Mr SQL

Cool DD is on the list! I never played for long because it's so hard. Great musical game with multiple tunes! RT is like a flat 2D Qbert and another SuperCharger title too! I think we're closing in on 30 classics with background music and 4 homebrews - I can think of two more homebrews with awesmoe soundtracks - Zippy the Porcupine (Sonic) and Robot Zed! I'll post full lists again when I get a chance to add these to my Harmony/Uno cart folders.

Wow fantastic music! I tried this port and was really impressed by how well the tunes were done and how much it improves the game compared to contemporary Tapper ports I remember playing on systems where the background music was left out.

Very cool another one! is it the same game as this? It has background music, can't find an NTSC version though it may be a PAL only release. Awesome rendition of the arcade tune! I'm adding DD to my demo/tune folder, but it doesn't qualify for the BGM list unless there is a playable sequence where the music is playing.

Great observation about the different audiences, beginners learn about the CPU, ROM and RAM while overscan is a more advanced low level concept. Batari BASIC insulates the programmer very well from a deep understanding of overscan via the draw screen command to resolve screen rolling. RT's site is an awesome reference for both Assembly programmers and BASIC programmers and I like the hierarchies, but I'm an advanced programmer like you so our experiences are not going to be what the beginner percieves. It is very challenging for advanced programmers to teach a paradigm they are immersed in to beginners. DPC+ is a great choice but I think you could do a lot with Batari BASIC 1.0 exploring some of the newer enhancements released before DPC+ With an 8K Sara game you can still use bB 1.0 with this format and you've got twice the code space and a 32x32 x,y addressable much larger multicolored playfield to work with than the 11 row playfield without the SuperChip. For an advanced programmer who has done a lot with 4K, you've got a lot of room to do more with this format. There are also other expansive formats like the large 64K ROM Sara bB 1.0 games, several are really impressive like Robot Zed! The advantage is that more players can play the games, they have more compatibility with the Uno cart and the Flashback Portable and the online Emulator Javatari. DPC+ games limit the potential audience to only include Harmony and Stella emulation. Here are a few of the little code examples I enjoyed bitd and one I just found in a 1979 Computer World Magazine, I couldn't stop reading that from cover to cover once I started It had the full article from the programmer looking for an After BASIC language and of course classic small code examples like the game. The magazine examples of one and 10 liner BASIC programs in Rainbow Magazine were really awesome to learn from. Here are a few that draw graphics and manipulate strings, plenty of science examples too but those are similar to the text books. The magazines had the bigest advantage learning BASIC imo because the type-in's were fun games you could play! It was always motivating to understand how they worked, but daunting when the listings were large

X2! I feel very nostalgic for type-in BASIC games from the old computer mags, particularly the short programs like Air Attack, I'm still amazed at how small the listing is for such a fun game. The programmer could easily fit it into the 10 line x 120 char programming competition limit using the ":" concatenator to combine statements. Yes typing in the code was such a fantastic way to learn! There is an interesting discussion happening on the Batari BASIC thread about these small programming examples in the old text books and magazines being increasingly inapplicable with Todays' modern BASIC's as they grow in complexity.

Yeah great example, Dig Dug has a couple of mini tunes that play when the player moves or pumps up the monsters.

I like the AI for the Bear and the mini tunes. I think they would go well during the game if it's possible to call them for specific events like when the board is scrolling.

I found the 1979 BASIC listing for Air Attack, the original game for the Commodore PET. It was a type-in game in the December 1979 Edition of Personal Computer World magazine: https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1979-12/page/92/mode/1up PET Air Attack had a contemporary release with Atari 2600 Canyon Bomber and was similarly inspired by the earlier arcade version. Another BLITZ for the Atari - this game has a colorful history in so many ports! Also found another Batari BASIC version of BLITZ here by @SeaGtGruff: Interestingly there is a discussion of another version in Assembly that was abandoned or may possibly exist as a prototype.

