Super Explode V50 Docs.txt
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Revision as of 00:12, 6 September 2022 by Count Zero (talk | contribs) (Created page with "The text below was found on the Super Explode V5.0 Utility Disk (as SEQ files): <pre> SUPER EXPLODE! QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE ************** POWER-ON RESET ************* * PAUSE...THEN HIT [F7], [F1], OR [RETURN] * ******************************************** ---------------------------------- RESET ------------------------------------ [F7]....NON-DESTRUCTIVE RESET [RETURN]...CAP...")
The text below was found on the Super Explode V5.0 Utility Disk (as SEQ files):
SUPER EXPLODE! QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
************** POWER-ON RESET *************
* PAUSE...THEN HIT [F7], [F1], OR [RETURN] *
********************************************
---------------------------------- RESET ------------------------------------
[F7]....NON-DESTRUCTIVE RESET [RETURN]...CAPTURE SCREEN THEN RESET.
[F1]....COPY LOW RAM FROM $0000-$08FF TO $6000-$68FF THEN RESET.
---------------------------- CURRENT DRIVE ----------------------------------
[SH 8] => DEVICE EIGHT [SH 9] => DEVICE NINE
-------------------------- DISPLAY DIRECTORY --------------------------------
[$] => SCROLL DIRECTORY ... [ANY KEY] => PAUSE ... [RUN/STOP] => HALT DISPLAY.
--------------------------- TEXT SCREEN DUMP --------------------------------
[SH P] = TEXT SCREEN DUMP...NON PRINTABLE CHARACTERS ARE REPLACED BY AN [*].
---------------------------- FILE COMMANDS ----------------------------------
[LOGO+RUN/STOP] = LOAD FIRST FILE & RUN IT [LEFT ARROW]NAME =SAVE"NAME",8
---------- "CURSOR-UP" TO DIRECTORY LISTING OR ENTER DIRECTLY: --------------
[/]NAME = LOAD"FILENAME",8 [SH A]NAME = READ TEXT (ASCII) TO SCREEN
[%]NAME = LOAD"FILENAME",8,1 [SH R]NAME = READ ANY FILE TO SCREEN
[SH L]NAME = LOAD ANY FILE & RUN IT [SH S]NAME = READ FILE'S START ADDRESS
------------------------------ DOS WEDGE ------------------------------------
[@] = CURRENT DRIVE STATUS [@I0] = INITIALIZE CURRENT DRIVE
[@U;] = SOFTWARE RESET OF CURRENT DRIVE........[@U:] = RESET 1571 DRIVE
[@COMMAND]...SEND VALID DISK COMMAND TO CURRENT DRIVE
=============== [M] KEY = TO MENU...[F7] KEY TOGGLES MENU ===================
*** ACCESS THE UTILITY AND GRAPHIC POWERS OF EXPLODE! ***
[ ] RENAME, SCRATCH, LOCK & UNLOCK FILES...TAG BOOT FILES BY "LOCKING" THEM
[ ] COPY PROGRAM FILES, FORMAT DISKS.
[ ] EXIT TO BASIC WITH DEFAULT COLORS OR [*] FOR ALTERNATE COLORS
[ ] UN-NEW BASIC PROGRAM...EG: AFTER A RESET.
[P] NORMAL = EPSON COMPATIBLE (BLACK/WHITE) [C] NORMAL = COMMODORE COMPATIBLE
[P] COLOR = STAR RAINBOW COMPATIBLES [C] COLOR = OKIMATE COMPATIBLE
------------ THE FOLLOWING DISPLAY THE DIRECTORY AUTOMATICALLY --------------
------------ ENTER NAME OR CURSOR UP TO NAME...AUTO LOADS FILE --------------
[K] DISPLAY KOALA(TM) PIC [D] DISPLAY DOODLE(TM) PIC
[F] DISPLAY FLEXIDRAW(TM) OR (B/W) PIC [X] DISPLAY WHITE ON BLACK PIC
....USE [9] TO LOAD TEXT SCREEN (TT...) FILES
=============================================================================
[R, B, W]...REDISPLAY AS LOADED OR STRIP COLOR TO A BLACK-ON-WHITE OR REVERSED
VIDEO SCREEN. ACTIVE WHILE PIC IS DISPLAYED OR FROM MENU.
[M], [H], [T] "BLUE" KEYS...DISPLAY A "CAPTURED" SCREEN.
[M]ULTI COLOR, BIT-MAPPED GRAPHIC DISPLAY = KOALA FORMAT.
[H]I-RESOLUTION, BIT-MAPPED GRAPHIC DISPLAY = DOODLE FORMAT.
[T]EXT DISPLAY, STANDARD COMMODORE ASCII.
--------------------- WHILE A SCREEN IS DISPLAYED ---------------------------
[S]AVE...TO SAVE SCREEN MENU. KOALA & DOODLE FILE NAME SYNTAX MUST BE FOLLOWED
IF THEY ARE TO BE LOADED INTO THE APPLICATION PROGRAM! DON'T EXPAND OR
DELETE THE DEFAULT FILE NAME CHARACTERS.
[P] OR [C]...BIT-MAPPED OR TEXT SCREEN DUMP - [C] FOR CBM PRINTERS. BIT-MAPPED
DUMPS ARE FULL PAGE, GRAY SCALE OR COLOR REPLICAS OF THEÇ
1> *** EXPLODE! USER GUIDE *** <1
THE UNIQUE GRAPHIC AND TEXT SCREEN CAPTURE CAPABILITIES OF EXPLODE HAVE BEEN
DESIGNED FOR MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY. IT'S FEATURES ARE HARDER TO EXPLAIN THAN TO
EXECUTE AND CAN BE EXPLOITED TO ANY LEVEL THE USER DESIRES. WHAT FOLLOWS IS A
MINI TUTORIAL ON COMMODORE GRAPHICS AND A GUIDE TO TAKING MAXIMUM ADVANTAGE OF
THIS UTILITY. AS WITH ANY POWERFUL TOOL, NO ONE CAN FULLY ANTICIPATE THE
APPLICATIONS THAT MAY BE DISCOVERED WHILE IN THE PROCESS OF "FOOLING AROUND".
WE'LL BEGIN BY DESCRIBING THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL DISPLAY MODES WITHIN THE
COMPUTER: (1) TEXT, (2) MULTI-COLOR, (3) EXTENDED BACKGROUND, AND (4) THE
BIT-MAPPED MODE. ONE MAY ALSO INCLUDE "SPRITE GRAPHICS" AS AN INDEPENDENT
DISPLAY MODE.
EACH FUNDAMENTAL MODE CAN BE MODIFIED TO INCLUDE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OTHERS.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE "TEXT" MODE IS REALLY A SPECIAL CASE OF BIT-MAPPING. BECAUSE
OF THIS, NEW CHARACTER SETS CAN BE CREATED TO REPLACE THE RESIDENT ROM SET.
THIS IS COMMON IN WORD PROCESSING APPLICATIONS AND GAMES WHICH DISPLAY "FANCY"
TEXT AS PART OF THEIR PLAY.
GAME PROGRAMMERS OFTEN EXTEND THIS CONCEPT BY SUBSTITUTING GRAPHIC ELEMENTS FOR
CHARACTERS. IT TURNS OUT THAT THIS TRICK MAKES FOR A MORE COMPACT FILE WHICH,
IN TURN, ALLOWS THEM TO PACK MORE GRAPHIC SCENES ON A DISK. NORMALLY, YOU WOULD
NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THESE PICTURES BUT EXPLODE CAN CAPTURE THEM WITH A FEW
KEYSTROKES!
