Atari Dev Studio for Homebrew Development [Release]

[SlidellMan]

Just downloaded it and I like it. However, how do you change the sprite/tile size in the Sprite Editor?

[+mksmith]

@SlidellMan,

 

Thanks for downloading. I'm still working through the Sprite Editor functionality. Currently I intend on adding a startup window to help get you started - maybe something along the lines of allowing you to load an existing file or create a new one by setting the system (2600 or 7800), size and colors (7800 will be 3+1 or 12+1).

 

I'm currently playing around with 7800basic which has allowed me to use the editor (I'm manually changing the .spe files to get what I want) but it has helped me get a few things straightened out and find a few bugs.

 

Hoping to get to these features over the coming weeks as the editor has been proving it's worth so far.

[jericho_21]

This is a great development for home-brewers, and thanks for doing it. No rush, but I was curious. You said that the Mac version does not have the same features as the PC. Do you have a timeline as to when you will be able to develop more for the Mac version? Just wondering, since I am a Mac user. I have a PC, too, so I guess I could develop on both platforms. But, I like Mac and it is a simple inquiry, I guess. No worries. Thanks.

Edited May 20, 2019 by jericho_21

[+mksmith]

@jericho_21

Thanks! Technically everything should all work for macOS users - I just haven't yet included the Stella emulator and the 7800basic compiler and A7800 emulator have been untested (by me). I don't have a mac machine but my brother does so I when we get some time I can then fully confirm it all works. I currently test on Windows 10 and Ubuntu 18.04 (via Hyper-V) before release.

 

If you are doing 2600 programming you can add your Stella path in the settings and it will work just fine (I know some users on my batari Basic extension have confirmed this works).

 

I'd love it if someone could confirm that the 7800 stuff works on macOS

Edited May 20, 2019 by mksmith

[+mksmith]

A new release (v0.2.0) is now available with the following changes:

• Updated 7800basic compilation routine to validate for additional errors and added cleanup of 7800hole.x.asm files after compilation
• Changes to RemoveCompilationFilesAsync routine as the CleanUpCompilationFiles flag wasn't working as expected
• Added missing 7800basic keywords: converttobcd, extrawide, joy0fire, joy1fire, joy0any, joy1any

Sprite Editor

• Added New Project wizard to configure your sprites allowing you to select the size, region (palette) and total colors
• Added additional messaging to status bar when using features
• Fixed issue where toolbar was not updated properly after loading project

So the best new feature in this release is a New Project wizard which will display when you first open the Sprite Editor (or by clicking on the New Project button on the toolbar). You can configure a number of features such as selecting the size, region (palette) and total colors.

The editor is currently really setup just for 7800basic ATM but next steps will be to add the missing palettes for both the 7800 and 2600 and additional export features. I also want to re-skin the editor so the New Project wizard is really just for now and will be updated then. I've been using it myself and it does the basics really well.

Edited May 21, 2019 by mksmith

[+mksmith]

A new release (v0.2.1) is now available with the following changes:

 

Sprite Editor

• Fixed an issue selecting a palette color
• Indented spinner value on New Project wizard to match combobox

Made the editor pretty much unusable - damn those refactorings.. sorry bout that... Edited May 22, 2019 by mksmith

[SIO2]

This is awesome. My development system had an accident and I am having to start over. The Atari Dev Studio is making that go easier. Thanks.

[+mksmith]

A new release (v0.2.2) is now available with the following changes:

• Added missing 7800basic keywords: function, BACKGRND, PXC1,PXC2,PXC3 for palettes 0-7

Sprite Editor

• Added resize sprite feature allowing sprites sizes to be changed
• Added ability to export the selected sprite to .png
• Wrapped the toolbar to be 2 icons wide by default and adjusted initial layout location of all windows

[Harold Thijssen]

Thank you mksmith. This is great great work. Can it already be used for a new homebrew project or is it better to wait?

[gambler172]

Hi MK

 

i need just a sprite editor,which can change,my sprites,so that i can use them in my 7800 basic games.I do not like Gimp.

Is this possible with your Dev studio?

Is there a standalone sprite editor version?

 

greetings Walter

[+mksmith]

Thank you mksmith. This is great great work. Can it already be used for a new homebrew project or is it better to wait?

Hi - guess that may depend on your current situation but all you need to open is the folder containing your project. Essentially it is in effect a text editor with a button to call the compiler and launch the emulator so you can test your game. It also has the added benefit of GitHub integration. Whatever will work best for your situation

[+mksmith]

Hi MK

i need just a sprite editor,which can change,my sprites,so that i can use them in my 7800 basic games.I do not like Gimp.

Is this possible with your Dev studio?

Is there a standalone sprite editor version?

greetings Walter

Hi - the current Sprite editor is only built-in and is not seperately available (as yet). I'm currently using it for my 7800 project and for the most part does a great job (adding new features regularly). Saying that I do have a new version to upload as there is a little bug after you export to .png which I discovered earlier today (will upload in the next 12hours). Saying that if you just want it to edit you can just open it.

