Perhaps Aley only sees the practical applications, and what he feels is useful? If something that already exists, why would anyone want to re-invent it, etc.
I'm quite the opposite, and a big fan of because-it's-there. I'll happily spend hours investigating and implementing minor emulation features, just because I know there's a difference, even if nothing needs them. While I'm happy to stop short of bus signals for my emulation habit, I do see the appeal in going down to that level to learn more about how things work. An incredibly accurate emulation is just a handy byproduct of the learning process :) The hardware solutions are cool in their own right, but for maximum tinkerability I'll always prefer the software solutions. Si On 13/04/2012 21:36, Thomas Harte wrote: > For the purposes of debate, I think the counterargument would be that > a software approach is inherently more portable and so more > maintainable and more suited to a wide audience. Furthermore, there's > no automatic advantage to doing things in hardware, given that these > systems are fully deterministic and well understood, other than that > it can be easier to get right, but that's primarily because the > emulation mindset doesn't normally consider absolute accuracy to be a > paramount concern. That's why you very often see people write > emulators where interrupt timing is rounded to the nearest whole > instruction, palette changes are accurate only to the nearest whole > scan line, etc. Authors often prefer to make a subjective judgment > about what's 'accurate enough' so that they can prioritise ease of > development and/or performance. > > Summary then: emulation carries no inherent accuracy penalty. > > Alternatively, as a person who prefers functionality, surely you can > see the benefit in emulation, which is all functionality and no form? > The hardware becomes a completely orthogonal issue. > > On 13 April 2012 11:32, Aleš Keprt <[email protected]> wrote: >> I don't share your thoughts. There already exist a lot of Spectrum clones >> based on real ULAs and real Z80 and imo these are much better alternatives >> than what you described. You can already buy anything you can imagine. So >> many alternatives already exist and were created by huge fan base in the >> past, that I can hardly imagine that somebody can really come today driven >> by just marketing or business visions and create something significantly >> better or more compatible or more useful. >> >> For example: I personally prefer functionality, not the look of that crappy >> original keyboard. So I would prefer a PC keyboard, CF memory card instead >> of tapes or disks, and real ULA (i.e. 100% accurate ULA clone), standard 128 >> KB RAM, and real Z80 CPU. >> For other people who prefer or require the original ZX Spectrum case, they >> can buy a new "internals" - this was already possible to buy 10 or more >> years ago. (I personally has a working original ZX Spectrum+ and working >> original Sam Coupe. :-)) >> >> I think you are too focused on emulators - why would anybody put a today's >> computer with an emulator inside an old ZXS box? It's just funny, not >> worthy. I prefer either emulator on a proper PC computer, or original 8bit >> Zilog Z80 in an original box. :-)) >> >> Aley >> >> -----Původní zpráva----- From: [email protected] >> Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 12:18 PM >> >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: ZX Spectrum 'relaunch' >> >> Off on a bit of a non-SAM tangent (but probably somewhat related for >> most of us) I came across this the other day: >> >> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8304237/ZX-Spectrum-relaunch-gaming-goes-back-to-the-future.html >> >> Lots of you have probably already heard this, but I don't remember it >> being mentioned, so thought I would! ;-) >> >> Supposedly a company were going to relaunch the zx spectrum this year >> (by the looks of it, as a 48k speccy keyboard that links up to an >> iPhone or similar to run an emulator), to coincide with the 30th >> anniversary, but it doesn't look like it's going to materialise any >> time soon. I know something similar is/was being planned for the C64? >> >> However, it got me thinking... Obviously in this day and age, many of >> use want to enjoy the retro gaming experience, but we haven't exactly >> got the space to keep things set up. I intend to have my SAM set up >> permanently at some point, but I very much doubt I'd ever get the >> space to dedicate to other systems, so clearly something that >> pleasantly replicates the original experience quickly and easily with >> modern advantages would be a pleasing alternative. >> >> So I figured, what would make an easy to use 'spectrum' emulator for >> playing all the old games? You'd want HDMI output for ease with modern >> televisions, SD card storage, and have it all fit into one of our old >> rubber keyed friends. How do you do this on a budget at that size? The >> first thing that popped into my head, is the Raspberry Pi (if it ever >> gets to selling!!). Small enough to probably fit in a speccy case, >> with HDMI out and card reader. Surely this could make for a fairly >> cheap and effective 48k Spectrum emulation experience? >> >> I think the Speccy is particularly suited, because let's face it, for >> most of us it was about the games more than anything. I don't think >> anything similar would work for the SAM, because what makes that such >> a unique experience (for me, anyway) is the original and additional >> hardware in addition to the software. But for a speccy I could see it >> being great fun, to play the games with ease on a keyboard that >> replicates the old experience but with updated advantages. (I think a >> SAM equivalent would have to be more along the lines of Colin's >> 'SAM-in-a-can' projects, but rather than old SAM parts, something that >> accurately replicates the original hardware with modern additions) >> >> Not being much of a tech person I'm not sure about the feasibility, >> but it seems like a wasted opportunity in todays market where >> retro-gaming has had somewhat of a resurgence? >> >> Warren >> >> >> ----------------------------------------- >> Mgr. Aleš Keprt, Ph.D. >> private: [email protected], www.keprt.cz >> office: Moravian College / Moravská vysoká škola Olomouc, [email protected]
