ABUG Scotland #6 - Thu 25th April 2024

[Tosk]

This is a gathering for lovers of retro microcomputers, especially those fond of the BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Atom, and Archimedes/RISC OS machines. This event is aimed at bringing together a community of like-minded individuals in a comfortable and modern setting – the Falkirk Business Hub, in central Falkirk, Scotland.

To emphasise this event is open to all with an interest in Acorn computers!

Please Confirm your attendance by Booking with the link below (£6)


https://retrorendezvous.org/apr2024

Thursday 25th April 2024 - 7:00PM running until 10:00PM

Confirmed and booked List

1. Tosk (Paul)
2. GordonDrogon (Gordon)
3. Ramtop (Gary)
4. Walkerworks (Derek)
5. TheCellarTroll (Steven)
6. AndyMc1280 (Andy)
7. Crivett95 (Chris)
8. DaveLecky (Dave)
9. KenLowe (Ken)

🕹 Event Features:

This is an informal gathering for...

- Show and Tell: Bring your own hardware to display and discuss with others.
- Collaborative Working: Spend time on hardware, programming, or gaming projects.
- Knowledge Exchange: Share ideas, insights, and skills with other enthusiasts.
- Advice on Repair and Upgrade: Reviving poorly Acorn machines.
- Socialize and Enjoy : There's a kitchen for coffee, tea and biscuits. We're in the town centre for bars, pubs and restaurants for potential afterwards gatherings.

April 2024 Software Focus : Adventure Games and Hardware Focus : Spring Cleaning



Adventure Games

I'll be including a specially written version of "The Hobbit" - "Exploring Wilderland" written in BASIC on a BBC Micro that allows you to explore the original map of the game and it includes NPCs (remember Thorin and Gandalf?) with some additional programming to make them a little more...unpredictable. Just like in the original - wild things may happen! I'll include a kiosk powerpoint on how I approached this coding project.

Bring along your own favourite text adventure/graphic adventure game and experience text/graphic adventures the way they were meant to be played—on vintage hardware! We’ll have setups ready for you to step back in time and immerse yourself in nostalgia.

Spring Cleaning

Bring along a machine that needs a spring clean and demonstrate or ask advice on the best approaches to clean keyboards, edge connectors, circuit boards etc.

🕹 Event Limitation:

Unfortunately we can't allow use of soldering irons at this event due to fire alarm / fire safety constraints.
Please do not bring hardware that you think may have the potential to blow capacitors.

Date & Time:
Thursday 25th April 2024 7:00PM running until 10:00PM

Location: Falkirk Business Hub

45 Vicar St, Falkirk FK1 1LL





Access : use the side door on Vicar Street. This also has disabled access.

https://falkirkbusinesshub.co.uk/ – a contemporary venue centrally located, just a 2-minute walk from Grahamston Train Station and with seamless access to the M9 motorway between Stirling and Edinburgh. Numerous bars and restaurants are nearby for post-event socializing.

🅿 There are two recommended car parks:-

i) Weir street car park which is next to the venue. Free parking in the evenings
ii) Melville street - one street away - also free in the evenings.

[thecellartroll]

Splendid. I think it very likely that I'll be able to attend. I very much doubt that I have a copy of the Mode 7 adventure game that I wrote in primary school though!

[Tosk]

Splendid. I think it very likely that I'll be able to attend. I very much doubt that I have a copy of the Mode 7 adventure game that I wrote in primary school though!

Yep - wish I had kept the printouts of all the programs I made! I had coded an adventure game where all the locations were encrypted, so as you typed it in- you had no inkling about the kind of world you would be exploring....but it was easy to make a mistake when typing in the data.

[EdwardianDuck]

If you get REALLY desperate for an adventure game to play, you could try mine...

Jeremy

[Tosk]

If you get REALLY desperate for an adventure game to play, you could try mine...

Jeremy

Okay - we will load it up on one of the machines at the event and give it a spin!

[gordonDrogon]

Count me in.

I wasn't really into gaming on the Beeb other than Elite, but played many adventure games on the Apple II - mostly Infocom. I did write a few of my own but mostly all lost now. It's a shame Infocom never really made it to the Beeb (at the time as I understand there are some z-code systems for it now)

But the thing I was mostly into was MUDs - I played Shades on Micronet 800 and ran up silly telephone bills, briefly touched MUD 2 but access to that where I was was very tricky but a few years later with Internet access in 1990+ MUDs were a real thing and I wrote m own which went "live" in 1992. It ran online for the best part of 20 years too until basically it was nothing more than a little chat service for a few old friends.

I'm still fond of adventures but my skills would lie more in the writing of the "engine" than the imagination of the "world". Maybe one day I'll re-write a toolkit or engine for an old micro...

