The V-Man Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) After almost 40 years. I finally purchased an Atari 800 so I can play the 2 games I still had a printout of on real hardware. I had a basic game that I retyped in from compute magazine that I have running on an ATR image. Space Mines was my Assembly game - 4k in length - that I wrote and I have it running on an ATR image by using Binary Load "L" on Dos 2.5. If I want to make Space Mines game a cartridge, with code changes so I can start it at a different address, what would be the quickest and easiest way to make a cartridge? I have a couple of old Brown carts I can open and replace stuff. All the classic consoles/computers sit at the corner of our office. I don't know why my child self liked the name "space" in all my titles. ? Edited November 15, 2020 by The V-Man 17 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlazer Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Nice setups! Space Caverns or Space Mines? Can you share your ATR? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGHMW Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 .....and then can any of you make a 5200 version (in .bin or .rom format), since it can run A8 programs provided you change a few codes??? That and maybe make an .xex file available for us 8-bit multicart owners??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The V-Man Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 tjlazer - Space Mines is the game I'd like to get to a cartridge and sure I'll share that one once I figure out how to get it to auto run, having issues with just renaming the file. I'm sharing Space Caverns first. It was the first full game that I wrote. Written in Basic in 10 hours, I submitted the game in 1983 to Compute magazine and got accepted. Signed the deal, and did not hear from Compute again for almost 2 years. Then in 1985 the magazine came out and my game was included as a type-in game. Made almost $7000 on that game and bought my first car with the proceeds. It also started me on my career with video games and programming in general. Run this ATR with "Basic". Use the original basic if you can, as the XL and other basics run the game much faster and make it far more difficult to play. The object of the game is to shoot the 4 enemies that are closing in on you without touching any of them or any enemies that are stationary. Press and hold the Fire Button and aim in the direction you want to shoot. Release the fire button to move around with the joystick. When you get to the bonus round then you can "capture" as many frozen enemies as you can in the time allotted. Rinse and repeat. Game is good for a few laughs. BIGHMW - For Space Mines, do you know what "code" I would need to be aware of to make it work on the 5200? I don't have the source code to this anymore, its totally disassembled when I printed it out on my 800xl a few years after I wrote it. But, I can try. Caverns.atr 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGHMW Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) 13 minutes ago, The V-Man said: tjlazer - Space Mines is the game I'd like to get to a cartridge and sure I'll share that one once I figure out how to get it to auto run, having issues with just renaming the file. I'm sharing Space Caverns first. It was the first full game that I wrote. Written in Basic in 10 hours, I submitted the game in 1983 to Compute magazine and got accepted. Signed the deal, and did not hear from Compute again for almost 2 years. Then in 1985 the magazine came out and my game was included as a type-in game. Made almost $7000 on that game and bought my first car with the proceeds. It also started me on my career with video games and programming in general. Run this ATR with "Basic". Use the original basic if you can, as the XL and other basics run the game much faster and make it far more difficult to play. The object of the game is to shoot the 4 enemies that are closing in on you without touching any of them or any enemies that are stationary. Press and hold the Fire Button and aim in the direction you want to shoot. Release the fire button to move around with the joystick. When you get to the bonus round then you can "capture" as many frozen enemies as you can in the time allotted. Rinse and repeat. Game is good for a few laughs. BIGHMW - For Space Mines, do you know what "code" I would need to be aware of to make it work on the 5200? I don't have the source code to this anymore, its totally disassembled when I printed it out on my 800xl a few years after I wrote it. But, I can try. Caverns.atr 90.02 kB · 1 download You would need to convert it into a .bin file and do some other things to make a 5200 version. Of course I would also love to see both of your games (Space Caverns and Space Mines) also available on .xex files as well for all of our 8-bit friends who own multicarts like I do. Edited November 15, 2020 by BIGHMW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Hi Vince, I was a Compute! reader, thanks for the story and for sharing Space Caverns. Here's Compute! article about your game: https://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue58/space_caverns.html I tested it on real hardware and your ATR works, loaded from modern SIO devices and from the multicart AVGCart (as-is, without SIO cable). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 The easiest way to run from cartridge today is via any of the multicarts (see pinned thread). Most of them should be able to run the xex/exe/com binary file without modifications. If you want a "real" cartridge you need to relocate your code to fit into cartridge space (usually A000 to BFFF) and - if required - keep your graphics/variables out of that range. Plus it needs some init code. All that and a lot more is explained here. