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How to change the color scheme in A-Talk III?

Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2019 10:04 pm
by Bulletdust
Does anyone know how to change the color scheme in A-Talk III? Pink and brown just aren't doing it for me! Term 3.8 has perfect colors, but pink and brown on a grey background is a little jarring on the eyesight/nerves.

Image

Re: How to change the color scheme in A-Talk III?

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 4:24 pm
by Shot97
There's a default color scheme you can alter in the programs menus, save the setup after. In the phone book, each individual entry can have its own color. Like the colors of one site but not another, you alter them in the address book, making sure to store and save them or else they get reset to default. You can also have up to 8 colors, your setup looks like it's on 4.

To change number of colors
Terminal menu
No. Colors
8

To change default colors
Project Menu: Colors -Alter colors
Project Menu: Save - To save colors as defaults

For individual sites
Phone Menu: Phone Book
Go to each entry and hit colors
Then save

https://youtu.be/7Y53I28PCBQ?t=1367

Also, I'm not sure in your setup if A-Talk is considered to be running in a "full screen" mode. Normally, when running in a windowed mode on top of Workbench it uses Workbench colors. Which, even in your setup with the copper background image, I think it's still technically an 8 color grey 2.01 or above Workbench scheme. A-Talk needs to be running in full screen mode to alter its colors, and the program should be saved when in full screen mode to make that the default.

To change into full screen mode
Project Menu
Screen: Full
Save

Re: How to change the color scheme in A-Talk III?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 3:20 am
by Bulletdust
Also, I'm not sure in your setup if A-Talk is considered to be running in a "full screen" mode. Normally, when running in a windowed mode on top of Workbench it uses Workbench colors. Which, even in your setup with the copper background image, I think it's still technically an 8 color grey 2.01 or above Workbench scheme. A-Talk needs to be running in full screen mode to alter its colors, and the program should be saved when in full screen mode to make that the default.
I was actually looking at A-Talk III today before I read your post Shot97 and thinking the color scheme looked a lot like my workbench colors - I believe you're right. The problem is, if I run A-Talk in full screen mode, the scaling goes all haywire creating a full screen window that's black and white and located in the center of the screen - I'm not too sure if it's the software itself doing this or the Indivision, I'm not even too sure what graphics mode or standard (PAL/NTSC) A-Talk III is using in full screen mode as nothing else exhibits this issue, I guess I could check the monitor's menu to see if the mode is PAL or NTSC.

In comparison Term 4.8 is perfect in windowed or full screen mode, but I really want to get A-Talk III running properly and give it a crack.

BTW, I love the comments you've made in the past regarding your father. I lost my father also, he was my best friend and taught me everything technical I know - Not a day goes by that I don't miss him.

Here's Term 4.8 for comparison:

Image

Re: How to change the color scheme in A-Talk III?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 5:43 am
by Shot97
Term looks to have the correct ANSI EGA kind of look. That's how Particles looks on my DOS machine anyway. That's what I love about A-Talk, lets me use the colors I want and give it an Amiga feel.

I want to say A-Talk is made for NTSC users in mind, and while it will run in PAL mode, was likely meant for a 640x200 medium resolution NTSC display, where in PAL 640x256 medium resolution it would show blackness on the 56 extra pixels. Your setup is probably at least 640x400 or above high resolution.

This is probably why a ton of the board people with Amiga's always point to Term. They got their machines pimped out and I'd never be able to foresee issues there. The only pain in the butt work around I could think of (if you're really wanting A-Talk to work) is booting it from its floppy disk, There you could alter its Workbench colors on the disk, or possibly even have it run correctly in full screen mode, not sure.

Re: How to change the color scheme in A-Talk III?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 6:50 am
by intric8
@Bulletdust can you tell me which version of A-Talk III you’re using?

I recently got a full boxed version, and it came with a stack of upgrade disks. I don’t think these upgrades are to be found anywhere (yet).

I might be able to help. I think they offer 2.0+ support. Not sure about PAL, tho.

Re: How to change the color scheme in A-Talk III?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 2:38 pm
by Bulletdust
Running A-Talk off floppy isn't the end of the world, I could do that. I run 64Door off floppy.

Regarding you point about 2.0+ support Intric8, when I go full screen more it sort of looks like it's trying to take on the appearance of an earlier form of workbench - But that could just be the resolution/scaling issues.

