systar.com
Author: syzygy
Category: Christmas Challenge
System: PC XT 8088 clone (Swan/DTK), DOS 6.2, clone CGA card
Language: Assembly, Turbo Assembler version 2.1.
Len source code: <# bytes>
Len exe file: <429>
Len code only: <4,248 >
Instructions:
Type systar at the DOS prompt - it is an executable (.com) file and I have no idea how to run the code in an emulator because I don't have an emulator.
Description: Straightforward writes of only the asterisk using screen coordinates and INT 10H
Comments: I haven't written 8086 code in 30+ years and it did NOT all come back to me, but since I have been restoring an old PC, it was easier than I thought. I tried a few strategies, but went with a simple formula. I though moving a data image onto the screen might work better, but it depends on how well it could be encoded and how little overhead coud be used to move it to the screen. I expect that there will be some entries that are much shorter, but I wanted to give it a shot.