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Chris
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My System Idea
 Posted: Sun Sep 26, 1999 2:16 am
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Before I begin, I would like to know whether this would be a good
idea or a bad one. I'm thinking of an idea in order to bring
out more of the curious programmers out there. A system
that allows you to develop games for it. It's going to be
fairly simple and straight forward. It's core will be the
new eZ80 processor, some type of advanced Yamaha chip that
has 8 or more FM sound channels (stereo sound) accompanied
by some sort of device that can play digital sounds (stereo),
a simple graphics chip (mabye 256 colors at the least),
and a simple 4 button gamepad. Basically, it's a simple
game system that comes with a development kit and allows
you to write games for it. The development tools are going
to be simple and straight forward. It's going to come
with point and click software (for the beginners), BASIC
and C/C++ compilers with development libraries for sound,
music, etc (for the casual programmers), and a mapped-out
systems manual and assembler (for the advanced low-level
progs.). I'm thinking that all this technical talk may
scare away some buyers but I think it's would be a great
way to make money as well as get more people involved
with computers.
So, is this good or bad?
Chris :o)
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- Joined: 12 Jul 1999
- Posts: 891
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I'll buy one...
Posted: Sun Sep 26, 1999 5:34 am
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... If it ever gets off the ground, that is.
~unfnknblvbl
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Eric
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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 1999 5:00 pm
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It's a fine idea.
Why don't you start by writing an emulator for it? (I'm doing something similar with my emulator, MesaDX. I'm writing an emulator defining a new machine (AGAMA) compatible with SMS/GG but with added debugging features (i.e., a SMS/GG architecture enhanced with software development features.))
I suggest you find off-the-shelf components matching the specifications you listed, get their data-sheets, and write an emulator. Once you have all the kinks out of the architecture (which you found using the emulator you wrote) you can begin writing development tools for it. If you get this far, you can then begin the actual hardware design.
I'd like to add, that the eZ80 may be more than you need. The different operating modes might make programming it more difficult than necessary. Zilog still offers the traditional Z80 in speeds up to 20MHz. You might want to consider using just the good ol' Z80 instead. Of course, your final decision should heavily consider the CPU's memory addressing capabilities (i.e., is 64K enough?)
Good luck.
Eric Quinn
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Chris
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I understand!
Posted: Mon Sep 27, 1999 8:00 pm
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Think about all the components I'm thinking of, write emulators for them, and then write the software
for my emulator! But, this is a lot of work here! It's good that I can dream up my machine and use
emulation to test it but I was more or so hoping of buying some boards, a soddering iron and some
sodder, ordering some Z80 chips and Yamaha chips, and building a prototype and working with
the prototype. What I was also thinking of was making the system compadible with today's technology.
Don't you get sick and tired of having to purchase system specific hardware? Instead of using
cartridges, you could use the old idea of disk images; similar to famicom. Just a simple 3 and 1/2
IBM floppy drive. Then, you could develop the games under an IBM compad. machine, compile
the games to the floppy disks, and run them later on the machine. I think 1.44 MB would be
more than enough for the small system. But, you're software approach is an excellent idea.
I think I'll probably wind up making more money like that than if I were to do like SEGA or Sony and make
shit like the SEGA Keyboard and the Playstation Mouse.
Chris :o)
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Eric
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Re: I understand!
Posted: Mon Sep 27, 1999 11:09 pm
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Quote > Think about all the components I'm thinking of, write emulators for them, and then write the software
> for my emulator! But, this is a lot of work here!
Well, not to sound pessmistic, but the whole idea is a lot of work.
Quote > It's good that I can dream up my machine and use
> emulation to test it but I was more or so hoping of buying some boards, a soddering iron and some
> sodder, ordering some Z80 chips and Yamaha chips, and building a prototype and working with
> the prototype.
You understand that designing such a system is not as simple as plugging chips onto a common bus and having everything work? All the different chips need to match their timing requirements (it helps if you use chips designed to work in a Z80 system). Take a good look at the Z80 bus timing diagrams in the z80.pdf file in the Technical Information section on this site. When you understand them completely, your 1% of the way to getting a working system. Also, debugging the actual hardware will be very difficult unless you're willing to buy some expensive diagnostic tools (like logic analyzers.)
It can be done, but you're most likely to succeed if you start with software. (Besides if you write the emulator well, you can use it as a development tool, allowing programmers to write and debug their code on the emulator first, then test it on the hardware. It's easier to create software debugging tools than hardware debugging tools.)
Quote > What I was also thinking of was making the system compadible with today's technology.
> Don't you get sick and tired of having to purchase system specific hardware? Instead of using
> cartridges, you could use the old idea of disk images; similar to famicom. Just a simple 3 and 1/2
> IBM floppy drive. Then, you could develop the games under an IBM compad. machine, compile
> the games to the floppy disks, and run them later on the machine. I think 1.44 MB would be
> more than enough for the small system.
Keep the floppy drive in mind when designing the bus.
Quote > But, you're software approach is an excellent idea.
> I think I'll probably wind up making more money like that than if I were to do like SEGA or Sony and make
> shit like the SEGA Keyboard and the Playstation Mouse.
Good luck.
Eric Quinn
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