New Hardware Gives TRS-80 Color Computer Commodore 64 Sprites

​ @ACs 8-Bit Zone Part 3 in a series on Sprites, Animation, Graphics, and Programming Video Games on Retro console gaming and home computer systems from the 1980s. Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer. Atari 800XL. Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. Commodore 64. TRS-80 Coco 2

[@rockyhill3]

You fully recreated the VDG and added powerful features. Mind blown! Instead of a step closer we are one leap closer to fully recreating a CoCo 2 with modern components. Excellent work!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Thanks!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Many thanks, viewers, for answering the call to subscribe to my channel!

[@cathyacorn9416]

Wow, this is the most exciting creation for the CoCo I’ve ever seen. It’s actually kinda special to me because I learned to program on the CoCo, my first computer, when i was 12 years old back in 1983, and since went on to develop professionally. So, you could say i’ve got a special place in my heart for this computer. Thanks for your generous videos!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Thank you, thank you! I was a similar age at that time and the Coco left a similar imprint on my future as well!

[@GORF_EMPIRE]

Now that's a nice little project! Do keep us abreast.

[@cocoe68]

Thank you very much for your effort, I like your videos, our support to you is sincere. Rgds

[@TheSulross]

this is my very favorite kind of thing in retro computing hobby - fixing the mistakes of history with very cool hardware mods :-)

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Thanks for watching.

[@GMan958]

Take my moneeeeyyyyy!!! You are awesome.

[@alanbenson1505]

Very interesting. Took me back to my 6502 days!!

[@desmur36]

Incredible work!

[@BollingHolt]

Cool!!! Growing up with a CoCo 2 (and just now getting my first CoCo 3 on Christmas Eve at almost 41 years old), I find this fascinating!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Congrats on the coco 3, and enjoy it.

[@BollingHolt]

@@acs8-bitzone651 Thanks!

[@nowhereman999]

That is just outstanding! I can’t wait to get my hands on one for my coco 1.

[@davidkroeker1821]

😲😲😲 Wow! Now I totally understand why we haven’t seen as many videos from you in the last few months. I’m amazed how quickly you’ve developed this hardware and learned 6809 assembly language. Looking forward to seeing this product available for purchase!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

David, oh yes, I was so busy with understanding the vdg and then adding sprite logic and finally the asm coding that there was just no time left for video making. Thanks for your encouragement.

[@Dirty_Bits]

This is truly excellent work!

[@GlensRetroShow]

Very well done. Interested in this for my Coco's Respectfully Glen Glen's Retro Show

[@brianhginc.2140]

Nice project. Don't forget about the hardware multipliers in the Cyclone FPGA, you can make your 16 bit sprite color 12 bit RGB plus 4 bit Alpha channel for 16 steps of variable translucency on each pixel. Also not that the Altera Cyclone IV 6K devices are identical to the 10K devices, just select the 10K version in Quartus and program away. Also, up to a full 720p HDMI with 48Khz audio can be fully implemented internally using just a 99cent HDMI cable driver amp. You also have room for a full blitter with scaling for both sprites and full screen graphics with a geometry accelerator for ellipses, triangles, boxes, filled and outlined.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

So much potential! Thanks for the comments!

[@featheredserpentartmedia5315]

This is such an interesting project, i enjoyed watching you tinker with code for older machines and being clever about the coding to make the sprites work. Keep up the good work !

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@brianwieseler5938]

This looks very cool and promising keep up the good work thanks

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Thanks, will do!

[@TRONMAGNUM2099]

I have a CoCo2 that I haven't really done much with because I always like my C64's more, but with this upgrade I will revisit it again. Your channel is fascinating and you deserve more subs.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Many thanks. I'm looking forward to later in the year when I can build a batch of CoCoDV boards.

[@8bitsinthebasement]

Just amazing.

[@richardwall5678]

Impressed!

[@tomerikgundersen8574]

Amazing stuff, and the way you explain things is absolutely brilliant. Thank you!

[@lawrencehurst5251]

Awesome! What an improvement to our baby....

[@acs8-bitzone651]

TY!

[@jamesross3939]

Very cool man!

[@EnjoySynthSounds]

I believe Manic Miner was made on this machine, then fed into the Speccys memory. Hence, the UK home computer game market became very popular

[@CoindoorDave]

Incredible!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Thanks!

