What's needed to program for the Lynx?

[Brig]

I'm sure it's a question that has been asked on several occasions on these boards, but for somebody interested in programming for the Lynx, what equipmment & programs are needed in order to do make a start? Would I require a development kit? If not, would I still have the potential for creating something that was professional & "releasable"?

 

Again, thanks to anyone who replies.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Brig back in the days when this stuff was being done new...and I am sure that Carl from Songbird can confirm...Heck he may still do it this way.

 

But originally most of the games for both the Lynx and the Jaguar were done from Development kits used exclusively on Amiga computers (Probably 500s and 1000s).

 

The lynx kit was cool because it also included a basic lynx attached which didn't have all the hardware of a real lynx in it. But it would allow you to port your code to it to see how it actually looked and played.

 

Not sure if these Dev Kits are avail anymore. But proof of the Amiga being needed is that the encyrption keys for the 7800, Lynx, and Jaguar are all from Amiga ADF images.

[Brig]

Thanks for the info. Atari games developed on Amigas eh?

 

So for someone who has no Amiga nor any official development kits, what are the prospects of being able to a) program something that would run on a Lynx and b) get something released if it was up to scratch?

 

[ 02-20-2002: Message edited by: Brig ]

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Have to Ask Carl at Songbird productions about that. He basically is THE man behind all the newer Lynx released from Songbird. I am sure he could tell you much more than I could.

[Nimtene]

Brig-

Glad to hear that you're interested in pursuing lynx programming.

You don't necessarily need a hardware development kit, although

Carl might attest to the usefullness of having one. A very useful

software development kit can be downloaded. Along with a few other

programs, some knowlege of C or assembly programming, and you'll

be off to a good start. No Amiga is necessary, I do all my work on

a PC. Using the tools below, it is perfectly reasonable to create a

game that is professional & releasable:

 

42Bastian's Lynx-Page.

A great source to download the BLL software development kit,

C compiler for lynx, and the almighty Lynx Technical Documentation.

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Byte/4242/lynx/

 

Matthias Domin's Atari Lynx page.

A handful of lynx demos, complete with source code, showing

simple examples of using sprites, color palettes, and collision

detections. Also available here, and very useful: SPRPCK, a

program that will reformat images into the appropriate lynx sprite

format. Also, Lyxass: The DOS-version of the BLL-Assembler.

http://home.t-online.de/home/matthias.domi...in/lynx_eng.htm

 

Handy, a Lynx emulator for Windows.

This emulator will allow you to play/test your compiled homebrew

game. Your program can also be tested by programming an

eprom up, sticking it to a proto board, and trying it on your

actual lynx. But the emulator is very useful before you reach

this final stage.

http://www.esplexo.co.uk/

 

Songbird Productions is still releasing new lynx titles.

Most of these links can be found off of the Songbird Links page:

http://songbird.atari.net/links.shtml

 

-vick

[Brig]

Nimtene, thank you very much for the support and links. Carl was also helpful in pointing me in the right direction. It will take some research on my part, but I intend to make a start on this and get something done on the Lynx. Watch this space.....

[Songbird]

I do use the Amiga "Howard board" occasionally, but really so much can be done by emulation nowadays and testing with either the Handy Lynx Emulator or burning your own EPROM cart, there are almost no times when my only option is to do development on a real Amiga.

 

Chris Vick provided some great URLs above, that's definitely the way to get started. Matthias' demos with source are excellent.

[Brig]

I had a look through the various sites and can see them coming in very handy. However I was unable to locate a working link for the BLL software devlopment kit as the link on 42bastian's page was broken, as were several others on that site. Can anyone provide a working link?

 

Thanks.

[Nimtene]

Here's the index for 42Bastain's lynx download directory:

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Byt.../download/lynx/

 

-vick

[Brig]

My thanks again Nimtene.

[+Sauron]

Bringing this back up towards the top, plus a quick question...

 

Where would I get the necessary materials in order to burn eeproms? Just curious...

[+rdemming]

quote:

---

Originally posted by -^Cro§Bow^-:

But originally most of the games for both the Lynx and the Jaguar were done from Development kits used exclusively on Amiga computers (Probably 500s and 1000s).

 

Not sure if these Dev Kits are avail anymore. But proof of the Amiga being needed is that the encyrption keys for the 7800, Lynx, and Jaguar are all from Amiga ADF images.

 

---

 

The Lynx dev kit runs indeed on an Amiga but i've never heard of 7800 & Jaguar dev kits for the Amiga. There is however a 7800/2600 dev kit available for an Atari ST and the Jaguar dev kit is available for the Atari Falcon 030. Later there was a Jaguar dev kit for the PC.

 

Robert