Jump to content
IGNORED

Donkey Kong source code


Curt Vendel

Recommended Posts

How do you read the files? What did you use?

 

 

Finally! We can find that easter egg...

 

 

This is cute:

 

;;HISTORY: ;;

;;Nov '82 - IDS, initial coding ;;

;;Dec '82 - more coding, hair pulling, general cruftiness ;;

;;Jan '83 - schedule screaming, rampant insanity, accusations ;;

;;Feb '83 - semi-winnage, accompanied by cries of anguish and threats;;

;;Mar '83 - Lucifer announces a cooling trend

 

 

Other interesting things in the code:

 

killage level (bump Mario off if he ever gets here...) - Arcade kill level?

 

warning (not implemented) - This was in the sound file

 

How Hard Can You Get? [*sigh*] - Hehe...

 

; Draw hammers

; For the Elevators rack, which doesn't have any hammers, the position

; of the hammers must be off the screen, so they aren't drawn..

 

- So there ARE hammers on the elevator level, just off screen...

 

 

Hammer sound (?what???) - I know there's music for the hammer, but is there a sound?

 

 

Sadly no easter egg mentioned in the comments. I knew it wouldn't be THAT easy...

 

Tempest

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...
I wonder which version of the source this is? Landon indicated the official release was not his final - the death sequence isnt perfect something about overlapping cells) - anyhow, if would be interesting is someone could compile this and see if its different than the official cart in some minor way.

 

The as-released-to-manufacturing version of DK was assembled with CAMAC (a Cross version of the AMAC assembler running on the Home Computer Division's MV-8000 minicomputer).

 

The listing file I see is dated Feb 24th, which seems early for completion of the project. If the enclosed code corresponds to the listing file, that's not a good thing because the listing ends at address $A59E, and I distinctly recall there being about 18 bytes left in the ROM (which would have had a limit of $C000). There's stuff missing from the PRN file (and the PRN file has errors). Maybe the PRN file is out of date with the rest of the code.

 

Additionally, someone's clearly been into this code trying to make it work under the Atari coin-op assembler and maybe MAC/65. Might have been me (I honestly don't remember). So I'd be surprised if this built at all, or if it did, if it worked.

 

Curt should find the source code to MadMac next (though 6502 assemblers are very easy to find).

 

Landon, I love donkey kong and still to this day believe it is one of the best ports to the Atari computer. As a software developer myself I also really appreciate your contribution to this forum. Your blog isn't that bad either :) That must have been so cool to have been there at Atari in the thick of things (so to speak).

Great story.

http://www.dadhacker.com/blog/?p=987

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has the 'fixed' version of DK ever been released? I know Landon mentioned that he fixed a few minor bugs after the game had gone out to be manufactured (something with Mario's death animation). I also noticed that DK has some bad pixels in his mouth when it's open, maybe this could be fixed as well?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was Curt able to determine what he had found? I was also wondering, I was reading another post, about the XE version of DK and what it's differences are. Is it the "fixed" version?

There are differences in the XE version of Donkey Kong? That's news to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was Curt able to determine what he had found? I was also wondering, I was reading another post, about the XE version of DK and what it's differences are. Is it the "fixed" version?

There are differences in the XE version of Donkey Kong? That's news to me.

I thought I had read an article or post in which the differences were discussed. When I have a chance I search for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This port is my favorite Donkey Kong of all time. Definitely like it better thanthe arcade. The ColecoVision, NES, and 7800 versions come close. And while I'm love ranting, the A8 version of Joust is by far the best ever. That low, bassy buzz absolutely rocks on a system with loud woofers and subs. So awesome.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This port is my favorite Donkey Kong of all time. Definitely like it better thanthe arcade. The ColecoVision, NES, and 7800 versions come close. And while I'm love ranting, the A8 version of Joust is by far the best ever. That low, bassy buzz absolutely rocks on a system with loud woofers and subs. So awesome.

 

Add to that the port of Williams Defender, I think that is one of the best.

Can anyone confirm that the XE cartridge for DK is different than the Atari 400/800 cart? I might be able to check this out this weekend but believe there was post with the differences at one time. :?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was Curt able to determine what he had found? I was also wondering, I was reading another post, about the XE version of DK and what it's differences are. Is it the "fixed" version?

I don't know who made it, Andreas Maggenheimer? An MS excel spreadsheet of A8 carts. The list has a Donkey Kong and a Donkey Kong XE listed, but they have the same CRC32. Another ROM list .xls has two versions, but one is

marked with a ]!], meaning a verified exact dump, no cracking. So, I don't think there was an XE version of DK..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What would be the need to "rebrand" the older Atari XL DK cart with a newer looking XE casing, etc? Atari didn't brand all the other classic games?

