The FPGA implementation of Compy has started, and it’s been a good way to confirm if the design ideas are feasible or not. One of the goals for Compy is to have a 4:3 display mode suitable for porting games from other systems using the 320×240 resolution as base as well as allowing processors like […]
Advanced Audio for Compy: FM synthesis and more
Porting games to Compy and its dual CPU
POKEY and the future of Audio in Compy
Today this project has reached a milestone: For the first time there is a full program running on Compy, not just a simple test code to check if some feature is working or not, but an application that uses several areas of this computer: the operating system, storage access, screen and keyboard handling, and more […]
Chroni Part 3: Color Palettes
The color palette can unequivocally identify a computer with a certain aesthetics, think of the vivid but few colors found in the ZX spectrum or the characteristic ’70ish colors found in the Atari to the grayish/blueish look of the C64. In short, the color palette gives the computer a certain personality. Choosing a color palette […]
Chroni Part 2: VRAM access
Chroni Video Processor (Part 1)
Finally Compy has a video processor and it is called Chroni! The name comes from “partners in time” and it was suggested by my friend Stuart Law as a variant of the British saying “Cronie, partners in crime”. Why partners in time? Because the CPU must operate in sync with the video processor and it […]
Compy system architecture and video display
Before reading this entry I recommend you to read this introductory post to understand how video display works. I’ve seen several attempts to make new video display hardware for older computers or processors, and many of them have taken the approach to focus on the hardware first. Although I think this is the realistic approach, […]
Early Computer Architecture and Video display generation
CLC-88 Compy – The 8 bit computer
Now it’s time to start making some decisions for the 8-bit computer. One of the hardest decisions is what CPU to use, because any option would leave out half of the potential coders. Most of the coders with asm abilities are skilled in only one of the two most popular processors, the 6502 or the […]