Hello World~!

[+DZ-Jay]

Learning.... Assimilating.... Processing.....

 

 

Seems this BACKTAB is actually a GOOD thing as opposed to reading screen locations and obtaining character codes for IF THEN checks.

 

It is a map, so to speak!!

 

What is there does not have to be necessarily manipulated and read/compared constantly because it resides as a static 'world' of sorts....

 

Seemingly contrary to my experiences to date with programming arcade-style games in BASIC.

 

I am still reading and studying. I have a plan in the next month or two to try something. I will have many questions, I am sure.

 

Luckily, we have a good community here.

 

The backtab is the "character map" of the display, except that "characters" in this case are the GROM letters and symbols, and the GRAM custom cards. Think in old-school micro BASIC like in the C=64, etc., where you had to POKE a character code and its color in a memory location to get it to display on a specific row and column on the screen.

 

It's the same here. Each BACKTAB cell is composed of bits for the following:

• Background colour (in FG/BG mode only)
• Foreground primary colour code
• Pastel colour code (think of it as 8 colours + 8 "high" colours, most of the pastel colours correspond to lighter versions of the primary ones)
• "Character" code (actually, card index number)
• Whether the card index number is from GROM or GRAM

You can find more information in the "STIC.txt" document included with the SDK.

 

-dZ.

[Kiwi]

I think you're a bit familiar with the TI-99 chipset. The on board GRAM can hold custom 64 chars and the GROM have 64-256 premade char, that is used by the sprites and the tile mapping, depending what graphic mode it is in. The screen mapping holds the color information, and what char it is. BG/FG mode is like mode 0 for the TMS9918A graphic chip, except color 8-15 for the foreground can't be selected and you're limited to 64 GROM chars. Colorstack is a bit more complex, but allowed the most tiles selection plus you can use the Color Square tiles.

 

Intellivision is an interesting machine to make games on.

[Opry99er]

I am learning that. Graphics modes are quite different and the screen resolution is significantly different. IntyBASIC is so fast though... Compiled vs Interpreted is such a powerful upgrade. I am loving the commandline interface in the SDK too. Fast, no fuss...

 

Having fun. Look forward to getting more familiar with the dialect.

[PuzZLeR]

Intellivision is an interesting machine to make games on.

 

Yes interesting indeed. But what is great about the platform is that any hobbyist, on just the odd spare time, can come up with a game for the Intellivision in a decently small amount of time, that can look and play great.

 

Intellivision is, IMO, "the sweet spot", between complexity and the "realistic opportunity" for a passive and serious hobbyist.

[+DZ-Jay]

 

Yes interesting indeed. But what is great about the platform is that any hobbyist, on just the odd spare time, can come up with a game for the Intellivision in a decently small amount of time, that can look and play great.

 

Intellivision is, IMO, "the sweet spot", between complexity and the "realistic opportunity" for a passive and serious hobbyist.

 

That is nice indeed. However, keep in mind that it is actually a quite powerful machine, with a full 16-bit CPU, a sophisticated input control that includes a 16-direction surface, and three-voice programmable sound chip. Some very impressive things have been done on this machine as well.

 

-dZ.

[PuzZLeR]

 

That is nice indeed. However, keep in mind that it is actually a quite powerful machine, with a full 16-bit CPU, a sophisticated input control that includes a 16-direction surface, and three-voice programmable sound chip. Some very impressive things have been done on this machine as well.

 

-dZ.

 

True. Games like Sea Battle and Utopia were very complex in their day. Some of the recent stuff, like the awesome DK inspired cart (makes up for that 1982 Coleco fiasco - must have been devastating ) and that higher-K stuff, etc, showcased the power of what the Intellivision could indeed do. I wasn't saying you can't do neat stuff on it. You sure can produce games on it that can be fun today.

 

And yes, few people know this, it was indeed the first TRUE 16-bit gaming machine - two console generations, and over a decade, preceding what was known as the "16-bit era".

 

But programming a quality game for the Intellivision, especially with IntyBASIC now, is very realistic for a hobbyist. Yes, it may be easier on other lesser systems, or it may be higher quality on systems that came after it, but IMO, today, programming for the Intellivision yields the highest sum of both regarding console programming - relatively easy + high quality productions.