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Atari 2600 Programming Tutorials


Andrew Davie

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Yes I think with proper training everyone will be able to make their own dream game!! How cool would that be? I've had an idea for the perfect Atari game ever since I was a child. It involves a madmans diabolical plot to enslave the world using delicious mutated bologna sandwiches. You are Earths last hope and must shoot the advancing sandwich hoard while avoiding their deadly crumbs. I have created a mock board and hope that one day my game will become a reality.

 

moycon-1.jpg

 

What do you think? Am I on to something here? Hello? Hey where'd everybody go?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sounds like a great idea.Maybe the format could be split between 'dummy programming' & 'advanced programming'.Also,since we all are using the computer,maybe this can be on a cd-rom--I don't know which is cheaper;printing a book or burning cd-roms.I do know that Digital Press has a hell of a time getting their rarity guide printed on time,within budget.

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Assembler's hard. The best I can do is C++ type stuff. I agree that we need tons of good resources and tutorials on 6502 programming.

 

Also, I think we should have tutorials on how to do specific stuff (such as creating a man moving around in a maze or creating entire groups of enemies or how to accept input from specific buttons or console switches, etc.) because assembly language commands are full of nitty-gritty (assigning memory registers, etc.)

 

Speaking of which... I've got an interesting idea. How about a C-based programming language that permits for programming real Atari 2600 games without requiring too much knowledge in the 6502 assembly language, and compiles the "Atari 2600 C" code into .BIN files? I think it's probably next to impossible, but...

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I'm in on this idea. I have some simple games I wrote in high level languages. The mere thought of porting them to the atari, and Ive had this thought for many, many years, gives me a strange tingling sensation as well as visions of 1's and 0's chasing me in my nitemares. Let me just repeat what everyone else says: The 2600 is very difficult to program for thenovice/beginner/self taught/ nut case

- its no picnic. However should we attempt it?? hell ya! Your social life may suffer, but if you are reading this, you probably dont have one anyways...(myself included) Cheers.

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quote:

Originally posted by Mindfield:

Personally I'd kinda dig this. I've done enough 6502 assembler to know my LDAs from my BEQs, and although the 2600 is a very, very different beast than the 8-bit Atari, I'd consider it an interesting challenge.

 

 

People seem to be confusing "programming the Atari 2600" with "programming 6502". I am not interested in teaching people how to program 6502. The Atari 2600 is the beast to tame; there are other places to learn the processor.

 

I would also reiterate, I have not promised anything. I was just interested to see what sort of demand there is for such a series of tutorials, and it seems... not much.

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quote:

Originally posted by Andrew Davie:

People seem to be confusing "programming the Atari 2600" with "programming 6502". I am not interested in teaching people how to program 6502. The Atari 2600 is the beast to tame; there are other places to learn the processor.

 

I would also reiterate, I have not promised anything. I was just interested to see what sort of demand there is for such a series of tutorials, and it seems... not much.

 

I myself am interested in learning to program the Atari 2600. Not so much for games, but for various tools and test cartridges for different ideas I have and hardware things I want to create in general.

 

Maybe then I might try my hand at making a simple 4K game.

 

I do like the fact that you mentioned if you do the tutorials they will be about how to program for the Atari 2600, not the 6502-- After all everyone is interested in programming for the Atari 2600 not for anything else.

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quote:

Originally posted by Andrew Davie:

People seem to be confusing "programming the Atari 2600" with "programming 6502". I am not interested in teaching people how to program 6502. The Atari 2600 is the beast to tame; there are other places to learn the processor.


 

Sorry about that Andrew, that's probably my fault. I got the two confused. I want to learn to program the 2600, too.

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