They did this with Eastern Front as well. I think they started to do XE versions of their most popular titles then decided it wasn't worth it and just used NOS instead. Intersting side note: the artwork from the XE version is the same as the 2600 and 7800 versions of DK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Great thread :thumbsup:

 

In regards to blue mouth pixel, pop file in hex editor and change this hex $digit:

07 (8C) CF to this 07 (4C) CF to get a $34 brownish-red pixel.

I though DK was drooling :)

Yes, when a hammer strikes an object.

There's also that little 'tinkle' in the tune some sort of early warning Hammer Time is over perhaps?

 

Are there any other DK hacks out there at all?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know who made it, Andreas Maggenheimer? An MS excel spreadsheet of A8 carts. The list has a Donkey Kong and a Donkey Kong XE listed, but they have the same CRC32. Another ROM list .xls has two versions, but one is

marked with a ]!], meaning a verified exact dump, no cracking. So, I don't think there was an XE version of DK..

 

Errm sorry,

I never made an Excel spreadsheet of A8 carts. Maybe I did post my copy here, but for sure I did not write that list...

-Andreas Koch (who is the same as Andreas Magenheimer; name-change due to marriage in 2007)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Errm sorry,

I never made an Excel spreadsheet of A8 carts. Maybe I did post my copy here, but for sure I did not write that list...

-Andreas Koch (who is the same as Andreas Magenheimer; name-change due to marriage in 2007)

Sorry. I don't know who made the .xls list. It is a great list, a lot of work.

 

I guess the DK XE version refers to the label that was on the cart, not the actual program being any

different.

Edited by russg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I know this is a very old thread, but I have a question. When I clicked on the text file that indicated it was the main program, I saw a lot of comments in the code (the stuff followed by the semicolon; please note, I know nothing at all about programming). I like looking through code; it's interesting to me to contemplate how all these esoteric commands are the things that eventually translate into a game.

 

I didn't read all the posts, but from what I gather, it appears that all the comments in the listing were written by the actual programmer. When programmers write code, do they always put in comments? I always thought that this was done by the hobbyists who disassemble the game. Why do programmers put in comments? Are they required to by the companies for which they work? And is all this code literally written line for line, or were there tools back then to automatically write the code based on what the programmer wanted and the inputs he/she put into the tools...in other words, could the programmer move the barrels around in a certain pattern, thus causing the tool to write lines of code corresponding to that pattern?

 

The dates mentioned in the program -- the ones with the funny comments attached -- were those the actual dates that defined the timeline of this project?

 

Let me add that I loved this game. I unfortunately lost it, but I had so much fun playing it. And yes, it probably is the best port. I agree about Defender as well...I'll also add I played a lot of Pac-Man for the 800XL, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of programmers don't write comments. I tend to be a fan of comments.

 

I may not put comments in something small enough to be obvious by reading the code. For large-ish projects I'll start by writing the program as comments -- inserting comments describing the functions and the code that goes there. I'll also add comments to working code, so I don't have my time wasted later answering questions about "WHAT does this do." I'm perfectly happy answering questions, such as, "WHY did you do this stupid thing here?"

 

Some companies have coding standards that dictate a comment block in front of functions detailing, inputs, outputs and whatnot. I've found that in an environment where there are lots of changes these kinds of comments often do not get updated with the code and are likely to be out of sync and meaningless. So, I prefer inline comments with the code where they are harder to forget.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back in the 90's there was an article posted called "Real Programmers Don't Eat Quiche." One of the lines from it has always remained with me as it's mostly as true now as back then...

 

Real programmers don't comment. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to read, and even harder to maintain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I usually code with few comments, except when the code goes complex, this gets extra comments.

 

After some months you usually lost sight of what you're doing, so comments are very useful when returning to code or if you're working in multiple projects.

 

Of course always there is a temptation to insert some funny comments, insert the name of your favorite actress or your current girlfriend :), I remember one of my games used a function named Buffy :grin:

 

Sometimes programmers put a text inside the ROM, something like "I love you Amy" or whathever name.

 

Given that very few people will ever read the code, it's a kind of secret proud.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies and educating me about comments. I liked the real programmers don't eat quiche line. And the thing about putting in stuff like "I love you Amy" is funny.

 

I appreciate that link. I read the post. Incredible information, very entertaining. I really did love that Donkey Kong cart.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...