The analogies to a fire-hose and being overwhelmed by a bathtub are the "After BASIC" effect multiplied in layers - A language designed "after BASIC", even another BASIC, tend to have things added to make it better. The ASCII art in Batari BASIC are a familiar example, these are useful and turn even a text-editor like notepad into an IDE because they are in-line graphics designers. But these are "After BASIC" enhancements to the language that new users must learn, in this case very fun to learn being ASCII art. As more authors work on the language releasing new versions, more things are added to make it better, but increase complexity. A good question for the programmers enhancing a language to ask is "was that construct I added really needed as an intrinsic?" If it could have been done a few lines of BASIC, carefully weigh adding it against the bathtub effect. The BASIC book you are adapting to the web has no application for this enhancement or any other enhancements added as intrinsics which is very challenging because the book had none of this to contend with, and they become overwhelming to new users learning BASIC programming. Afer BASIC's also overwhelm the instructor because of the concept sweep teaching so many things, the initiative for Small BASIC and simpler paradigms came about due to concept sweep in the professional Visual BASIC product for the same reasons - Consider that just like Visual BASIC Programmers who started with Version 1.0, you've kept up with many of the enhancements as they were added one at a time. Coming back after a few years Kirk now sees a group of these enhancements all at once and experiences the bathtub effect, and he is an experienced professional Programmer who is familiar with bB and it's initial "After BASIC" enhancements. So the new user is going to be far more overwhelmed by comparison; it may be better to teach bB 1.0 to keep teaching managable, either that or someone could add an "old-school" mode to bB to make it even easier to teach than the original.

Great site Kirk! I used your site and the example programs when I was learning bB Enjoyed visiting it again and that it is frozen in time at 2005 - very cool! I reread the faq and saw that bB 1.0 was simpler initially with just a single kernel with an x,y addressable playfield, two sprites and a score. I think as bB has expanded with multiple kernel options and versions there is more complexity for the new user to learn: Concept sweep - The biggest difficulties learning BASIC using an IDE like Visual Batari BASIC and Atari Dev Studio is their complexity, IDE's add their own templates for the new user. I design streamlined IDE's and there is a Microsoft initiative on simplified design for education both with the BASIC language and the IDE experiences for the user. The learning curve for me with classic bB 1.0 without using an IDE was the template of non-basic like structures around the users BASIC program. The sample programs made this pretty easy to understand and see where the BASIC code was located. The IDE insulates you to some degree from these but you still have to learn how to use the different template parts in visual form as well as writing the BASIC code - BASIC users never encountered any of that when using the simple science textbook examples in the 80's with BASIC type-in's that could be easily used and understood for being just a few lines of BASIC. Perhaps the best way to teach VBB and Atari Dev Studio would be to follow the design of the Visual Studio IDE and Visual BASIC Documentation set as used to teach BASIC, or maybe Small BASIC which is a subset of the IDE and functionality to reduce concept sweep, but we are finding this is still far more complex than classic BASIC was for students to learn. Classic BASIC Programming on the Atari: I built an old-school classic BASIC mode into SuperCharger BASIC specifically so simple type-in examples like in the science texts could be used to teach BASIC, but I do like the ASCII art so there is the option to draw the virtualworld and sprites in ASCII. Check out the simple BASIC examples in the text manual here It would be cool to see SuperCharger BASIC added to the Atari Dev Studio with both modes supported! Currently it repurposes the PowerShell ISE built into Windows as a simple BASIC IDE like 2600IDE where you still have ASCII art inline with the BASIC code and just a Play button to launch Stella.

Yes the Cosmic Ark effect discovery was unexpected - many new discoveries happen unexpectedly even when they are not from a glitch. I think the Atari's unique architecture has potential waiting to be explored and that we will see many new exciting discoveries Though now antique, the Classic Tube Television also has potential for new discoveries with Atari because of being tightly coupled to race the beam via the TIA.

