Gemintronic

You could use the multi sprite kernel and fake scrolling by using the extra virtual sprites. Or, you could try Superchip RAM and see if the pfscroll commands work for your engine. http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#superchipram UPDATE: Oops.. nevermind about scrolling. Got confused as to what you wanted. Karl Gs suggestion sounds good

I forgot to mention some of my titles aren't very flashy or well known. Some don't even play well I think once the quality and visibility goes up there's some leeway. But, then you run into licensing and contracts and the possibility of a free ROM goes down again. I guess the real reason comes down to the game makers original intention. Some are ROMs because flickering and other techniques make them look pretty bad on real hardware. Some are free because they were just always made for digital distribution. Going from one distribution mode to another can get problematic.

Given the costs of licensing and hiring a programmer I'd suggest making a play-alike. The tools for mere mortals to do so are waaaaaay unmaintained. Perhaps it could be a slow going (but rewarding) project via 5200BAS http://sebastianmihai.com/main.php?t=62&

Some of us game developers self publish titles. Sales go to pretty much zero when you release a ROM. So, unless you intended it to be a freebie from the start, there's not much incentive. Bigger indie publishers also have to work within the constraints of a licensing deal. The contract wording might not include giving away the game for free as a ROM. The more popular / active a brand is the less likely a freeware ROM is. Especially if AtariAge is the publisher they'll have permission to showcase the games on a real 2600 or otherwise. It's pretty much a badge of honor So, physical releases will never always be freebies afterwards. I have some pay what you want here: https://theloon.itch.io/ PDRoms has an Atari 2600 section: https://pdroms.de/files/atari2600

Not a full answer due to time of night here I think there are several topics to explore. You best bet is in topics which bogax helps with regarding 4 way scrolling. Also, you can fake smooth horizontal scrolling with the multi sprite kernel. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/195843-smooth-horizontal-scrolling-demo/ http://atariage.com/forums/topic/218190-smooth-vertical-scrolling-from-data-want-4-way/ I know nothing about the DPC+ kernel. Maybe by now it supports scrolling.

You might consider trying to port some of the text mode demos from the assembly crowd to batari BASIC. Basically replacing the DRAWSCREEN command. Not sayin it would be easy (or all the asm programmers available for questions). But, the payoff would be huge!

I wish Andrew Davie would chime in. He came up with some novel scrolling techniques for Bigfoot. The main question being: does it matter that snazzy techniques not using hardware assist are present in carts using MMC chips. I mean, if the game engine as a whole needs an MMC then does it still qualify.

YouTube is a platform. Some people have in fact made it a career. It's not cheap to meet standards that get sustained viewers - hobbyist or not. The problem came when they decided to demonitize videos. The YouTube money goes away you bet YouTubers are going to "beg" for another way to be supported.

1. Poor communication with 3rd party developers and gaming industry prior to launch. 2. Poor communication with 3rd party developers and gaming industry after launch. That is all.

Caveman-like idea but.. How about breaking that image into several large sprites and giving them their own trajectory and applied effects? You could tweak how many are needed until the end user is fooled into thinking you've got a full particle system going.

Life Force appears to be mapper 2. Basically, anything on the list I just posted should be no hardware assist. Mapper 2 games: https://nesdir.github.io/mapper2.html Also found another no mapper chip list on that same site: https://nesdir.github.io/mapper0.html

