Re: Is it too hard to program for the Apple?

[magnusfalkirk <dean.phares@gmail.com>]

On Feb 22, 12:19 pm, "Jeff Blakeney"
<jeff.blake...@a2central.com.remove-jth-this> wrote:
>   To: Calibrator
>
>
>
>
>
> Calibrator wrote:
> > On 21 Feb., 04:07, bloomer_au <bloo...@iprimus.com.au> wrote:
> >> What amazes me is that I always thought I was a basic whiz,
> >> and yet in this latest revisit to programming the computer after
> >> a massive hiatus, I'm better at it than I ever was before. I'm
> >> using techniques to cram this game into PRODOS I would
> >> never have previously come up with.
>
> > I've had a similar experience: After rediscovering the 6502 (via
> > the Apple II in 2005) I was surprised how much I still knew --
> > I thought I had forgotten everything after dropping out for 15 years
> > where I thought that only the latest stuff is the best...
> > When writing some routines I immediately had the impression
> > that I came up with better ideas for data structures and program
> > flow than I was used to back then. This gave me quite some
> > confidence and increased my interest in staying "retro".
>
> Not too long ago I helped someone looking for the SSI AD&D gaming aid
> programs and mentioned that I had written some utility programs in
> Applesoft for AD&D myself and asked if he'd like to check them out too.
>   He said he would so I pulled them out and took a look at them again.
> I immediately started finding things that could be improved or were
> potential bugs.  I did a bunch of work on them again before sending them
> on to him.  There are still huge improvements I could make to them.  The
> biggest would probably be to move all the string literals to a text file
> instead of having them in the program taking up memory all the time.
> Things like ability and racial bonuses.
>
> One thing I did find myself struggling with is the fact that my Windows
> programming today is done with PowerBASIC and it has a lot more features
> than Applesoft.  I kept running into situations where commands I would
> use today don't exist in Applesoft or the command did exist but works in
> a different way or doesn't support certain options I've gotten used to.
>   Then there is the fact that PowerBASIC is a structured, compiled language.
>
> That said, I had a blast working on those programs again and might go
> back to them again.

Jeff,

Did you finally get your Ad&D program into a state where you can send
it to me to try out? If you already did I never got and I never
bothered to ask about it as I fiugred you'd get to it when you had the
time.

Dean