kamakazi

One more quick question. I was viewing Andew's Playfield Wierdness image of the playfield registers. To make sure I understand the image, PF0 and PF2 are reversed and PF1 isn't, correct? Also only the first (or last since it is reversed) four bits are used for PF0. The remaining four are ignored? Thanks again to everyone who responded for all your help.

Thank you very much! What you mentioned work and I will work on learning Assembly better so I can create games that are efficient and that people will want to play. That is my goal. Has been since I received an Atari 5200 for Christmas in 1982.

OK. I've cleaned up my code a lot to a format that I enjoy working with. However, I am trying to understand how to use the memory locations and variables. For example, so I don't have to key in my playfield data every time I want to change it I tried to setup variables with various settings like: ;************************************* ;** ** ;** Set Playfield Data ** ;************************************* PlayfieldData1 = #%11111111 ;Top and Bottom Borders (Solid) PlayfieldData2 = #%10010000 ;Side Borders (Left/Right) PlayfieldData3 = #%11100111 ; PlayfieldData4 = #%00100100 ; PlayfieldData5 = #%10111101 ; PlayfieldData6 = #%10100101 ; PlayfieldData7 = #%00000000 ;Used To Clear Playfield Registers When Needed However, when I've tried to access that information I get nothing on the screen. This is how I was trying to access that data: ;*************************************** ;** Draw Playfield ** ;*************************************** ;** We have 192 scanlines to use. ** ;** Let's track them! ** ;*************************************** ldx #192 ;Start at 192 in a memory location lda PlayfieldData1 ;Get Playfield Data sta PF0 ;Store it to PF0 sta PF1 ;PF1 and... sta PF2 ;PF2 Registers TopBD sta WSYNC dex cpx #190 bne TopBD lda PlayfieldData7 sta PF0 sta PF1 sta PF2 sta WSYNC ;************************************* ;** Finish Up Unused Cycles ** ;************************************* EndBD sta WSYNC dex cpx #0 bne EndBD It works if I replace "PlayfieldData1" with the data directly like "#%11111111". What did I do wrong that I can't use my variable? Thanks in advance.

I don't get why destroying them does any good. Why not just donate them and use that as a tax write off?

I was OK until I seen Tempest get thrown off the building. Most of those didn't interest me but Tempest. That cab alone, even empty, had some value to it. People like these make it hard for a true video gamer that would enjoy what they are busting up find items like those...and would appreciate them. If you have that kind of junk you can't sell don't destroy it...donate it or something. Hell, I'll even take it. Use the donation as a tax write off.

Well, I'm going to put my 2 cents in for it's worth. It's an Atari game! If you owned an Atari you were pretty much the go-to place before the crash. It was made in a short time frame. I remember reading a magazine article discussing the fall of Atari. They did an interview with the creator of E.T. for the 2600. Even he said he needed more time to make a decent game. Atari didn't give him the time. They wanted it before the Holidays. It's on the 2600. The 2600 is a neat and fun console. But here is a system, originally designed for Pong-style games, doing things it wasn't suppose to do. Limitations can lead to problems. Most of the games on the 2600 were fun or fun to watch if nothing more. It just depends on how they are seen. It came before the video game crash. Truthfully, while I never really could figure the game out, I enjoyed it. The only copy I played was a cart-only so I didn't know what I was suppose to do. It was hilarious to watch family and friends play the game, get stuck, and make comments I don't care to repeat here. But I did enjoy the game for what it was and what it was playing on. It didn't seem to suffer from flicker issues like most other 2600 games. I voted No...I don't believe this game is as bad as others claim it is. And I would bet that all the returns were due to most purchasers thinking they could by the game, plug the cart in their system without reading the instructions (if they could read), and figure it out. Not being able to they most likely returned the game after about a month or more of owning it. Granted it wasn't a Space Invaders, Defender, or anything of the like. It was an exclusive original title and I think the developer did very well considering the time he was given to finish it. E.T. wasn't a bad game. Atari's managing and marketing skills were.

That was SOOOOO wrong in SOOOOO many ways!!! Those that shredded that arcade need to find something else for entertainment. Let me place their car in that shredder and see how they feel. Another decent cab gone because of someone's antics of thinking they are "cool" when all they did was destroy a perfectly good piece of gaming history. And it didn't look like it was in bad condition at all. I hate seeing videos like that...especially when it comes to video games.

