haroldoop Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) Hello; I am currently implementing a tool named "VCS Game Maker". This online tool is a no-code environment designed to allow someone to create a game for Atari 2600 without knowing much about programming and without installing anything on their computer. You can use it online on itch.io: https://haroldo-ok.itch.io/vcs-game-maker Source code is available on Github: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker It uses Blockly to allow the user to implement the logic using blocks and then, behind the scenes, generates a Batari Basic source code, that is then be compiled using batari-basic-js in order to generate an Atari 2600 ROM, which is then emulated using Javatari. So far, it is a work in progress, with only an event editor with just a few commands. The "if" block and math operations work okay, the joystick reading and access to the players/missiles and balls seem OK so far. Edited July 19, 2021 by haroldoop Corrected typo. 14 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevKelley Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 This is awesome. My son has been learning block coding in school and has expressed an interest in making games after seeing the Switch release of Game Builder Garage (he seemed less interested in learning BASIC like I did back in the day). I look forward to seeing more of this! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 22 hours ago, KevKelley said: This is awesome. My son has been learning block coding in school and has expressed an interest in making games after seeing the Switch release of Game Builder Garage (he seemed less interested in learning BASIC like I did back in the day). I look forward to seeing more of this! Thanks for the interest! BTW, version 0.2.0 has just been released; not much done here, just a block for collision checking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr SQL Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 This is really cool! The Blocky visual program editor is a great fit for BASIC. Blocky looks designed to make more modern languages easier to conceptualize, more BASIC like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 Hello, again; The tool has been updated to 0.3.0, and now the variables work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Awesome, I spread the news! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 Hello, again; Version 0.5.0 is now available! Updates since the previous release: 0.4.0: generated bBasic code is now displayed on its own page; as a side bonus, the action editor now has more space on screen; 0.5.0: now, it is possible to import and export projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mksmith Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Wow what a great concept! Well done and keep up the awesome work ??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted July 31, 2021 Author Share Posted July 31, 2021 Version 0.6.0 has been released! It now allows the background to be edited. Only supports a single background, for now; future versions will allow multple backgrounds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 Woah?!!? I'm gonna be able to make Atari games? Because I don't know shit when it comes to programming or coding. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 Can you put it on cart when you're done? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted July 31, 2021 Author Share Posted July 31, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, sn8k said: Woah?!!? I'm gonna be able to make Atari games? Because I don't know shit when it comes to programming or coding. Can you put it on cart when you're done? Yes, you should be able to make simple games, even if you don't know anything about programming. As for putting into a cart, the tool already allows you to export the game into an Atari 2600 ROM file; it should be able to run on most emulators and, in theory, the ROM file should be able to run on real hardware, too. Edited July 31, 2021 by haroldoop Corrected typo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 I was hoping I could use your info to compile and run programs made with an online DPC+ tool I'm working on, but it seems Javatari still can't run DPC+ programs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted August 2, 2021 Author Share Posted August 2, 2021 9 hours ago, Random Terrain said: I was hoping I could use your info to compile and run programs made with an online DPC+ tool I'm working on, but it seems Javatari still can't run DPC+ programs. One workaround would be to compile Stella into WebAssembly using Emscripten, or a similar cross-compiler. Retro JS seems to include a version of Stella ready to compile into WebAssembly, though it is 6 years old, meaning it could need extra work to update to a DPC+ compatible version. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted August 10, 2021 Author Share Posted August 10, 2021 Version 0.7.0 has been released! It now allows the sprite animations to be edited. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 Version 0.8.0 is now available! Now, you can add or remove sprite animation frames. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh_supar_hackr Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 Never thought I'd see code blocks be usable to make 2600 games! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 7 hours ago, teh_supar_hackr said: Never thought I'd see code blocks be usable to make 2600 games! Yes, while, in theory, Blockly can be adapted to generate code for any programming language, trying to create a 1:1 correspondence with the target language will create something that's unconfortable to use. The trick is to step back a bit and create blocks that are abstract enough to be used simply, without having to add too many blocks to the program. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh_supar_hackr Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 2 hours ago, haroldoop said: Yes, while, in theory, Blockly can be adapted to generate code for any programming language, trying to create a 1:1 correspondence with the target language will create something that's unconfortable to use. The trick is to step back a bit and create blocks that are abstract enough to be used simply, without having to add too many blocks to the program. Thanks for the tip, even if I'll most likely attempt to learn with VisualbB. I'll probably still give the Blockly based utility a look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) Hello, again! Version 0.9.0 has been released: it adds blocks for score manipulation. Edited January 22, 2023 by haroldoop 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r_chase Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 5:01 PM, haroldoop said: Hello, again! Version 0.9.0 has been released: it adds blocks for score manipulation. I'm so glad you came back to this. ❤️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldoop Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 Version 0.10.0 has been released! This adds support for multiple backgrounds: now, it is possible to design multiple backgrounds and choose which of them to use. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r_chase Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 On 2/5/2023 at 12:14 PM, haroldoop said: Version 0.10.0 has been released! This adds support for multiple backgrounds: now, it is possible to design multiple backgrounds and choose which of them to use. Late reply, but does that mean we could have a game similar to Adventure or Pitfall maybe? Keep up the great work anyway though. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 27 minutes ago, r_chase said: Late reply, but does that mean we could have a game similar to Adventure or Pitfall maybe? Keep up the great work anyway though. 👍 This is batari BASIC with coding blocks instead of just typing things in. So, sure you can do it but it'd just be slower to input. Or, you can try hacking Adventure with a utility (See below) The value in a Scratch / code blocks interface is that people completely new to coding can see what coding is without worrying about syntax errors and other self imposed boo boos 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bitPoet Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 I love this project! I can see using it to create a quick proof-of-concept or even hosting a game jam for the Atari 2600! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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