[atari7800] Re: 7800 DLI stuff

At 10:29 PM 11/19/03 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi Eric,
> 
>> Can anyone else think of useful things to do with a 7800 DLI?
>
>Hmmm...does it happen at the same time each line? If not could you use it
>for a random number seed since the 7800 doesn't have a random number
>generator. Then again I would be addressing the timer registers which would
>slow down the processor. Oh well...just a thought.
>
>Take care,
>Dennis
>

Hmm... this made me think about wiring some hardware to the carts.  I know
that Pitfall 2 needed to update the DPC frequently (every other scanline or
so) in order to generate music.  With the Atari 7800 having a frame buffer,
such real-time updates may not be as feasible due to DMA running.  Maybe
this is how they kept the sound sort of crisp for the opening screen of Jinks.

Then there's always the option of hooking up a modem, and strobing it close
based on a real-time schedule, but that may be getting out of hand. :)
Just trying to brainstorm.

Regards,
-John K. Harvey

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