Mr SQL

In Gdansk literally

Yes that was the Past Present and Future show show themed after one of my innovative games, I had a lot of help from the show promoter Lonnie Falk to set that all up to get those numbers! 😎 The Rainbow Magazine (Radio Shack Color Computer) (March 1988) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive I actually just got the copy protection off that game last year and was able to finally share it again here on AtariAge and in the archives.

It means pictures Here I am in 1987 raking in 100K at a single Expo with a modular design that runs BIG code like my OG boyz at Activision.

I think the time invested argument is consistent with the OG argument, meaning that while both are excellent programmers Andrew has invested more time for having been coding twice as long since the 80's. Programming knowledge is cumulative so OG's will always tend to have more ability unless we find one frozen in time...

LOL you can't use yourself as an example because you're an OG like Activision. Disagree as OG's have been programming longer, that just seems like experience. There's room for everyone but no one's going to think a modern homebrewer is Activision unless they can code like an OG. There's a continuum here, you code like an OG and I think some modern homebrewers do too! 😎 Programming is individual; there are many bright programmers improving all the time on AtariAge with so many great development tools and teachers

X2! I didn't watch the review because from the tone of the thread I thought they may hold up signs insulting the OG's as a publicity stunt: I'm glad they stopped doing that. I think the 32-bit games should be enough of an equalizer against 8-bit games and not need signs to help them compete

Yes the modular design approach is awesome! SuperCharger Disk BASIC scales up to 2MB in size using DOS commands for anyone who wants to build modular Activision games like that in BASIC!

OK I see where you're coming from - you shouldn't be offended they act like rockstars imo because Activision.

the emu is helpful for quick tests but I could test exclusively on real hardware with the SuperCharger or the PlusCart pretty effectively and don't need it for debugging since Tron works better or just as well. The emu is useful but OG's don't need it. Do you call your garage band the Beatles?

Unlikely, these are Activision's RockStar artists from the 80's. They will build the mystique and create an amazing series of games.

Maybe they will do a release similar to KC like FOX did with Alien. They wouldn't need 128K for a simple game like that so Circus Convoy may be an audacious release catering to the modern homebrew crowd and collectors as well as to classic gamers; OG's have the perception and knowhow to reach more market segments, both then and now.

dasm cleanmem.asm -f3 -v0 -o"cart.bin" I think the output option parm may need to be inside the quotes with the filename: dasm cleanmem.asm -f3 -v0 "-ocart.bin" Powershell processes command line options and even variables inside of quotes: dasm.exe "$script:ROM_file" "-o$script:BIN_file" "-f3" We're used to seeing just strings inside quotes with most languages but PowerShell is different.

Very cool I'm looking forward to hearing more about this game! Your description of the idea-guy cracks me up but I think even when the idea is half-baked it could still be a great idea. Sometimes the inverse can happen too and a finished game gets created when the idea is only half-baked, or has potential for further baking - I think the developer of Frisco may have felt Pengo as an idea was not fully baked even though the implementation was polished; I felt that way after playing the Frisco port for a few rounds and comparing them.

