+Mitch Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Are you looking to build one of this type of RAM cart? Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Alas its not Robotron. You just collect mushrooms and you can't fire at the wasps. It was just a tech demo that uses everything in the "C" graphics/game library I've written. If the game runs fast enough on real hardware I plan to make some more games with it. I like that you can't shoot them. It makes it ALOT more fun to have to stay on the run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 Are you looking to build one of this type of RAM cart? Mitch Theres lots of strap wires in those pictures . I'm currently sketching ideas out for a super game dev cart. I'm not sure if anybody else is in the market for a dev cart that doesn't need the machine to be opened and/or modified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Alongside the "C" runtime I've developed a command line tool that will extract sprite bitmaps from *.bmp files and convert them into assembler text files. The bitmaps just have to be 256 colours. Only the first 13 (160B) or 25 colours (160A) are used in the conversion process. Any comments or suggestions? Could you post your source and/or your graphics converting tool? Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 Alongside the "C" runtime I've developed a command line tool that will extract sprite bitmaps from *.bmp files and convert them into assembler text files. The bitmaps just have to be 256 colours. Only the first 13 (160B) or 25 colours (160A) are used in the conversion process. Any comments or suggestions? Could you post your source and/or your graphics converting tool? Allan For the graphics tool I need to document how to make the *.ini file that the tool parses and then I'll post the executable. I haven't fully tested the 160A mode graphics conversion yet either. The 160B mode conversion is used in the game. Hopefully I'll get some time at the weekend to test it out, before making a release. The assembly language files it creates are in CC65 syntax. Other than adding support for DASM are there any other assembler targets? I'm not sure what to do with the source code for the game/graphics library. I'm reluctant to do anything until I can get the game working on real hardware. If it doesn't work at a good enough speed or is a flicker-fest then in my mind its not going to be viable as a development platform. Unfortunately, emulator only games aren't a big attraction to me . If it does work then the community also needs easy access to dev cart hardware to test out their creations. If we had an emulator that could handle Maria's DMA load on Sally correctly then the need for hardware would be much less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Alongside the "C" runtime I've developed a command line tool that will extract sprite bitmaps from *.bmp files and convert them into assembler text files. The bitmaps just have to be 256 colours. Only the first 13 (160B) or 25 colours (160A) are used in the conversion process. Any comments or suggestions? Could you post your source and/or your graphics converting tool? Allan For the graphics tool I need to document how to make the *.ini file that the tool parses and then I'll post the executable. I haven't fully tested the 160A mode graphics conversion yet either. The 160B mode conversion is used in the game. Hopefully I'll get some time at the weekend to test it out, before making a release. The assembly language files it creates are in CC65 syntax. Other than adding support for DASM are there any other assembler targets? I'm not sure what to do with the source code for the game/graphics library. I'm reluctant to do anything until I can get the game working on real hardware. If it doesn't work at a good enough speed or is a flicker-fest then in my mind its not going to be viable as a development platform. Unfortunately, emulator only games aren't a big attraction to me . If it does work then the community also needs easy access to dev cart hardware to test out their creations. If we had an emulator that could handle Maria's DMA load on Sally correctly then the need for hardware would be much less. Yea, it wouldn't be very useful if it doesn't work on a real 7800. There are many people that have the Cuttle Cart 2, which is the best development system out there. I believe there were at least a couple hundred of these sold. If people want more development on the 7800 to be done the most important two things that need to happen is that someone should do a tutorial like Andrew Davies did for the 2600 and someone should do a 7800 Basic compiler. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 If people want more development on the 7800 to be done the most important two things that need to happen is that someone should do a tutorial like Andrew Davies did for the 2600 and someone should do a 7800 Basic compiler. If the "C" runtime works well then I don't have a problem doing some tutorials for it. If you can take away the hassle of getting to grips with the intricacies of the Display List List (DLL) in Maria by accepting some limitations to your game design then thats a first step. By limitations I mean filling a buffer with background tile indexes and handling a limited number of fixed size foreground sprites. If you can abstract the hardware away then its much less daunting, no matter which language you program in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammR25 Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Yeah there are plenty of us that are willing to test stuff with our CC2s. Heck it comes in handy for 2600 cart tests as well. That's how we helped Devin test his K.O. Cruiser game on real hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Is this wicked game fixed to run on the real deal as of yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Is this wicked game fixed to run on the real deal as of yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 (edited) Game freezes just before getting past the Atari Logo start-up with a high pitch squeal/noise and proceeds no further under MESS 0.130. -Trebor Edit: Ditto with a much older version of MESS (0.111). The squeal/noise is just at a lower frequency with the same results. Edit 2: With the ProSystem emulator (1.3d), the emulator does not rely or require the 7800 BIOS file and there is no Atari Logo start-up screen. It results in the game loading right to the title screen. However, it does not respond to any input at that point. NOTE: All results are with using the *.a78 file which was attached in the initial post. Edited April 4, 2009 by Trebor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Is this wicked game fixed to run on the real deal as of yet? Not yet! I need to make a RAM cart first. I've got a design down on paper and just need to order a few bits in and make it. I should have the RAM cart sorted by the end of next week. I'm glad you're enjoying the game tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Game freezes just before getting past the Atari Logo start-up with a high pitch squeal/noise and proceeds no further under MESS 0.130. -Trebor Edit: Ditto with a much older version of MESS (0.111). The squeal/noise is just at a lower frequency with the same results. Edit 2: With the ProSystem emulator (1.3d), the emulator does not