Re: [stella] skipDraw explained (I hope) (was: bipolar joustpong)

Subject: Re: [stella] skipDraw explained (I hope) (was: bipolar joustpong)
From: Dennis Debro <ddebro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 16:03:21 -0400
Hi Kirk,

> (Honestly right now I don't really understand skipdraw...
> but I'll keep pounding through the stella archive via Google.
> Sometimes the examples there are tough because it's not
> clear what the variables are...I wish I had a timewarp
> to Andrew Davie's AtariAge tutorial on the subject :-)

I'll try to explain it. If I miss something please correct it.

First of all the original skipDraw posting can be found at: http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/archives/200102/msg00282.html.

The first method does...
   tya                  ; y is used to keep track of which scan line
                        ; you're on
   sec                  ; this can be avoided if you know the carry state
   sbc SpriteEnd        ; SpriteEnd would be the vertical position of your
                        ; sprite
   adc #SPRITEHEIGHT    ; SPRITEHEIGHT is the height of your sprite so...
;
; take the current scanline and subtract the sprite postion now add back in
; the sprite height. Now the value should be between the height of the
; sprite and it's position.
;
   bcx .skipDraw         ; if not between then don't draw the sprite

In the illegal opcode method y again is used to keep track of the scan line.

   lda #SPRITEHEIGHT     ; get the height of the sprite
   dcp SpriteEnd         ; SpriteEnd here would be an offset of the sprite's
                         ; position
;
; what you get here is 2 instructions for the price of one :) SpriteEnd is
; decremented and then compared to the height of the sprite.
;
   bcx .skipDraw         ; if it's out of range then don't draw the sprite

I hope this makes since but mostly I hope I got this right.

> * does this sound like a reasonable implementation
> scheme, with the byte for each player? The bricks
> are a little tall, but not too too bad.

I'll have to read through your description later. I'm busy counting to 76 at the moment ;) After reading this again I think I might have to use the illegal opcode method.

> * What are the cons to using the "illegal opcode" 
> variant of skipdraw?

None I can think of. There was talk about maybe some 2600s not recognizing them. Thrust and Qb use illegal opcodes and no one has reported any problems with them. I guess a con maybe that your game won't run on the present Stella emulator.

> and what's the clearest example of how to use it?

Hmm...look at Thomas' post where he collaborated with Glenn Saunders on Death Derby. It may be a little different but it's still skipDraw. Just remember DD is a 2LK. I forgot that when I first looked at it. Also I think Gunfight uses the "legal" skipDraw.

You could also look at: http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/archives/200301/msg00295.html. This might help explain the difference in DD.

Take care,
Dennis

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