Atari 130xe programming question..

[zore]

im just wondering which language i should pick to start programming a game in? Im familiar with c and assembler so picking up another language shouldnt be a problem..

 

Thanks and any advice is appreciated!

 

Zore

[Nukey Shay]

If you know assember and C programming. why bother learning another language?

[zore]

i dont know which enviroments work best , interms of available software(compilers and such), like i dont have any software right now. I have dos and basic, ive only ever programmed in basic on the atari, so which ide(programs) do i use in order to use c and assembler?

 

thanks

 

any help would be appreciated.

[classics]

I would say programming is far easier in assembler, but it depends on how much stuff you want to do.

 

If your looking to just crank out a few programs and dont care about the specifics of how it gets done, check out Action!. If you want complete control over every aspect then there is no other choice than assembler.

 

Steve

[TMR]

As far as environments go, do you want to work native or cross? For the latter, Crimson Editor and Xasm are what i use for machine code but it's one of those personal taste things... =-)

[Shawn Jefferson]

http://www.cc65.org/

 

You can use your C and assembly skills to write programs for the Atari.

[zore]

Thanks all for the heads up guys, these answers will save me alot of time and diggin around.

 

So i think ill go c and assembler then, i want to do graphics and stuff nothing to crazy just for fun. What about op codes and documentation, any source for these?

 

Also is Atari "basic" too limited for small games and graphics? if not what are some of the drawbacks or limitations using the basic language?

 

 

Thanks a million

[TMR]

So i think ill go c and assembler then, i want to do graphics and stuff nothing to crazy just for fun.  What about op codes and documentation, any source for these?

 

The rather spiffy http://www.atariarchives.org/ contains online versions of several books that should cover the opcodes and a couple that are excellent for delving around the hardware.

 

Also is Atari "basic" too limited for small games and graphics? if not what are some of the drawbacks or limitations using the basic language?

 

It's pretty much like any machine's BASIC in that the main issue is speed; whilst the hardware can help out a lot more than with some other 8bits, that point where it becomes impossible to do what you want rears it's head sooner or later... But yes, you can do small games and some graphics stuff (and a bit more with some trickery and/or small machine code helper routines).

[zore]

Thanks for the response. Ill begin on refreshing my basic and then move onto c and assembler..

 

Cheers

 

zore

[Fröhn]

Thanks for the response. Ill begin on refreshing my basic and then move onto c and assembler..

forget about basic, start with C directly. C is quite easy once you're used to it, the only hard bit is starting with it.

[zore]

ok thanks, i think ill try that c compiler and then decide.

 

zore

[NelsonN]

Action! was my preferred programming environment when programming for the 8-bit. If you can find it, that would be best I think. You can also embed assembly code in Action!, like I used to do, for those spots where speed was essential.