Re: Need help building Laser 128EX system dedicated to "Elite"

["Steve ][" <sc-ii@hotmail.com>]

I *lived* on Elite way back when, and I did it on a souped up Laser
128/EX. 

The original Laser was 1MHz, basically a //c clone, but the 128/EX
supported 1mb RAM, hardware accellerator (when booting or during a
Reset sequence, hold down "1" for 1MHz, "2" for 2.5MHz, or "3" for
3.6MHz).

I though Elite was basically unplayable at 1MHz, but 2.5MHz was
perfect for the game. At 3.6MHz you were basically guarantted to get
smoked by the computer enemy ship AI. :)

I had the original purchased 5.25" floppy, and it didn't boot to
ProDOS, it must have been a copy-protected modified DOS 3.3. IIRC it
wrote to the same disk intermittently for game saves, but my memory is
kind of hazy on that one.


My Laser had 768kb RAM, an external 3.5", built in 5.25", a "sidecar"
that plugged into the expansion port to give 2 additional slots (one
for a Phasor and one for an Apple SCSI card), and built in CGA-class
RGB out for super crisp 80-column text in AppleWorks. It got me
through 3 years of college easily (until I got a IIGS in the 4th
year). Hmmm. I think I remember playing Elite in RGB mode too since
the graphics were all wireframe - the Laser has a monochrome hardware
switch on the case to make that stuff super-sharp.

My memory is also a little hazy on the128/EX2, but I think the main
claim to fame was dual-purposing the built-in serial port with MIDI
electronics and an option to have a 3.5" built-in instead of the
5.25".




On Thu, 9 Jun 2005 23:24:18 -0500, "Mark Jenison"
<jenison@enteract.com> wrote:

>This sounds like a perfect match..runs around 2+mhz, has an RGB output, one 
>slot for the CFFA...
>
>Turns out a FlashROM card wouldn't work anyway, as Elite likes to save to 
>the same drive that it's sitting in.
>
>The cracked copy on Ian Bell's homepage looks to be completely on Dos 3.3 
>and is separate files.
>
>Looking at the CFFA site (other than the part about none being available), I 
>saw this line:
>
>"NOTE:  I have been using the late Glen Bredon's DOS.MASTER software and 
>have been able to copy a version of RobotWar on to a DOS 3.3 partition on a 
>ProDOS disk. Check out DOS.MASTER if you want to have DOS 3.3 volumes on 
>ProDOS formatted disks. Very cool."
>
>This sounds like what I'd want to do.  Now I just need to figure out how to 
>do it :-)  I haven't touched an Apple II in 10 years probably.
>
>Unfortunately, the site doesn't say anything about it working with a Laser 
>128EX.  Anyone try that?
>
>Thanks to everyone for being so helpful!
>
>"PZ" <skierpaul@yahoo.com> wrote in message 
>1118363156.466129.267860@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com">news:1118363156.466129.267860@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>> It might be easier to use a Laser 128 than find a Zip Chip, also much
>> cheaper too.  The Laser 128EX EX2 and the IIc+ were all 1-4mhz
>> adjustable.  Essentially a built in Zip Chip.    The Laser 128 had an
>> Apple IIe compatible expansion port which would allow use of the CFFA
>> card.
>>
>> - Paul
>> 
>