMole 2. The Legend of Tilda by PeteE 3. Tutankham by retroclouds 4. KnightLore by Asmusr 5. TI 99 4a Mega Demo Don't Mess with Texas by Desire It would be great, if every developer of a game/demo mentioned above would response to my message with regard to his game/demo. Thank you in advance for your efforts. Regards

Hello apersson850, The performance of the TMS9900 had been deliberately crippled by one or more design decisions. Hereby the statement is referred to only the TMS9900 (=the microprocessor of the TI 99 / 4a) with regard to its internal, microelectronic design. Regards

Hello folks, This article is from a former manager of the TI microprocessor group in charge of the TMS9900. The latter doesn't mean that he also was (one of) the designer of this microprocessor. So be careful, because he can possibly have euphemistically depicted in his article the events at TI concerning the development of the TMS9900. As far as I know, the performance of the TMS9900 had also been deliberately crippled by one or more design decisions to avoid that microcomputer equipped with the TMS9900 chip would become serious competitors of TI's own 8-bit microcomputers of that time. Regards

Hello notwhoyouthink, The following won't help you with your problem, but should be a hint at a possible solution for combined use of nanoPEB and working Speech Synthesizer: Look up under "Problems between TI Speech and CF7+" on http://gtello.pagesperso-orange.fr/ti99_e.htm . Regards

Hello guys, It had been overseen by me that the BMPTO105 tool for MSX1 standard computers works only for half screen images, because two half screen bitmaps are flickered, one consisting of the even, the other of the odd rows. I had thought about a mode with two full screen bitmaps flickered. In this case the color of each pixel of the resulting image would arise from the mixing of the colors from each pair of overlaying pixels of the flickering two full screen bitmaps. Therefore I asked Tursi, if the CPU and/or the VDP of the TI 99 is too slow for such a mode. Is that right, Tursi? Regards P.S.: Probably the idea of creating full screen images with two flickered full screen bitmaps works only on CRT TVs, or?

Hello folks and Tursi, For this thread a somewhat unadequate title had been chosen by me. Of course all other guys are invited to post their thoughts and proposals into this thread here. Therefore I include a message referring to the topic of this thread I received from the member Airshack: The E/A manual, Section 21, covers bitmap mode or "Graphics II." This mode includes Sprites w/o Auto-Motion, if that's what you were asking Tursi? Yes! BitMap mode simply adds more color data to the 32col * 34row (768 tiled) Screen Image Table. This mode divides the screen into three 256 tiled sections, each with its own pattern descriptor table and color table, instead of just one of each for the entire screen. - James @Tursi: After having done some investigation on this topic, I have discovered that a dual bitmap flicker mode had already been realised with the BMPTO105 tool for MSX1 standard computers. Thus I have following request to you (of course only, if you have the spare time and motivation): Please implement the code into your Convert9918 tool, with modifications where needed. Regards

Addendum Hi Tursi, It is me again. I just found out that your conversion program Convert9918 doesn't include dual bitmap flicker mode, or? Have you experimented with the aforementioned mode? Is the CPU and/or the VDP of the TI 99 too slow for such a mode? If so, how is about reducing the edge lengths of the two flickered bitmaps? Regards

Dear Tursi, Do you know, if non-moving sprites could also be implemented into TI 99 bitmap mode images and used as additional colored pixels? Regards

Hello guys, So for a 24-pin TI DIP IC following socket would be suitable?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/24-PIN-MACHINE-TOOLED-IC-SOCKETS-GOLD-INSERT-QTY-10-NEW-/201822691356?hash=item2efd91e01c:g:mekAAOSwfC9XPNnf. There in the ad it is stated that the socket is of 300 Mil type. What does the latter specification mean? For what does Mil stand for? If it stands for millimeters, then this socket is possibly the wrong type for my application. Or is hereby a .300 (inches?) wide socket frame specified the one to be chosen according to Ksarul? I would be delighted, if anyone of you answered my new questions. Best Regards

Hello guys, When searching with Google for TI-99/4a related topics discovering the two simple possibilities for 32 kRAM Expansion, large data storage for programs and printer access with the help of CF7+ and nanoPEB as well as the Extended Basic v2.7 Suite Cartridge from Gazoo (a few months ago I have found out that he had died before reaching the general retirement age (many regrets for his death and many condolences to his wife, relatives and good friends of him)) I had encountered this TI 99 4A forum. Regards

Dear --- Ω ---, You never reacted to following: Quote Sure that it is the NanoPEB and not the CF7+, which is not 100% compatible with the TI hardware? If so, then please tell me, in which cases do you encounter problems? Regards

Hi folks, As CC Clarke had written in an earlier post in the thread "console speedup mod" for experimenting with hardware socketing is recommended. In this context I have now many questions. Which technical data has to be fulfilled by a socket to be soldered onto the TI board? There exist different DIP sockets for IC with different specifications for pitch, row width, contact resistance, contact material and contact plating. I will have to buy DIP IC sockets with rectangular pitches, but with which row width (0.3" or 0.6")? Is a maximum resistance for the contact resistance of 20mΩ okay? Are copper alloy as contact material and tin for the contact plating enough? Please, can anyone of you guys answer my questions, also with regard to very long lasting and stable socket solutions? Regards

Hi folks, As CC Clarke had written in an earlier post for experimenting with hardware socketing is recommended. In this context I have now many questions. Which technical data has to be fulfilled by a socket to be soldered onto the TI board? There exist different DIP sockets for IC with different specifications for pitch, row width, contact resistance, contact material and contact plating. I will have to buy DIP IC sockets with rectangular pitches, but with which row width (0.3" or 0.6")? Is a maximum resistance for the contact resistance of 20mΩ okay? Are copper alloy as contact material and tin for the contact plating enough? Please, can anyone of you guys answer my questions, also with regard to very long lasting and stable socket solutions? Regards

Dear Ksarul, Thank you for your thoroughly outlined insight. Has the problem with the sprites sometimes occuring probably got something to do with the VDP or with the communication between CPU and VDP? Would it be possible to resolve this problem, by modifying the communication between VDP and CPU respectively adding a special controller to manage their communication? Or would this problem only have been resolved, if there had existed a VDP for higher working frequency? BTW, what is irritating me very much is following: Many TI ICs are sold by companies in China and I have the suspicion that there is a lot of product counterfeiting in the pie ... Regards

Dear --- Ω ---, Sure that it is the NanoPEB and not the CF7+, which is not 100% compatible with the TI hardware? If so, then please tell me, in which cases do you encounter problems? Regards

Hello all, Oh come on you guys, pinch me . Tell me now that you are still or were TI employees . But then, with so much expertise here, it should be possible to return to the topic of this thread and answer my questions posed earlier and repeated again here : How is about exchanging the 3MHz version CPU TMS9900NL with the 4MHz version TMS9900NL-40 (plastic dip) or TMS9900JDL-40 (ceramic dip) to speed up the TI 99 4a? Has anybody of you already tried to realize this idea? I undertook a research via www on this topic, but didn't find anything. Does anyone of you know, if the internal electronic structures of these two versions of the CPU are probably built up slightly different (e.g. the circuit pathes have different widths despite having been produced using the same technology called NMOS)? If you can swap the two versions of this CPU, can you also overclock the 4MHz version CPU? If you must also change other ICs of the TI in order to exchange the two versions of CPU, then which other ICs have you got to replace? Regards