Re: MAME For IIGS?

[joeschmoe@nospam.org (Joe Seeley)]

In article <20JAN199812164132@vax2.concordia.ca>, spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector) wrote:

>SPEED:
>-----
>
>    Emulation through software requires extensive CPU power and raw
>speed, which unfortunately, the IIgs has very little of. The stock

I thought a lot of the arcade games (Gauntlet and the Mr. Do series comes to 
mind) actually used the 6502.  Since the 65816 already has this emulator built 
in I thought that would be a help.  Also, I didn't realize the limitations of 
the accelators.

>to 4 or 16 colors without limitations. You can play with multiple
>palettes for up to 256 colors in the 320 mode, but many games used

This did occur to me after posting the original.  However, I think most of the 
games MAME emulates could be handled by the above mentioned 320, 256 color 
mode, no?  I thought only a few (Rampage, Popeye and Spyhunter) use higher 
resolutions.  Graphics speed is what would blow though.  Thexder was a good 
example of what could be done although it was all native.

>    Well based on the above limitations, and the fact there are very
>few developers left in the Apple II world, I see very little hope of
>this project coming to life. I would _love_ to see it done, even if
>just for the sake of doing something people think are impossible on
>an Apple II, but in the meantime, I run it on my Pentium system.

Yes, I agree the main problem is lack of developers with the interest.  I know 
C++ and Windows programming but nothing about IIGS programming unfortunately.

>    Note I said it is virtually impossible, but _not_ impossible.

It would be cool to try.

>    Compared to other orphaned platforms out there, development in the
>Apple II world has come to a stand-still. I still hold a great interest

Amen to that!  Sheesh!  The lowly (in comparision to IIGS) C64 has TCP/IP 
already and even the CoCo has a Doom-like game (called Gloom) in progress. 
There is more enthusiasm on the flippin' TRS-80 sites I visit for crying out 
loud! If this sort of stuff can be done on those platforms, then the Apple 
community has no excuse except terminal lameness.

BTW, for those who are interested, telnet to: frank.searchlight.com

It is most likely the only telnettable BBS that is run on a TRS-80!  Again, if 
a Model III TRS-80 can be doing this, it certainly isn't the limitations of 
the IIGS that is stopping new and innovative software from gushing forth.

>in my Apple IIgs (and other II's) and new software is what is will
>ultimately keep my interest level up. comp.sys.apple2 is my link to
>the II world, but with not much happening except fighting and other
>noise, my interest is starting to dwindle (seeing the remaining users
>and developers do nothing but fight and talk about other things does
>little to spark anyone's interest I'd imagine).

Amen again.  Even if one could get TCP/IP and a decent browser going (as well 
as figure out a way to break the 14.4 barrier) it would extend the longevity 
of the IIGS for many years.

Sincerely,

Joe Seeley
Ojai, CA  USA