2> *** CAPTURING SCREENS *** <2
1. WHEN THE RESET BUTTON IS HIT YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THE BORDER CHANGES COLOR AND
THE CURSOR (IF PRESENT) STOPS FLASHING. THIS IS A SIMPLE WAY TO INFORM YOU
THAT THE RESET PROCESS IS ACTIVE AND WAITING FOR YOUR NEXT COMMAND.
2. THE RESET MAY TURN YOUR SCREEN TO GARBAGE...THIS IS NORMAL. THE REASON?
WELL, YOUR COMPUTER HANDLES SCREENS BY PARTITIONING MEMORY INTO FOUR LARGE
CHUNKS TECHNICALLY CALLED "BANKS". EVERYTHING RELATING TO THE SCREEN WILL BE
SQUEEZED INTO ONE OF THESE FOUR BANKS. EXPLODE RESETS TO "BANK 0"...THE
FIRST ONE. THIS IS THE COMPUTER'S DEFAULT CONFIGURATION.
A GARBAGE SCREEN MERELY INDICATES THAT THE REAL ONE IS HIDING IN ONE OF THE
OTHER BANKS. FIND THE REAL ONE BY TAPPING A KEY. AS YOU PASS THROUGH THE
FOUR BANKS, YOUR SCREEN WILL FINALLY REAPPEAR. STOP HERE, THIS IS THE SCREEN
YOU WANT. IF YOU GO PAST IT, CONTINUE TAPPING...IT WILL RETURN AGAIN.
3. AT THIS POINT, YOU CAN STILL "RESET CLEAN" BY HITTING [F7]. ONCE [RETURN] IS
TAPPED, HOWEVER, EXPLODE STARTS A COMPLEX ROUTINE THAT DICES UP THE SCREEN'S
DATA AND REASSEMBLES IT IN A SAFE AREA. IT ALSO CREATES A "BACKUP" REPLICA
OF THIS DATA IN ANOTHER BUFFER.
AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, ANY PROGRAM IN MEMORY IS GOING TO GET CLOBBERED BY
THIS PROCESS...BUT IT IS THE SCREEN DATA THAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN, NOT THE
PROGRAM THAT CREATED IT.
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT THE [+] AND [-] KEYS TAKE ON A NEW FUNCTION WHILE
IN THE "SEARCH" STATE. THEY HAVE THE EFFECT OF CHANGING FROM UPPERCASE TO
LOWERCASE OR VICE VERSA. THIS SPECIAL FUNCTION WILL BE COVERED LATER BUT,
FOR NOW, YOU CAN PLAY AROUND WITH THIS FEATURE AS YOU WISH.
THE WHOLE "CAPTURE" PROCESS TAKES ABOUT A 1/2 SECOND TO COMPLETE AFTER
[RETURN] IS INVOKED. FOLLOWING THIS, EXPLODE WILL RETURN THE COMPUTER TO THE
"BASIC READY" STATE AND IT WILL BE FULLY RESET.
3> *** VIEWING A SCREEN *** <3
1. THE [M] KEY TURNS ON EXPLODE'S MENU WHERE A CAPTURED OR PREVIOUSLY SAVED
SCREEN CAN NOW BE ACCESSED. WE'LL DEAL FIRST WITH A CAPTURED TEXT SCREEN OF
THE SIMPLEST TYPE...UPPERCASE. HIT [T] FOR "TEXT" AND THERE IT IS!
SUPPOSE, HOWEVER, THAT THE ORIGINAL SCREEN WAS LOWERCASE. THE [T] COMMAND
WON'T DISPLAY IT PROPERLY...JUST TOGGLE LOWER CASE USING THE CONVENTIONAL
[LOGO/SHIFT] KEYS. NOW YOU'VE GOT IT! SAVE IT OR PRINT IT OR DO BOTH...THE
CHOICE IS YOURS.
2. THE NEXT EXAMPLE DEALS WITH GRAPHIC SCREENS. EXPLODE PLAYS DUMB WHILE IN THE
MENU. IT KNOWS THE TYPE OF SCREEN JUST CAPTURED BUT IT DOESN'T KNOW WHAT YOU
WANT TO DO WITH IT...TELL IT BY SELECTING [M], [H], OR [T].
THE SCREEN YOU RESET ON MAY OR MAY NOT REAPPEAR. IF IT DOES, YOU'RE DONE! IF
IT DOESN'T, YOU SIMPLY TRY AGAIN BY TAPPING ONE OF THE OTHER THREE KEYS. ONE
OF THE THREE KEYS SHOULD RESTORE YOUR SCREEN. IF THEY DON'T, THEN ANOTHER
STEP IS REQUIRED. THIS EXTRA STEP IS EXPLODE'S "CONVERSION" PROCESS AND IS
COVERED NEXT.
4> *** CONVERSION *** <4
1. CONVERSION IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL FEATURES OF EXPLODE. IT ALLOWS YOU TO
TRANSFORM USER-DEFINED, CUSTOM CHARACTER TEXT OR GRAPHIC SCREENS TO KOALA OR
DOODLE FORMATS AS APPROPRIATE. IT WILL, IN FACT, ALLOW YOU TO CONVERT A
STANDARD ROM BASED TEXT SCREEN TO A DOODLE FORMAT!
2. TRY IT ON A CONVENTIONAL SCREEN...THE "BASIC READY" SIGN-ON SCREEN IS A
SIMPLE EXAMPLE. RESET AND CAPTURE THE SCREEN. REDISPLAY IT FROM WITHIN THE
MENU TO CONFIRM THAT IT REALLY HAS BEEN CAPTURED.
HIT THE KEY FOR "CONVERT". HIT [RETURN] FOR "SPLIT ROW & UPPER/LOWER CASE".
THE "CONVERTED!" MESSAGE APPEARS AFTER A BRIEF PAUSE. RETURN TO THE MENU
AND SELECT [H]...YOU WILL NOW BE LOOKING AT WHAT APPEARS TO BE THE SAME
PICTURE THAT YOU STARTED WITH. IT ISN'T THE SAME. YOU CAN NOW STRIP COLOR OR
MANIPULATE THE B/W OR W/B CHARACTERISTICS. IT WILL PRINT AS A FULL PAGE
BITMAPPED "PICTURE" AND SAVE AS A DOODLE FILE.
3. LET'S NOW MOVE UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF THE CONVERSION PROCESS CAPABILITIES
...CUSTOM CHARACTERS. SUPPOSE YOU RESET ON A TEXT ADVENTURE GAME THAT DIS-
PLAYS "OLD ENGLISH" TEXT MESSAGES. YOU DISPLAY THE TEXT USING THE [T] COM-
MAND AND FIND THAT ALL THE WORDS ARE THERE BUT THEY APPEAR AS ORDINARY TEXT!
IF YOU CONVERT THIS SCREEN, THE WORDS WILL REMAIN AS CBM ASCII. THIS IS
BECAUSE THE [T] COMMAND ASSUMES YOU WANT TO USE THE RESIDENT ROM FOR TEXT
DISPLAY OR CONVERSION. THAT MAY, IN FACT, BE YOUR INTENT. IF NOT, YOU MUST
TELL EXPLODE THAT YOU WANT TO USE THE CUSTOM CHARACTER SET IT JUST CAPTURED.
YOU DO THIS BY SELECTING [M] OR [H] BEFORE CONVERSION. THE CONVERSION WILL
NOW REPRODUCE THE OLD ENGLISH TEXT IN DOODLE FORMAT.
4. WE NOW ENTER USER-DEFINED, CUSTOM "CHARACTER" BASED GRAPHICS. IT MAY SEEM
PERPLEXING TO FIND THAT A PARTICULAR GRAPHIC PICTURE THAT YOU RESET ON WON'T
SHOW UP FROM THE MENU EVEN THOUGH IT WAS PRESENT WHEN THE [RETURN] COMMAND
WAS INVOKED. THIS MODE IS FUNDAMENTALLY NO DIFFERENT THAN USER-DEFINED
TEXT...THE CONVERSION PROCESS IS, IN FACT, IDENTICAL.