Wow Omicron is awesome - never played it before or Skateboarding! I tried Acid Drop too but it rolled on my set, wish I could find an NTSC version of the ROM. I like the Chiptune intro's too and categorize those with demo's since they are non-interactive. Looks like there are quite a few games with bg music so far - Classics: Acid Drop (1992) (Salu, Dennis M. Kiss) (460758) (PAL) ~.bin Asteroids (1981) (Atari, Brad Stewart - Sears) (CX2649 - 49-75163) ~.bin Blueprint (1983) (CBS Electronics, Tom DiDomenico) (4L 2486 5000) ~.bin BMX Air Master (1990) (Atari) (CX26190).bin Bobby Is Going Home (Rentacom).bin BurgerTime (1983) (M Network, Patricia Lewis Du Long, Ron Surratt - INTV) (MT4518) ~.bin California Games (1988) (Epyx, Steven A. Baker, Peter Engelbrite) (80561-00286) ~.bin Crystal Castles (1984) (Atari, Michael Kosaka, Peter C. Niday, Robert Vieira) (CX26110) ~.bin Dig Dug (1983) (Atari - GCC, Douglas B. Macrae) (CX2677) ~.bin Frogger 1983 Starpath Corp.bin Gyruss (1984) (Parker Brothers) (PB5080) ~.bin Journey Escape (1982) (Data Age) (112-006) ~.bin Moon Patrol (1983) (Atari - GCC, Mark Ackerman, Noellie Alito) (CX2692) ~.bin Mountain King (1983) (CBS Electronics, E.F. Dreyer, Ed Salvo) (4L 2738 0000) ~.bin Pitfall II - Lost Caverns (1983) (Activision, David Crane) (AB-035-04) ~.bin POPEYE.BIN Pressure Cooker (CCE).bin Secret Quest (1989) (Atari - Axlon, Steve DeFrisco) (CX26170) ~.bin Skate Boardin' (1987) (Absolute Entertainment, David Crane) (AG-042-02, AG-042-04) ~.bin Smurf - Rescue in Gargamel's Castle (Smurf, Smurf Action) (1982) (Coleco, Henry Will IV) (2465) ~.bin Star Wars - The Arcade Game (1984) (Parker Brothers, Wilfredo 'Willy' Aguilar, Michael Becker, Neil McKenzie, Bob Smith, Brad Stewart) (PB5540) ~.bin StarWars_ESB.bin Up 'n Down (1984) (Sega, Phat Ho - Bally Midway - Beck-Tech) (009-01) ~.bin Vanguard (1982) (Atari - GCC, Dave Payne) (CX2669) ~.bin Homebrews: dot_20130211.bin (Atlas) omicron_2k_20080113.bin I'm pretty sure the list of Homebrews will soon be larger than the classics, those two to start have really outstanding musical scores!

