Let’s Make a Game!
Step 1: Generate a Stable Display
By Darrell Spice, Jr. (adapted by Duane Alan Hahn, a.k.a. Random Terrain)
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Original Blog Entry
First things first—head over to MiniDig - Best of Stella and download the Stella Programmer's Guide from the docs page. I've also attached it to my blog entry, but you should still check out what's available over at MiniDig.
The heart of the Atari is the Television Interface Adaptor (TIA). It's the video chip, sound generator, and also handles some of the controller input. As a video chip, the TIA is very unusual. Most video game systems have memory that holds the current state of the display. Their video chip reads that memory and uses that information to generate the display. But not the TIA—memory was very expensive at the time, so the TIA was designed with a handful of registers that contain just the information needed to draw a single scanline. It's up to our program to change those registers in real-time so that each scanline shows what its supposed to. It's also up to our program to generate a "sync signal" that tells the TV when its time to start generating a new image.
Turn to page 2 of the programmer's guide. You'll find the following diagram, which I've slightly modified:
The Horizontal Blank is part of each scanline, so we don't need to worry about generating it. Everything else though is up to us! We need to generate a sync signal over 3 scanlines, after which we need to wait 37 scanlines before we tell TIA to "turn on" the image output. After that we need up update TIA so each of the 192 scanlines that comprise visible portion of the display show what they're supposed to. Once that's done, we "turn off" the image output and wait 30 scanlines before we start all over again.
In the source code, available below, you can see the Main Program Loop which follows the diagram:
Main:
jsr VerticalSync ; Jump to SubRoutine VerticalSync
jsr VerticalBlank ; Jump to SubRoutine VerticalBlank
jsr Kernel ; Jump to SubRoutine Kernel
jsr OverScan ; Jump to SubRoutine OverScan
jmp Main ; JuMP to Main
Each of the subroutines handles what's needed, such as this section which generates the sync signal:
VerticalSync:
lda #2 ; LoaD Accumulator with 2 so D1=1
sta WSYNC ; Wait for SYNC (halts CPU until end of scanline)
sta VSYNC ; Accumulator D1=1, turns on Vertical Sync signal
sta WSYNC ; Wait for Sync - halts CPU until end of 1st scanline of VSYNC
sta WSYNC ; wait until end of 2nd scanline of VSYNC
lda #0 ; LoaD Accumulator with 0 so D1=0
sta WSYNC ; wait until end of 3rd scanline of VSYNC
sta VSYNC ; Accumulator D1=0, turns off Vertical Sync signal
rts ; ReTurn from Subroutine
Currently there's no game logic, so the VerticalBlank just waits for the 37 scanlines to pass:
VerticalBlank:
ldx #37 ; LoaD X with 37
vbLoop:
sta WSYNC ; Wait for SYNC (halts CPU until end of scanline)
dex ; DEcrement X by 1
bne vbLoop ; Branch if Not Equal to 0
rts ; ReTurn from Subroutine
The Kernel is the section of code that draws the screen:
Kernel:
; turn on the display
sta WSYNC ; Wait for SYNC (halts CPU until end of scanline)
lda #0 ; LoaD Accumulator with 0 so D1=0
sta VBLANK ; Accumulator D1=1, turns off Vertical Blank signal (image output on)
; draw the screen
ldx #192 ; Load X with 192
KernelLoop:
sta WSYNC ; Wait for SYNC (halts CPU until end of scanline)
stx COLUBK ; STore X into TIA's background color register
dex ; DEcrement X by 1
bne KernelLoop ; Branch if Not Equal to 0
rts ; ReTurn from Subroutine
For this initial build it just changes the background color so we can see that we're generating a stable picture:
Like Vertical Blank, OverScan doesn't have anything to do besides turning off the image output, so it just waits for enough scanlines to pass so that the total scanline count is 262.
OverScan:
sta WSYNC ; Wait for SYNC (halts CPU until end of scanline)
lda #2 ; LoaD Accumulator with 2 so D1=1
sta VBLANK ; STore Accumulator to VBLANK, D1=1 turns image output off
ldx #27 ; LoaD X with 27
osLoop:
sta WSYNC ; Wait for SYNC (halts CPU until end of scanline)
dex ; DEcrement X by 1
bne osLoop ; Branch if Not Equal to 0
rts ; ReTurn from Subroutine
Anyway, download the source at the bottom of my blog entry and take a look—there are comments galore.
Other Assembly Language Tutorials
Be sure to check out the other assembly language tutorials and the general programming pages on this web site.
Amazon: Atari 2600 Programming (#ad)
Amazon: 6502 Assembly Language Programming (#ad)
Atari 2600 Programming for Newbies (#ad)
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Table of Contents for Let’s Make a Game!
