Major_Tom_coming_home
-
Posts
242 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Gallery
Events
Store
Posts posted by Major_Tom_coming_home
-
-
Thanks, reliability is high on my list of priorities.
Platinum //e is the most reliable model. The most common fail is weak solder joints on a few select keys which can be touched up for another 40 years of life.
-
Thanks for the info. I did not know about the limited expansion capabilities of the IIc, which is exactly why I came here to ask. I love the look of the IIc and it's built in floppy drive, but It seems like the IIe would be a better choice since it is has more potential. Attaching compact flash cards is something I'd like to do. Of course since these machines no longer cost $1200 1979 dollars I could always get both :-)
//c and an enhanced //e are pretty much the same computer, if you just want something to toss on the table and start running the //c has all the needed items onboard (serial, disk drive etc) the //c+ has an accelerator in it, but only has a 3.5 inch drive ... which there was some stuff released on 3.5 inch disks, but the majority of software is on 5.25 so you would have to get another drive
the first release of the //c (also known as a rom 255) is missing a memory expansion slot, where as later models and the //c+ can be expanded, though with 128k of ram in the original for games that should be more than enough
but the biggest problem with a //c is there are no bus expansion slots, so if you want a compact flash card, network card, or sound card you are pretty much SOL, and more or less stuck using a serial cable to transfer disk images to floppy drives
all the apple // family support composite output
-
Hey folks. Assuming Irma doesn't carry me off to the land of Oz `and I still have a house come Monday, which model of Apple 2 would be a good starter gaming system once I have electricity again? I really like the look of the IIc and IIC+, but there is also the IIe and GS. I'd like to get the model with best quality of life (reliable, parts are obtainable, works with standard television, good software compatibility, etc.). I know the GS is the most powerful and modern, but from what I understand it may be difficult to get video without it's proprietary monitor. (Yeah, I know my timing is odd, but I'm hunkerd down at home with all preparations complete and desperately needing a distraction).
-
***Update***
I kinda sorta got a good deal on an AV Famicom today, even though I still prefer the look and uniqueness of the original Famicom. I like to have backups for my game consoles as long as the console isn't overly expensive, and my original $35 Famicom fullfils that role nicely. The next system I get will likely be the Japanese Super Famicom since I prefer the look of it over the SNES.. The fact that the Super Famicom seems to be less expensive than the SNES on Ebay doesn't hurt either.
-
1
-
-
Okay, so how exactly was I supposed to look at pictures online or watch a video in 1990 when for all intents and purposes the internet did not yet exist?
That's why I got a little cross in the comments about being lazy as there was no childhood raping going on because a little Nintendo decided at its 25th birthday to be a bitchy blinker. In all that time I bet you if it's the original connector, if lucky outside of a 1st/3rd party cleaning kit probably has never been cleaned let alone torn down and done properly. Which is why I said it's easier to take 30min, open it up, boil the pins and use a card/kit to rub that funk off, and then to pull Pin #4 (easy to get a pic on google doing NES PIN4 as a search) and you're done. No need for some cheap chinese brittle metal crap pin or some BLW mess either. They're all free fixes a kid could do just watching a video or looking at a couple pictures online and the NES works like a champ after that.
It's all old hardware going back as far as 1985 (32 years) and if it isn't pissing and whining now I'd be shocked considering how most people don't bother to maintain or clean things at all and the games are far worse and whatever dirty pigs put them through hell with (food, bodily funk, animal waste, etc your worst nightmare) odds are most won't clean it off or not well and it gets into the NES pins too. It's disgusting. The stuff I've pulled out of back west flea markets years ago on occasion would make you want to vomit but for the prices I got stuff at it was worth blowing a couple hours in an afternoon with my box of cleaning tricks making a nauseating 3/10 into a solid 8.
I knew it was a garbage setup when I was in HS back in the earlier 90s. I figured out since there were not security bits to get inside like the SNES that I'd best open it up as I couldn't afford to get it repaired. Lots of self poking around slowly and figuring out what connected where I got good at tearing them entirely apart and fixing the stuff. Pre-internet I knew from NP stuff which was the security chip as they bragged about it in the day, but it only took years later around 2000 when someone figured out you could jerk out PIN4 that it would get as rock solid as a top loader without jailbars and run PAL stuff as nicely as well. Ever since I figured that out, any NES I kept or resold I killed the chip, cleaned the pins, straightened them with a safety pin, and scrubbed the crap out of every part with 91% alcohol -- board, wiring, pins, zero force, shell inside and out. Always works and lasts a long time if you treat it right.