-Gordon

[Tosk]

...but played many adventure games on the Apple II - mostly Infocom. I did write a few of my own but mostly all lost now. It's a shame Infocom never really made it to the Beeb (at the time as I understand there are some z-code systems for it now)
...I'm still fond of adventures but my skills would lie more in the writing of the "engine" than the imagination of the "world". Maybe one day I'll re-write a toolkit or engine for an old micro...
-Gordon

In the day I never played any Infocom adventures (only from Melbourne House and Magnetic Scrolls). I had heard of them but didn't get hold of any of their games which is surprising because they were a big name (I've since discovered they weren't ported to the BBC Micro or ZX Spectrum at the time). I've only just started learning about them in the last few weeks (BBC Micro live clip : https://youtu.be/qXAubRZ-qjw?si=S_xr01KxhmRkF4Rw). So they sound fun - perhaps someone can bring a z-code system?

My most fun programming projects in the 80s were also centred around building adventure games (hence my Wilderlands project now) - so it would be good to talk shop with you on that. I'll be running a PowerPoint show on the night of how this project was |and is) being developed.

[KenLowe]

I'll bring along a number of Infocom games that run under the awesome BBC Micro port of Ozmoo. They should be able to run from floppy, SCSI HDD or Econet.

I'll also some graphic based Level 9 games wich can be run from floppy or Econet.

The Infocom games will even be able to run in 80 column mode on an Atom! OK, the Atom requires a second processor, AtomVGA (or equivalent) and AtoMMC, but it's pretty cool none the less.

Edit: I'll also need to dig out my copy of The Hunt: Search For Shauna. From memory that was quite a good adventure too. I'll need to see if I can get that one running from Econet too!

And for non beeb related adventures, the Money Island series is a must!

[thecellartroll]

I feel that we should have a programming session and start putting together:

Yer Maw's Maw's Gairden.

Based loosely on that "other" multi-platform adventure game

[gordonDrogon]

I feel that we should have a programming session and start putting together:

Yer Maw's Maw's Gairden.

Based loosely on that "other" multi-platform adventure game

Think I might call it; "Ye canny shove yer granny aff a bus..."

-Gordon

[Tosk]

Your opinion for a full day event in June?

I'd like to cast your mind forward to June. Several of you have proposed the idea of a full-day event (Saturday or Sunday). This is something I'm prepared to do once a year, since that's a bit more commitment. However I think it's a good idea since it will attract a few more folk locally as well as further afield.

I've made some enquiries at the Falkirk hub and that looks very possible to set up. We could use the seminar suite upstairs which may accommodate more people and tables than the co-working area on the ground floor (I'll need to cross check the space and tables...but the seminar suite feels bigger). We may be able to have up to 25 people.

Cost will be something like £17-£20; I want to see if I can negotiate some refreshments - that will effect the current estimate. Not sure about trying to include lunch.

It will most likely be the 4th or 5th weekend of June

I would envisage a full day with a similar format to what we have now, running from 10:00am to 5:00pm

But I would like to see if we could include a few workshops or presentations to add more value.

1) Would you like this kind of event? Is the 4th of 5th weekend available on your calendar? Would a Saturday or Sunday work better for you?

2) Would you like to run some kind of presentation or workshop? Or alternately, what kind of workshop or presentation would you like to see?

3) Any other ideas?

Let me know your thoughts.

[atsampson]

I'd be interested! Falkirk's easy enough to get to for me, but I'm usually busy on weekday evenings so I've not been able to attend so far. Either Saturday or Sunday in any weekend in June would work for me.

I don't have any particularly unusual Acorn stuff, but I could bring some other less common machines, or Hoglet's HCR Micron Plus clone. If you're after presentations, I could do one on the ld-decode project (with a live demo).

[Ramtop]

Count me in. A longer form meeting would be great, there's quite a lot that can't really be squeezed into 3 hours. Sunday is better for me, but can do Saturday if necessary.

Not sure about a presentation, I could probably do something about developing for retro machines using programmable logic, but that may not attract a large audience

[thecellartroll]

I’d be up for a full day but I work many weekends so would not be able to confirm until closer to the date. Saturdays generally work better for me than Sundays.

Couldn’t run a workshop because I don’t know anything. I do run lots of workshops but they mostly have significant amounts of fire which is forbidden

[Tosk]

For the idea of a day event, I may place this in September in order to have more time to prepare it properly and make it a quality event. Having the extra time will also enable a greater gathering of interest and more momentum for the run up.

It’s been good to get some positive responses so far (including to me by email) - so thank you.

[gebes]

Hi I would certainly be interested in a day at a weekend.

Would be interested in learning more in how to use my machines better. As it was only recently that I got a BBC Master, so would love to know better how to get the best from it

[Tosk]

Hi I would certainly be interested in a day at a weekend.

Would be interested in learning more in how to use my machines better. As it was only recently that I got a BBC Master, so would love to know better how to get the best from it

Thanks Gebes. I will create a separate post later that will focus on the day event for later this year.

[AndyMc1280]

I shall Appear, I may have that Mac SE30 I've been wittering on about, somebody bring a long torx screwdriver and some sort of way of discharging stuff . bzzt etc.
Please.
Its a pity no soldering but I understand why.