Here's my version Intric8:

Image

Re: How to change the color scheme in A-Talk III?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 8:44 am
by Shot97
An extremely long thank you for Bulletdust's comment earlier referencing my father and his own:

I really appreciate your kind comments about the mentioning of my dad. He's one of my biggest inspirations for putting my voice out there. Was quite lucky to have a dad nerd, and being around him loving the Amiga in America, I knew his perspective was not being heard online these days. Need more of the old guys telling their experiences, and we desperately need the dominate young (25-50 year olds :P) ones online to listen to those perspectives. One man is just that, but when you combine first hand experiences with research few if any bother uncovering, bringing factual evidence to cushion those opinions, that's when one or a handful can make a difference... or at least bow in defeat knowing you did your part, even if few want to listen. And it's not just for my dad, it's for Jim Sachs and other Amiga legends, even review writers from back in the day, whom I might not always agree with, but who deserve every last one of our readers/viewers combined times a million. For the adults who kept the Amiga alive, who may have occasionally pirated here and there, but who bought 50 dollar games, and 200 dollar word processors. Who enjoyed the Amiga in America until 1995, when Windows 95 finally gave most a reason to upgrade. And they gladly went for a Gateway once they bought out the Amiga...

Wish he was around so I could ask him questions, hell, I'd put him on my videos if he'd be okay with that. He was someone always into the newest and "best" things, so there's no way he'd actively be into the retro scene, but even before he died I was into that, and when I did bring up topics from the past he once cared about, the passion flowed forth. Or a sense of competition even, "Oh son? You say you beat the Gold Box game Champions of Krynn? That one was easy... Try Pool of Radiance...." lol. So he could be an ass just like most of us... But he was right, Pool of Radiance was harder... and he made me want to play that just so I could show him! Though regardless of difficulty, Champions was awesome, so when I reviewed that and talked about my dad I had to kind of maneuver in a certain way, and put words in his mouth... That was his way of smiling and being happy I remembered and wanted to play, and actually beat these games he so loved, but also him saying you've got a long way to go... Perhaps easier than others, but still a blast to play, and worth playing. Hopefully he agrees on that.

I'm not the type to want to give out thoughts on this stuff. I'd rather be on my classic computers and consoles playing the games I love, and believe it or not, a million other hobbies that have nothing to do with computers.... I'd rather be making music or finding new games, software as well. If someone else was out there giving out my perspective, my father's, the other old guys, I'd be happy just to watch them. But it slowly went from a small group of people just happy to play some games to a bunch of opinionated "personalities" making history videos as well as money off Wikipedia research, telling us all the mistakes Commodore made back when they were 5 years old... and of course the first video to pop up if you search out Amiga 500, an American exposed to nothing but DOS computers saying how awful NTSC Amigas are.. Having no clue half or more of the games he's showing off were NTSC... One man can make a difference, but sometimes it does damage... And I couldn't let the Amiga's history in America be written by DOS users who only played shareware games, or only by European Amiga users who only played platforming games, who state as fact that you must get a PAL Amiga because "everything" came out for Europe, American's didn't care, yet over half of the LemonAmiga top games are NTSC... I don't mean to put down these others, or I wouldn't, if they could just think a little deeper and leave the documentaries to PBS or HBO. If a million people are entertained by a documentary, then it's entertainment, it's fiction.

Real documentaries, true histories, they are boring to all but the most passionate of us. It's your computer teacher popping in a VHS tape, done by PBS, showing off the history of micro computers as well as their personalities like Gates, Jobbs, Kildall, Tramell... It's giving you the cold hard facts and making no judgement on them, because you're intelligent enough to put two and two together. It's a zany camcorder recording of the original Amiga team telling their stories... Some of them, no matter how awesomely told, like when R.J. says Mitchie the Dog was the true father of the Amiga, are meant for you to laugh... Look on Jay Miner's face when R.J. claims the dog helped him make design choices... It's obvious that part, perhaps inspired loosely on a real event, but it's not actually true. It's to make you laugh. But a whole lot of other stuff was true. The people are not PBS, some things you take in, some things you don't... Personally I'd take any 5 year olds thoughts from 1990 over a certain former head of Commodore U.K., a lifelong salesman, a suit, who's selling a story, literally selling his story via book and paid speaking engagements... Saying he could have saved Commodore, because he was in the "black" over in Europe... as a subsidiary you better be in the black! It's a whole a different story once you take on HQ's debts/research/manufacturing... He makes a living out of trashing people as well as an entire company who are no longer around to defend themselves... And some people claim he "tells it how it is"... It's not hard to beat up on the dead... It's high time we stop beating up on a long lived company that provided us so much joy. Be careful what you wish for... Nintendo are still around... Apple is still around...EA is still around... and sometimes I wish they were all dead. We all love the Amiga more not because it failed, it did not, in America it was a solid number 2 behind DOS with a whole lot of competition! We love it not because it failed, we don't love it because it was number one, it was not, we love it because enough people saw how good it was, enough knew, enough to get us awesome games/software/hardware, and to get 10 years out of a computer from 1985. We love it not because it kicked everyone's butts, but because it should have, but some others just didn't get it... We love it because we did, we got it. Embrace the end. How many 50 dollar games do you have to sell to make millions? Not all that many it turns out... The Amiga outsold the Apple II, which included 10 years worth of different models! Of course Apple probably made more money off the smaller numbers, for they didn't care about the masses, they cared about the classes. Making the best computer you can for the cheapest price possible may have been the right thing to do, clearly for those who loved the Amiga, but sorry to break it to anyone unaware, doing what's right does not guarantee success, does not always place you first, in fact, it may cause your ultimate demise. What model should have been released at what times, which higher up was using Commodore's money for expensive trips, what advertising they did and when they did them, it's all done and over. Relinquish the decades old wars with Atari, DOS, Apple, even Commodore.... Love it all, and seek out more knowledge from others who love, less from those who hate.

