silly project
I wrote a little project this evening: HERE (warning, obnoxious loud Flash app).
It is a fairly authentic reproduction of the ZX spectrum loading sound, based on a disassembly of the ZX Spectrum ROM and the Wikipedia article. It encodes 0s and 1s (in this case, random data) using pulse width modulation, which for this application is equivalent to rapidly switching between two square waves an octave apart.
I also wrote a rough emulation of the distinctive yellow/blue flashing border. In the real hardware, the border is a solid colour that alternates with each bit. Since the display is produced by a scanning beam, the alternating colours produce bands of colour. I basically emulate the same thing by regenerating a new random border image each frame.
I had the foolish idea that one could make a novelty app for mobile phones for sharing data using audio. I gather the game Bangai-O Spirits implemented level sharing using this idea. As that game was made by Treasure (Ikaruga, Gunstar Heroes), this is not an indication that the idea is not utterly bonkers.
It is a fairly authentic reproduction of the ZX spectrum loading sound, based on a disassembly of the ZX Spectrum ROM and the Wikipedia article. It encodes 0s and 1s (in this case, random data) using pulse width modulation, which for this application is equivalent to rapidly switching between two square waves an octave apart.
I also wrote a rough emulation of the distinctive yellow/blue flashing border. In the real hardware, the border is a solid colour that alternates with each bit. Since the display is produced by a scanning beam, the alternating colours produce bands of colour. I basically emulate the same thing by regenerating a new random border image each frame.
I had the foolish idea that one could make a novelty app for mobile phones for sharing data using audio. I gather the game Bangai-O Spirits implemented level sharing using this idea. As that game was made by Treasure (Ikaruga, Gunstar Heroes), this is not an indication that the idea is not utterly bonkers.