28 replies to this topic

[pacgreg]

Could I write a game with a c64, save it to tape, then play it on a vcs via supercharger? I had this idea but I don't know if it would work or why it would/wouldn't work.

[2600 Forever]

Yes, very.

I've always wondered, if I could shove a square peg into a round hole.

[save2600]

C64 Batari BASIC Kickstarter project?  

[PoLoMoTo]

You know you don't need to use a cassette, just burn the rom to a cd and put it in a cd player

[BigO]

could!=should

[Cebus Capucinis]

The Atari 2600 was sadly only able to work with programs created on the Timex 1000. Really quite a shortsighted move on their part....

[theloon]

The title already makes it quite clear he knows what kind of response to expect.  Why don't we assume the OP understands what he's asking?

What would be needed is a cross compiler that would spit out a 2600 binary.  You could probably modify an existing assembler on the C64 for this use.  The C64 can generate tones right?  Why not write a program to make the C64 "play" the binary via an audio cable to the SuperCharger?

The other method would be to make a game editor on the C64 coupled with a runtime engine for the 2600.  When the game has been edited to satisfaction one would "play" the runtime engine into the SuperCharger and then the game data.

Edited by theloon, Wed Aug 8, 2012 8:36 PM.

[Mxyzptlk]

pacgreg, on Wed Aug 8, 2012 6:58 PM, said:

Could I write a game with a c64, save it to tape, then play it on a vcs via supercharger? I had this idea but I don't know if it would work or why it would/wouldn't work.

Most questions are not stupid if you honestly do not know the answer. Your question seemed valid to me and a great idea. People that want to be dicks, and answer dickishly (my word), are probably dicks

Edited by Mxyzptlk, Wed Aug 8, 2012 8:49 PM.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I suppose we are spoiled by too many trolls. Sorry.

[moycon]

Based on the age of the AA member and the fact they have been interested in classic games since at least 2009, I'd say it's a valid question and should be treated as such. I myself would answer, but would have no clue what I was talking about. I'd assume not possible, but these days...who knows? I guess AA isn't the place to ask.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Mxyzptlk, on Wed Aug 8, 2012 8:48 PM, said:

pacgreg, on Wed Aug 8, 2012 6:58 PM, said:

Could I write a game with a c64, save it to tape, then play it on a vcs via supercharger? I had this idea but I don't know if it would work or why it would/wouldn't work.

Most questions are not stupid if you honestly do not know the answer. Your question seemed valid to me and a great idea. People that want to be dicks, and answer dickishly (my word), are probably dicks

Have I ever told you I love your user name ?  

[Vic George 2K3]

Seriously, I have no idea how Commodore 64 programming even works since I never owned one, but I'm thinking it's not likely to work.

[high voltage]

I've actually done that

[Matthew]

pacgreg, on Wed Aug 8, 2012 6:58 PM, said:

Could I write a game with a c64, save it to tape, then play it on a vcs via supercharger? I had this idea but I don't know if it would work or why it would/wouldn't work.

It might be possible through emulation.

1)Emulate windows on a linux installation.
2)Emulate a c64 in the emulated windows client, then run an assembler on the emulated c64, if you can't find one, code one from scratch.
3)Output the file as an mp3 audio file.
4)Play the audio file, sending the output to a cassette.
5)Play the tape cassette, sending the data to the super charger.
6)De-solder the chip from the supercharger and copy the data to a PC. Now you have a rom file.
7)Download the rom file to a Harmony cart.

Should work.

Edited by Matthew, Thu Aug 9, 2012 5:57 AM.

[theloon]

Er, I'm not sure anything has to be emulated or soldered.  Things like Turbo Assembler already exist and can be modified.  The C64 should be able to generate tones needed to record to tape.

[Eckhard Stolberg]

pacgreg, on Wed Aug 8, 2012 6:58 PM, said:

Could I write a game with a c64, save it to tape, then play it on a vcs via supercharger? I had this idea but I don't know if it would work or why it would/wouldn't work.

I don't know if you are able to write a game, but the necessary C64 to SC audio player can be found here.

[theloon]

Eckhard Stolberg, on Thu Aug 9, 2012 7:41 AM, said:

pacgreg, on Wed Aug 8, 2012 6:58 PM, said:

Could I write a game with a c64, save it to tape, then play it on a vcs via supercharger? I had this idea but I don't know if it would work or why it would/wouldn't work.

