The Sinclair QL Forum

The main "problem" with the "QL" and all its derivatives, is that it is not an Archimedes, nor an Atari, nor a BBC, nor even a Spectrum. It is a unique machine with a unique operating system that is not DOS, nor Linux, nor IOS. Worst of all, it never even tried to be any of those, despite many people over the years frantically wishing it were otherwise and hoping to change that.

As Einstein supposedly once said: "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." If you want to play games, get an Xbox or whatever floats your boat..

pjw wrote:As Einstein supposedly once said: "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." If you want to play games, get an Xbox or whatever floats your boat..

That's quite harsh and certainly not everybody's opinion.
I gave enough details about why or what for I was asking, politely, some questions.
Everybody can re read.

New machines bring new users with different goals about what they want to use it for, and well that is human diversity, nothing more.

pjw wrote:"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." If you want to play games, get an Xbox or whatever floats your boat..

There are actually fish that are pretty good at climbing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periophthalmus

The Q68 could be one of those. But we don't want it to grow hind legs just yet.

Tobias

Just noticed the name of the thread is quite self-explanatory enough so that people can only read, or post if they are interested by the topic.
I'd say if it is to bash it, you can just let others live their own lives, after all. Peace. And love.

Well said Zarchos,

Any project or programming exercise that showcases the abilities and techniques to get the most out of the Q68 has got to be a worthwhile venture. I think the fact that the QL didn't fit into any particular niche has always been one of the things I liked about it.

The Q68 is something of the unknown, but being FPGA based it has that unknown potential for expansion...

Zarchos wrote:That's quite harsh and certainly not everybody's opinion.
I gave enough details about why or what for I was asking, politely, some questions. Everybody can re read.

New machines bring new users with different goals about what they want to use it for, and well that is human diversity, nothing more.

Sorry, I didnt mean to sound harsh. Just a flash of pent-up irritation over many different things. The clue is in my post above the fish..

The thing is, when I visit the African bush, Im not fussed about the lack of refrigerators or hot showers. I want to explore whats there; How are the people? Whats it like and how do they manage? etc.. Were I entrepreneurial I wouldnt think Hey, what a great place to build a mall or (God forbid) a MacDonald's, but rather How could I make the best of whats here? What the people here want and need - preferably without introducing too much of the insanity and decadence of where I come from.

Having said that, I perfectly understand that there are different approaches, some of which I approve of while others not. Human diversity says that Im entitled to hold that view and express it too, even as a minority of one.

pjw wrote:If you want to play games, get an Xbox or whatever floats your boat..

With that kind of reasoning, every software for the QL could be dismissed, not just games.

I find a new arcade game after so many years a cool thing! Like any major piece of QL software, it seems not very likely to happen, because there are almost no developers. But this "get an Xbox" remark is only discouraging and pointless. Zarchos, please keep up your work, a good number of QLer will appreciate it!

I'm a QL Gamer, it's why I started using one I like all the other stuff it does too though!

pjw wrote:

Zarchos wrote:That's quite harsh and certainly not everybody's opinion.
I gave enough details about why or what for I was asking, politely, some questions. Everybody can re read.

New machines bring new users with different goals about what they want to use it for, and well that is human diversity, nothing more.

Sorry, I didnt mean to sound harsh. Just a flash of pent-up irritation over many different things. The clue is in my post above the fish..

The thing is, when I visit the African bush, Im not fussed about the lack of refrigerators or hot showers. I want to explore whats there; How are the people? Whats it like and how do they manage? etc.. Were I entrepreneurial I wouldnt think Hey, what a great place to build a mall or (God forbid) a MacDonald's, but rather How could I make the best of whats here? What the people here want and need - preferably without introducing too much of the insanity and decadence of where I come from.

Having said that, I perfectly understand that there are different approaches, some of which I approve of while others not. Human diversity says that Im entitled to hold that view and express it too, even as a minority of one.

No issue.
I am not angry at all, just chatting.
I believe the Q68 is something really different from a standard QL : this is simply paying it a tribute (and to its designer) to admit that yes it can have some great, fast arcade games too.(ports or originals).
And sorry if some people thought I made so many references to the Archie, but there are not that many machines sharing the same power, and lack of copros, DMA channels, and so on, and yes including linear screen modes. That makes a lot of very pertinent similarities.
They are alike, even if that can sound strange.
There is no bitterness on my side, so let's keep up thinking about what could be good for the Q68, and work together.
No sarcasm nor irony, I mean it.
I very well understand people who have used the QL only for serious apps or developments will feel uncomfortable with the idea, but again, the Q68 opens brand new opportunities : what a pity it would be to ignore them.
The aim of my questions was to understand exactly what the machine has in its guts, to know which way best algos must focus on ; and yes knowing if a few modifications (maybe easy for the designer, I couldn't know without asking : I don't know anything about Verilog and so on) to the 'core' (not the right term, sorry) was easy is part of the equation. Very simply, and no hidden thoughts behind my queries.
Peace, and love.
Thrilled to know I am going to get my units soon now.