Yes the other researcher had similar ideas and was thus a parallel researcher having developed them independently - I've developed technology ideas in parallel and found the parallel researcher very gracious and informative discussing and confirming parallel development. Parallel development is cool because both researchers get credit for their ideas - I'd love to see you finish the game and share the design documents! But imagine if they could? I found your ASCII art designers and batari BASIC to be very inspiring for creating SuperCharger BASIC - in the 80's I wrote an ASCII art designer for Microsoft Extended BASIC in BASIC and shared the technique in a beginners column in a Computer Magazine but your ideas inspired me further with the idea to create ASCII art designers and a Sequencer that could function separately on their own like the stand-alone programming environments LiteBrite and BigTrak: These toys were educational in a way where players learned applicable programming techniques. People with ideas could use their hidden programming skills to create audio visuals on the Atari 2600 with no code: virtualworld ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ...xxxx......xxxx........................................................................... ..xXXXXx....xXXXXx.......................................................................... .XX.xx.XX..XX.xx.XX......................................................................... .XxxxxxXX..XxxxxxXX......................................................................... .x.XXXX.x..x.XXXX.x......................................................................... .XX....XX..XX....XX......................................................................... ..xxxxxx....xxxxxx.......................................................................... ...xxxx......xxxx........................................................................... ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ sprites ..xxxx.. .xXXXXx. XX.xx.XX XxxxxxXX x.XXXX.x XX....XX .xxxxxx. ..xxxx.. chiptunes 8, 24, 8, 20, 8 10,24, 10, 20, 8 6, 5, 4, 12, 5 12, 9, 12, 7, 4 8, 24, 8, 20, 8 10,24, 10, 20, 15 8, 24, 8, 20, 8 10,24, 10, 20, 8 0,0,0,0,0 7, 5, 4, 12, 15 7, 17, 4, 19, 15 7, 5, 4, 12, 15 7, 17, 4, 15, 15 0, 0, 7, 0, 15 0,0,0,0,0 8, 24, 8, 20, 4 10,24, 10, 20, 4 8, 24, 8, 20, 4 10,24, 10, 20, 4 8, 24, 8, 20, 4 10,24, 10, 20, 4 8, 24, 8, 20, 4 10,24, 10, 20, 4 8, 24, 8, 20, 4 10,24, 10, 20, 4 8, 24, 8, 20, 4 10,24, 10, 20, 4 8, 24, 8, 20, 4 10,24, 10, 20, 4 8, 24, 8, 20, 4 10,24, 10, 20, 4 0,0,0,0,0 3,24, 13, 20,4 2, 24, 13, 20, 6 3,24, 13, 20, 4 2, 24, 3, 20, 6 3,24, 2, 20,4 2, 24, 3, 20, 6 7,24, 5, 20, 4 3, 24, 5, 20, 6 1,24, 7, 20, 4 4,24, 6, 20, 6 4, 24, 8, 20, 4 4,24, 6, 20, 6 4, 24, 6, 20, 4 0,0,0,0,0 The audio-visuals from this type of programming are limited and would not be considered a game but could help convey game ideas and inspire the researcher with those ideas to start learning BASIC to add game functionality to them. Maybe another dev tools creator will be inspired to take this idea further and create an Atari Development Kit, that allows loops and comparisons with no traditional code. The challenge may be to identify what other types of programmers, non-programmers are.

I think the OG devs can compete favorably with 32-bit Atari games even if they are using only classic 8-bit hardware - Programming Television is an artform where the OG devs initially inspired the advanced 32-bit programmers to create their interesting ports. And those advanced programmers have inspired OG devs to squeeze even more out of their classic 8-bit code with clever programming. Awesome to see the Atari OG devs writing code again and hope they will join the discussion!

Bytecount is really useful and can be done through the IDE or DASM:

The official Pengo port on the 800 and the 2600 are close with the 800 version being better, but the abstract Frisco port on the 2600 is a much better game - Was an A8 version of Frisco ever produced?

That's interesting I have the same settings and it runs, I think it could be because it's a downloaded script: Try right-clicking the file and goto properties and unblock. Unblock can also be done in PowerShell (this compiler needs 3.0 or higher). Unblock-File -Path 'C:\vwBASIC\SuperCharger_Disk_BASIC.ps1'

Great questions and ideas on this thread! One school of thought is that everything should be under the hood to keep BASIC as BASIC as possible when adding new features. Another is to expand functionality with enhancements from other languages. There are some interesting observations on both perspectives in this 1977 BYTE article that have been applied in large scale in industry and academia and continue to polarize perspectives in programming language design:

Yes I love Defender! Agree the C64 version has the smoothest scrolling it's a great port. I just played a few rounds on my C64, 800XL and 2600 to compare them - the Atari 8bit version played the best with Defenderesque explosions and stuff filling the screen all the time and really responsive controls. Defender II/Stargate was better than the C64 version for having more action on screen and better gameplay but not as good as A8 Defender. The 2600 version of Defender is different, possibly a better port than Defender II/Stargate for being abstract and having laser blasts instead of beams. imo they are all awesome ports, another great one to try is Guardian for the TRS-80 and Dragon Color Computer programmed with the semigraphics modes.

