Code: Select all
M M III N N III
MM MM I NN N I
M M M I N N N I
M M I N NN I
M M III N N III
SSSS K K EEEEE TTTTT CCCC H H
S K K E T C H H
SSS KKK EEEE T C HHHHH
S K K E T C H H
SSSS K K EEEEE T CCCC H H
...the ultimate VIC-20 doodle program!
MINISKETCH (download) requires a +8K RAM expansion and a lightpen with trigger switch (and a CRT, of course).
When no valid calibration data is found on disk, the program requires you to do the calibration procedure first. Just follow the instructions on screen. The start-up prompt then allows you to redo the calibration at any time (press "C").
In the start-up prompt, press "N" to create a new sketch or "E" to edit an existing sketch. Both selections request for a file name.
Then, the program immediately shows the graphics screen. When the lightpen is held near the screen and your VIC-20 can detect the position, MINISKETCH displays a cursor on-screen.
When the cursor is visible, a press on the trigger switch toggles MINISKETCH between pen on or off canvas.
When the lightpen is taken away from the screen, the cursor disappears. It also automatically makes it off canvas.
While the lightpen is off screen, a press on the trigger switch toggles between draw and erase action. This is indicated by a brief colour change of the drawing.
f1 saves/replaces the screen on storage under the given name.
f7 quits the program and returns you to the "READY." prompt. Use RUN to restart.
MINISKETCH uses the MG file format. You can load the files into MINIPAINT to further refine and colourize them.
Cheers,
Michael
P.S. Recent releases of VICE support a lightpen. Just choose "Enable lightpen emulation" and "Type: pen with button left". The pen position is derived from the mouse pointer within the VICE window, the left mouse button acts as "Lightpen is held on screen", and the right mouse button acts as trigger switch.
P.P.S. Thanks to tokra for lending me a Turbo Computer Lightpen which I could use to test the lightpen driver on real h/w.