PocketOric homepage

Nothing to do with PocketOric this time. In downloads you can find a special release of FModCE, the "mods" player. I added a playlist functionality which enable to play automatically a song list.

04/07/2002

Euphoric down ?

The link for downloading Euphoric, the Oric emulator for PC seems to be broken. I add a version of Euphoric in Downloads. There is also the Atmos Basic.

04/06/2002

Screenshots !

I add some screenshots of various games. See the link Screenshots.

04/02/2002

Thank you !

First, I'd like to thank all who have sent me such kind messages following the startup of this site.
I've replaced the original game with "l'Aigle d'or" (Golden Eagle), which is easier for our english friends to play.
I've added a link to the two GAPI dlls from Microsoft (to be placed in the Windows directory).
I've translated the "Lisezmoi.txt" file to the "Readme.txt" in the PocketOric archive.
I've attempted to put together this english version of this site.

04/03/2002

PocketOric 0.1, the neverending story ?

Hello everybody! In the title of this paragraph I acknolewdge Jonathan Haworth's book of the same name, still available on Fabrice Francès site's. (Thank you too, Fabrice for Euphoric, the first and only truly 100% Oric emulator, which runs even on a 486 ! I also thank Fabrice Broche for his excelllllllent book "L'Oric à nu" (The naked Oric ;-)). Jonathan's book details the history of this english computer, which was more successful in France than in its original country. As we say in France - "Nobody is a prophet in his own country" ! ...

First version:
I always dreamt of having a portable Oric. The first version I envisaged was composed of a true Oric computer, a programmable memory containing some games and a mini colour LCD screen. But, I never had the time to make it a reality. (On this subject, have a look at Benjamin J Heckendorn's interesting site).

Gameboy version:
Later, I came up with the idea of using a Gameboy. The C development kit was easily available, so I began some tests. After a few attempts, I quickly discovered a serious lack of power. The clock of the Gameboy is 4 MHz whereas Oric was 1 MHz; this ratio being far too low for any emulator. Also, the "tiles" system which makes up the screen of the Gameboy was too limited. Therefore I felt I had no option but to give up on this version...
(However, with the coming of the Gameboy Advance, it may well worth another try...)

Palm version:
Two years ago, I discovered the Palm. After using it as a Diary-Notepad-Contacts-eBook (aaahh, Jules Verne in black and green, on a screen of 10 lines, those evenings in the train, with the sound of the backlighting, which enabled me to continue reading even during a power failure !), I came up with the idea of a Oric emulator.
I got the C development kit provided by Palm. I reused a 6502 engine (the Oric 8 bits microprocessor) and very soon I had a first functional version. In spite of some initial setbacks (ah, the "chunks" limited to 64 KB !): Palmoric was born!
Unfortunately, this version was still too slow. I then decided to try a 68000 assembler version (the Palm 16/32 bits microprocessor). But then it became quite complicated. In addition, the black and green screen of Palm was pretty poor quality and the sound quite inadequate. My hopes were raised with the release of the Palm color, which looked as if it might lead to the philosopher's stone...

For those who wish to look further into the project, the executables and the sources can be found in the downloads section, . The Oric Basic must be made of 4 text files of 8 KB containing the hexa code (" 4C59EA4C7... ").
Do let me know how you get on, so I can pass the information on to others !

Pocket PC version:
... 206 MHz, a TFT backlit color screen, a development kit based on Windows, Pocket PC seemed to be the solution. But the start with Windows CE was disappointing... Then, things changed ! Windows CE 3, alias Pocket PC, is a complete "rewrite" by Microsoft. Simple, fast, it competes with Palm OS, without however profiting from such an effective Graffiti system.
I ordered the C++ development kit from Microsoft in the form of a CD (I've received it in less than a week!). Reusing the famous 6502 engine from the Palmoric, I was away !! Adding some interrupts, a few Gapi direct screen and keyboard accesses, and some samples for the (rudimentary) sound - et voilà !!

Results: speed ! 50 frames/second (!), colour, sound (still rudimentary) and a great compatibility with the majority of the games, even those in machine code (!!).

Now, to complete it all, I need to - sort out a way of saving the state of the emulator to be able to reload a game in progress, - improve the fidelity of the sound (but, in the train, I stop it or I listen to MP3, therefore this is not a priority), - and to perfect the keyboard emulation...

Now, I invite you to discover the beta 0.1 release. This version brings you the terrors of the "Manor of Doctor Genius" (The evil dwarf who stabs you at the most unexpected moment), the "Mystery of Kikekankoi" and its hidden city, and the "Golden Eagle," a precursor to Tomb Raider ;-)

Can anyone explain to me how to use the sound output on Pocket PC in C to emulate Oric sound ? I've tried with "wav" but with limited success.

In order to enable you to test the emulator immediately, I've provided Oric1 Basic and a game. If this causes a copyright problem for the author or the editor, just mail me and I will withdraw them immediately

EdL