For now, the far side bounces the puck (makes it easier to test what exists)
The XY transformation was easier than I thought! (once I found the correct perspective factors to generate three tables using : github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…)
#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2
Shufflepuck first commit · colinleroy/a2tools@59444b6
Stuff I write for my Apple //c. Contribute to colinleroy/a2tools development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
Each sprite now saves its own background, and I'm doing clears and draws in order so that sprites can overlap. The clear/draw order changes depending on the puck's Y position. It makes the drawing much more satisfying. At the expense of more cycles, but that should fit.
Commit: github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…
Rework draw functions for better results · colinleroy/a2tools@e6e7e8f
and less RAM usage. Go back to each sprite saving its background itself, get rid of the 8kB copy of the background, and order sprite clear/draw so that they don't keep parts of each other when ...GitHub
Commited my first opponent! (github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…)
They're quite a good defender and not much of an attacker.
I have hopes of being able to implement multiple opponents' "personalities" by tweaking a few variables.
#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2
I added sound. It required adding a feature to the sound player to be able to arbitrarily slow the samples playback speed.
I'm not super happy with the samples, but they must be REAL short in order to avoid visibly hanging the game.
#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2
The crash effect is now complete, after laboriously pulling a recursive tree drawing in assembly. Commit: github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…
Yes, I have to reload the background, this is not ideal. But I can't resolve myself to add a buffer to hold a full copy of the background, even compressed. I'll add that last if room allows.
#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev
Add window crash effect · colinleroy/a2tools@c0f4c89
Stuff I write for my Apple //c. Contribute to colinleroy/a2tools development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
Another insomnia put to good use this morning with the scoreboard ! (Commit: github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…)
And with that, I played my first full #Shufflepuck game after lunch.
#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev
Implement score · colinleroy/a2tools@f87b515
Stuff I write for my Apple //c. Contribute to colinleroy/a2tools development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
Well hello, Lexan!
As I very much suck at pixel art, I searched for, and found, *perfect* sprites for my Shufflepuck : the ones made by Awot83 at github.com/Awot83/Gamebuino-Sh…
They're very well made *and* GPL3+!
I've contacted the author so I can credit them, and in the meantime, I overcame a little challenge of the opponent's sprite being bigger than 256 bytes, commited that (github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…) and am now playing against an embodied opponent!
#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2
GitHub - Awot83/Gamebuino-Shufflepuck_cafe: Interactive animated pixelart tribute to the old Macintosh game Shufflepuck café.
Interactive animated pixelart tribute to the old Macintosh game Shufflepuck café. - Awot83/Gamebuino-Shufflepuck_cafeGitHub
Guess people will have to look at my mediocre pixel art then!
Joining Lexan tonight are Skip and Visine. I drew them myself, and I'm... OK with the result!
Of course the three of them all have their own style of play. I try to mimic the original game, but it is approximative, as I'm quite sure the original game had either 16 bit ints or floats.
#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2 #PixelArt
Technical commit: I've changed the puck's X,Y coordinates from 8-bit integers in the range of 0-255, to 16-bit in the range 0-511. Along with one less division in the delta X/Y, this allows for twice the precision of movement.
In simple terms, it allows for the equivalent of having deltas 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 delta X/Y instead of only 0-1-2-3
Commit: github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…
#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev
Add a more precise Y coord (0-512) · colinleroy/a2tools@58a70c0
That will allow more precision on puck speed, as DY=1 was too fast in comparison to the original gameGitHub
"Gotcha!"
I added the required plumbing for the opponent to make a sound when they serve, lose a point, or win a point.
I probably won't be able to have any opponent with the three sounds, as they take a lot of room. But I *think* none of them have all three, so it should be good.
Commit: github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…
#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev
Add lose/win/serve sounds · colinleroy/a2tools@b5880c2
Stuff I write for my Apple //c. Contribute to colinleroy/a2tools development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
Vinnie's done ! Sprite by @JauneBaguette (thanks!), win/lose animation, lose sound, and algorithm. (github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…)
My #Shufflepuck now has its first four opponents, I've reworked the linking so that I have 11kB available per opponent, which should give me room for about 1 second of audio total per opponent. (github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…)
Maybe I'll start implementing the bar so I can choose the opponent, before continuing coding them - their algorithms are HARD in assembly.
