Domain: atari2600.org
Stories and comments across the archive that link to atari2600.org.
Comments · 7
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Re:Is this a real site?
Actually, it hosts the DASM site:
http://atari2600.org/DASM -
How about free?
DASM and batariBasic are freely available for coding Atari 2600/VCS games.
The freely available emulator Stella has a really nice integrated debugger that really helps figuring out issues.
And you can even get your 2600/VCS game published! AtariAge has a 58 homebrew games, including my homebrew Medieval Mayhem, an updated version of Warlords.
Coding for the Atari is a challenge - 4K of ROM(though bank switching can be used to exceed that), 128 bytes of RAM(not K, not M, just bytes), no video memory - your program has to generate the screen on the fly, even controlling the TV sync signals. Andrew Davie has a nice series of articles, 2600 Programming For Newbies that can get you started. -
You just need practical experience
I recently graduated from school with a CS degree, and several of my classes were very theoretical in nature. I remember first time I saw them, I thought console emulators were really cool. I have no idea how someone would begin writing one.
Yes you do. You just don't know it yet. (Assuming your school wasn't out and out terrible.) There's a huge divide between theory and practice that every new programmer has to overcome. The best way to overcome it is to dive in and learn about the practical designs of today's technologies.
For example, you want to write an emulator. Many of the early game consoles were based on the 6502 microprocessor. If that scares you, it shouldn't. Read this webpage:
http://www.obelisk.demon.co.uk/6502/
It will introduce you to 6502 assembly. It explains not only the text commands you can use, but also the hex codes that will be output by the assembler. You can get an assembler like DASM and try it out for yourself. Try writing a simple program like:clc
Next, run it through the assembler. Open it in a hex editor and you should be able to see the direct mappings between your code and the program output. If you target a specific platform like the Atari 2600, you can use an existing emulator with a debugger like Stella to watch your code execute line by line.
lda #2
adc #2
Remember, learning doesn't end when you exit school. It just begins. So start digging up everything from reverse engineered documentation to documents put out by standards commities like the IETF's RFCs, the W3C standards, and the ECMA standards. You'll gain a much greater appreciation for how things work after you take them apart and understand them. ;) -
Wizard of Oz, alternate versions, and Whitman too
Wasn't real sure what the OP meant about the "Ding dong, the witch is dead" song was edited out (had visions of some ultra-PC schmoe saying the song was too graphic and encouraged violence), so I googled up this from imdb.com. Lots of interesting archeological findings there on how the movie was edited (the bit about removing a scene and flipping the image in the scene following to keep the original character positions seems the wildest claim there).
Anyhow, here's the bit on the Witch's dead. Song's still there; apparently an additional performance isn't:
A scene where the four main characters return to the Emerald City with the witch of the west's broomstick (including a reprise of "Ding Dong, The Witch is dead!") was cut. Only the song survived; the footage no longer exists (except a shot or two that can be found in the theatrical trailer).
Interesting case for how even recorded history can be easily lost. I doubt there's a single movie where this isn't the case -- heck, over on the Stella List (discusses Atari 2600 programming), we're trying to relocate an old Java port of the popular Stella ("no relation to the list") Atari 2600 emulator. There's hardly a medium around that keeps a perfect history, even when it's theorhetically possible, even arguably easy to do so.
I'm also reminded of my studies of Mark Twain's composition of The Mysterious Stranger, where scholars try to piece together versions by, among other things, what color pen the MSs use, or Walt Whitman's [famously] continual edits to Leaves of Grass . I'd argue our concept of 'final cuts' is a concept born solely via legacy conventional mediums of expression. Without books editions, film releases, etc, we'd have an even more difficult time discussing what's authoritative.
I'll try to stop now. I'd only initially wanted to show the Oz info, and now I'm about to launch into a diatribe about Edward Albee's desire to open up the arts from the clutches of big business (particularly in NYC's Broadway and off-Broadway theaters) so that the masses can get what he feels is a 'real' education, but at the same time uses that same power of copyright (back into another poster's deal about this all stemming from ramifications from the way IP works) closes down a local-yokel presentation of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf because he felt one of the actors wasn't believable in the role, not b/c of acting ability but b/c he was too tall for Albee to believe his stage-parents were his actual parents, and b/c the role as written was for a 16 year-old and this guy was 24. Performative art by definition can never, no matter how sessile the script, achieve anything resembling a final cut, intrusions like this one by a living author nonwithstanding.
