retroclouds

Thanks for the update! Just gave the "character look" a try. One suggestion; would it be possible to show the character definition without having to click on the tile on the map, e.g. by just "hovering" over the map? Dunno if this might cause a performance issue. Also once you click, the "character look" mode ends automatically. Would be cool if it would stay in that mode until it gets explicitly turned off by the user. Anyway, these are just some suggestions. Magellan is already very intuitive and I like to play around with it. Here are some more suggestions: 1) Would be cool if you could define "areas" in the map that serve a special purpose (e.g. exit for maze or stuff like that). In magellan you could then add a code + description to these areas. I know this would highly depend on the export format AND the game engine processing the map. But you could define extra data statements that contain the code + tile positions of these "areas". 2) Sprites: Not really sure hiw to fit them in. But you could add a sprite layer on top of the tiles. 3) Except for the format of the data it exports, Magellan is actually a TMS9918 drawing tool so it would be easy to support colecovision as well. Just an idea

Get them while you can, it seems there are currently 3 CF7+ devices up for sale at ebay. Check here: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 200462657139 retroclouds

Hi Bones-69, why not start your own thread on your adventure game here in the TI-99/4A programming subgroup Would you might sharing some more details on the storyline and also what programming language you will be using. Will it require the 32K memory expansion and disk ?

If you are in to programming TI-Basic you might also want to check our TI-99/4A Games Programming subgroup at atariage. Check out the development resources sticky thread for manuals on programming Basic and Extended Basic.

You can grab the module archive right here. The .bin files are ROM/GROM dumps that you can use in one of the popular TI emulators. If you want to run the modules on a real TI-99/4A you will need to transfer them to a disk or CF7+ disk image AND you will need a gram kracker or comparable device. Most of the games also exist in a "disk" version allowing them to run from 32K RAM memory expansion. These are either hacked or prototype versions. Dunno if these are available in a single collection, so you'll have to look around for those.

Played around with Magellan during my lunchbreak, and it looks very promising. Well done! For Tutankham I'm thinking of doing some additional levels. Perhaps even make a little contest out of it where folks can submit a screen and the best ones get included. I was thinking of building a map editor myself, but after seeing Magellan ... :-) Here are some more ideas: * It would be nice if you could toggle a mode where you don't set a character tile in the map. Instead if you move over a grid cell it could highlight the matching character in the charset and show its pattern. * Possibility to have multiple screens in memory where you can jump from one screen into the next one. * Possibility to set number of columns/rows on a per screen basis. * Example: Screen 1 = screen of 22 rows with 60 columnsm, screen of 22 rows with 100 columns, ... * I know that adding more and more features can easily make a tool unusable for novice users, perhaps a menu level "novice" or "pro" could then be set for hiding the more advanced features. * Would be cool if you could "import" screen data into Magellan, e.g. raw VDP dump. Guess that the map file format is not yet finalized, would you mind sharing details how it is setup ? * Export functions for assembly language usage (I'd love to do something for SPECTRA)

All of the cartridge games as well? Tempest yes, PM sent.

hhmmm, I think all games are available in .DSK format

I'm afraid it won't work like that. If you bought a bare TI-99/4A console it only has 256 bytes real memory. It does have 16K memory attached to the video processor but you can't run assembly programs there. The easiest way to get going is to get a CF7+ compact flash device. The CF7+ has 32K real memory and most of the game roms are also available in a disk version which you can store on the compact flash card. It should be possible to load the disk version of the assembly game via cassette, but you still need the 32K memory. There was an article about that in one of the Smart Programmer issues. Then again I don't think it's that much fun waiting for ages while the game loads from tape.

Looking forward seeing how this further develops. Tried it with my company computer (which has an older java runtime) and can confirm that it doesn't work there. Will try with my home computer, I mean my PC at home As far as the export function is concerned; You might want to add an option for generating the DATA statement for inclusion in assembly language source. If this turns into a real map editor, we could perhaps work out a format for easily drawing the generated screens in assembly language? I would be interested in adding such routines to my SPECTRA library

Jaime has a CF7+ up on ebay. Grab it while you can. Check here: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 200460142569

Excellent work, thank you!

* What level of understanding should I assume the reader has? I'd say the reader should already have some assembly language experience on other retro console/computer systems. * What level of detail do I need to go down to? Tough question. Perhaps it would be good to release intermediate versions of the articles and get feedback from the audience. That way you'd get a feeling where the attention needs to go to. Good luck!

Agree, that is why I was thinking of a tutorial for homebrewers who already have programmed assembly language on other retro systems.