THESE PICTURES APPEAR TO BE BITMAPPED BUT THEY ARE NOT. THEY CAN BE
DISPLAYED USING MULTI-COLOR, EXTENDED BACKGROUND OR THE DEFAULT "TEXT" MODE.
COMMODORE HAS BUILT IN CONSIDERABLE FLEXIBILITY IN THEIR SCREEN HANDLING
ROUTINES WHICH EXPLAINS WHY THEY ARE, IN MANY WAYS, SUPERIOR TO MANY
"ADVANCED" COMPUTERS.
AS NOTED EARLIER, GAME PROGRAMMERS EXPLOIT DATA COMPRESSION TO PUSH THE
COMPUTER TO NEW LIMITS. THEY TEND TO USE EVERY PIECE OF MEMORY AVAILABLE
INCLUDING THE "SACRED" ZERO-PAGE AREA, THE "STACK", AND RAM-UNDER-ROM. WE
MENTION THIS ONLY TO EXPLAIN WHY EXPLODE POWERS-UP WITH A BLANK SCREEN
INSTEAD OF THE FAMILIAR "BASIC-READY" SCREEN. THIS IS THE ONLY SURE WAY TO
GUARANTEE THAT THE COMPUTER CAN BE FROZEN UPON RESET.
THE PICTURES DISPLAYED BY THE NEWER GAME PROGRAMS ARE NOT "FILES" AS WE
GENERALLY THINK OF THEM. THEY EXIST, INSTEAD, AS LOOK-UP-TABLES AND DISPLAY
ALGORITHMS - A FANCY WORD FOR A SPECIALIZED ROUTINE. EXPLODE AUTOMATICALLY
CONVERTS THESE SPECIALIZED DISPLAYS TO THE APPROPRIATE FORMAT - KOALA OR
DOODLE - AND ALLOWS THEM TO BE SAVED AS A FILE. PRETTY SLICK WHEN YOU THINK
ABOUT IT!
5> *** ADVANCED CONVERSION *** <5
1. UP TO THIS POINT, THE CAPTURE ROUTINES DESCRIBED HAVE BEEN RATHER STRAIGHT
FORWARD AND DON'T REQUIRE MUCH USER INTERVENTION OR JUDGEMENT. THE BALANCE
OF WHAT IS TO BE DESCRIBED IS MORE COMPLEX AND REQUIRES AN EXTRA
EFFORT...BUT, AS YOU WILL SEE, SOME INTERESTING TRICKS CAN BE PERFORMED.
WE ARE GOING TO DEAL WITH "SPLIT SCREENS". WHAT ARE SPLIT SCREENS? WELL,
THIS TECHNIQUE CAN BE USED (FOR EXAMPLE) TO DISPLAY TRUE TEXT ON HALF THE
SCREEN AND GRAPHICS ON THE OTHER HALF. IF THE PROGRAM USES A "SPLIT" AT THE
MOMENT YOU HIT YOUR RESET YOU WILL FREEZE THAT PORTION OF THE SCREEN WHICH
WAS ACTIVE AT THAT EXACT MOMENT. THE OTHER HALF WILL TURN TO GARBAGE.
LET'S EXAMINE THE SIMPLEST USE OF SPLIT SCREENS - A USER-DEFINED CHARACTER
GRAPHIC DISPLAY. IT MAY CONTAIN SO MUCH DETAIL THAT THE "UPPERCASE" SET
WON'T BE LARGE ENOUGH TO DEFINE THE WHOLE SCREEN. IF, HOWEVER, THE
"LOWERCASE" SET COULD ALSO BE USED THEN THERE MIGHT BE PLENTY OF SPACE. THE
PROBLEM IS THAT ONLY ONE CASE CAN BE DISPLAYED AT A TIME. THE SOLUTION IS
TO...YOU GUESSED IT...SPLIT THE SCREEN.
THE TECHNICAL TRICK USED FOR SPLITTING A SCREEN IS THE "RASTER INTERRUPT"
TECHNIQUE. IT ISN'T A DIFFICULT CONCEPT TO FOLLOW. THERE IS A SPOT IN
MEMORY THAT KEEPS TRACK OF WHERE THE BOOB TUBE'S ELECTRON BEAM IS POSITIONED
AS IT PAINTS THE SCREEN. THERE IS A SECOND REGISTER THAT CAN BE SET TO ACT
WHEN THE FIRST REGISTER REACHES A PREDETERMINED LINE ON THE SCREEN - THESE
LINES ARE CALLED RASTER LINES. THERE ARE 200 OF THEM ...EIGHT FOR EACH OF
THE 25 SCREEN ROWS. WHEN THE RASTER INTERRUPT TAKES PLACE, THE FLOW OF THE
PROGRAM IS DIVERTED FOR A BRIEF MOMENT AS THE CASE IS SWITCHED.
GENERALLY, ONLY A MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAM CAN ACT FAST ENOUGH TO PULL OFF
THIS LITTLE PIECE OF SCREEN MAGIC. FOR THIS EXAMPLE - SWITCHING CASE WHEN A
CERTAIN ROW IS REACHED - WE ONLY NEED TO KEEP TRACK OF THE ROW WHERE THE
SPLIT TAKES PLACE IF WE WANT TO CONVERT IT LATER. THIS HAS BEEN THE POINT OF
OUR LITTLE SIDE TRIP INTO RASTER INTERRUPTS.
2. SUPPOSE WE TAKE A PIECE OF PAPER AND LAY IT ON THE FACE OF THE SCREEN. MAKE
MARKS FOR THE TOP AND BOTTOM BORDERS THEN MARK OFF THE 25 ROWS OF THE SCREEN
STARTING WITH "0" AT THE TOP AND ENDING WITH "24" AT THE BOTTOM. THIS WILL
SERVE AS OUR SCALE FOR ROW COUNTING.
WE NOW NEED AN EXAMPLE OF A PROGRAM THAT EMPLOYS SPLIT SCREENS OF THIS TYPE
SO WE MAY EXPERIMENT WITH OUR CAPTURING TECHNIQUE. THE INTRO SCREEN FOR
"BARBIE" FROM EPYX WILL DO NICELY. IT IS A MULTI-COLOR, CUSTOM CHARACTER
GRAPHIC SCREEN THAT SPLITS AT ROW TWELVE.
3. HERE'S THE SEQUENCE WE'LL FOLLOW:
A) AS THE PROGRAM LOADS IT WILL REACH IT'S "LOGO" SCREEN...
B) RESET AND OBSERVE THE SCREEN. HALF WILL LOOK OK WHILE THE OTHER HALF WILL
BE GARBAGE. CONFIRM THAT ROW 12 IS WHERE THE SPLIT OCCURS.
C) BEFORE YOU HIT [RETURN], TAP THE [+] & [-] KEYS. THE OK HALF WILL
ALTERNATE BETWEEN THE TOP AND BOTTOM. WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS SWITCHING
BETWEEN UPPER AND LOWER CASE. WHEN THE OK HALF IS AT THE TOP, HIT
[RETURN].
D) GO THE MENU AND ATTEMPT TO DISPLAY THE PICTURE. YOU WON'T FIND EITHER
HALF INTACT BECAUSE THE PICTURE HASN'T BEEN CONVERTED YET. WHEN YOU
SELECT CONVERT, TYPE OVER THE 25 DEFAULT VALUE WITH THE [12] PREVIOUSLY
NOTED. ACCEPT THE [U] OFFERED...THE CONVERSION IS COMPLETE.
