BBC Micro game Pole Position - Part 1

[matt9741399]

It always seemed to me like the cars were going backwards after a while.

[greenknight9000]

SOUNDS LIKE A SWARM OF WASP LMAO

[tom77092]

This was a good game by Beeb standards.

[raymond942]

good times !!

[TheDustpile]

Makes me appreciate the Commodore 64's SID and VIC chips.

The 64's processing capability was identical to the BBC, using the same processor, but see the deficiency of the BBC in comparison.

[cpmisalive]

No, the C64 uses a 1MHz 6510 vs. a 2MHz 6502 in the BBC. Try comparing "Elite".

The graphics performance of the C64 is solely down to the VIC-II chip and nothing else. Where are the 80 column modes? Where are the high resolution graphics? BBC can do 640x256

The C64 is a games console disguised as a computer where you load the games from tape. The sad 1541 floppy drive is about 1/10 of the speed of a typical BBC floppy drive.

Why don't you look up the spec of the BBC vs. C64 on Wikipedia?

[TheDustpile]

1:

Usborne's The Beginners' Computer Handbook from 1983 said the processors were the same anyway, but if they weren't then I won't argue.

The VIC chip could produce vastly superior graphics and effects but was less able than the BBC to tackle high-resolution text modes and wasn't as easily programmable in BASIC.

80 column mode was possible with the C64, though admittedly it was the software which utilised it.

[TheDustpile]

2:

The Commie was more than a games console. Where was your BBC's inbuilt 64K RAM? Where was its SID chip, RAM and processor upgrades, network cards, sound sampler, FM synth plug-in, image scanner, MSSIAH cartridge or Action Replay?

The C64 has had its own disk fastloaders since the early days to bring drive speeds faster than the Beeb ones.

The C64 still thrives because it is so handy, particularly in recording studios.

[OnlyGoodCommie]

3:

But I'm not putting the BBC down. It was a solid, reliable and dependable machine which was able to perform the tasks required of it.

It was certainly no shame to have one and I have many happy memories of using one at school and learning my first programming language on one.

[cpmisalive]

Yeah, 32kB sucks, but to page out the OS, you need the 6510...

Where was its SID chip, well, there was the Music 500 / UMI sequencer (Vince Clarke used one for years) which is a "proper" synth with digital waveform shaping and stereo output using 8 channels.

Networking is already on board.

There were Action Replay, sound samplers and various scanners available.

Due to the 6502's 2MHz operation, the disc I/F can run at up to 200kB/s - just gotta find a floppy fast enough ;)

[bhtooefr]

You don't need a 6510 to bankswitch, it just makes it easier. The Language Card for the Apple ][ and ][+ showed that in, what, 1979? (And then the //e was fully-bankswitched in 1983, with an ordinary 1 MHz 6502.)

And the BBC B+ and Master could bankswitch without one, no? At least, as I understand, the 6512 has nothing to do with the 6510.

[cpmisalive]

I've been playing with SpeedScript to see how the 80 column mode works out, not bad. The same kind of software allows the BBC to easily achieve a eye watering 132 columns. The C128 I'm working on at the moment seems to have 80 col support, but that's a completely different beast.

[ajhomryder]

Well my Opteron is 64 bit so there and my creatvie labs sound card is fantastic!!!

Behave!!!

[cpmisalive]

Yeah, thankfully, the world has moved on from an 8 bit data bus and a 16 bit address bus to a 64 bit data bus and a 48 bit address bus. My trusty HP Z800 with dual quad-core W5590 Xeons and 32GB RAM - emulates a C64, BBC Micro, Apple II and a Sinclair Spectrum all at the same time with less than 5% CPU utilsation - now teleport me back to 1981!

[ajhomryder]

What with the machine we have today!!! lol Or just for the fact that the world was a better place back then ;)

[ClassicTVMan81]

Did Atarisoft ever port Nintendo's Donkey Kong to the BBC Micro?

[asm1]

Fastest lap I ever did was 53"20....

Now why the hell did I just remember that... lol. First game I played on BBC Micro :-)

[pregiscregis]

except I was shit at it

[pregiscregis]

jees, this takes me back

[checkm8r]

And I thought the original pole position looked/sounded bad!

[surhuzum]

how old is this??

[agghtee]

1984 - just google BBC Computer!

[cpmisalive]

1981 is when it was first on sale - sold upto 1994 - a crazy amount of time! The Amiga came out in 1984!

[7UpJordan]

Tut tut, cutting the corner to pass cars, you're lucky the FIA didn't give you a 25 second penalty after that. ;) :P

[speedaddict2008]

this baby can run Crysis on ultra settings! ohh im joking...good damn old times xD!

[hswc2121]

waste of my special ME TIME!!!!!!!!!!

in other words the video SUCKED!!!!!!

[cpmisalive]

Shame your "special me time" is based around leaving n00b comments.

[MichaelYettiBrown]

i had something like this when i was a wee lad on a bbc computer.

whenever making my own track, it would never line up, even if it was an oval. it wouldn't line up! and thus, it wouldn't let the track be compleated.

[idontbelieveinsanta]

Good old NAMCO Pole Position, you mean!

[saigokun]

This game looks very nice.

[imeodimos]

xaxaxa cool

[angelzkeys2]

This is better than Gran Turismo 5 or Forza Motorsports 2

[mechatails]

Who the fuck needs realistic tire traction when you have that lovely beepy fanfare when you qaulify <3

[atari26003]

pfft

these started the games like that so u gotta give em credit eh? honestly

I love the retro :)

[googleguz]

Wow, I could make this game in Holt's Turing in like a month, don't be dissing the best racing sims out there; nonetheless, this classic still pwns for what it is.

[girlsdrinkfeck]

this game was awsome on my atari 800xl

[matt3794]

What was the 800xl???

[girlsdrinkfeck]

it was a sort of a desktop style multi use PC from atari , 8 bit system with floppy disk drive , tape drive keyboard/cpu

[guildwarsfan123]

i got this on my pc

[edgebet]

These games really stress you out as you have no perception of speed or gravity in the turns...... the end product is stress & the ability to go grey overnight!!

[fanofheadroom]

lol

[BlackBirdZGTR]

LMAO, this is suppose to leave skid marks on my soul? Wow I would hate to see what Gran Turismo 4 or Forza Motorsports would do.

[EdZep123]

What do you expect from the 1980s?! Duh!

[AaronSilkwood]

oh the bad graphics! my eyes! my beautiful eyes!! it burns!!!

[funnygoku171]

i used to love this game when i played it

[gthreek]

All developed on a system that didn't even support sprite graphics. Top stuff.

[dreamcastII]

This isnt top stuff. This is an average version of 8 bit pole position. The cars are as flat as pancakes. The Atari 800 version is better.

[girlsdrinkfeck]

think i had that yes ! the xl edition cars looked more 3d

[Piccolo357]

I'm glad you posted this! :-) It brings back wonderful memories!

[darken27]

ah, the memories...

[ugotslew]

that sounds more like a futuristic spaceship then an f1 car!

[Winnuting]

wow this guy makes it look easy! :)

[JezSmitty]

My first games system...and my first game! Nostalgia City.