R/+RVG1

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R/+RVG1

This website contains an archive of files for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64 computers, which Dominic Ford has rescued from his private collection of floppy disks and cassettes.

Some of these files were originally commercial releases in the 1980s and 1990s, but they are now widely available online. I assume that copyright over them is no longer being asserted. If you own the copyright and would like files to be removed, please contact me.

Tape/disk:	Home » Personal collection » Acorn ADFS disks » Electron_User_Group » EUG_56.ADF
Filename:	R/+RVG1
Read OK:	✔
File size:	153F bytes
Load address:	52204556
Exec address:	56522B2E

Duplicates

There are 2 duplicate copies of this file in the archive:

AEW website » eug » eug_3_5_discs_Eug-56_A-EUG56.adf » R/+RVG1
AEW website » eug » eug_5_25_discs_Eug-56_D-EUG56.dsd » R.+RVG1
Personal collection » Acorn ADFS disks » Electron_User_Group » EUG_56.ADF » R/+RVG1

File contents

           The ACORN ELECTRON: A Feature From RETROGAMES #3
             Compiled with help from 8BS, EUG and SOLINET

The Acorn Electron
==================
IF you love your old 8-bits then having a boxed, clean and fully working
model of the Acorn Electron computer tends to be very desirable. Not
only does it support the BBC BASIC language and the 6502 processor, but
it sports a small, neat, beige keyboard, real keys and almost infinite
possibilities for its upgrade.
   Released in 1983, the Acorn Electron retailed at `200. A 32K machine 
with its own official (and identically coloured) datacorder, it connects
to any television/monitor and boasted on its box it can run numerous 
'legally written' BBC games. Its debut appearance in shop windows put it
beside the Spectrum 48K, Amstrad, BBC A 16K, BBC B 32K and MSX machines.
Nevertheless demand for it was surprisingly high and this took its manu-
facturers, ACORN, rather by surprise.
   Debateably, WHY it sold so well was down to high street trickery. Its
price tag made it one of the cheapest machines on the market and its 
claims regarding BBC software gave salesmen a lot of scope for exagger-
ation. BBC machines were, at that time, held in very high regard by 
parents of school children, as well as the pupils themselves. In schools
up and down the UK, brats were encouraged to play high-resolution disk
software (such as MAGIC GARDEN) with a sound educational base. The BBC
machine itself also frequently appeared on BBC TV programs (Where else?)
connected to various gadgets on TOMORROW'S WORLD. Parents, nagged for it
by their offspring and considering it a good investment due to these
endorsements, found themselves in Dixons looking between its `400 price
tag and the `200 one of the Elk. The salesman, doubtless on occasion
claiming FULL compatibilty of software between the two, easily persuaded
them to take the Electron instead.
   This is not to say that the shortcomings of the Elk are not obvious.
That it has no joystick or printer port, no network connector and no 
disk extension socket (all of which are almost standard on the BBC) can
be gleaned by a cursory inspection. Less obviously, ACORN sacrificed a
screen display method on the Electron, the infamous "teletext" mode 
(which used internal hardware to display text and 'block' graphics like
"teletext" televisions) and cut the sound capabilities down to one
channel. There are also other major internal modifications, and speed of
program execution is reduced by them.
   The result was that BBC programs did have to be re-coded to work on
an Electron. Those raved-about educational programs, with very few 
exceptions, all required the "teletext" mode and refused to run. Also,  
the "teletext" mode on the BBC required only 1k of memory; the nearest
compatible mode on the Electron required 8k. Add to this that most pro-
fessional BBC titles were 'illegally' coded and compatibility becomes
very dubious indeed.
   Despite these setbacks, a "nice" range of software began to appear 
for the Elk user. ACORNSOFT, ACORN's software subsiduary, converted all
of its classic titles (ARCADIANS, BOXER, HOPPER, SNAPPER, etc) and sold
them all in impressive huge boxes (at quite huge prices!). It went on to
develop tape-based extension languages too. FORTH, LISP, LOGO, PASCAL 
and TURTLE GRAPHICS arrived the following year and showed just what
amazing things could be achieved on the Elk with just a few lines of 
code.
   Third party companies also got to work, either by making sure their
future releases were Electron-compatible, re-coding the earlier version
(if possible) or releasing a new separate Elk version. Some companies 
also began manufacturing hardware extensions while three magazines,
ACORN PROGRAMS, ELBUG and ELECTRON USER, appeared and offer a vast array
of 'cheapy' "type them in yourself and spend ages ironing out the bugs"
programs in exchange for just `1.00 per month.
   However, despite the high demand, fewer people got an Electron than
wanted one that first year. (These third party hardware extensions and
early magazine issues are almost impossible to find now!) And almost 
immediately afterwards, the press backlash against the UK computing 
industry began. Poor ACORN got themselves in a real jam by pandering to
the early demand and producing warehouses full of Elks for the next 
year. They also set to work on their own 'official' extensions to it and
produced the Plus 1 expansion (a joystick port, printer port and two ROM
cartridge extensions), the Plus 3 (an ADFS drive system) and a small
number of companion disks and ROM cartridges.
   The Plus 1, a box the same width as the Electron, was an instant hit.
As ACORNSOFT had included joystick routines in all of its conversions in
contemplation of its release, all their games could now be played from 
the armchair. But it didn't appear completely without incident: two 
third parties had already produced their own joystick interfaces and 
some popular games (such as the FELIX series and GUNSMOKE) needed a 
FIRST-BYTE interface, not an ACORN one. As only one could be fitted at a
time, this meant swapping interfaces around and effectively, the third
parties were forced out of business. Also, loading games from tape in a
particular screen display mode was impossible when it was connected!

This article continued in R.+RVG2. First published RETROGAMES #3. Repub-
lished with permission in EUG #56.

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00000010  43 4f 52 4e 20 45 4c 45  43 54 52 4f 4e 3a 20 41  |CORN ELECTRON: A|
00000020  20 46 65 61 74 75 72 65  20 46 72 6f 6d 20 52 45  | Feature From RE|
00000030  54 52 4f 47 41 4d 45 53  20 23 33 0d 20 20 20 20  |TROGAMES #3.    |
00000040  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 43 6f 6d 70 69 6c 65  |         Compile|
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00000090  3d 3d 3d 3d 3d 3d 3d 3d  3d 3d 3d 3d 0d 49 46 20  |============.IF |
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00000b80  75 62 69 6f 75 73 20 69  6e 64 65 65 64 2e 0d 20  |ubious indeed.. |
00000b90  20 20 44 65 73 70 69 74  65 20 74 68 65 73 65 20  |  Despite these |
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00001520  65 64 20 77 69 74 68 20  70 65 72 6d 69 73 73 69  |ed with permissi|
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