M-Network is looking for a programming degree, math degree or equivalent which covers programming experience - Programming experience was/is generally preferred. One problem with Computer Science programs is they tend to be staffed by teachers who are usually not good at coding and can limit their students potential. I think whomever wrote M-Network Football and Discs of Tron were awesome programmers

Very cool I'm looking forward to the firmware upgrade for the existing Harmony carts to allow for larger modular programs for SuperCharger Disk BASIC - I just released this edition and the Harmony runs the modular programs the most smoothly like a FastLoader by not emulating those 1541 loading bars; I hope that gets ported to carts that have the waiting time.

SuperCharger Disk BASIC released, download is in the first post but not on my site yet. Here are some excerpts from the Manual with a classic BASIC example that shares ZeroPage variables between two BASIC programs and lets you inspect the ZeroPage visually: SuperCharger Disk BASIC DOS Commands ----------------------------------------------- SuperCharger Disk BASIC adds two DOS commands "load" and "SUPERCHARGERID" SUPERCHARGERID specifies the current programs ID in the directory, the default is 0 for the main program if not specified. The "program directory" consists of an ISAM file made from concatenated SuperCharger ROM's, or multiple SuperCharger audio files on a cassette tape. Supercharger games on cassette have identifying headers allowing the tape drive to function as a disk drive like the ADAM Family home computer. This feature made the multiload games like Dragon Stomper and Survival Island possible in the early 80's and is now available in BASIC! example setting a modules SUPERCHARGERID to 2: 10 SUPERCHARGERID=2 Note that any number between 0 and 255 can be specified as the programs SuperCharger ID and that all ID's must be unique in the multiload. example using the load command to load a program module with a SUPERCHARGER ID of 2: 10 load 2 SuperCharger DOS security system: --------------------------------------- Note: any program with a supercharger ID other than 0 will be blocked from loading directly and will brick up - this is a security feature, another program must load it by specifying it's non-zero ID via the load command. Sharing variables between SuperCharger Disk BASIC programs: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The following variables are preserved when programs are loaded: k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s and score player0x, player0y, player1x, player1y missile0x,missile0y,missile1x,missile1y Note that reloading the main program (SUPERCHARGERID 0) from another program will clear all the variables. If data needs to be preserved for programs reloading the main program, an initial loader program can be used to circumvent this feature. Total number of modules allowed: ----------------------------------------- Up to 256 6K programs may be loaded and can cross reference one another within a single ISAM file up to 2 MB in size. Harmony flashcart limitation: currently only 4 SuperCharger programs may participate in an ISAM but there is a project underway to increase this number to 40 or more via a firmware update. PlusCart Encore and UnoCart flashcarts support 256 SuperCharger programs in an ISAM up to 2 MB in size. The SuperCharger and a standard cassette tape can support modular games just like the classic multiload games Survival Island and Dragon Stomper. Development Note for testing individual modules in large games: Once a SUPERCHARGERID other than zero is specified, the participating module can no longer autostart in Stella so use "SUPERCHARGERID=0" for debugging and change the ID back for loading once ready to put the modules together. Example combining multiple game modules to create a single large game ROM binary: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is an example of combining 2 program modules into a single file for the Harmony flashcart (after they have been compiled individually and renamed). The first module will autostart (SUPERCHARGERID=0) but the other module with SUPERCHARGERID=3 can only be loaded using the DOS load command. 10 rem testing load command sharing BASIC variables in loaded program 20 SUPERCHARGERID=3:rem program 3 (program will brick-up if not loaded by another) 25 COLUBK=q:rem set the background color to variable q, some variables are preserved! 