10LINEBLITZ II - New version! I must be thinking similarly to @KevKelley because I've written a new version that exploits intentional Glitches on the classic Hardware to do some really fun stuff! And most of the enhancements still work in the emulator too, just not the extra features. Details: I was inspired by this article on VIC-20 Blitz and found the genre started out on the Commodore PET with a BASIC type-in in a computer magazine. What's new: rem --- 10LINEBLITZ II - Waves and Missions rem --- Insignia on your Plane is revealed after you complete your Night Mission! rem --- Multiple Waves over differently colored Sky's and Cities rem --- More optical illusions: Some color combinations create unreal artifacting such as textured bricks - complete several rounds and describe what you encounter! rem --- note: Classic hardware and a CRT required to experience artifacting textures and additional illusions rem --- unique features rem --- Each Wave achieved keeps it's colors in Attract mode rem --- Unlimited continues to complete the Missions until powering off Here is the ROM for 10LINEBLITZ II - Al or a Mod please let me have edit rights to the 1st post! 10LINEBLITZII.bin And the code - the game is still 10 lines of classic BASIC with 120 characters per line: 0 data city 5,9,6,9,7,6,7,5,9,5,5,5,5,6,6,7,5,8,5,8,7,5,8,8,5,5,6,6,7,5,7,8,9,8,8,7,8,9,5,6,8,5,9,6,6,7,5,7,5,5,8,5 1 if g=0 or CXP0FB>126 then CXCLR=0:for j=0 to 9:player1(j)=189:player0(j)=pl(j):rowcolors(j)=178+w:next j else goto 3 2 for j=20 to 71:k=j-20:k=city(k):for i=k to 9:vwpixel(j,i,on):next i,j:player0y=96:player0x=84:y=11:g=1:w=16*z 3 if f<player0y/52 and SWCHB|247=255 then f=f+1:goto 9 else AUDC1=7:AUDF1=BITIndex/5:AUDV1=BITIndex:f=0:rem Theme Music 4 AUDV0=0:scrollvirtualworldtoggle=1:BITIndex=BITIndex+1:missile0x=missile0x+2:data pl 0,224,127,231,252,192,128,0 5 if joy0fire=1 and y>8 then AUDF0=12:AUDC0=9:SUSTAINFORFRAMES=15:x=BITIndex+9:i=96-player0y:i=i/10:y=1+i:remPlayahTune 6 if y<10 then vwpixel(x,y,bindplayer1):COLUP1=M(y):y=y+1:data M 122,138,12,170,154,250,234,218,202,186,42,58,74,28 7 if y<10 and vwpixel(x,y,poll)>0 then vwpixel(x,y,flip):player1x=0:player1y=0:AUDC0=y:y=21:AUDF0=4:AUDV0=15:rem Hit! 8 if BITIndex>71 then BITIndex=0:player0y=player0y-2 else missile1x=missile1x+1:missile1y=missile1y+3:rem10LINEBLITZ II 9 if player0y=0 then g=0:player0colors(3)=14:player0colors(4)=112+z:COLUBK=M(z)-10:z=z+1 else missile0y=missile0y+2 I'm not sure what happens if you make it beyond 14 Waves; after that the game reads past the color arrays into the program code which may or may not create an aesthetic level.

That code you didn't expect could be an Fx routine in your next game. In the 80's we used artifact colors by exploiting NTSC "glitches" that PAL color circuitry lacks. Today a concern might be weather your game will still run on the Flashback Portable or the Retron77 as well as a classic Atari console. bitd we were careful to make sure our software would still run without extra features from glitches when they weren't available. imo that's still a good idea today so that folks can enjoy the games on as many Atari platforms as possible.

Interesting sound study - the algorithmic chiptunes sound very different on real hardware, here is a video of my Vader with a tube television, and the Retron77 running the community build of Stella. The game looks good on both displays (Plasma wasn't bright enough for the Camera to pickup well) but the sound is quite different - the chiptunes render pleasantly on the real hardware but not as well under emulation, so use real hardware to play this game if you have it. Other interesting observation - I shot this off of a Vader model but with the Atari Junior an additional arpeggio emerges in the first tune because the algorithm is leveraging idiosyncrasies in the analog circuitry to create the music. Steps to hear both tunes: The chiptune changes when the difficulty increases or via the bw switch. 10LINEBLITZ_STELLA.mp4

Yes that does sound a lot like define interchangable monikor. But dim, the intrinsic function to dimension an array, is still present whenever you use the data statement: https://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#dataarrays

Interesting discussion topic RT! I always thought DIM stood for dimension. It seems like you do declare it directly in memory though instead of loading it, the way bB combines it - I think bB combines the dim command with the data statement like: data myarray 1,2,3,4,5 This is an advantage over dim myarray(5) and loading the values from a data statement because it is preloaded, but it is an array of constants that cannot be changed. Atari Flashback BASIC arrays are static like bB but SuperCharger BASIC arrays are variables like classic BASIC. Are there enhancements for using variable arrays in DPC+ bB? I have only used the classic edition, but I read about the stack being added which sounds kind of like a single array. Interesting fact - tiny BASIC initially had only one array and the 26 a-z variables.

