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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : PicoMite Fun with VT100 terminal
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Martin H. Guru  Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 903 |
Since I didn't have a Pico with graphical capabilities available for the time over Easter, so only my laptop and a "naked" Raspberry Pico, I have dealt a little with the possibilities of the display in the terminal window. Since I've already been asked several times to add the monster to my 3D Maze, I've gone on a search. I found a well documented source code of the ZX classic 3D Monster Maze and an overview of the game mechanics So what could be more obvious (or because I like to torture myself) than to try to adapt the game to the VT graphics.  The "TERMINAL" font contains a few graphic symbols. Since these are very limited, I decided that each character is composed of 2 characters. Some ZXsymbols are still couldn't bee done, but in my opinion you can get over that. so this is, what i got so far... VTMaze08.zip What is still missing? *Rex is immobile and harmless in the game, so he just stands around (like me) in the way *The exit is placed but not yet drawn or considered. *You can only end the game with Ctrl&C. So I still have to write the animation for the exit, the game mechanics for Rex (he's only half as fast as the player, but keeps running even if the player doesn't move) But have Fun with the Game so far. Cheers Martin Edited 2024-04-06 18:31 by Martin H. Footnote added 2024-04-08 00:18 by Martin H. 3D Monster Maze in Terminal 'no comment |
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thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3848 |
Well done Martin, I look forward to seeing a completed version. Best wishes, Tom Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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| twofingers Guru Joined: 02/06/2014 Location: GermanyPosts: 1133 |
@Martin, looks good! I'm amazed that something like this can be achieved with VT100. I miss a navigation aid. Something like a direction display (N-E--S-W) or an optional map might help. Kind regards Michael |
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| Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 903 |
Hi Michael this wouldn't be hard to incorporate but it's part of the difficulty of the game, you have no map view and no compass, the only thing you know is that you start in the southeast, facing weat, and Rex starts in the north. ;-) Cheers Martin 'no comment |
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| twofingers Guru Joined: 02/06/2014 Location: GermanyPosts: 1133 |
Too bad, then I'm lost.  |
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| Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 903 |
Next level Rex now tries to catch you, but doesn't hurt you yet (for debug reasons) ... So you can (still) simply walk through him. Have fun. Martin VTMaze09.zip Intro  Gameplay  Gotyou  Edited 2024-04-07 23:44 by Martin H. 'no comment |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 3550 |
Hi Martin, My VT100 screens look like normal ascii characters, not.the block graphics in your screenshots. Putty. I will try teraterm later today. Volhout Edited 2024-04-08 15:20 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 903 |
Good Morning Harm, For the correct representation, pay attention that your terminal program uses a font that contains the graphic symbols in the range above 128. Especially CHR 176-178, 219, 220 and 223 are important here. I Use a Font called TERMINAL  Cheers Martin 'no comment |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 3550 |
Hi Martin, On teraterm I selected "Terminal" font, and now it looks the same. On Putty I have tried several fonts (i.e. Monospace, Ubuntu Mono, Fixed, Courier), but none give the same result as teraterm. The "Mono" fonts do show some graphical characters, but they do not have the contrast (black versus grey). I'll try somemore later today. Regards, Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 903 |
Same as my Hardcopys or same as before? could it be that your Terminal use 7 Bit Coding or no VT100 Emulation?  btw: I have adapted the key query and changed/extended the logic of Rex a little. Now only the exit, the game over sequence and the warnings Messages are missing. Edited 2024-04-08 19:08 by Martin H. 'no comment |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 3550 |
Hi Martin, Teraterm, with font "Terminal" gives the same as the pictures you posted. So it is correct. Putty with 10+ fonts I tried gives either text, or it gives graphics, but the graphical symbols are different. I.e. the black blocks and the grey blocks all look the same (grey). I also googled about graphical symbols and putty and vt100, and saw several hints to settings in Putty that could be changed, but neither of them solved the problem (data encoding, translation, etc..). I think it is imply a different implementation of the graphics symbols in these fonts. I also looked for the "Terminal" font for Putty, but could not find any reference, nor a way to import it into putty. I guess it does not work in Putty. I may try Minicom tonight. Maybe that works.... Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| twofingers Guru Joined: 02/06/2014 Location: GermanyPosts: 1133 |
Hi Martin, If I remember correctly, in the original the approach of the T-Rex was announced through messages!?? My baud rate is 115200:  You got a private message. Kind regards Michael |
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| thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3848 |
Bizarrely enough look to put your terminal/console in a font for "Code page 862 (Hebrew language)" as this should include the correct graphics characters: https://www.ascii-codes.com/cp862.html Best wishes, Tom Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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| thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3848 |
... or for that matter Cp437. In PuTTY (untested) this may be via the Window->Translation->Remote character set setting. Good luck, Tom Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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| Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 903 |
:-) this is just to show, what could be done with a sinple Picomite without any hardware extensions. So just buy a 2,95$ clone from ali express, flash Picomite and store the Basic Program and you are ready to play.  When everything is ready, I plan to convert this for Game*Mite and VGA as well (would Take a couple of Days couse I have to "redraw" everything). I have already built a customized ZX character set, with all ZX character and 4 additional symbols for diagonally split characters (for the lines of the walls).  Font_ZX2.zip But one thing at a time. Edited 2024-04-08 21:19 by Martin H. 'no comment |
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| Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 903 |
Michael, You are right, the messages appear in line 24, i.e. at the bottom of the screen. These messages are already included in the code, but I have not yet built in a sub-routine do show them. Here I try to orientate again on the explanation of the original game, when which message should appear. I also created the Sub for the Maze after this explanation.. and it took me 3 attempts  until it worked like it does on the ZX81 (only much faster).Cheers Martin 'no comment |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 3550 |
Tried CP437 -> no change... Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 903 |
Many small changes and I have now added the message display. Determining the distance works (thank you pythagoras). It is still missing to determine whether he is in a straight line with no Wall Blocks to the player(REX HAS SEEN YOU) and the warnings that he is next to or behind the player.I have also not yet implemented the time-controlled hiding of messages if the status does not change. But that shouldn't be the problem  I have the coordinates of Rex and the player displayed for checking, but I will remove this in the final version. VTMaze_wip.zip Have fun testing Martin Yes I know, when you are eaten by Rex he jumps back and forth, this is because his coordinates are the same as yours, so neither bigger nor smaller. This is where the 2nd method comes in, that he looks for a random path if he can't find a direction. But that doesn't matter, because the game is normally over then. Edited 2024-04-09 01:51 by Martin H. 'no comment |
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| thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3848 |
This works for me: Ubuntu 23.10 (mantic) PuTTY 0.78 Window->Fonts->Font used for ordinary text: Courier New Window->Translation->Remote character set: CP437 Window->Override with UTF-8 if locale say so: unchecked <-- may not be necessary The only issue is narrow white horizontal lines between each row ... and that PuTTY keeps crapping out, but I think that's just PuTTY. Best wishes, Tom Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 3550 |
Hi Tom, I think I found the culprit. I am running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS at home. And the latest version of putty for ubuntu 20.04 is 0.73.2 Version 0.73 does not have Courier font. On my work I run 22.04 LTS and that one has Courier font. I will try your proposal tomorrow. This is what it looks like with the available font (i.e. server.fixed). But I will experiment a bit more...  EDIT: It is the color setting: Window->Colour: change Default Foreground to 255,255,255 Then select font 8x16, 10x20 or 12x24, these fonts do not show the white lines...  Volhout Edited 2024-04-09 05:59 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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