WIP - Add Vinnie · colinleroy/a2tools@637f34a
Stuff I write for my Apple //c. Contribute to colinleroy/a2tools development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
280x192 pixels is both not a lot of pixels when you want to add details and half shadowing, and also a lot of pixels when you redo all of them manually.
Eneg, Biff, Bejin and DC3 courtesy of @JauneBaguette !
#RetroComputing #GameDev #PixelArt #Apple2
I'm happy with the Cafe. Here's how it will feel starting #shufflepuck on the #Apple2.
Quickly added Eneg's basis (he's unbeatable for now), I think the commit shows how easy this is: Three sprites, three sounds, a single file with the opponent's logic (github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…)
Sprite by @JauneBaguette again!
#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2 #PixelArt
Add Eneg (WIP, unbeatable for now) · colinleroy/a2tools@bfdd118
Stuff I write for my Apple //c. Contribute to colinleroy/a2tools development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
Fell out of bed today and tried something I wanted to. I can draw the pushers using EOR (inverting the background pixels) instead of masking and saving background. This is less aesthetic, but
- it's faster enough that I can do 60 fps instead of 30
- it spares 3kB of RAM.
I'm not 100% sure yet but I think I'll go this route: Shufflepuck us a dynamic game, the smoother the better... What do you think ?
#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2
#RetroComputing #GameDev #apple2
- 30fps, Very clean pusher draw (33%, 8 votes)
- 60fps, -3kB RAM usage (66%, 16 votes)
I'm reverse-engineering Nerual. He (they?) have a very cool algorithm. First of all they 100% mimic your hits - speed and angle. They'll send you the puck back how it arrived. They'll serve exactly how you served first. And finally, they seem to have a "magic band" where they guess (or look into the matrix) the puck's arrival point. The only way to avoid this magic positioning is to send a huge hit, so fast the puck's Y coordinate goes from "too far" to "too close"... And hope their standard movement speed is too slow to reach it - otherwise, you're getting the same rocket right back at you.
Demo in the screencast of the Mac version:
Nerual is done! he was fun but hard to write. The fact he "cheats" exposed a few bugs in the engine. Nevertheless, I'm rather happy with how he performs.
I added an 8px random on his "magic line", otherwise serving at max delta-Y was always succeeding or always failing, which was frustrating.
#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev
Oooooh, FUUUUCK. I had to test Biff on my Apple IIgs, which is a US Apple IIgs at 60Hz, to *finally* think of the fact that the puck and opponents are faster at 60Hz than at 50.
Either I patched EVERY delta to account for the 20% difference (and it fucked up A LOT of cases where rounding errors made an opponent too easy or too hard), or ....
I went the easy way, and I drop 1 frame out of 6 at 60Hz.
Commit: github.com/colinleroy/a2tools/…
#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev
Drop 1 frame out of 6 at 60Hz · colinleroy/a2tools@1aa3aca
Otherwise the game would be too fast for US peopleGitHub
Biff is done. It's basically Eneg but harder. I've started on DC3, the robot bartender, and will finish tomorrow because he's supposed to be configurable and making text UIs in assembly is tedious!
I have searched for a way to have a splash screen instead of LOADING... text, but didn't find one yet. So instead I made a few cute animations !
#RetroComputing #GameDev #PixelArt #Apple2
Working on my data loader so I can add a splash screen. Shit's gonna be cleaner the second time!
#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev
Luckily I added the tournament logic and screens already. I have to show it to you but I'd like to win a tournament first and I'm having hard time with Nerual.
#RetroComputing #GameDev
I don't have enough space to add a score-updating robot hand... coming from the left of the screen.
But do I have enough to add it if it comes from the top (which would make a smaller sprite) ?
Answer in a few hours but I have hopes.
The Hand is in!!
And I have a full 1024 bytes left in the CODE segment.
Big commit, I had to move lots of init code to the ONCE segment, but this had to be done at some point, and I *think* I have everything I want in ??
This week-end is probably be beta-release week-end!
