Muddyfunster

Hi @RevEng Not sure if this is 7800basic or Atari Dev Studio related. My ADS auto updated this morning and now it seems I can't compile any code. I get the following error : I cross posted here for @mksmith . Any suggestions on how to resolve it would be appreciated

Hi Matt, My ADS auto updated this morning and now it seems none of my code will compile. I get the message warning me about '7800filter' is not recognized as an internal or external command'. I've not changed anything in the config, I literally loaded up and tried to compile. Any suggestions?

Looking really good!

Very sad news.

I can also send you a work in progress Danger Zone Rom that has @Synthpopalooza 's funky Pokey special + Tia stuff to test if you like. Couldn't get it to run on Mateos.

@SlidellMan that's a big step forward, nice job

Can't wait to see the next update! and yes, The 7800 so needs a version of Bubble Bobble!

I'd be interested. I wouldn't rate my knowledge much higher than basic. I can more or less do what I need to do for 7800 development and that's it , but i'd be more than happy to share / help.

Thanks for the kind words guys, appreciated!

Just to add to the comments from everyone else, this looks great, very arcade-esque and I love the sprites. For drawing tiles I use a combination of the tool in Visual Studio Code and GIMP. VSC needs a rotate function but it's great for most things. I've been looking at solutions for pixel animating like aesprite. On GIMP you need to go to Image > Mode > Indexed - you can then clamp the palette to 4 or 12 depending whether you are 160A palette or 160B - hope that helps your palette problem!

Some work in progress updates showing some experimental environmental effects and the new tile sets for Level 2 (The Factory) and Level 3 (The Ruined Temple). I've already made some minor tweaks on the Inca style head blocks. I've also made some code changes and palette changes based on the feedback received so far (thanks!). I will be putting together another demo that will fit on the mateos cards but probably not for a little while. Also finished the shooting code for Danger Zone so i'll probably give that it's own thread soon.

In the zip, which is your current program file is it the V3 one ?

My advice would be to start with bite sized chunks of code. Pick a task or an action and the code that standalone. Understand how it works and experiment and then when you feel comfortable and have achieved your goal, add something else. Trying to create a magnum opus from the get go will be hard work. It's like picking up a paintbrush and deciding to paint the ceiling of the Sistine chapel without any previous paining experience - it's going to be a rough journey and will probably end up being overwhelming When I started learning 7800Basic, that was the approach that I took. I started figuring out concepts incrementally, each new little project or piece of code was to learn about a feature or element of the language. I started with things like sprites sprites and figuring out the limitations of banks and blocks. Then I moved the sprites, then I animated them, then I collided them, then I exploded them. Once I was happy I started the next learning chapter, maybe that's reading control inputs and combining that with moving a sprite, or maybe it's tiles and having sprite and tiles working together. Maybe that next part is learning about how logic works in the language, if..then..else, and..or etc and making decision in your code based on conditions. Eventually I strung those learning "chapters" together and started to make code that if you stood back 20 ft and squinted a bit, it looked a bit like a game. The concept here is this : start small and build. 7800Basic comes with a bunch of really good examples. Use them and tweak them until they break, figure out why and tweak them more. I learned a huge amount from the examples and experimenting with them.

Take my money!

I've been waiting for an excuse to muck about with my AV+ Thanks @SmittyB

Some doodles I put together while having a few hours off from my main projects. A reworked Ikari Warriors title screen, converted from the reworked Amstrac CPC version (not the original) and the Gods title screen from the ST version. Enjoy ikari.bas.a78 GODS.bas.a78

Thanks @batari appreciate the clarification

Thanks for clarifying For Concerto, what would the answers to my queries be for Max ROM size, POKEY location and on cart RAM? Thanks!

I have a couple of questions about the Concerto. I've found some of the answers backtracking through the thread but still unclear on ROM sizes and RAM: What is the max ROM size it can work with as some of my projects are bigger than the typical 128k or 144k sizes. Does it have RAM so that projects utilising on cart RAM would also work ? Concerto should support most games, but some games with RAM will not work. E.g. Impossible Mission is unlikely to work because of the way it uses the RAM. There may be others that do not work (post 1617). I understand it can have a POKEY, assume that would work with projects in 7800 BASIC (is that at $0450?) POKEY: only support for the standard location $4000 is planned. Nonstandard areas might be possible eventually but I make no promises.(post 1617). I'd have no problem paying the $99+ shipping to the UK for one if I can use it to help my development for the 7800

*cough*

Thanks for that feedback guys might be expensive in terms of ROM space for the graphics unless I get creative. I've also tweaked the ship some more. For some reason I kept looking at the sprite in game and all I could see was Grouch Marx 🤓, so I cut the nose off and shortened the gun. Looks a bit more snub-nosed now and being a bit shorter, it navigates the natural 16 pixel gaps much better. I also went in and fixed a couple of bugs that got flagged in the demo on some of the collisions and the hit box feeling off. That was really valuable feedback (thanks @-^CrossBow^- @sramirez2008)- 👍. That checking also led me to another glitch that I found and fixed in the sprite movement code for the jelly type enemies. With these fixes and tweaks in place, I'll be posting up another demo soon. Thanks again for the feedback!

So far today has been a bit of a sprite and graphics day. I started doing some of the prototyping for Level 2's tiles and specials and decided that it would also be a good time to rework the main sprite. At the start of the project, I wasn't sure whether I was aiming for a straight port of Cybernoid, a clone or something else but as I'm now definitely going for "something similar but also different" I think it's time to give the Salamander a fresh look. Then a bit of a happy accident, I exported "all" ( as in a sprite sheet, instead of just the current new frame) and compiled into my test code without realizing and found that actually, that looks good, as I can compare them in the engine to see side by side what works and what doesn't instead of flipping between compiled instances (no idea why I didn't think to do that earlier lol ). Anyway, sneak peak of the graphics for L2, still very much work in progress and no where near done (level 4 gfx are more complete than level 2). Plans for lots of new stuff. Going to add the new ship sprite to the demo and see how she flies. Also need to update the collision code as the sprite has slightly different dimensions as it's a few pixels shorter in height and a couple of pixels wider. Hopefully that doesn't break any of the existing hazards.

I look forward to the next version !

I think it was included in the 0.9 distribution.

BACKGRND=$00 I think it's more of a bug with the way some of the carts don't set things to 0. Mateos has similar issues with carts using RAM, I learnt that you have to MEMSET and fill the RAM with what ever value, a way of blanking it ready to use.