HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: LEEUWERK@PPSW.RUG.NL
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Xor-programming
Date: 15 Sep 1992 09:00:32 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu


 Hello,

 I have a question for all the game programmers that
 use the methode XOR-animation on VGA
 (or even a better methode!):

 Could you please send me a mail about the assembly
 technique. With examples, because the most books
 I've read don't show examples. And probably I
 need some examples to understand the THEORY.

 So far I've got this code:

 Type pic: ARRAY[0..19,0..19] OF BYTE;

 {*
    The colors are restricted to 16 foreground/ 16 background.
    Bit 0..3 are for the background/ 4..8 fore the foreground
    So for example:

        1001|0110 Background
        0110|0101 Foreground
        --------------------
        1111|0011 Xor
        0110|0101 Foreground
        --------------------
        1001|0110 Xor


    I've been told that this should be the fastest way for
    creating smooth animation, because the adapter does
    all the work.
 *}

 Var VideoMem:ARRAY[0..199,0..319] OF BYTE ABSOLUTE $A000h:0000;

 procedure PutXOR(x,y: integer; p: pic);
 var i,t: Integer;
     b: Byte;
     p1: Pointer;

 begin
   port[$3ce]:=3;   {* ... Set dataregister *}
   port[$3cf]:=24;  {* ... to XOR *}

   for t:=0 to 19 do
     for i:=0 to 19 do
        begin
          b:=p[i,t];
          p1:=@VideoMem[y+i,x+t];
          asm
            les di,p1        {* ... load destination adres *}
            mov al,es:[di]   {* ... in al *}
            mov al,b         {* ... load color byte in al  *}
            mov [es:di],al   {* ... write it to the screen *}
            {*
              This all works, but it's to slow,
              I'm looking for something that
            *}
          end;
        end;
  end;

 end;

 Please could someone help me for this, or else I can't
 sleep.

 Cu Robin



********************************************************************

 Robin Leeuwerke
 Noordelijke Hogeschool Leeuwarden
 The Netherlands

 e-mail: R.Leeuwerke@gamma.rug.nl

 *******************************************************************
From: HeroSoftware@cup.portal.com (Bits of Magic)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: Origin Systems buyout
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 11:35:13 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)

>From: cat@wixer.cactus.org (Dr. Cat)
>>
>>   Origin Systems put out a press release today announcing that they have
>>made an agreement to become part of Electronic Arts in exchange for a stock
>>swap.  Whether this will have much effect on the company will remain to be
>>seen...
>>               Dr. Cat

>Whaaat?  That's certainly very suprising.  I can't see why Origin would do it.

How about because:
	1) Origin has the world's most expensive demo in Strike Commander.
	2) Many of the people who really did the work at Origin have recently
		left.
	3) The way Origin financed big expensive products like Ultima VII and
		Strike Commander was by using big advances on cart products
		that haven't been done.

What I can't figure out is why Electronic Arts would be interested in paying
$40 million for a company that has to be at least $2 - $5 million in the hole
(in the sense of spending that money on SC, which is reportedly dead, and
having spent advances on products that haven't been produced), and has lost
much of the creative talent that produced their recent hit (and not-so-hit)
products.  Maybe they just got tired of Richard complaining everytime they
produced a tile-based map game...

Now of course EA's stock has jumped 2-4 pts since the announcement, so maybe
there's something (of course there's something) I don't know or haven't
considered...

	evan
****************************************************************************
* Evan Robinson                * "I never get sick of zombies.  I just get *
* herosoftware@cup.portal.com  *   sick of producers."                     *
* GEnie: EVANROB               *                        George Romero      *
****************************************************************************
From: kc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Kenneth Cameron)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: Video Game Standard!?!?!
Date: 5 Sep 92 15:41:36 GMT
Reply-To: kc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Kenneth Cameron)
Organization: Laboratory for the Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh U

In article <gate.7JuLqB1w165w@toz.buffalo.ny.us> cyberman@toz.buffalo.ny.us (Cyberman) writes:
>I've been looking at all these entertainment sytems.  Nintendo
>Genesis etc.  I don't like what I see, quite frankly.  I would
>like to put out this "wierd" idea.  An OPEN video game standard.
>That is IDENTICAL hardware that can be hacked to poeple's hearts
>content.  And be programed by ANYONE with a little knowledge.  I
>have some ideas already how to go about it.
An interesting idea, but I suspect only the hackers will be interested.

