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Covox Speech Thing
The Covox Speech Thing is an external audio device attached to the computer to output digital sound. It was composed of a primitive 8-bit DAC using a resistor ladder and an analogue signal output, and plugged into the printer port of the PC. The Speech Thing was introduced on December 18, 1987 by Covox, Inc of Eugene, Oregon, for about US$70 (US$79.95 as of 1989), but as its parts were much cheaper than the complete plug, and as its design was fairly simple, people soon started to build their own variants. The plug was used long into the 1990s, as sound cards were still very expensive at that time. The plug was also quite popular in the demoscene. An inherent problem of the design is that it requires very precise resistors. If normal parts are used, the values get shuffled, especially for quiet sounds, resulting in distortion. Nevertheless, the sound quality of the Covox plug is far superior compared to the PC speaker; even today, a self-built Covox plug is still an inexpensive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Digital Sound
Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, samples are taken 44,100 times per second, each with 16-bit sample depth. Digital audio is also the name for the entire technology of sound recording and reproduction using audio signals that have been encoded in digital form. Following significant advances in digital audio technology during the 1970s and 1980s, it gradually replaced analog audio technology in many areas of audio engineering, record production and telecommunications in the 1990s and 2000s In a digital audio system, an analog electrical signal representing the sound is converted with an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) into a digital signal, typically using pulse-code modulation (PCM). This digital signal can then be recorded, edited, modified, and copied using computers, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Direct Memory Access
Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of computer systems and allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU). Without DMA, when the CPU is using programmed input/output, it is typically fully occupied for the entire duration of the read or write operation, and is thus unavailable to perform other work. With DMA, the CPU first initiates the transfer, then it does other operations while the transfer is in progress, and it finally receives an interrupt from the DMA controller (DMAC) when the operation is done. This feature is useful at any time that the CPU cannot keep up with the rate of data transfer, or when the CPU needs to perform work while waiting for a relatively slow I/O data transfer. Many hardware systems use DMA, including disk drive controllers, graphics cards, network cards and sound cards. DMA is also used for intra-chip data transfer in multi-core processors. Computers that have DMA channels can trans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Control 2
''Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters'' is a 1992 video game, the sequel to '' Star Control''. It was developed by Toys for Bob ( Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III) and originally published by Accolade in 1992 for MS-DOS. This game features exoplanet-abundant star systems, hyperspace travel, extraterrestrial life, and interstellar diplomacy, with the game featuring 25 different alien races with which communication is possible. Released to critical acclaim, ''Star Control II'' is widely viewed today as one of the greatest PC games ever made, and has appeared on numerous publications lists of the greatest video games of all time. The game was ported to the 3DO by Crystal Dynamics in 1994 with an enhanced multimedia presentation, allowed by the CD technology. The source code of the 3DO port was licensed under GPL-2.0-or-later in 2002, the game content under CC-BY-NC-SA-2.5. The 3DO code was ported to PC as ''The Ur-Quan Masters''. A sequel, ''Star Control 3'', was released back i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Bugs
''Battle Bugs'' is a real-time tactics video game developed for MS-DOS by Epyx and released by Sierra On-Line in 1994. A PlayStation port was published in Japan in 1997. Gameplay The game details a war of one group of insects battling against another. The battlefields are common household places such as the kitchen floor or the backyard. The player must navigate their bugs, each with special skills, and engage the enemies’ bugs. The main objective of each battle is to either eradicate all of the enemy bugs or 'capture' every piece of food on the battlefield. This is achieved by positioning your bugs on the food long enough to raise a flag. When all pieces of food bear your team's flag, the battle is won. However, the enemy bugs will attempt to do the same thing and can reclaim captured food. The game develops the logical skills of the player. Different bugs are stronger and weaker versus other types of bugs so the player must combine different strategies to go to the next mis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zorro (1995 Video Game)
''Zorro: A Cinematic Action Adventure'' is a cinematic platform game developed and published by Capstone Software for IBM PC compatibles. It is based on the Johnston McCulley's Zorro character. Gameplay ''Zorro'' is a side-scrolling game featuring cinematic action and live action full-motion video cutscenes. Gameplay is similar to that of 1989's ''Prince of Persia''. Reception '' Next Generation'' rated it one star out of five, stating that "Unless you've got a fetish for black leather masks and whips, or you're an accredited psychic, we strongly recommend that you avoid this title like the plague." Reviews *''Computer Gaming World'' (May, 1995) *''PC Gamer'' (June, 1995) *''Power Unlimited'' (July, 1995) *''PC Games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-dete ...'' (June ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
688 Attack Sub
