Yep, I heard about it. To be honest it's not for me because I've already got two 2600s and two 7800s. But if I had no Atari systems at all I'd be in the market for one ;) The thing looks like a 2600 but can run most carts 7800 includes. Pity that they reduced the size.
I've got the feeling that the algorithm hates my guts, I've never seen a channel to grow so slowly. But worry not, if I were in this RU-vid thing to make money I'd have given up a long time ago. I just want to give back for some of the help I've been given and I like making videos so I hope to be around for quite some time to come ;)
Thank you Todd, I never thought that I could ever get to grips with any programming language on any computer. bAtari basic however is a revelation never before have I learned so much in so little time and been able to do so much with so few commands. It's a wonderful starting point for anyone who thought that all this was beyond them. Thank you for the comment there's plenty more to come.
My pleasure, I growing to love programming, I really never thought that I would and if I can pass on what I'm learning to someone and it's appreciated, then even better still. Plenty more episodes in the pipeline including a full run trough on the "Bob and the Alien Fireflies" bAtari BASIC source code. Thank you for following the series Keith ;)
Great video Peter and nicely explained :) Knowing how to restrain user inputs is important in the game so that you can control the speed of each individual "action" in the game. Cheers!
Thanks Josip, I do my best, restraint of user input that's read 60 times a second on the 2600 is a must when programming games, as you well know. I never realised just how much thought went into each individual thing when programming. I've got plans to give assembly a try soon enough. I've got my work cut out for me, ey?
It never ever was, the 2600 was a real bitch to program and still is if you're using assembly. Fred Quimby did a hell of a job when he coded the compiler. He made it really easy for mere mortals like me, by turning easy to learn basic into complex machine code that the 6507 CPU could understand. That's what lets the games we write run so smoothly on the 2600. I've tried to program Bob on the Colour computer 2, I not even even going to tell you of the flickering mess I made.
Merci, la programmation est quelque chose que je jamais pensée que je arrive de faire. Mais grâce a bAtari je peux faire plus que je jamais pensée possible. C'est vraiment une langage très puissant. Oh, commen je encrive bian en françis... pas de tout ;)
I love this series! Sorry I missed it when you released it few days ago, been busy. Glad I caught up and as usual, I will watch it twice cause I'm really into this. And at the risk of being repetitive, you are very good as explaining this stuff!
Just found this series and it's fantastic, really dig your presentation style. Do you know why the playfield pixels have that thin horizontal gap between them? I wonder if that's an emulation holdover from the original hardware? Or if it's something that can be removed? Can't wait for more, thank you.
Since posting my comment I have found the answer. There are several kernels one can call at the start of your program and one of these is named "no_blank_lines" -- it is called like so: "set kernel_options no_blank_lines"-- however, apparently this removes the ability to use "missile0" --so there's a trade-off. You have been an inspiration, I am starting my first Atari game. Thx...!
Hi William, many thanks for your kind words about the series and the presentation. To be honest, it started out as an experiment, simply to see if I could do anything at all as far as programming went. I had heard of bAtari and as its geared towards making games I figured it may be just what I was looking for. Also it gave me the push I needed to really try and make a game (which I had wanted to do for decades) and before I knew it Bob was here ;) The series was supposed to be a log or vlog type thing but I quickly realised that when using bAtari it was possible to do a heck of a lot with very few commands. That's why a tutorial type series was born. There are another 3-4 episodes to come. The next may well be on sound generation in games and I plan to wrap up the series with a good look at the "Bob and the alien fireflies" code. I'm happy that you've decided to put a game together, let me know when you've got some thing playable, I'd love to give it a go ;) You're 100% right about the no_blank_lines option (sorry I didn't answer you sooner) it will remove the "scan line" effect from the playfield but the payoff is that it will remove your ability to use missile 0. It is however vital that you include this option if you want to make a game that uses paddle controllers. The paddles can't be "read" if no_blank_lines is not included. Good luck with the game ;)
Hi! Thx for the detailed reply and volunteering to play my own 2600 game, wow-- I'll get back to you on that, thank you! Regarding the scan lines, I had nearly forgotten about the paddles. I am learning the 2600 programming challenge, with the available workarounds, is like two steps forward, one step back. But the limitations add to the fun, a bit like making your own puzzle to solve-- in the dark. Looking forward to more episodes...!
Can you please make a video on how you got Batatri Basic working on Windows? I've tried different versions of Window, followed the directions, but I always get the same problem "preprocess' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. And I'm not the only one, according to Atari Age forums...but there was no solution. Thanks!
I've not ever used bAtari under Windows, I been using Linux for most everything for the last few years. That said, I'll look into it and try to put a video together about getting it to work under Windows 10. Thanks for watching 🙏
I've been working on a video about this this afternoon and I had a few problems firstly installing Windows 10 then I had a problem finding the bAtari install files for windows. Finally I found them here github.com/batari-Basic/batari-Basic/tags you should try an install from these if you have not already and see how you get on with it. I've seen a post about the problem you have online but it dated from years and years back and was caused by the version of windows 10 the guy was using. I'll get a video together on it but Windows 10 is a pigs ear for me to setup
