Hi,
Last year I had to clear out the house of an elderly relative - turns out he'd kept all my old Dragon 64 stuff from when I was little. (I didn't get it from new - my uncle was into computers and passed it on to me when it became obsolete).
I'd brought it back to our house, then realised we don't have a CRT screen to connect it to. Everything has been boxed up in a cupboard since then.
I haven't sorted through the hardware yet - from memory, there should be a disk drive, a light pen + software for it (I distinctly remember playing some sort of musical thing with it, and thought it was amazing that I could point the pen at the screen and make stuff happen as if by magic), disk drive, word processing software (Telewriter and Textstar), joystick and a bunch of random cables.
The box is all battered and there's a good chance the hardware no longer works. To be honest I doubt I could sell it for enough to even make it worthwhile sorting through it all, cleaning it up, taking pictures and putting it somewhere like ebay.
I was looking at the software spreadsheet and I have a few games that are listed in red or yellow. (I haven't finished sorting everything yet - just going through the first plastic box.) The titles are:
Cosmic Crusader (Blaby Computer Games)
Dungeon Raid (Microdeal / Tandy)
Moon Cresta (Incentive)
Backgammon (Microdeal)
Textstar (TSS)
And I have a word processor called Telewriter Dragon 32, which comes with a big ring binder of instructions, but I couldn't see that listed on the spreadsheet. The size and weight of the ring binder means posting it somewhere would probably cost a bit.
I have a few cartridges with games on but they're very dusty and battered (no boxes) and doubt they'll work.
Do you need these games donated? And would someone be able to cover the postage costs?
I have a few others (Wizard Wars, which was my favourite, Worlds of Flight) but they're all listed in green.
Donating software?
Re: Donating software?
Hi!
I know the shipping to spain can cost a bit, but I'll be glad to pay it so I can preserve the games missing in our list.
You'll be amazed how tough the cartridges are, so I'd like them too.
And could you take a look at the Wizard War page in our wiki? I know three versions of it. The one we have, another one in a very big box (which I have) and a third one which is in a standard box but with a different cover illustration. If yours is the third one and you're not keeping it, I'd like to have it too.
You can writr me an email to robcfg [at] gmail [dot] com to talk about the shipping costs.
Thank you very much!
I know the shipping to spain can cost a bit, but I'll be glad to pay it so I can preserve the games missing in our list.
You'll be amazed how tough the cartridges are, so I'd like them too.
And could you take a look at the Wizard War page in our wiki? I know three versions of it. The one we have, another one in a very big box (which I have) and a third one which is in a standard box but with a different cover illustration. If yours is the third one and you're not keeping it, I'd like to have it too.
You can writr me an email to robcfg [at] gmail [dot] com to talk about the shipping costs.
Thank you very much!
Re: Donating software?
You know you can connect the Dragon to an LCD monitor or modern television set if they have composite input (the yellow RCA, or SCART)?WhizzBang wrote:I'd brought it back to our house, then realised we don't have a CRT screen to connect it to.
BTW, WRT shipping, I assume you are in the UK?
Re: Donating software?
No problem - I'm at work at the moment but I'll take a couple of pics of the boxes and email you when I get home.robcfg wrote:Hi!
I know the shipping to spain can cost a bit, but I'll be glad to pay it so I can preserve the games missing in our list.
You'll be amazed how tough the cartridges are, so I'd like them too.
And could you take a look at the Wizard War page in our wiki? I know three versions of it. The one we have, another one in a very big box (which I have) and a third one which is in a standard box but with a different cover illustration. If yours is the third one and you're not keeping it, I'd like to have it too.
You can writr me an email to robcfg [at] gmail [dot] com to talk about the shipping costs.
Thank you very much!
The Wizard War is in a big box - I think the cover art is similar to that in the wiki... I'll get a pic of that as well.
We still have 2 more boxes of stuff to go through - it's right at the back and the hardest stuff to get to. Can't remember if there is any more software but I'm hoping I can go through them tonight and see.
[Edit: I loved my Dragon stuff when I was little - sadly I don't have space to keep it all. Be nice to know it's going to people who will genuinely appreciate it.]
Last edited by WhizzBang on Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Donating software?
I didn't know that! Thanks. None of our LCD screens have scart sockets, not sure about composite but I'll have a look tonight.tormod wrote:You know you can connect the Dragon to an LCD monitor or modern television set if they have composite input (the yellow RCA, or SCART)?
Yes - Central Scotland.tormod wrote:BTW, WRT shipping, I assume you are in the UK?
Re: Donating software?
Usually fine, but the PAL output from the Dragon isn't very good PAL (it's not interlaced), so some monitors have a bit of a problem with it (which will be down to how tolerant its decoder is). One of my monitors has the picture bouncing all over the place. Fine with a CoCo3, curiously.tormod wrote: You know you can connect the Dragon to an LCD monitor or modern television set if they have composite input (the yellow RCA, or SCART)?
A friend redirected a PAL waveform monitor from a skip for me - a nice old Tektroniks thing. Sadly it depends on the difference in the two interlaced fields to identify where it is, and can't provide line select for "progressive PAL"...
..ciaran
Re: Donating software?
So it'll probably look rubbish then! Can't say I'm too surprised... Thanks for the info.sixxie wrote:Usually fine, but the PAL output from the Dragon isn't very good PAL (it's not interlaced), so some monitors have a bit of a problem with it (which will be down to how tolerant its decoder is). One of my monitors has the picture bouncing all over the place. Fine with a CoCo3, curiously.tormod wrote: You know you can connect the Dragon to an LCD monitor or modern television set if they have composite input (the yellow RCA, or SCART)?
A friend redirected a PAL waveform monitor from a skip for me - a nice old Tektroniks thing. Sadly it depends on the difference in the two interlaced fields to identify where it is, and can't provide line select for "progressive PAL"...
..ciaran
Re: Donating software?
Done! I just sent you an email with 4 pics attached. I put my forum name in the subject line.robcfg wrote:You can writr me an email to robcfg [at] gmail [dot] com to talk about the shipping costs.
Thank you very much!
I still have 2 boxes of stuff to go through (unfortunately can't get to it tonight).
Does anyone think it'd be worth me taking pics of any random cables and hardware I find? Happy to donate (to established members of this group) if they are willing to pay postage.
Re: Donating software?
Oh no, if you get a steady picture, it'll probably be fine (subject to the inherent limitations of composite video, of course). I have a projector (DLP, not analogue, so still dependent on the decoder) that does a fine job...WhizzBang wrote: So it'll probably look rubbish then! Can't say I'm too surprised... Thanks for the info.
My first ever LCD panel monitor (an Iiyama, still going) gave a steady picture, but red was offset from everything else by several scanlines, but that was very much a fault in the decoder - everything connected using composite looked equally awful!
Re: Donating software?
Further to getting a picture, any type of PAL TV with an analogue tuner should work with the TV output of a Dragon 64, it doesn't have to be a CRT.