rely or require the 7800 BIOS file and there is no Atari Logo start-up screen. It results in the game loading right to the title screen. However, it does not respond to any input at that point. NOTE: All results are with using the *.a78 file which was attached in the initial post. Thanks for the info on MESS testing. I can't get my version of MESS set up correctly. Any hints on what an 7800.u7 file is? I've no idea why it squeals on MESS because sounds aren't played until you've started the game after the title screen. I've used ProSystem v1.3 (without the 'd') during the development of the game and it works fine in that. I'll download the latest 'd' version and try that this afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarian63 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Is this wicked game fixed to run on the real deal as of yet? Not yet! I need to make a RAM cart first. I've got a design down on paper and just need to order a few bits in and make it. I should have the RAM cart sorted by the end of next week. I'm glad you're enjoying the game tho. I would be happy to buy it on cart if you make them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 I would be happy to buy it on cart if you make them! A cart! :-o :-o Hmmm... I didn't think the game was that good. There's no change in difficulty or monsters as the levels progress. It also needs a way to top up your energy. All my efforts should be going into the RAM cart at the mo, that way I'll know if the "C" runtime is good enough for other people to make games using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Well, you write the game, we playtest it, changes are made, improvements, things made harder... eventually it can become even better than it is and then maybe it will come out on cartridge (aka I like what I see so far, but it needs more doing!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I would be happy to buy it on cart if you make them! A cart! :-o :-o Hmmm... I didn't think the game was that good. There's no change in difficulty or monsters as the levels progress. It also needs a way to top up your energy. All my efforts should be going into the RAM cart at the mo, that way I'll know if the "C" runtime is good enough for other people to make games using it. Hi GroovyBee I think your game is a nice little game for the 7800.I like it.Would be great to see it on cart.And,if you want,i know someone,who could do. greetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Hi GroovyBeeI think your game is a nice little game for the 7800.I like it.Would be great to see it on cart.And,if you want,i know someone,who could do. greetings Walter I hadn't contemplated a cart release because its just been a demo of the game engine I've been developing. And for my next trick... Its just a mock up so don't too excited . It also depends on the RAM cart proving if the game engine is viable. I have plenty of game ideas but not the time to code them all in assembler . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckhard Stolberg Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Game freezes just before getting past the Atari Logo start-up with a high pitch squeal/noise and proceeds no further under MESS 0.130. -Trebor Edit: Ditto with a much older version of MESS (0.111). The squeal/noise is just at a lower frequency with the same results. Edit 2: With the ProSystem emulator (1.3d), the emulator does not rely or require the 7800 BIOS file and there is no Atari Logo start-up screen. It results in the game loading right to the title screen. However, it does not respond to any input at that point. NOTE: All results are with using the *.a78 file which was attached in the initial post. Thanks for the info on MESS testing. I can't get my version of MESS set up correctly. Any hints on what an 7800.u7 file is? I've no idea why it squeals on MESS because sounds aren't played until you've started the game after the title screen. I've used ProSystem v1.3 (without the 'd') during the development of the game and it works fine in that. I'll download the latest 'd' version and try that this afternoon. I ran your game in the MESS debugger and found the problem. It's at the start of your first initializing subroutine where you are trying to lock the 7800 into MARIA/ROM mode. You seem to have gotten the equate for INPTCTRL wrong, because instead of writing the #$07 to address $01 you are writing it to address $2f, which is colour register P3C3. As a result the 7800 doesn't get locked into a mode, so that writing something to one of the sound registers later on probably disables the ROM, which makes the game crash in MESS and on a real 7800. After patching the $2f to $01 and re-signing the ROM with a78sign, it plays fine in MESS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 I ran your game in the MESS debugger and found the problem. It's at the start of your first initializing subroutine where you are trying to lock the 7800 into MARIA/ROM mode. You seem to have gotten the equate for INPTCTRL wrong, because instead of writing the #$07 to address $01 you are writing it to address $2f, which is colour register P3C3. As a result the 7800 doesn't get locked into a mode, so that writing something to one of the sound registers later on probably disables the ROM, which makes the game crash in MESS and on a real 7800. After patching the $2f to $01 and re-signing the ROM with a78sign, it plays fine in MESS. Many thanks for your help Eckhard! I'll make the change and repost the binary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 This is one fun game! Good job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 The latest binaries attached. What is the etiquette with binaries? Do I post them at the thread's bottom or top (as in my first post)? Wasp_04_04_09_1.02.a78Wasp_04_04_09_1.02.bin Would any CC2 owners please try the *.bin again. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 This is one fun game! Good job! Thanks for the compliment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Would any CC2 owners please try the *.bin again. Thanks! Works, sort of. The main screen shows up but 'Wasp' is in black and white. Then the play screen starts. You can see the bar, the score, the flowers and the mushrroms but you can't see the enemies or your character. You can move around though because I was able to run over a couple of mushrooms. I'm guessing there is a problem with the color palette(sp?). Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 (edited) Would any CC2 owners please try the *.bin again. Thanks! Works, sort of. The main screen shows up but 'Wasp' is in black and white. Then the play screen starts. You can see the bar, the score, the flowers and the mushrroms but you can't see the enemies or your character. You can move around though because I was able to run over a couple of mushrooms. I'm guessing there is a problem with the color palette(sp?). Allan Many thanks for testing, Allan. I suspect its more a problem of where the sprite data starts in memory. I had similar things in the emulator too . It looks like the interrupt code isn't working which cycles the colour in the title. I'll get the sprite's graphics going ASAP. Expect another release soon. Edited April 4, 2009 by GroovyBee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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