''688 Attack Sub'' is a submarine simulator video game designed by John W. Ratcliff and Paul Grace and published in 1989 for MS-DOS and in 1990 for Amiga by Electronic Arts. A Sega Genesis version developed by MicroProse was released in 1991 by Sega. The player takes command of a US or Soviet nuclear marine propulsion, nuclear-powered attack submarine and plays ten missions ranging from into either Cold War scenarios or combat missions in a hypothetical global conflict. As modeled in the game, the American submarine has more sophisticated electronics and more weapons. The Soviet boat has fewer weapons but higher sustained speeds. Two people can play against each other over a modem (or null modem cable). Ratcliff and Grace later developed ''SSN-21 Seawolf'', published in 1994. Gameplay Reception ''Computer Gaming World'' in 1989 gave the IBM PC compatible version a positive review, noting the game was designed to be a fun game, as opposed to a realistic simulator, and conclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sound Blaster
Sound Blaster is a family of sound cards designed by Singaporean technology company Creative Technology (known in the US as Creative Labs). Sound Blaster sound cards were the de facto standard for consumer audio on the IBM PC compatible system platform, until the widespread transition to ''Microsoft'' Windows 95, which standardized the programming interface at application level (eliminating the importance of backward compatibility with Sound Blaster), and the evolution in PC design led to onboard audio electronics, which commoditized PC audio functionality. By 1995, Sound Blaster cards had sold over 15 million units worldwide and accounted for seven out of ten sound card sales. Creative Music System and Game Blaster Creative Music System The history of Creative sound cards started with the release of the Creative Music System ("C/MS") CT-1300 board in August 1987. It contained two Philips SAA1099 integrated circuits, which, together, provided 12 channels of square-wave "bee-i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AdLib
Ad Lib, Inc. was a Canadian manufacturer of sound cards and other computer equipment founded by Martin Prevel, a former professor of music and vice-dean of the music department at the Université Laval. The company's best known product, the ''AdLib Music Synthesizer Card'' (''ALMSC''), or simply the ''AdLib'' as it was called, was the first add-on sound card for IBM compatibles to achieve widespread acceptance, becoming the first de facto standard for audio reproduction. History After development work on the AdLib Music Synthesizer Card had concluded, the company struggled to engage the software development community with their new product. As a result, Ad Lib partnered with Top Star Computer Services, Inc., a New Jersey company that provided quality assurance services to game developers. Top Star's President, Rich Heimlich, was sufficiently impressed by a product demonstration in Quebec in 1987 to endorse the product to his top customers. Sierra On-Line's '' King's Quest IV'' be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Custom Covox
Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to: Traditions, laws, and religion * Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom * Norm (social), a rule that is socially enforced * Customary law or consuetudinary, laws and regulations established by common practice * Customary (liturgy) or consuetudinary, a Christian liturgical book describing the adaptation of rites and rules for a particular context * Custom (Catholic canon law), an unwritten law established by repeated practice * Customary international law, an aspect of international law involving the principle of custom * Mores * Tradition * Minhag (pl. minhagim), Jewish customs * ʿUrf (Arabic: العرف), the customs of a given society or culture Import-export * Customs, a tariff on imported or exported goods * Custom house Modification * Modding * Bespoke, anything commissioned to a particular specification * Custom car * Cus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interpolation
In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a number of data points, obtained by sampling or experimentation, which represent the values of a function for a limited number of values of the independent variable. It is often required to interpolate; that is, estimate the value of that function for an intermediate value of the independent variable. A closely related problem is the approximation of a complicated function by a simple function. Suppose the formula for some given function is known, but too complicated to evaluate efficiently. A few data points from the original function can be interpolated to produce a simpler function which is still fairly close to the original. The resulting gain in simplicity may outweigh the loss from interpolation error and give better performance in ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FastTracker 2
FastTracker 2 (also referred to as FastTracker II) is a music tracker created by Fredrik "Mr. H" Huss and Magnus "Vogue" Högdahl, two members of the demogroup Triton (who later founded Starbreeze Studios) which set about releasing their own tracker after breaking into the scene in 1992 and winning several demo competitions. The source code of FastTracker 2 is written in Pascal using Borland Pascal 7 and TASM. The program works natively under MS-DOS. History In 1993, Triton released FastTracker. This tracker was able to load and save standard four channel MOD files, as well as extended MOD files with six or eight channels (identical to standard MOD files, aside from the extra channel data and ID markers "6CHN" or "8CHN"). It was only compatible with Creative Labs' SoundBlaster series of sound cards, which were most popular on the PC at that time. The whole editor was a single 43 KiB DOS executable. Through 1994, the musicians in Triton released some songs in a new multi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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