3 ms·
I remember one action game on the Apple II that played music during gameplay: Microwave. But the sound was made on purpose to sound kind of choppy (a bit like v
by apricot 2y ago
I remember one action game on the Apple II that played music during gameplay: Microwave. But the sound was made on purpose to sound kind of choppy (a bit like voice fry), so that there was some leeway to fit graphics updates and calculations. I never disassembled it but I can imagine the pain it must have been to keep the game loop close to constant time.
- eej71 2y agoThe Bilestoad would have been utterly incredible if it had embraced the mockingboard. Then again, the slightly labored and off-key fur elise coming out of that sad little speaker while you hacked away at your enemy had a creepy charm.
- sowbug 2y agoBy Jay Zimmerman and Jim Nitchals. The choppiness was key: it played the note uninterrupted (literally!) for just long enough to let the listener ascertain the pitch, but not so long that it interfered with the rest of the game loop. I never disassembled it, either, but my teenage ears sensed that the sound was still playing, albeit at a near-inaudible frequency, even during musical pauses. I assumed the game would set a memory location somewhere to indicate the note to play, and the sound routine's job was simply to play that note (probably attempting to keep a constant time as the frequency varies). That kept the frame rate consistent even if there wasn't sound to play.
- EvanAnderson 2y agoSpare Change[0] is another example of a game with music during gameplay. The music was definitely "choppy"[1] but well-executed. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spare_Change_(video_game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spare_Change_(video_game) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBuJK4geIiw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBuJK4geIiw