[+mksmith]

A new release (v0.2.3) is now available with the following changes:

• Added missing 7800basic keywords: P6C3

Sprite Editor

• Added features to load, save and reset your palettes (via a new toolbar on the Palette window)
• Added a fix for the occasional re-popup of load and save dialogs when communicating with VSCode
• Fixed issue where items on the New Project window did not reflect the expected value on first start
• Fixed issue exporting to .png files

[+Gemintronic]

In order to bring this one step closer to being the go to solution for every all Atari console I found these resources for rB+ (Jaguar)

 

Build system integration from Christo:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/262800-rb-tutorial-1-setting-up-and-configuring-rb-from-scratch/page-1?do=findComment&comment=3955861

 

Syntax highlighting for Notepad++ (hopefully useful to pull keywords out)

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/262800-rb-tutorial-1-setting-up-and-configuring-rb-from-scratch/page-1?do=findComment&comment=3709165

 

Hopefully these links will provide some advantage if you ever consider adding rB+ BASIC

[+mksmith]

Thanks Gemintronic - certainly happy to look at adding another language into the product. Will take a look soon 👍

[+mksmith]

A new release (v0.2.4) is now available with the following changes:

• Updated Stella to 6.0.1 (Windows, Linux)

 

Apologies to mac users - still trying to get over to my brothers house to get access to his mac to ensure everything will work. Hopefully very soon!!

[+mksmith]

A new release (v0.2.5/v0.2.6) is now available with the following changes:

• Added hover tooltips for 7800basic keywords (a large majority)
• Updated 7800basic to 0.6 Jul 13 2019 22:37:29

RevEng has just updated 7800basic! and I've started working through adding hover tooltips for each language (starting with 7800basic). Not all keywords will probably get a tooltip and I also need to maybe add some usage/info to each - currently they show the basic usage and a description of each parameter (and maybe an entry range). Will look to get some in for bB next release. Edited June 15, 2019 by mksmith

[+mksmith]

Apologies for the lack of recent updates - I do have a small one there to be uploaded and will try and do that in the next couple of days.

 

Been very busy the past couple of weeks on Arkanoid for the 7800 which is coming along nicely.

[+mksmith]

A new release (v0.2.7) is now available with the following changes:

• Added missing 7800basic keywords: hsgamename, noflow, trackersupport
• Added additional hover tooltips for 7800basic keywords

Sprite Editor

• Updated Editor window to be resizable
• Re-arranged Toolbar order

[+mksmith]

A new release (v0.2.8) is now available with the following changes:

• Fixed issue with rem keyword mis-highlighting when used within variables (batariBasic and 7800basic)
• Added missing 7800basic keywords: tallsprite
• Updated existing and added additional hover tooltips for 7800basic keywords

Apologies for the lack of updates - Arkanoid is making up most of my spare time ATM 😁

 

[+mksmith]

In the process of adding some basic intellisense/auto completion for 7800Basic ATM.  All the base keywords will now be provided along with some special cases around keywords such as set, if, return, romsize and displaymode.  When you enter these and press space some of the expected responses for these items will then be shown for selection.  For example, typing romsize with give you a list of valid roms or return will give you bank, thisbank, other bank etc

 

I'd also like to get something working with the Outline window so it's easier to find your functions and methods - still investigating that one. That might them lead to having these available when you use goto, gosub etc.  Just want to provide a little more functionality.  Will test this out over the next few days with Arkanoid development.

 

 

 

[fultonbot]

Wow! I'm in.  I've been struggling a bit with 7800basic and A7800 to get the toolchain working well.
I think this is the shot I need! 

 

[Edit] Yes!  Up and working.  I hope this gets me to continue building now.  Thanks!

Edited August 31, 2019 by fultonbot
Update

[+mksmith]

On 9/1/2019 at 5:02 AM, fultonbot said:

Wow! I'm in.  I've been struggling a bit with 7800basic and A7800 to get the toolchain working well.
I think this is the shot I need! 

 

[Edit] Yes!  Up and working.  I hope this gets me to continue building now.  Thanks!

Good luck with it @fultonbot - i'm really enjoying 7800basic and the programming forum is super helpful if you have any questions.

 

Once Arkanoid is complete I intend to add some additional features (occasionally adding things as I go along using it). The Sprite Editor comes in super handy for generating .pngs used by 7800basic but doesn't yet have an import feature unfortunately. Once your done though you can save the 'project' and update as required.

[jefffulton]

Hey Matt!

I love this so far. I love being able to edit and compile in VSCode and the Sprite editor is brilliant.
One problem that i hope someone has come up against. I can use pre-existing pngs creates with the GIMP palette method, and use ones that are provided with the samples, but on Windows 10 now, with the latest version of GIMP installed, neither the Sprite Editor or Gimp is able to export a  PNG file that will load in properly. All files exported with either (even if I load in a working png and just re-export in GIMP) give me a compilation error that says the rom file size is not correct and must be at least 4k. 

I'll focus on your Sprite Editor as that is my preferred method to make sprites and tiles.  Do you have any idea what the header information, etc should be on the PNGs that are exported? Does the Sprite Editor use a PNG library that is already on the user's system? I need to figure out where to look for why the exports will not work. 

Thanks, 

-Jeff 

[+mksmith]

7 hours ago, jefffulton said:

Hey Matt!

I love this so far. I love being able to edit and compile in VSCode and the Sprite editor is brilliant.
One problem that i hope someone has come up against. I can use pre-existing pngs creates with the GIMP palette method, and use ones that are provided with the samples, but on Windows 10 now, with the latest version of GIMP installed, neither the Sprite Editor or Gimp is able to export a  PNG file that will load in properly. All files exported with either (even if I load in a working png and just re-export in GIMP) give me a compilation error that says the rom file size is not correct and must be at least 4k. 

I'll focus on your Sprite Editor as that is my preferred method to make sprites and tiles.  Do you have any idea what the header information, etc should be on the PNGs that are exported? Does the Sprite Editor use a PNG library that is already on the user's system? I need to figure out where to look for why the exports will not work. 

Thanks, 

-Jeff 

Hey Jeff,

If you could PM me your project and images I'd be happy to take a look 👍

 

Behind the scenes the Sprite Editor is JavaScript displaying in a VS Code window. I found I small library that does the export conversion.