ballyalley Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I have been looking for two 6502 programming books for several years. They are called: 1) "6502 Games" by Rodney Zaks 2) "Advanced 6502 Programming" by Rodney Zaks These are usually both available from Amazon or other used book sellers, but the price per book is extremely steep ($60-$100). Have these books been scanned? If so, where are they available? If I can't find scans of these books online, then I'm going to get both of them through InterLibrary Loans. I'll only be able to use them for a couple of weeks, but it's been than not having seen them at all. Finally, I don't need to be pointed to other 6502 books or programming websites. I am aware of these other resources. I am ONLY looking for these two books in particular right now. Thanks. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I dunno...but they don't look to be all that informative. The "games" mentioned are apparently puzzle/chance games judging from the comments (i.e. generic 6502 logic instead of anything suited to a specific system to take advantage of any of it's native sound/ graphics capabilities)...and such logic puzzles are often included in books or tutorials that are system-specific before their chapters head into anything more advanced. Could be a waste of time looking for these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 The "games" mentioned are apparently puzzle/chance games judging from the comments (i.e. generic 6502 logic instead of anything suited to a specific system to take advantage of any of it's native sound/ graphics capabilities)...and such logic puzzles are often included in books or tutorials that are system-specific before their chapters head into anything more advanced. There is a review on Amazon.com of one of these books that has similar comments to this. The reasons that you give for NOT wanting these books are the VERY REASONS that I'm interested in these books. They are more generic than other books, although they DO have specific systems that the programs will work on, I guess, without modification. To me, these are historical documents-- not just teaching tools. I have scanned some non-specific 6800 Programming books before: http://www.orphanedgames.com/APF/6800_cpu_programming/6800_cpu_programming.html Most of the 6800 books are rather generic too (and quite hardware oriented). This is what I expect to find, at least to some extent, in these two 6502 books. Plus, some of these books have very esoteric methods of code entry (for instance, see the PaperByte book series). Could be a waste of time looking for these. Very often, it's not the programming that is interesting, but early chapters that have aspects on computers that you can't quite find anyplace else. Certainly most people overlook books like this and it turns out that they are usually a treasure-trove of interesting tid-bits of information that were never meant to be read thirty years later and taken as a first-person historical perspective... but yet it remains this way. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 I went ahead and requested these two books via InterLibrary Loan. It is a dollar each to request one book. If the books are available (which they appear to be, according to WorldCat.org), then the books usually arrive within a couple of weeks. I've gotten SO many rare (and expensive!) technical books this way. If anyone DOES know of a place that I can read these books as PDFs, then let me know because eventually I'll have to return the books (they ARE library books, after all). Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 This is probably cruel to do, but I've had this book in my 6502 library for years: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 This is probably cruel to do, but I've had this book in my 6502 library for years: No, that wasn't cruel at all. Now I know what to expect. Did you ever use the book? Somehow the cover reminds me of the Astrocade... but then why wouldn't it? It looks just like a B&W version of GunFight (well, with higher resolution graphics). Is that game in the book? Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I've never used the book, actually, at least not that I recall. I did learn quite a bit of 6502 back in the mid-90's, but have lost pretty much all of it now. I don't know that I'll ever get around to it again. I don't think there is any gunfighter game in the book. But yeah, it's a pretty cool cover graphic. Contents are: Intro Music Player Translate Hexguess Magic Square Spinner Slot Machine Echo Mindbender Blackjack Tic-Tac-Toe Each program listing is about 5 pages of small-ish text, and there's a pretty lengthy discussion/explanation of each program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Additionally, the games are meant to be played on a SYM or similar 6502-based board with a Games Board, which is as displayed in this example photo (from the book): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesk Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I have scanned some non-specific 6800 Programming books before: http://www.orphanedgames.com/APF/6800_cpu_programming/6800_cpu_programming.html Awesome.. I have "How to Program and Interface the 6800" but would rather read it on my kindle. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Here is the same "6502 Games (6502 Series: Volume IV)" book that I have on Amazon for $5 + shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BPMSX2?