Splash Scree

Any discussions related to the creation of new hardware or software for the ZX80 or ZX81
Reboot
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:22 am

Splash Scree

Post by Reboot »

Inspired by a patch to MTASM, the MEMOTECH Z80 assembler,
https://www.sinclairzxworld.com/viewtop ... 830#p33830
and a Z80 coding challenge answered by Zeddy enthusiasts,
https://www.sinclairzxworld.com/viewtop ... 810#p24810
I've created ts-splsh.p for my new ZXpand+:

ts-splsh.p

Image

Usage:

Although it should function fine on most systems (see Caveats below), it was designed for use with my rejuvenated TS-1000 and my new ZXpand+. On ZXpand+ rename the file MENU.P. If you previously supported another auto-boot program, e.g. AUTOPROG, consider adding:

Code: Select all

15 LOAD "AUTOPROG"
Caveats:

It's been optimized for running on systems with more then 3¼KB after a power-up or CLS, i.e. it expects the longer space padded lines, or bad things may happen. E.g., try entering:

Code: Select all

100 FOR I=1 TO 100
110 SCROLL
120 NEXT I
130 GOTO 10

GOTO 100  
Modifying:

MTASM uses the assembly source included in the variable A$. If you have no intentions of modifying the assembly, faster loads can be achieved by issuing:

Code: Select all

CLEAR
GOTO 30
This only needs to be done once. If you'd like to modify the assembly for compatibility with short lines, in addition to counting 8 newlines, you'll need to replace 237 on line 24 with 6.

Tweak:

For it's ZX81 sibling (disclaimer:zx81 untested) try:

zx-splsh.p

Enjoy!
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zx-splsh.p
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ts-splsh.gif
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ts-splsh.p
(3.67 KiB) Downloaded 356 times
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mrtinb
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Re: Splash Scree

Post by mrtinb »

Cool.

An easy way to look at the source is to add these 3 lines:

Code: Select all

50 FOR X=1 TO 9999
60 PRINT A$(X)
70 NEXT X
Then you type GOTO 50 to show a screenfull of source code, and CONT to display the next etc.
Martin
https://zx.rtin.be
ZX81, Lambda 8300, Commodore 64, Mac G4 Cube
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mrtinb
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Re: Splash Scree

Post by mrtinb »

P.S. I’m glad you like my patch. :)
Martin
https://zx.rtin.be
ZX81, Lambda 8300, Commodore 64, Mac G4 Cube
Lardo Boffin
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Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:42 am

Re: Splash Scree

Post by Lardo Boffin »

Looks impressive.

Going slightly off topic what did you use to create your gif?

Thanks!
ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
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mrtinb
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Re: Splash Scree

Post by mrtinb »

I think both EightyOne and other emulators support recording the screen to animated GIFs. I've used it my self to demonstrate my programs.
Martin
https://zx.rtin.be
ZX81, Lambda 8300, Commodore 64, Mac G4 Cube
Lardo Boffin
Posts: 2160
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:42 am

Re: Splash Scree

Post by Lardo Boffin »

Thanks. I will have a look.
ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
stroebeljc
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 6:02 am

Re: Splash Scree

Post by stroebeljc »

mrtinb wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 10:34 pm Cool.

An easy way to look at the source is to add these 3 lines:

Code: Select all

50 FOR X=1 TO 9999
60 PRINT A$(X)
70 NEXT X
Then you type GOTO 50 to show a screenfull of source code, and CONT to display the next etc.
mrtinb, I am unfamiliar with MTASM and am curious about the graphics characters at the end of each line of the program. What do they mean?
Program Listing
Program Listing
John
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mrtinb
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Re: Splash Scree

Post by mrtinb »

stroebeljc wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 5:34 pm mrtinb, I am unfamiliar with MTASM and am curious about the graphics characters at the end of each line of the program. What do they mean?
zx-splsh.jpg
These chars are not shown, when you edit the source inside the assembler. You are not supposed to display the source this way, but it was just a little hack because we can see in the manual, that the source is kept in the first variable, which must be string array. The manual tells us the last char on each line is used to address calculation.
The ADD and EDIT options allow you to create a source code program in a
character array. THIS ARRAY MUST LIE AT THE START OF THE VARIABLES AREA.
Thus, before you start a new piece of source code you must first clear out
any variables already defined and dimension your array. The array can
contain as many lines as you like (as long as your memory is large enough)
but must have a line length of exactly 22 characters. The last character of
each line is used by the assembler routine to calculate addresses. Two extra
lines are reserved for use by the editor. So if you wanted to have space for
50 lines You would type:

CLEAR
DIM A$ (52, 22)
Martin
https://zx.rtin.be
ZX81, Lambda 8300, Commodore 64, Mac G4 Cube
Reboot
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:22 am

Re: Splash Scree

Post by Reboot »

Lardo Boffin wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:49 pm Looks impressive.

Going slightly off topic what did you use to create your gif?

Thanks!
Hi Lardo,

I just max'd out the delay, used a screen snapshot tool capable of incrementing file names, set it for rectangular region over the emulator, clicked away, and loaded the results into gimp to animate.
Reboot
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:22 am

Re: Splash Scree

Post by Reboot »

mrtinb wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:29 pm P.S. I’m glad you like my patch. :)
Thanks for your time saving MTASM patch.
mrtinb wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 5:25 pm I think both EightyOne and other emulators support recording the screen to animated GIFs. I've used it my self to demonstrate my programs.
I see EightyOne supports screen snapshots, but I was unaware it could generate animated GIFs.
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