#newbrain — Public Fediverse posts

The Grundy #NewBrain was an interesting #z80 based machine from 1982. One of its more remarkable features was a built-in single line display in addition to the video out, allowing for some portable use. The machine was targeted at business use and didn't get a large amount of platform specific software. It ran a version of #CP/M 2.2 with an efficient implementation giving it a large TPA. The platform also supports inverse characters, although without a specific control code to toggle so I need to manually track reverse character mode and toggle the top bit accordingly. With some gymnastics in memory management, a 50Hz timer is available, allowing me to count the ticks for the 10Hz timer expected by a full featured #Zmachine
Now that it's properly tested and running, you can download the latest addition to the #Vezza family from https://gitlab.com/sijnstra1/vezza and if you are curious about the NewBrain you can get the emulator and other info from https://newbrainemu.eu/new/

I've attached screenshots of the Bomber game in action, as well as the #Infocom classic A Mind Forever Voyaging.

While porting #Vezza for another #z80 platform (the Grundy #NewBrain), I noticed that there was an issue with the timer routine for the #MSX version. It turns out that the code was in there for the MSX version was using the MSX clock, however, it was not calculating the time properly, The MSX has a fine-grained timer which allows me to measure the time to the nearest 0.1 second as required for the #Zmachine standard. This makes the MSX version one of the few that I have written which supports the full fine-grained time requirement.

While for normal text adventures, this timer resolution might not make much difference, some of the fun post-#Infocom games, this distinction is used. One of the games that I've tested which works properly now is the `bomber.z5`, a real time game where you need to drop bombs from the plane to create a flat landing for your plane. Check the screenshot below for the action! Download the latest from https://sijnstra.itch.io/vezza
#retrogaming #retrocomputing

@siliconundergro Thanks! It's such an unintentionally comical name, and so British-sounding. The story of the #Grundy #NewBrain is interesting. It was a groundbreaking design, but the delays caused by the project being shuffled from owner to owner meant that when it was eventually released, it was underwhelming in many respects. The fact that it was a candidate machine for the BBC computer literacy project is also tantalising.

Le fait est peu connu : #HarryPotter est passé à côté d'une belle carrière d'informaticien. C'est en découvrant ce superbe #grundy #newbrain de 1982 qu'il s'est demandé comment une si petite machine pouvait être aussi puissante. Y avait-il de la #sorcellerie là-dedans ?