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On 9/24/19 1:32 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoft com> wrote:
>
>> I wrote a maze generator for the Atari VCS / 6502 :)
>> 1KB of ROM and 128 bytes of funky-RAM (read address was different than
>> the write address)
>>
https://archive.org/details/atari_2600_tunnel_runner_black_box_1983_cbs_electronics_richard_k._balaska_jr._an#
>
>
> And exactly how old were you when you wrote THAT?
22.
>
> And how did you get it coded onto a commercial ROM cartridge for the Atari
> system?
A friend of a friend (who turned out to be the Stu in my musical) worked
for CBS Video Games (CBS Electronics). In 1982 they were desperate for
game designers/6502 code monkeys. HR was very concerned about hiring an
engineer with no college, but I knew more about the 6502 than a handful
of people. So I got the job. Got a patent for my wacky solution to the
lack of expansion on the Atari 2600/VCS.
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=4485457
One sad note, as a kid, this was my first engineering job. We all had
offices with doors and we had money to burn. "Look at these world's most
expensive workstation/desks! Let's buy a dozen!" My next job I learned
about cubicles and budgets ("maybe you two could *share* a computer?").
>
> I wanna hear this story :)
We had this 6 inch U-channel that ran around the whole office above
everyone's door, for network cables and such. One night at our 3am
powwow in the hall, someone thought it'd be cool to have a train running
on it. So for $10 a share, I would run the train past your office. I
hot glued HO track to it and Stu made two bridges to cross hallways; one
of Erector Set (a CBS property) and one of IC tubes and PC boards. The
train didn't run much because of too much RF interference on 1980s
networking.
My VP came back from Paris and was just livid that I'd wasted time from
my 90 hour work week to do that. Threatened my job, blah blah blah.
Then, everytime he had a visitor, he would call me, "Balaska, turn on
the train... I don't care if Stu is trying to print something."
>
>
>
--
dik
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