Position Player Graphics for 6 digit score

[three2em]

Hey all,

 

I'm new here, and have been getting along well reading through the massive information on this forum. Thanks!

 

I'm building a game for the Atari 2600 and have accomplished quite a lot in one weekend considering I haven't programmed in ASM in over a decade. I'm trying to implement a 6 digit score, and while I've been able to find a lot of information about how to, and I understand the VDELPx method, the only thing I can't figure out is how to position the Players 8 pixels apart. What I'm currently doing is running several NOPs until the P0 sprites work, then doing a call to RESP0, then the very next line of code doing a RESP1. This gets me very close, as I'm able to display all 6 digits, but P0 and P1 are 9 pixels apart rather than 8, so the alignment is just off. All the algorithms I can find online only show the loop to display 6 sprites in a row, but all assume that the Players have been positioned correctly. Any help would be great. Thanks

 

Quick Edit:

 

Figured some code might help:

BeginScore
    ; Wait X cycles then reset P0/P1
    NOP ; 2 (2)
    NOP ; 2 (4)
    NOP ; 2 (6)
    NOP ; 2 (
    NOP ; 2 (10)
    NOP ; 2 (12)
    NOP ; 2 (14)
    NOP ; 2 (16)
    NOP ; 2 (18)
    NOP ; 2 (20)
    NOP ; 2 (22)
    NOP ; 2 (24)
    NOP ; 2 (26)
    NOP ; 2 (28)
    NOP ; 2 (30)
    NOP ; 2 (32)
    STA RESP0
    STA RESP1
    LDY #7
    STY temp
ScoreLoop
    LDY temp
    LDA (scoreDigits+$A),Y     ; 6th
    STA temp2
    STA WSYNC
    LDA (scoreDigits),Y  ; 1st
    STA GRP0
    LDA (scoreDigits+$2),Y  ; 2nd
    STA GRP1
    LDA (scoreDigits+$4),Y  ; 3rd
    STA GRP0
    LDA (scoreDigits+$,Y  ; 5th
    TAX
    LDA (scoreDigits+$6),Y  ; 4th
    LDY temp2
    NOP
    STA GRP1                ; 4th
    STX GRP0                ; 5th
    STY GRP1                ; 6th
    STA GRP0
    DEC temp
    BPL ScoreLoop

Edited September 28, 2015 by three2em

[PolygonPizza]

You need to do a fine-grain adjustment using HMP1 and HMOVE.

 

Write #$10 into HMP1, and then call HMOVE. So lda #$10, then sta HMP1, then on the next line (after sta WSYNC), call HMOVE.

 

If you need to avoid black bars on the left of the screen, you can write #$90 into HMP1 and call HMOVE starting on cycle 70 or 71.

 

Hope this answers your question.

[three2em]

Thanks for the quick response PolygonPizza. I didn't get it at first, but then after I coded what you recommended, it finally clicked in how all this repositioning stuff works. Thanks!

 

Edit:

 

Forgot the code again. This is what works for me, hopefully it will help others.

BeginScore
    ; Wait X cycles then reset P0/P1
    LDA #3      ; 2 (2)
    STA NUSIZ0  ; 3 (5)
    STA NUSIZ1  ; 3 (
    LDA #1      ; 2 (10)
    STA VDELP0  ; 3 (13)
    STA VDELP1  ; 3 (16)
    LDA #0      ; 2 (18)
    STA COLUBK  ; 3 (21)
    LDA #CSCORE ; 2 (23)
    STA COLUP0  ; 3 (26)
    STA COLUP1  ; 3 (29)
    NOP         ; 2 (31)
    NOP         ; 2 (33)
    STA RESP0
    STA RESP1
    LDA #%11110000
    STA HMP1
    LDA #%11100000
    STA HMP0    ; Shift scores slightly to the center of the screen
    STA WSYNC
    STA WSYNC
    STA WSYNC
    STA WSYNC   ; Additional WSYNCs for vertical alignment, only one necessary for HMOVE
    STA WSYNC
    STA HMOVE
    LDY #7
    STY temp
ScoreLoop
    LDY temp
    LDA (scoreDigits+$A),Y      ; 6th
    STA temp2
    STA WSYNC                   ; Twelve Cycles to spare when WSYNC is called
    LDA (scoreDigits),Y         ; 1st
    STA GRP0
    LDA (scoreDigits+$2),Y      ; 2nd
    STA GRP1
    LDA (scoreDigits+$4),Y      ; 3rd
    STA GRP0
    LDA (scoreDigits+$,Y      ; 5th
    TAX
    LDA (scoreDigits+$6),Y      ; 4th
    LDY temp2
    NOP
    STA GRP1                    ; 4th
    STX GRP0                    ; 5th
    STY GRP1                    ; 6th
    STA GRP0
    DEC temp
    BPL ScoreLoop

Edited September 28, 2015 by three2em

[iesposta]

You are already way beyond my basic programming ability.

Don't you just set P0 and P1 NUSIZ0, NUSIZ1 for 3 copies close, and update the data during display?

Three copies close side-by-side line up to 48 pixels wide.

 

Oh, I see you are doing that.

I first saw reset player and thought you were just starting over without the hardware copy.

Edited September 28, 2015 by iesposta