Wookie

Wow, Karri, I go away for a few years and you guys do some cool stuff.

I still want to do this. My HLAKit compiler is still a pile of sh*t and I'm busy with other things but some day, I'm going to do the 7DRL challenge on the Lynx.

I want to do it. I'm using the comptetition as the deadline for me finishing my HLAKit compiler enough that it can compile a runnable Lynx binary. I move the docs to a new location https://wookie.github.io/hlakit you can track my progress on https://github.com/Wookie/hlakit I've got the scanner working again. It can fully tokenize a game and does preprocessor #define replacement, macro replacement, #include, #incbin, and successfully builds a config object from the target specific preprocessor directives. It spits out a token stream and symbol table suitable for the parser stage. I'm currently trying to get the parser working. The difficulty I'm having comes from the fact that I'm trying to engineer this in such a way that the compiler supports multiple targets. That means that the preprocessor config directives change, and the assembly opcodes change depending on the target specified. I'm just trying to get the atari-lynx-mos65sc02 target working. I think I've almost got it. Once the parser works, the code generation phase is straight forward. Anyway, I've got a sprite set already put together for my rogue-like. I've also got a gameplay mechanic I've been wanting to try in a game for a long time. It's going to be a rather traditional rogue-like. I hope I can get HLAKit done in time. -wookie

Thanks! I'm trying to finish what I started. I've moved my HLAKit compiler to github and I reworked the documentation to be a github hosted site. I'm trying to finish it once and for all as I think it is a better fit for Lynx development than C. I think I've learned enough about compilers since I last touched it that I can finish it this time. My hope is get something workable in the coming days. I really want to participate in the 7 day rogue-like challenge by making a rogue-like for the Lynx. I've been going through the classicgamedev.com site backups I made after the site was hacked. I have it all, I'll be trying to get the good stuff back up online soon. Probably as a github page so that you guys can just clone the repo and get copies of everything. --wookie

I just saw the youtube video showing the Simpson's digitized sound demo and I was wondering how it was done. Has anybody played around with digitized sound effects on the Lynx? -wookie

Too bad it wasn't more. So has solidcorp found anything else left over from those days?

What happened with this? How did the 720 ROM turn out? Please tell me it was a playable demo. 720 was one of my favorite arcade games as a kid. I probably put enough quarters into one to actually buy the machine.

I jut bought a Saleae Logic 16 logic analyzer and one of the things I intend to do is take a look at the comlynx data on the wire. I think we can settle this once and for all and build a simple USB device that you can plug a comlynx cable into and talk to the lynx with.

Correction, I've been calling it a PIP, but it is PSP (parallel slave port) that PIC microcontrollers have. It is an 8-bit, asynchronous, bi-directional port between the PIC and an external device such as the Atari Lynx. The memory mapped PIC is a really good idea for a dev cart too. Using a serial connection from the PIC to a PC, you could build a fully integrated dev chain. Write a small server on the PC that responds to commands from the PIC. Program the PIC to respond to commands from the Lynx through the PSP. This would allow you to write your game to send live debug messages to the PC through the PIC. You could also write a small debug monitor that could halt your game and let you inspect registers and data from the PC. Probably the coolest feature to implement would be live editing of game data on the PC and sending a command to the PIC which causes the PIC to reload the asset from the PC and stores it in the cart flash. It drastically reduces turnaround time when tweaking game assets (including code). If you used a dispatch table when calling functions in debug mode, you can actually rewrite functions on the fly. You change the code on the PC, compile it into binary, send the new code to the PIC with instructions on which function it replaces. The PIC stores the binary in the flash memory, and when the Lynx asks the PIC for events, the PIC tells the Lynx that function foo has been updated and it is at location X in the flash memory. The Lynx loads the function into RAM and then replaces the dispatch pointer for function foo in the dispatch table. So then the next time function foo is called, the address of function foo is loaded from the dispatch table which causes execution to jump to the new function. Anyway, I'm rambling. There's a ton of cool stuff you can do with PIC microcontrollers with parallel slave ports.

Another possibility would be to use the PIP (parallel interface port) of PIC microcontrollers to directly memory map the PIC. Use the AUDIN as the chip select for the PIC and then you'll have a fully programmable controller for doing whatever you want. I sketched out on a napkin a schematic for a lynx cart that had a microSD slot, a memory mapped PIC and two 256KB flash chips. The idea was that I could send commands to the PIC via the memory mapping and have the PIC load 256KB blocks of data from the microSD card and storing it in one of the flash chips. This would offload all of the hard work to the PIC and basically give you infinite space on a lynx cart. Then there's the absolutely insane idea of connecting the PIC to TI's CC3000 wifi chip http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4404215/Self-contained-Wi-Fi-module-simplifies-Internet-connectivity The wifi chip is fully self contained and has an SPI interface. There are PIC's with both PIP's and SPI master ports. Digital distribution of lynx games anyone? The only problem is power. The lynx eats batteries. The CC3000 will exacerbate that considerably. So as long as you don't mind being plugged into the wall, it would work great.