OK...I've been playing around with the playfield a bit but I don't quite understand, yet, how to use code like: .byte $3C ; | XXXX | $FF48 .byte $46 ; | X XX | $FF49 .byte $06 ; | XX | $FF4A .byte $3E ; | XXXXX | $FF4B .byte $66 ; | XX XX | $FF4C .byte $66 ; | XX XX | $FF4D .byte $66 ; | XX XX | $FF4E .byte $3C ; | XXXX | $FF4F I know these are for numbers but I've seen playfield data done in a similar fashion. Do I put my "maze" in this format and then point TIA to where the information is and then point it to another memory location when I need to change it? Sorry if questions like mine come along often and I'm really not trying to be a pain. I'm new to Assembly and the 2600 but learning as I go. I am more familiar with various forms of BASIC so this is still all new to me. I am having fun learning though. I know I only need the playfield to be no more than 170 clocks as the bottom portion will be the HUD area.

What I am trying to accomplish is something like this. I know that I might not be able to get it this detailed as this is just a mock-up I'm using to go by. As I've said, I guess I need to go back and view Andrew's playfield tutorials. I know I have 192 cycles I can play around with. Just thought I would share my thoughts here and see if others could give some good advise. So far the advise I've received has helped me out a lot.

Well, what I was trying to accomplish, and obviously I misunderstood the playfield tutorials, was try to create a small symmetrical maze. So I plan on using the mirrored mode...I just hadn't come that far in my code yet. I still have a LOT to do as I am starting from scratch and learning as I go. I know I have to count the cycles to make sure everything works, I just haven't figured it out yet. The maze I am "hoping" for I assume is going to be more than I expected. I think I need to go back and read the playfield tutorials again. I just want a single maze design (reflected) similar to what one would expect from a game like Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man. That's it. I just wanted to see if it could be done with a fine line instead of a thick block. But, as Andrew has mentioned, the playfield registers are at a fixed size.

Thanks to Andrew's 2600 Programming Tutorials I have a better understanding of not only the 2600's mediocre but cool architecture but in Assembly as well (for the most part). And I have three game designs down on paper already that I am eager to bring to life on the console originally designed for pong-style games. I figure if others could make games for a console that wasn't intended to play those kinds of games then I should be able to as well. I am currently working on the basis for my game but have a playfield question. In one section (somewhere close to the beginning of the code) I have this: ;--------------------------------------- ; Playfield Data ;--------------------------------------- PF_Data1 = #%11111111 ;Top and Bottom Bar PF_Data2 = #%10000001 ;Side Bar PF_Data3 = #%10111101 ;Side Bar with Top Bottom Middle Box PF_Data4 = #%10100101 ;Side Bar with Middle Box Sides And then when I want to send the data to TIA, I have this: ;---------------------------------------- ; Draw Our Playfield ;---------------------------------------- Playfield lda BGDColor ;Get stored color sta COLUBK ;set the BG Color lda PFColor1 ;Get PF Color sta COLUPF ;set PF Color lda PF_Data1 ;Get PFDATA1 Set sta COLUPF ;Store it! lda PF_Data2 ;Get PFDATA2 Set sta COLUPF ;Store it! lda PF_Data3 ;Get PFDATA3 Set sta COLUPF ;Store it! lda PF_Data4 ;Get PFDATA4 Set sta COLUPF ;Store it! lda PF_Data5 ;Get PFDATA5 Set sta COLUPF ;Store it! What I am trying to achieve is a maze playfield similar to what might be seen in Maze Craze. Am I on the right track? I know I still need to count my cycles and I might need to place a few cycle "pauses" to have some sections repeated. I have not finished the code enough yet to try it out but I wanted make sure I'm doing it right. I plan to add at least 3 enemy sprites and one player sprite to the code once I get a working maze.

Welcome to AA, Joeh. And thanks for sharing the photos.

I say, "Welcome Home, E.T.!!" If I had the game I would play it. It wasn't that bad of a game. Yea I got my a** stuck in the pits from hell but it was still a fun game. I wonder, though, just how it effects all of the ET Carts that survived? I don't care what the non-believers or any other person that goes against what they did has to say...I find it interesting. Whether or not a legend is laid to rest who cares. I say more power to those involved (besides M$).

