Hi guys! A small addition to the Apple EPROM Interface Card
I added a couple more machine language games: the cool Codebraker Uncle Bernie that made a lot of noise a couple years ago (with the author's permission) and Microchess Peter Jennings. Now that's 10 programs and games, which is pretty good for a 3-part card.
I wanted to post this as usual on April 1st on Apple's birthday, but unfortunately I was sick all last week and didn't have time to do anything. But as they say, better late than never. I hope you like it.
Thank you, Macintosh_nik, for doing this conversion of my "Codebreaker" game to EPROM !
Now we have "ROM game cartridges" for the Apple-1, like the "ROM game cartridges" for the Y1977 Atari VCS (an idea which every other manufacturer of TV game consoles copied --- the basic idea perhaps came from the Magnavox Odyssey of Y1972, but these "cartridges" did not contain ROMs, they just rewired the different analog impulse generators in the main console to yield different games based on movable dots on the screen, which essentially were generated by oneshots whose pulse time was set by the potentiometers in the game controllers. This is how the TV game industry started, very primitive electronics, just a few dozen discrete transistors, no microprocessor of any kind being used).
And here is the ironical historical twist: Magnavox made far more money from lawsuits against video game manufacturers who made "pong" type video games than from selling their game console, which quickly disappeared from the marketplace. Ralph Baers U.S.-Pat. 3,728,480 had broad claims covering any type of TV based game involving moving rectangles called "hit dots" and "hitting dots" in the patent (a genre later called "ball and paddle" type video games).
As far as the "copyright" for my "Codebreaker" game goes, anyone who wants to distribute the code in any form can do that, but I give no warranties of any kind, use at your own risk only. At some point in the future I might have the time to clean up the source code such that it is not so embarrassing for me to show it, and then I will publish it as "open source".
Those who want to load it via the ACI can find the AIFF file on post #19 of this thread (do not use the earlier version which had a bug):
https://www.applefritter.com/content/uncle-bernies-codebreaker-game-apple-1
But having it on Macintosh_nik's EPROM card is quicker and more convenient to use.
Have fun playing it ! (And beware, it's addictive !)
- Uncle Bernie
P.S.: the AIFF file is "dual use" and it will load on both the Apple-1 and the Apple II.
Thank you for your kind words and a very interesting historical excursion. I have some thoughts sometimes and since I am a plumber myself and not very good at electronics. I am just looking for people who can realize them. Besides, if the game is so bad, how fast it loads doesn't matter. Nobody's going to play it anyway. Luckily your Codebraker is a great game, so I'm just glad that now it can be downloaded almost instantly.
Thanks for this simple board, I now also have it working! I am glad I found a small stash of 2732 EPROMS earlier this year :) By the way, who is the author of the 40th anniversary demo program?
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Answering myself: it says "Dave Schmenk" when you launch the EPROM :) Also, I got confused about 30th and 40th anniversary, but it seems that this was indeed done for the 30th in 2006.