I Give up

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Assuming I want to write a graphically very simple game for the 2600, with minimal sound & collision-detection/fast-controller/reaction requirements, how ambitious a task would this be?

After you have learned a bit assembler and understood the basics of the 2600 hardware, you can do this quite easily. There are plenty of code snippets that you can "borrow" from other source codes too.

 

The real tough thing is, to write an ambigious kernel. That takes weeks and months until it finally works, but a simple Combat like kernel can be done in a weekend.

[ubersaurus]

I myself wouldn't mind programming a game for the 7800 someday (not anytime soon, I need alot more experience first) and I have to have alot of respect for anyone with the time and nerves to do anything for any of these old consoles.

[KAZ]

YOU: "You guys are mean and suck! We're new guys who just want to make games and you're being all poopy and non-supportive! We'll make games on our own! Nyahhh!"

 

hilarious....I love the wording of that! Almost died laughing.

 

 

In all seriousness tho, it was actually Atari revolutions' first post that got me REALLY thinking about trying to figure out programming.

 

Tonight I'm going to try to mess with the code to Space Invaders....using distella or gfxedit and such. I learned a little about dasm from all of you who have been VERY helpful. You guys ARE very supportive, that is a fact. Just doing what I've done with dasm using vcs.h file and everything has been VERY hard, and the worst is yet to come. But I WANT to learn it. I've had to figure out ms-dos more and more....like what is a pipe, and a switch, and whatever.

 

everything after ; is a comment, and all that. I know 10 times more than when I responded to Atari arts back about 2 weeks ago.

 

 

 

So in a sense I should "thank" atari revolutions for jump starting my interest learning to program.

 

In another 4 months, maybe I'll have the beginnings of a mediocre Atari game

[KAZ]

The playfield text file counts as a hello world program, right?

 

But I didn't write it, but I used it as an exercise to simply familiarize myself with the dasm program.

 

I didn't write that playfield program, but is it valid to take important pieces of code from it and stick it into MY code....

 

I'm gonna have to figure out where the hello words are in that code, and maybe I can figure out how to change the lettering using gfx or whatever.

 

I'm determined to figure this all out, I swear!

 

The guy that wrote "Changing Atari Graphics The Easy Way" knows a hell of alot more than me, and yet he STILL doesn't know how to code (it says in there).

 

So I at least have to grasp the knowledge that HE already has, or I can't even begin. Along the way of showfxing and editfxing, maybe some of it will sink into my brain, and I'll remember codes.

[bloatedmonkey]

Hey, if anyone would mind lending me information on how would be cool ways to promote Atari, just post, as I check up every hour or so.

I can't program either, so I made an Atari bumper sticker for my car. Just my way of showing support.

[KAZ]

Bright, Bob. Assembly Language for the 6502: Pocket Guide. London, England: Pitman, 1983.

 

Here's a book I found referencing exactly what I need, I think....

 

It is a how to program the Atari 2600??

 

 

more books are here:

http://www.6502.org/booklist.htm

 

Omigod, might I actually go to a library? Am I that hardcore? hmm

I can see myself doing just that tho.

 

 

A little bit of LIGHT reading for the evenings, rofl!!

[+Kaboomer]

Hmmmm, not to be too critical (ok, well, I will be), but when trying to start a company with a name like "Idea Revolutions", this guy really doesn't have any great ideas.....doesn't have any "idea" about the gaming community, no "idea" about programming an atari, no "idea" about how to "promote" the atari, etc. etc. etc. I think the first step for Mr. Idea-man is to actually finish school, and then work for a few years, then go get an MBA and then come back with the "big" idea revolution. Hey, that's just my 2 cents worth.... I love this community, but I don't like wasting my precious eyes reading about another opportunist. Now go home and play Atari today! :-)

[Varan]

I'm more likely to accomplish what I'm told I can't.

[KAZ]

Well I did my first disassembly like 5 minutes ago, it was pretty neat to see the process..

 

I took a pacman.bin and went:

distella -paf pacman.bin > pacman.src

 

I then renamed pacman.src to pacman.txt

 

I looked it up and down, understood maybe like 2 lines, and then wanted to see if I could re assemble it....

 

I renamed it again to pacman.asm

 

then I went:

 

dasm pacman.asm -f3 -opacman.bin

 

So I know how to do it both ways now

 

I'm overjoyed that I understand the simplest of operations with all this.

 

 

btw, pacman disassembled was VERY informative, but I don't know what any of it means (hehe).

[atari70s]

I guess its back to work on Mad Atarian again. i found the manuals for 2600 perogramming. i guess its worth another look over.

[Nukey Shay]

So I know how to do it both ways now

 

Good for you...but that's something not many people would admit to. j/k

 

"Being Bi would seem to double your chances at finding a date for Fridays." -"Woody" Allen

 

BTW a "pipe" is a way to redirect the output to another device

i.e. dir > lpt1 would send the disk directory to your printer.

A "switch" instructs the computer to handle the data in a specific way.

i.e. dir -o:a would alphabetize the directory listing

[liquid_sky]

totally off topic, but Adrian, your new avatar is badass, digitized, pixelated... looks like you wanna fight some people tho (gives me an idea, ill hire a programmer to make me a game about peoples digital images fighting. after all, the atari does run off of the televisions sweeps, and look at how good television shows look! and BYTES of RAM, thats better than megabytes right? And that zany TIA chip, im sure I can make it churn out arcade perfect transitions of arcade hits like Revolution X and Shuffleboard!) I know, that was harsh, im just looking for a few laughs.

[KAZ]

Don't try and force the blame on us.  Programming is not something you master overnight (I've been doing it for over 20 years, and I still don't have anything to show for it).  As far as the ideas for the games are concerned, the couple I've seen sound promising...but with no coding experience they are not much more than a dream.

 

No way! I don't believe it.

You seem to have a TON of knowledge about 6502 programming.

 

You haven't coded ANY game for anything? And if you have (which I suspect), can I see it?

 

I don't even care if it is for Atari or whatever....you must have SOMETHING?

[Nukey Shay]

My last full programs (completely done) I wrote fifteen years ago on the Atari800. Started working on a Temple Of Apshai Trilogy sprite/treasure editor, and got about halfway through it when my computer died. Picked up another one a few years later...but couldn't get myself back to finishing it.

Never did anything for the 2600 (besides hacks), or any program written entirely in assembly for that matter, which is what I was referring to.

[liquid_sky]

yeah, but you explain ASM stuff really well, I hadly know anythign about it, but you showed me how to use EA and what it did and i messed around with code.. youd be suprized at what you know. .. you might not have things to show, but dont underestimate what you do know

[KAZ]

Do you have any hacks to share then?

 

Berserk: Special Edition (Mr. Roboto) from Paul Slocum is technically a hack, but that game is SO COOL.

[Nukey Shay]

I do, when I find one that's interesting. I post instructions on how to do them using 2600gfx, since those programs are the easiest for anyone to use.

 

"I.R. more better programmer. I.R. better than weasel!"

[Thomas Jentzsch]

btw, pacman disassembled was VERY informative, but I don't know what any of it means (hehe).

Yes, uncommented disassemblies are a pain. That's why some people started to make commented ones, which you can find at The Dig!.

 

But before you will understand much more than the comments, you know already that you have to learn Assembler.

[KAZ]

Actually right now I'm gonna take the first couple pages of Stella's Programming Guide by Steve Wright to bed with me.

 

Tommorrow I venture to the library to start learning this foreign language. I wasn't quite ready before, but I understand the process a bit better now....working with text files and assemblers.