That said for fun sake I still would love a Famicom, but I'm picky it better still not be yellowed, works great, and perhaps either modded or otherwise rigged up to avoid channel 99/RF as that sucks and is unworkable.
-
That's why I said those consoles were ugly in my opinion. Everyone has their own opinions. Your opinions of the NES and top loader is just as valid as mine.
And at this point, I don't feel any need to spend the extra money get an AV Famicom. If they were close to the same price I would get an AV model. I grew up with game and computers that were hooked up with RF connections and it was a non-issue. If having the best quality picture possible was my highest priority I could use the HDMI on my RetroPi
.
Why are you bashing both the NES and the Top Loader, There not ugly at all
I don't understand why you don't want a AV Famicom for
The Front Loader work if you keep it clean on disable the 10NES Chip
-
Howdy fellow Atariage retro gamers!
My favorite arcade game of all time is Gyruss. For some reason, the first time I played it around the age of 12 I actually got quite far. Walking away from the machine I was covered in sweat with my hands shaking and my pulse racing from the adrenal rush Gyruss gave me that no other game ever has (although Dungeons of Daggorath on the TRS Color Computer 2 comes close). What I liked was the classical music that somehow fits the action perfectly, and the fact that the setting is from real life - earth's solar system. It helped that I was a big space geek and familiar with all of the planets, and for me this gave the game gravity and poignancy that an imaginary setting could not. Because of this, I kind of came up with my own story since the game really doesn't have one.
Fast forward to the present. I was watching a youtube video comparing gyruss to it's various ports on other systems. Once again I thought about my imaginary story and decided it was time to write it down and make it 'for real. I consider myself a good creative writer and enjoy doing it and would love real and honest feedback Just keep in mind that I intentionally made the story cheesy and over the top in a 1980s kind of way. I'm not trying to create a literal story for Gyruss, I'm trying to crank the volume to 11 and creating an over the top 1980s arcade story that Konami might have created for the game themselves). And without further ado, Here it is...
Earth is under attack!!! The invaders came without warning, attacked without provocation, and their only terms are the utter destruction of human kind! A few small scout ships are all that escaped the destruction of Earth's once proud space fleet. You are now on a desperate mission to save humanity! A friendly alien scientist in the Centauri Sector has given you a small device that is capable of wiping out the invaders, but only if you can get it to Earth. As you approach the outer planets of earth's solar system, you realize the enemy has discovered your plan! Wave upon wave of enemy ships appear on your space radar as you drop out of warp to fight them! The last of earth's planetary defenses are beginning fail. All of humanity is counting on you. You must get through!
-
Thank you everyone for your advice and suggestions, Atari Age is a great community to be a part of.
One reason I wanted a Famicom was that I seriously hate the original NES. Great games, but IMO the console is ugly and the hardware is terrible. The front loader raped my childhood when 10nes and cartridge connectors made my two year old Nintendo unplayable, and I've sworn I would never own one again. The top loader is also ugly IMO, and much more expensive than a Famicom. Besides, I think it will be cool to have a Japanese console that looks like something that could only come out of Japan.
I ended up ordering a tested working unmodded Famicom from Japan from a reputable seller for the princely sum of $35. I have CRTs that will tune to channels 98 and 99 so that won't be a problem. Obviously, the video quality of RF is not very good but that isn't something that bothers me. That's how most people played games in the 1980s, and when you are deep into a great Nintendo Hard game the video quality is soon forgotten. Instead of an Everdrive I ordered a few multicarts. that have good reviews for the wallet shattering sum of $16. For $50, that is a huge bang for the buck. If I become a big Famicom fan, I'll get an AV Famicom and an everdrive but for now I'm testing the waters to see if it is for me.
Thanks much everyone.!!!
RGB modded AV Famicom with a converter is my NES.
Yes, with an adapter for your NES Everdrive, or just a Famicom Everdrive, and an AV mod, it's a nice setup. There are some jailbars sometimes, but you can mod that away also at the expense of removing a little clarity to the picture (it's a trade-off).
