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In one of the Discord groups I'm in, there was a discussion of the popular online "5-letter word" guessing game and whether it would be possible to do it properly on a Commodore 8-bit machine. We discussed word compression and indexing etc. Bo Zimmerman took up the task of securing a suitable word list and calculated that it would fit in under 32K of RAM with some space to spare. It was important to have the entire "official" word dictionary, including both actual valid words, and additional non-words or variations that can be entered as guesses. Only words in this dictionary are valid quesses. Bo set set about implementing a lookup system in machine language. He chose the TED series as a suitable platform and implemented the ML interface and a rudimentary BASIC calling program. With that done, I set to work on making a simple visual interface with letter entry, display, correction, and match testing. We wanted a fitting name for the program and we agreed on TEDDLE, which is a nod to the TED series, plus the "DLE", which is the ending of the original online program.
Once that was done, we set our sights on other Commodore machines and our goal is to release a version for every 8-bit series. Due to the size of the word dictionary, you need a system with 32K of program space.
Here are the releases so far, in release order. Programs are released in D64 image format and are available on Zimmers, and some distributions include sourcecode. Download links are below.
This is the first release. The TED series is a favorite of Bo's and also has the advantage of a nice extended colour palette to closely match the original colour scheme of the online game. Works on all TED machines with 32K RAM.
Released: 2022-02-22
Our second release. This one for the PET. Continuing with the xxx-DLE naming convention this one is called PETDLE. If you say it fast enough it may sound like PEDDLE, and as we know Chuck Peddle was instrumental in getting Commodore into the computer business by developing the PET. The PET poses a problem due to the monochrome screen, so this version uses RVS and shaded characters to represent the three indicator colours. It works on both 40 and 80 column screens with any keyboard.
Released: 2022-02-24
Our third release, this time for the CBM-II. The CBM-II series is a favorite of mine. Thinking of an appropriate name for this one wasn't easy, so we gave up and just called it CBM2DLE. Not all program names have a deeper meaning. The CBM-II series has an interesting memory banking system but Bo was up to the challenge. This version works on the B-Series, which are monochrome like the PET. We are hoping to add P500 compatibility in the future.
Released: 2022-02-27
Our fourth release. This time for the C128. Of course, Bil Herd was the designer of the C128 and this is named in his honor. This works in both 40 and 80 columns. Just remember to select the screen mode before turning the computer on.
Released: 2023-02-22
Our fifth release. The might C64 finally gets a release! I'm gonna give Bo credit for naming this one.
Released: 2024-03-18
Our sixth release. The VIC-20 "Friendly Computer" was a bit challenging to get working with the VIC's limited 22x23 screen. Some modification to the colour scheme was necessary due to the lack of grey in the VIC chip's palette.
Released: 2024-03-18
Our seventh (and final?) release is for the elusive C65 computer (or the easier to obtain MEGA65 remake). This is called FREDDLE in honour of Fred Bowen, who was the driving force behind the C65. Of course making a computer is a team effort as was writing these programs. Bo gets most of the credit as it's not easy writing low-level machine code for any system, much less multiple systems with different architectures and features. Kudos!
Coming soon!
Page Created: Mar 18/2024. Last updated: Mar 18/2024, 9:30pm EST
Send comments or feedback to Steve Gray(sjgray@rogers.com)