Flickertail's Blog

Since you're interested in using C you may want to reconsider using DPC+. C support was tacked on to it as an afterthought, so the implementation is a bit kludgy. We created a new scheme this past year, CDF, and designed it from the ground up for writing games using C. This resulted in better capabilities, plus more ROM and RAM is available for your game vs DPC+. CDF's been used for two recently released games, Draconian and Super Cobra Arcade.

Some info about CDF can be found in this blog post, with additional info about the new Fast Jump feature in this blog post. Replies 135 and 139 show how I was able to improve Draconian by using CDF instead of DPC+. You may also like to reference this topic.

 

I've also been planning out a new framework, Spice C (reply 355), that's similar in concept to Batari BASIC in that the kernels will be prewritten so you only have to worry about your game logic (which would be written in C instead of BASIC). Like bB, new kernels can be written by people familiar with 6507 assembly. I plan to start working on it in the new year.

SpiceWare, I saw some of the posts about CDF, but I couldn't figure out what was was necessary to use it.

 

I haven't started on it yet, so I'd very much rather use CDF, because Draconian really looks spectacular. I first saw the Draconian youtube video poking around the AtariAge store, and thought I had accidentally wandered into the 7800 games by accident.

 

I appreciate the links to the AA posts. I definitely want to use CDF. I'll read through everything you've posted so far. I think i have a viable kernel, but if can make the kernel even tighter, it just means more features.

I've also been planning out a new framework, Spice C (reply 355), that's similar in concept to Batari BASIC in that the kernels will be prewritten so you only have to worry about your game logic (which would be written in C instead of BASIC). Like bB, new kernels can be written by people familiar with 6507 assembly. I plan to start working on it in the new year.

 

SpiceWare - is there anything I can do to help out with moving Spice C forward?

Nope. I've not started on it because I was burnt out by the crunch of getting Draconian ready for PRGE, followed by the 2-week road trip my folks & I took to the Grand Canyon, PRGE, and Napa Valley - I even worked on Draconian in route to Portland!

 

Now that I've recovered, the holidays are here and I'm getting ready for a house full of company. They'll be arriving late tomorrow night, or Thursday depending upon how my sister's work day goes tomorrow.