4 ms·

I recently witnessed a 'new Elite' being built for a 30 year old computer, and I was very pleasantly surprised to play the game when it was done: http://1337.d

by ibisum 12y ago

I recently witnessed a 'new Elite' being built for a 30 year old computer, and I was very pleasantly surprised to play the game when it was done: http://1337.defence-force.org/ http://1337.defence-force.org/ The Oric-1/Atmos machines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oric http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oric) never got the respect they deserved at the time in the 80's .. but they sure get some great stuff made for them these days! In case there's anyone out there on HN that has an Oric-1/Atmos, and feels the need to vindicate their purchase with a classic, stellar, high quality game that was always only ever available on 'those other machines' .. well then, wire up your machine, and check l337 out immediately - because the Oric can finally play Elite too! (And don't forget about all the other new, 'old' stuff, being made available for the Oric scene at http://oric.org/ http://oric.org/ .. Space 1999, anyone! :)

jacquesm 12y ago
I remember the Oric. The first machine they put out had calculator like keys that put it right in there with the Sinclair stuff, good for a few weeks and then you'd be longing for something a bit more solid. At the same time Oric came out with the Atmos there was competition from Tandy/Radio shack (with the 6809 based Color Computer), the BBC Micro, the earlier Acorn Atom (you can see where the Atmos got its name), the Dragon 32 (a color computer knock-off from the UK) and a whole bunch of low end machines much like the Oric Atmos and of course the wildly popular Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. It's no wonder they didn't make it, as a Spectrum-clone but 6502 based and only a little bit cheaper than the Spectrum it was clearly a 'me-too' product, and with the build quality of the '1' I think they damaged their brand.
- ibisum 12y ago
  I dunno, I have had both since the beginning, and I feel on the basis of experience during that era that the Oric-1 just felt tons, tons better. (Still have my Oric-1, long since got rid of the Speccie kit..) Maybe it doesn't really look like it in pictures, but its quite more usable as a keyboard than most other bits of gear. Much, much better than the ZX Spectrum, anyway .. but I learned to touch type on my Oric, so maybe I'm biased. Also, it can be argued that the Oric was a better machine than the Spectrum - although the Spectrum had far better market traction. This was a lesson I learned during that era but applied every decade since: its not about the power, its about the users. It doesn't matter if the machine is 'better' on spec; if the market allows for lesser technology, so be it for us developers to follow along. But .. what is it about the 6502 that made it 'worse' than the Z80? A lot of the other machines in your list used similar CPU's .. even the C64 had a 6502-derived processor (6510) ..
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    There is absolutely nothing that made the 6502 worse than the Z80, I far preferred programming 6502 asm above Z80 asm. Don't confuse the machine with the CPU. Being late to the party and not offering anything that made it stand out at a similar price point was enough to make it a non-starter. I don't fault them for trying though, the '8 bit home computer' was an area that everybody was trying to get into back then.
    - pkroll 12y ago
      Eh, the Z80 had a memory move command that was fast and convenient, and successors (Z80K!) that went to 32 bit. Now, the 6809, that was a sweet 8-bit. :)
      - jacquesm 12y ago
        And OS/9 a sweet bit of code...
- vidarh 12y ago
  The Oric was derisively referred to as the "doorstop" amongst many Commodore users...
  - pkroll 12y ago
    As a C-64 owner that went through several, and then a few power supplies, the same could be said about Commodores.
    - jacquesm 12y ago
      I did a stint of hardware repairs for an Amsterdam based computer retailer (ugly story, owner committed suicide). I was the guy in the 'back room' trying to piece together working machines from DOA's and within warranty failures. The failure rate of Commodores was incredible. I got pretty good at the strip down, test, combine 6 bad machines to make 5 working ones routine, it wasn't rare to sell 50 machines on a Saturday and to get back a few of those by the time the week was out.

by ibisum 12y ago

jacquesm 12y ago

I remember the Oric. The first machine they put out had calculator like keys that put it right in there with the Sinclair stuff, good for a few weeks and then you'd be longing for something a bit more solid. At the same time Oric came out with the Atmos there was competition from Tandy/Radio shack (with the 6809 based Color Computer), the BBC Micro, the earlier Acorn Atom (you can see where the Atmos got its name), the Dragon 32 (a color computer knock-off from the UK) and a whole bunch of low end machines much like the Oric Atmos and of course the wildly popular Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. It's no wonder they didn't make it, as a Spectrum-clone but 6502 based and only a little bit cheaper than the Spectrum it was clearly a 'me-too' product, and with the build quality of the '1' I think they damaged their brand.

ibisum 12y ago
I dunno, I have had both since the beginning, and I feel on the basis of experience during that era that the Oric-1 just felt tons, tons better. (Still have my Oric-1, long since got rid of the Speccie kit..) Maybe it doesn't really look like it in pictures, but its quite more usable as a keyboard than most other bits of gear. Much, much better than the ZX Spectrum, anyway .. but I learned to touch type on my Oric, so maybe I'm biased. Also, it can be argued that the Oric was a better machine than the Spectrum - although the Spectrum had far better market traction. This was a lesson I learned during that era but applied every decade since: its not about the power, its about the users. It doesn't matter if the machine is 'better' on spec; if the market allows for lesser technology, so be it for us developers to follow along. But .. what is it about the 6502 that made it 'worse' than the Z80? A lot of the other machines in your list used similar CPU's .. even the C64 had a 6502-derived processor (6510) ..
- jacquesm 12y ago
  There is absolutely nothing that made the 6502 worse than the Z80, I far preferred programming 6502 asm above Z80 asm. Don't confuse the machine with the CPU. Being late to the party and not offering anything that made it stand out at a similar price point was enough to make it a non-starter. I don't fault them for trying though, the '8 bit home computer' was an area that everybody was trying to get into back then.
  - pkroll 12y ago
    Eh, the Z80 had a memory move command that was fast and convenient, and successors (Z80K!) that went to 32 bit. Now, the 6809, that was a sweet 8-bit. :)
    - jacquesm 12y ago
      And OS/9 a sweet bit of code...
vidarh 12y ago
The Oric was derisively referred to as the "doorstop" amongst many Commodore users...
- pkroll 12y ago
  As a C-64 owner that went through several, and then a few power supplies, the same could be said about Commodores.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    I did a stint of hardware repairs for an Amsterdam based computer retailer (ugly story, owner committed suicide). I was the guy in the 'back room' trying to piece together working machines from DOA's and within warranty failures. The failure rate of Commodores was incredible. I got pretty good at the strip down, test, combine 6 bad machines to make 5 working ones routine, it wasn't rare to sell 50 machines on a Saturday and to get back a few of those by the time the week was out.