While the last couple of years have been a little less than ideal because of the pandemic, there have been some positive developments, such as the unexpected move to online meetings for some user groups, allowing people to join them from afar. Another useful benefit has been that some people were able to find a little more time for programming, allowing software to be written that might otherwise not have been.
Three examples of that are the games Munchy, StarGate, and Decrypt, all written by Terry Swanborough while the UK was largely in lockdown, both as a break from his normal programming work at MB Electronics, and as something of a challenge.
Terry will be visiting the RISC OS User Group of London (ROUGOL) on Monday, 21st February, to talk to the group about the games; why he decided to write them, the processes he adopted to do so, and the issues he found along the way. He will also show off some sample code to demonstrate how to achieve smooth animation.
The games can be downloaded from the RISC OS page of the MB Electronics website, along with another of Terry’s pieces of software, printed circuit board design application RiscPCB, which he last spoke to ROUGOL about some six years ago – and if there is time, he will also give an update on that.
While there will also be an online element to the meeting, Terry will be the first person in two years who to visit the group’s ‘new’ venue in order to deliver his talk, so if you can it would be well worth attending in person. This would ensure he has a good physical audience, and allow you to enjoy a good face to face chat (remember those?) – and enjoy a nice meal and a pint. You will also be able to participate in a high score battle!
That venue is:
The Duke of Sussex,
(Upstairs, in either the Chichester or Petworth Room),
23 Baylis Road,
London,
SE1 7AY.
The talk will commence at 7:45pm, though ROUGOL members should be around from 6:30pm – and for those only able to attend virtually, the Zoom meeting will be open from 7:30pm.
The pub is very easy to reach by public transport, with Waterloo Station almost within touching distance, giving access to a number of lines, and therefore much of the city. For drivers, from 6:30pm there is parking available outside (on Coral Street, accessed from Waterloo Road/Peaman Street). Directions for people heading in via either form of transport can be found on the ROUGOL website.
Looking ahead, the meeting scheduled for 21st March will see Herbert zur Nedden celebrating the 21st birthday of GAG News with the group, and even further ahead, the next London Show – organised every year by ROUGOL – is set for 29th October, at its regular venue, the St Giles Hotel, Feltham.
