This is a followup to the MenuMaker 0.2 blog entry from 2014.
@eyelyft approached me in 2019 about recompiling MenuMaker as it was a 32-bit program and MacOS is now 64-bit only. I'd done a clean install of my Mac since then, so downloaded the source from blog post but discovered it was missing files. I wasn't able to find the missing files so thought I'd lost part of the source during the clean install.
Last week during a @ZeroPage Homebrew stream on Twitch discussion turned
I've wanted a Vectrex ever since they came out - 30 years later I finally got one. I won it yesterday on eBay and was surprised when it arrived today via UPS! Turns out the seller is located in Beaumont, a mere 84 miles to the east of Houston.
The unit came with Fortress of Narzod and it's overlay, but not the overlay for the built in game Mine Storm. It also has 2 controllers though one of them auto-centers horizontally, but not vertically, and rattles a bit when moved (this was not
NOTE: use MenuMaker 0.4. It fixes a bug found in version 0.3, and adds support for the 2019+ VecMulti.
MenuMaker has been updated for 64-bit macOS. This will create the menu for @Richard H.'s VecMulti SD cartridge for the Vectrex.
Program with source:
MenuMaker20211211.zip
Port was done using Lazarus, which is available for Linux, Mac, and Windows.
Use MenuMaker 0.2 if you're still on a 32-bit version of macOS.
Turns out there's an updated version of VecMulti that requires a slightly different format for the menu file. The menu created with MenuMaker 0.3 would show extra characters on those VecMulti cartridges, resulting in the names shifting.
Starting with Page 2 the names would no longer line up with the numbers 1-4 (game 1 on page 2 is AllGoodThings).
With the help of @NeonPeon I've been able to reverse engineer the new format, and have update
Let's review the TIA Timing diagram from last time:
We used that to determine when we could safely update the playfield data in order to draw the score and timer. For moveable objects(player0, player1, missile0, missile1 and ball) if you update their graphics during the Visible Screen (cycles 23-76) you run the risk of shearing. For something that's moving fast, like the snowball in Stay Frosty 2, shearing may be an acceptable design compromise:
That snowball
Static images that just slide around the screen work OK, but we can do better - so for this update we'll add a couple new images so we can animate the players as they run around the arena.
While you can have as many frames of animation as you'd like, the code is most efficient if the number of frames is a power of 2 (2, 4, 8, 16, etc). The code that cycles through 4 frames is this:
Example:
inc frame
lda frame
and #3 ; limits values from 0-3, i
Awesome cover of Paint it Black by Harp Twins and Volfgang Twins.
I saw them perform it live back in November at the Houston Arcade Expo:
For those of you in Europe they are currently touring in your neck of the woods. Well worth seeing them live if you can.
new main menu title graphic
shield sound effect changes pitch based on shield time remaining
new ship "blink" feedback
ship will blink while shields are active
ship will blink during respawn temporary immunity
blink rate will increase as shield life/immunity remaining runs out
ROMs
spacerocks20121129_NTSC.bin
spacerocks20121129_PAL.bin
Source
spacerocks20121129.zip
While getting ROMs together for Nathan for his RetroN 77 contribution to the Stella-thon 12 Hour Gaming Marathon Fundraiser! event I realized I've yet to publish the final ROM for Draconian.
ROM:
draconian_20171020_RC8.bin
NOTE: newer versions of the Harmony Cartridge use a different chip that does not work with the above ROM. batari posted this patched version of the final ROM in this topic where he explains why the patch was needed:
Draconian_Harmony_fix.bin
In this topic about the exciting new RGB mod for the 2600, collinp reported that the XRGB-mini had problems syncing with Warlords.
I took a quick look and noticed that VSYNC was set before the WSYNC, instead of after, which resulted in the sync signal starting late in the scanline.
I did a quick hack via Stella to swap the order. The hack resulted in the kings getting shifted to the right, but was enough for collinp to confirm that moving the VSYNC after the WSYNC did indeed fix the probl
Picked up a Mac Studio today. It's a stock M2 Ultra version. I used the Migration Assistant and transferred everything over from my nearly 9 year old Mac Pro.
I ordered a couple USB-C to mini DisplayPort adapters to use my existing cables to connect the Studio to my 4K monitors.
AtariAge is noticeably more responsive on the Studio, I was not expecting that.
Like I did with classic Doctor Who, I've been doing a rewatch of Star Trek in air date or
First things first - head over to MiniDig - best of stella and download the Stella Programmer's Guide from the docs page. I've also attached it to this blog entry, but you should still check out what's available over at MiniDig.