The controller cord *is* short and they come out the back of the console (it's a dumb design). You can remove the controller connections and add NES replacement ends to them and use the adapter mentioned above, or you could use NES controllers if you prefer.
For the short controllers, this is a non-issue.
The expansion port in front of the Famicom (on the side of the Sharp Twin) act as a controller port. If you plug a controller (like on my pic) it double as a Controller N°1.
If you want to use your original NES pads, there are schematics to make Famicom to NES adapters.
The only downside woulf be games with the mic, but only a handful use it so it's not really an issue.
IMO, unless you go for a Sharp Twin or you want to play Japanese games with the extra sound and FDS, there is no reason to get a Famicom over getting a NES and a Blinking Win Light.
I have an AV-modded Famicom, and while I love the thing, there are some caveats. The controller cables are super short, and that means the Famicom is going to have to come out of under the TV and sit on the floor or table in front of you, unless you plan on getting up close and personal with your TV. Mine does exhibit mild jail bars, but it's not a deal breaker for me. I got a really good deal on mine, but if I had more money, I would have gone with a Twin Famicom or AV Famicom like others have mentioned. Mine isn't a replacement for my NES, nor was it bought to replace my NES. I bought it to play all the weird crap that came out for the Famicom!
OR...
Just do the Blinking Light Win on a toaster or simply disable the existing 10NES chip. My "daily driver" toaster NES has a new 72-pin connector and a clipped 10NES, and it's been that way for years and works great. As long as the games are clean, it plays as good if not better than any top loader I've used, and it has composite A/V output already.
AV Famicoms are great. I don't necessarily use mine as a replacement for the NES (I have a ton of NES games going back to my youth that I don't want to rebuy) but I do tend to use it a lot more often since its so much more reliable.
It doesn't hurt that a lot of Famicom games tend to be cheaper than their US counterparts (like the later Mega Man games or Mighty Final Fight).
I would second this option. Controller ports are NES style and you could get a cheap converter to boot. I just wish this model was not as pricey as the original. Yeah yeah you can't use the microphone but really were you going to take that route?
If you don't want to deal with the original console's issues, just buy a toaster model and install this:
https://www.arcadeworks.net/blwYou can also get a Sharp Twin. More expensive than a Crappycom,but less than a Famicom AV, if you take a model with a dead Disk System, and you get A/V out of the box, plus the possibility to wire a FDSStick to the system.
And ample room for a TimRGB mod (and invisible, as you have a DIN output on the Sharp Twin).
For the NES to Fami, I have one, doesn't seems to do much, but I got a model that flip the cart to face the player and with a plastic shell, it probably improve cart stability.
(yeah, it know it looks dirty, but that's the camera that does that... the plastic is almost pitch black at the naked eye)
I read that on many of those adapters, you can cut traces and add resistors to allow some games to have better audio, but even as it is, it plays well.
I don't know anything about the multicarts, but I've found the Famicom to be an excellent replacement for the NES after decades of struggling with its flakiness. The Famicom just works the way a classic console should... no endless struggling with blinking screens and lights. You'll need to make sure you have a TV that can tune to the upper 90s... not all of them do. I have a Nes-to-Fami converter but I don't recommend it... seems to introduce NES style flakiness to the experience. It helps if you want to collect Famicom carts... fun and inexpensive to collect!
If you already have the N8, you'll want an adapter. If you plan to buy a cart, there's is the Famicom N8. I'm not sure if there's a lockout mod like you can do to the front loader NES that'll let you play imports on the Famicom.
If you can accept a certain amount of jailbars, regular Famicom is somewhat easy to A/V mod. It is the hunt for jailbar elimination that makes it a challenge.
AV famicom top loader would be better.
Seems like it would be a pain, what with the short corded controllers, the RF and the channel 98 or 99 thing. Plus, I guess you'd need a NES to Famicom adaptor to make the Everdrive work, unless they make Famicom Everdrives.
The hard-wired controllers would be a dealbreaker for me.
