mksmith

PM sent also - thanks Fred 👋

Good stuff 👍

@Lillapojkenpåön Thanks for jumping in and helping! @Just Jeff I think @Lillapojkenpåön might be correct here in that you might have two versions installed. If you re-open the files as you showed above go to the Help > About menu and check which version is installed (looking at the pic again I can see the left one that the VS Code icons are quite old + there is an update to be installed bottom left). When compiling up extensions you have to set the minimum version required for the extension and as I need to frequently update things internally (the libraries used get flagged often with upgrades or security notifications). Doing this also stops older versions from being able to the install the most recent updates. Apologies for my late replies - my state here in Australia (Victoria) is finally opening up and we have been able to start catching up with family after 4 months of hard lockdown.

Hi @Just Jeff, Can you remove the extension, restart and make sure Visual Studio Code is the latest up to date version (I think 1.49.x) and then try installing the extension again.

Thanks for considering Millie and Molly! It will be available for purchase from the AtariAge store next year and will include a box and instructions etc. Not sure of an official date just yet.

Thank you for your kind words! The team has worked very hard to bring the game to the 7800!

Thanks Lewis!

Large Data Table > 256 Bytes One of the things a have been struggling with at times is keeping data tables within the default 256 byte size limit. This is two-fold issue - the table size and calculating an offset. According to the documentation on accessing regular data, the size is limited to 256 bytes and if you wanted to create larger it is suggested to use sequential tables - each has their pros and cons. So what if I told you there is a way to access tables larger than this quickly and easily?? Most of us probably use tables for either map data or some sort of grid style layout or lookup. During Millie and Molly development I discovered I could use the peekchar function to replace calculating an offset to my RAM based table containing the background layout (as objects move the background needed to be restored). This worked great as I could replace a convoluted offset calculation using co-ordinates. I then expanded this and used the pokechar function to update this and other tables in RAM as needed. Example rem vars dim offsetX = var0 dim offsetY = var1 dim objectIndex = var2 rem lookup loop for offsetY = 0 to 25 for offsetX = 0 to 12 rem get object objectIndex = peekchar(levelPlayfield,offsetX,offsetY,13,26) rem TODO: add you code here... next next data levelPlayfield 1, 2, 2,12,13, 2, 2, 2,12,13, 2, 2, 3 4,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14, 8 5,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15, 9 6,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,10 6,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,10 7,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,11 4,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15, 8 5,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14, 9 6,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,10 6,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,10 7,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,11 4,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14, 8 5,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15, 9 6,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,10 6,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,10 7,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,11 4,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15, 8 5,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14, 9 6,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,10 6,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,10 7,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,11 4,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14, 8 5,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15, 9 6,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,10 6,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,10 7,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,14,11 end Full example The following attachment contains a full working example for the above: LargeDataTable.zip Dev Notes Talking to @RevEng about it the only real limitation potentially is your X,Y needs to stay within the 256x256 limit (this is theory only!) PEEKCHAR command value = peekchar(mapdata, x, y, width, height) mapdata - RAM or ROM location of the data to get x - x screen column co-ordinate y - y screen row co-ordinate width - total width of the map height - total height of the map POKECHAR command pokechar mapdata x y width height value mapdata - RAM or ROM location of the data to set x - x screen column co-ordinate y - y screen row co-ordinate width - total width of the map height - total height of the map value - value to be stored

Thank you for trying the demo! An additional 80 further levels, 4 more themes, a ramping up of the difficulty plus the ability to switch between both Millie and Molly in the full version - very hard to put down as you have found!

Thank you for your support! Yes that is the plan I believe and a boxed version will be available 😍 Once the current release batch is fully released I'm sure Al will start preparing for the next release which I think will also include another Champ Games special. Oh - Arkanoid is very slowly progressing at the moment as I've been doing a lot of coding for my business recently and it's been a bit too much computer time unfortunately. I will get back to that soon and look to release a demo before Christmas. Currently working on the floating enemies and a bit of more!! reviewing of the ball collisions.

Thanks @electronicsibley and @ZeroPage Homebrew James 👍

To minimise the installation I currently remove them. I'm thinking whether I might be a good idea to add a sample viewer which could (probably copy them to a chosen location as required) provide some access for users... I'll add that to my list.

Also thanks @marauder666, @juansolo, @-^CrossBow^-, @batari and @RevEng for your suggestions and encouragement 👍

Sure mate no problem. Let me know if you still need it 😀

Great news @Andrew Davie were back in business mate. Replaced the blown cap, the regulator and Q10 and we are fully operational - everything checks out and is working. You still interested in me sending it up to you?

I think it's great there is going to a few options for devs and gamers. For me the only real difference I see is one has a screen (ahla Gotek style) and one will have the on-screen menu and people will have a choice that suits. As Mike said its great for the community to have these guys investing their time and effort (and money) into building these for us to benefit from. Having been around the 7800 community for couple of years now you can feel the groundswell building around the machine so it's very timely these tools will be available and along with Mike's awesome 7800basic pushing so many boundaries I can only see only growth! I hope the YM will eventually also offer a viable alternative down the track with the help of these carts and hopefully one day the XM. Bob's Pacman and Mike and Bobby's demo track show it brings a different arcade type of sound to the platform.

All good! Just disappointed I got it wrong Andrew - I wanted to make that change anyway as the power supplies are bloody hard to find. Unfortunately the worst part is I can't help you out with the issue just at the moment. So please don't feel any guilt over this. Well maybe some good news hey! I'll look over the board the next couple of days and check those items you suggested. None of the chips were warm afterwards so you never know...

Hmm - was thinking that after it blew. Was positive 😝 it was ok. Sorry mate - obviously my confidence outwayed my ability or lack there of. Watching too many repair videos clearly. Thanks will check those as well.

Yes! Thanks guys for your assistance! Well the bad news is I just blew the 2200uf cap 😞 (pop scared the shit out of me!!) I checked everything - my supply matched 9v DC 240V 1A centre negative, measured the voltage pins to ensure they were correct before I attached my cable, then checked for shorts etc. Now I never actually powered the machine but I'd assume it could be done for. Apologies Andrew - will have have to replace the cap and give it a test. Feel like a bit of dumb-ass but a learning experience none the less 🤪

I just went down an picked up some stuff from Jaycar - will look at it tonight. Will be done in a non-intrusive way 👍

I get you there mate 👍 What about soldering in a compatible jack (such as this) as I should be able to attach it to the points in Dave blog (will verify of course). 2 Pin LED Strip Connector to 2.1mm DC Socket | Jaycar Electronics

Looks like Dave Curran @ tfw8b might have done the barrel jack mod on a Pal machine (most info is NTSC): Atari 7800 PAL Composite mod (thefuturewas8bit.com) I'll do some voltage measuring tonight...

Ah ok thanks @-^CrossBow^- for the update 👍

Happy to help out in any way Andrew 👍 The pinout is shown - the one I have is a standard 240v. Unfortunately no measuring thingy except a ruler (but see below)... Console5 sell adapters which I should probably order and build a couple with (but going to take a while to deliver!!) https://console5.com/store/atari-7800-pigtail-dc-cable-and-plug-for-custom-power-supply-5-foot-1-5m.html People have installed barrel connectors but I haven't really found a well documented way of doing that but would be happy to make that mod. Maybe @-^CrossBow^- or @juansolo might be able to help out here?? Guys??

If I come across one in the next few weeks I'll get back to you 👍