Multitasking

[Monk]

nope no sarcasm. i really do love computers that much. ^_^
i would have loved to see them go from sub 100MHz procs with 40MB (or smaller) hdds to the 3.3GHz hexacore procs and 2TB hdds (i've even heard tell of 3TB hdds) we have today

I started with a ZX81 and a 3.25MHz processor (according to quick research on the net). IMHO it HAS been a wild trip to reach the current stage - and I well remember my "Lucky" 20MB NEC hard drive (A dinky half height 5.25"!). That had an auto-parking head that audibly "clunked" into a safe zone when power was removed, so that the platters were protected from damage when the computer was moved. Ah, those were the days...

 

[juniorm33]

when I read Deyna's post it made me feel so old, just thought wow that's such a high spec to what I had, and that's what he thinks is low/the start
:lol:

 

[Monk]

when I read Deyna's post it made me feel so old, just thought wow that's such a high spec to what I had, and that's what he thinks is low/the start
:lol:

I know what you mean - I mean, I didn't even get in on the beginning, with kits that you built at home before computers were even available in the shops. I missed that whole scene! I'm TOO YOUNG I tell you!!!

 

[Prometheus]

Deyna, you're making all of us feel old. :lol:

I started off with a Commodore 64, when I was about six years old, which had a 0.985MHz CPU! (The NTSC C64 apparently runs at 1.023MHz, but I'm in a PAL region. ) I also used the BBC Model B computers which populated most British schools, which ran at 2MHz. There were no hard disk drives - games were loaded from cassette tapes, or if you could afford it, the more-expensive floppy disk drive (five and a quarter, with the consistency of thin card).

It certainly has been interesting seeing computers develop and change - but it's also been sad to see the "personality" and sense of community lost over time. (It's nice to see that the Pandora has both. )

 

[funkyarif]

Deyna, you're making all of us feel old. :lol:

I started off with a Commodore 64, when I was about six years old, which had a 0.985MHz CPU! (The NTSC C64 apparently runs at 1.023MHz, but I'm in a PAL region. ) I also used the BBC Model B computers which populated most British schools, which ran at 2MHz. There were no hard disk drives - games were loaded from cassette tapes, or if you could afford it, the more-expensive floppy disk drive (five and a quarter, with the consistency of thin card).

It certainly has been interesting seeing computers develop and change - but it's also been sad to see the "personality" and sense of community lost over time. (It's nice to see that the Pandora has both. )

Have to admit i miss the good old days of C64s and amigas ....Games were so much better and there was more creativity in the way that games were made ....If u look at what they programmed in those days to what we have now i do feel something has been lost in translation over the years....Its not all about graphics and FMV but pure fun ...which is what i hope the pandora will bring back to the masses. Amigas could even multitask way better then a pc could back then...but sometimes the in life the better technology ends up being 2nd best.

At least a good old communities like us pandorians will survives and will carry on the flame for future generations .....

Cannon fodder here i come..........

Okay i am feeling old now

 

[SomeGuy99]

Don't worry, I'm old too. My first computer was a BBC Micro!

All you Spectrum and C64 kids were living in the dark ages frankly. B)

 

[Prometheus]

Don't worry, I'm old too.

Too?! You old fogey. Not all of us are old!

 

[SomeGuy99]

Don't worry, I'm old too.

Too?! You old fogey. Not all of us are old!

Well, I've gotten to the age where I start to think I'm old. In another ten years, this will seem laughable... and another ten years after that... but i'm on the 'Feeling old' train now, even if I've just left the station.

It happened when a teenager asked me in a conversation "Who's Mr T?". The whole world changed for me that day.

 

[Asiyura]

Well, I've gotten to the age where I start to think I'm old. In another ten years, this will seem laughable... and another ten years after that... but i'm on the 'Feeling old' train now, even if I've just left the station.

It happened when a teenager asked me in a conversation "Who's Mr T?". The whole world changed for me that day.

OUCH!
Got the same feeling few years ago, when all the price reductions in train/bus/etc stopped.