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Don't play Caverns with Altirra Basic, its too fast Nice game, thank you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The V-Man Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 SPACE MINES ATR FILE. This game was made a couple of months after Space Caverns. It was written on an Atari 400 with a cassette recorder in assembly. I was learning assembly when I was doing this project. Because it was without a floppy, I wrote it to run starting on Page 7. By the time I got an 800xl with a drive, I did not have the source anymore, something happened to the tape. But I had a tape with the object file and loaded it and saved it on the floppy and made a printout. I had to write a small relocation program so it would start from 33c0 as to not blowup DOS, and relocate it back down to 700. I did a warm restart to run the program after the relocation. The total size of the game is about 2k of code and about 3k of hand typed graphics. All I had left of this game was the printout I made. So I retyped it back in a few years ago. I liked this game much more than Space Caverns, even though this game never saw the light of day. In fact, this is the first time anyone other than me and a couple of friends will have ever seen it. I tried to submit to mags, but they were not interested in an Assembly type-in game. So, the object of the game. Maneuver your ship around the play-field and avoid EVERYTHING; enemy ships, walls, and your mines. You can lay mines by pressing the joystick button as you move. You try to move yourself so that the mines are between you and the hoards of enemy drone thingies that chase after you, kinda. They head in your direction most of the time. You advance a level when all the enemies have exploded themselves on your mines. There is an intermission every few levels or so. This game gets moving really fast. I think I have only made it to level 16 recently. I hope you all enjoy! Now on to getting this thing working on a cart and burning one. Philsan - Caverns looks really good on your screen. My S-Video on the 800 is displaying really bright, so I keep it on composite. Mclaneinc - When I first ran Space Caverns using Altirra Basic, I thought I did something wrong. Spacmine.atr 8 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 XEX version, easier and faster to load. Very nice game! Space Mines! (1983)(Vince Valenti).xex @The V-Man, if you want to tag people, use @ before nickname. 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The V-Man Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Philsan said: XEX version, easier and faster to load. Very nice game! Space Mines! (1983)(Vince Valenti).xex 5.58 kB · 7 downloads @The V-Man, if you want to tag people, use @ before nickname. Thanks for doing that. I had no idea you just needed to extract the file and rename it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGHMW Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 (edited) @Philsan Now a 5200 version for us would be great, just do the same thing only this time in .bin format and recode it according to how a 5200 operates, as they run differently and are on different OS even though they both use the same graphics chip. Edited November 16, 2020 by BIGHMW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierodoug5 Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Both games are very fun, and hard! Takes a while to get the hang of them . I really like how smooth Mines is. Well done! Thanx for sharing them 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNameOfTheGame Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Cool game! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 11 hours ago, BIGHMW said: @Philsan Now a 5200 version for us would be great, just do the same thing only this time in .bin format and recode it according to how a 5200 operates, as they run differently and are on different OS even though they both use the same graphics chip. 5200 console, amongst other things, has only 16KB, therefore many games cannot be ported. But I think this one could be ported. Unfortunately conversion is not an easy task, way beyond my capabilities. It's not a matter of converting to .bin format, .bin format is only a cartridge file format (like CAR but without cart type informations), used by A8 and 5200. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGHMW Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Well, it's a good thing I got a NOS 65XE in case I run into games that can't be converted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Love the games although both are rock hard, can see why it made you some useful cash back then.. Vince, thank you for passing them on.. Paul.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The V-Man Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 Thanks everyone, glad you have enjoyed the games. These games should be played with a real joystick. Much harder with keys, I've tried. Here is a build for Space Mines! in ROM format. This should only need 8K for those who have a 400 that has not been upgraded, or who want a ROM file instead. I've tested this on the emulator, I don't have a way to test this on real hardware, yet. Plan on EEPROM soon. Space Mines! (1983)(Vince Valenti).rom 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bhall408 Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 On 11/17/2020 at 8:52 PM, The V-Man said: Thanks everyone, glad you have enjoyed the games. These games should be played with a real joystick. Much harder with keys, I've tried. You have asked about making 5200/etc versions. Did you say you had the assembly source code? Or is it just that you had the binary as a printout? And then you did a disassembly? If have been going though the same process with games I had submitted to ANALOG back in the day, and I managed to get the Atari Macro Assembler source typed in from old hard copy, and then moved it over to using ca65 to assemble it on my Mac. It was such a delight the first time the XEX was working, and what I hadn't seen in decades came back to life. https://www.instagram.com/p/CFPkg4UnkOL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Once you have the source, it is then trivial to have it assemble for a different location. If you had not used Atari OS routines (for example, using E: or S:), then it should not be *too* hard to create a 5200 version from the source. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The V-Man Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 20 hours ago, bhall408 said: You have asked about making 5200/etc versions. Did you say you had the assembly source code? Or is it just that you had the binary as a printout? And then you did a disassembly? If have been going though the same process with games I had submitted to ANALOG back in the day, and I managed to get the Atari Macro Assembler source typed in from old hard copy, and then moved it over to using ca65 to assemble it on my Mac. It was such a delight the first time the XEX was working, and what I hadn't seen in decades came back to life. https://www.instagram.com/p/CFPkg4UnkOL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Once you have the source, it is then trivial to have it assemble for a different location. If you had not used Atari OS routines (for example, using E: or S:), then it should not be *too* hard to create a 5200 version from the source. It was a binary printout that I did a disassembly back in 1986. So when I typed it back in, I just typed the opcodes that were printed next to it. I did not use Atari OS routines as far as I remember. I think I would need to "print" out the disassembly to a PDF or the like, and then search for Antic/PIA etc. calls. Then I would need to change them in binary on Assembler debug and re-save. That is what I thinking. It would be a project to do for sure. Probably take a while as I have to dedicate some time to my "real" job. I have a rudimentary map of the 5200, I am assuming that ANTIC/GTIA are just offset by the page and all the locations relative to the pages did not change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bhall408 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 22 hours ago, The V-Man said: It was a binary printout that I did a disassembly back in 1986. So when I typed it back in, I just typed the opcodes that were printed next to it. I did not use Atari OS routines as far as I remember. I think I would need to "print" out the disassembly to a PDF or the like, and then search for Antic/PIA etc. calls. Then I would need to change them in binary on Assembler debug and re-save. That is what I thinking. It would be a project to do for sure. Probably take a while as I have to dedicate some time to my "real" job. If you have a working dis-assembly, I could try getting it to assemble with ca65. That would be a very valuable checkpoint along the way. At that point, it would then make sense to update it to use the various system labels for the various ANTIC/POKEY/etc registers, sensible labels for your own jumps and branches (rather than whatever the disassembler assigned to them), comment the source code, etc. 22 hours ago, The V-Man said: I have a rudimentary map of the 5200, I am assuming that ANTIC/GTIA are just offset by the page and all the locations relative to the pages did not change? Others should chime in, but the main points seem to be the amount and locations of usable ram, where you'd want to assemble for it to be a cart, and the locations of the registers for POKEY/ANTIC/etc. All of that would be MUCH easier to address if you started from source code that would assemble and resulting binary run on an 800, THEN start using labels to make it easier to relocate, and THEN make the switch to 5200. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bhall408 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 ps- since you have custom character sets, etc, alot of your "source" would end up being hex to define that set, and would cut down alot on the actual code to mess with... ie, the start of my own character set file... ;*************************************** ; chset.a65 ; ; Created ??/??/84 ; Updated ??/??/?? ; ; 2020-10-08 bhall ca65 version ; ;*************************************** ; Character set must be on a page boundary ChSet1: .BYTE $00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00 .BYTE $00,$0E,$1E,$1C,$18,$00,$30,$00 .BYTE $00,$00,$06,$EE,$FE,$D6,$C6,$C6 .BYTE $00,$03,$C3,$C3,$C3,$C3,$FF,$7E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playermissile Posted November 26, 2020 Share Posted November 26, 2020 On 11/14/2020 at 4:35 PM, The V-Man said: After almost 40 years. I finally purchased an Atari 800 so I can play the 2 games I still had a printout of on real hardware. I had a basic game that I retyped in from compute magazine that I have running on an ATR image. Space Mines was my Assembly game - 4k in length - that I wrote and I have it running on an ATR image by using Binary Load "L" on Dos 2.5. I'm not even to 1983 yet so I've got a while to get there for the podcast, but if you're interested in being interviewed about your experience with the game, let me know. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The V-Man Posted November 28, 2020 Author Share Posted November 28, 2020 Got it! A big shout out to @Gavin1968 at Vintage Computer Center for supplying and burning the ROM for me. I evicted a ROM from an old brown cartridge shell and replaced it with my shiny new ROM. @playermissileSure, an interview would be fun. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted November 28, 2020 Share Posted November 28, 2020 Very nice. Looks like it fits right into the vintage 8-bit catalog. Still confused about Space Mines! on your screen Vs. Space Caverns in Compute! magazine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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.