Right On Commander at ROUGOL, Mon 21st Nov 2022

The next meeting of the RISC OS User Group Of London is:

Right On Commander Mark Moxon, ex-editor Acorn User

Monday 21st November 2022, 7.45pm

The Duke of Sussex (upstairs in the Chichester Room from 6.30pm)
23 Baylis Road, London, SE1 7AY
http://www.rougol.jellybaby.net/venue.html

This is an in-person only meeting, no Zoom this month

https://rougol.jellybaby.net/meetings/

Many RISC OS users will remember Mark Moxon as the editor of RISC User and then Acorn User, before he moved on to a very successful career as a web and app developer. However recently he has returned to his first love of playing with the BBC Micro!

Starting during lockdown, Mark has spent the last couple of years pulling apart the code of classic BBC Micro games Elite, Aviator, and Revs, describing in detail how they work, with many deep-dives into the more intricate routines. He has even added enhancements to some of them, such as flicker free drawing in Elite and extra tracks for Revs.

https://www.bbcelite.com/

His latest project is the Elite Universe Editor which enables you to position all the ships, missiles, and asteroids around your ship, configure their speed/direction, and even set their AI model, and then play out the scenario. He has also recently shown a video of Elite running entirely in teletext mode! Come along to the meeting for the chance to be one of the first to try playing it.

Mark will be joining us in the pub to talk about how (and why!) he has achieved these amazing feats, and tell us a bit about his time at Acorn User and his history with Acorn computers.

Note: this meeting is in-person only, no Zoom session this month.

Directions to the venue by car and public transport are on the website:

Thank you, Bryan, for your work organising these events; I appreciate it. I can’t wait to hear from Mark, as I used to love reading Acorn User.

*EDIT: Damn, I missed the no-Zoom meeting this month.

Reminder that this meeting is almost here! Don’t miss the chance to be one of the first to play teletext Elite, and to chat to Mark over a few drinks about all his deep dives into the Acornsoft classics.

(Sorry Andrew, but we need to get more social meetings in the pub going again, and as Mark is going to be there this was the ideal opportunity. Note that as it’s not on Zoom it also won’t be recorded, so anyone who can make it, do join us in the pub!)

it also won’t be recorded

Oh come on, somebody has to record Teletext Elite.

Edit: https://twitter.com/markmoxon/status/1592507396995575808

Much as I’d love to attend, living 430 miles away makes it a tad inconvenient… 8~(

I raise you 11490, in a straight(ish) line :)

8~)

(My distance is road miles…)

Much as I’d love to attend…ugh, people.

(plus ~680km and a channel tunnel crossing)

No problem, Bryan. Apart from my haste to respond, missing a key part of the message. I blame the lockdown. Although that presented most folk with unique challenges, it also gave unexpected benefits; online events; sadly, the downside, from the remarks above, also created a new demand.

I applaud how everyone adapted, especially the clubs and event organizers like yourself, who deserve praise for keeping things going.

sadly, the downside, from the remarks above, also created a new demand

Being so far away is my own fault. I used to be an hour away by train, until three years ago.

Being so far away is my own fault. I used to be an hour away by train, until three years ago.

The mind boggles. You blow up a railway bridge or something? 🤣

sadly, the downside, from the remarks above, also created a new demand.

Mmm, I’m not sure, given the miniscule size of this community, that it’s quite right describing those who wish to attend remotely, particularly those of us in different countries (or, given the price of fuel these days, the other side of the same country) as a “downside”.

Think of it as being more inclusive. Having more participants. That’s a good thing, isn’t it?

The mind boggles. You blow up a railway bridge or something? 🤣

No. We moved house, from North East Cambridgeshire to Inverclyde.

I love the idea of inflatable railway bridges; I’m not sure I’d like to use one.

Think of it as being more inclusive. Having more participants. That’s a good thing, isn’t it?

For the recipient of a service, the increased access is a very good thing.
For the person(s) ensuring the service is available, it’s not so good, because there is extra effort with specific skills.

Can’t win them all…

For the person(s) ensuring the service is available, it’s not so good, because there is extra effort

….and it’s less fun for them :-(

Presumably it is also likely to result in smaller numbers at the pub, which makes persuading the pub to provide the space more difficult? Sorry we moved so far away, Bryan 8~( – I’m afraid other considerations outweighed this one 8~(

I have posted a report on the meeting on TIB

Teletext Elite was pretty impressive!

I live in Northampton. Historically, Northants CC were always users of RM rather than BBC computers in schools, so there isn’t much of a RISC OS community near here. ROUGOL is about 2 hours away, most others further than that.

Going to the London show is a 2 hour drive, Wakefield 3 hours, south-west about 3 hours. I try to get to at least one of those each year, but the dates don’t always work.

Zoom meetings are great for me.