Cool and simple ideas needed!

[Jim Leonard]

Philipp Hachtmann wrote:
>> What kind of display does it have?  Is it bitmapped and/or are the 
>> individual pixel elements individually addressable?
> 
> Haha! NO Display at all! I displayed the "graphics" by writing "O" and 
> space characters.... :-)

So much for my realtime graphics examples, then :-)  I'd say fractals are your 
best bet for a "demo" of the machine.  Or, try to print better "graphics" by 
using a combination of . o O (and others) and quarter-stepping the platen 
and/or print head (if the capability exists).  If not, you could still attempt 
better display by working internally with grayscales and using different 
letters and/or dithering to better represent the graphic.  There are a 
multitude of ways to display graphics on printers using more than just "O" and 
space :-)

If you know 3D, try using the generated fractal as a height map and plot 
something interesting with it :-)

Does the machine have a tone generator?  If so, try to work it -- see if you 
can alter the frequency (tone/pitch) to make music.  Arpeggiate to simulate 
n-part harmony.  If enough cycles exist, try sound synthesis.

Get creative :)
-- 
Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org)                    http://www.oldskool.org/
Want to help an ambitious games project?             http://www.mobygames.com/
Or check out some trippy MindCandy at             http://www.mindcandydvd.com/