What do I use? In this day and time I use a Windows environment for trying to learn Assembly Language for 2600 and 5200 development. I was going to try for the 7800 but I wanted to get my feet wet with a little older console first. I have, however, developed a few unpublished works in DarkBASIC Professional during college. As a matter of fact, one class centered around creating documents for clients to review. A project I had in the back of my mind since 2005 became the center. I was suppose to use mock-up images of the work but instead had the game up and running in 3 weeks. I used real screenshots from the game for the assignment. I even did the document to look more like the game's instructions (which in reality it really was) and, while impressive, didn't really get the grade I was hoping for. The instructor found it hard to believe that I created a game in 3 weeks. I didn't get a failing grade though. For the tools I am using for 2600 development, I am using Emerald Editor (previously Crimson Editor), I plan to use Stella for testing purposes, and DASM for compiling my code. Since someone else on here mentioned having a setup for Lubuntu (and I'm a HUGE fan of Ubuntu) I am going to see if I can find what they used for Ubuntu (Linux). I'd rather use that than Windows. I never have liked the Windows operating system since it was first introduced.

Ms. Pac-Man has a decent demo run. Jr. Pac-Man always seems to run. Jungle Hunt goes through every level of the game. While it's not on the 2600, Tempest on the 5200 has a really good demo. As for exceptional demos Tempest would be my go-to game. I can't think of any more 2600 demos that are "out of this world" at the moment.

The one that I had a while back used carbon-dotted pads similar to what was used in NES, SMS, and similar control pads. They might have changed it now though so I might be wrong.

LOL. I almost fell sad that it is being dug up though. It has been an interesting Atari legend. Now it is fixing to come to an end. I just hope that it is worth it all.

I like my JR. But I have to agree. I like the JR model because it is a 2600 alternative but the original designs are by far my favorite of all models. 6 or 4 switch models. I'm not too fond of the Darth Vader model, though. I thought the console missing the wood look was a defect or something.

The shield keeps the signal not only safe from outside interference but from escaping the system as well. By splicing it there might be just enough "gaps" for the signal to escape causing the blue lines. I've seen this more than once on various yard sale models that previous owners have done this to. Almost every other one had this issue with the same problem being the RF Cable being spliced or having splits (latter part due to age). It's not uncommon but a new cable might do the trick. That cable is almost the same grade as the coax cable most cable companies use. You might be able to hack one together a bit cheaper using the ends of the original cable somehow. The center wire is literally soldered to the end of the center pin of the connector. It's a job but might be worth trying. If you have a spare audio RCA cable you can test your VCS and TV with one of those. Might be a good idea to make sure it is not your VCS before getting another cable. I have spares if you need them but I am not sure of their operating condition. They came with my JR model and since I use an adapter (opposite of what you have; mine has the RCA end to fit into the back of the console) I have no use for the cables. You are welcome to them if you need them.

I never knew that any of the 2600 woodgrain models used real wood. All of the ones I have ever come across, including the heavy sixer and light sixer, were all plastic with a woodgrain paint scheme. But I would assume it was for cuts in production costs. It could have also been due to a few other factors like availability of parts and switching of company ownership. Some part manufacturers probably went out of business or stopped production on parts the 2600 relied on to work. Thus, forcing a needed redesign to use part alternatives. Just my opinion.

Must have been time for this Atari to have a bath? It's all wet. I would say mix-up. I had a 4-switcher have that same sticker when I cleaned it up. But that was one I found way back in 1988 at a yard sale. No...I no longer have it with me as I sold it during the PlayStation craze. But I do distinctly remember that sticker being on it. I just always assumed it was the initials of a quality control personnel. I didn't know anything about NTSC/PAL/SECAM until I discovered this site in 2008. Amazing how 20 years can change a lot of things.

I kinda skipped so I don't know if I responded to this or not already. For underrated games I will have to agree about Midnight Magic. I also think that Tantankham is underrated too. It's really a fun game despite the small sprites compared to the arcade. Adventure, Maze Craze, Dodge 'Em, Trick Shot, these are all good games. Not terribly thrillsville but still fun games in their own ways. Tunnel Runner is a blast on this console. I don't know how many controllers I've destroyed playing that game.

They are right about any computer-related power supplies. Just getting my laptop too close to my 2600 JR causes those lines. I also remember way back when I use to take my Atari to my grandmother's house her microwave would cause that same interference. I don't recommend splicing the coax to fix it. I've done the same thing and it only made the problem worse. Just use electrical tape as recommended and try that. These cables are old and they do wear out. It might be time for a replacement. Check the rest of the cable extending from the console for any other trouble spots as well.

I recommend viewing this list: http://www.atari2600.com/ccp7/ecom-catshow/Atari-2600-Controllers.html I just ordered an Archer Deluxe Competition from here for about $6.00. Works pretty good and doesn't require the same amount of force as a standard joystick, They have many different models to choose from, including the Epyx model tha mkiker2089 found on Ebay. And it doesn't cost as much. Not sure about shipping though. This might help you get a better idea though. Get well soon!

I could use one of the cart shells if they are there.