New Year, New Software Toy
Jan. 2nd, 2012 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
krpalmerIn my pastime of fooling around with emulator programs of various old microcomputers, I took notice of a new program under development that emulates not just the hardware but the old-fashioned monitors they were connected to. It's been suggested how the fuzzy picture tubes were part of the experience, and once the first working version of the program had been released I found it amusing. At the same time, as that version could only emulate the text-only Apple 1, the experience did seem somewhat incomplete.
Heading home for a Christmas vacation, I got out of the habit of checking the site on a very regular basis just to see how things were progressing. When I got back, though, I discovered there'd been the promised update adding Apple II emulation, which does add colour graphics to the mix. As it's still a work in progress, though, the Apple II emulated is 1977's best technology, loading programs off sound files meant to represent cassettes. I already knew the Apple II's cassette interface was very finicky; I suppose I'm still looking forward to the promised floppy disc emulation. Still, with only a little work I was able to load a version of "Breakout," the game Steve Wozniak specifically designed the computer to be able to play. It's at least a beginning.
Heading home for a Christmas vacation, I got out of the habit of checking the site on a very regular basis just to see how things were progressing. When I got back, though, I discovered there'd been the promised update adding Apple II emulation, which does add colour graphics to the mix. As it's still a work in progress, though, the Apple II emulated is 1977's best technology, loading programs off sound files meant to represent cassettes. I already knew the Apple II's cassette interface was very finicky; I suppose I'm still looking forward to the promised floppy disc emulation. Still, with only a little work I was able to load a version of "Breakout," the game Steve Wozniak specifically designed the computer to be able to play. It's at least a beginning.