2 replies to this topic

[StephenJ]

Hey programmers,
Sometimes I like to fire up my 2600 just to have it play some of the Attract Mode screens. Some are really impressive. It's kind-of nice having them play, while I may be focusing on other projects, or talking with guests. I've created a menu folder on my Harmony Cartridge of some of the games that have the more impressive Attract-Mode screens. I thought how great it would be if my 2600 could automatically scroll through this folder of games...letting each program run for a user-determined amount of time, before moving to the next.

Does anyone think this is possible?

Thanks,
StephenJ

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I don't think so, since Harmony has no control over a game once it has been started.

[bcombee]

Actually, I posted on this topic a few weeks ago, thinking about a demo mode.

My idea would be to have the ARM code that implements bank switching also implement a timer. After so many seconds, the ARM core on the Harmony would just start injecting JMP instructions into the stream for 1/20th of a second to reset execution to the start of the cart, the would start with the new cart code. There might have to be some other reset logic, although most games do all the needed clearing/setting on startup.

If I had access to the Harmony firmware, I'd look into the idea, but for now, it would be up to Fred & company to implement.