That is an excellent point, the 25,000 volts from that Tesla coil has virtually no amperage but it can indeed weekly bridge logic gates allowing heavier currents to flow to weakly activate devices like Mr Coffee. This is the reason the high potentials are inside a Faraday cage, to prevent the high voltages from jumping, even insulation and air gaps break down as a resistor over 10K volts. With the interference lines present in the video signal for some specific games there is some kind of unidentified minor field interference generating them. It hasn't hurt either of my Atari's and I've left them on for days even with games that have the lines. Of course it's possible it might have a cumulative effect over time or interaction with other devices - I've seen CF bulbs generate a lot of THD (harmonic distortion) where the high potentials (those are about 10k) can hit much higher harmonics (100,000 volts +) wreaking havoc with dimmers and Mr Coffee old electronics because the CF bulbs leak badly having no Faraday cage.

It could be coincidence but those spots seem to correspond to the interference pattern; maybe the interference burned out some of the gates in the chip over time from micro current characteristic with a very low amperage high voltage/high frequency bleed, like we saw from Smart Meters activating Mr Coffee unscheduled.

I played these the other night but with Mountain King and Vanguard I didn't encounter the BG music - is there a game version to select or difficulty switch setting like Moon Patrol to activate it? I also found this thread from 2005 with a few more https://atariage.com/forums/topic/73536-music-in-2600-games/ So far we have 17 games with background music: Moon Patrol Popeye Burgertime Frogger (SuperCharger version) Gyruss Pitfall II Asteroids Journey-Escape Dig-Dug Smurfs Bobby's Going Home Mountain King Blueprint Crystal Castles California Games Starwars Pressure Cooker Bobby's Going home was fun but I couldn't jump over the first fence in Smurfs, both are Pitfall genre. EDIT: looks like I didn't play long enough in Mountain King - found a few more games to add the list here https://csanyk.com/2018/11/atari-2600-games-with-noteworthy-audio/ that also have BG music.

Some Video Games have very captivating soundtracks - Atari 2600 games have awesome sound effects but games with soundtracks in games are pretty rare. Here are several with awesome soundtracks that make me want to keep playing the game: Moon Patrol Popeye Burgertime Frogger (SuperCharger version) Gyruss Pitfall II Asteroids What other games should be included?

I think the NEW keyword should enable you to list the program again, the ZX81 displays less and less lines of code on the screen when it starts to run out of RAM. Array variables are still global though; do you define them locally and then just make sure never to call them out of scope?

Very cool this is gone on the new carts - my Harmony is from 2011 and still works great btw! I do have two ferrite chokes that are pretty big on the RF cable and everything is crystal clear with many games having no vertical bars present, but some games like the Atlas homebrew always have them. I upgraded to the Uno over the Encore because I wanted to play Andrew's Chess but was pleasantly suprised at the clean video on the games that had the bars on the Harmony. Really curious what could possibly be different when those specific games run that cause the interference - The logic analyzer is awesome functionality, could those games somehow be activating the function to send data through the USB port on the earlier model to selectively trigger the interference?

Old discussion but I played some of the games that show the vertical interference bars on the Uno cart and the video was crystal clear with no vertical bars, just like the SuperCharger. Interesting whatever is causing the degaussing issue; maybe something isn't hitting ground or a tiny Faraday cage could be necessary to construct if the ARM is stepping up to cause the interference through a harmonic - not all games have the interference bars, which is part of the puzzle. I had really noticed the difference playing Atlas in the DOT games collection - that's a cool port of the 80's classic Catalyst for the CoCo that I had initially thought was an original.

Had a chance to play a quick Chess game against the latest version of the 3 ply from 5/19! didn't get a chance to test en-passante this game Knight let me chase it around a bit again in the opening. Loved the red end game screen that shakes when you win with this version! Colors are looking even better - the board is gorgeous with extra artifact colors showing up on the peices on my set that I wish I could photograph properly. The CPU is faster than before, going to play the 4x next...