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Cybergoth

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Posts posted by Cybergoth

  2. Posted

    Anyways, it sounds like you found a good workaround, and it's probably optimal in this case.

     

    Hehe, it's optimal to have it compile. But it doesn't work :)

     

    As far as I can see it, either LOCATE, PRINT or the second FOR destroys the outer FOR...NEXT loop?

     

    Uhm... how would I safely work with nested loops?

     

    I'm sure you realize 6502 the limitations as well as anyone :)  With 5200BAS you are one step above the 6502 code itself.  For me, though, the BASIC-ized ASM is a lot friendlier and easier for my mind to deal with than raw ASM.

     

    Hey, to me it's fun to toy around with 5200BAS, even though it's giving me a hard time! :)

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  3. Posted

    Should I better address future issues right here or rather via mail?

     

    Either way, or even a PM on AtariAge is fine.

     

    Ok, then I'll continue my adventures here, maybe it helps/motivates other people, too :)

     

    Well, I was trying to draw some upside-down pyramid structure on the screen. What I was trying to do would normally look like:

     

    I=1:FOR I TO 20

   J=I:FOR J TO 41-I

   LOCATE J,I:PRINT"X"

   NEXT J

NEXT I

     

    (Actually FOR loops as I used to know would normally look like "For I = 1 To 20"..., but I've adopted to stranger syntax before :wink:)

     

    Ok, it didn't compile like that.

     

    After some more reading and tweaking this'n'that, the only BAS5200 compilable solution I came up was:

     

    I=1:FOR I TO 20

   A=41:A=A-I

   J=I:FOR J TO A

   LOCATE J,I:PRINT"X"

   NEXT J

NEXT I

     

    Ok, it compiles... but :roll:

     

    Hm... I'll try some more...

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  4. Posted

    Your code looks fine, except for the PALETTE 2,Z line.  :D  You also shouldn't need the A=0, but it's not hurting anything.

     

    Ah, that A was only some experimental leftover :-)

     

    A workaround for the meantime is COLOR2=Z instead of PALETTE 2,Z

     

    Hehe, the good news: It's working :)

     

    The bad news: The basic concept behind Atari char graphics totally differs from what I was expecting :roll:

     

    So... uhm... ANTIC doesn't know a concept like utilizing an extra color RAM assigning individual colors per char, i.e. the colors are global?

     

    Antic 2 is a character mode, and it is indeed 2 colors.

     

    Hehe, I thought that was two colors per char, so I could do something like:

     

    H

     

    I assume I'm getting closer to that using ANTIC 4?

     

    I don't even need 4 different colors per char, one would already be enough :)

     

    Most game display lists will have several kinds of Antic lines on the same screen, and so will need to be hand made. I recommend getting the "Atari System Reference Manual", check out the Display List chapter.  It is written for the 400/800 but mostly applies to the 5200 also (with the exceptions listed in the conversion document), get the docs here:

    http://www.azstarnet.com/~jeffryj/5200res.html

    "Link: Atari System Reference Manual"

    "File: Atari 800 -> 5200 conversion info"

     

    Thanks for these tips, I'll try printing these docs soon!

     

    Hope this helps and thanks for the idea on improving PALETTE!

    calamari

     

    Oh, fine :) I've a somewhat ambitious project in mind, so on my way I'll probably come back with problems more often :-)

     

    Should I better address future issues right here or rather via mail?

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  5. Posted

    i thought it was 4 bit?

     

    It's 8 bit, like any other 65XX CPU used in almost any 8-Bit Atari, Apple or Commodore computer or the NES for example.

     

    Only difference of the Ataris 6507 is that the interupt line is missing, which AFAIK made it cheaper back then.

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  6. Posted

    Hi there!

     

    Silly me. Can't get the simplest things going on my own.

     

    I've a complete & running setup for 5200 BASIC development now, but I'm already stuck a few minutes past "Hello World". :ponder:

     

    Well, I wanted to do some colored program with redefined charset. Since I didn't get from reading the material I googled so far wether I should use ANTIC 2 or ANTIC 4 mode, I was trying to do a little programm demoing me both the colors and the charset.

    (BTW: Is ANTIC 2 B/W only or what?!?)

     

    Here's my first ever 5200 BASIC program in all it's glory:

     

    TITLE OFF

DEFINE Z,$FF



PALETTE 0,$01:PALETTE 3,$01



Z=0:A=0:FOR Z TO 255

   PALETTE 2,Z

   PRINT CHR$(Z):PRINT

NEXT Z

     

    Well, for reasons that are beyond me,

    PALETTE 2,Z

    is not accepted by the 5200BAS compiler.

