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Large text modes in FastBasic


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I'm new at FastBasic, and I've run into a roadblock before I've barely started. I can't seem to find an answer anywhere.

 

To learn it, I'm converting one of my old BASIC XL programs, which includes a title screen in GR. 2.

 

I assume the graphics modes work the same as in other Atari BASICs, but I can't seem to display anything in GR. 2. The GR. 2 part of the screen at the top is just black. PRINT statements only seem to affect the GR. 0 "window" at the bottom of the screen. I've tried PUT, but that doesn't seems to work either. I've also tried "PRINT #6;", which just gives a parsing error. Nothing. I've looked through the documentation for FastBasic, but it seems to imply that graphics modes should work just like other BASICs.

 

Am I missing something obvious?

Edited by Mark Simonson
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It's too bad it lacks an immediate mode (unless I'm missing something). That's one thing I like about other BASICs. It's often useful to work with a language interactively to try things out or to inspect variables after a run.

 

Otherwise, I like it a lot.

Edited by Mark Simonson
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You are not missing it. There is no immediate mode, as the source code is "compiled" to be run. Neither can you resume a stopped program when the break key is used.

 

And you are also right. When I need to inspect variables or something else, if I cannot use Altirra's debugger, I have to insert code to display variables in the source and run, then remove it or comment out. But it is not a pain anyway.

 

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13 hours ago, Mark Simonson said:

It's too bad it lacks an immediate mode (unless I'm missing something).

You have to treat it like any compiled language i.e. C, Pascal even assembler, generally if I can't print to screen

during the run to determine variable, you can monitor using a debugger, failing that I tend to store variable

values at know addresses and inspect them after the run, not ideal, but it does work as @vitoco indicates

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1 hour ago, TGB1718 said:

You have to treat it like any compiled language i.e. C, Pascal even assembler

Yeah, I realized that pretty quickly, and it makes sense.

 

It didn't take too long to convert a ~200 line BASIC XL program to FastBasic. I have to say, the the program flow in the FastBasic version is much clearer (due to its structured nature) and easier to read (I love using whitespace). 

Edited by Mark Simonson
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I guess that you are using the IDE in the Atari (or emulator). If so, for large programs, you can use the crosscompiler from a command line in PC environments to create an XEX of your program. This way, you can use your preferred text editor, including those with syntax highlighting and autoindent.

 

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4 hours ago, Mark Simonson said:

Yeah, that would be great, but I pretty much only use Macs, which I've known for a long time puts me at a disadvantage with regard to Atari emulation, crosscompilers, etc. Not an insoluble problem, I know. ?

There's a macOS version of the cross-compiler.

Edited by FifthPlayer
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Oh, right, I noticed that at some point. I only see instructions for use on Windows and Linux. I'm guessing the Linux instructions should work on MacOS?

 

I guess I'm thinking of those fancy crosscompilers on Windows that integrate an emulator, such as WUDSN IDE (which even uses my Atari TrueType fonts :-).

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Another dumb question: Is it possible to enter ATASCII graphics characters in the FastBasic editor? The control key seems to be used exclusively for entering commands, blocking the typing of graphics characters. Is there a way around this?

 

UPDATE: Never mind. Discovered that the escape key allows it.

Edited by Mark Simonson
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Mad Studio is a nice integrated development environment (scroll to find latest version).

Perhaps you already know that you can design bitmap images with Atari Graphics Studio, player-missile graphics with SprEd, characters with Atari FontMaker or Atari Font Creator.

 

Unfortunately all those programs run on Windows (SprEd apart).

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4 hours ago, Philsan said:

Mad Studio is a nice integrated development environment (scroll to find latest version).

Perhaps you already know that you can design bitmap images with Atari Graphics Studio, player-missile graphics with SprEd, characters with Atari FontMaker or Atari Font Creator.

 

Unfortunately all those programs run on Windows.

Makes me want to buy a cheap PC...

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11 hours ago, Mark Simonson said:

Makes me want to buy a cheap PC...

 

WUDSN does run on Mac (it's built on Eclipse, which is cross-platform) and you could probably put together a working dev environment using WUDSN (or some other Mac editor), the FastBasic cross-compiler and the Atari800 emulator.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm going to try my hand at FastBasic too - I see the documentation on the GitHub, are there any other tutorials (maybe on YouTube) that I can leverage?  

 

I have an idea for a game, I think it could be (fairly) easy to make...probably in my capabilities.  Since I'm reasonably familiar with BASIC, as well as C / C++, I think FastBasic could be something I could learn quickly.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 7/9/2022 at 12:10 AM, Philsan said:

Perhaps you already know that you can design bitmap images with Atari Graphics Studio, player-missile graphics with SprEd, characters with Atari FontMaker or Atari Font Creator.

 

Unfortunately all those programs run on Windows (SprEd apart).

I just downloaded Atari Graphics Studio on Window 10 and I've noticed some issues. For one, if I have a drawing up and select the pallet, the image got completely erased so I chose to change the pallet before I drew anything. I then saved the file last night (.MIC), which wasn't blank and and loaded it up today and now it's blank. I then created a new image (w: 160, h: 192, 4 color) to test this out but this time I saved it as a .AGS. When I loaded it up, again, blank again but the pallet it now 64 colors, not 4 like it created it with.
I'm using version 3.5.7. Have you experienced these kind of bugs before?

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