[@eduaulas]

thank you for share!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Welcome!

[@jstinn123]

Keep up the good work. Amazing.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Thanks, will do!

[@tsxownz]

simply amazing...

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@tsxownz]

@@acs8-bitzone651 let me know how i can contribute to this project. i volunteer to beta test as required. id like to learn VHDL and 6809 assembly and this certainly awesome up there my alley. Remember to share (if possible) the code from the other videos.

[@jamesperreault6800]

I want. The question is 1] Is there a backorder for this hardware? 2] How do I get on the list? 3] Approximate price? Awesome job on the demo. Thanks. This looks really awesome.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

I have a project backer who helped by adding some funds and thereby has encouraged me to build the first lot for sale. There should be 10 available in March. After that, supplies of the FPGA must recover before I can build more. It is pricing out into a range of a little over 100 USD plus shipping. I'll know exactly after all parts are accumulated and assembly and test are complete. My email is available in the "about" section of the channel. Thanks for the inquiry.

[@fabianfarina2208]

Hey!... Merry Christmas!!!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Same to you!

[@LanceHall]

Woah!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

I was in the middle of replying to a viewer's comment, and I somehow clicked something that made it disappear. I'm sorry about that! It was the one saying "this looks like a cleaner solution than Coco VGA" and "what graphics mode are you using these days, is it Pmode 4 or are there other modes now?" Answer: Exactly right, the Pacman clone is in Pmode4 which is the black and white mode with optional artifacting. I have the artifacting on, which would usually be the bright blue and redorange colors, but I have uploaded a new palette into CocoDV just before the game draw the maze. It replaces both artifact colors with a darker blue. That way, there aren't bits and pieces of the maze that come out in different colors, it's all blue.

[@lindnertim]

Excellent work. I don't know how fully fleshed out you intend to make your Pac-Man clone, but... Don't forget how Pac-Mac is suppose to "round the corners" to give the player a speed advantage.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Hey, Tim. I do plan on eventually making it that close to the original. I believe he gains 1 pixel on each corner. Also, one of the ghosts has a 1 pixel speed advantage during certain chase modes. Both effects need to be in there for the best experience. I wonder if the maze being different is a big drawback, but I was never going for identical, just very similar. Many thanks!

[@ChadDoebelin]

holy cow!

[@allenhuffman]

Cool project. If the VDG recreation can run Simon's code, I’ll be quite impressed :)

[@acs8-bitzone651]

I've contacted Simon and we are working to get some demos to test.

[@8antipode9]

Amazing work as usual, AC! Currently I have 2 non-working CoCo2s, and the one closest to working may just have a non-working VDG. I notice your prototype still has the VDG socketed on top...does that mean this is not necessarily a replacement? Anyway, it's good that you reminded us to like and subscribe. I did, I don't want to miss anything you're doing!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Good catch, it is *almost* a replacement. The VDG in the socket is not doing much, but it is creating hsync and vsync. I have hesitated to completely replace it because the 6847T1 version of the vdg has an extra function inside that is basically a 74LS623 buffer. I could add that in a later board revision, but that's why I haven't made it a complete replacement yet.

[@8antipode9]

@@acs8-bitzone651 Good to know! I will be watching what happens with great interest. I'm a database developer by trade and electronics and microprocessors are a hobby. I've never stepped into the realm of FPGAs.

[@MrMpalmer33]

Next step - 3d acceleration 😁

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Lol :)

[@172pilot]

This is amazing.. If this had been available back in the day (yes.. I know.. no FPGA back then!!) you could have charged more than the COCO itself and we'd all have bought one!! I do have one question though - If the VDG is reproduced in the FPGA, why is there an FPGA on your board as well? I assumed before watching the video (only from the picture) that you were only implementing the new functionality in the FPGA and then switching between the regular VDG output and the FPGA output on a pixel by pixel basis, but curious of the detail.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

About 95% of the vdg is reproduced in the FPGA. The vdg is kept in the socket to generate the timing signals for field sync, horizontal sync, and the DA0 address lsb. There is some coordination with the SAM using those signals. I have experimented with generating them with the FPGA and it is probably doable. There is that and then a couple of other situations where a person may want to keep the VDG, 1) if you want to have the RF out to TV as a second video option. 2) When the Coco has the MC6847T1 (as opposed to MC6847P) the T1 has an additional internal 74LS623 buffer. Adding those buffers to the mini-board would complicate the design a little. In the future though I would not rule out the possibility.

