Date   : Fri, 18 Aug 2000 00:08:23 +0200
From   : "Dejan Ristanovic" <dejanr@...>
Subject: Re: Second Processors

>> What was the point of getting a second processor for a BBC,
>> I guess it made the computer run faster - but would this make
>> games run too fast.

BBCs was a great computer, but the RAM was insufficient. 32 KB was not
enough even in those days, and most of the space was used to store the
content of the screen, if you needed a decent resolution (if I remember it
correctly, Mode 0 and Mode 1 used 20 KB of RAM). It was not easy to expand
address space beyond 64 KB on the 6502 processor.

So there was no point in buying a second processor in order to play
commercially available games - most of the games did not run on the second
processor anyway. But I used BBC as a text editor and 6502 Second Processor
was a valuable tool - after I purchased HiView, I was able to use MODE 0 (80
characters per line) and still edit a 40 KB document. It was also
interesting for program developers, CAD users (anybody remembers NovaCAD?)
and other professionals.

:: Was any software specifically written for it (Elite for example).

Yes, there were Second Processor aware programs. Not many of them,
regretfully.

Sincerely,

Dejan