Bryan Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Hello, This is my 1st version of a 5200 to A8 helper tool called 52A8lib. When a 5200 game is assembled with this included, it makes it very easy to get the game up and running, because it replaces the 8-bit's OS (and all its overhead) with a mini-version of the 5200's BIOS. I've included a test program that reads the A8's sticks as analog controllers, and also shows what key has been pressed. Anyway, I'm hoping this can do a lot of the work for people wanting to convert their games. Please let me know what you think, and if you find any bugs. -Bry Edit: New version 0.4. Now example file assembles to A8 and 5200: 52a8_04.zip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Hello, This is my 1st version of a 5200 to A8 helper tool called 52A8lib. When a 5200 game is assembled with this included, it makes it very easy to get the game up and running, because it replaces the 8-bit's OS (and all its overhead) with a mini-version of the 5200's BIOS. I've included a test program that reads the A8's sticks as analog controllers, and also shows what key has been pressed. Anyway, I'm hoping this can do a lot of the work for people wanting to convert their games. Please let me know what you think, and if you find any bugs. -Bry So, this is for people to create 5200 games? Or to convert 5200 games for play on the Atari computers? Forgive my stupidity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 It's to make it easier to convert a 5200 game to the 8-bit computers, by allowing you to shut off the computer's OS and embed a modified version of the 5200 BIOS directly in your game. Forgive my stupidity. That's okay, I re-read my 1st post, and it's not abundantly clear. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 It's to make it easier to convert a 5200 game to the 8-bit computers, by allowing you to shut off the computer's OS and embed a modified version of the 5200 BIOS directly in your game. -Bry GOD I can't stand you smart people! Can you write one to convert A8 games for play on the 5200 ? Like the bin files? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Forgive my stupidity. That's okay, I re-read my 1st post, and it's not abundantly clear. -Bry No, you probably were clear. I'm admittedly dumb with this programming stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 Well, it doesn't help you unless you're working with source, since you need to assemble with this included. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 It's to make it easier to convert a 5200 game to the 8-bit computers, by allowing you to shut off the computer's OS and embed a modified version of the 5200 BIOS directly in your game. -Bry GOD I can't stand you smart people! Can you write one to convert A8 games for play on the 5200 ? Like the bin files? Unfortunately, the 5200 lacks the most important resource to do this...ram. So the games must be reverse-engineered and then modified to work within the hardware limitations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 I fixed a couple things and posted a new version btw... (I've been working on this all day and was in a hurry to post it before I went to bed). The first version I posted had joystick values backwards, and would sometimes stop reading keys. I'll update the file by editing the original post to avoid confusion. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Thanks for sharing Bryan I've got a couple of questions... 1) Would you still use equates.inc with this? 2) In your 52A8.h file you don't distinguish between A8 and 5200 equates...is that okay? 3) The comment in your testapp.asm says it should compile for an A8 or the 5200 but how? In the init_hdw routine in 52A8.asm you've hard coded values that are different on the 5200 (i.e. GTIA for the A8 is $D000 but $C000 for the 5200). I must admit that I haven't compiled it yet to see if it works but it doesn't look like it will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 Thanks for sharing Bryan I've got a couple of questions... 1) Would you still use equates.inc with this? I've only included A8 equates. These would be used instead of any 5200 equates when assembling for the computer. 2) In your 52A8.h file you don't distinguish between A8 and 5200 equates...is that okay? 3) The comment in your testapp.asm says it should compile for an A8 or the 5200 but how? In the init_hdw routine in 52A8.asm you've hard coded values that are different on the 5200 (i.e. GTIA for the A8 is $D000 but $C000 for the 5200). 52A8lib cannot be assembled for the 5200, only the A8 (however, testapp is essentially a 5200 program). The idea is that it should be added to a project when porting to the A8 to emulate a 5200 style environment. I must admit that I haven't compiled it yet to see if it works but it doesn't look like it will. I'll post a new version later that shows how testapp can be assembled for the 5200 and the A8. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 I think I understand now. testapp.asm is a 5200 asm and you would use 52A8lib to convert it to the A8 So in theory you wouldn't need equates.inc for the conversion. You would only need it for the 5200 build. When I get a free moment I'll give it a run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 Right... testapp does have a few A8-only elements that need to be addressed (like the cartridge info block). Stay tuned. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 Okay... new version up! Now the testapp program will assemble to either a 5200 or a computer file. Here's the same program running on both platforms: -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slampam Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 "52A8lib cannot be assembled for the 5200, only the A8" Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 (edited) Blame Atari. They could have made hardware & OS directly compatable between platforms if they chose to (and even utilized the existing controller input lines...an analog stick is just a pair of paddles, really). Solution: Get both machines. They are nowhere near as expensive now as they were to the rest of us back in the day. Edited February 8, 2009 by Nukey Shay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Wow... this was a long time ago. Did anyone ever use this for anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGHMW Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 (edited) I hate to dig up a decade+ old thread but I have seriously been thinking of converting my 5200 library to work on my XEGS (and yes I DO own both). I am frustrated that not all 5200 ports especially most of the homebrews including all of the Mean Hamster Software (now-defunct) titles in which I DO have .bin files of (for the 5200) are not available for the A8/XL/XE. Will this work with my Windows 7 Pro laptop with my SD cards for the multicarts I have for both machines (Atarimax 5200 and Ultimate Cart for XEGS)??? Edited October 15, 2021 by BIGHMW To separate into multiple sentences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 Please rephrase your question using multiple sentences. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGHMW Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 6 hours ago, ZylonBane said: Please rephrase your question using multiple sentences. Will this program allow me to (somewhat) easily convert 5200 titles to 8-bit without having to study rocket science in order to do so??? I've been thinking about it knowing that there are tons of A8 titles that were actually improved when transferred to the 5200. Games like Super Breakout, for example, actually look, sound, and play better on Big Sexy than the OG A8 ports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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