fred Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I was wondering how hard it was to program for the 5200? I have no programming experience but would like to start. Is it easier than the 7800? Where do I start and what program do I use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightman Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I was wondering how hard it was to program for the 5200? I have no programming experience but would like to start. Is it easier than the 7800? Where do I start and what program do I use? Er, out of curiosity, why are you asking about the 7800? If you have no experience, that comparison isn't going to matter. The 5200 is not more difficult to program than any other 8-bit system. The difficulty depends on you and what your goals are. If you really want to program, then start simple. Learning to program takes time and you need to *want* to do it. You should start by learning the basics of assembly language programming. Look at some example code and learn how the instructions work and learn the number systems (binary, decimal, hexadecimal). Also, learn the hardware - how it works and what the limitations are. How much memory is there? What are the sprite limitations? Be prepared to do some reading! When you're ready to compile programs you will need an assembler and then you'll need a system to test them on. You'll undoubtedly want to start with an emulator for testing. You'll need to understand how cartridges work and how the software interfaces with the hardware. Again, reading is required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javiero Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 You can start HERE, this place has all the info you need to begin programming the atari 8-bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdub_bobby Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 If you have no programming experience, you might want to start with BASIC. And if you want to target an old 8-bit platform, you will probably want to program in BASIC on an Atari 400/800/XL/XE or on a C64. If you eventually want to move on to the 5200, then the Atari computer line is the place to begin, since the hardware is essentially the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 If you have no programming experience, you might want to start with BASIC. And if you want to target an old 8-bit platform, you will probably want to program in BASIC on an Atari 400/800/XL/XE or on a C64. If you eventually want to move on to the 5200, then the Atari computer line is the place to begin, since the hardware is essentially the same. Ditto what was said here. You can program for the 5200 on a 5200-like system... being the 400/800 and up. Tons more convenient than programming for say a 2600, 7800, Lynx, Jag... where coding is done on another system, loaded in a rom cart of some type for testing, etc... You can basically build the program as if for a 400/800, then change the controller routines, I believe 16K is the limit on the 5200 not counting backswitching, and there are some differences in graphics routines I've heard. Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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