THE "U" PROVIDES, WELL, AN OFFSET. THE "OFFSET" CORRESPONDS, IN SIMPLE TERMS,
TO THE OFFSET BETWEEN UPPERCASE AND LOWERCASE. THIS OFFSET IS ALWAYS THE SAME
BUT THE REASON IT HAS BEEN INCLUDED AS A SEPARATE STEP IS TO HANDLE THE SITUA-
TION WHERE LOWERCASE IS USED BEFORE UPPERCASE. HERE'S THE REASON THAT IT
MATTERS: THE CONVERSION PROCESS ALWAYS STARTS AT THE TOP AND WORKS DOWN UNTIL
IT ENCOUNTERS THE SPLIT-ROW NUMBER. IT THEN ADDS THE OFFSET AND CONTINUES TO
THE END OF THE PICTURE. WHAT WE NEED TO DO WHEN LOWERCASE PRECEDES UPPERCASE
IS TO SUBTRACT FIRST. WE DO THIS WITH [L] INSTEAD OF [U]. THE NICE THING IS
THAT, IF YOU PICK THE WRONG VALUE, JUST TRY ANOTHER. YOU HAVE AN UNLIMITED
NUMBER OF TRIALS UNTIL YOU'RE SATISFIED.
THIS COMPLETES THE SECTION ON ADVANCED CONVERSION TECHNIQUES. THE NEXT SECTION
WILL DEAL WITH "SPRITE" GRAPHICS AND OTHER ADVANCED TOPICS...IT WILL BE A
GRAPHIC HACKER'S SECTION DEVOTED TO EXTENSIONS OF THE EXPLODE CARTRIDGE.
6> *** ADVANCED TOPICS *** <6
THIS SECTION ASSUMES A MODEST FAMILIARITY WITH MACHINE LANGUAGE AND ACCESS TO
AN ML MONITOR PROGRAM THAT RUNS AT $C000. THIS AREA OF RAM IS SAFE FROM THE
CAPTURE AND CONVERSION ROUTINES AS WELL AS THE RESET PROCESS. LET'S START WITH
A MEMORY MAP OF A CAPTURED PIC FILE'S PARAMETERS:
------------------------------------------------------------------
H SP0 V H SP1 V H SP2 V H SP3 V
$8720 $D000 $D001 $D002 $D003 $D004 $D005 $D006 $D007
------------------------------------------------------------------
H SP4 V H SP5 V H SP6 V H SP7 V
$8728 $D008 $D009 $D00A $D00B $D00C $D00D $D00E $D00F
------------------------------------------------------------------
MSB SP ENAB V EXP
$8730 $D010 $D011 ($D012) $D013 $D014 $D015 $D016 $D017
------------------------------------------------------------------
PRIOR MUL/HIR H EXP S/SCOLL S/FCOLL
$8738 $D018 $D019 ($D01A) $D01B $D01C $D01D $D01E $D01F
------------------------------------------------------------------
BORD BACK 0 BACK 1 BACK 2 BACK 3 S MULT0 S MULT1 S0 COL
$8740 $D020 $D021 $D022 $D023 $D024 $D025 $D026 $D027
---------------------------------------------------------*********
S1 COL S2 COL S3 COL S4 COL S5 COL S6 COL S7 COL *EXPLODE*
$8748 $D028 $D029 $D02A $D02B $D02C $D02D $D02E *UTILITY*
*********************************************************--------*
* *
$8750 * $D012 $D01A $DD00 BANK BIT SCR CHAR MODE *
*----------------------------------------------------------------*
* SPR 0 SPR 1 SPR 2 SPR 3 SPR 4 SPR 5 SPR 6 SPR 7 *
$8758 * PTR PTR PTR PTR PTR PTR PTR PTR *
******************************************************************
THE CHART STARTS IN MEMORY AT $8720 AND IS COPIED TO A "BACKUP" BUFFER ALONG
WITH THE PIC FILE AT THE TIME OF A [RETURN] RESET. THIS BUFFER ALLOWS YOU TO
MAKE REPEATED ATTEMPTS AT CONVERSION.
TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE PARAMETER CHART, WE RECOMMEND COMPUTE'S "MAPPING THE
COMMODORE 64" AND "PROGRAMMING THE COMMODORE 64". THESE TWO OUTSTANDING BOOKS
SHOULD BE A PART ANY COMPUTER USER'S COLLECTION. THEY OFFER A WEALTH OF
INFORMATION FOR NOVICES AND EXPERTS ALIKE. KUDOS ALSO SHOULD BE EXTENDED TO
CASIO FOR THEIR FINE LINE OF INEXPENSIVE "COMPUTER USER" CALCULATORS WITH "HEX"
CONVERSIONS AND COMPUTER MATH SUPPORT.
WHAT FOLLOWS IS A DESCRIPTION OF THE "BANK", "BIT", "SCR", "CHAR", AND "MODE"
PARAMETERS AT $8753 AND THE SPRITE POINTERS AT $8758.
BANK IS, OF COURSE, THE BANK FROM WHICH ALL THE GRAPHIC DATA WAS GATHERED. THAT
IS A RULE OF COMMODORE GRAPHICS...EVERYTHING RELATED TO THE SCREEN DISPLAY IS
CONTAINED IN ONE BANK. BANK THROUGH CHAR ARE THE HIGH BYTES OF THE BANK,
BITMAP, SCREEN RAM, AND THE CHARACTER MAP. EVEN IF THEY AREN'T RELEVANT TO THE
PICTURE CAPTURED, THE VALUES ARE CALCULATED AND PRESERVED AS IF THEY WERE
RELEVANT. FOR EXAMPLE, THE BITMAP IS NOT RELEVANT FOR A CAPTURED TEXT SCREEN
BUT CHAR MIGHT BE.
THE MODE CONVENTION ADOPTED BY EXPLODE IS AS FOLLOWS:
$00 = NORMAL TEXT
...OR CUSTOM CHARACTER TEXT
...OR CUSTOM "CHARACTER" GRAPHICS
$10 = MULTI-COLOR TEXT
...OR CUSTOM "CHARACTER" GRAPHICS
$20 = DOODLE (IE: HI-RES BITMAPPED COLOR)...OR...B/W-W/B HI-RES BITMAP
$30 = KOALA (IE: MULTI-COLOR BITMAPPED GRAPHICS)
$40 = EXTENDED BACKGROUND TEXT
...OR CUSTOM CHARACTER TEXT
...OR GRAPHICS
LET'S DEAL WITH SPRITES. YOU'LL NOTICE THAT CAPTURED PICTURES DO NOT DISPLAY
SPRITES THAT MAY HAVE BEEN ON THE SCREEN WHEN FROZEN BY EXPLODE'S RESET. THIS
IS DUE TO THE INDEPENDENCE OF SPRITE GRAPHICS FROM ALL OTHER MODES. ALL THE
DATA, HOWEVER, THAT RELATES TO THESE SPRITES HAS BEEN PRESERVED ALONG WITH THE
PICTURE'S DATA.
HERE'S HOW YOU MIGHT FOOL AROUND WITH SPRITE DATA FROM A CAPTURED SCREEN:
1) CAPTURE A PICTURE WITH SPRITES. REMEMBER WHERE THE PROGRAM WAS AT THE MOMENT
YOU RESET ON IT. SAVE THE CAPTURED FILE IN THE USUAL FASHION.
2) LOAD YOUR ML MONITOR TO $C000 AND EXAMINE THE PARAMETER CHART AT $8720.
LET'S ASSUME THE PIC IS MODE #$30...A KOALA. THE BITMAP WILL TAKE UP HALF
OF THE BANK SO THE ACTUAL SPRITE SHAPE DATA HAS TO BE SOMEWHERE IN THE OTHER
HALF. LET'S FURTHER ASSUME THAT BANK THROUGH CHAR ARE $40, $40, $60, AND
$40.