Many thanks

Andy

[Tosk]

A BBC micro dust cover was left behind in our last meet ABUG Scotland #5. Any takers?

I will bring along next Thursday.

[AndyMc1280]

I has the Machine
It works (ish) According to bro - slow and not tested everything.
Date/Time doesn't keep so probably needs new battery. He didnt dismantle, just took case off for pics, so I don't know what the battery looks like or if rot on board.
As you can see it is pretty loaded up... ooft. 50MHZ 030 and FPU 128mb ram, network card.
He has had it driving an external Mac Monitor.
He's even given me the original Apple Torx "Key"
Bonus points if you can spot the anomaly

I know its not Acorn but..... lets see how we get on.

[PeterTheGrey]

The Ethernet card is an add-on - and as far as I can see it is not an Apple product - I can't remember offhand if Apple did an Ethernet card for the SE30, but it has an AUI rather than an AAUI as well as 10base5 and 10baseT connections.

[AndyMc1280]

Slightly more from my brother:

The Back is from an SE - My brother says he may have mixed it up when he was rebuilding the machine after being flooded by his upstairs neighbours he apparently "picked up a couple of SE's from work for parts" (as you do) So the original was either water damaged or just 'lost'. Still it adds to the story I suppose. It certainly explains why it seems much yellower than I remember.

Didn't know that about the network card.

[scruss]

Date/Time doesn't keep so probably needs new battery. He didnt dismantle, just took case off for pics, so I don't know what the battery looks like or if rot on board.

Usually a purple and/or green Li-SOCl2 cell, half-AA size, if the SE/30 is like the other Macs of this form factor. These are extremely bad news if they leak, but unlike the Varta cells that have destroyed many Amigas, these leak much less frequently.

Nice find. Have fun with it.

[Tosk]

In summary this Thursday....add to the list depending on what you'll be bringing!

Confirmed and booked List

1. Tosk (Paul)
2. GordonDrogon (Gordon)
3. Ramtop (Gary)
4. Walkerworks (Derek)
5. TheCellarTroll (Steven)
6. AndyMc1280 (Andy)
7. Crivett95 (Chris)
8. DaveLecky (Dave)
9. KenLowe (Ken)

This session includes a focus on adventure games and also spring cleaning.
Bring along a machine that needs a spring clean and demonstrate or ask advice on the best approaches to clean keyboards, edge connectors, circuit boards etc.

We will be....

- Running a specially written version of "The Hobbit" . Includes a kiosk powerpoint on how this coding project was put together.(Tosk)

- Running of Infocom games under the BBC Micro port of Ozmoo. Level 9 games which can be run from floppy or Econet. (KenLowe)

- Having a look at a (hopefully) working Mac SE30 - It is the fastest of the original black-and-white compact Macintosh series. (Andy)

[KenLowe]

Confirmed. I'll be there.

[AndyMc1280]

- Having a look at a (hopefully) working Mac SE30 - It is the fastest of the original black-and-white compact Macintosh series. (Andy)

It was working in the pics as taken by my brother last weekend. I hope it will still work after we have a poke at it on Thursday
I also hope it doesn't kill me - CRT will need discharging before we poke about.

Plans

1) open/ Discharge CRT. (MUST)

2) Document/photo/ remove motherboard and possibly expansions. I don't actually Know what's in there apart from the Dimmio (CPU board/FPU) and Networking card, there may be a grayscale card as well.
3) Remove battery (or with luck my brother did this before storing)

Depending on how generous my postman is between now and about 4 PM on Thursday POSSIBLY:

4) Install battery replacement - Some clever sausage has "made" a battery box conversion which snaps in instead of an actual battery - converts to a Coin cell and is NO SOLDER.
5) Remove Hard Drive - I have a blue SCSI and a DB25 /50 pin converter on the way - if it gets here in time it can be mounted internally, if not it can go temporarily on the rear SCSI port.

6) Pray/Cross things/Swear. Drink Tea, Bite nails and sweat. Connect things back up, Put case back on.
7) Power up. If time.
8 ) Rejoice/cry
Obviously depending on time constraints and equipment available things may have to be done next time. Order not set in stone.

Looking forward to it.....

[thecellartroll]

Swear. Drink Tea.

I can help with this. I am good at both. The rest… CRTs give me The Fear!

[AndyMc1280]

Swear. Drink Tea.

I can help with this. I am good at both. The rest… CRTs give me The Fear!

Why you think I'm bringing it ? So somebody can call an ambulance if necessary

Any and all assistance appreciated

Here that's a thought. I wonder if by sitting in wheelchair I am isolated? ie not touching ground/on rubber wheels etc....

Let's just not poke thongs (oo typo!) we shouldn't.

[Tosk]

Spanish almond cake available this evening (courtesy of my wife)

[IanJeffray]

Spanish almond cake available this evening (courtesy of my wife)

And it was jolly nice. Thanks again for organising an enjoyable evening.