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[Vtech Laser 200] Flappy Bird

Started by gameblabla, April 25, 2016, 01:30:11 AM

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gameblabla

I was hesitating putting it in the PC section since the Vtech Laser is a computer but whatever...


I was working on this for a while, it's a Flappy Bird clone for an old computer called the Vtech Laser 200.

A bit of history here
The Vtech Laser 200 is basically a low-cost computer first released in 1983 and it had a small empathis on education and programming.
It tanked at the time because :

  • It wasn't very capable. The maximum resolution is 128x64 with 4 colors and no sprites or scrolling.
  • There was already better computers such as the Oric and the ZX Spectrum which cost the same and were better.
After 2 years, it was discontinued. (along with a hell lot of other computers but that's another story)

I don't actually own this computer but the reason why it interested me is because bfg recently picked up one here (in french) :


He was wondering if we could make games on it. I wondered that too and accepted the challenge.
Turned out the C compiler z88dk already supported the computer so i worked on the game and a week later, its finished.

Grab it here and enjoy.
(You need the ROMS though and a VZ200 emulator, not easy i know. I will release a video of it soon)

The source code is on github

I personnaly can't wait to hear your death threats
  • Calculators owned: None (used to own an Nspire and TI-89)

aetios

I AM NOW ADDICTED AND SOLD MY WHOLE BELONGINGS AND SOUL TO SATAN BECAUSE I CAN NOT BEAT YOUR CRAPPY GAME. YOU RUINED MY LIFE. BEELZEBUB TOLD ME WHERE YOU LIVE AND I AM COMING TO YOU TO EAT YOUR WARM FLESH WHILE YOU ARE CRYING YOUR EYES OUT. SUCH WILL BE YOUR TERRIBLE FATE.
ceci n'est pas une signature

gameblabla

Quote from: aeTIos on April 25, 2016, 01:33:28 AM
I AM NOW ADDICTED AND SOLD MY WHOLE BELONGINGS AND SOUL TO SATAN BECAUSE I CAN NOT BEAT YOUR CRAPPY GAME. YOU RUINED MY LIFE. BEELZEBUB TOLD ME WHERE YOU LIVE AND I AM COMING TO YOU TO EAT YOUR WARM FLESH WHILE YOU ARE CRYING YOUR EYES OUT. SUCH WILL BE YOUR TERRIBLE FATE.
COME TO MY HOUSE AND I'LL MAKE YOUR FACE THE GREATEST IN AMERICA.
OR ELSE YOU WILL DIEIAIAIAIAIAIA
  • Calculators owned: None (used to own an Nspire and TI-89)

Dream of Omnimaga

Quote from: aeTIos on April 25, 2016, 01:33:28 AM
I AM NOW ADDICTED AND SOLD MY WHOLE BELONGINGS AND SOUL TO SATAN BECAUSE I CAN NOT BEAT YOUR CRAPPY GAME. YOU RUINED MY LIFE. BEELZEBUB TOLD ME WHERE YOU LIVE AND I AM COMING TO YOU TO EAT YOUR WARM FLESH WHILE YOU ARE CRYING YOUR EYES OUT. SUCH WILL BE YOUR TERRIBLE FATE.
At first when I read this post I thought that CalcMax from Cemetech had just signed up on CodeWalrus, then I looked left at the poster name. :P


Anyway I heard about that computer before, but I never paid attention to the VTech scene for whatever reasons (I guess it's because I keep confusing VTech with VĂ©ritech). If that computer was much more popular, then I'm 100% sure many TI programmers would use it since it has the same resolution as the TI-85 and 86. In fact, even the Casio Graph series have the same res. :P
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

gameblabla

  • Calculators owned: None (used to own an Nspire and TI-89)

Dudeman313

  • Calculators owned: TI-84 PCE
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Android O Phone
Does this qualify as a signature? 
The answer is "Sure."


Dream of Omnimaga

For some reasons I lol'ed at the flickering, because this makes the game look like TI-BASIC games but faster. :P

This looks cool, though. What surprises me is the different resolution in text view when launching programs.
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

utz

Wow, nice! I'm not a fan of Flappy Bird, but it's great to see someone do something on the Laser 200. Lovely piece of junk, I've got a user manual laying around somewhere but unfortunately not the computer itself.
  • Calculators owned: TI-82, TI-83, TI-83+, TI-85, TI-86, TI-92+, Sharp PC-1403

Dream of Omnimaga

On a side note, how much RAM and disk space does this have?
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

gameblabla

QuoteWow, nice! I'm not a fan of Flappy Bird, but it's great to see someone do something on the Laser 200. Lovely piece of junk, I've got a user manual laying around somewhere but unfortunately not the computer itself.
Funny, never thought some people here woud even hear about it.
You used to own it or you never owned it ?

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on April 25, 2016, 06:48:22 PM
On a side note, how much RAM and disk space does this have?
A non-expanded Vtech Laser 128 has 8Kb of RAM : 2kb of that RAM is used as VRAM.
It has no hard drive, the only thing that comes close to this is the floppy drive and the cassette recorder.
  • Calculators owned: None (used to own an Nspire and TI-89)

Dream of Omnimaga

@gameblabla Utz is a big fan of vintage computers and hardware, so I'm not surprised he knows about it ;)

Also 8 KB of RAM isn't too bad I guess but for the time it seems kinda low.
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

utz

Yep, that's right ;) Never owned a Vtech Laser though. I do have a few old Vtech educational computers (Genius Leader series), but sadly those are quite useless for programming experiments because the OS is completely locked down, as in nobody has been able to break out of the BASIC and execute some machine code yet.
  • Calculators owned: TI-82, TI-83, TI-83+, TI-85, TI-86, TI-92+, Sharp PC-1403

Dream of Omnimaga

How fast and versatile is the BASIC language, though? Is it worse than TI-BASIC?
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

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