I don't know if you are able to write a game, but the necessary C64 to SC audio player can be found here.

I saw this in the docs:

Quote

Still to come: An integrated Playbin Macro Assembler! Elwix/Style will be modifying Style's version of Turbo Macro Pro (TMP) to assemble and directly play the binary out - a complete development tool, that will run completely on a stock C64. This is the same assembler that I used to develop Frogs & Flies 64 (featured on Loadstar #161).

That would seal the deal.  I wonder how far that portion got?

[Nukey Shay]

The guys who originally made those games used an Apple II to write cassettes used for testing with their unit.  So it is directly compatable with that platform.

[Mr SQL]

Eckhard Stolberg, on Thu Aug 9, 2012 7:41 AM, said:

pacgreg, on Wed Aug 8, 2012 6:58 PM, said:

Could I write a game with a c64, save it to tape, then play it on a vcs via supercharger? I had this idea but I don't know if it would work or why it would/wouldn't work.

I don't know if you are able to write a game, but the necessary C64 to SC audio player can be found here.

Hey that's cool! Great link, it's just like theloon was saying
Makes sense you could use a 6502 Assembler and save a 2600 .bin to tape for play in the supercharger.  

Nukey,
it looks like the c64 package didn't emerge until '97; how long was the supercharger on the market before they started developing for it on the Apple?

[Joe Musashi]

I'm not sure if this is what pacgreg had in mind, but instead of having a C64 produce tones and record them with a stereo, it may probably also be possible (and more fun) to use the good old C64 Datasette to directly write supercharger tapes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datasette

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Joe Musashi, on Thu Aug 9, 2012 9:41 AM, said:

I'm not sure if this is what pacgreg had in mind, but instead of having a C64 produce tones and record them with a stereo, it may probably also be possible (and more fun) to use the good old C64 Datasette to directly write supercharger tapes.

True, you only have to write a new tape driver for the SC format. No rocket science, I did my own Turbo Tape back in the 80ties.

[Nukey Shay]

Mr SQL, on Thu Aug 9, 2012 8:13 AM, said:

Nukey,
it looks like the c64 package didn't emerge until '97; how long was the supercharger on the market before they started developing for it on the Apple?

I don't understand what you mean.  The Apple II was the development machine for the SC's commercial games (Phaser Patrol, Frogger, etc).  They used that to assemble code (i.e. cross-platform), and then stored the binary to cassette using the Apple's cassette jack.  The SC was then used to load the binary to the Atari 2600.  Pretty slick operation for a 3rd-party dev (and they didn't need a powerful mainframe system).

[Mr SQL]

Nukey Shay, on Fri Aug 10, 2012 2:05 AM, said:

Mr SQL, on Thu Aug 9, 2012 8:13 AM, said:

Nukey,
it looks like the c64 package didn't emerge until '97; how long was the supercharger on the market before they started developing for it on the Apple?

I don't understand what you mean.  The Apple II was the development machine for the SC's commercial games (Phaser Patrol, Frogger, etc).  They used that to assemble code (i.e. cross-platform), and then stored the binary to cassette using the Apple's cassette jack.  The SC was then used to load the binary to the Atari 2600.  Pretty slick operation for a 3rd-party dev (and they didn't need a powerful mainframe system).

Nukey,
very cool! I thought the company that created some of the supercharger games was a 3rd party dev different from the supercharger company. Did any other 3rd party dev's utilize the supercharger device and a 6502 based home computer as a development medium for the 2600? Because it seems like it was a tremendous opportunity for many small software houses to tool up shop for both 2600 development and production without an investment in expensive hardware; tapes were the balm for small sofware houses.

Great work making so many of the original release titles work in the SC btw!

[Nukey Shay]

I don't believe so...it would have been a small window of opportunity - the market shakeout was just around the corner.  The big players like Activision used mainframe computers and simulations for development (probably because the founders came from Atari and it was what they knew).  Smaller ones founded by independant garage hackers just used chip burners to study existing games and burn their own creations...because that is what they knew.

[thegoldenband]

...and then you have CommaVid, who used a Tandy CoCo for development!