INTYBasic in hunt of Memory?

[CrazyBoss]

Hi There.

 

Is here the best place to ask.

 

I installed the new 1.12 version, and It seems like more memory have been cut ?

 

If I need more memory I guess I could start to use up video memory right ?

 

Any clue where to hunt for Memory in a Intelvision basic program ? Which ranges can be used safely ?

 

I have an IDEA of a game, but Already now can see it will not run unless I can find more memory. I dont think I will

need a lot of graphics but will need 4-6 shapes for sprites.

 

The compiler is getting better and better I will try to make a few entries to the Contest

[GroovyBee]

Do you need the RAM in order to hold shapes that are programmed on the fly or for something else?

[+DZ-Jay]

Hi There.

 

Is here the best place to ask.

 

I installed the new 1.12 version, and It seems like more memory have been cut ?

 

If I need more memory I guess I could start to use up video memory right ?

 

Any clue where to hunt for Memory in a Intelvision basic program ? Which ranges can be used safely ?

 

I have an IDEA of a game, but Already now can see it will not run unless I can find more memory. I dont think I will

need a lot of graphics but will need 4-6 shapes for sprites.

 

The compiler is getting better and better I will try to make a few entries to the Contest

 

Yes, this is the right place to ask.

 

First, how much memory are we talking about? Second, what do you mean by "more memory has been cut"? Have you encountered a specific limitation that changed from the last version?

 

Also, I suppose you mean RAM (to store variables and arrays) as opposed to ROM (to store your code and data). Is this correct?

 

Please provide more details and we'll try to help as we can.

 

-dZ.

[CrazyBoss]

Hi.

 

I mean some 16bit variables have been removed from the Compiler. I have more free memory (16bits) in version 1.1 but I think Oscar added a few

more 8bits in 1.11 than 1.1

 

I mean memory, not rom.

 

I dont think I can use that memory with dim or variables, I think I have to peek and poke, to use it, I think maybe I can steal some of the

gram, If i dont need to use to many cards right ?

[GroovyBee]

If you use # in front of your variable name it will be allocated in the 16bit SYSTEM memory.

 

What do you need the extra memory for? Perhaps there are different ways to solve your problem if you give us a bit more information to go on .

[GroovyBee]

You can move all 16 bit variables in your code to cart RAM by using :-

 

intybasic --jlp in.bas out.asm

[+nanochess]

It would be preferrable to use:

 

intybasic --cc3 in.bas out.asm

 

This doesn't use the hardware accelerated features of JLP, only the RAM memory.

 

You can use the following ROM addresses:

 

$2000-$2FFF
$5000-$6FFF (IntyBASIC programs start here)
$A000-$BFFF
$C100-$FFFF

 

Also add a SOUND 5,0 at start to enable ECS mapping out and you're fine.

[+DZ-Jay]

Hi.

 

I mean some 16bit variables have been removed from the Compiler. I have more free memory (16bits) in version 1.1 but I think Oscar added a few

more 8bits in 1.11 than 1.1

 

I mean memory, not rom.

 

I dont think I can use that memory with dim or variables, I think I have to peek and poke, to use it, I think maybe I can steal some of the

gram, If i dont need to use to many cards right ?

You could use GRAM, but you would need a WAIT command in order to read or write to it, since it is only available during the VBLANK period.

[freewheel]

nanochess can correct me, but I believe that the reported "available" variables changed - not the actual use of them. At least I hope not - I don't recall any recent features that should be using up more RAM. So it's not that the new release took anything away - it's just reporting the correct number now.

 

"4-6 shapes for sprites" doesn't consume much RAM at all on the Intellivison, so I'm not sure where you think you'll run into memory problems. There's plenty of GRAM available - you can load 64 program-defined 8x8 cards - and there's more 8 bit variables than anyone should need (over 200), unless you're creating large arrays for something. 16 bit vars are the only real limit, and there are still plenty unless you have a need to keep track of a lot of large numbers - and there are tricks to use 8 bit variables for almost any imaginable use case there as well.

 

You shouldn't need to be using PEEK or POKE unless you're doing something fairly fancy. Don't get me wrong, I use it them all the time, but not because I'm running out of memory.

 

What memory limit do you think you'll run into?

[+nanochess]

nanochess can correct me, but I believe that the reported "available" variables changed - not the actual use of them. At least I hope not - I don't recall any recent features that should be using up more RAM. So it's not that the new release took anything away - it's just reporting the correct number now.

 

 

You're right