I was wondering if an original Famicom equipped with an everdrive would work as a 'daily driver' game console to replace an NES in terms of compatibility and functionality with North American games? I am not a fan of the blinking light 10nes crippled toaster, and I prefer the look of the Famicom over the NES top loader. I don't mind using coax and I understand that the Famicom works on channels 98-99 in North America. I do know about the retroUSB AVS, but I like the idea of having the OG console with crappy coax video and all. Thx!
-
I was wondering if an original Famicom equipped with an everdrive would work as a 'daily driver' game console to replace an NES in terms of compatibility and functionality with North American games? I am not a fan of the blinking light 10nes crippled toaster, and I prefer the look of the Famicom over the NES top loader. I don't mind using coax and I understand that the Famicom works on channels 98-99 in North America. I do know about the retroUSB AVS, but I like the idea of having the OG console with crappy coax video and all. Thx!
-
Just wanted to say that it is awesome and generous of you to make the roms freely available for download, thanks. I'm picking up the 7800 version!
Hello everyone,
It's been a while, but I have returned to 2600 homebrew programming and would like to share my latest game - a port of Konami's Scramble.
OBJECT
For those of you who don't know, Scramble is a side scroller stage-based game, similar to another game I released a while back. Here is the text from the Portland Gaming Expo placard where Scramble was first demo'ed:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
How Far Can You Invade Our Scramble System?
OBJECTIVE
Scramble is a classic arcade game in which the player must navigate their ship across a side-scrolling terrain through six unique stages. Each stage has its own challenges and obstacles, including ground targets, rockets, fuel tanks, flying saucers and meteors. The player must avoid or destroy these hazards while maintaining the ship's limited fuel supply. The objective is to reach the end stage and destroy the enemy's base while trying to get a high score.
HOW TO PLAY
To play Scramble, use the joystick to navigate your ship over the terrain while avoiding the enemy attacks. Press the fire button to launch missiles and drop bombs (gamepads use button B to fire missiles and button C to drop bombs). Points are scored for travelling a certain distance and destroying enemy installations. Additional fuel is gained by destroying the fuel tanks. A player starts with 3 ships; a bonus ship is awarded at 10,000 points and every 50,000 points. The game ends when all ships have been destroyed. Good luck!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Features:
- one player, 3 skill levels (NOVICE, ARCADE, EXPERT)
- one button alternating missiles/bombs or two-button gamepads (Sega Genesis). Gamepad must be plugged in prior to turning on the game since it is auto-detected.
- Stores up 10 hiscores during the game. If you have a SaveKey or AtariVox, it will save your high scores so they will be available the next time you play. To reset the high score table, press the button and move the joystick right on startup.
- Pause a game using the Color/BW switch or Pause button on a 7800. Press the joystick button to resume the game or flip the Color/BW switch (Pause button on 7800)
- While a game is Paused, if the RIGHT DIFFICULTLY is in the A position, you can use the joystick to change the current stage or level (left/right for stage, up/down for level). Score is reset to 0. Unpause to start a new game from the stage/level selected (good for practice and testing)
- 8 increasing levels of difficultly
I'd like to thank Nathan for doing all the graphics, Bob for graciously letting me use the sounds (and driver) from his 7800 version of Scramble, and Darrell for helping me get up to speed on the DPC+/ARM. They have all spent many hours testing and giving great suggestions and without their help this game would not have been completed (or even started). I'd also like to thank Al and TJ for their suggestions and game testing; also Al for demo'ing the game at the PRGE and this weekend at the Houston Arcade Expo.
Right now I would estimate that the game is 95% complete. Any suggestions are welcomed.
Have fun!
Thanks,
John
**UPDATE**
Here are the final NTSC and PAL60 ROMs that are included in the cart versions available from the Atari Age store:
NTSC:
scramble_final_NTSC.bin
PAL60:scramble_final_PAL60.binOlder versions:
scramble_20160106.bin
scramble_20160102.bin
scramble_20151117.bin
scramble.bin-
1
-
-
I'm a newbie to the TI/99 and have a few questions about the Peripheral Expansion System. I'm very curious and Hopefully this isn't too much at once
1. Back when the TI-99 was current generation, what was the purpose and usefulness of the Peripheral Expansion System? Would it allow the TI/99 to have functionality that was otherwise impossible, or did it just eliminate the need for sidecars and stand alone peripherals?
2. Was there any software that required more than one sidecar expansion, or was it a case of the TI/99 being discontinued before the Peripheral Expansion System had any purpose other than convenience and aesthetics.