#RetroComputing #Apple2 #GameDev
The first beta version of Shufflepuck Cafe for the Apple II is... published!
colino.net/wordpress/en/archiv…
#RetroComputing #GameDev #Apple2 #AppleII #RetroGaming
First beta release of Shufflepuck for Apple II
Dear lovers of old computers, it is with great pleasure that I feel I can push the first beta version of my Apple II port of the famous Shufflepuck Cafe.www.colino.net
I urge you to watch Steve Herman (re Voice of America) on 60 Minutes this Sunday. Steve and I are mutual followers here on Mastodon. He is one of the most important voices here, and in many other venues. He has been a VOA reporter for many, many years, and was one of the first attacked by the Trump administration.
open.substack.com/pub/newsguy/…
Why I decided to go on 60 Minutes
A compulsion to speak out on behalf of all our 1,350 colleagues of the Voice of America who have all been silencedSteve Herman (The Newsguy -- Steve Herman)
One of the massive pumps that kept the Samson Pit in #SanktAndreasberg - once the deepest mine in the world - free of water.
Since learning more about historical #mining , I have come to the conclusion that the typical "old mine" dungeon complex in #DnD and other #ttrpg don't give enough thought on how to keep the water out.
EXCLUSIVE: After Kennedy Center cancels LGBTQ+ musical, Guster brings cast on stage in protest
Finn's run at the storied DC venue was axed after Trump took over.The Handbasket
Everything you say to an Alexa speaker will be sent to Amazon – starting today
Amazon has disabled some Alexa privacy features amid a push to introduce AI capabilities and make more money.The Conversation
Tesla Has the Highest Fatal Accident Rate of All Auto Brands, Study Finds
Tesla vehicles suffer fatal accidents at a rate that's twice the industry average
roadandtrack.com/news/a6291913…
you left out the pertinent and funny part. It’s not the vehicles that are unsafe, but the drivers
> So, why are Teslas — and many other ostensibly safe cars on the list — involved in so many fatal crashes? “The models on this list likely reflect a combination of driver behavior and driving conditions, leading to increased crashes and fatalities,”
Vivid details in this plane crash story by Richard Chin at the Strib.
“We got out alive,” said Kenneth Tobacman, the owner of the destroyed house. “We lost a cat. We saved our dog.”
At the time of the crash, Tobacman said, his wife was walking their dog and he was alone in the house eating lunch.
“There was a very loud boom. A piece of the ceiling fell through,” he said. “I had no idea what the hell was going on. The lights went out.”
Within moments, flames were everywhere. He said he grabbed his phone, but with smoke filling the house, he didn’t have time to put on shoes. He fled in his stocking feet.
He and his wife were numb, he said, with their sole remaining possessions the clothes they’re wearing and a dog leash.
startribune.com/small-plane-cr…
Small plane crashes in Brooklyn Park, setting house aflame
No one was injured on the ground but there were no survivors on the plane, which was flying from Des Moines to Blaine.Richard Chin
➡️ Download 3D print model: cults3d.com/:2860533
💡 Designed by qfrederick
Helical High-Capacity AAA Battery Magazine
Is it space-efficient? No. Has it been done before? Not that I know of. I designed a helical battery magazine for AAA batteries, but with the batteries slanted instead of upright.Cults 3D
«This is where we, the people, are apparently failing AI. Because in addition to being humans with jobs and social lives and laundry to fold and art to make and kids to raise, we should also learn how to tiptoe around the limitations of large language models that may or may not return accurate information to us.»
These contain 12 billion CFUs. That's a whole lot of Canadian Bacon Units.
amazon.com/dp/B08Y66H6B7?ref=t…
Amazon.com: Culturelle Pro Strength Daily Probiotics For Digestive Health (2 Month Supply) with Prebiotics for Women & Men, Supports Occasional Diarrhea, Gas & Bloating, Gluten & Soy Free, 60 Count : Health & Household
Buy Culturelle Pro Strength Daily Probiotics For Digestive Health (2 Month Supply) with Prebiotics for Women & Men, Supports Occasional Diarrhea, Gas & Bloating, Gluten & Soy Free, 60 Count on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orderswww.amazon.com
curiously enough, "bacon" does start with F in Welsh (sometimes):
- bacwn (bacon)
- mae gen i facwn (I have bacon)
Today I'm reflecting on my goals for the year with my Skill Seeker Book. By coloring in the boxes of everything I've already done in these skill trees, I can track my skill levels.