And let me just close by saying the opinions above are very much that, opinions... They were formed based on facts, but I could be full of it as well... The good thing is I don't claim to be writing histories... I give opinions on games/software/hardware... I've never once bought any piece of hardware with the thought of showing it off, getting noticed... It took me over a year of "thinking" I wanted a hard drive for my 500, researching many models, and when I couldn't stop thinking about it a year later, when I already knew I would love it, that's when I got it. Proudly holding onto and using the 500, and I'm doing it with more style than a few others who have way more Amiga's than they'll ever really love. I'm just the people I used to think were good back in 2010 when excitement, fun, and getting in touch with others was the goal. With a touch of good ole dad, and a desire to read way more magazines from 1985-1995 than I care to admit...

Sorry to take such a small statement and blow it up into many paragraphs... i get almost no feedback on my writings these days, and even the videos are pretty much only old Amiga friends saying a short little something like "good stuff", maybe sharing a memory they might have of what I'm covering... There's the obsessed, perhaps on the spectrum types who want to give their opinions but present them as fact, saying my opinion is wrong, and no matter how empirically incorrect those people are or how you tell it back to them, that stuff will always sting and make you want to quit... A troll here and there... Perhaps a handful of likes, and dislikes... and if anyone making videos attempts to tell you dislikes are all good because it's all the same to Google, those people should not be making videos... Dislikes on your proudest moments hurt. A handful of likes from 500 subscribers, only 100 of which watch... Is it the video they like or is it the title? Doing this stuff does little for me other than provide a tiny bit of peace that a different side is being told, and it's actually a side full of love, albeit a bit ornery on the side...

So I truly do appreciate your small comment there about my dad. For me that goes up there with Jim Sachs thanking me for a great review of Defender of the Crown and showing it in a 4:3 aspect ratio like designed but where 99% of online videos and pics show it in widescreen. Recognition, it don't come easy... Sorry about your father as well, Bulletdust. I'm sure your dad and mine would have had some fun chatting! We need more Amiga dad's...or actually Amiga Grandpas at this point. They're the ones that know how rare a game was or was not... They saw it on the shelves! They bought it! They saw SimCity getting high shelf placement from 1989 to 1994! They saw or did not see certain titles. They bought or did not buy certain titles. They bought this game VS pirated a certain other... Upgraded to 1mb RAM... Considered a hard drive, or maybe not... Stuck with 1.2/1.3 or maybe upgraded... Happy with their 500, or perhaps went 3000 or 1200... They had thoughts that are so much more worthwhile than mine... But I do the best i can attempting to channel those without voices, and it means a lot for someone to point out that personal aspect... because it's a rare example of me knowing I did something right, and actually being able to see that instead of just wanting to believe it. Thank you, it meant a lot to me, even if it took me a couple days to acknowledge it.

