retroclouds

As far as I know, we don't have any means to detect if we are on a PAL or NTSC TI-99/4A. The colecovision has a specific BIOS ROM address that contains "50" for PAL and "60" for NTSC. That way software can easily figure out if it needs to adjust sound loops, timers, etc. Guess one should be able to figure out the same by running a tight assembler loop in scratchpad memory counting VDP interrupts. Dunno how well that would work on hacked TI-99/4A's, SNUG systems or Geneves. I don't care as those ain't my target machines anyway. For what it is worth: Pitfall just runs a tick slower on a PAL system.

I completely forgot about the X instruction. Never used that one. hhmm, I guess if it could be used to write a compact "push registers" subroutine. Seem to recall that the X instruction is rather slow ? But what if it resides in scratch-pad memory. Then again, could write some self modifying code there

Didn't have a chance to check this out earlier. Looks perfect! Very well done

I like the idea of letting FlyGuy hhmhm... fly Perhaps you could introduce something like "warp pils". You start with 5 and you collect some while you proceed. Using a warp pil will let flyGuy take off. Wonder how it would look like if FluyGuy is bigger while he is flying. (like in the racing game Bump 'n Jump when the car jumps). How about adding a Mrs. FlyGuy to the match ? As far as the levels are concerned: now that Magellan is in place, a small contest where the atariage members design the levels could perhaps be an option. It would save you from having to design all the levels yourself. The level designers could be credited (in the manual or something) Well, these are just some ideas. I think that FlyGuy will be a big success

This is very cool. I'm currently redesigning my SPECTRA assembly game library and one of the key elements is that it's stack based. I'm currenlty redoing that part and its nice seeing the ideas you came up with for the stack handling. For 'popping' the registers of the stack I'll be having a small subroutine in scratch-pad memory. I don't know any C myself, but I presume that the C implementation will be using some of the registers and memory for handling its own requirements. * Will scratch-pad memory be used by the compiler generated program ? * Do you mind sharing which registers are "taboo" for external assembly routines. * What conventions should assembly routines stick to for being callable from a C program ?

Welcome MäSäXi ! It's always nice to have fellow home computer buddies check out our little group here Your nickame sounds familiar. Can it be that you are on the MSX resource ? I check that one out on a regular basis (as a lurker). Ah the MSX and the MSX DEV homebrew games; very nice.... I like Malaika a lot

Well, even though my progress on Tutankham is rather slow, my friend ti99userclub has been very busy Check out his beautiful artwork on the manual cover

thanks for asking yeah, development has been real slow lately. Too much real-life stuff in the way. That's also the reason why I originally planned the release date for 2011. However, the good news is that in August I'll be having some time off. That should allow me to make some decent progress

So true, Codex really has done a great job on Magellan! These are the things I'd love to see in a future version: * Sprite support (multicolor effect) * Bitmap graphics support * Gallery: Overview screen with thumbnails of screens in map. Would allow an easy selection without having to cycle through each individual screen * Gallery: Possibility to reorder screens in map * Gallery: Possibility to add description/notes to screens in map * Undo for last operation(s) * Option to clone the same object multiple times without having to re-select the object boundaries * Built-in help and documentation/tutorial * More default fonts (e.g. TI title screen font, colecovision font) * VDP raw dump import

Enclosed in the attached zip file are 2 VDP dumps I took from the Colecovision game "Gorf". I wanted to get you a SCREEN1 dump (as bitmap mode is not yet present in Magellan). The VDP dumps were taken with MEKA (still my favourite Colecovision and SEGA SG-1000 emulator). I took each dump 2 times (raw mode + text output). VDP register dump and 16K VDP memory dump are in separate files. VDP dumps.zip Dump 1: GORF title screen ========================= Name >1800 (tiles) Color >2000 (color table) Patterns >0000 (tiles patterns) SPG >3800 (sprite patterns) SAT >1B00 (sprite attribute table) Dump 2: GORF game screen ======================== Name >0C00 (tiles) Color >3600 (color table) Patterns >0000 (tiles patterns) SPG >2800 (sprite patterns) SAT >1800 (sprite attribute table) This comes with no warranty Dumps were taken while watching ....... you have to watch the full video to understand

ok, I'll get you some VDP dumps today or the latest tomorrow

Excellent stuff

You might want to check out Mono here. I guess it should allow you to run Strawberry on Linux and OS X as well. From their project page:

One important topic that should be covered in the book - at least in my opinion - is how to debug assembly language programs. This should cover debugging tricks/techniques and the tools involved. Especially thinking about emulators (classic99, MESS) and their built-in debuggers.

Any chance you would consider a cartridge version too ? I mean 64K of ROM + 32K RAM ?

I think that a more TI general forum would attrackt new people as well. Just look at the "classic computers" subforum here on atariage; it sports TI-99/4A releated posts on a regular basis. As far as the Y! trolls are concerned. I've got the feeling we won't see many of those here...

I'd say go for it Matthew! I would certainly buy the book. You could also offer a PDF version for sale. Personally I like having both. I have my TI library with me on a USB stick.

Very cool! Looking forward experimenting with this

Very nice!

I know RetroClouds has settled on the name, so I hope he'll forgive a couple more suggestions: Nutty Tutty or Tutuncommon -- you get the name AND cartridge rarity all in one! --Rich

I wouldn't say you are lacking the latter man If you keep this pace up you'll be rocking big time. Hey, did you ever consider an IT career ? I mean sure, this is fun and work is work. That is what I like about programming for a living; you are solving your little (or big) problems, code it and watch it go. It's a thrill seeing your program do what it is supposed to do. Or see it horribly go wrong and then track down the nasty bugs hehe, I still get a kick out of that even after all those years.

Just checked out Hacker's Delight book. Interesting stuff. This is the fun part of our TI programming forum. It's not just about programming TI games. You learn so much along the way

Hey, just call me a geek But I would be interested in learning more about GPL.

Taking GPL classes. Hey, does it get any cooler than that ? On a sidenote, I didn't know that Car Wars was written in GPL. That game has quite some arcade action. Pretty sure you could do some fine games in GPL. Too bad Texas Instrument didn't do more quality arcade games.

Interesting discussion people. I like the idea of a recommended vendor list. But who'll decide whether a vendor is a recommended vendor or not. And here's the provocative question: should Kyle be listed as a recommended vendor or not ? Some will say yes, others will say definitely not. I don't mind seeing this forum expand. I mean it's affecting the TI. As long as we don't go that off-topic as it now regularly happens in the Y! groups we should be fine. And after all, if you'r buying Extended Basic or a GPL assembler, then it's programming related anyway What I would like to see is that we get a similar structure like they have for the Atariage Colecovision forum. We could have a forum dealing with everything related to TI-99/4A and in there you have the programming subgroup (this one). Albert, if you are reading this: please