     

    I tried several funny workarounds and tested this'n'that, but since I never ever touched any 8-Bit system or the 5200 or any Atari BASIC before, I probably was doomed to fail...

     

    Any help appreciated.

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  7. Posted

    Does anyone have a list of RAM variable names for locations $80 to $ff for the Raiders of the Lost Ark?  There are RAM locations that stores certain data during game play such as number of lives, player locations, current room location, etc.  These locations are cleared when game is reset since the game is designed to reboot when reset is pressed.

     

    Actually, this already is the complete available RAM of the VCS, inclusive stack :)

     

    If you are really wanting all of their names, you'd have to reverse-engineer the complete game.

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  8. Posted

    Hmm, I can't stand Rares games anyway..at least, nothing they've done since 1984.

     

    Hehe, I thought R.C. Pro Am on the NES was past '84 :)

     

    What I never get, is how crappy most of the current Konami output is. They were the NES gods back then, with every title rated 85+, but now on the GBA they did good Castlevania & ISS so far, but another 65 crap titles...

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  9. Posted

    the game "encounter" by paul woakes is programmed for the 800xl. is it possible to port this game to 2600?

     

    Well, both Ataris Battlezone and Activisions Robot Tank have proved that the 2600 can do a tank game within a pseudo 3-D environment.

     

    The 2600 can't do any vector grafics of that quality, so you'd have to create all the objects with sprites. The VCS only has 2 sprites, so it's certainly not that easy a task.

     

    i think, both systems has the 6502 processors, isn't it?

     

    To be more precise, both have 65XX compatible processors. Actually there's a 6507 ticking in the VCS.

     

    by the way: i am not a professional programmer. i learned years ago to programm the 8085 with assembler, but most things i have forgotten...

     

    Try buying books about programming the C64 in assembly. It's driven by a 6510, which is yet another 65XX compatible processor.

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  10. Posted

    do somebody know more about this game (screenshots, available for which systems, etc)?

     

    Encounter is available from Holme's, so you can easily do the screenshots on your own, using an 8-Bit emulator like atari800 :)

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  12. Posted

    Hi there!

     

    While researching about 3D Space shooting games, I found some 30+ available on the C64, but I'm having a hard time to find some for the ol' Ataris.

     

    Do you know any of them?

     

    So far I found only ports of the "Star Wars" arcade and of course of "Star Fire" itself.

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  13. Posted

    Hi Tim!

     

    I'll be there Friday night, as I need plenty of time to set up the Hozer booth. Gonna be huge, gentlemen. So, if there's extra luggin', shippin', or drinkin' to be done that night, let me know! ;)

     

    I just wanted to thank you for selling our games there.

     

    If there's anything I can do for you in return, let me know.

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  16. Posted

    Hi there!

     

    I just wonder if probably a new Pac-Man game is planned for the GBA. I didn't like the Pac-Man collection that is already out, but I'd love to have a *new* Pac-Man game, i.e. one that is programmed especially for the GBA, just like the recent GBA Space Invaders.

     

    I thought that maybe one of you American guys know wether Namco is planing something like that?

     

    If not, would someone here recommend the Pac-Man collection anyway? :)

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  17. Posted

    Hi there!

     

    Ok, I finished the screen. This, to all my best knowledge, is, how a Sea Wolf 2 port could actually look like:

     

    seawolfmock2.gif

     

    Note: I borrowed the top section from "Crash Dive".

     

    But it'd be cool like that, or?

     

    Wow, design process almost done. :)

     

    Any suggestions so far?

     

    Well, if there'd be enough interest in such a project, the next steps would be setting up a webpage for the project and then finding some talented programmers who'd help me with that. I'm still somewhat busy with Star Fire, but I'm willing to contribute where I can.

     

    We'd need at least 1-2 programmers for these two tasks:

     

    - Either reverse-engineering the Horizon of Crash Dive or programming a good looking horizon from scratch. Not to hard a task. Might be done by a beginner.

     

    - Programming the main display part. We'd need a pro here.

     

    I myself would contribute the score/state display code and maybe additional code where required, tough I'd not like to be the lead programmer.

     

    Well, that's it from my side at the moment.

    Any ideas welcome.

