I don't know if this will go anywhere but I'm very excited! Larry Mears,
creator of the original IGS (Instant Graphics) package for the Atari ST
has resurfaced on DarkForce and is once again working on IGS!
I loaded up v2.17 of the IGS ACC and tested it on the short IGS script
he uploaded to the message base and it worked.
Keeping my fingers crossed as to where this may lead... :)
More from Josh Renaud in a two part article on IGS
Larry uploaded another script and this time I recorded it with my Win10 camera so hopefully the results will be both better and smaller. I also redid the first video.
Both file sizes should fit here now.
PS Anyone know how to lighten the video in the camera app during recording?
Thanks....
Okay, so I went back, reset everything (Serial CPX in the Control Panel, WiModem232) to 9600 baud and the IGS ACC worked fine there. I was able to logon to DarkForce and play the IGS script.
However, to make things confoundingly maddening (as usual), I then reset everything back to 19.2 just for the fun of it (yeah, I really am a glutton for punishment) and of course, everything worked fine.
<rolls eyes>
So the only thing now is the 2 quirks I mentioned before. The compiler for Express won't run and comms programs like TAZ and STalker won't open when the IGS ACC is active. I've reported this to Larry M. so when maybe he can look at those issues when he gets a chance.
I could try moving the WiModem to another serial port but then sometimes you run into that age old problem of older software not finding any port but the original one (and a lot won't let you change). Besides, why would it work fine with the Lantronix UDS10 and not with the WiModem232? That puzzles me...
I've not had any other problems running any other software besides the 2 I mentioned (so far).
Going to experiment some more today, if nothing comes up. I'll work with changing speeds on the WiModem232 and the Control Panel to see if any combo works.
Very Cool Ron, I wonder a couple of things. WIth the megaSTE what about moving the WImodem to another serial port and trying it again. I wonder if the ACC is grabbing the serial somehow and not letting it go, therefore the software that you are running cannot initialize. Hardware wise - only the serial port is what I can think they all have in common.
What about completely unrelated software.. can you run Kobold? can you run ZIP26 or sysinfo etc..
Now I know...people are going to look at this and not be impressed. Look at that script though, it's what, 8 lines? Even with just 8 lines, look what it does. This is no where near what it can do though. Hopefully, we'll see better examples on down the road. If I can find some other script files I'll try to record them and upload them somewhere like Youtube (that 50mb limit here is tough for actual video files).
That's not a criticism Rob. :)
And here is what it looks like running from the DarkForce! BBS via the IGS v2.17 ACC (desk accessory). Apologies for the horrible video - best I could do with a
10 year old camera trying to capture video from an ST monitor...
Here is a screen shot of a short IGS script that Larry Mears uploaded for testing:
Okay, Larry Mears continues to logon and do some things. He's posted an IGS test script, things like that.
Ran into a few things already. With the IGS v2.17 ACC active on my Mega STe, the compiler for BBS Express! ST will not work. It starts, then just drops back to the desktop. As long as the IGS ACC is disabled, it works fine.
The second quirk is more problematic. I had been using the Lantronix UDS10 on the Mega STe but I switched it back out this evening for the WiModem232. With the WiModem232 attached and the IGS v2.17 ACC active, no comms programs I tried will work. TAZ, STalker, etc, all start, show the "busy bee" icon on the desktop, and then fail to progress any further. Again, with the IGS ACC disabled, TAZ and STalker work fine with the WiModem232.
I've not tried changing out speeds yet. I'll probably have to do a marathon testing session with different port speeds on the WiModem232 and the Control Panel. I didn't have to change anything with the Lantronix UDS10.
If anyone else wants to grab the IGS v2.17 ACC and try it with their WiModem232's and ST's, it might be helpful to see if others are getting the same results.
Thanks all.
It's like ATASCII break with color and SOUND. :)
It does - it's a drop down ACC for the ST's, The latest version I have is v2.17 which is what I tested Larry's posted script with.
IGS (or Instant Graphics) was a software suite that took advantage of the Atari ST's VT52 component (or a subset thereof?).
It did some amazing things but never really caught on because the editor was brutal. I mean, it was just plain ugly. I tried to come to grips with it and it made my head hurt. :)
At one point I did adapt an already existing IGS example that came with the archive. When you logged onto DarkForce it showed a dinosaur (Godzilla like?) stomping across the screen in a live, colored animation complete with thunderous footsteps. The text on the backscreen to this read: DarkForce! The MonSTer BBS!,
with a large font.
Really cool looking and sounding. I regret that I can NOT find that file anywhere, even on my backups. Apparently when I gave up on it years ago I really gave up on it and deleted everything. Really kicking myself now about not saving that file somewhere...anywhere... :(
Not sure what this does? Screen shot of the output somehow? Is it something like the ANSI music, but graphics oriented? Or more just like cursor controls?