rkindig Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 On 9/13/2023 at 10:35 AM, pirx said: wow, this is something! I have this idea to modify the interpreter so it runs from SpartaDOSX from a command line (with ch8 file and config as parameters). With a command-line driven assembler it could make a compelling dev setup Would love to see this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 I want to use the emulator and write my own software. Does anyone know how to boot up the emulator in a way that will allow me to interact with it directly rather than from the games menu? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 After reading the ABBUC article (Silly Venture 2023 Edition) on CHIP-8, it appears I would need to write the program and then edit the CHIP8.CFG file to run it from the menu. I was hoping for a more interactive way to develop CHIP-8 programs on the Atari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cas Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 2 hours ago, rkindig said: After reading the ABBUC article (Silly Venture 2023 Edition) on CHIP-8, it appears I would need to write the program and then edit the CHIP8.CFG file to run it from the menu. I was hoping for a more interactive way to develop CHIP-8 programs on the Atari. I still need to write the 3rd part of the article series -- on how to develop Chip8 with modern (cross-development) tools. Here is my link list from my notes for the 3rd article: c8c - The chip8 compiler, assembler, and virtual machine https://github.com/glouw/c8c A chip8 emulator with an assembly tool-chain and disassembler https://github.com/Pangoraw/chipo Cowgod's Chip-8 Technical Reference v1.0 http://devernay.free.fr/hacks/chip8/C8TECH10.HTM An IDE and Emulator for Chip-8, SuperCHIP, and XO-Chip Programs https://github.com/lesharris/dorito A CHIP-8 variant emulation and development environment https://github.com/gulrak/cadmium A CHIP-8 interpreter, assembler and disassembler in C https://github.com/wernsey/chip8 A Chip8 IDE https://github.com/JohnEarnest/Octo A CHIP-8 interpreter, assembler and disassembler in C (Linux, Windows) https://github.com/wernsey/chip8 CHIP-8 is an assembler, debugger, and emulator https://massung.github.io/CHIP-8/ A C rewrite of the Octo CHIP-8 IDE https://github.com/JohnEarnest/c-octo Octo and C-Octo might be the best starting point. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cas Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 As for development on the A8: I use the ABBUC Freezer to swap three memory setups on the Atari 8bit 1) Text Editor 2) Chip-8 Assembler 3) Chip-8 Emulator I agree it would be nice to have an editor and emulator inside the assembler, as kind of an simple IDE. Is possible, just "work". I'm too busy with running ABBUC to do much coding 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 21 minutes ago, cas said: As for development on the A8: I use the ABBUC Freezer to swap three memory setups on the Atari 8bit 1) Text Editor 2) Chip-8 Assembler 3) Chip-8 Emulator I agree it would be nice to have an editor and emulator inside the assembler, as kind of an simple IDE. Is possible, just "work". I'm too busy with running ABBUC to do much coding This is great! I appreciate the information and certainly appreciate the time constraints on us all. thank you! Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 On 1/12/2024 at 2:06 PM, cas said: As for development on the A8: I use the ABBUC Freezer to swap three memory setups on the Atari 8bit 1) Text Editor 2) Chip-8 Assembler 3) Chip-8 Emulator I agree it would be nice to have an editor and emulator inside the assembler, as kind of an simple IDE. Is possible, just "work". I'm too busy with running ABBUC to do much coding for 2) are you saying there's a CHIP-8 assembler for the Atari 8-bit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmsc Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Hi! 14 minutes ago, rkindig said: for 2) are you saying there's a CHIP-8 assembler for the Atari 8-bit? It is right above in this same thread! Have Fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 oh, yes, I'm so sorry. . I did see that. Duh! However, when I tried to use it I could not figure out how to use it. For instance, I loaded a CHIP8 file in, but then couldn't see or edit the code. The ASM command SEEMED to work, but then I couldn't save the resulting file to a mounted disk. Basically, I just couldn't figure out how to use it. I'm sure it's easy and clear for you, but even your write-up says it's "under-documented". thanks for your time and patience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 The other question I have is about this "ABBUC Freezer" that you mentioned. Is that something still available? If not, is there something similar that someone makes? