A few questions about Batari Basic

[RetroFiends]

Hello everyone.

I recently started making a game with batari basic, And outside of a few "what the hell" type moments I've not run into any major issues. I do however, have a few general questions.

Apologies in advance if any of these have been answered before but I did attempt a search before hand and have come up dry.

 

1. I recently upgraded my game to an 8k ROM. Bank switching allows me to (for the most part) create my vision without extreme compromise in terms of how many playfields I can store.

However, since the graphics always go in the last bank, what real reason is there to ever venture on to larger ROM sizes. It'd be great if I could add an "underworld" to my game (but as I have the game fleshed out now I don't exactly NEED more playfields), but then I'd definitely run out of space. Is there any way to store playfields in other banks? Perhaps a way to dynamically swap out playfields between banks, although I fear that option is waaay over my head.

 

2. Does Stella accurately emulate hardware or am I potentially opening myself up to bugs I would otherwise not notice until played on real hardware? Since I don't have a Harmony cart yet testing on real hardware isn't an option at the moment. Is there anything in particular I should be aware of?

 

3. When dealing with pfcolors I notice that for seemingly inexplicable reasons the top or bottom bar of the playfield will be a single solid color unless I make a duplicate line entry at the bottom of the pfcolors: list. It's almost as if batari basic is counting the score line as a playfield line. I don't quite remember but I believe no_blank_lines does the same thing.

 

4. And speaking of no_blank_lines, can someone explain to me why they aren't perfectly divided amongst the allowed screen real estate? This little quirk has forced me to LOVE blank lines (and now I really do love the blank lines ) but I still find it odd.

 

I'm having a blast developing this game and I'm making great progress in a very timely manner. Batari Basic actually fulfills a childhood dream I've had to produce a real game on a video game console and has definitely been the highlight of my life this week. So, thank you batari for making one of my dreams come true.

[+Random Terrain]

1. I recently upgraded my game to an 8k ROM. Bank switching allows me to (for the most part) create my vision without extreme compromise in terms of how many playfields I can store. However, since the graphics always go in the last bank, what real reason is there to ever venture on to larger ROM sizes.

 

If you make a big game with a lot of actual code and data, you could use up 32k worth of banks in no time.

 

 

 

 

It'd be great if I could add an "underworld" to my game (but as I have the game fleshed out now I don't exactly NEED more playfields), but then I'd definitely run out of space. Is there any way to store playfields in other banks? Perhaps a way to dynamically swap out playfields between banks, although I fear that option is waaay over my head.

 

In the latest version of VbB, we now have Convert to Data File:

 

http://atariage.com/...xample-program/

 

 

There's also the 32k Multikernel Framework where each 4k bank can have its own separate stuff:

 

http://www.randomter...ernel_framework

 

 

 

 

2. Does Stella accurately emulate hardware or am I potentially opening myself up to bugs I would otherwise not notice until played on real hardware? Since I don't have a Harmony cart yet testing on real hardware isn't an option at the moment. Is there anything in particular I should be aware of?

 

As you already know, getting a Harmony cart and testing on the real thing is important, but Stella can keep a constant eye on the scanline count while testing your works in progress and that's important too:

 

http://www.randomter...nds.html#timing

 

(I do the The Faster, Easier Way option where Stella stops if the scanline count goes over 262.)

 

 

 

 

3. When dealing with pfcolors I notice that for seemingly inexplicable reasons the top or bottom bar of the playfield will be a single solid color unless I make a duplicate line entry at the bottom of the pfcolors: list. It's almost as if batari basic is counting the score line as a playfield line. I don't quite remember but I believe no_blank_lines does the same thing.

 

As far as I know, all of that is mentioned here:

 

http://www.randomter...kernop_pfcolors

 

 

 

 

4. And speaking of no_blank_lines, can someone explain to me why they aren't perfectly divided amongst the allowed screen real estate? This little quirk has forced me to LOVE blank lines (and now I really do love the blank lines ) but I still find it odd.

 

If I'm not misunderstanding your question, that is also answered here:

 

http://www.randomter...#no_blank_lines

[RetroFiends]

Convert to data file looks brilliant! With that I could certainly make use of more banks. Although, I want to get what I have implemented before I get too adventurous.

All these randomterrain links answer my questions as well, I'll have to peruse the rest of your website too, now . Thanks for your reply.