FROM THESE VALUES WE DEDUCE THAT WE ARE IN THE SECOND BANK...BANK #1 AT
$4000-$7FFF AND WE CAN SEE THAT THE BITMAP COVERS $4000 TO $5FFF. THE SCREEN
STARTS AT $6000 AND, IN THIS CASE, CHAR IS IRRELEVANT. THAT'S ALL WE NEED TO
OBSERVE FOR NOW. LET'S GO ON TO THE NEXT STEP.
3) RE-RUN THE PROGRAM AND RESET AT THE SAME POINT BUT, INSTEAD OF HITTING
[RETURN] TO CAPTURE THE PICTURE, HIT [F7] TO RESET "CLEAN"...IE: WE WANT THE
CODE TO REMAIN UNDISTURBED.
NOW...(A) RE-LOAD YOUR MONITOR TO $C000, (B) TRANSFER $6000-$7FFF TO
$2000-$3FFF, (C) TRANSFER $8720-$875F TO $4000-$403F.
4) USE THE MONITOR TO DISPLAY THE RANGE FROM $D000 TO $D02E. THE ACTUAL VALUES
AT $D011, $D016, AND $D018 SHOULD BE COPIED TO $4011, $4016, $4018. AT THIS
POINT YOU CAN SAVE THE DATA FROM $2000-403F AS A "SPRITE" FILE.
5) THE PRECEDING STEPS HAVE EFFECTIVELY MOVED THE SPRITE DATA TO BANK #0 WHERE
THEY ARE MORE CONVENIENT TO PLAY WITH.
THE LAST STEPS ARE TO TRANSFER $4038-$403F TO $07F8-$07FF AND WHEN YOU
TRANSFER $4000-$402E TO $D000-$D02E...BANG! YOUR SPRITES WILL APPEAR RIGHT
ON TOP OF YOUR MONITOR'S DISPLAY.
RE-DISPLAY $D000-$D02E AND FOOL AROUND WITH THE SPRITE DATA AND WATCH WHAT
HAPPENS...ENJOY!
THE LAST TOPIC WE WILL COVER ARE "TOUGH-NUT" SCREENS. THESE ARE SCREENS THAT
HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY A COMBINATION OF TRICKS SUCH AS MIXED MODES (HI-RES &
MULTICOLOR), TRIPLE SPLITS OR SOME OTHER COMBINATION. THESE ARE MADE POSSIBLE
THROUGH CLEVER MANIPULATION OF RASTER INTERRUPTS.
SINCE EXPLODE DISPLAYS "STATIC" SCREENS, MIXED MODES ARE NOT POSSIBLE IN THIS
ENVIRONMENT. IT IS POSSIBLE, HOWEVER, TO CAPTURE THE DIFFERENT MODES IN
SEPARATE FILES AND USE THE MONITOR TO REASSEMBLE THEM INTO ONE FILE A SEGMENT
AT A TIME.
THERE ARE SEVERAL FACTORS THAT HELP IN THIS REGARD. THE FIRST IS THAT KOALA &
DOODLE FILES SHARE THE SAME BITMAP SPACE. SECONDLY, COLOR RAM AT $D800 IS
ALWAYS IN THE SAME PLACE AND COMMON TO ALL MODES. IN ADDITION, THERE IS A
ROW-BY-ROW FIXED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCREEN RAM, COLOR RAM, AND THE BITMAP.
IT IS POSSIBLE TO "OVERLAY" SPRITE DATA INTO A PICTURE FILE WITH THE TOOLS THAT
EXPLODE PROVIDES AND, KNOWING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE VARIOUS GRAPHIC
ELEMENTS, ONE CAN "CLEAN UP" FILES THAT DON'T TRANSLATE PERFECTLY IN THE
CONVERSION PROCESS.
TO HELP, THE FOLLOWING CHART SHOWS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCREEN ROWS,
COLUMNS, RASTER(VERTICAL), PIXELS(HORIZONTAL) AND COLOR/BITMAPS FOR KOALA AND
DOODLE FILES.
DOODLE COMMON KOALA KOALA CHARACTER CELL MAP
ROW RAS COLOR BITMAP SCREEN COLOR *********************
--- --- ------ ------ ------ ----- * $6000 * $6008 *
0 $32 $5C00 $6000 $7F40 $8328 * $6001 * $6009 *
1 $3A 28 140 68 50 * $6002 * *
2 $42 50 280 90 78 * $6003 *
3 $4A 78 3C0 B8 A0 * $6004 *
4 $52 A0 500 E0 C8 * $6005 *
5 $5A C8 640 $8008 F0 * $6006 *
6 $62 F0 780 30 $8418 * $6007 *
7 $6A $5D18 8C0 58 40 ************
8 $72 40 A00 80 68 * $6140 *
9 $7A 68 B40 A8 90 * $6141 *
10 $82 90 C80 D0 B8 * *
11 $8A B8 DC0 F8 E0 *
12 $92 E0 F00 $8120 $8508 ==================================
13 $9A $5E08 $7040 48 30 PIXEL NO. AT START OF COLUMN
14 $A2 30 180 70 58 ----------------------------------
15 $AA 58 2C0 98 80 COL 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
16 $B2 80 400 C0 A8 $PIX 18 20 28 30 38 40 48 50 58 60
17 $BA A8 540 E8 D0 ----------------------------------
18 $C2 D0 680 $8210 F8 COL 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
19 $CA F8 7C0 38 $8620 $PIX 68 70 78 80 88 90 98 A0 A8 B0
20 $D2 $5F20 900 60 48 ----------------------------------
21 $DA 48 A40 88 70 COL 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
22 $E2 70 B80 B0 98 $PIX B8 C0 C8 D0 D8 E0 E8 F0 F8 00
23 $EA 98 CC0 D8 C0 ----------------------------------
24 $F2 C0 E00 $8300 E8 COL 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39
($5FE8) ($7F40) ($8328) ($8710) $PIX 08 10 18 20 28 30 38 40 48 50
DOODLE FILE KOALA FILE
-------------------- ----------------------
COLOR = $5C00-$5FFF BITMAP = $6000-$7F3F
BITMAP = $6000-$7FFF SCREEN = $7F40-$8327
COLOR = $8328-$870F
BACKGR = $8710
7> *** SUMMARY *** <7
THAT ABOUT WRAPS IT UP. MANY OF THE TOPICS TOUCHED ON IN THIS USER GUIDE COULD
FILL A BOOK ALL BY THEMSELVES...ESPECIALLY THE UNIQUE FAST LOAD ROUTINE BUILT
INTO THE CARTRIDGE. TO MANY, THIS WILL SEEM REASON ENOUGH TO OWN EXPLODE.
THE CHART BELOW WILL GIVE YOU A FEELING FOR THE IMPROVEMENTS IN LOAD TIMES FOR
VARIOUS CONDITIONS. FOR THE CURIOUS, THE TECHNICAL TERM FOR THE INTERVAL
BETWEEN SECTORS ON A GIVEN TRACK IS "INTERLEAVE". ON A 1541 THE STANDARD VALUE
IS TEN AND IS SIX ON A 1571 DRIVE. THIS HAPPENS TO BE THE OPTIMUM VALUE FOR
EXPLODE AS FOUND EXPERIMENTALLY. THE EPYX "FAST LOAD" WAS OPTIMUM AT ELEVEN BUT
FELL OFF DRAMATICALLY FOR OTHER VALUES. EXPLODE'S PERFORMANCE IS MORE UNIFORM.
100 BLOCK FILE 100 BLOCK FILE
INTERLEAVE = 10 INTERLEAVE = 6
--------------------- ---------------------
NORMAL = 64.3 SEC. NORMAL = 66.1 SEC.
FAST LOAD = 18.2 SEC. FAST LOAD = 27.2 SEC.
EXPLODE = 10.6 SEC. EXPLODE = 7.5 SEC.
THE FILE ACCESS TIMES FOR EXPLODE ARE ALSO MUCH FASTER WHICH MEANS THAT
PROGRAMS THAT LOAD MULTIPLE FILES WILL BE "UP" SOONER. NEWSROOM(TM), FOR
EXAMPLE, LOADS IN 54 SECONDS WITH "FAST LOAD" AND IN 27 SECONDS WITH EXPLODE.
EXPLODE SAVES PROGRAMS ABOUT AS FAST AS IT LOADS THEM AND THERE IS A FAST 10
SECOND FORMAT ON BOARD TOO.
IF YOU NOTICE THE DRIVE'S ACTIVITY LIGHT DOES NOT "FLICKER" WHEN LOADING, THAT
IS AN INDICATION THAT THE PROGRAM HAS BYPASSED EXPLODE'S LOADER.
RENAMING AND SCRATCHING FILES FROM THE MENU IS HANDY AND WE USE THE "LOCK FILE"
FEATURE TO "FLAG" BOOT FILES AS WELL AS LOCKING THEM. THE LOAD AND AUTO RUN
FEATURES COUPLED WITH THE DOS WEDGE COMMANDS MAKE THE COMPUTER MUCH EASIER TO
USE AND THE FILE READ COMMANDS CAN COME IN HANDY WHEN YOU WANT TO SCAN THE
CONTENTS OF A FILE. LIKEWISE, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT ALL KEYS "REPEAT" IF HELD
DOWN AND THE COMPUTER NOW DEFAULTS TO WHITE CHARACTERS. THE [*] OPTION FOR
EXITING THE MENU YIELDS ALTERNATIVE SCREEN COLORS.
HITTING [F1] AFTER A RESET TO CAPTURE MEMORY FROM $0000 TO $08FF CAN BE A REAL
HELP FOR DEBUGGING. YOU SHOULD NOTE, HOWEVER, THAT EXPLODE RESETS THE KERNAL
VECTORS STARTING AT $0314 AND USES 16 BYTES OF THE STACK FROM $0190 TO $019F.
FINALLY, THE COUNTLESS HOURS SPENT DEVELOPING EXPLODE TO THE LEVEL PRESENT IN
THIS VERSION HAVE BEEN ENJOYABLE AND STIMULATING. THE ADDITIONAL HOURS SPENT
USING IT'S POWERS HAVE ALSO BEEN INTERESTING AND USEFUL.
WE BELIEVE THAT EXPLODE INCORPORATES FEATURES THAT WILL BE USED ON A DAILY
BASIS BY THE MAJORITY OF USERS. THEY ARE FEATURES THAT ARE SIMPLY NOT POSSIBLE
WITH DISK BASED UTILITIES. WHEN WE WANT FULL FEATURED SECTOR EDITORS, FILE
UTILITIES OR MACHINE LANGUAGE MONITORS THEN WE FAST LOAD OUR FAVORITES WITH
EXPLODE. WE HOPE THE POWER AND EASE OF USE THAT HAVE BEEN BUILT INTO EXPLODE
WILL MAKE YOUR COMPUTING TIME MORE ENJOYABLE AND PRODUCTIVE.
DR. PIERCE - 11/6/88
TROUBLE SHOOTING SECTION WITH TIPS AND HINTS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
(1) I'M HAVING TROUBLE CAPTURING SCREENS! ALL I GET IS A COLORED MESS OR
THE COLORS ARE ALL WRONG! DO I HAVE A DEFECTIVE EXPLODE! CARTRIDGE?
(1A) NO! YOUR EXPLODE IS WORKING FINE. TRY THESE TWO REMEDIES:
FIRST, ARE YOU USING YOUR SPACEBAR AFTER HITTING THE CAPTURE BUTTON TO FIND THE
ORIGINAL SCREEN? SECOND, PRESS THE RESET BUTTON FIRMLY TO MAKE SURE THE
COMPUTER SENSES THE RESET. SOMETIMES A USER WILL GIVE A QUICK JAB TO THE
CAPTURE BUTTON... WHEN WHAT'S REALLY NEEDED IS A FIRM QUICK PUSH. REMEMBER...
A LOT OF ACTIVITIES ARE GOING ON BETWEEN EXPLODE AND YOUR COMMODORE TO CAPTURE
AND CONVERT YOUR FAVORITE HI-RES OR TEXT SCREEN!
(2) SOMETIMES WHEN I HIT THE RESET AND HIT RETURN ALL I GET IS A (\EADY)
AND NO "EXPLODE" IN THE CENTER OF THE SCREEN! WHATS WRONG?
(2A) NOTHING...IT OCCURS BECAUSE THE COMPUTER IS TRYING TO SEND THE DRIVE
INTERLEAVE DATA BEFORE IT IS READY TO ACCEPT IT. THE TWO SIT WAITING FOR THE
OTHER TO GET ON WITH IT - A LOCKUP. THE SOLUTION IS TO BE A LITTLE SLOWER ON
THE [RETURN] "TRIGGER". THIS MAY ALSO BE CAUSED BY THE NEWER C64'S THAT DON'T
PASS A RESET TO THE DRIVE. IF THE DRIVE IS BUSY IT WON'T RESPOND. NOBODY IS
HAPPY WITH COMMODORE FOR THIS CHANGE. THE SOLUTION IS TO TURN THE DRIVE OFF OR
(GASP) MODIFY THE COMPUTER TO RESTORE THIS FUNCTION.
(3) SOMETIMES I HAVE A HARD TIME LOADING PROGRAMS. AND SOMETIMES SOME
PROGRAMS WON'T LOAD AT ALL.
(3A) THIS IS MOST OFTEN A RESULT OF SOFTWARE WITH HEAVY COPY PROTECTION.
THE PROGRAM LOADS UP TO A POINT AND THEN DEFEATS THE CARTRIDGE BEFORE IT HAS
FINISHED...BOO, HISS. WE PROVIDED A CARTRIDGE OFF OR FAST LOAD OFF OPTION TO
COVER THIS NASTY HABIT. ANOTHER POSSIBILITY IS DIRTY HEADS, ROTATIONAL SPEEDS
THAT ARE OUT OF SPEC OR MISALIGNMENT. THE FAST LOAD IS AN "EARLY WARNING" OF
SUCH MECHANICAL PROBLEMS.
(3B) ODDLY ENOUGH, ANOTHER REASON DRIVES FAIL TO LOAD IS...WOULD YOU BELIEVE,
YOUR DRIVE AND T.V. OR MONITOR MAY BE TOO CLOSE TOGETHER! THE LEFT SIDE OF MOST
MONITORS (WHERE THE HIGH VOLTAGE SECTION IS LOCATED) CAN INTERFERE WITH THE
DRIVE'S MAGNETIC READ/WRITE HEAD! THE SOLUTION IS SIMPLE...MOVE THEM ABOUT 1.5
TO 2 FEET APART. THIS MAY SOLVE YOUR LOADING PROBLEMS.
(4) MY PRINTER WON'T PRINTOUT ANY HI-RES SCREENS!
(4A) CHECK WHICH TYPE OF PRINTER YOU'RE USING. IF YOUR PRINTER IS A
COMMODORE OR CLONE, THEN ALWAYS PRESS THE [C] KEY (C FOR COMMODORE PRINTERS).
IF YOU PRESS THE P KEY YOU SHOULD BE SENDING GRAPHIC DATA TO A STANDARD
PARALLEL PRINTER SUCH AS A STAR OR EPSON.
(5) MY PRINTER WON'T PRINT A FULL 8" BY 11" PRINTOUT. WHY?
(5A) EXPLODE PRODUCES TWO DIFFERENT PRINTOUTS. A 40 COLUMN STANDARD TEXT
SCREEN DUMP AND A SIDEWAYS 8 BY 11 GRAPHIC SCREEN DUMP. THE HORIZONTAL SPACING
THAT THE PRINTER PRODUCES IN IT'S GRAPHIC MODE VARIES CONSIDERABLY BETWEEN
MANUFACTURERS. CONSULT YOUR PRINTER/INTERFACE OWNER'S MANUAL.
(7) SOME SCREENS I CAPTURE DON'T SEEM TO BE ALL THERE. SOME SCREENS LOOK
LIKE THEY'RE ONLY HALF THERE. OTHERS DON'T LOOK LIKE THE ORIGNAL SCREEN AT ALL
EVEN AFTER I'VE CONVERTED THEM.
(7A) EXPLODE COMES WITH ALL THE TOOLS NECESSARY TO CAPTURE AND RE-CONSTRUCT
ANY SCREEN. IF ALL ELSE FAILS, READ THE DOC'S. WE TRIED TO GET ALL THE GOOD
STUFF INTO THEM BUT WE FIND IT IS MUCH HARDER TO DESCRIBE WHAT HAS TO BE DONE
TO DO IT. IF YOU READ THE DOCS YOU'LL LEARN A LOT ABOUT COMMODORE GRAPHICS...
YOU'LL ALSO HAVE A LOT OF FUN.
EXPLODE! IS THE RESULT OF MANY HOURS OF PROGRAMMING, DE-BUGGING AND RE-TESTING.
GREAT CARE WAS TAKEN TO INSURE THAT EXPLODE WILL GIVE YOU MANY MANY HOURS OF
TROUBLE FREE, HASSLE FREE USE. ONCE YOU BECOME FAMILIAR WITH EXPLODE!, YOU WILL
COME TO APPRECIATE THE POWER AND EASE OF OPERATION EXPLODE! PROVIDES.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO PURCHASED EXPLODE!... THANK YOU!
WE WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT EXPLODE! IS LIKE OTHER PROGRAMS. PERFECT IN EVERY WAY
UNTIL THE USER FINDS A PROBLEM WE DIDN'T FIND OR FINDS A PROBLEM THAT REALLY
ISN'T A PROBLEM.
IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, WE HAVE A PROBLEM AND WILL WORK TO MAKE IT GO
AWAY!...WRITE OR CALL US AFTER 7P.M. CST AT 312-851-6667.
YOU WILL BE GIVEN TECHNICAL SUPPORT. WE ASK THAT YOU HAVE 3 THINGS READY WHEN
YOU CALL....(1) YOU SHOULD BE AT YOUR COMPUTER IF POSSIBLE.
(2) EXPLODE! SHOULD BE PLUGGED IN AND RUNNING.
(3) ALL PERIPHERALS SHOULD BE ON AND READY TO RUN.
WE WILL TRY OUR BEST TO GUIDE YOU THRU ANY PROBLEMS YOU'VE RUN INTO.
YOUR 90 DAY WARRANTY (EXPLODE CARTRIDGE ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------
YOUR EXPLODE! CART IS WARRANTED FOR 90 DAYS FROM DATE OF PURCHASE. THIS
WARRANTY COVERS PARTS AND LABOR ONLY! NO WARRANTY IS GIVEN OR IMPLIED TO
EXPLODE! SOFTWARE. IN PURCHASING EXPLODE!, YOU THE USER RELEASE THE COMPANY
CALLED "THE SOFT GROUP" AND ANY OF IT'S AUTHORIZED AGENTS OR DEALERS EITHER
WHOLESALE OR RETAIL FROM ANY FINANCAL OBLIGATIONS ARISING FROM THE USE OR
ABUSE OF EXPLODE!, RELATIVE TO ANY AND ALL COMPUTER EQUIPMENT BEING USED BY
THE PRODUCT CALLED EXPLODE!. FURTHER, THIS WARRANTY WILL BECOME NULL AND VOID
IF PRODUCT TAMPERING AND OR USER ABUSE IS APPARENT RELATIVE TO THE CARTRIDGE
CALLED EXPLODE! YOUR EXPLODE! HAS A LIMITED (NON-TRANSFERABLE) LIFE TIME
WARRANTY. THIS LIMITED WARRANTY GOES INTO EFFECT AFTER THE 90 DAY WARRANTY
ENDS. IT COVERS PARTS AND LABOR ONLY! FOR AS LONG AS THE ORIGNAL PURCHASER
OWNS HIS OR HER EXPLODE! CARTRIDGE. IF, WHILE USING EXPLODE! IT SHOULD EVER
FAIL DURING NORMAL USE (ACTS OF GOD AND USER ABUSE/TAMPERING WILL VOID THE
ABOVE WARRANTY) THE SOFT GROUP WILL REPLACE OR REPAIR THE EXPLODE! CARTRIDGE
IF IT IS RETURNED ALONG WITH $15.00 PLUS $2.00 FOR SHIPPING AND HANDLING.
ALL WARRANTY WORK IS TO BE SENT TO:
THE SOFT GROUP, P.O.BOX 111,MONTGOMERY, ILL. - 60538
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
IF YOU OR A FRIEND WISH TO ORDER ADDITIONAL EXPLODE! CARTRIDGES, CALL:
312-851-6667 VISA OR M.C. ARE EXCEPTED. S&H IS $1.50 COD'S $4.50 SEND TO:
THE SOFT GROUP
P.O.BOX 111
MONTGOMERY, ILL.
60538
IF YOU OWN A C-128 OR A CARTRIDGE EXPANDER BOARD AND WOULD LIKE AN OPTIONAL
DISABLE SWITCH INSTALLED. PLEASE ADD $5.00 TO YOUR ORDER.
THE DISABLE SWITCH WILL ALLOW YOU TO LEAVE EXPLODE PLUGGED INTO YOUR C-128 WHEN
YOU WANT TO GO INTO IT'S 128 MODE.
*** RESET FIX FOR NEWER C-64'S AND ALL 64-C'S ***
IF YOU OWN A C-64 BUILT AFTER OCTOBER '84' OR HAVE PURCHASED A NEW 64-C. YOU
WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RESET YOUR DISK DRIVES USING THE RESET/CAPTURE BUTTON ON
EXPLODE!. TO SEE IF YOU OWN A NEWER C-64... PLUG IN EXPLODE AND POWERUP THE
DRIVE AND COMPUTER.
PRESS THE RESET/CAPTURE BUTTON ON EXPLODE. IF THE RED LIGHT ON THE DRIVE COMES
ON AND THE MOTOR WHIRRS THEN YOU'RE OK. IF NOT - READ ON.
HERE'S THE FIX (PLEASE BE WARNED THAT DOING THE FOLLOWING WILL VOID YOUR
WARRANTY). YOU DO THE FOLLOWING AT YOUR OWN RISK...THE SOFT GROUP AND IT'S
AFFILIATES ASSUME NO REPONSIBLITY FOR ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE FOLLOWING
INSTUCTIONS.
LOCATE THE (3) SCREWS ON THE UNDERSIDE OF YOUR COMMODORE. REMOVE THEM USING A
#2 PHILIPS SCREWDRIVER. AFTER REMOVING THE SCREWS, SPLIT THE CASE. THE KEYBOARD
WILL COME AWAY IN ONE HALF AND THE MOTHER BOARD IN THE OTHER. LOOK FOR AND
UNPLUG THE CONNECTOR WITH BLACK AND RED WIRES LEADING FROM THE L.E.D. POWER
INDICATOR ON TOP OF YOUR C-64/64-C. MOVE THE TOP HALF OF THE CASE AWAY FROM THE
BOTTOM HALF. LOCATE PIN #3 ON THE USER PORT (MODEM PORT) AND PIN #6 IN THE
CENTER OF THE SERIAL PORT. THIS IS THE PORT YOU PLUG YOUR DISK DRIVE CABLE INTO.