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  18. Posted

    I am a big sports, fighting, and side scroller game

     

    While I didn't enjoy any sports or fighting game on the GBA so far, I can recommend the "X-Men" game as a good side scroller. Admittedly no Golden Axe / Streets of Rage, but good fun, especially if you like the X-Men characters.

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  19. Posted

    Hi there!

     

    I started turning the Atari 8-Bit scene into a pixel-perfect "Sea Wolf 2 on the VCS screen", the bottom third already done:

     

    seawolfmock.gif

     

    You see the players subs adopted to one color per scannline, yet remaining in their 32 pixel resolution. If required by the kernel, their level of detail might drop to 24 or 16 pixels. I made the subs a little cooler looking too, since I didn't like those fat ones from the original.

     

    Then you see a display line, showing the # of topedos left for each sub, plus a timer in the middle. Following are the scores for both players.

    (I had the idea of letting the players choose their initials at the beginning of the game :) )

     

    If you like it so far, I can continue and complete the VCS screen.

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  20. Posted

    Huhu!

     

    *BUMP*

     

    Hehe, muss das mal wieder recyceln :)

     

    Also, meine Frage diesmal:

     

    Ich habe z.B. ein PAL Q-Bert von Atari(!).

     

    Für NTSC gibt es ja nun auch diese Atari Module:

    (Alle aus dem Bereich CX2614X)

     

    DONKEY KONG

    DONKEY KONG JR.

    VENTURE

    MOUSETRAP

     

    Sind jene vier von Atari(!) auch in PAL Versionen herausgekommen?

    Oder gibt es die PAL Versionen hier nur als CBS Varianten?

     

    Grüße,

    Manuel

  21. Posted

    I just got back from the archive. I see what you did now. You did HMOVE on cycle 74. Pretty clever.

     

    I think it was Brad Mott who first discovered that unusual TIA behaviour. I'm currently not sure wether any of the classic games do that, but there's certain homebrews like Thrust using this technique.

     

    Completely HMOVing the left side certainly is another way, as well as overlaying a black quad-width ball. Or declaring them being 'referees' like in Pele Soccer :D

     

    And thank heavens, the Star Fire background is pitch black anyway 8)

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  22. Posted

    Am I seeing things...where is the HMOVE comb effect in this game? Am I just missing the HMOVE lines in the screen shots? Is it masked by the black background and the scanline right after the platform is drawn? I notice the players don't actually reach the top of the platform, they are off by a scanline.

     

    HMOVE lines _can_ be avoided. Search the Stella archives.

     

    For example, there's no HMOVE lines in Gunfight although I'm obviously repositioning the sprites after the status display.

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  23. Posted

    Hi Scott!

     

    Manuel:  What's wrong with the original? :)

     

    Hehe, well, it's B/W and only for one player :roll: :)

     

    The only differences with Sea Wolf II were that it was in color, and the option of having 2 players play at the same time (would that be possible?).

     

    Yup. You see those two subs at the bottom of the screenshot I posted? :)

     

    What if the look (and play?) of both could be incorporated - putting the TV switch to b&w would give you the look of the original (actually, black and blue, since SW used a blue overlay)

     

    Now that idea is certainly cool! :thumbsup:

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  24. Posted

    I'd settle for a port of the original Sea Wolf (which should be even easier to do!)

     

    Now I'm curious - why would you rather go for the original?

    With "original" you're refering to the B/W arcade?

    What's wrong with the sequel?

     

    As for being easy, you can certainly make this port as complicated as you want.

    :D

     

    If going the hardest way, you can even try doing the ships exactly as in the screenshot I posted, that is by creating a 32 pixel horizontal resolution for them by partially repeating the the old dragster/dragonfire trick. Since we're not going for the max posible resolution here, even the fancy colors might be doable.

     

    From that simplifying, you can choose any easier way you prefer, down to Air/Sea Battle variant 12 :)

     

    Or even simpler when heading for a 1:1 port of the B/W arcade :D

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

  25. Posted

    Hi there!

     

    Sea Wolf 2 could've been a great port for the 2600, don't ya think?

     

    All the action is vertically separated, so you could probably easy do big multicolored ships crossing the screen.

     

    Just imagine an Air/Sea Battle variant 12 remake in Activision quality.

     

    I know there is a similar game by Konami (Marine Wars?) but I think it could be done much better.

     

    Hm... maybe I should try doing a mock-up screen once myself. Here's a screen of the 8-Bit version. A VCS port should come very close:

     

    seawolfa800game.gif

     

    Any takers? I'd support any serious attempt! :)

     

    Greetings,

    Manuel

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