I have a design for lynx carts up to 128MB using just parallel flash memory and an i2c 8-bit shift register. IIRC, the Lynx natively has an 8 bit "segment" address and an 11-bit "offset" address giving it a 19-bit address space (512KB). So the 8-bit shift register acts as an additional upper 8 address lines giving the cart a 27-bit address space (128MB). I'll have to dig up my design, but I'm pretty sure I used the AUDIN line as the write/chip select for the 8-bit shift register. Then I used software to bit-bang i2c. The second to least significant address line of the 11-bit address counter can be used as the strobe line for the shift register and the least significant bit of the data bus as the data line for i2c. You then just toggle the LSB of what you're writing and write it twice causing the address counter to do one full transition from low to high and back to low. Anyway, the extra 8 address lines makes a huge difference. You have 256 "banks" of 512KB. I even started coding a dragon warrior style RPG for the Lynx that was going to use as much of that space I could. Of course life intervened but I hope that some day I can pick it up again.

So after the old classicgamedev.com got hit by PHP worms last year, I was forced to take it offline. Due to lack of time, I was unable to restore the site until last week. I put up a new wiki running dokuwiki which is supposed to be more secure. I'm working with Karri to restore the old content like the programming tutorials and the hardware information for the Lynx. I just thought I'd let you know. The goal of the site is to be a long-lasting place to dump everything we talk about in here and learn from each other. I want it to be the place to go for technical and programming related lynx stuff. -wookie

Yes, good work Karri. Thanks for keeping things alive. --wookie

I was at the classic gaming expo a week or so ago. The guys from GameWorld in Las Vegas had a bunch of factory sealed 32x games. I know they do business over the phone and will give you free shipping if you buy $50 or more. You should give them a call: 702-307-1440. No, I don't work for them. I just remember standing there as they were desperately trying to get people to buy them. --wookie

What is wrong with Seattle? I've been hitting Goodwill's, Salvation Army's, St. Vincent de Paul's and various other thrift stores lately and there is literally no classic gaming merch. None. They usually have a few dozen Xbox games and some of those paper sleeve PC games you can buy at Target for $5. Nothing older than that and certainly no consoles. About 10 years ago, I can remember finding boxes of Atari games. I bought my C64 at a Goodwill. Things were completely different than they are now. I feel like somebody is getting a crack at the thrift store stuff upstream of the stores. Or maybe there is one or more hardcore collectors that know when they put new stuff out and they buy everything up before I get there. Also, we have a really crappy used video game store ecosystem up here. There are a few pawn shops (Al's) and resellers (Pink Gorilla) but no flea markets, no independent game stores, nadda. I've only recently started hunting again after a decade of doing other things. Am I missing something? What the hell happens to all of the classic games and gear in Seattle? Does Seattle have too high of a geek density?

What cleaner and lubricant do you use when cleaning/restoring the switches?

So here's something intersting... After re-reading http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/198275-heavy-vs-light-sixer-differences-revisited-more-than-a-thick-base/ I have come to the conclusion that I don't have an early heavy sixer. The switch openings have flat trim around them. When I had it open to clean out the inside, the switchboard has the flat integrated heatsink, not a finned one. The RF connector is on the main circuit board, not a small perpendicular one. And it has a channel switch, despite no opening in the bottom. So I'm guessing mine is actually a transition model that was made with the heavy case but with the newer boards found in later models. Is that a sign that it was made in Hong Kong despite the sticker saying Sunnyvale? I need to open it up again and check the revision number on the circuit board. --wookie

Is there a comprehensive document on the intertube somewhere with all of the different "restoration" procedures that can be done to a 2600 to bring it back to as close to new as possible? I an interesting video on youtube that shows a guy completely disassembling a heavy sixer and "fixing" it. There are several parts that interest me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3ocnQGPgLo&t=1m45s The first one is at 1:45 when he pull apart the switches for cleaning. Then at around 3:12 he uses what looks like "Mag & Aluminum Polish" to shine/clean up the switch rods. It'd be great if there was a website documenting all fo the different things to do to restore a 2600. -wookie

May you see her bottom? You guys are pervs I had to promise not to show her face: -wookie

Here's my sixer all cleaned up:

Thanks! Order placed. --wookie

I'd like to buy a mod kit like the one the longhorn engineer used to sell. Do you know of any sources? -wookie

Mine looks exactly like the one on the box except it has 6 switches. Like I said, I'm 99% sure I have a heavy sixer.

So I bought my first 2600 off of ebay not long ago. Before buying, I read all of the "how do you spot a heavy sixer" guides I could find on the internet and I'm 99% sure I bought a heavy sixer. But one thing that I noticed was that nobody actually took the effort to weigh a heavy sixer so that somebody with only one 2600 could be sure that what they have is a heavy sixer. So I just weighed mine on a digital scale. It is 4 lbs 10 oz (2.093 kg). It has the solid/thick side rails, the curved front, the recessed cart slot, six switches. But is it heavier than the other sixer models? How heavy is your sixer? -wookie

"*263" hrm... Does that mean there are only 999 or less of them? That would make them extremely rare then. -wookie