Re: codified

[John_L._Graham@adbbs.antioch.edu (John L. Graham)]

I still do quite a bit of 8-bit programming, in fact most of my GS software
starts life on my IIc+ because the interface is so much easier. Writing GS
code you spend a lot of time futzing with the interface, probably one reason
I don't program the Mac much, at least on my GS I have a choice. In fact,
most of the Mac software I've written was authored on my GS, then cross
compiled... but that's another story.

I'm still a big fan of the IIGS's older siblings. Just yesterday I pulled
together a really nice II+ system to help us inspect and calibrate ADCs at
work. I chose a II+ over a IIe because the nice big cut-outs in the II+'s
back plane makes it easy to drape the 32 line ribbon cables out the back.

Anyway, I digress, I have a 2nd Second Sight on order that among other things
I'm hoping to drop in a IIe to see what it can do. It's already made running
AppleWorks and ProTERM on my GS a LOT nicer (the text display on SS is really
nice) and the standard HiRes mode is interesting to say the least (solid
colors!). The current ROM version doesn't support Double HiRes, but support
for all Apple II display modes (with the possible exception of double LoRes)
is promised. The real strength of Second Sight is that it's not merely
limited to emulating existing display modes but offers a series of VGA and
SVGA modes you acces by programming the card itself. This should decouple the
display from the computer feeding it. In other words the host computer (IIe
or GS) becomes an engine for driving the card. I'm anxiously awaiting the
release of the developers kit to see if I can write some IIe software for the
card. heh, heh, I think a VGA version of Tonight's Sky or Nightfall II (the
8-bit versions) would be a killer, a lot of fun trying if nothing else.

Hmmm, speaking of the IIe, I just had a silly thought. If you were using a
Second Sight card and it's native display modes you won't have the HiRes
pages tied up with graphics anymore. More memory, no waiting :)

Have fun!

John