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Writing a colour terminal emulator (vt220/ansi) for 8-bit A2 [message #246717] Sun, 09 March 2014 03:56 Go to next message
ajross.nz is currently offline  ajross.nz
Messages: 29
Registered: August 2013
Karma: 0
Junior Member
Hi All,

I've searched for a terminal emulator for the Apple 2 (8 bit machines
specifically) that provide colour terminal emulation.

I have looked at Spectrum which I am sure is a fine emulator but from
what I hear it's a bit slow and requires a 2GS with a whole heap of
memory. I have a 2GS but only 1MB RAM, besides I still like the purity
of my 8 bit //e. I currently use ProTerm on this machine which only
supports VT100.

Unless anyone knows of a disk image of a VT220 or ANSI compatible comms
program for an 8-bit, I wonder how difficult this task would be? I've
been looking for a reason to properly learn 6502 assembly for the
longest time and I've got Merlin-Pro all set up. I use my Raspberry Pi
every day on my A2CLOUD but I long for some colour and some slightly
faster, reliable emulation (perhaps up to speeds of 19200 bps).

So, hopeless quest or is this a do-able feat? Would I have to learn all
the nuances of vt220 or ANSI as well as how to drive the SSC and
equivalents?

Thanks,

Alistair
Re: Writing a colour terminal emulator (vt220/ansi) for 8-bit A2 [message #246810 is a reply to message #246717] Sun, 09 March 2014 23:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Chris Torrence

On Sunday, March 9, 2014 12:56:20 AM UTC-7, Alistair Ross wrote:
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> I've searched for a terminal emulator for the Apple 2 (8 bit machines
>
> specifically) that provide colour terminal emulation.
>
>
>
> I have looked at Spectrum which I am sure is a fine emulator but from
>
> what I hear it's a bit slow and requires a 2GS with a whole heap of
>
> memory. I have a 2GS but only 1MB RAM, besides I still like the purity
>
> of my 8 bit //e. I currently use ProTerm on this machine which only
>
> supports VT100.
>
>
>
> Unless anyone knows of a disk image of a VT220 or ANSI compatible comms
>
> program for an 8-bit, I wonder how difficult this task would be? I've
>
> been looking for a reason to properly learn 6502 assembly for the
>
> longest time and I've got Merlin-Pro all set up. I use my Raspberry Pi
>
> every day on my A2CLOUD but I long for some colour and some slightly
>
> faster, reliable emulation (perhaps up to speeds of 19200 bps).
>
>
>
> So, hopeless quest or is this a do-able feat? Would I have to learn all
>
> the nuances of vt220 or ANSI as well as how to drive the SSC and
>
> equivalents?
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Alistair

I don't want to be a naysayer, but I'm not sure this would look very good. Doing pure text in hi-res graphics usually ends up looking bad, unless your text is pretty large.

I guess I'm okay with the way that some of the terminal programs use inverse characters for "highlighting" - that's "close enough" to color for me. :-)

-Chris
Re: Writing a colour terminal emulator (vt220/ansi) for 8-bit A2 [message #246880 is a reply to message #246717] Mon, 10 March 2014 14:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Warren Ernst is currently offline  Warren Ernst
Messages: 65
Registered: May 2013
Karma: 0
Member
On Saturday, March 8, 2014 11:56:20 PM UTC-8, Alistair Ross wrote:
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> I've searched for a terminal emulator for the Apple 2 (8 bit machines
>
> specifically) that provide colour terminal emulation.
>
>
>
> I have looked at Spectrum which I am sure is a fine emulator but from
>
> what I hear it's a bit slow and requires a 2GS with a whole heap of
>
> memory. I have a 2GS but only 1MB RAM, besides I still like the purity
>
> of my 8 bit //e. I currently use ProTerm on this machine which only
>
> supports VT100.
>
>
>
> Unless anyone knows of a disk image of a VT220 or ANSI compatible comms
>
> program for an 8-bit, I wonder how difficult this task would be? I've
>
> been looking for a reason to properly learn 6502 assembly for the
>
> longest time and I've got Merlin-Pro all set up. I use my Raspberry Pi
>
> every day on my A2CLOUD but I long for some colour and some slightly
>
> faster, reliable emulation (perhaps up to speeds of 19200 bps).
>
>
>
> So, hopeless quest or is this a do-able feat? Would I have to learn all
>
> the nuances of vt220 or ANSI as well as how to drive the SSC and
>
> equivalents?
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Alistair

So here's the problem: you're looking to combine 80-column text AND color text. There's no colors in standard 8-bit Apple II 80-column text mode, so you're gonna have to use a graphics mode. Standard Hi-Res doesn't have enough resolution to do color 80-column text, and I doubt Double Hi-Res does either.(DHGR has enough resolution in Monochrome, but there goes the colors.) Super HGR can do it, which is why you see it on a IIGS.

Then there's the issue of how to display it on an 8-bit machine. Most folks with 80-columns have a green-screen (monochrome) monitor, so even if you generated color, a lot of folks couldn't see it.

Food for thought,
Warr
Re: Writing a colour terminal emulator (vt220/ansi) for 8-bit A2 [message #246895 is a reply to message #246880] Mon, 10 March 2014 14:35 Go to previous message
Sean Fahey is currently offline  Sean Fahey
Messages: 400
Registered: October 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On Monday, March 10, 2014 1:00:31 PM UTC-5, Warren Ernst wrote:

> Then there's the issue of how to display it on an 8-bit machine. Most folks with 80-columns have a green-screen (monochrome) monitor, so even if you generated color, a lot of folks couldn't see it.


Not sure that's the case today with most retro-enthusiasts.
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