>First it will require being patented.  Reason?  So everyone has
>access to it AND so that some other company doesn't patent it and
>steal it off the market so they can sell thier own proprietary
>format at thier extortionary prices.  COPYRIGHT.  All software
>will be copyrighted for the SAME reasons as above.  So no one
>else can say it's THIERS.
Why patent ? Publish it, then it becomes prior art. Besides any company
that managed to get a patent would have to do a major rework to add some
sort of lock chip because without that anybody could develop carts,but with
the added advantage of an easily obtained console.
As for software, (at least where I come from), the copyright goes to whoever
wrote it. If you want to give it away, but not into the PD, write it on the
licence.

>Base machine ideas.  68k based with a built in kernal

More important will be the graphics and sound, and will it use carts, or
will it have a disc drive ? Take a look at some of the TI graphics processors.
They have a processor, dram control and video timing all in one chip. Just add
video DACS, sound chip, glue including jostick logic.
--
Kenneth@Edinburgh
From: matthewm@yang.earlham.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: Red Baron Help
Date: 14 Sep 92 20:43:52 GMT
Organization: Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana

In article <1992Sep14.153623.19496@yang.earlham.edu>, matthewm@yang.earlham.edu writes:
> 
> 
> 
> I have Red Baron for my Mac LC. The game runs slowly on some parts such as 
> the career missions, and adaquetly on dogfighting individual aces. I have 
> tried turning off ground and aircraft detail and have turned the time 
> scale to the maximum, yet there is no change. Also when on career 
mission, flying for the Allies. Lothar von Richentrop challanges me to a one-on
one dual. When I face him, however, he has two lackeys with him, and they 
shoot me down. Is this an error in the game? or, if not, what is the best
way to beat this dishonarable trio.
> 
> Matthew Marsh
> Earlham College
From: rodal@reznor.cmw.ltn.dec.com (A Software Hooligan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: Zelda III query
Date: 8 Sep 92 21:05:51 GMT
Reply-To: rodal@reznor.cmw.ltn.dec.com (A Software Hooligan)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


>I have run into a problem on Zelda III. I have gotten to the seventh Dark World
>Palace--the one where blocks you make with the Cane of Somaria move around on
>wires--but by the time I reached the third keyed door, I was out of keys and
>have explored everything short of the door without finding another. Can anyone
>tell me what the problem is?

You may have to go through the bastard trap door that only 
opens when you light all the lamps and only stays open
while they are lit. Doing that is a real tough job. But once you
figure it out, you can do it easily(ish).......
These lamps are (of course) out in the middle of a room with those
wires.

	Try that if you haven't yet.


	dave
Xref: sparky rec.games.video:18594 alt.games.lynx:647
From: dittman@skitzo.dseg.ti.com (Eric Dittman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video,alt.games.lynx
Subject: [Lynx] Good games to ComLynx together?
Date: 15 Sep 92 03:58:59 GMT
Organization: Texas Instruments Component Test Facility

What are good games to ComLynx together?
-- 
Eric Dittman                  Texas Instruments - Component Test Facility
dittman@skitzo.dseg.ti.com    (214) 578-3575
Disclaimer:  Not even my opinions.  I found them by the side of the road.
From: bm074@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (David S Fung)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: 2nd Round for Zelda3???
Date: 8 Sep 1992 16:11:57 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc5.ins.cwru.edu


I heard that you can play Zelda 3 second time by typeing special word!
So anybody know it?
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
From: bskendig@netcom.com (Brian Kendig)
Subject: A proposal for splitting up this newsgroup
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 92 17:05:42 GMT
Organization: Starfleet Headquarters: San Francisco

How's this for a breakdown of subgroups?  Remove rec.games.video and
alt.lynx (and maybe even rec.games.vectrex?), and in their place put:

  rec.games.video.nintendo	(NES, SNES, Gameboy)
  rec.games.video.sega		(Genesis, Master System, Game Gear)
  rec.games.video.atari		(2600, 5200, 7800, Lynx)
  rec.games.video.misc		(Vectrex, Neo-Geo, TG-16, &c.)