Updated the resources: TECH MANUALS 1. Assembly Language - Added reference to COMPUTE'S Beginner's Guide to Assembly Language on the TI-99/4A 2. Basic / Extended Basic - Added reference to COMPUTE!'s Programmer's Reference Guide to the TI-99/4A - Added reference to COMPUTE!'s TI Collection volume one

Thanks for putting this up!

Although I'm not so impressed with the book now, it is the book that opened the door of 9900 assembly to me and made it possible for me to make working programs; so for that I will always give it due credit (and I will not give up the copy I have had since 1984.) As for beginner tutorials, I am willing to write some (I have already started, although it is panning out to be more of a book than individual tutorials.) However, instead of trying to guess what to write, if anyone has something they would like to see in the way of a tutorial, please post it here and I (or anyone else who is interested) will try to write it up. If you plan on making a request, please be somewhat specific, since "how do I write a game in 9900 assembly" is not a tutorial. Matthew Well reading your posts about the assembly language sound player, I'd say you have a clear, precise and interesting way to describe stuff. I'd love to see you write a full tutorial (book) on "how do I write a game in 9900 assembly" Seriously, something in the line of the Lottrup book, but updated and addressing todays' needs. I don't think we have homebrewers who want to code using the mini memory line-by-line assembler Perhaps a tutorial focusing on coders from other retro gaming platforms (atari 2600, 7800, colecovision, ...) who already know how to program assembler. Here are some of the topics I can think about (in no particular order) 1. Short introduction on TMS9900 CPU (register usage, TI memory architecture) and cross-assemblers targeting the TMS9900. 2. How do I communicate with the VDP processor (VDP memory, graphic modes, SAT, color tables, pattern tables, ...) 3. How to setup sprites in assembly language, how to move them without using ISR routine. 4. Collision detection for sprites without using ISR routine. 5. How do I play a sound or tune. 6. How do I read the keyboard and joysticks 7. How to use the speech synthesizer in assembler 8. How to deal with 256 bytes of scratch pad memory 9. How to setup a game loop (or basic task scheduler) 10. Format of the cartridge header 11. What is bank-switching, how do I use it (trampoline code in scratchpad, jump tables in each bank, ...) 12. Debugging tricks, how to test using MESS debugger and classic99 debugger. How to test on the TI-99/4A using a 8K supercart. It would be great that, after reading the book, the future homebrewer has a good overview on how to write a (bank-switched) game running from the cartridge space

Just gave it a try in classic99. Love the introduction theme This game reminds me of a popular Atari game I used to play at the arcade (and I wasn't any better at it back then as I am now)

Any news on Flyguy II ? Can hardly wait playing the finished version

Thanks for putting this online! This is the only book I'm aware of that specifically addresses TMS9900 assembly language for writing games. It covers the Mini Memory line-by-line assembler, which I personally wouldn't use when writing arcade games for the TI Nonetheless, the book does cover the basics on Sprites, Sound, TI graphic modes.

Excellent work! I will add a reference in the development resources thread. I'd really love to see a PDF scan for Compute's Beginners guide to assembly language on the TI-99/4A. The hard-copy of the book is pretty hard to get by now and there are close to none good beginner tutorials on TMS9900 assembly language available.

Owen, I like what I see there ! Not having scroll isn't that bad if you have that kind of screens in your game. Very nice

I'd highly recommend TI99Dir for handling your CF7+ disk images. You can grab it here.

Interesting stuff. I'm thinking about adding a new section to the "Development Resources" sticky thread. I don't have a name for it yet, but this is the kind of stuff I'd like to add references to. I'd see this as the basics every good homebrew game programmer should know about * Algorithms used in game development (e.g. Bresenham, pseudo 3D, ...), pseudo random generators, ... Hey I don't know much about these but I'm willing to learn * Free Bit-map font resources, sprite graphics, ... * Tutorials about graphic conversion, ... * Video's on how to create cartridge labels, how to create cartridge boxes, ... * ... If you have stuff you want to contribute, just let me know and I'll be more than happy to add it to the list. Also if you have an idea for a proper name for this section let me know. "Miscellaneous" sounds rather boring. Any feedback on what you like or dislike about the "Development sticky thread" is appreciated.

Don't worry about the scrolling guys, it will be as good as the colecovision version In this early prototype I just do a basic dumping of the screen while it is being displayed. There are smarter ways to do this, but first want to have some more functionality in place before I get into the optimisations. The sprite is moving 1px at a time and should be smooth. The video was recorded in MESS. I then took the uncompressed AVI and converted it using DIVX converter before uploading to Youtube. I guess some frames are skipped. Just give the binary in the zip file a try As far as the original TI prototype is concerned, I prefer to stay out of that discussion In the end each version will have its pros/cons. What I can tell is that Brian gave me a valuable hint on how to deal with the joystick handling, so am happy about that.