ClintTX

Is 1.06 the latest BIOS, should I try to update it?

The only normal carts I have are pac-man and combat, but I don't have this problem with those carts or when I play those on the encore. I have tried the encore with 3 different Atari systems and the problem is the same on all of them.

I'm getting a blue vertical line on the left side and an orange vertical line on the right side in the menu screen and in some but not all games. Here's the pictures. I'm using the 1.06 BIOS. is this normal or is something going on here?

I bought a light sixer off of ebay, and it's having video issues. The games play normally, but the video gets messed up any time the system is tapped or wiggled in the slightest. I've already resoldered most of the board with the switches on it. I know some of the switches aren't working right internally, so I will have to replace them anyway. Anyone have a clue on what could be causing this trouble, here is the picture.

Is there a way to get player 0 to be all the way to the left using just the RESP0 strobe? I thought if it was done during the horizontal blanking then P0 should appear at the 1st visible pixel drawn or is this the best positioning that can be done without using a horizontal movement register? Now I can't figure out how to attach something to the post, I did it before, but I don't see an option to anymore.

I just found the Atari age main programming page and the Kirk Israel lessons, I'm starting to get the hang of things slowly now and don't feel quite as discouraged as I did. I think I was expecting to understand how a full game works, but I'm starting from scratch, so just need to slow down some.

Oh, thank you. Finally something has clicked a little for me and now I can understand more how the kernel works. What text editor do you use for programming? I downloaded some of your source files, like for collect mini, but I guess there is some formatting issues and the code is all in a single paragraph. Do I need to save it as something other than a text file, like an RTF, or use the same text editor that you have?

I'm having a hard time understanding movable objects and how to control how tall they are and where they are drawn. I've been through the Andrew Davie tutorial, but I just don't understand. I'm using his background for a base program, and I'm just trying to understand the player 0 right now. I made GRP0 8 bits wide, and got it on the screen, but I don't know why it is where it is and I would like to be able to make it only 1 line tall. Here is what I have so far. learning.asm learning.bin

Thanks, I just found that last night and it's really cool. Darrell, I was wondering if you have released the source code for collectmini yet?

I have no prior programming experience, I don't know Basic or any high level languages like C and stuff. I'm having a heard time understanding learning 6502 assembly language. I'm doing the tutorials, but I don't know how much I'm really learning as it is kind of just going through someone else's work. The Atari 2600 just seems to have so much to think about with the TIA and RIOT and everything. I try to open up some of my favorite games in stella and go into debug mode and step thru programs line by line to try to understand what is going on in the registers. It's slow going and I don't know if I'll ever be able to actually do much my self as the programs seem to be so long and the structure is hard to understand right now.

Meh, I guess I'll have to download the rom again and read the manual, I know I've tried it before and just couldn't get into it. Only Xonox games I like is Sir Lancelot/Robin Hood. Maybe I am just too hard on games.

I've read the instructions for ET and have played it "properly." It didn't make it any better it's still a terrible game.

Ah, I didn't think of the homebrews, I haven't yet tried any 2600 homebrews, but Skeleton+ sounds like it might be good. The others you bring up are pretty valid, too. But I can't see myself playing the 2600 versions of Berzerk and Ghostbusters over the Arcade via MAME and the C64. Not sure if there are better versions of Dark Chambers and Xenophobe.

Was Adventure even released in '79? I know Superman was, but I thought Adventure was released in '80. Also, Adventure didn't even have the 1st Easter egg people fawn over, Video Whizball for the channel F did back in '78. I may be too harsh on Adventure, but it was really not anything to loose your shirt over, Robot Odyssey for the Apple II is Robinett's true masterpiece.

I don't know what to say, Ghost Manor is terrible, I mean I guess it is better than nothing, like hamburger, but when I sit down to eat I want a steak, and the Atari 2600 just doesn't have it in it's horror library.