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cas Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 18 hours ago, rkindig said: The other question I have is about this "ABBUC Freezer" that you mentioned. Is that something still available? If not, is there something similar that someone makes? thanks The ABBUC Freezer is open hardware (and open software), see https://www.horus.com/~hias/atari/#freezer ABBUC is currently discussing to create another batch of Freezer modules. But that can take some more months (probably 2nd half of 2024). There have been other people building and offering the Freezer in the past, but I'm not aware of recent offerings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cas Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 18 hours ago, rkindig said: oh, yes, I'm so sorry. . I did see that. Duh! However, when I tried to use it I could not figure out how to use it. For instance, I loaded a CHIP8 file in, but then couldn't see or edit the code. The ASM command SEEMED to work, but then I couldn't save the resulting file to a mounted disk. Basically, I just couldn't figure out how to use it. I'm sure it's easy and clear for you, but even your write-up says it's "under-documented". thanks for your time and patience. I will improve the documentation and possibly record a small video on my workflow. I will also create a new version that will work from the command line in SpartaDOS/BEWE-DOS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DjayBee Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 19 hours ago, rkindig said: The other question I have is about this "ABBUC Freezer" that you mentioned. Is that something still available? If not, is there something similar that someone makes? thanks If you own an Eclaire FPGA, you received one for free. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 fyi - i've just started doing standalone fileselector-less version of the emulator that would load anything in Sparta. i am not sure how to deal with config yet. the worst part is that I cannot seem to get the emu running after (lousy I bet) conversion to MADS ;)))) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 (edited) 1 hour ago, cas said: I will improve the documentation and possibly record a small video on my workflow. I will also create a new version that will work from the command line in SpartaDOS/BEWE-DOS Fantastic stuff! Appreciate it! We're covering CHIP-8 on the Next Without For (http://nextwithoutfor.org) Podcast today and I wanted to cover what's available and coming on the Atari 8-bit line. I'm eagerly awaiting to see what else comes for CHIP-8 on A8. thanks! Randy Edited January 14 by rkindig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 1 hour ago, DjayBee said: If you own an Eclaire FPGA, you received one for free. I don't have one of those, but good to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 fyi - after several attempts I managed to convert the codebase to mads and make a version with removed menus. now all I need to do is add a loading chip8 game given in a command line. https://github.com/pkali/Chip-8/tree/develop 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 5 minutes ago, pirx said: fyi - after several attempts I managed to convert the codebase to mads and make a version with removed menus. now all I need to do is add a loading chip8 game given in a command line. https://github.com/pkali/Chip-8/tree/develop super!! can't wait to get that version!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 first working somewhat version: https://github.com/pkali/Chip-8/blob/develop/chip8.asm chip8.com usage: >chip8 full_path_to_the_game example: >chip8 D8:CHIP8GAM>ALIEN.CH8 This is my first command-line app on 8-bitter, I found out that the available docs are pretty vague. Theoretically, it should work with DOS XL and BW-DOS as I am using `_CRUNCH` method. Pls test... I am testing it on SpartaDosX 4.49c. missing: - reading of the config file. oh boy, it was written in a very MAC65 way and I need to redo the whole thing... So no joystick in most games now. I'll possibly add a provision for reading user-defined configs. - quit to DOS - reset is the way at the moment. SDX warm resets gracefully. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drac030 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 2 hours ago, pirx said: I found out that the available docs are pretty vague. This one too? http://atariki.krap.pl/index.php/Wiersz_poleceń What is missing? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 Ha, you got me, I should go to atariki automatically but totally forgot thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 version 2.0 usage: chip8 path_to_a_game [path_to_config_file] if config file is not specified, it tries to read `"D:CHIP8.CFG"` file. I had to modify the config itself, new version included. [Esc] quits gracefully to DOS [Return] restarts game Pls tst chip8.com CHIP8.CFG 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 Thank you for your overwhelming support, the release based on BW-DOS 1.4 is here: https://github.com/pkali/Chip-8/releases/tag/v2.0 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 On 1/28/2024 at 4:11 PM, pirx said: Thank you for your overwhelming support, the release based on BW-DOS 1.4 is here: https://github.com/pkali/Chip-8/releases/tag/v2.0 This is great! Works for me. thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 New release: https://github.com/pkali/Chip-8/releases/tag/v2.1 ##2024-02-01: v2.1 * much better error messages * does not hang when CHIP8.CFG not found * incorrect file error handling fixed * 4 new SuperChip8 games with config - ROCKTO, TURNOVER, SOKOBAN, CTETRIS 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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