But I won't mention that, and will simply say the age-old song has not been cut from Wizard of Oz. Now go watch a real movie like Zardoz. -
Wizard of Oz, alternate versions, and Whitman too
Wasn't real sure what the OP meant about the "Ding dong, the witch is dead" song was edited out (had visions of some ultra-PC schmoe saying the song was too graphic and encouraged violence), so I googled up this from imdb.com. Lots of interesting archeological findings there on how the movie was edited (the bit about removing a scene and flipping the image in the scene following to keep the original character positions seems the wildest claim there).
Anyhow, here's the bit on the Witch's dead. Song's still there; apparently an additional performance isn't:
A scene where the four main characters return to the Emerald City with the witch of the west's broomstick (including a reprise of "Ding Dong, The Witch is dead!") was cut. Only the song survived; the footage no longer exists (except a shot or two that can be found in the theatrical trailer).
Interesting case for how even recorded history can be easily lost. I doubt there's a single movie where this isn't the case -- heck, over on the Stella List (discusses Atari 2600 programming), we're trying to relocate an old Java port of the popular Stella ("no relation to the list") Atari 2600 emulator. There's hardly a medium around that keeps a perfect history, even when it's theorhetically possible, even arguably easy to do so.
I'm also reminded of my studies of Mark Twain's composition of The Mysterious Stranger, where scholars try to piece together versions by, among other things, what color pen the MSs use, or Walt Whitman's [famously] continual edits to Leaves of Grass . I'd argue our concept of 'final cuts' is a concept born solely via legacy conventional mediums of expression. Without books editions, film releases, etc, we'd have an even more difficult time discussing what's authoritative.
I'll try to stop now. I'd only initially wanted to show the Oz info, and now I'm about to launch into a diatribe about Edward Albee's desire to open up the arts from the clutches of big business (particularly in NYC's Broadway and off-Broadway theaters) so that the masses can get what he feels is a 'real' education, but at the same time uses that same power of copyright (back into another poster's deal about this all stemming from ramifications from the way IP works) closes down a local-yokel presentation of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf because he felt one of the actors wasn't believable in the role, not b/c of acting ability but b/c he was too tall for Albee to believe his stage-parents were his actual parents, and b/c the role as written was for a 16 year-old and this guy was 24. Performative art by definition can never, no matter how sessile the script, achieve anything resembling a final cut, intrusions like this one by a living author nonwithstanding.
But I won't mention that, and will simply say the age-old song has not been cut from Wizard of Oz. Now go watch a real movie like Zardoz. -
More information about the 2600 entries
I believe this is the first year that 2600 games have been allowed in the competition, and since most 2600 games are 4K, this is why you see many 2600 homebrew authors submitting their games. The following list contains more information about each of the entries, including some that have not yet appeared on the Minigame Competition page:
Climber 5
Jammed
JoustPong
Gunfight
Qb
SCSIcide
Skeleton+
Space Treat Deluxe
Warring Worms
Additionally, many authors have released the source code to their games, which is invaluable if you're trying to learn how to program the 2600. Some examples relevant to the competition: Gunfight, Qb, SCSIcide, and Space Treat Deluxe.
And finally, some other links people may find useful:
Atari 2600 Emulators
List of Released 2600 Homebrews
Games in Development
Enjoy! -
Informative links
That looks essentially like the QBert I had for my old Atari... Was it released for the console but not for the arcade?
Well, it's actually quite complicated. Take a look at The History of Q*Bert according to Jeff Lee. It's a very intresting read and provides full and informative background. Also, I'm sure everyone would love refreshing mamories reading The Adventures of Q*bert by John Robinson on-line, together with original pictures drawn by the famous Al Moraski! Of course everyone remembers that the original version was indeed "a breakthrough in 2600 graphics" but did you know that there is a freeware Gameboy Color ROM available? Really, you can download it from here. In my opinion Paul Chinn's idea to port Q*bert to Gameboy was unquestionably insightful.