It's made me realise that my electronics skill area is a bit stagnant because I keep using Arduino for everything, and I want to diversify my projects away from 3D printing and into more laser cutting and CNC projects.
Check out my skill tree templates for free on my Github, or get your own copy of Skill Seeker.
"a digital Platform" just what elders need
Yes, Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, has joined the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative led by Elon Musk under President Donald Trump's administration. Gebbia's primary focus within DOGE is to modernize the federal retirement process, aiming to transition from a slow, paper-based system to a more efficient, digital platform. He envisions creating an "Apple Store-like experience" for government services, emphasizing user-friendly and streamlined interactions.
Gebbia announced his involvement via social media, stating his enthusiasm to apply his "designer brain and start-up spirit" to governmental challenges. His appointment has elicited mixed reactions, including discussions within the Airbnb community and considerations about his ongoing role and income from Airbnb as a board member.
Let's see how aviation is doing today 😬
Never mind.
kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/pl…
Residents of house hit by plane in Brooklyn Park safe; no survivors on plane, authorities say - KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News
Fire crews and emergency responders are at the scene of a plane crash at a Brooklyn Park home on Saturday afternoon.Ryan Pattee (KSTP-TV LLC)
I also looked at the flightaware tracking log and he had just started his decent onto the approach to runway 09 (heading west to east) when the log stopped. The last reported speed was 77 kts which I think is on the slower side for that point in the approach (I don't know details on flying this plane, I just googled for 30 seconds.) The audio sounds the same as you'd hear at an airshow when pilot is doing a spin. I don't know anything but just from the audio I'd say he somehow (I don't know the reasons) got too slow and spun it in. At that point he was like 1600' above the ground and the video shows him coming straight down vertically with the audio sounding like a corkscrew. I didn't look into weather, but I know there was precip moving in south to north, so could he have picked up some icing, that could have been a factor? It was at the end of flying (concentrating hard) for 5 hours, so could fatigue have been a factor at the end of the flight?
Ring Camera Captures Moment Plane Crashed Into Home In Minneapolis, Minnesota
The moment a plane crashed into a Minneapolis, Minnesota, home is captured on a Ring camera.Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium j...YouTube
Edit: people on redit are saying strong likelihood of icing conditions in the area at the time ... which wouldn't necessarily be a cause, and the plane/pilot should have been able to deal with it I'm sure, but could be a contributing factor ... can make your plane heavier, can change the center of gravity, can make the flying surfaces behave less like flying surfaces.
(I used to live off the approach from the other direction to the Anoka Co. airport so I'm a bit familiar with it.)
DIY Split Keyboard Made with a Saw
hackaday.com/2025/03/29/diy-sp…
DIY Split Keyboard Made With A Saw
Split keyboards are becoming more popular, but because they’re still relatively niche, they can be rather expensive if you want to buy one. So why not make your own? Sure, you could assemble …Hackaday
70% of All Comcast Internet Usage is Now Streaming & Gaming Raising Concerns About Data Caps | Cord Cutters News
Entertainment now accounts for over 70 percent of Xfinity’s Internet traffic, driven by a surge in live sports streaming, gaming downloads, and an ever-growing array of applications, according to new data from Comcast’s broadband service, according t…Luke Bouma (Cord Cutters News)
30 March 1900 | A German Jew, Siegmund Vogel, was born in Hamburg. An upholsterer.
In #Auschwitz from 21 April 1942.
No. 31932
He perished in the camp on 19 July 1942.
FDA vaccine official ousted
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/29/nx-s1-5344462/fda-vaccine-official-ousted?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into All Things Considered @all-things-considered-npr
The surprise drop in drug overdose deaths in the U.S.
