lookinh for some advice on writing for the ATARI 2600

[gorf68]

So I got my sparkly new ATARI 2600 yesterday (yes it really is in very good condition, I was impressed) and wan't tto try and write something for it.

I was thinking of converting a relatively small game (called Trapped) I wrote for the Vectrex a few years ago. I think most of the assemble commands should translate fine. The only thing I will really need to learn about is how to write to the 2600 screen memory.

 

So I was looking for any suggestions for good reference materials, and links to any good utilities and emulators that you use.

I don't need anything that tells me the basics of  Assembly language ect. but I'm not familiar with the structure of the VCS, so any good info on that would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Edited October 10, 2019 by gorf68

[+Andrew Davie]

2 hours ago, gorf68 said:

So I got my sparkly new ATARI 2600 yesterday (yes it really is in very good condition, I was impressed) and wan't tto try and write something for it.

I was thinking of converting a relatively small game (called Trapped) I wrote for the Vectrex a few years ago. I think most of the assemble commands should translate fine. The only thing I will really need to learn about is how to write to the 2600 screen memory.

 

So I was looking for any suggestions for good reference materials, and links to any good utilities and emulators that you use.

I don't need anything that tells me the basics of  Assembly language ect. but I'm not familiar with the structure of the VCS, so any good info on that would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Try checking out "Programming for Newbies" in these forums.
The '2600 DOES NOT HAVE any screen memory. You write to playfield registers on-the-fly in synchronisation with the TV beam sweeping the screen.
Your timing has to be pretty much exact if you want to do complex graphics. Stella is the most-used emulator.
You can start with a much-easier bAtari Basic that gives you a bit of a handle on how to program and don't want to have to worry about the timing stuff too much.
Again, check out the programming for newbies tutorials for assembler programming. The author of that series is ... brilliant. 

 

[gorf68]

Thanks Andrew,

 

I've now got a PDF of that, and it looks like a very good start. Seems like timing cycles is even more important for the VCS that it is for the Vectrex!

 

I don't want to muck around with pre-made languages so much.

I've wrote a few games in Assembly for the Vectrex in the past (most of which can be found on Vectrex multicart) and was really just looking for an explanation of the VCS memory and any useful ROM routines etc. (if any). As I said I'm completely new to VCS systems programming.

 

Is there a best 'test' cartridge, or other method, that I can use to write to for testing on the actual VCS hardware?

Writing for the Vectrex has taught me NEVER to trust emulators for anything other than simple debugging.

[+Andrew Davie]

32 minutes ago, gorf68 said:

Is there a best 'test' cartridge, or other method, that I can use to write to for testing on the actual VCS hardware?

Writing for the Vectrex has taught me NEVER to trust emulators for anything other than simple debugging.

 

Modern 2600 emulators are very very very very good, and you should trust them for writing stuff. Stella, in particular.

There are a few carts you can get to do the upload/test.  Look for Harmony, Harmony Encore, UnoCart. There are others.

 

[+Gemintronic]

Harmony Encore supports the BFSC (256k with SuperChip RAM) format.  The UnoCart does too except you may need a firmware update.

 

So, if you want to go big choose those.  

[gorf68]

So after a quick check it looks like it's generally between £50 to £100 pounds for one of the Harmony or UnoCart cartradges from Ebay.

Still cheaper than I thought it may be!

 

Are they still sold direct?

[+SpiceWare]

On 10/11/2019 at 4:04 PM, gorf68 said:

Are they still sold direct?

 

https://harmony.atariage.com/Site/Harmony.html

 

I've also written a tutorial that you may find helpful.

[JeffJetton]

On 10/10/2019 at 5:08 PM, gorf68 said:

The only thing I will really need to learn about is how to write to the 2600 screen memory.

 

 

 

[gorf68]

Well I got myself an UnoCart, that I'm happy with.

And I looked at converting one of my Vectrex programs to the Atari 2600... Meh, that ain't going to happen!

Going from writing vectors to, well, what the 2600 hasn't got! Is a step too far for me right now.

 

Still want to do something on the VCS though. Just don't know what. 

This is the game I was going to redo the original Vectrex source for: 

Bit if I do a version of this it would probably be best to start from scratch.

 

 

P.s.

And I get the joke on the post above now ?

The 2600 has a very, interesting, way of writing a screen ?

Edited August 26, 2020 by gorf68
Insert an example URL

[Just Jeff]

The 2600 can do a close approximation of this game fairly easily.  I would recommend that you just learn how to draw the screen (without worrying about the gameplay yet.) After that, adapting your existing assembly code won't be too hard. 

 

There is a very, very basic tutorial here:  https://www.atariage.com/2600/programming/2600_101

 

If you want, post your existing code and we'll take a look at it.

 

Also, I recommend using VSCode for writing.  There's a nice Atari extension that recognizes everything, and you just hit one key to compile and launch in Stella.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Just Jeff