Because it seems that almost all the posts in this newsgroup concern
either the SNES, Genesis, or Lynx, this organization ought to
distribute the load well without having a lot of little newgroups.
And we wouldn't have to worry about a newsgroup suddenly becoming
passe' when new systems come out, because Atari, Sega, and Nintendo
are currently the Big Three of video games, and they'll be around for
a long time.

How's this breakdown sound?  (And how exactly do we go about voting
and creating new groups, anyway?)

     << Brian >>

-- 
_/_/_/       Brian Kendig  Macintosh Jedi           Live never to be ashamed
 _/_/   Starfleet Captain  Oracle Employee         if anything you do or say
  _/  Intrepid Adventurer  Saturn SL2 Owner    is published around the world
      bskendig@netcom.com  Wizard of Frobozz    -- even if what is published
    Princeton '92! BSE/CS  Writer/Actor/Singer                   is not true.
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
From: ric@microware.com (Ric Yeates)
Subject: [LYNX] Games for sale...
Summary: Cleaning my Lynx closet
Keywords: lynx sale games fun button_a button_b joypad option_1 pause option_2
Organization: Microware Systems Corp., Des Moines, Iowa
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 13:49:25 GMT


Netlanders:

I have the following games for sale for the following prices:
I'll pay shipping. All games come with instructions, but no box.

Game                Price
----                -----
Rampart             $15
Electrocop          $10
RoadBlasters        $12
Blue Lightning      $10
Paperboy            $12
Gates of Zendocon   $10
Ninja Gaiden        $12
Gauntlet            $12

The first claim with the price listed gets the game.

Ric Yeates
Home: (515) 253-9159
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
From: sfrazier@master82dev.com (Scott Frazier)
Subject: Division of rec.games.video
Organization: /home/master82dev/sfrazier/.organization
Distribution: rec
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 01:10:03 GMT




	It might be worth while to point out that volume is the
primary criterion for dividing a newsgroup.  If you don't want to read
articles about other systems, then use a kill file.  


						Happy Happy Joy Joy,

								S.

Organization: Office of Planning & Budget, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 10:49:10 -0400 
From: Karin Berger <kb42+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Nintendo - Europe vs USA

Hi,
I'm looking for some information.

I bought a Nintendo game here in the States and sent it to my nephew in
Austria.
It doesn't work and he was told it is because of the different TV's.

Can anybody explain what the difference is (so that I, as a
non-technical talented person, am able to understand it) and is there
anything we could do to make it work?

Thanks a lot!!

Karin

Newsgroups: rec.games.video
From: cw21219@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Crying Freeman)
Subject: Re: I'm thinking of getting a SNES; is it stereo? What's its price? &c.
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 04:45:37 GMT

chinman+@CMU.EDU (Chinarut Ruangchotvit) writes:

>> I like the sound on the SNES a *lot*.  It sounds like it's PCM; is it?
>> And is it stereo?  Does the console provide stereo out?

>You're SNES' sound quality is very good and does indeed use PCM using
>it's Sony sound chip.

>> What price should I try to find for the SNES w/ Super Mario, and for
>> the Zelda III cartridge?  Are there any retail chains that have good
>> prices on these?

 I saw today at Waldensoftware here a "Buy a cartridge and get a SNES w/
Supermario world for $119.99" I think Zelda was ~$50 or so...
 
 I paid $139.99 about 2-3 months ago for my SNES.

>Considering that these games have been out for a while, you should be
>able to get them used for a very good price.  SMW is included with the
>system, so I imagine it can't be worth that much.  If you are looking to
>buy cartridges new, Nintendo still has that claim that their carts will
>retail less than $50.  I've seen a few stores violating this "suggested
>retail price," but very few.  Nintendo hasn't produced that many carts,
>anyway.