Here's a hastily filtered list of NROM (a.k.a. no ROM) games. This should give people some idea of what was accomplished at the time with no hardware assist. Suffice to say other systems could have better quality graphics and effects. But, that would have been in a perfect future where developers could get more experienced with the base hardware such as the 7800. 10 Yard Fight 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) 10 Yard Fight (J) 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) 110 in 1 Menu 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) 1942 (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) 58 In 1 Menu 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) 76 In 1 Menu 32k PRG / 0k CHR H ---- (0) Antarctic Adventure 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Arkanoid 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Astro Robo Sasa 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) B-Wings 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Back to the Future 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) <--bad dump Balloon Fight 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Balloon Fight (PAL) 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Baltron 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Baseball 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Baseball (J) 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Battle City 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Binary Land 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Bokosuka Wars 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Bomberman (J) 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Burgertime (J) 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Chack N' Pop 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Challenger 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Championship Lode Runner 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Clu Clu Land disk-to-nes conv. 32k PRG / 8k CHR H -- (0) [uses .sav file to load] Defender 2 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Devil World 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Dig Dug 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Dig Dug 2 (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Donkey Kong 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Donkey Kong 3 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Donkey Kong Jr. 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Donkey Kong Jr. Math 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Donkey Kong Jr. Sansuu Asobi 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Door Door 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Dough Boy 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Downtown Nekketsu Jidaigekidayo 128k PRG / 128k CHR H MMC3 (4) Duck 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Duck Hunt 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Elevator Action 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Excitebike 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Excitebike (PAL) 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Exed Exes 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Exerion 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) F1 Race 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Famicom Typing Tutor (Dr PC Jr) 32k PRG / 0k CHR H ---- (0) Famicom Typing Tutor 2 32k PRG / 0k CHR H ---- (0) Field Combat 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Flappy 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Formation Z 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Four Card Games 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Front Line 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Galaga (J) 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Galaxian 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Galg 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Game Genie 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Geimos 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Golf 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Gomoku Narabe 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Gyrodine 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Hogan's Alley 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Hydlide 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Hydlide (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Hyper Olympic 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Hyper Olympic - Tonosoma Edition32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Hyper Sports 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Ice Climber 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Ice Climber (disk conversion) 32k PRG / 0k CHR H ---- (0) - (uses .sav file to load) Ice Hockey 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Ice Hockey (disk coversion) 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) - (uses .sav file to load) Igo Sinan 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Ikki 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Joust 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Karateka 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Kinniku Man 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Kung-Fu 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Lode Runner (J) 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Lot Lot 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Lunar Ball 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Mach Rider 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Macross 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Mag Max (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Mappy 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Mario Bros 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Mighty Bomb Jack (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Millipede 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Ms. Pac-Man 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Naitou 9 Dan Shogi Hiden 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Ninja Kun 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Nuts and Milk 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Obake no Qtarou 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Onyanko Town 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Othello (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Othello (Disk conversion) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) (Loads using .sav file) Pac-Land 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Pac-Man 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Pac-Man (Unlicensed Version) 16k PRG / 8k CHR J ---- (0) Pac-Man (J) 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Pachicom 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Penguin Kun Wars 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Pinball 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Poo-Yan 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Popeye 16k PRG / 8K CHR V ---- (0) Popeye Eigo Asobi 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Portpia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Pyramid 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Raid on Bungling Bay 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Raid on Bungling Bay (J) 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Road Fighter 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Robot Block (Stack-Up) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Robot Gyro (Gyromite) 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Route 16 Turbo 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Seicross 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Seicross (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Sky Destroyer 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Slalom 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Slalom (PAL) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Soccer 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Soccer (Disk Conversion) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) (uses a .sav to load) Son Son 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Space Invaders 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Spartan X 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Spelunker (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Spy Vs. Spy (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Sqoon (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Star Force (J) 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Star Gate 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Star Luster 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Super Arabian 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Super Dynamix Badminton 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Super Mario Bros 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Super Mario Bros (PAL) 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Super Mario Bros (Disk Conv.) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) (loads using a .sav) Tag Team Pro Wrestling 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Tag Team Wrestling 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Tennis 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Thexder 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Tower of Druaga, The 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Twinbee (Disk Conversion) 32k PRG / 0k CHR H ---- (0) (loads using .sav file) Urban Champion 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Volguard 2 32k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Volleyball (Disk Conversion) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) (loads with .sav) Warpman 16k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Wild Gunman 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Wrecking Crew 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Xevious (J) 32k PRG / 8k CHR H ---- (0) Yie-Ar Kung-Fu 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Yo Nin Uti Majyan 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0) Zippy Race 16k PRG / 8k CHR V ---- (0)

It might be a case where adding more display features would slow down deployment of additional consoles being added. Given the choice of meddling with their existing feature timeline and fancier graphics.. well, I'd rather develop SMS, MSX and other games using this console

Don't want to repeat what others have said. But, this is amazing work! One to one comparison with bB code really helps wrap my head around assembly. Thank you!

Next step is a Pi that detects if a new USB stick is mounted and automatically plays back a .WAV file ROM onto a Starpath SuperCharger. That would solve the emulation vs. real hardware issue in a roundabout way.

Anyone who can solder is an expert in my book. Something I look up to. Hope I wasn't too flippant

I like the idea of cheap and less expert only media. I've made one or two mini games on SegaCD. No soldering or scrapping carts for parts there.

I'd love for someone to make a card for this game I made. 2k so no flipping to the other side of the card http://atariage.com/forums/topic/227982-tornado-blast-atari-2600-2k-homebrew/

3DO had Trips instead of the cheaper interrupts Tramiels decided to use.

I think I confused at least one person in another topic with named color constants like _teal and _fuchsia. But, I think _white is easier to remember than _0E. _purple is easier than _66. I think for people like us with BEX hex color values hardwired into our head this is perfect. I think basic crayon color constant names have a place too. I just overdid it with teal, fuchsia and those others you mentioned. All a matter of style, I guess

It sounds like you need easy to use tools with scripting and many tutorials. This means either Unity or Game Maker Studio. Forget the words "Ruby", "QBasic" and "Batch".

Unsolicited advice here, but, sometimes I use yet another variable for longer lasting timing needs. I increment a counter variable and at the same time increment an additional counter. I do this at the beginning of my main loop: main counter = counter + 1 : if counter = 255 then supercounter = supercounter + 1

I think the multi sprite kernel could have used more love. Although I truly appreciate and use it.. well, it kinda seemed rough around the edges compared to the standard kernel and DPC+. Probably because the timings had to be so tight to fit in a higher resolution playfield and virtual sprites. I wouldn't mind a custom alternative to multi sprite with 4 paddle support @Lewis2907 I usually "cheat" by using the Title Kernel Editor in VisualbB. When you preview the title screen go into the bB directory and copy out the titlescreen folder to your project folder. The preview folder in bB should look something like "_Preview(67cb548a-21e4-45cf-9b31-54ad38a73012)" more or less. The titlescreen data seems to like being in your last bank. bank 4 asm include "titlescreen/asm/titlescreen.asm" end If it were in bank 4 I'd use it like so. This line is like a drawscreen command strictly for displaying the tittle. gosub titledrawscreen bank4

Years ago when I switched over to collecting unlicensed games and consoles I bought one. However, I heard rumors of it being fragile so I kept my light sixer for entertainment and development.

There's already been an "Asian original" SMW game. Meaning, most of the people in the scene think that at least the game engine is original.