In article <199703060831.BAA11283@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, you wrote:
>>Yep, that I've got... and I've got some nice 6502 reference material to
>>help refresh me for any areas I've forgotten (been well over a decade since
>>I did any programming).
>>
>>It's this whole "one scan line at a time" thing that's throwing me for a loop.
>>It just completely boggles my mind. What demon from the depths of hell designed
>>such a machine?
>
>Someone who realized that there was no way in Hell they could release a machine
>with DMA and other niceties for under $200 in 1977. Yet, there are several
>ways in Hell to get two tanks, a hungry yellow circle, four flickery ghosts,
>an archeologist in a blue shirt, a jaywalking frog, a few cars, a few
>spaceships, and a few numbers to show up on a machine that had a 1D graphics
>chip.
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Yepper. I tell you, since I've gotten into trying to figure out how the guts
of this machine work I have a whole new respect for Atari 2600 games.
I'm a whole lot less critical of 2600 Pac Man.
Chase the Chuckwagon may be a lame game, but it was written in 5 days!
Well this weekend I've decided not to study Japanese and instead to actually
get my hands drity writting some code on the 2600. Maybe after I've actually
gone and written my own programme to draw something on the screen, I'll
be much less intimidated by the 2600.
Right now it's like my white whale, or something.
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>But then again, three years later Sir Clive Sinclair released a (sort-of)
>home computer for $99. But nobody made Pac-Man for it.
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Really!? It's probably the only computer that never saw a Pac-Man like
programme. I've seen Frogger cassettes for the Sinclair. I always get a
momentary rush when I see one because I think it might be for the
Supercharger.
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>But here's a tip to help ease your mind. The early Atari standard wasn't
>"one scan line at a time". It was "two scan lines at a time". To leave
>more time for calculations.
>Hope this helps.
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Yeah, I had kind of gathered that earlier from the list. It still maked my
head swim just thinking about it. Maybe once actually compiled code i'll be
able to come up with some sort of mystic analogy for programming the
graphics on the 2600 and it will make things seem all the more clear to me.
CRACKERS
(Enlightenment awaits from hell!!)
--
Accordionist - Wethifl Musician - Atari 2600 Collector | /\/\
http://www.freenet.hamilton.on.ca/~ad329/Profile.html | \^^/
Bira Bira Devotee - FES Member - Samurai Pizza Cats Fan| =\/=
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