Re: Soft game settings vs. dipswitches?

The problem here is that the "10 year" battery life scares some of the
collectors and that EEPROM wears out. So what you need is something that
doesn't wear out and has no battery. And if you throw in nostalgia value also
that only leaves one thing---magnetic core memory! (Running for cover at high
speed!)

Clay Cowgill wrote:

> > Other than the possible "nostalgia value" of doing it "the
> >old-fashioned way" instead of using "them new-fangled menus", I don't see
> >any disadvantage to it.
>
> "My car gets thirty rands to the hogshead and that's the way I like it!"
>
> > By the way - have you looked at Ramtron's ferroelectric RAM (FRAM)
> >parts for this kind of thing?
>
> Actually I've talked to them for stuff at work (didn't work out-- too low of
> density, too expensive, and not enough volume production).
>
> The main issue in this case is that the memory that does the saving is the
> same stuff that's shadowed over the regular RAM area-- the CPU is actually
> using the "save" RAM as page 0 and page 1 for the 6520. (So that means most
> of your game variables and all the stack. It'll get hit thousands of times
> a second.)
>
> I'm just using an ST MK48Z02. (Zeropower SRAM) Cheap and available with
> second sources. The battery is built-in, so ten years down the road people
> will just have to replace it. I'll socket it to make it easy. On the cool
> "geek" factor list it gives me the option to drop in one of their
> "timekeeper" versions and have a realtime clock too. (Ooooh-- high scores
> with the time and date it was set! ;-)
>
> -Clay
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--
Windows:
32 bit graphical interface for a
16 bit patch for an
8 bit operating system written for a
4 bit processor by a
2 bit company that can't stand
1 bit of competition.
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