pixelmischief

Please ignore. Altirra presents mounted host paths as both H1: and H6:. Loading the file from H6: works fine. I think perhaps the difference between the two is that files loaded from H1: are loaded in binary form and, therefore, do not get the benefit of an ASCII<->ATASCII conversion. Files loaded from H6:, however, appear to enjoy such a conversion automatically.

Ran into a challenge. Up until now, I have been using Altirra, an OSS BASIC XE cart image, and a host filesystem mount presented as device H1:/H6:. My workflow cycle has been: 1. Edit the .BAS file in plain text using Notepad++ on the host side (Windows 10 Pro) 2. Load the .BAS file into memory on the emulated Atari with "ENTER"H6:MYFILE.BAS" 3. RUN and debug the code. 4. Return to 1. I can't continue this way with FastBASIC because there is no interactive mode and the loader seems to require a tokenized .BAS file, like something used by the "LOAD/SAVE" commands; instead of the "ENTER/LIST" commands. Is there a way that I can load a plain text BASIC listing into FastBASIC so that I may continue to use an editor on the host (Notepad++)?

Thank you very much for settling that. And thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your excellent BASIC variant. It's so good, I feel like I'm cheating. By the way, if you fancy an interesting side challenge, a language plugin for Notepad++ would be super cool.

Oh yeah! Derp.

OK. So, if I cross-compile my FastBASIC code on the PC, how will the resultant Atari executable perform against assembly code for similar workloads? Let me give some motive here. I am diving hard into BASIC as a gateway to learning assembler. I am worried, however, that FastBASIC might be so good that the challenge of learning assembler won't be worth the improvement in performance. I developed this fear when I saw a YouTube video that showed FastBASIC run a workload in 14 seconds that took compiled TurboXL twice as long and Atari BASIC Rev C ten times as long. Is this something I need to be worried about?

@zbyti Thanks for the reply! "FBI" stands for FastBASIC Interpreter, right? Does this mean that the code was run through the interpreter for these benchmarks? I'm looking for the exact same thing, but for an executable created by the FastBASIC compiler/linker.

My understanding is that FastBASIC can be compiled and linked. How does the speed of the resultant executable compare to one generated from assembly code?

Thanks!

Thanks, my man!

Nevermind. A next RUN clears all of the string variables set at the READY prompt.

I can't figure out how to tell BASIC to "forget" a string variable. Once I do, "DIM A$(10)", that seems to be permanent. A$ is tattooed until a cold boot. What can I do here?

What language was most used to create commercial games on the ST; ASM, C, Pascal, BASIC, or something else? If BASIC, which variant; STOS, GFA, Omikron, or another?

Where can I get assembler source, for commercial-quality games, that has been released to the public domain. I want to get a look at how the big boys are accomplishing a few things that I am simply at a loss for how to do.

Does anyone have version 1.1.5? I am getting the dreaded IOHAndler error and I wonder if manually installing 1.1.5 will prevent the update attempt. **Nevermind** The update can be avoided by running the executable in the gamepack subdir.

Sorry for the necrobump. No idea how I ended up on page 476 of the thread list. 😃

This is my understanding as well. The prototype was leaked; however later released as Star Raiders II.

I'd kill for a 1MB ICD MIO. It was just so damned sexy. A pair of Happy 1050's would be pretty damned cool. Those are still attainable and on my list. There are a few re-casing projects I have been wanting to do. 130XE with Ultimate 1MB and VBXE, XF-551 PCB, SIO Splitter, and SIO2SD with front-mounted screen in a Mega ST desktop case with PS/2 adapter. 800XL with 256K RAMBO in a 1200XL case with keyboard adapted and cartridge slot rerouted. If I only had the time.

So happy to hear you're alive, man. God bless.

One man, one snake.

Are you kidding? I've been playing that game for as long as I can remember. It never gets old! MUAHAHAH

PM Sent for Karateka

My old man always told me not to give money to people on the street because they are most likely going to go and hurt themselves even further; drugs and whatnot. He proposed that I buy them a meal, or some clothing item instead. Obviously, I can't do that from the US for someone in Portugal. The feared result, however, appears to be the most likely answer to the question. The problems with tooth-loss also point in that direction. Sending money is a lazy kind of love. I shouldn't have satisfied my urge to help others in such a lazy fashion. I probably only succeeded in making it easier for the guy to fall further down an already deep hole.

I'm worried about this guy. We went back and forth between 2/27 and 3/2 trying to figure out what he needed. He came up with a number and I was able to make it happen. Tuesday morning I sent him 400EU via Western Union using the IBAN number he posted earlier in the thread. Since then, nothing. No response to email, no response to PM here, nothing. Honestly, I can't decide if I've been hustled or if the assistance was too late. Did I accidentally fund a smack bender or has the guy lost any- and everything right before I could get there? If anyone knows anything, PM me. I don't give a shit about the money. That is to say, I don't have any interest in going after the guy if I have been robbed. I would, however, like some closure. Of the immediately apparent possibilities, I'd rather find out I was rooked and that he's alright. Just let me know.

Not sure any others here are in touch with him, but José is in an extremely tight situation. He's 5 days away from the street. His rent is 250€ monthly. 325€ will buy him another month; paying his landlord both past due and current. The risk here is not only that a friend of the community will end up homeless, but that his computer - with a considerable quantity of Atari 8-Bit assets - will be lost. I don't have the full nut. But I could come up with half. Let's get this guy off the cliff. Then, lets see if we can help him stabilize to avoid the same thing next month.

I think the right first project is a pong clone. Then, I guess a single-screen maze. Following that, perhaps a platformer. Yes! I fully expect that. But I do want to work with someone who has a proven workflow for developing games. I'd like to work with someone who can guide me through things like choosing a graphics mode, designing sprites on graph paper, setting up a dev environment, creating data structures that become sound and graphics, etc.