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004BPMSX2 And you can get the Advanced 6502 Programming for 20 bucks: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089588089X?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=089588089X His "Programming the 6502" is available for $2.24: http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Foffer-listing%2F0895880466%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref_%3Ddp_olp_used%26qid%3D1298679161%26sr%3D8-1-fkmr0%26condition%3Dused&tag=atariage&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957 You can have the whole Rodnay Zaks library for under $35! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoTonah Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Well, I can't help you with "6502 Games", but the other book can be found here: http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/books-generic.htm I own 6502 Games, too--but my scanner sucks! Sorry. I have been looking for two 6502 programming books for several years. They are called: 1) "6502 Games" by Rodney Zaks 2) "Advanced 6502 Programming" by Rodney Zaks These are usually both available from Amazon or other used book sellers, but the price per book is extremely steep ($60-$100). Have these books been scanned? If so, where are they available? If I can't find scans of these books online, then I'm going to get both of them through InterLibrary Loans. I'll only be able to use them for a couple of weeks, but it's been than not having seen them at all. Finally, I don't need to be pointed to other 6502 books or programming websites. I am aware of these other resources. I am ONLY looking for these two books in particular right now. Thanks. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Well, I can't help you with "6502 Games", but the other book can be found here: http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/books-generic.htm Great find! It turns out to be a pretty good scan too! I don't like finding scans of a book that are unreadable because they are scanned at such a low resolution-- but this one was scanned well. I also downloaded "The Home Computer Wars," which happens to be another book that I requested for InterLibrary Loan last week! I downloaded one other book too: "K-Power - Computer Crazyness." I have fond memories of typing in games from this book in about 1984 on my C-64. Even at the time, I knew the games weren't very good (compared to commercial games), but they were AFFORDABLE and in BASIC-- which made sense to me. My favorite game from the book was "Lost in the Funhouse," which was a "3D game." Man, I kinda wanna fire-up my 130XE or C64 and type the game in... but it would probably diminish the memory of the game. If I knew AT THE TIME that the game wasn't too good, then I'd probably think it was terrible now. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Here is the same "6502 Games (6502 Series: Volume IV)" book that I have on Amazon for $5 + shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BPMSX2?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004BPMSX2 BOUGHT IT! Thanks for finding that! I already own "Programming the 6502," which helped me to learn how to program the 6502 quite a bit, which is why I partly wanted "Advanced 6502 Programming" (the other reason was historical footnotes). If I like the PDF, then I'll probably end up picking that up too. Thanks for all the help-- you all ROCK! Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 I have scanned some non-specific 6800 Programming books before: http://www.orphanedgames.com/APF/6800_cpu_programming/6800_cpu_programming.html Awesome.. I have "How to Program and Interface the 6800" but would rather read it on my kindle. Thank you. It was difficult for me to find any books about the 6800 online, which is why I scanned some of them and made a website so that other people could check into them too. I'll be adding four or five other 6800 books to that page over the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 I received my copy of "6502 Games" by Rodnay Zaks that I bought on Amazon.com. I also received my copy of "Advanced 6502 Programming" via InterLibrary Loan. These books are essentially identical. "6502 Games," published in 1980, is aimed at owners of a 6502 trainer board called SYM from Synertek Systems, while "Advanced 6502 Programming" is ALSO aimed at this same system. In order to use the programs with the trainer board, users would have had to add their own external speaker and buy an add-on board available from SYBEX (the publisher of the books) called "The Games Board." As far as I can tell, there is no reason to own both copies of this book, as ""Advanced 6502 Programming" should have actually been called "6502 Games, Second Edition." I have noticed VERY few changes between the two books, but their are a few changes. I suspect that they are fixes for errors in the earlier book. Mostly though, if both books had the same covers, and you were just glancing through them, then you would not be able to tell the difference between the two-- they are the same right down to the page numbers. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 sorry i didnt see this thread sooner... both books are scanned and available as PDF... DLH's Bomb Jack site alot of good 6502 books (and C= books too, if you dabble in the black arts ;') sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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