Following the Herd(le)

There is an online word game that's all the rage these days.  I have seen quite a few clones being created for just about every platform imaginable.

I figured this would be a good project to work on for an MCX32-SD equipped MC-10, as the SD card extension would easily accomodate a large dictionary of words.

My version of the game behaves very much like the original. You have six chances to guess a secret word which the computer has chosen at random.

After each guess, letters entered in the correct position are shown with a green background. Letters that are contained in the word but were entered in the wrong position have a yellow background. Letters not contained in the word keep the grid's blue background.

The right side of the display shows the best result acheived thus far for each of the letters in the alphabet.

 

The game uses a dictionary of almost 13,000 five-letter words to validate input from the player.  Of these, there is a sub-set of 2,048 less-esoteric words that may be chosen by the computer as a secret word.

I wanted to use some clever name for the game that had some combination of MC-10 and Wordle, but was unable to come up with anything decent.  So it's just presented as a Wordle clone for the MC-10.

Program Requirements:

• TRS-80 MC-10.
• MCX32-SD expansion unit with MCX Basic 3.1 or later installed.
• SD Card.

 

 

MCX Basic 3.1 Update

Version 3.1 of MCX Basic is now available for download.  This update is mainly to fix bugs that have been reported with version 3.0.

Use the link on the right side of the window to download the installer.

Changes in MCX Basic 3.1:

• Fixed the problem which caused the DIR command to fail with an ?IO ERROR when accessing an Emcee Server.
• Improved compatibility with programs that change the cursor appearance by poking values to address 17026.
• Force the standard green text screen to be activated following a Reset.
• Fixed a problem where using the RUNM command would result in a ?UL ERROR if the machine language program returns to Basic upon exit.
• Enhanced the RENUM utility to recognize relational operator expressions where the left operand is ERRL and the right operand is a line number ( ERRL <=> lineNum ).
• Fixed the problem where a PMODE statement would sometimes result in corrupted string variables.
• Fixed a crash that would occur in PLAY when processing a command string with invalid argument values or syntax.
• Modified the frequency table used by PLAY for producing notes on Alice 32/90 machines (adjusted for the full 1.0 MHz clock rate on these machines).
• Adjusted the default TIMER interval on Alice 32/90 machines for a better approximation of 60 Hz.
• Restored the original size of the console input buffer (127 characters) on Alice 32/90 machines.
• Fixed the Line Editor on Alice 32/90 machines to recognize [Cntrl-3] as LOAD and [Cntrl-4] as SAVE.

MCX32-SD Programmer's Reference

This is the documentation for Assembly Language programmers who want to take advantage of the BIOS routines available on the MCX32-SD.

 

Patch for Server DIR

The first version of the BIOS code in the flash memory of the MCX32-SD contained a bug that prevents the DIR command from working correctly when accessing an Emcee server. 

Any attempt to use a command like DIR 1 to display the contents of a server directory will result in an ?IO ERROR on the MC-10 or Alice.

Click the image above to download a patch for fixing this problem.

 

MCX32-SD Docs

 A User Guide for the MCX32-SD board is now available.

 

User Guide Download Link (pdf)

MCX32-SD

The MCX32-SD is an expansion module for the TRS-80 MC-10 and the Matra Alice 4K/32/90.  It adds 32K static RAM, 128K Flash (16 banks, 8K each) and an SD card socket. The SD card interface is managed by an Atmega328P micro controller.

 

The board is supported by MCX Basic version 3 which is programmed into the Flash memory.  MCX Basic version 3 adds many of the language features found in Extended Color Basic on the Tandy Color Computer (CoCo) along with the I/O commands to manage file storage on the SD card or an Emcee server.

Support for PMODE 3 and 4 graphics modes has been added allowing those with an internal video RAM upgrade to take full advantage.

 

 

The SD card interface supports SD and SDHC cards formatted with either the FAT16 or FAT32 file systems. Limited support for long file names (up to 39 ASCII characters) is included.

File types recognized are:

• Basic programs as ASCII text, C10 emulator files or WAV audio.
• Machine language (binary files) as C10, WAV or CoCo Binary format.
• Basic Array files as C10 or WAV.
• Basic Data files (PRINT#, INPUT#) as ASCII text.
  
• PMODE graphics screens as raw data.
  

Assembly language programmers can utilize a set of BIOS routines to perform general-purpose random access I/O (Open, Close, Alloc, Seek, Read, Write). 

 

Ed Snider (TheZippsterZone) has designed a 3D-printed enclosure for the board and has agreed to take on the task of manufacturing and sales of the product. Availability is expected sometime before the end of 2020.

Further details and documentation to follow as they become available.

A Logical Solution

With a new internal RAM upgrade for the MC-10 having been announced, users of the MCX128 who install this upgrade would need new logic programmed into the GAL chip if they want the added internal RAM to be available for the video display.

Without updating the logic, you can still use the MCX128 on a computer with an internal RAM upgrade but the two highest resolution graphics modes (CG6 and RG6) will remain unable to make use of the bottom third of the screen. 

Previously, a special version of the GAL logic had been made available for computers with the 8K internal RAM modification.  However, this logic prevented proper use of the MCX128 on an unmodified MC-10.

For those with the ability to re-program the GAL chip, a new universal version of the logic is now available that allows the MCX128 to work properly on computers with or without an internal RAM upgrade.

Download Link:

MCX128 Universal Logic