The Colour genius (EG2000) was 8 a bit computer, which came 1982 on the market. It was the last model the "“genius"” - series and should for the ZX Spectrum competition among other things make. The equipment achieved the sales figures desired despite initial successes not and played in particular after the success of the C64 and a negative evaluation in the magazine "“donation goods test"” no large role, introduced later, more. The genius of EACA in Hong Kong was manufactured. The selling in Germany was made by the company computer service (TCS). This company went over the sales of the Colour genius into bankruptcy.

In Germany the manual "“COLOUR BASIC was provided - easily learned"” (ISBN 3-88965-001-7).

Programming was made either by means of an assembler compiler or by the Colour BASIC deposited in the ROM. A floppy disk drive attached extended itself over a ROM module in the floppy disk drive CONTROLLER the basic command sentence around the instructions needed for the diskette enterprise. This reduced, however the disk free space, since the additional instructions were loaded into a RAM range reserved for it. On the plate of the CONTROLLER was also place for a third (EP) ROM.

By different third offerers (usually individual programmers) and the company TCS was offered many different programs for the Colour to genius. Particularly with plays there was a plentiful selection, in addition, text processing, mark programs, data base programs or mathematical programs were present.

The use of the tape recorder as storage medium represented a large challenge for the patience. It took for example well 20 minutes (!) the play "“Deathtrap"” (a 3D-Adventure also from special character formed vector diagram, the player ran gradual by a labyrinth and had to solve mysteries) - to load which from the size with the most extensive program was -. The cartridges on those were sold the plays were often provided with a simple additional bit at the end as copy protection, which should make copying attempts more difficult. Even specially a program was driven out, which provided cartridge programs with copy protection (and with that the cartridges nevertheless - as also with each good HIFI Kassettendeck with two drive assemblies - to be copied could).

The BASIC programming took place not as today usual with a text editor, but with a line editor. Each program line had a serial-number. Usually with line 10 and then continued to go it was begun into 10er-Schritten to insert in order to have the possibility later program lines. The line numbers served also as branch marks within the program. There the processor always only all program lines continuously had to arrive over up to the current was it meaningfully frequently used routines at at the beginning of the program to be placed. Thus speed of operation could be increased noticeably.

Variable ones could be defined, did not have however not. If they were not defined, then all variables without dollar characters were floating point numbers. Character strings were marked with the dollar character and could be long maximally 255 indications.

Example of a simple BASIC program:

10 CLS

20 FOR A=1 TON of 10

30 PRINT "“hello world!"”

40 NEXT ONES

To 50 END

(The screen is deleted and then "“hello world!"” 10 times among themselves written.)

There was a diagram and a text mode for the announcement, between which in the program could be shifted up and down. There the two video storage areas at different addresses lay were it so possible during a text representation in the background already times the diagram to be developed. A text representation was possible also in the diagram mode, but the small dissolution of this mode made the writing extremely large. Many plays used therefore not the diagram mode, but develop the diagrams from special characters, whatever could be defined freely. A simple flight simulator used in such a way in the text mode special characters, in order to represent the simple, ruckelnde vector landscape and the instruments.

The Joystick was a characteristic, since it was similarly queried not as digital with Atari, Amiga and C64 usually, but. Thus the Joystick supplied to position values between 0 and 255 for the x and y axis (128 to central position). Thus a control could be realized, which considered the width of the Joystickbewegung.

A further characteristic were acoustic outputs, as e.g. in the play "“Crazy Paint II"”. Here the programmer has a short SAM-polarizes its own voice used.

Data Colour genius

• Processor: Z80A, 8-bit, 2.2 MHz
• ROM: 16kb
• RAM: 16kb (32kb with 16kb memory expansion)
• Keyboard: Typewriter (QWERTY with 63 keys)
• Screen resolutions: colors (orange, green, blue, black); indication in 16 colors
• 128 freely definable indications
• 3+1 intoxication channel, mono
• internal loudspeaker (over rocker switches disconnectible)
• Connections: Memory expansion internally, audio exit, Composite video exit for monitor or TV-exit (depending upon model), light pen, RS232, printer (Centronics, Interfacekabel necessarily), Kassettenrekorderanschluss, Joystick, floppy disk drive 5 tariff over extension haven
• Mass: 34,0 9.0 28.0 cm
• selling price at that time with appearance: approx. 1,000 DM (approx. 511 EUR) without accessories
• the last model (EEC 2000, starting from April 1983) had a screen resolution of indication, a dissolution of diagram of points and a level gauge for the Kassettenrekorderanschluss

Related links

• 1 here two emulators can be downloaded together with software collection for DOS (to run also under Windows 9x)
• 2 Colour genius with pictures, Screenshots, advertising brochures (today involuntarily amusing), left on further sides at the lower edge of the page
• 3 data over the genius family

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