>--
>Chinarut Ruangchotvit
><cr2p+@andrew.cmu.edu>
><chinman+@cmu.edu>

>	"Learning that we're only immortal - for a limited time"
>							-Rush, Dreamline
-- 
 Kenneth C. Wang	| University Of Illinois Champaign-Urbana	
 			| Internet: c-wang@uiuc.edu			
			| AKA Che-Yuan Wang
From: tehyang@aludra.usc.edu (Teh Kao Yang)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Not Necessarily the Latest Genesis and Megadrive news!
Date: 11 Sep 1992 00:07:54 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu

From the September issues of Megadrive Fan and Beep! Megadrive:

Landstalker : 16 mega, late September release
This game seems to play very much like the Zelda series, except the action
takes place in a diagonal overhead perspective, like Rings of Power. They 
call it the "Diamond Shaped Dimension System." (WOW)

Final Fight Mega-CD: scheduled for December release

A lot of hype for this game. 2 player simultaneous, contains all the levels 
from the arcade version, and uses parallel processing of the Megadrive and
Mega-CD processors to bring more characters onto the screen at once.

Other noteworthy games: Crying(Bio-Hazard Battle) is going to be a two player
simultaneous shooter, coming out on 10/30. Gauntlet (December) is going to
support 4 players with a special adapter that Tengen is making. Time Gal, 
Wolf Team's second laserdisc game(first one was Thunderstorm FX), is coming
out in September. Revenge of Shinobi 2, 8 meg, coming in December. Ninja
Gaiden, 8 meg, October. Golden Axe 3, November. Might and Magic 3 on Mega
CD, no date yet. Games in early planning stages: Shining Force 2, Lunar 2,
and Langrisser (Warsong) 2. 

-Tehkao
From: weed@sweetpea.jsc.nasa.gov (daniel weed)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: NES Reviews Wanted
Keywords: NES
Date: 14 Sep 1992 18:25:08 GMT
Organization: McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company


-- 
Help! 

Me and my wife have a NES and we're in need of games, but we don't know whats 
good. (we are fairly new NES users).  We liked the original Mario that came 
with the set, and also like the Mario 3.  We generally prefer this type of game 
to the fast shoot-em-ups.  For example, we do not think the "Total Recall" 
game is any good (rather watch the movie, in our humble opinion).

We'd like adventure type games - I've heard Zelda and Link are good.  (but I 
can't seem to find them).  We'd also like some faster games like auto racing, 
flight simulator type games, and the like.

Can anyone out there give me some reviews/opinions on available NES games?  
Are any reviews available on anonymous FTP?  Any games we should steer clear 
of?

Thanks for any help you all can give.  Please respond by e-mail (address 
below), and I will post a summary in a few weeks.  I don't get to review 
this newsgroup very often.

   Thanks

   --- Dan.


------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel Weed                             weed@sweetpea.jsc.nasa.gov
McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. - Houston
          "My comments are my own, not my employer's"
From: rjung@aludra.usc.edu (Robert A. Jung)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: Divide this Group
Date: 6 Sep 1992 23:45:37 -0700
Organization: Southern California Lynx Enthusiasts
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu

In article <1992Sep06.234909.10031@r-node.gts.org> singh@r-node.gts.org (Rajendra Singh) writes:
>I have a suggestion (I don't know if it has been suggested already).  Why
>don't we divide this group into:
>	rec.games.video.genesis        [etc.]

  (Considering how often this question is asked, should it be placed into the
rec.games.video FAQ?)

  This idea pops up every two or three months or so, gets a lot of talk, and
is then quickly forgotten. The biggest reasons against such a split are:

        (1) Some people LIKE to read about every game system out there.
        The biggest incentive for a by-system split is so owners of machine
        A don't have to read about news for machine B. Wouldn't a kill file
        be sufficient?

        (2) The USENET gods don't like creating "popular theme of the year"
        newsgroups (hence no rec.arts.tv.ren-n-stimpy). Let's face the
        music: neither the Genesis nor the SNES will be around in ten years'
        time, and by then rec.arts.video.snes will be a wasted subdirectory.
        Why create a newsgroup with a known limited lifespan?

  Again, the only incentive the pro-by-system-split folks can ever give is
that "it's convenient for me". Given the arguments against, this seems (IMO)
a little petty.

  I can see the need for a function-oriented split, like rec.games.video.hints
and/or rec.games.video.sales; no matter what machines come and go, they will
always have functional use. However, nobody seems really supportive of such
a move. Ah well.