3. In the present, is there anything the Peripheral Expansion System does that can't be replicated by modern homebrew add-ons or is it something mainly used only by collectors and people who prefer using original hardware as much as possible?
-
I just received a C128 I purchased from Ebay and was wondering what kind of testing I can do to confirm it is fully functional. So far I have loaded a cartridge game and played with a joystick. Sound, picture, cartridge port, and joystick port are good. Booted to basic and tested all buttons and they are good. I don't gave any disk drives or other peripherals yet. While I'm waiting for an SD2IEC is there anything else I can check out? Thanks!
-
I recently purchased a Commodore 128 and I'm planning to get a uIEC/SD from retro innovator. I'm curious to know if there are any other worthwhile expansions or software for my machine? I'm probably not interesting in running CP/M versions of Visicalc or Wordstar, but anything entertaining would be nice. I don't have a disk drive or cassette player but I'm thinking uIEC/SD replaces them functionally. Thanks!
-
WOO-HOO SainT just called my number
I love how retro gaming creates so much camaraderie between people from all different parts of the world, who speak many different first languages. I've sent money to strangers in Germany, England, Ukraine, etc. via my personal paypal account for things like this sd cartridge and have never had a problem. Sure, they do make some money but they generally also love the systems as well. I spent $90 usd on the cartridge, but I still feel like sainT is doing me a huge favor. There is no way in hell I could build one for myself, and getting all the games on the system plus the possibility of homebrew games is well worth it. :-)
-
3
-
-
Howdy, since I pretty much have all of the common NTSC 2600 games, I've started to dabble with PAL releases. Unsurprisingly, there don't seem to be that many PAL exclusive games, but I have seemingly found some pretty decent ones released in Germany by a company called Bit Corp: https://atariage.com/company_page.php?CompanyID=194&SystemID=2600&SystemFilterID=2600
I was wondering if there are any other companies that released PAL exclusive games that are worth acquiring? It seems most of them are just bootlegged NTSC released similar to Taiwan Cooper or Zellars. I may end up getting into common PAL cartridge variants and bootlegs of NTSC games at some point, but I'd like to get original titles first such as Bobby Geht Heim and Mission 3000.
And just in case it comes up: Yes, I do know all about the differences between NTSC and PAL format. I totally play my PAL games in black and white on an LCD :-)
-
I picked up a 1999 vintage Power Mac G4 450 running OS X 10.4 at a garage sale for $5 and have been having some fun tinkering with it. I've ordered an additional 1 gig of ram and a Mac version ATI Radeon 9000 AGP to replace the Rage 128 AGP the system came with. With the upgrades and system itsself, I've invested a whopping $25 so far
. I'm wondering if there are any inexpensive upgrades I can make to the CPU in the $50 and under range? I know that accelerators have been made for this machine, but as far as I can tell they were discontinued a long time ago and if you do find a used one they go for $150 and up. Unfortunately, I can't justify to myself spending that kind of money on an 18 year old Mac. I'm thinking that there won't be any options in this price range, but my knowledge of Power PC hardware is practically non existent. I know there is a 500mhz version of my cpu, but such an upgrade would barely make any difference (but if I found one cheap enough I'd try it anyway).
Thanks
-
Definitely on my wish list. But for now in the immortal words of the Angry Video Game Nerd: "The only way to play an <<insert name of system>> is on an old piece of shit like this" <<Points to 1970's faux wood grain television with dials on it>>.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk-
1
-
-
Oh yeah, I remember seeing this.
The nanoPEB has the 32KiB RAM expansion built in.
...lee
-
Thanks, as an retro computer geek I have a few cassette players kicking around for my TRS-80 COCO2
welcome to the insanity! this is a super community of hobbyists that are insanely nice and helpful.
my 0.03 cents (adjusted for inflation)-
I think a Speech Synthesizer is definitely worth $30, especially if it's in really good condition but as others said you might be able to find one a little less expensive- especially if you put out some feelers and don't 100% rely on eBay.
There's a fair number of games that use it, plus you can mess around with it if you're so inclined in Extended Basic/etc.PEBs are definitely awesome, but sometimes they can be pricey (or hard to find). I'll be adding one to my collection hopefully Monday because I'm wanting the extra RAM and the disk drive.