Also, for this tutorial you'll need to have DASM to compile the code as well as Stella and/or a real 2600 with a Harmony cart to run your code.
The heart of the Atari is TIA, the Television Interface Adaptor. It's the video chip, sound generator, and also handl
A while back, Nathan posted some well thought out mockups detailing how to do Bosconian on the Atari 2600. There was a bit of discussion, including a suggestion by supercat for drawing the stations using players instead of the playfield. But nothing came of it - until today.
Two weeks ago I approached Nathan about possibly using the routines from Space Rocks to implement his ideas. Those routines seemed ideal as they support objects with unique colors as well as the ability to set th
If you're interested in cutting the cord now might be a good time to get started!
Your Choice: SiliconDust Streaming Boxes
$149.99 - Simple.TV
$119.99 - HDHomeRun PLUS
$ 79.99 - HDHomeRun DUAL <-- this is what I'm using
All of these are dual-tuner units.
I'm not familiar with Simple.TV unit and don't have time to research it this morning. At first glance it appears to be a DVR that you add an external drive to, though it appears to be
Station and station pod explosion sequences using placeholder images I whipped up as Nathan's been busy Station explosions are not deadly to the player's ship.
Pod Explosion
Station Explosion
ROM
draconian_20140513.bin
Source
Draconian_20140513.zip
Read this on the USA Today app on my iPad yesterday - TiVo is also catering to cord cutters.
The $200 Roamio will record 4 shows at once (same as my Mac mini setup). It can also hook up to optional equipment like Mini to watch live and recorded TV in other rooms as well as Stream for watching TV on your mobile device from anywhere you have internet access.
The $150 $75 (appears to be on sale) Premiere will record 2 shows at once and will also work with Stream.
One issue with the station graphics is the gaps in the image which are used to create a shadow effect. They look great, but play havoc with collision testing. I built a test version, available below, that lets you move a horizontal shot around with the right joystick. It denotes a collision by changing the score to 888888:
If the shot ends up in a shadow there's nothing to collide with, so the score shows 0:
Collision tests are done row-by-row, so I got to thi
Added a new function, CollisionQuad(), that lets me test for collisions with the stations. So far only the shot routines have been updated to use this function. What this means is you can no longer take out all 6 station pods while remaining on a single side! You can still fly through a station without getting killed - though odds are that a station shot will take you out.
I made these changes while walking on my new TreadMill Desk. So far I have my MacBook Pro and a secondary monito
ARM routine InitLevel() is now run mid-screen to eliminate problem where OverScan occasionally ran out of time
screen shifted down to give more time to Vertical Blank
player shots are faster
station shots are slower, and once again deadly
asteroid explosions are no longer deadly. They're also faster than mine explosions. Non-Deadly explosions are now drawn in white.
Have not seen any jitter since making these changes. Let me know if you encounter any as I may nee
Heard good stuff about the new show Fargo so bought the season via iTunes. That puts April's savings at $123, with cumulative savings of $1915. Balance remaining to pay off the setup is $1149.
Haven't watched any episodes of Fargo yet, been to busy with other projects like emptying out my office so I can get ready for my new Treadmill Desk, which will be delivered Monday. My Roomba's been busy vacuuming the office - after it recharges I send it in for another pass. I plan keep doing
I took a look at the energy field routines while eating lunch, so here's a new build in just 2 days rather that a few weeks
each station type (Horizontal and Vertical) has its own Energy Field design (2 flickered shapes for each design)
last Energy Field flickered shape kept track for each station, so Energy Field will always alternate between its 2 shapes regardless of Station flicker rate.
Added X-Y check to make sure energy field is onscreen before drawing it. This appears
Test of preliminary routines that open the center pod and show the "energy field" that can be hit to destroy the station in one shot.
The energy field is drawn using a missile. If the station is drawn with player0, the energy field is drawn with missile1. Likewise missile0 is used for stations drawn with player1. I did this as we can't control the color of the missiles, so this gives us a chance for the energy field to be a color other than green.
At the
preliminary explosion sequence
asteroids, mines and enemy ships are deadly to touch
station shots are deadly
Player Lost a Life routine
added a buffer space around the ships spawn point so asteroids/mines aren't placed next, or even on, the ship.
Collision routines don't support quad sized sprites yet, so flying thru a station won't kill you (their shots on the other hand...)
The new buffer space around the spawn point increased the odds of there bein
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