Step 1: Generate a Stable Display
Step 3: Score and Timer Display
Step 5: Automate Vertical Delay
Step 8: Select and Reset Support
Step 12: Add the Missile Objects
How to get started writing 6502 assembly language. Includes a JavaScript 6502 assembler and simulator.
Atari Roots by Mark Andrews (Online Book)
This book was written in English, not computerese. It's written for Atari users, not for professional programmers (though they might find it useful).
Machine Language For Beginners by Richard Mansfield (Online Book)
This book only assumes a working knowledge of BASIC. It was designed to speak directly to the amateur programmer, the part-time computerist. It should help you make the transition from BASIC to machine language with relative ease.
The 6502 Instruction Set broken down into 6 groups.
Nice, simple instruction set in little boxes (not made out of ticky-tacky).
The Second Book Of Machine Language by Richard Mansfield (Online Book)
This book shows how to put together a large machine language program. All of the fundamentals were covered in Machine Language for Beginners. What remains is to put the rules to use by constructing a working program, to take the theory into the field and show how machine language is done.
An easy-to-read page from The Second Book Of Machine Language.
6502 Instruction Set with Examples
A useful page from Assembly Language Programming for the Atari Computers.
Continually strives to remain the largest and most complete source for 6502-related information in the world.
By John Pickens. Updated by Bruce Clark.
Guide to 6502 Assembly Language Programming by Andrew Jacobs
Below are direct links to the most important pages.
Goes over each of the internal registers and their use.
Gives a summary of whole instruction set.
Describes each of the 6502 memory addressing modes.
Describes the complete instruction set in detail.
HTMLified version.
Nick Bensema's Guide to Cycle Counting on the Atari 2600
Cycle counting is an important aspect of Atari 2600 programming. It makes possible the positioning of sprites, the drawing of six-digit scores, non-mirrored playfield graphics and many other cool TIA tricks that keep every game from looking like Combat.
How to Draw A Playfield by Nick Bensema
Atari 2600 programming is different from any other kind of programming in many ways. Just one of these ways is the flow of the program.
Cart Sizes and Bankswitching Methods by Kevin Horton
The "bankswitching bible." Also check out the Atari 2600 Fun Facts and Information Guide and this post about bankswitching by SeaGtGruff at AtariAge.
Atari 2600 programming specs (HTML version).
Atari 2600 Programming Page (AtariAge)
Links to useful information, tools, source code, and documentation.
Atari 2600 programming site based on Garon's "The Dig," which is now dead.
Includes interactive color charts, an NTSC/PAL color conversion tool, and Atari 2600 color compatibility tools that can help you quickly find colors that go great together.
The Atari 2600 Music and Sound Page
Adapted information and charts related to Atari 2600 music and sound.
A guide and a check list for finished carts.
A multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS emulator. It has a built-in debugger to help you with your works in progress or you can use it to study classic games. Stella finally got Atari 2600 quality sound in December of 2018. Until version 6.0, the game sounds in Stella were mostly OK, but not great. Now it's almost impossible to tell the difference between the sound effects in Stella and a real Atari 2600.
A very good emulator that can also be embedded on your own web site so people can play the games you make online. It's much better than JStella.
If assembly language seems a little too hard, don't worry. You can always try to make Atari 2600 games the faster, easier way with batari Basic.
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Negative ions are good for us. You might want to avoid positive ion generators and ozone generators. A plain old air cleaner is better than nothing, but one that produces negative ions makes the air in a room fresher and easier for me to breathe. It also helps to brighten my mood.
Never litter. Toss it in the trash or take it home. Do not throw it on the ground. Also remember that good people clean up after themselves at home, out in public, at a campsite and so on. Leave it better than you found it.
Climate Change Cash Grab = Bad
Seems like more people than ever finally care about water, land, and air pollution, but the climate change cash grab scam is designed to put more of your money into the bank accounts of greedy politicians. Those power-hungry schemers try to trick us with bad data and lies about overpopulation while pretending to be caring do-gooders. Trying to eliminate pollution is a good thing, but the carbon footprint of the average law-abiding human right now is actually making the planet greener instead of killing it.
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Watch these two videos for more information:
Charlie Robinson had some good advice about waking up normies (see the link to the video below). He said instead of verbally unloading or being nasty or acting like a bully, ask the person a question. Being nice and asking a question will help the person actually think about the subject.
Interesting videos:
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Use any example programs at your own risk. I am not responsible if they blow up your computer or melt your Atari 2600. Use assembly language at your own risk. I am not responsible if assembly language makes you cry or gives you brain damage.