Depending on what you like to do, sometimes you can find a 'Program Recorder' (cassette player) for fairly cheap, or you can use a non-TI one- cassettes can be flaky, though. You can still get cassettes from Amazon, I ordered some to help supplement my tinkering around with Extended Basic.
-
Thanks I'll keep the F18 in mind but it will be after disk and speech capability. I really don't mind using composite cables and a crappy CRT television like it was 1985.
Colecovision people are installing the F18A into that system as well. Same chips and it's a simple drop-in socketed replacement!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk -
Duely noted. I'm not in a hurry and can keep a lookout. I'll probably want to get a spare TI/99 at some point so maybe I'll get one that includes a synth.
And speech.... oh yes... please get a speech synthesizer... Parsec and Alpiner (arguably the two most popular games for the TI) are sort of lame-ish without speech my friend...
$30 for a tested synth in good shape is reasonable... but if you watch and put feelers out there, you can often find them much cheaper. -
Awesome setup you have there!
Can the 32k expansion and NanoPEB be used at the same time?
I'm curious about the advantages and disadvantages of the PEB and NanoPeb. I'm thinking the disadvantages to the PEB must be cost, space, and reliability after 30ish years?
Anyway, I'll probably let my wallet cool down for a while but if I decide to get into disks, which would be the better option for someone who wants the minimal hassle? Maybe down the road I'll get the collecting bug but for now I'm okay with mixing new and old to get the most functionality. Thanks!
Man, welcome.
You are well on your way to having a great time with your amazing home computer. You have what you need to experience most of the games out there and if that is all you need, then you have an excellent set up!
Now... for many games and applications, you need disk access.... My favorite game, Tunnels of Doom, requires disk access.
There are two main routes available to you currently: the PEB and the NanoPEB.
The PEB is the big beautiful silver box you see below. The NanoPEB replaces your side car 32k you bought and also adds serial and disk functionality through a db9 serial port and a compact flash card.
Either would work, but both have advantages and disadvantages.
Let us know if you need anything, and welcome to the machine.
-
So within the past few weeks I've gotten my first TI/99 and the SD Cartridge. I have ordered a 32K expansion, Atari controller adapter, and a composite video cable from arcadeshopper.com. My interest is games (I'm thinking the same is true for 99% of TI/99 enthusiasts) and I was wondering if there is anything else worthwhile to get such as...
The voice synth? is it worth getting and what is a fair price for one? If only a few games support it I would pass, but if it has good support and enhances the experience I might be interested at a reasonable price. I saw a tested working one for $30 but I have no idea if that is a good or a bad price
The TI-99/4A Peripheral Expansion Box? Seem to go for a lot of money, but is it worthwhile and do I actually need more than 48K for gaming? I'm thinking it is more of a collector's thing these days. Nothing wrong with that, But I collect other things and for the TI/99 I'm really only interested in adding more gaming functionality.
Floppy drive? Would be cool to have if found cheap but I don't see myself loading floppies. I saw there is some kind of Compact Flash drive on Arcadeshopper. Does it add much new functionality? (games not available as cartridge roms for instance)?
Anyways, thanks in advance for your suggestions. It's great to have a community of fellow enthusiasts to be a part of...honestly, for me the community is the best thing about owning retro computers and games. Without the support of a community for things like flash cartridges and memory expansions many of these old systems just wouldn't be worthwhile for anyone other than the most hard core fans.
-
Update: I went ahead and ordered a flashrom 99. Getting a system and access to all of the cartridge games for a total of $120 is pretty sweet. I was watching some ti/99 gameplay footage and I'm quite surprised at how good the games look. For some reason I thought the gaming capabilities were slightly below Atari 2600 but I was mistaken. Maybe my friend had his ti/99 hooked up to a black and white television LOL.
-
1
-
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Yet another "which model should I get" thread.
in Apple II Computers
Posted
Thanks for the info, I'll certainly take a second look at the GS. I may be wrong but my biggest concern is that the GS apparently won't work on most non-apple monitors so getting one would be mandatory. I don't suppose it would work with my Amiga 1200 monitor, would it??? Fortunately, these machines no longer cost 2638 so getting all three isn't out of the question.