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Antic (other)
Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an Large Scale Integration, LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer monitor, computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977–1978 by Joseph C. Decuir, Joe Decuir, Francois Michel, and Steve Smith for the Atari 8-bit computers first released in 1979. The chip was patented by Atari, Inc. in 1981. ANTIC is also used in the 1982 Atari 5200 video game console, which shares most of the same hardware as the 8-bit computers. For every frame of video, ANTIC reads instruction set architecture, instructions to define the playfield, or background graphics, then delivers a data stream to the companion CTIA and GTIA, CTIA or GTIA chip which adds color and overlays sprite (computer graphics), sprites (referred to as "Player/Missile graphics" by Atari). Each ANTIC instruction corresponds to either blank scan lines or one of 14 graphics modes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Direct Memory Access
Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of computer systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system computer memory, memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU). Without DMA, when the CPU is using programmed input/output, it is typically fully occupied for the entire duration of the read or write operation, and is thus unavailable to perform other work. With DMA, the CPU first initiates the transfer, then it does other operations while the transfer is in progress, and it finally receives an interrupt from the DMA controller (DMAC) when the operation is done. This feature is useful at any time that the CPU cannot keep up with the rate of data transfer, or when the CPU needs to perform work while waiting for a relatively slow I/O data transfer. Many hardware systems use DMA, including disk drive controllers, graphics cards, network cards and sound cards. DMA is also used for intra-chip data transfer in some multi-core processors. Computers that h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lode Runner
''Lode Runner'' is a 2D puzzle-platform game, developed by Doug Smith and published by Broderbund in 1983. Its gameplay mechanics are similar to ''Space Panic'' from 1980. The player controls a character who must collect all the gold pieces in a level and get to the end while being chased by a number of enemies. It is one of the first games to include a level editor. After the original game, a number of remakes, spin-offs and sequels were published in the ''Lode Runner'' series for different computers and consoles by different developers and publishers. Tozai Games holds the copyright and trademark rights. Gameplay The player controls a stick figure who must collect all the gold in a level while avoiding guards who try to catch the player. After collecting all the gold, the player must reach the top of the screen to reach the next level. There are 150 levels in the game, which progressively challenge players' problem-solving abilities or reaction times. Levels have a mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wizard And The Princess
''Wizard and the Princess'' (also ''The Wizard and the Princess'', with a leading article) is a graphic adventure game written for the Apple II and published in 1980 by Sierra Entertainment, On-Line Systems. It is the second installment in the ''List of Hi-Res Adventures video games, Hi-Res Adventures'' series after ''Mystery House''. Unlike its predecessor, which featured monochrome drawings, ''Wizard and the Princess'' introduced color graphics. Ports for the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64 were released in 1982 and 1984 respectively. The 1982 self-booting disk version for IBM PC compatibles was renamed ''Adventure in Serenia''. This game was one of the first graphical adventure games and served as a precursor to Sierra On-Line's ''King's Quest'' series. Plot The game (according to the back cover ox/folder/manualof the Atari 8-bit and Apple II original and rerelease versions) takes place in the land of Serenia where King George's daughter Princess Priscilla has been k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troll's Tale
''Troll's Tale'' is an adventure video game developed in by Sunnyside Soft and published by Sierra On-Line for the Apple II in 1983. It uses the same engine for Sunnysoft's earlier game ''Dragon's Keep (video game), Dragon's Keep''. Sierra acquired the game from Sunnysoft, along with ''Dragon's Keep'' and ''Bop-A-Bet'' by April 1983 and appointed Nancy Anderton to manage the publishing of their educational games. Peter Oliphant converted the games for the Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64 and, as a self-booting disk, IBM PC compatibles. Coleco made a deal with Sierra planning to release the game on ColecoVision with a Super Game Module. The game came packaged with a paper map, showing an incomplete layout of the game and stickers to mark the treasure locations. Gameplay A troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II
Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed by Steve Wozniak and was first sold on June 10, 1977. Its success led to it being followed by the Apple II Plus, Apple IIe, Apple IIc, and Apple IIc Plus, with the 1983 IIe being the most popular. The name is trademarked with square brackets as Apple ][, then, beginning with the IIe, as Apple //. The Apple II was a major advancement over its predecessor, the Apple I, in terms of ease of use, features, and expandability. It became one of several recognizable and successful computers throughout the 1980s, although this was mainly limited to the US. It was aggressively marketed through volume discounts and manufacturing arrangements to educational institutions, which made it the first computer in widespread use in American secondary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playfield
