Episode 139 - Interview with Vic Tolomei, VP Software Development, Exidy

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

Sponsors:

• 8-Bit Classics 

• Arcade Shopper  

Hello, and welcome to episode 139 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for May, 2024.

This month I’m bringing you another interview episode; in the ongoing effort to document the story of Exidy and its Sorcerer computer.  I’ve already talked, in previous episodes, with Howell Ivy and Paul Terrell, both principals at Exidy and in the creation of the Sorcerer computer.  Those were quite popular episodes!  In this episode, I also tracked down Vic Tolomei, VP of Software Development at Exidy during that same time, and got his story.  If you want to know what it was like to lead a software development effort at that time, this is the interview for you!

Upcoming on the podcast, I have more interviews to share, as well as more hardware to cover.  I’m actually a few months ahead with developing content, which I guess is an advantage of being retired!

I've created some tiers for paid members and have come up with some ways to reward those who are generous enough to monetarily support the Floppy Days Podcast on Patreon.

First of all, all tiers ($2/month and up) will receive early access to companion videos for any interviews that are published. The audio will be published to Floppy Days immediately, as usual, while any video will be made available exclusively to all paid members for a period of time (at least 30 days) before the general public. The videos will be published for you on Patreon.com, and then moved to the Floppy Days YouTube channel after the exclusivity period is over.

Other benefits have been added for the tiers above the minimum $2 tiers, such as Floppy Days merchandise, an audio introduction for supporters, and even the option to co-host an episode!

It is my intention to always make all content available to everyone at no cost, while at the same time providing some benefits for those generous enough to support the podcast. I hope this is a good compromise.

Please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!!

New Acquisitions

• VTech Advantech IQ Unlimited - https://vtech.fandom.com/wiki/I.Q._Unlimited_Computerv 

• A8PicoCart - https://github.com/robinhedwards/A8PicoCart 

• M100/T102/T200 Dial-A-ROM - https://www.soigeneris.com/dial-a-rom-for-vintage-computers 

Upcoming Shows

• Show list I maintain for the remainder of the current year - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/current-year-vintage-computer-show-schedule) 

• CorgsCon (Columbus Ohio Retro Gaming Society) - June 1 - Kasich Hall – Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, OH - https://www.corgscon.com/ 

• Game Not Over 2024 - June 8-9 - Dunstall Park Racecourse in Wolverhampton, U.K. - https://retro.directory/browse/events/326-game-not-over-2024 

• VCF Southwest - June 14-16, 2024 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ 

• Boatfest Retro Computer Expo - June 14-16 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info 

• Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 22 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html 

• Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 22-23 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start 

• Kickstart Amiga UK Expo - June 29-30 - Nottingham, UK - https://www.amigashow.com/ 

• KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 16-21 (in-person), July 27-28 (virtual) - University of Illinois in Springfield, IL - https://www.kansasfest.org/ 

• Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 19-21,  2024 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ 

• Nottingham Video Game Expo - July 20-21 - The Belgrave Rooms, Nottingham, U.K. - https://www.nottsvge.com/ 

• Fujiama - July 23-28 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2024/  

• Vintage Computer Festival West - August 2-3 - Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/  

• VCF Midwest - September 7-8 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ 

• VCF Europe - September 7-8 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ 

• Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ 

• Tandy Assembly - September 27-29 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ 

• AmiWest - October 25-27 - Sacramento, CA - https://amiwest.net/ 

• Chicago TI International World Faire - October 26 - Evanston Public Library (Falcon Room, 303), Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/  

• Retro Computer Festival 2024 - November 9-10 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/ 

Interview Links

• Interview with Vic - https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/10/the-story-of-chiller-one-very-messed-up-video-game/ 

• Vic has several software credits at Moby Games, including Arrows and Alley, and Magic Maze for the Sorcerer - https://www.mobygames.com/person/636004/vic-tolomei/ 

• Exidy Sorcerer Book: Software Internal Manual for the Sorcerer (1979)(Quality Software) by Vic Tolomei - https://archive.org/details/Software_Internal_Manual_for_the_Sorcerer_1979_Quality_Software 

• VP of Software, Vic Tolomei at The Ultimate (So Far) History of Exidy blog - https://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-ultimate-so-far-history-of-exidy_21.html