[@matte261073]

Where can I found thins CoCoDV board? And where can I found assembly tips, hardware etc…? Thanks! Congrats!! Amazing!!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

I made four proto boards in 2021 (3 worked, 1 has a soldering issue). I spent 2021 developing the logic, learning details about the VDG internal design, and then adapting the logic in the FPGA to match it, adding sprite capability, hardware scrolling, palette improvements, etc. However, during this year Cyclone IV FPGAs have become unavailable temporarily just like many others in this global chip shortage. I am eager for the market to recover and then I will build the next batch. I hope that by mid 2022, Cyclone chips will be available or I will have switched to something easier to find. Thanks for your encouragement, and Stay tuned to my channel!

[@cbmeeks]

This is awesome! More and more retro computers are getting these type of upgrades. I have the F18a for my TI-99/4a and a Sophia2 board for my Atari 800. Can't wait to get one of these for my CoCo's. Question: will this eventually work with the CoCo3? I have all three and could use my CoCo2 if needed but it would be nice to use my CoCo3.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

It will most likely remain focused on the Coco 1 or 2 since it is so tied to the sam-vdg timing. Throw in the gime of the Coco 3, and it would be a very different solution. Thanks for the interest and awesome comments!

[@davidkroeker1821]

@@acs8-bitzone651 It would be great to see the sprite and sound features incorporated into the GIME-X project so software written for this new hardware could be run on any upgraded CoCo model. Building on the GIME-X project would make way more sense than trying to create a separate product, in my opinion.

[@AsifAlli]

Dude you are the saviour of the coco. How does your FPGA board interact with the GIME chip in the Coco3? Will there be new graphics modes on a coco3?

[@acs8-bitzone651]

This board will only work with the Coco 1 and 2 by plugging into the VDG socket. The GIME is very different and it would need a different FPGA board. There is a GIME-X project that is replacing the original GIME and adding some graphics modes. I'm not involved in that, but wouldn't it be cool if it could have sprites and 4-channel sound like this one? Many thanks for your comments and views!

[@NielsenWill]

Just need to keep this up and recreate the entire CoCo hardware and release the system as the CoCo 4 to compete with Commander x16.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

I'll be releasing a series of videos this month on producing an all-new Coco 3. Thanks for watching and the comments!

[@adrianfox9431]

You can still do a pretty decent version of PacMan without any sprites, look at Jelly Monsters on the Vic-20.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

I see, it looks quite good for the time!

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Thanks for watching and comments.

[@MrMpalmer33]

Curious to know how it would work in a PAL system. Is it designed only for NTSC?

[@acs8-bitzone651]

It will but I need to create two versions where the PAL version adjusts for a different number of scan lines. It should be possible though.

[@allenhuffman]

Is the video out still the standard RF output of the CoCo?

[@acs8-bitzone651]

No, I should put a link to the original Coco DV video, but its output is HDMI. The 6847 in the socket is still outputting standard RF. If I were to show the pacman game on the TV, you would not see the sprites. You would see the maze and the dots and score in artifact colors.

[@perfectionbox]

Is there a way for new programs to check if the new hardware is installed, so that they can gracefully decline or fall back?

[@acs8-bitzone651]

Yes, but not a programmatic way (like checking a register value). The program needs to ask the user "can you see the sprite character on screen?" and if not, display a message "this program requires CocoDV".

[@glenndoiron9317]

It's a great hardware hack for an old computer. Destined to die just like every other expansion that requires new software to use, alas.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

No worries, mate. It's just a fun project. Thanks for watching and comments.

[@ejay1118]

Forgive my n00bishness, but is this stuff not necessary for the CoCo 3?

[@acs8-bitzone651]

It could use this too, but it has the GIME-X going for it, which is in the prototype stages I believe.

[@DevineInnovations]

The Amstrad CPC desperately needs hardware sprites.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

I wasn't sure whether it had anything for them or not, but it is a really nice machine either way.

[@CDP1861]

The old MC6847 can make my eyes bleed just by looking at the colors, just as it did 45 years ago. The only other one that is just as awful is good old CGA on old PCs.

[@acs8-bitzone651]

These days, we could tune down the strength of that green, but, you're right, it just wouldn't seem rightly wrong.