Computer systems to program on and hardware

[DreamQuake]

I want to start to program my games in Atari basic and 6502 and 6507 assembler. Could someone tell me the types of past computers would be convienient?? I might be able to get one on e-bay.

Also, is it possible ot create a game that uses 4 joysticks. I mean, is there a

joystick extension cable that is forked that 2 joysticks can plug into than it plugs into a joystic port??

Many regards to you all!

 

DreamQuake

[SeaGtGruff]

I want to start to program my games in Atari basic and 6502 and 6507 assembler. Could someone tell me the types of past computers would be convienient?? I might be able to get one on e-bay.

What kind of computer are you using to access the internet? Is it yours, or are you using a computer in a library, school, or internet cafe? If it's yours, then it's probably adequate. If you don't have your own computer yet, and are looking to buy one cheap that you can use for Atari 2600 programming, then just about any IBM-compatible or Macintosh should do. You *might* even be able to use an old Apple II, Commodore 64, or Atari 800, but there are certain software programs you'll need, so what you want is a computer for which those software programs are available.

 

First, you'll need a 6502 assembler, which should be available for any IBM-compatible computer, a Macintosh, or just about any old 6502 computer (Apple II, Commodore 64, or Atari 800). One of the 6502 assemblers that's used by a lot of Atari 2600 programmers is the DASM assembler, which you can download for free from the http://sourceforge.net/projects/dasm-dillon/ web site. There are versions for DOS (or Windows), the Macintosh, Linux, the Amiga, etc.-- but there are *not* versions for the old 6502 computers!

 

Second, you'll need an Atari 2600 emulator to run your games on as you develop them. (You can also play your games on a real Atari 2600 using a programmable cartridge like the Cuttle Cart or Krokodile Cartridge, but those can be hard to come by.) There are Atari 2600 emulators available for a lot of different computers, even for certain modern game consoles, but probably not for the old 6502 computers. A lot of the Atari 2600 emulators that are out there on the internet are no longer being actively developed, so you might want to stick with one that's still "alive" or "supported." Two of the most popular emulators are Stella and z26, which you can download for free from the http://stella.sourceforge.net/ web site (Stella), or from the http://www.whimsey.com/z26/z26.html web site (z26).

 

Third, you'll need a text editor or IDE (integrated development environment) to type your programs in with. Any text editor will do, as long as you save your program source files in a format that the assembler can read (i.e., simple ASCII text, as opposed to "rich text" or the like). However, an IDE will be nicer to use than a simple text editor, because you can set an IDE up to compile and run your programs as you work on them (i.e., you can define one function key or menu item to call the 6502 assembler to compile your program, and another function key or menu item to call the Atari 2600 emulator to run your compiled program). Fancy IDEs should be available for just about any modern computer, ranging in price from a few dozen dollars to a few hundred dollars, but you can also get some pretty good freeware or shareware IDEs from the internet. The one I use is Crimson Editor, which you can download for free from the http://www.crimsoneditor.com/ web site.

 

Fourth, if you want to use batari BASIC (a.k.a. "Atari 2600 BASIC"), you'll probably need to use a DOS (or Windows), Unix (or Linux), or Macintosh computer, because as far as I know, those are the only operating systems that the batari BASIC compiler has been built for.

 

Frankly, if you already have a computer that you're using to access the internet, then it's almost certainly adequate for Atari 2600 programming, and you just might not have known enough about the process to realize that. But if you don't have a computer yet, and are going to buy one, then I would recommend getting a decent new or refurbished computer-- Windows, Linux, Mac, whatever you prefer-- so that you can use it for general computing and internet access.

 

As far as producing actual cartridges of your games, that takes special equipment, and I'm not very familiar with that part of it, but you can also pay various people or companies to manufacture the cartridges for you.

 

Also, is it possible ot create a game that uses 4 joysticks. I mean, is there a

joystick extension cable that is forked that 2 joysticks can plug into than it plugs into a joystic port??

It might be possible to create such an input device-- two joysticks that connect to a single joystick port-- but it wouldn't function the way you're hoping. Both joysticks would be sending their input signals to the same Atari 2600 memory addresses, and you wouldn't be able to tell whether a given signal was coming from one joystick or the other.

 

MR

Edited April 12, 2008 by Andrew Davie

[DreamQuake]

I have two computers, AMD 350 Mghz and a P4 with 2Ghz processing speed and tons of hard drive space and 1024M of RAMBUS.

I'm sorry I'm replying so late but circumstances predominated.

I have crimson editor, DASM,Stella and Batari Basic compiler.

Could you please instruct me to a book or simply tell me how to set up the Crimson Editor environment with DASM, and Batari Basic so I can use it to program my games?

Thank You

DreamQuake

[SeaGtGruff]

I have crimson editor, DASM,Stella and Batari Basic compiler.

Could you please instruct me to a book or simply tell me how to set up the Crimson Editor environment with DASM, and Batari Basic so I can use it to program my games?

Sure enough; those are the same programs and tools that I use. I might not be able to help you tonight, though, it might not be until tomorrow night. I had started a bB tutorial last year that got left by the wayside, but I'm going to be picking it back up this month, and probably the first thing I need to do is post updates to my previous "sessions."

 

Michael

[+Allan]

I have two computers, AMD 350 Mghz and a P4 with 2Ghz processing speed and tons of hard drive space and 1024M of RAMBUS.

I'm sorry I'm replying so late but circumstances predominated.

I have crimson editor, DASM,Stella and Batari Basic compiler.

Could you please instruct me to a book or simply tell me how to set up the Crimson Editor environment with DASM, and Batari Basic so I can use it to program my games?

Thank You

DreamQuake

 

Try this site for some good books on programming the 6502.

 

www.atariarchives.org

 

Allan

[Nukey Shay]

BTW the original model 400 and 800 Atari computers have 4 controller ports (and some early games support up to 4 players). Atari Basic supports all of them. The 3rd and 4th ports were dropped when the XL series was introduced (to make way for RAM management and other functions).

[+grafixbmp]

The following post has the information you are looking for. I asked the same thing once before and got the info I needed here.

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...=102342&hl=

[kamakazi]

I use an actual Atari 800 with Atari BASIC for my programming needs. It is fully loaded with 48K RAM, 2 Floppy Drives and the 1010 Program Recorder. I'm currently investing in an Atari 520ST fully loaded with all that I will need to program for the 7800. This is the system that Atari used in the heydays with the exception of the development cartridge which I will have to build. Thank goodness for Radio Shack!!

 

The aforementioned programs, with the exception of batari Basic are the programs I use on the PC as well. There are places that will produce your programs if you submit them and you can make royalties off them. Good luck with your programs!!