Re: How to change the color scheme in A-Talk III?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:47 pm
by Bulletdust
Shot97 wrote:An extremely long thank you for Bulletdust's comment earlier referencing my father and his own:

I really appreciate your kind comments about the mentioning of my dad. He's one of my biggest inspirations for putting my voice out there. Was quite lucky to have a dad nerd, and being around him loving the Amiga in America, I knew his perspective was not being heard online these days. Need more of the old guys telling their experiences, and we desperately need the dominate young (25-50 year olds :P) ones online to listen to those perspectives. One man is just that, but when you combine first hand experiences with research few if any bother uncovering, bringing factual evidence to cushion those opinions, that's when one or a handful can make a difference... or at least bow in defeat knowing you did your part, even if few want to listen. And it's not just for my dad, it's for Jim Sachs and other Amiga legends, even review writers from back in the day, whom I might not always agree with, but who deserve every last one of our readers/viewers combined times a million. For the adults who kept the Amiga alive, who may have occasionally pirated here and there, but who bought 50 dollar games, and 200 dollar word processors. Who enjoyed the Amiga in America until 1995, when Windows 95 finally gave most a reason to upgrade. And they gladly went for a Gateway once they bought out the Amiga...

Wish he was around so I could ask him questions, hell, I'd put him on my videos if he'd be okay with that. He was someone always into the newest and "best" things, so there's no way he'd actively be into the retro scene, but even before he died I was into that, and when I did bring up topics from the past he once cared about, the passion flowed forth. Or a sense of competition even, "Oh son? You say you beat the Gold Box game Champions of Krynn? That one was easy... Try Pool of Radiance...." lol. So he could be an ass just like most of us... But he was right, Pool of Radiance was harder... and he made me want to play that just so I could show him! Though regardless of difficulty, Champions was awesome, so when I reviewed that and talked about my dad I had to kind of maneuver in a certain way, and put words in his mouth... That was his way of smiling and being happy I remembered and wanted to play, and actually beat these games he so loved, but also him saying you've got a long way to go... Perhaps easier than others, but still a blast to play, and worth playing. Hopefully he agrees on that.

I'm not the type to want to give out thoughts on this stuff. I'd rather be on my classic computers and consoles playing the games I love, and believe it or not, a million other hobbies that have nothing to do with computers.... I'd rather be making music or finding new games, software as well. If someone else was out there giving out my perspective, my father's, the other old guys, I'd be happy just to watch them. But it slowly went from a small group of people just happy to play some games to a bunch of opinionated "personalities" making history videos as well as money off Wikipedia research, telling us all the mistakes Commodore made back when they were 5 years old... and of course the first video to pop up if you search out Amiga 500, an American exposed to nothing but DOS computers saying how awful NTSC Amigas are.. Having no clue half or more of the games he's showing off were NTSC... One man can make a difference, but sometimes it does damage... And I couldn't let the Amiga's history in America be written by DOS users who only played shareware games, or only by European Amiga users who only played platforming games, who state as fact that you must get a PAL Amiga because "everything" came out for Europe, American's didn't care, yet over half of the LemonAmiga top games are NTSC... I don't mean to put down these others, or I wouldn't, if they could just think a little deeper and leave the documentaries to PBS or HBO. If a million people are entertained by a documentary, then it's entertainment, it's fiction.

Real documentaries, true histories, they are boring to all but the most passionate of us. It's your computer teacher popping in a VHS tape, done by PBS, showing off the history of micro computers as well as their personalities like Gates, Jobbs, Kildall, Tramell... It's giving you the cold hard facts and making no judgement on them, because you're intelligent enough to put two and two together. It's a zany camcorder recording of the original Amiga team telling their stories... Some of them, no matter how awesomely told, like when R.J. says Mitchie the Dog was the true father of the Amiga, are meant for you to laugh... Look on Jay Miner's face when R.J. claims the dog helped him make design choices... It's obvious that part, perhaps inspired loosely on a real event, but it's not actually true. It's to make you laugh. But a whole lot of other stuff was true. The people are not PBS, some things you take in, some things you don't... Personally I'd take any 5 year olds thoughts from 1990 over a certain former head of Commodore U.K., a lifelong salesman, a suit, who's selling a story, literally selling his story via book and paid speaking engagements... Saying he could have saved Commodore, because he was in the "black" over in Europe... as a subsidiary you better be in the black! It's a whole a different story once you take on HQ's debts/research/manufacturing... He makes a living out of trashing people as well as an entire company who are no longer around to defend themselves... And some people claim he "tells it how it is"... It's not hard to beat up on the dead... It's high time we stop beating up on a long lived company that provided us so much joy. Be careful what you wish for... Nintendo are still around... Apple is still around...EA is still around... and sometimes I wish they were all dead. We all love the Amiga more not because it failed, it did not, in America it was a solid number 2 behind DOS with a whole lot of competition! We love it not because it failed, we don't love it because it was number one, it was not, we love it because enough people saw how good it was, enough knew, enough to get us awesome games/software/hardware, and to get 10 years out of a computer from 1985. We love it not because it kicked everyone's butts, but because it should have, but some others just didn't get it... We love it because we did, we got it. Embrace the end. How many 50 dollar games do you have to sell to make millions? Not all that many it turns out... The Amiga outsold the Apple II, which included 10 years worth of different models! Of course Apple probably made more money off the smaller numbers, for they didn't care about the masses, they cared about the classes. Making the best computer you can for the cheapest price possible may have been the right thing to do, clearly for those who loved the Amiga, but sorry to break it to anyone unaware, doing what's right does not guarantee success, does not always place you first, in fact, it may cause your ultimate demise. What model should have been released at what times, which higher up was using Commodore's money for expensive trips, what advertising they did and when they did them, it's all done and over. Relinquish the decades old wars with Atari, DOS, Apple, even Commodore.... Love it all, and seek out more knowledge from others who love, less from those who hate.