26 vwpixel(19,10,flip):vwpixel(1,1,flip) 35 if joy0right=1 and BITIndex <92 then BITIndex=BITIndex+1:scrollvirtualworldtoggle=1 36 if joy0left=1 and BITIndex >0 then BITIndex=BITIndex-1:scrollvirtualworldtoggle=1 37 if joy0down=1 then BYTErowoffset=BYTErowoffset+12:scrollvirtualworldtoggle=1 38 if joy0up=1 then BYTErowoffset=BYTErowoffset-12:scrollvirtualworldtoggle=1 45 if k=1 then return 46 for x= 0 to 239 47 virtualworld(x)=MUSICINDEX(x) 48 next x 50 BITIndex=0:BYTErowoffset=0:k=1 After compiling this program you will notice it will brick up upon launching - that's expected until it is combined, rename the compiled program.bin to program3.bin Now compile the program which will load that program when the button is pushed: 5 rem this program loads another program when the button is pushed 6 rem and transfers variable k for the others screen color 7 rem button initializes Tiny BASIC vars in ZeroPage RAM 8 rem and displays the entire zeropage (almost, 240 of 255 bytes) visually - 9 rem Then pushing Right and Down will scroll through the ZeroPage to inspect 20 SUPERCHARGERID=0:not necessary since this is the main program 25 z=100:COLUBK=z:q=116 26 rem change the background color by sharing variable q 27 vwpixel(19,9,flip):vwpixel(0,0,flip) 35 if joy0right=1 and BITIndex< 92 then BITIndex=BITIndex+1:scrollvirtualworldtoggle=1 36 if joy0left=1 and BITIndex >0 then BITIndex=BITIndex-1:scrollvirtualworldtoggle=1 37 if joy0down=1 then BYTErowoffset=BYTErowoffset+12:scrollvirtualworldtoggle=1 38 if joy0up=1 then BYTErowoffset=BYTErowoffset-12:scrollvirtualworldtoggle=1 44 rem Press button to set all BASIC variables for visual scroll test: 45 if joy0fire=0 then return 47 a=255:b=255:c=255:d=255 50 e=255:f=255:g=255:h=255:i=255:j=255:k=255:l=255:m=255:n=255:o=255:p=255:q=116:r=255:s=255:t=255:u=255:v=255:w=255 55 x=255:y=255:z=255:var1=255:var2=255:score=255:missile1y=255:missile0y=255:player1y=255:player0y=255:player1x=255:player0x=255 56 missile1x=255:missile0x=255:score=255:px=255:py=255:bx=255:by=255 58 for x= 0 to 239 59 virtualworld(x)=MUSICINDEX(x):rem load ZeroPage into virtualworld 60 next x 64 BITIndex=0:BYTErowoffset=0:rem move CAM to upper left corner 65 load 3: rem loads program with supercharger ID 3 from ISAM file or Magnetic Tape Command line example of combining those two SuperCharger Disk BASIC programs into a single ISAM multiload file: c:\vwBASIC>copy /b program.bin + program3.bin Program.bin now contains both programs, when run pressing the button will launch the other program and pass in variables. Testing_Load_command.bin Pressing the button seeds the ZeroPage variables and launches the second program. Both programs can visually navigate the ZeroPage RAM much like the Stella debugger display, but displays the bits rather than the bytes and you have to scroll to see them all. It's possible to write your own debugging programs in BASIC (Tron) that may find differences between emulation and the native hardware. For anyone who would like to preview the graphical KC Operating System written in SuperCharger Disk BASIC it is available in the GameModem/PlusCart club (the club is open and you don't need a game modem to join):

Great thread! Sometimes abstract ports are more fun and more interesting to play, I prefer the more abstract version of Defender on the 2600 but I prefer A8 Defender to Defender II. I like Video Chess better because of the unique mood ring while thinking effect the 2600 architecture necessitated. With A8 Basketball and 2600 Basketball, I can't decide.

It would be cool to see an "old-school" mode for bB where no ASCII Art or compiler directives are required (either default directives or via a keyword language intrinsic) to allow competition in classic BASIC programming languages and more importantly to make learning easier for people who have used classic BASIC from the 70's and 80's. It might be possible to add an old-school mode via the IDE. Adding a [email protected] command for printing semi-graphic bit patterns at specific playfield positions would complement the set pixel x,y commands and is great for learning concepts visually like this bitwise example. That looks similar to BBC BASIC mixing asm and BASIC statements together with the concatenator and would be really cool.