Tempest Posted October 13, 2001 Share Posted October 13, 2001 I'm getting my hands on a 7800 Developers kit, and I was wondering if anyone has used one before? Does it really help in the development of 7800 games, or is it easier to use the homebrew tools? I want one for the "prototype" value, but I also want to actually use it (and get some use out of my Atari ST too!). Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted October 13, 2001 Share Posted October 13, 2001 I've got one. I never really used it because I don't have an ST computer. I tried hooking it up through an ST emulator but I didn't ever get it to work. Though I didn't try that hard. I seem to remember that it doesn't use standard bin files but maybe I'm thinking of something else. I hope you are getting all of the documentation for it. It has some interesting stuff in it. I picked up one of the Atari 3-ring binders from Best Electronics to hold it all. Now it looks official! As far as what's easier to use for development, I would say the 7800 Dev system is the best for non-bankswitched games and MESS for bankswitched games. Since you are getting one, I hope you are planning to program a 7800 game. If I don't hear about one soon I'm going to start bugging you about it. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org [ 10-12-2001: Message edited by: Mitch ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckhard Stolberg Posted October 13, 2001 Share Posted October 13, 2001 You are right. The ST based devcart uses games in Motorola S-record format or in MADMAC .O format. And you need to have different files for each bank, if you want to use bankswitched games with it. The advantage of these file formats is that you can use the symbolic debugger in the devcart. But if one day someone really starts working on a new bankswitched 7800 game, I think we would have to look into the possibilities for creating a bankswitched RAM cart too. Ciao, Eckhard Stolberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted October 16, 2001 Share Posted October 16, 2001 Yes, Best sells them, that's where I got mine. I don't think there is any difference between them unless someone modified their personal one. If you want to check for a difference, mine is posted on my site here. By the way, does anyone know what happened to the Atrai Documentation Depot site. I'm getting a 404 for it. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 16, 2001 Author Share Posted October 16, 2001 Yep that looks like the one I'm getting except it has all those stickers on it which I'm not sure are original equipment. Also it has a generic cover over the EPROM, so I'm guessing BEST found and burned the OS for the board on it. Dunno if they used a different version or not (or if there are any). Does Best still sell them? Do they come with the instructions and disks of software? How much are they? Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted October 16, 2001 Share Posted October 16, 2001 I agree about the stickers, but who knows. Unless you talked to one of the guys who distributed them at Atari, it would be hard to find out for sure. So, are you saying that yours doesn't have an EPROM or that it has some other kind of sticker on it? Can you clarify on that? I can get you a copy of the EPROM dump if you want it, but I think there was only one release of it. I could be wrong though. You can see a screenshot of it here, you will need to scroll down to the bottom. I think Best may still have a few in stock. Mine came with the board, transfer cable, three floppy disks and the manual. From what I remember they were $150 but I can't find the old invoice so I'm not positive. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 16, 2001 Author Share Posted October 16, 2001 No it has the EPROM, but it has a prototype looking sticker over it with some writing on it (don't remember what). Also one of the smaller chips at the bottom has a sticker with some writing on it. Don't know if it's a EPROM or not (I doubt it). I just found the picture: http://www.myatari.com/ebay/78devh.jpg Tempest [ 10-15-2001: Message edited by: Tempest ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted October 16, 2001 Share Posted October 16, 2001 Nice pic. It looks like yours saw some active service. The other chip at the bottom is a PAL chip (Programmable Array Logic, I think). They look like they could be a later revision. My PAL chip just looks like an ordinary Atari chip, it is in a socket, however. Maybe you could get your EPROM dumped and we could compare the files, it would be interesting to see if there is a difference. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 16, 2001 Author Share Posted October 16, 2001 Yes it does come with "Big Book of Documentation". I'm getting it from B&C who happened to have one left. Bruce had three: I've got one, Curt Vendel has one, and one was sold on ebay. Anyone know who won tht one? Did Best ever sell them? Just curious if there are a bunch out there so I can talk to other "7800 Developers" (I love to say that). Are there different revisions like the Jag developers kit? Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric_ruck Posted November 8, 2001 Share Posted November 8, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Tempest: and one was sold on ebay. Anyone know who won tht one? Present and accounted for. Took me a little time to get it working, since I tried the ST emulator route without much success (but I didn't think it would work), then got an ST. Then my triplet children were born, and I haven't had much time to mess with it. Of course, I'm still thinking about hacking out a game sometime. Maybe something Arkanoid-ish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 8, 2001 Author Share Posted November 8, 2001 That's cool. As soon as I finish my 5200 game I'm going to do a Cloak & Dagger style game for the 7800 called Agent X. I haven't gotten around to playing with the board yet, but when I plug it in it says Atari 7800 Development System. I assume you need the Atari ST to do anything with it. I'll have to dig mine out of the closet. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molnon@hotmail.com Posted November 10, 2001 Share Posted November 10, 2001 Does anyone know where I could purchase (or get a copy of) the 7800 developers manual?? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted November 10, 2001 Share Posted November 10, 2001 quoteDoes anyone know where I could purchase (or get a copy of) the 7800 developers manual?? You can get it with the full 7800 developers kit from Best Electronics. It's fairly exspensive however. Some of it used to be online at the Atari Documentaion Depot but it appears that the web site is now gone. I downloaded most of the files at one point and could email them to you, if you want. The are in PDF format. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckhard Stolberg Posted November 10, 2001 Share Posted November 10, 2001 Curt Vendel has a PDF on his atari-history website with the programming manual for the 3600 (prototype name of the 7800). This text the the same as the programming information that comes with the development board, except for the name of course. The rest of the manuals were mostly style guides and information about the ST based assembler etc. Ciao, Eckhard Stolberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molnon@hotmail.com Posted November 14, 2001 Share Posted November 14, 2001 Thanks for your replies, Mitch & Eckhard. It would be great, if either of you could possibly e-mail those PDFs to me. It would be greatly appreciated. BTW: I couldn't find the manuals on Best Electronics. Thank you for help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted November 15, 2001 Share Posted November 15, 2001 Best Electronics doesn't have the dev kit advertised on their web site, you have to ask about it. Check your email about the PDF's. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.