Re: [stella] POLL

Subject: Re: [stella] POLL
From: Glenn Saunders <krishna@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 10:59:33 -0800
At 01:00 AM 3/3/97 -0700, Nick S Bensema wrote:
>Of course, but this isn't exactly bartending school.  The only reason I
>know what I do about the 2600 is because I've pulled Combat apart, and I
>decided to look at those cycle counts in the middle of my C64 ref, seeing
>as it'd be hard to avoid if I ever really got into it.

Still, one of the problems is when today's programmers rely on only the
most basic 2600 examples as a reference.  If that is the standard, then
each programmer will have to rediscover the tricks which programmers
routinely used after 1977, or just stick to a 1977 yardstick for new game
development, which would be sad.  It's not 1977 anymore.  That's where the
Starpath source code is important.  We're not working with a lowest common
hardware denominator of 2K or even 4K ROM.  We are working with a lowest
common hardware denominator of 6K RAM with multiload capacity--so why not
take advantage of it?  It's a lot easier to write code when you are running
totally from RAM than it is when all you have is 128 bytes of scratchpad
RAM to work from, even considering the roundabout way memory is written to
on the Supercharger.  Combat is useful in the same way '10 Print
"Hello";Goto 10" is useful as a BASIC program tutorial, but it's important
that people realize that there is more advanced sourcecode to study and
that the 2600 is capable of far more.

Prospective 2600 programmers shouldn't even bother writing games with
cartridges in mind anymore because everyone will be working in the
Supercharger RAM environment (even emulator users).  Burning cartridges
like Bob did with Okie Dokie is no longer necessary and only constricts
programming unless you go with some elaborate supercart.

>Too many questions from which to select the most frequent.  The only way

Perhaps FAQ is a misnomer.  Perhaps those of us who understand the source
code should conduct online seminars and step through the code.  Bill
Heineman did this with me with Freeway and it was very informative (even to
someone who only barely grasps the concepts of 6502 assembly).

I'd prefer the list not simply be a meetingplace for programmers to demo
their beta-test programs in which the vast majority of the learning is "you
are on your own, kid".  I'd like this to be a font of knowledge of 2600
Programming techniques, and I mean techniques that eventually go beyond
Combat or even Freeway.

Since people are likely to subscribe and miss past discussions, some kind
of compilation of information beyond a mere archiving of past messages
would be useful.

So just as with the Atari 8-bit you had "Mapping the Atari" et. al. as a
"Bible", some kind of more advanced and thorough programming document
should be compiled as the list progresses which covers the main tricks
possible on the 2600.

The closest thing I've come across is an old IEEE article which was sent to
me which has a good overview of the 2600 hardware and at least describes
what the tricks do, it just doesn't go into actual assembly examples.



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