A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term ''pitch'' is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in Australian English, Australian, American English, American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field. For most sports the official term is field of play, although this is not regularly used by those outside refereeing/umpiring circles. The field of play generally includes out-of-bounds areas that a player is likely to enter while playing a match, such as the area beyond the touchlines in association football and rugby football, rugby or the sidelines in American football, American and Canadian football, or the "Foul ball, foul territory" in baseball. The surface of a pitch is most commonly composed of Sod, sod (grass), but may also be artificial turf, sand, clay, gravel, concrete, or other materials. A playing field on ice may be referred to as a ''rink'', for example an ice hockey rink, although ''rink'' may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Direct Memory Access
Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of computer systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system computer memory, memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU). Without DMA, when the CPU is using programmed input/output, it is typically fully occupied for the entire duration of the read or write operation, and is thus unavailable to perform other work. With DMA, the CPU first initiates the transfer, then it does other operations while the transfer is in progress, and it finally receives an interrupt from the DMA controller (DMAC) when the operation is done. This feature is useful at any time that the CPU cannot keep up with the rate of data transfer, or when the CPU needs to perform work while waiting for a relatively slow I/O data transfer. Many hardware systems use DMA, including disk drive controllers, graphics cards, network cards and sound cards. DMA is also used for intra-chip data transfer in some multi-core processors. Computers that h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Random-access Memory
Random-access memory (RAM; ) is a form of Computer memory, electronic computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working Data (computing), data and machine code. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read (computer), read or written in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of data inside the memory, in contrast with other direct-access data storage media (such as hard disks and Magnetic tape data storage, magnetic tape), where the time required to read and write data items varies significantly depending on their physical locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm movement. In today's technology, random-access memory takes the form of integrated circuit (IC) chips with MOSFET, MOS (metal–oxide–semiconductor) Memory cell (computing), memory cells. RAM is normally associated with Volatile memory, volatile types of memory where s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Display List
A display list, also called a command list in Direct3D 12 and a command buffer in Vulkan, is a series of graphics commands or instructions that are run when the list is executed. Systems that make use of display list functionality are called retained mode systems, while systems that do not are as opposed to immediate mode systems. In OpenGL, display lists are useful to redraw the same geometry or apply a set of state changes multiple times. This benefit is also used with Direct3D 12's bundle command lists. In Direct3D 12 and Vulkan, display lists are regularly used for per-frame recording and execution. Origins in vector displays The vector monitors or ''calligraphic displays'' of the 1960s and 1970s used electron beam deflection to draw line segments, points, and sometimes curves directly on a CRT screen. Because the image would immediately fade, it needed to be redrawn many times a second ( storage tube CRTs retained the image until blanked, but they were unsuitable for in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sprite (computer Graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional bitmap that is integrated into a larger scene, most often in a 2D video game. Originally, the term ''sprite'' referred to fixed-sized objects composited together, by hardware, with a background. Use of the term has since become more general. Systems with hardware sprites include arcade video games of the 1970s and 1980s; game consoles including as the Atari VCS (1977), ColecoVision (1982), Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom (1983), Sega Genesis, Genesis/Mega Drive (1988); and home computers such as the TI-99/4 (1979), Atari 8-bit computers (1979), Commodore 64 (1982), MSX (1983), Amiga (1985), and X68000 (1987). Hardware varies in the number of sprites supported, the size and colors of each sprite, and special effects such as scaling or reporting pixel-precise overlap. Hardware composition of sprites occurs as each scan line is prepared for the video output device, such as a cathode-ray tube, without i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ANTIC
Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977–1978 by Joe Decuir, Francois Michel, and Steve Smith for the Atari 8-bit computers first released in 1979. The chip was patented by Atari, Inc. in 1981. ANTIC is also used in the 1982 Atari 5200 video game console, which shares most of the same hardware as the 8-bit computers. For every frame of video, ANTIC reads instructions to define the playfield, or background graphics, then delivers a data stream to the companion CTIA or GTIA chip which adds color and overlays sprites (referred to as "Player/Missile graphics" by Atari). Each ANTIC instruction corresponds to either blank scan lines or one of 14 graphics modes used for a horizontal band of the display. The height of each band depends on the mode. The instructions comprise a display l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
