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evank

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Everything posted by evank

  1. evank
    If anyone is interested, I am almost finished with the engineering of my "Blocky Kong" machine -- a nearly life-sized, fully playable Donkey Kong-inspired game, controlled by several Interface A attached to a single Apple //e. :) My goal is to have the whole thing done by the end of July, and then to debut the model at Brickfair (Chantilly, Virginia) which is the first weekend of August. I've been posting frequent updates in my "Square Pistons" group on Facebook. Blocky Kong moves sideways and vertically, controlled by a joystick; he jumps over barrels; he climbs ladders; and ultimately he rescues the princess. I am using touch sensor for collision detection with barrels; to control the limits of the jumps; and to detect when a ladder is present, etc.
  2. evank
    You even got the monkey in there! Good job.
  3. evank
    I thought it was about BBC Micro stuff. Anyway, I must have been thinking of someone else, not you. Sorry for causing confusion.
  4. evank
    @Toastie -- My post from April 2023 was about manuals. I thought now we're talking about DOS software?
  5. evank
    Thanks for posting again. I'd forgotten who it was that worked with this person. Didn't we already fund him last year? Or am I still thinking of someone/something else? Thanks for sharing the link. I recently made a similar video, showing how to program 9750 for the Apple II, BBC Micro, C-64, and IBM-PC, all using raw BASIC:
  6. evank
    Sorry, no. @Toastie wasn't there someone you knew who acquired it recently? Or am I thinking of someone else?
  7. evank
    I know this thread is about Interface B, but I once ran seven Interface A devices -- 42 outputs, 14 inputs -- using all of the slots in a single Apple //e. Just to prove it's possible. :)
  8. evank
    This is off-topic to Lego, but yes, AI writing checkers are a thing. The one I used is among the most popular. They're all flawed, but when it comes up 100% you can be sure.
  9. evank
    ZeroGPT.com says Cater1977's comment is 100% written by AI. I suspected it, based on the tone.
  10. evank
    I bought a 4V cordless screwdriver and a 3/16ths drill bit with a hex shank. It's the perfect combination for making technic axle holes in solid bricks or plates, and it's small and lightweight enough to easily fix in your toolbox. https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-4V-Cordless-1-4-in-Screwdriver-FVD01K/318964428 I found other models that are more powerful, charge faster, and have better features, but I like this one because it's small, cheap, and does the one thing I occasionally need. Sometimes a simple basic tool is better. :)
  11. evank
    You wouldn't have. They are from the second half of the 1980s. My favorite childhood sets were 6383 Public Works Center and 8860 Auto Chassis.
  12. evank
  13. evank
    @alexGS you're correct. Commodore BASIC requires you to tell it which user port bits are outputs before proceeding. @Toastie I never use Lines so I don't know if it has power control. I could RTFM but you seem to enjoy that so much! :) I do know TC Logo has the 0-7 power control. I wish there was an easy easy to enable this in Applesoft BASIC, which as you guys know is my favorite. (Toastie that can be your next project, after which I'd have to rename my website ... it's nearly more your work than mine!)
  14. evank
    Thanks!! I never would have figured that out on my own.
  15. evank
    The BASIC files, as raw text, are here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P84zJh7h0F3zIllRhx_w0-PxoLbj9YLt/view?usp=drive_link. It's a fact that Lego Lines is written in BASIC. I was curious how they output to 9750. In my own (limited) experience with a Model B, I performed outputs via the user port. First I wrote ?&FE62=63, which tells the user port to set its first six bits as outputs, and then ?&FE60=(decimal-encoded value of the binary total for whichever ports I want on or off, from 0-63). The method works fine and I documented it for the Apple II, BBC, C-64, and PC on my website here: https://www.brickhacks.com/basic.php. But if you look at the main file in the link from my previous post -- the main file being T.LINES -- there's no such output code that I can see. Hopefully someone who knows that computer better than I do, and/or someone who's a better BASIC programmer than me, can identify it. I asked @Toastie for help; he's a bit stumped too.
  16. evank
    @BatteryPoweredBricks has a good Youtube channel.
  17. evank
    Can someone convert the BBC Micro SSD file for the Lego Lines program into a raw text file for me? I no longer have access to Beeb hardware and would like to examine its BASIC code. The file is here: https://archive.org/details/lego-technic.ssd_202012 Update -- Disregard; I have the text files now.
  18. evank
    Scratched into plastic, anyhow. BTW here is my new feline. We adopted him last weekend. I insisted on naming him "Floppy Diskatte" and my wife went along with it.
  19. evank
    I approve! Great work. :)
  20. evank
    Thanks for explaining. I understand and agree with your concern. I just don't want to be excluded simply because I prefer very old Technic. You could solve this by removing the rule about no studded parts and replacing it with a rule saying, "Entries must be mechanical majority, not just System models with a few small mechanical aspects" or something similar. BTW my winning model was a life-size V8 and transmission. I know I can't use an old model for a new contest, but it does raise the question -- an engine, by itself, isn't a vehicle. Would that count? :)
  21. evank
    I have a question about the rules. Why does it have to be studless? Some of us Gen-X'ers love building in the "Expert Builder" theme from the 1970s-1980s. This is what became Technic. As long as I build a non-vehicle technical machine with motors and lots of moving parts, why does it matter if the technical pieces have studs on them? In 2023, I won "Best Mechanical" at Brickworld Chicago (largest convention in the US) for a complex technical model built in Expert Builder, entirely from studded parts. It even used some of the old Samsonite gears.
  22. evank
    A contrarian perspective: come to the dark side :) and join the tiny community of us diehards who are programming Lego robotics with 8-bit and 16-bit systems of the 1980s and 1990s. I'm one of the 8-bit folks, programming my Legos with an Apple II, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, and IBM PC. Is it better than the 21st-century versions? Of course not. But is it more fun for us Gen-X'ers? Hell yes!
  23. evank
    The blue parts are for my Donkey Kong machine. It's not a secret. Mainly I talk about it on Facebook, in my group called "Square Pistons".
  24. evank
    Here is my review of Jason Merrill's Blocko card, which is a replica of the Lego 9767 hardware interface card. Bottom line, it's good!
  25. evank
    Gooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllll!
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