Re: Does apple ][ GS software work using the apple ][ emulator

[ramsey@spot.Colorado.EDU (Mad Poo Bandit)]

In article <Bz0n4y.6n8@news.iastate.edu> irsman@iastate.edu (That Ian Guy) writes:
>>ramsey@spot.Colorado.EDU (Mad Poo Bandit) writes:
>>>question of speed.  An IBM's capabilities match or exceed that of a GS, so
>>>you wouldn't run into anything really wierd.  As for sound (which I know
>>>the GS can beat a standard IBM on)...well, put in SoundBlaster support.
>
>Not even close.  The SB and SB Pro have extremely shitty sound output compared
>to the IIgs.  You'd need a Gravis UltraSound (with a real Ensoniq DOC) to get
>something similar to the IIgs.
>

Whatever.

>And then there's issues like how to emulate stack and direct-page slams, what
>to do about shadowing, how to deal with the IIgs's interrupt architechture and
> ...
>Now that you emulator programmers have your assignment, go at it...the final
>test suite should be composed of...
>
>1) Everything ever done by the SSS/ACS/FTA/GSA/F.U.C.K./iCia/NinjaForce
>2) GS/OS System 6.0 or later with several CDevs/DAs/INITs installed
>3) MODZap, soniqTracker, NoiseTracker GS, MegaTracker, SoundSmith, and synthLAB
>4) AppleWorks GS, HyperCard IIgs, and HyperStudio 3.0 or later
>5) Rastan, Arkanoid II, Silpheed, all Will Harvey/ECA games, and everything
>   ever by Brian Greenstone/Dave Triplett and Kenrick Mock/James Brookes.
>6) DreamGrafix, SuperConvert, Platinum Paint 2.0 or later, and GIF3200 for 
>   added fun value.
>
>Good luck.....*snigger*
>

You must think that the GS runs on nuclear power or something.  Give me
one example of some *function* (not specifics) of something a GS can do
that a MS-Dos machine can not.  If a PC can do ALL the same things (albeit
with a soundblaster or other sound card attached) as a GS, it CAN be emulated,
no if's and's or but's.  Emulation goes beyond merely duplicating the hardware
of a machine.  You'd have to emulate every last logic gate to do that.  Forget
it.  A central processing unit is, strangely, programmable, and can do many
wondrous things with software only.

You're probably saying, "Hey, what about input/output?".  Well, a GS has,
lemme guess, a keyboard, mouse, drives, serial/parallel ports, sound, monitor,
and joysticks, blah blah blah.  An IBM, clone or not, is just bound to have
the same things.  Leave it to the software to interpret the GS's instructions
Bios calls, and whatever nifty things you can think of, and just, well,
emulates them.  Though Apple has a strange penchant for copyrighting their
ROMs (which the Apple II emulator needs to work), a good working version
can be made which does not violate them (or you can always pirate a copy, hey
it's software like anything else...).  You could even re-write the ROMs to
make full use of the system running the emulator.  Wow...

Think about it, won't you?