Apple II

I'm entering the "Retro Challenge - Summer 2014" contest just for fun and to be motivated to finish a lot of projects I've had almost complete for some time now.

I'm going to try to post daily progress on a number of Apple II related projects. I'll post a lot of code on my site and on github. I'll be trying to finish an iPad version of my 65xx CPU reference app. There will be lots of demos, and maybe a game or two. I might even go so far as to do my first PCB etching for a retro hardware project. Stay tuned to this page for daily updates!! *fingers crossed*

UPDATE: I've released a new version with support for the Apple IIc and a Mono "green screen" mode

I have always wanted a thumbstick for Apple II gaming. It's the form factor we are all more accustomed to these days. Also, Apple II joysticks on eBay are typically overpriced and who knows how much wear-and-tear. So I finally got around to learning some practical electronics to build my own. I ordered some thumbsticks, capacitors, resitors, potentiometers and buttons and using some online resources, built my own joystick!

I went to KansasFest 2013 and we had a special guest. Woz came to town and hung out with us for 3 days! He was so incredibly nice. We all got to hear his famous stories, and some we'd never heard before, all from his mouth. As if that wasn't enough, we also had Apple employee #6, Randy Wiggington. He was also super nice. They signed many autographs (including my Apple IIe Platinum case) and took many photos with us. The nerd love was strong.

Oh yeah, I also did a presentation and learned lots of cool stuff. :)

Happy Holidays everyone. Here's my latest assembly demo for Apple II.

Sorry, that vid isn't very good, there are some sound synchronization issues due to the capture method via emulator... but you should run it on real hardware anyway, right? ;)

You can download the source code and a bootable disk image version of this at https://github.com/digarok/festro

I decided as a birthday present to myself that I would finally get an older Apple II computer. I have a couple of old IIgs'es I play with regularly these days as well a IIc that was missing the power brick. I did the whole "items wanted" thing on Craigslist in hopes that someone nearby would sell me one on the cheap.