 

[Deyna]

Deyna, you're making all of us feel old. :lol:

I started off with a Commodore 64, when I was about six years old, which had a 0.985MHz CPU! (The NTSC C64 apparently runs at 1.023MHz, but I'm in a PAL region. ) I also used the BBC Model B computers which populated most British schools, which ran at 2MHz. There were no hard disk drives - games were loaded from cassette tapes, or if you could afford it, the more-expensive floppy disk drive (five and a quarter, with the consistency of thin card).

It certainly has been interesting seeing computers develop and change - but it's also been sad to see the "personality" and sense of community lost over time. (It's nice to see that the Pandora has both. )

hmh ok i'll shut up now XD
although if its any consolation i'm REALLY feeling my age now and my god i'm young :lol:

 

[Prometheus]

Haha. It's always good to see someone taking an interest rather than simply regarding computers as soulless "appliances" (as opposed to complicated equipment), I must say.

 

[Pleng]

Haha. It's always good to see someone taking an interest rather than simply regarding computers as soulless "appliances"

Huh? When did computers get souls?! That's quite spooky!

 

[Deyna]

Haha. It's always good to see someone taking an interest rather than simply regarding computers as soulless "appliances"

Huh? When did computers get souls?! That's quite spooky!

oh round about the time of the C64 i'd say

 

[Exophase]

It happened when a teenager asked me in a conversation "Who's Mr T?". The whole world changed for me that day.

Frankly, I pity that fool.

 

[Asiyura]

Have to admit i miss the good old days of C64s and amigas ....Games were so much better and there was more creativity in the way that games were made ....If u look at what they programmed in those days to what we have now i do feel something has been lost in translation over the years....Its not all about graphics and FMV but pure fun ...which is what i hope the pandora will bring back to the masses. Amigas could even multitask way better then a pc could back then...but sometimes the in life the better technology ends up being 2nd best.

At least a good old communities like us pandorians will survives and will carry on the flame for future generations .....

Cannon fodder here i come..........

Okay i am feeling old now

You forgot Chaos Engine, Deuteros, Gobal Effect (I don't quite remember that game, but it's linked to good times in my memory ) and many other games…
But yeah, games where more creative, less "if it's eye candy, it'll sell".

 

[SomeGuy99]

It happened when a teenager asked me in a conversation "Who's Mr T?". The whole world changed for me that day.

Frankly, I pity that fool.

I laughed, thank you.

 

[hch]

yeah, things were different when you had to know every byte of the zero page by heart. and when a well-placed poke threw you from text into graphics mode....

but when fully in nostalgia mode, i always get reminded how hard i tried those days to speed up my code just that tiny little bit to make it bearable. sure it was fun, but in the way you watch a baby grow up over time. it would definitely suck today to be stuck with early 80's electronics.

but one thing is fore sure: games were better back then. i think just simply because almost everyone with a computer could sit down and code them up. by todays standards almost everything was 'homebrew'. if people are happy with 24*21 sprites instead of gigabytes of textures - that leaves much more room for creativity. actually, it demands creativity.

oh, well...

 

[bce23w]

but one thing is fore sure: games were better back then. i think just simply because almost everyone with a computer could sit down and code them up. by todays standards almost everything was 'homebrew'. if people are happy with 24*21 sprites instead of gigabytes of textures - that leaves much more room for creativity. actually, it demands creativity.

oh, well...

I hear you had a million rootin' tootin' games. :rolleyes:

If there were more games being made back then, then I agree that there were more better-than-average games being made. That's just math(s)! But I'm not sure I agree with the premise: there have been all sorts of improvements to small scale development process and distribution. Look at the TIGsource forums or a klik'n'play circle: games are raining from the freaking sky these days. There are at least three dead simple game-centered dev frameworks for flash alone, and games you make with that can be embedded on almost any website and played by millions of people in the time it took me to write this sentence.

I think there are many, many, many more games being made today than 20 or 30 years ago.

But whatever the case, it's a bit of a moot point: we can still play all of the old games, too. In fact, thanks to the benefit of hindsight, the cream rises to the top, and we can even play only the best of the old games. Which is definitely a point in the classics' favor (though also maybe a reason they may seem better on average ).

 

[Deyna]

I hear you had a million rootin' tootin' games. :rolleyes:

i loled
:lol: