Development Environment (Assembler programming) for Windows?

[Chris2600]

Hi all,

Does a development environment to program the VCS 2600 in assembler (not in batari Basic) exist for Windows (like C64Studio to program the Commodore C64 which allows to type code in Assembler, compile and run executable on the fly on an emulator)?

 

Thanks.

[+Andrew Davie]

There are a few.
I have setup "Atom" as my development environment.
Here's a short video showing usage... fiddling around with Sokoboo
I have it integrated to git/github and I check-in a file, and also do a build/run.

Edit: Yes I run MacOS - but Atom is cross-platform, so will work for you on windows.

 

Edited November 23, 2019 by Andrew Davie

[+TwentySixHundred]

@mksmith also added ASM support to his Visual Studio code extension here if you're comfortable with VS

[CapitanClassic]

Visual Studio Code has several plugins for c64 development. Many integrate with git, the Vice (c64 emulator), and DASM (Or other assemblers) so you can perform source control/test/build within the VS Code IDE

https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/search?term=C64&target=VSCode&category=All categories&sortBy=Relevance

[Mr SQL]

17 hours ago, Chris2600 said:

Hi all,

Does a development environment to program the VCS 2600 in assembler (not in batari Basic) exist for Windows (like C64Studio to program the Commodore C64 which allows to type code in Assembler, compile and run executable on the fly on an emulator)?

 

Thanks.

 

Yes, you might like the ASDK - an abstract Assembly development kit designed to make programming the Atari 2600 much like programing the C64 -

 

You can click the Play button in the IDE and it compiles an executable on the fly and runs it in an emulator:

 

 

C64 style Assembly programming:

Friendly C64 style sprite objects and a scrolling playfield are available so you don't have to race the beam directly and can write C64 style Assembly for game development.

 

The example above shows horizontal assembly which is also supported - you can use the concatenator operator like in BASIC and it transposes as shown on the left when building the ROM.

 

WYSIWYG virtualworld playfield and sprite support:

Just like C64 Assembly programming you can store your virtualworld bitmap and sprite bitmaps rightside up as normal images without flipping sections of them upside down and backwards.

 

The ASDK is the runtime for SuperCharger BASIC, so BASIC can be mixed with your Assembly or either can be used exclusively.

 

There's an old thread here that shows how to call ASDK functions in Assembly (before the IDE integration):

 

You can download the ASDK as part of SuperCharger BASIC

 

The IDE in the image is already present on Windows, instructions for setting it up to use Z26 or Stella to launch the ROM's in the emu are here. 

 

[explorer]

 

15 hours ago, Andrew Davie said:

There are a few.
I have setup "Atom" as my development environment.
Here's a short video showing usage... fiddling around with Sokoboo
I have it integrated to git/github and I check-in a file, and also do a build/run.

Edit: Yes I run MacOS - but Atom is cross-platform, so will work for you on windows.

 

 

What plugins used Atom?

Edited November 24, 2019 by explorer
Move question lower.

[Chris2600]

Hi,

 

I didn't expect so many great dev environments.

 

Thank you all!

[+Andrew Davie]

On 11/24/2019 at 11:30 AM, explorer said:

 

What plugins used Atom?

I don't know how to easily find that info.

I used a syntax highligher plugin for 6502 code - set to the "Asar SNES Assembler" setting.

I used github integration plugin. 

That's about it for the plugins. Perhaps GNU make one too...?

I just have a normal makefile, which does all the work. The IDE runs the makefile.

The makefile assembles and then runs stella.

 

[+SvOlli]

Of course there is the Eclipse-based WUDSN-IDE. It's done by @JAC!, who also created a couple of nice scene demos for the 2600 with it (like "ISO"). I tried it once, and it was quite nice. But the changes I'd had to make to my personal development cycle was too big, so I just stayed at using an editor and make.

Edited November 29, 2019 by SvOlli
typo

[jelcynek]

What I'm using is Visual Studio Code with K65 (custom assembler made by KK) and K65 Syntax highlighting plugin (in VS CODE marketplace). And very small makefile to build project and run in stella. 

 

Interesting part here is K65 if someone is not familiar with. It really helps fast development http://devkk.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Most important is linker with smart memory allocation, easy loops, easy far calls. Downside is not complete documentation and it is good to have KK in friends to ask sometimes how to do something

 

 

[Chris2600]

Hi all,

 

I installed Visual Code Studio and the awesome Atari dev studio extension.

 

I was able to compile and run many games without any problem like adventure or defender, but got issues

with E.T. where I had the following error message:

 

Quote

Starting build of ET.asm...

ET.asm (2474): error: Unknown Mnemonic 'BOUNDARY'.

ET.asm (2862): error: Unknown Mnemonic 'BOUNDARY'.

ET.asm (4208): error: Unknown Mnemonic 'BOUNDARY'.

ET.asm (4720): error: Unknown Mnemonic 'BOUNDARY'.

ET.asm (5016): error: Unknown Mnemonic 'BOUNDARY'.

ET.asm (5556): error: Unknown Mnemonic 'BOUNDARY'.

ET.asm (5835): error: Unknown Mnemonic 'BOUNDARY'.

ET.asm (6086): error: Unknown Mnemonic 'BOUNDARY'.

ET.asm (6324): error: Unknown Mnemonic 'BOUNDARY'.

 

Unrecoverable error(s) in pass, aborting assembly!

Complete.

 

Is this problem related with bankswitching?

Any adea about what  I can do to make it to compile and run properly?

 

Thanks  in advance for your help,

 

Cheers

 

 

Edited December 13, 2019 by Chris2600
typo

[+Andrew Davie]

15 hours ago, Chris2600 said:

Hi all,

 

I installed Visual Code Studio and the awesome Atari dev studio extension.

 

I was able to compile and run many games without any problem like adventure or defender, but got issues

with E.T. where I had the following error message:

 

 

Is this problem related with bankswitching?

Any adea about what  I can do to make it to compile and run properly?

 

Thanks  in advance for your help,

 

Cheers

 

 

Difficult without seeing the code you're trying to assemble!

Looks like you're missing a macro definition for BOUNDARY.
 

Edited December 13, 2019 by Andrew Davie

[Chris2600]

Hi Andrew.

 

Thank you for your answer.

 

I've got to apologize for my lack of relevance.

 

The header files I used previously were outdated so I downloaded the lastest versions of vcs.h and macro.h you imported here : https://sourceforge.net/p/dasm-dillon/code/HEAD/tree/trunk/machines/atari2600/

 

The game compiles and works perfectly now (i'am using the ET source file created by Dennis Debro (July 18, 2006)).

 

Thank YOU!

 

 

[+Andrew Davie]

8 hours ago, Chris2600 said:

Hi Andrew.

 

Thank you for your answer.

 

I've got to apologize for my lack of relevance.

 

The header files I used previously were outdated so I downloaded the lastest versions of vcs.h and macro.h you imported here : https://sourceforge.net/p/dasm-dillon/code/HEAD/tree/trunk/machines/atari2600/

 

The game compiles and works perfectly now (i'am using the ET source file created by Dennis Debro (July 18, 2006)).

 

Thank YOU!

 

 

Good to hear.

Just so you're aware, DASM and the machine-specific headers have moved.

See 

 

 

[Chris2600]

6 hours ago, Andrew Davie said:

Good to hear.

Just so you're aware, DASM and the machine-specific headers have moved.

See 

 

 

Hi Andrew,

 

Great, I just added the new link to my bookmarks.

 

Thanks.