Hard to believe it's well over 5 years ago when I did the first of my enhanced freeplay/high score save kits. So the first one I did was Galaxian, I learned a lot and released it, but I was never fully happy with the code and features of the kit.
Since then, the cost of electronic components has shot up, especially ST NVRAM modules and FRAM are pretty expensive when you compare them to serial EEPROMs (ST £10 / FRAM £5 / serial EEPROM 40p). So mid-lockdown last year I redesigned my HSS PCB to use a serial EEPROM. Ordered the PCBs and they've mostly sat there for over a year.
A couple of weeks ago I finally decided to build one, and needed to modify my high score save code to work with the serial EEPROM instead of the ST battery-backed RAM. Thought I'd kill 2 birds with one stone, and redesign the Galaxian code to work how I wanted it to, and also get it to work with the new board. Fairly painless and a bit of fun, the hardest bit was working out what my old code did. So it's now working and tested.
No fancy menu code (it doesn't need it)
Still supports high score saving and 5 position high score table with initial entry
Uses Galaxian pricing DIP switches to select paid or freeplay options
Maintains attract mode in both paid and freeplay
Doesn't jump to the burn-in screen "press 1 or 2 player start" when you add credits
Doesn't cost anywhere near £51 like the similar kits on ebay...
Time to move onto some of the other games I did high score saves for and update their code too...
Since then, the cost of electronic components has shot up, especially ST NVRAM modules and FRAM are pretty expensive when you compare them to serial EEPROMs (ST £10 / FRAM £5 / serial EEPROM 40p). So mid-lockdown last year I redesigned my HSS PCB to use a serial EEPROM. Ordered the PCBs and they've mostly sat there for over a year.
A couple of weeks ago I finally decided to build one, and needed to modify my high score save code to work with the serial EEPROM instead of the ST battery-backed RAM. Thought I'd kill 2 birds with one stone, and redesign the Galaxian code to work how I wanted it to, and also get it to work with the new board. Fairly painless and a bit of fun, the hardest bit was working out what my old code did. So it's now working and tested.
No fancy menu code (it doesn't need it)
Still supports high score saving and 5 position high score table with initial entry
Uses Galaxian pricing DIP switches to select paid or freeplay options
Maintains attract mode in both paid and freeplay
Doesn't jump to the burn-in screen "press 1 or 2 player start" when you add credits
Doesn't cost anywhere near £51 like the similar kits on ebay...
Time to move onto some of the other games I did high score saves for and update their code too...