*** SEE PIC FILE CALLED "DDCOMMODORE" FOR LOCATION OF PINS ***
AFTER LOCATING AND VERIFYING THE TWO PINS, USE A 20 OR 25 WATT SOLDERING IRON
TO SOLDER A SMALL 20 TO 26 GUAGE INSULATED WIRE BETWEEN PIN #3 AND PIN #6.
DOUBLE CHECK YOUR WORK BEFORE POWERUP. MAKE SURE NO SOLDER BRIDGES EXIST AND
THAT YOU HAVE SOLDERED THE CORRECT PINS. DOING THE ABOVE CORRECTLY WILL NOT HARM
OR ALTER THE NORMAL PERFORMANCE OF YOUR COMMODORE. IT WILL ONLY RE-ESTABLISH A
FULL RESET WHICH ALL COMMODORES ORIGINALLY CAME WITH.
IF YOU FEEL THAT THE ABOVE IS BEYOND YOUR TECHNICAL SKILLS, WE WOULD STRONGLY
RECOMMEND SEEKING OUT THE SERVICES OF A TECHNICIAN OR A FRIEND WHO HAS A
MODERATE UNDERSTANDING OF CIRCUIT BOARDS - SUCH AS A HAM RADIO OPERATOR OR A
HARDWARE HACKER.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WE HOPE ALL THE ABOVE DOC'S YOU'VE PRINTED OUT WILL HELP YOU GET THE MOST OUT
OF EXPLODE!. WE'RE SURE SOME OF YOU WILL HAVE QUESTIONS WE HAVE NOT ANSWERED.
IF SO, PLEASE GIVE US A CALL AT 312-851-6667. WE WILL TRY TO ANSWER YOUR UNIQUE
QUESTIONS. WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO HEAR ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING EXPLODE!
AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT - WITHOUT YOU THE USER, WE WOULDN'T EXIST.
THE SOFT GROUP.
ART GRAPHIC TIPS AND HINTS FOR HI-RES AND TEXT SCREENS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
YOUR EXPLODE! CART IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL GRAPHIC/FASTLOAD CARTRIDGES
EVER WRITTEN FOR THE COMMODORE COMPUTER. THE FOLLOWING TEXT WILL GIVE YOU A
THUMBNAIL SKETCH OF VARIOUS TRICKS WHICH CAN BE USED WITH EXPLODE! AND OTHER
SOFTWARE PACKAGES. EXPLODE WILL WORK WITH THE COMMODORE 128 IN 64 MODE.
(1) THE C-128 IS A VERY POWERFUL MACHINE. AS SUCH, IT CAN GENERATE SOME VERY
INTERESTING GRAPHICS AND TEXT. IF YOU ORDERED YOUR EXPLODE! WITH THE OPTIONAL
DISABLE SWITCH ($5.00 EXTRA) YOU WILL BE IN A UNIQUE POSITION TO CAPTURE
GRAPHICS AND TEXT WHILE IN THE 40 COLUMN MODE.
TO CAPTURE ANY SCREEN IN 40 COLUMN MODE, SIMPLY DISABLE EXPLODE! USING
THE SWITCH. LOADUP AND RUN YOUR FAVORITE PROGRAM. WHEN YOU SEE A SCREEN
YOU WOULD LIKE TO CAPTURE DURING LOADING OR WHILE THE PROGRAM IS RUNNING,
SIMPLY ENABLE EXPLODE! USING THE OPTIONAL SWITCH. YOU CAN THEN ACTIVATE
EXPLODE! BY EITHER USING THE CAPTURE/RESET BUTTON ON EXPLODE OR THE BUILT-IN
RESET BUTTON ON THE 128. NOTE: FLIPPING THE SWITCH WILL TURN ON THE 64 MODE
AFTER SCREEN CAPTURE IS COMPLETE.
THE RESULTING 128 SCREEN CAN BE SAVED TO DISK, PRINTED OR CONVERTED (SEE
CONVERT ELSEWHERE IN YOUR DOC'S) INTO A HI-RES SCREEN. HAVE FUN!
(2) EXPLODE! CAN CAPTURE AND UNITE SPLIT SCREENS...SEE SECTION ON SPLIT SCREENS
ELSEWHERE IN YOUR DOC'S. WE OFFER HERE ANOTHER WAY TO UNITE SPLIT SCREENS IF
IT'S A KOALA. CAPTURE THE SAME SCREEN TWICE. ONE SCREEN SHOWING THE UPPER HALF
AND THE OTHER SCREEN SHOWING THE LOWER HALF. THIS WILL MEAN LOADING UP THE SAME
PROGRAM TWICE TO DO THE DOUBLE CAPTURE. USE THE SWAP FEATURE IN KOALA TO
COMBINE THE TWO SCREENS INTO ONE. FOR THE ARTISTS OUT THERE...YOU CAN TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF THE ABOVE FEATURES TO MAKE SOME INCREDIBLE COLLAGE'S!
(3) EXPLODE! CAN CAPTURE AND CONVERT ANY TEXT SCREEN (WITH OR WITHOUT)
CUSTOM R.O.M. INFORMATION, INTO A HI-RES COLORED DOODLE. BECAUSE
OF THIS FEATURE, YOU CAN GRAB A TEXT SCREEN OR A TEXT WITH HI-RES AND
CONVERT BOTH INTO DOODLES. ONCE CONVERTED INTO DOODLES YOU CAN ADD MORE
HI-RES GRAPHICS OR TEXT (IN SAY A FOREIGN LANGUAGE) TO YOUR CONVERTED
SCREENS.
(4) EXPLODE'S UTILITY DISK COMES WITH A PROGRAM CALLED 'NEW DISPLAY V2'.
YOU CAN COPY THIS PROGRAM ONTO ANOTHER DISK (WE SUGGEST IT BE THE FIRST
PROGRAM FILE). WHEN USING NEW DISPLAY V2 ALONG WITH EXPLODE'S ABILITY TO SAVE
TEXT SCREENS AS 9 BLOCK FILES, ONE CAN PUT TOGETHER A UNIQUE TEXT/PICTURE BOOK
ON DISK!
NEW DISPLAY V2 WILL DISPLAY HI-RES OR MULTI-COLOR SCREENS INTERSPERSED WITH
TEXT FILES AND WILL DISPLAY THEM IN SEQUENCE. THIS FEATURE OPENS UP THE
POSSIBLITY FOR A CHILD'S STORY BOOK ON DISK OR A NEW WAY TO ADVERTISE. IT CAN
BE A GREAT WAY ( ON A LARGE SCREEN T.V.) TO GIVE GROUP LECTURES.
(5) EXPLODE CAN BE USED WITH OTHER HARDWARE DEVICES. A PRIME EXAMPLE WOULD
BE A VIDEO DIGITIZER. THE VIDEO DIGITIZER WOULD DISPLAY A SCREEN AND EXPLODE
COULD CAPTURE IT. REMEMBER THAT EXPLODE CONVERTS ALL HI-RES AUTOMATICLY INTO
DOODLES WHICH CAN THEN BE COLORED BY DOODLE.
ANYBODY READY FOR FULL COLOR, DIGITIZED PICTURES? ALSO, DON'T FORGET THAT
YOUR COMMODORE CAN INTERFACE WITH ANY VCR WHICH ALLOWS YOU TO PRODUCE AND TAPE
EXCELLENT HI-RES COLOR TITLE SCREENS FOR YOUR FAVORITE HOME MOVIES OR BUSINESS
INTRO'S. ALL ONE NEEDS IS THE CORRECT PATCH CORDS AND PATIENCE.
ONLY YOUR IMAGINATION IS THE LIMIT WHEN YOU HAVE EXPLODE! AS YOU CAN
SEE FROM THE ABOVE, EXPLODE OPENS A NEW DIMENSION FOR THE COMMODORE USER.
