TIA-MC-1
Encyclopedia
TIA-MC-1 — Телевизионный Игровой Автомат Многокадровый Цветной , Russian arcade videogame
hardware, with replaceable game programs, one of the most famous Soviet Union
arcade machines. Developed in Vinnytsia
, Ukraine
by Extreme-Ukraine company in the mid-1980s under the leadership of V.B. Gerasimov. The machine was manufactured by production association Terminal and some other factories.
The boards have the following purposes:
Games in a TIA-MC-1 arcade machine can be switched by replacing BEIA-103 module, not unlike cartridges in video game consoles.
Main system characteristics are as follows:
on August 21, 2006 (since version 0.108). By now, only four games (Konek-Gorbunok, S.O.S., Billiard and Snezhnaya koroleva) are dumped and supported by emulators. An ongoing search for other games is in progress.
Computer and video games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
hardware, with replaceable game programs, one of the most famous Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
arcade machines. Developed in Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia is a city located on the banks of the Southern Bug, in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast.-Names:...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
by Extreme-Ukraine company in the mid-1980s under the leadership of V.B. Gerasimov. The machine was manufactured by production association Terminal and some other factories.
Games
Some of the TIA-MC-1 based games are:- Автогонки (Avtogonki, Autoracing)
- Биллиард (Billiard, a pool-like game)
- Звёздный рыцарь (Zvezdnyi Rytsar, Star Knight)
- Истребитель (Istrebitel, Fighter Jet, Harrier)
- Конёк-Горбунок (Konek-Gorbunok, means: The Humpbacked Horse, name of fairy tale by Pyotr Pavlovich YershovPyotr Pavlovich YershovPyotr Pavlovich Yershov was a Russian poet and author of the famous fairy-tale poem The Humpbacked Horse .-Biography:...
) - Кот-рыболов (Kot-Rybolov, Cat the fisher)
- Котигорошко (Kotigoroshko, title of a Russian fairy tale)
- Остров дракона (Ostrov Drakona, Dragon Island)
- Остров сокровищ (Ostrov Sokrovish, Treasure IslandTreasure IslandTreasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
by Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
) - Снежная королева (Snezhnaya koroleva, The Snow QueenThe Snow QueenThe Snow Queen is a fairy tale by author Hans Christian Andersen . The tale was first published in 1845, and centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by a little boy and girl, Kai and Gerda....
by Hans Christian AndersenHans Christian AndersenHans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
) - S.O.S.
Technical specifications
Arcade machine consists of several boards called BEIA (Russian:БЭИА, Блок Элементов Игрового Автомата, Blok Elementov Igrovogo Automata).The boards have the following purposes:
- BEIA-100: data processing; RGB DACDigital-to-analog converterIn electronics, a digital-to-analog converter is a device that converts a digital code to an analog signal . An analog-to-digital converter performs the reverse operation...
; sound generation; coin-op and game controller interface - BEIA-101: video sync and background generation
- BEIA-102: sprite generation
- BEIA-103: game ROMRead-only memoryRead-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
and main RAMRam-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
Games in a TIA-MC-1 arcade machine can be switched by replacing BEIA-103 module, not unlike cartridges in video game consoles.
Main system characteristics are as follows:
- CPU: КР580ВМ80АKR580VM80AThe KR580VM80A was a Soviet microprocessor, a clone of the Intel 8080 CPU. Different versions of this CPU were manufactured beginning in the late 1970s, the earliest known use being in the SM1800 computer in 1979. Production ceased with the fall of the USSR. Initially called the K580IK80 , it was...
(clone of Intel 8080Intel 8080The Intel 8080 was the second 8-bit microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel and was released in April 1974. It was an extended and enhanced variant of the earlier 8008 design, although without binary compatibility...
), 1.78 MHz - Video resolution: 256×256, 4 bits per pixel selectable from a palette of 256 colors
- Background: two video pages composed of 32×32 tiles, each tile is 8×8 pixels. Tile RAM can store 256 separate tiles.
- SpritesSprite (computer graphics)In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
: up to 16 simultaneously displayed hardware-generated sprites; total of 256 sprites can be stored in sprite ROM. Sprites can be vertically and horizontally mirrored in hardware.
- Sound: two КР580ВИ53 interval timers (Intel 8253Intel 8253The Intel 8253 and 8254 are Programmable Interval Timers , which perform timing and counting functions. They were primarily designed for the Intel 8080/8085-processors, but later used in x86-systems...
) driving a mono speaker. - Display: 20” (51 cm) TV screen
- Main RAMRam-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
— 8KiB. - Character RAM — 8KiB.
- Video RAM — 2KiB.
- Sprite ROMRead-only memoryRead-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
— 32KiB. - ROM with game code and background graphics — up to 56KiB.
Emulation
For a long time TIA-MC-1 hardware remained unemulated due to lack of technical information and ROM dumps. Soon after the Russian emulation community obtained technical documentation and ROM dumps of one of the games, Konek-Gorbunok, the first emulator named TIA-MC Emulator was released on July 27, 2006. A TIA-MC-1 driver was included in MAMEMAME
MAME is an emulator application designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. The intention is to preserve gaming history by preventing vintage games from being lost or forgotten...
on August 21, 2006 (since version 0.108). By now, only four games (Konek-Gorbunok, S.O.S., Billiard and Snezhnaya koroleva) are dumped and supported by emulators. An ongoing search for other games is in progress.
External links
- Extreme-Ukraine site, short history of TIA-MC-1 in English, as of October 23, 2007, courtesy of the Wayback Machine.