Two main navigation menu options appear in this repo:
- A semi-traditional HTML page.
- A novel 3D model of an Apple IIe turned into a data-driven navigation UI and simulated OS with lots of visual goodness and a slight Through the Looking Glass appeal.
The code is STABLE and mainly considered to still be artistic; It's main purpose is to promote exploration and a feeling of discovery. Nobody alive exactly knows (or remembers) how to use one. That's kinda cool to have to knock around and achieve a sense of accomplishment.
That discovery and experience may be entirely changed by simple
changes to the command-data.json file.
This is a derivative of an artistic "Apple IIe 3D" on CodePen from Marian Ban. https://codepen.io/marianban/pen/mdeVBKo That work was very interesting. It does appear that the author ran out of steam at some point, but it's really nice.
I adapted that 3D CSS/JS model into a UI. It is currently more than half-way through that grafting process but does require refactoring of it's keyboard handling. If the code looks like it was written by two people for two completely different purposes and approaches, you're correct.
There are UI issues that need some help. The keyboard is done interestingly, but it doesn't resemble the actual Apple IIe keyboard. That said, I could attach listeners on the keyboard keys that are there and make some minimal cosmetic changes. This would be ideal for mobile use.
Activating the keyboard keys as input devices would be good because the keyboard does not auto-raise for mobile devices. The scaffolding swaps spaces for ' ' -- I believe that is because of font issues. This has gotten increasingly awkward as I moved things into commands-data.json. It will be part of a major refactoring.
I made many bug fixes along the way. Many of these only became evident because I expanded the codebase as a means to a UI.
I effectively added the Apple IIe 80 Character Expansion Card; I gave it 80 columns, 64KB RAM, and lowercase characters.
I'd like to add CORS-acceptable external web page layers inside the
screen for BRUN programs.
If there are any Apple BASIC simulators, it wouldn't be too tough to add them. However, I would also need to add the ability to have "word processor"-like editing and cursor movement.
I initially considered building a direct web interface to an Apple IIe emulator. However that's basically making a cloud-based Apple IIe and ... nuts. Additionally, the Linux ports are lacking.
I made drive light activation, computer lights flash, and the CRT on/off/flicker. But I could add drive action sounds (plural), boot beeps, and syntax error noises.
Overall this was a fun little project that occupied me for two days. Edit: Three for CRT effects. One of those days was until after midnight. I spent an amazing amount of time doing tiny only-I-would-notice things and very little time doing big things. It was a surprising amount of fun to make.
Displaying some embeddable website pages following a BRUN command would be pretty neat.
Dropping this here. This is what an Apple IIe looks like. Wikipedia Apple IIe image
