question Is batari Basic as good as writing in dasm would be?

[Mantismal]

I want to get into homebrewing atari 2600 games and I tried to use some assembly and it was pretty difficult and I want to switch to batari Basic but I know that batari basic is a higher level programming language while dasm basically communicates directly with the computer so will programming with batari Basic not give me as much control and not as much optimization ability with the graphics as just writing in dasm would?

[CapitanClassic]

bBasic will give you less control of the display kernel (although you have several kernels to choose from), but if you are a beginner it is well worth it. It is much easier just working on you game logic, and leaving the flicker management up to bBasic.

 

What kind of game are you trying to make?

 

[+splendidnut]

I've done both bBasic and assembly language programming (and C also, if you want to count that) for the Atari 2600.  I would recommend not worrying about which is better... and choose the one in which you can get something working with.

 

Yeah, the bBasic display kernels may limit you graphically, but you should be able to make something reasonable.

[Mantismal]

2 hours ago, CapitanClassic said:

 

What kind of game are you trying to make?

 

I dont want to make like the next solaris or smth but i would want to make smaller games that probably wont need too much graphical power.

[Mantismal]

4 hours ago, splendidnut said:

 

Yeah, the bBasic display kernels may limit you graphically, but you should be able to make something reasonable.

could bBasic make something like river raid well?

[ZippyOasys]

13 hours ago, Mantismal said:

I dont want to make like the next solaris or smth but i would want to make smaller games that probably wont need too much graphical power.

Then BBasic is the perfect choice. It's easy to make small simple games without the struggles of learning machine language.

[+splendidnut]

10 hours ago, Mantismal said:

could bBasic make something like river raid well?

Potentially.  Here's an example of a vertically-scrolling shooter done in bBasic:

 

 

[Mr SQL]

batari BASIC is a very powerful BASIC because it compiles to Machine Language (Assembly) so the performance is very close.

 

Interpreted BASIC that was built into ROM on contemporary home computers and Atari's BASIC Programming cartridge are much slower because they must be translated while the program is running adding a lot of overhead.

 

As pointed out there are graphical limitations because batari BASIC offers a fixed 32x11 or 32x32 pixel playfield Framework for graphic design. 

Clever programmers have found ways to create awesome games regardless of these limitations.

 

If you want more powerful graphics than batari BASIC you may like SuperCharger BASIC, linked in my signature.

SuperCharger BASIC uses a Framework with scrolling graphics like the Nintendo or Atari 400/800.

  

SuperCharger BASIC games can also run on the Commodore 64 via embedded emulation allowing C64 fans to play your Atari games