And let me just close by saying the opinions above are very much that, opinions... They were formed based on facts, but I could be full of it as well... The good thing is I don't claim to be writing histories... I give opinions on games/software/hardware... I've never once bought any piece of hardware with the thought of showing it off, getting noticed... It took me over a year of "thinking" I wanted a hard drive for my 500, researching many models, and when I couldn't stop thinking about it a year later, when I already knew I would love it, that's when I got it. Proudly holding onto and using the 500, and I'm doing it with more style than a few others who have way more Amiga's than they'll ever really love. I'm just the people I used to think were good back in 2010 when excitement, fun, and getting in touch with others was the goal. With a touch of good ole dad, and a desire to read way more magazines from 1985-1995 than I care to admit...

Sorry to take such a small statement and blow it up into many paragraphs... i get almost no feedback on my writings these days, and even the videos are pretty much only old Amiga friends saying a short little something like "good stuff", maybe sharing a memory they might have of what I'm covering... There's the obsessed, perhaps on the spectrum types who want to give their opinions but present them as fact, saying my opinion is wrong, and no matter how empirically incorrect those people are or how you tell it back to them, that stuff will always sting and make you want to quit... A troll here and there... Perhaps a handful of likes, and dislikes... and if anyone making videos attempts to tell you dislikes are all good because it's all the same to Google, those people should not be making videos... Dislikes on your proudest moments hurt. A handful of likes from 500 subscribers, only 100 of which watch... Is it the video they like or is it the title? Doing this stuff does little for me other than provide a tiny bit of peace that a different side is being told, and it's actually a side full of love, albeit a bit ornery on the side...

So I truly do appreciate your small comment there about my dad. For me that goes up there with Jim Sachs thanking me for a great review of Defender of the Crown and showing it in a 4:3 aspect ratio like designed but where 99% of online videos and pics show it in widescreen. Recognition, it don't come easy... Sorry about your father as well, Bulletdust. I'm sure your dad and mine would have had some fun chatting! We need more Amiga dad's...or actually Amiga Grandpas at this point. They're the ones that know how rare a game was or was not... They saw it on the shelves! They bought it! They saw SimCity getting high shelf placement from 1989 to 1994! They saw or did not see certain titles. They bought or did not buy certain titles. They bought this game VS pirated a certain other... Upgraded to 1mb RAM... Considered a hard drive, or maybe not... Stuck with 1.2/1.3 or maybe upgraded... Happy with their 500, or perhaps went 3000 or 1200... They had thoughts that are so much more worthwhile than mine... But I do the best i can attempting to channel those without voices, and it means a lot for someone to point out that personal aspect... because it's a rare example of me knowing I did something right, and actually being able to see that instead of just wanting to believe it. Thank you, it meant a lot to me, even if it took me a couple days to acknowledge it.
Well said my friend and absolutely no problem.

I've got some great memories of the man who made me what I am today, including the one where we built the engine for my first car and I got Dad to watch the oil pressure gauge while I cranked the engine over for the first time building oil pressure - Suddenly I heard a 'pop'. I got out of the car, looked up, and there was Dad covered in fresh engine oil head to foot! I put the lines on the external oil filter backwards (air cooled VW)!

The next time we cranked the engine I had to watch the oil pressure gauge...

Miss you Dad, long live the Amiga!

Re: How to change the color scheme in A-Talk III?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:51 pm
by Shot97
Viva la Amiga! And viva all those hobbyist dads!