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/29/nx-s1-5333671/the-surprise-drop-in-drug-overdose-deaths-in-the-u-s?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into All Things Considered @all-things-considered-npr
Scholars say Trump administration is trying to erase America's non-white history
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/29/nx-s1-5333846/scholars-say-trump-administration-is-trying-to-erase-americas-non-white-history?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into All Things Considered @all-things-considered-npr
We know Musk is full of it. This entire article proves it.
“On a 2023 earnings call, #Musk boasted that #Tesla had bagged “over 1 million” #Cybertruck reservations and that “demand is off the charts.”
So why has the company still sold less than 50,000 trucks since customer deliveries began 14 months ago?” 1/… wired.com/story/where-did-the-…
🧼
AI promises to free up time.
But if what it spares us from is learning from our friends, writing, painting and exploring the world
-- then what, actually, are we meant to do with that time?
If I reduce my existence to a series of ChatGPT prompts, the act of my living is only shorter, not better.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
AI promises to free up time. But what if it spares us from learning, writing, painting and exploring the world?
If I reduced my existence to a series of ChatGPT prompts, the act of my living is only shorter – not betterJoseph Earp (The Guardian)
Millions of bees have died this year and researchers aren’t sure why. It's "the worst bee loss in recorded history," one beekeeper says.
cbsnews.com/news/bee-deaths-fo…
#press
Millions of bees have died this year. It's "the worst bee loss in recorded history," one beekeeper says
Bees play a key role in the U.S. food supply, and the mass deaths could jeopardize that.Kerry Breen (CBS News)
MOVED to: @Linux@mastodon.au likes this.
reshared this
One lesson I've learned from history, is that few reputations survive being on the opposite side to the Quakers
quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/…
Quakers condemn police raid on Westminster Meeting House
Police broke into a Quaker Meeting House last night (27 March) and arrested six young people holding a meeting over concerns for the climate and Gaza.Quakers
Sensitive content
'Turn the tables on them': Dems troll GOP lawmaker after filling his 'void' at town hall - Raw Story
rawstory.com/frost-murphy-trol…
'Turn the tables on them': Dems troll GOP lawmaker after filling his 'void' at town hall
Two Democratic lawmakers said on Saturday that they showed up to speak to a group of constituents belonging to a Republican counterpart.David McAfee (Raw Story)
Glyn Moody reshared this.
Paged Out! #6 is out!
pagedout.institute/
Totally free, 80 pages, best issue so far!
'nuff said, enjoy!
(please boot to help spread out the news!)
Seattle protested at all of the Tesla locations in town today. Just saw this picture of Congress woman Pramila Jayapal making an appearance at the U Village Tesla protests.
#Tesla #TeslaTakedown #PramilaJayapal #Seattle #UVillage #UDistrict #Nazicar #Swasticar
Pretty crazy to see the breadth of Tesla protests in the Seattle area yesterday.
A few hundred protesters showed up at each location including three locations in Seattle alone.
Reportedly Bellevue had 300+ in attendance which is kinda amazing because I didn't realize there were 300 ppl on the east side who don't own a Tesla.
king5.com/article/news/local/h…
#teslatakedown #Seattle #Bellevue #Sodo #Lynnwood #SLU #UVillage #Fife
Hundreds protest outside Seattle-area Tesla dealerships as part of worldwide movement
At least six demonstrations were held in greater Seattle on Saturday, described as a global day of action under the growing "Tesla Takedown" effort.Jim Nelson (KING)
#Botswana #travel #BUCKETLIST backpackandsnorkel.com/Botswan…
A day trip to the Okavango Delta in Botswana - Botswana Purple Guide
We tell you why a day trip to the Okavango Delta in Botswana should be on your bucket list so that you can make memorable moments on a relaxing vacation in Botswana.backpackandsnorkel.com
Alan Langford 🇨🇦🧤🧊摏
in reply to Ned Yeung • • •What these fools don't seem to understand is that these laws are there to give structure to labour relations, including strikes.
Now they can return to the violent strikes of the 1920s. Workers aren't going to sit back and take this. What the US needs is a good hard general strike to bring these idiots to their senses.
Ned Yeung
in reply to Alan Langford 🇨🇦🧤🧊摏 • • •@alan
Exactly. Outlawing strikes, just like outlawing protests, does not stop them. It just makes them illegal.