                                                --R.J.
                                                B-)

//////////////////////////////////////|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
   Send whatevers to rjung@usc.edu    |      If it has pixels, I'm for it.
--------------------------------------+------------------------------Lynx up!
"You weren't chosen because you are the best pilot in the Air Force. You were
    chosen because you are the class clown and frankly, you're expendable."
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
From: jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov (Stephen Jonke)
Subject: Re: Reviews: Rampart and Robocop 3 (SNES)
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 92 20:30:25 GMT

In article <BuH9GJ.8zE@acsu.buffalo.edu>, v089l3s3@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Jeremy B Horwitz) writes:
> 
> Review: Rampart, by Electronic Arts and Bitmasters for the SNES
> List Price: $57.99, Retail Price: $59.99 [Electronics Boutique]
> Summary: An excellent translation and revamping of the Atari games
> strategy/action game, easily EA's best title.
> 
> 	Super Rampart mode shines with the following new features: Super
> Cannons, which you can trade 3 normal cannons for, fire the deadly
> red cannonballs which create fireballs in the ground; Propaganda
> Balloons, which allow you to persuade enemy captains to join your
> forces; Bosses to fight in some of the 15 new levels, instead of
> just wave after wave of ships;


AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!  The video game industry really has sunk to the bottom!
"Bosses" in Rampart?!?!  UGGGGGHHHHHH!  Well, at least they have an "original"
mode.  The terrible thing is, all the other additions (don't know about the
"final fantasy mode") sound pretty good and then they ruin it with bosses.
Why is it that every "updating" of a classic game has to involve the addition
of bosses?  I would like updates of "classic" games if they wouldn't add
all the things that make todays games so cliched and boring.  Next we'll see
"Super Pro Mega Boss Football!!!" and "Super Big Boss Bowling!!!? (the three
exclamation marks are in the names, of course.)

> 	The Battlefield in both modes has been blown up for greater
> detail, so you now scroll left and right when fighting enemy ships
> as well as up and down

A question about how this works: In the Lynx version the entire battlefield
fits on the screen.  Did the arcade version scroll around?  How do multiple
players fight each other -- couldn't one player be scrolled right off the
screen?

Steve
From: v089l3s3@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Jeremy B Horwitz)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: * MAJOR QUESTION! *
Date: 7 Sep 92 03:55:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

It is very important at this point to begin developing the
technology for using imported games on Super Famicoms,
Super Nintendos and Mega-CD systems.

Fact: Nintendo's first country-protected game, TMNT4
(at least the Japanese one, I haven't heard about the
US one), will not play on US systems. The proof that
such technology (ie: System "Detection") existed earlier
was the release of Super Adventure Island, which had
Master Higgins appear upside down on SFC systems and
right side up on SNES [at least on the US version]
during the opening of the game, with rotation.

Fact: The Mega-CD will soon be overshadowed by US games
like Batman Returns and the like, which will be unplayable
on the Mega-CD. 

Fact: A language switch exists for the Genesis already.
Using Thunder Storm FX on the M-CD with the language
switch turned to English boots TSFX as Cobra Command.

CAN ANYONE DEVELOP A MEGA-CD SWITCH and/or a SNES/SFC SWITCH?

Thanks!
From: tehyang@aludra.usc.edu (Teh Kao Yang)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: A big surprise in Sonic 2
Date: 9 Sep 1992 21:34:38 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu
Summary: Genesis' hidden graphic mode

I've just played a beta version of Sonic 2. The game was quite far from
completion and missing a lot of levels but there was a big surprise. The
2 player split-screen mode utilizes an interlaced, higher resolution graphics
mode I've never seen before on the Genesis. I've heard that the Genesis
is capable of displaying at a higher resolution than 320X220(?), but
this is the first time I've seen it.

The graphics sort of flicker so I guess it's interlaced, and the resolution
seems to be double of normal. It might be around 640X400. And it looks pretty
fantastic, despite the flickering.

I wonder it there is anyway to fix the flickering problem. If so, then the
graphics of the Genesis can be dramatically improved. I also hope that more 
games in the future will use this higher resolution.

Now, if only they can get over that limited color palette....

-Teh Kao
Newsgroups: rec.games.video