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Mr SQL
Registered: Feb 2023
Posts: 114 |
PETSCII demos and BASIC kit
Hello Everyone! :)
Try these new PETSCII demo's and download the BASIC for creating them here:
http://relationalframework.com/GameLoader_C64_Atari_emulator_wi..
This kit allows the C64 to run Advanced Atari 2600 demo programs using a soft ANTIC blitter, soft TIA and soft RIOT chip inside the prg. The code for the soft TIA and soft RIOT chips could be removed from the demo binaries and the programs would still run on a real Atari 2600 using just soft ANTIC.
The demos can be (re)compiled cross platform for the C64 and Atari 2600, and on the C64 the demos have texture mapped PETSCII and dynamic PETSCII.
Here is a fun dynamic petscii example of a Super Arkanoid demo in user mode (as a playabe game):
http://relationalframework.com/c64.html?file=arkanoidairheadb.p..
Download prg for the C64 and VICE:
http://relationalframework.com/arkanoidairheadb.prg
The kit is also great for creating Cracks of demos to change text and music like with fluid city and fluid city b side:
http://relationalframework.com/c64.html?file=fluidcitybside.prg
http://relationalframework.com/c64.html?file=fluidcity.prg
Download prgs for the C64 and VICE:
http://relationalframework.com/fluidcitybside.prg
http://relationalframework.com/fluidcity.prg
Fluid City took first place at Silly Venture on the Atari 2600 but I have not entered it in a Commodore contest yet, the prg is a C64 demo and also a demo of cycle precise pixel perfect emulation of an advanced Atari 2600 demo.
Coding demos and games with this kit will be easy and fascinating for C64 programmers using new hardware features like 4 levels of sprite scaling and hardware reversible sprites, and a large tile mapped virtual world and playfield cam.
Advanced programmers can explore the soft ANTIC, TIA and RIOT chip implementations.
Please share your thoughts! |
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Mr SQL
Registered: Feb 2023
Posts: 114 |
Quoting tlrThat's not what I ment. Reproducing the code execution cycle for cycle would require running the exact same binary. Is this what is happening here?
I'm not trying to value the work done here, just trying to understand what it does.
Great question! Yes it is running the exact same Atari 2600 binary.
The binaries are only 6K, the rest of the 30K prg executable contains the soft TIA and RIOT chip implementations [the emu] which the 6K binary interacts with using shadow registers on the zero page, right where the real TIA and RIOT chips registers and RAM are located on an Atari. |
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chatGPZ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 11101 |
So this can run... say Pacman? Joust? Why those rather trivial (and lets be honest: quite ugly) example programs? |
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Mr SQL
Registered: Feb 2023
Posts: 114 |
Quote: So this can run... say Pacman? Joust? Why those rather trivial (and lets be honest: quite ugly) example programs?
Pacman and Joust could be made to run with customization to the kernel, but they do not scroll.
This scrolling Pacman prod runs but has some bugs so I am not ready to release it yet:
https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=64999
This scrolling Breakout 2000 prod runs perfectly though and has lots of demo scrolling within scrolling going on:
https://demozoo.org/productions/271790/
Try it online here for the C64:
http://relationalframework.com/c64.html?file=brkoutlaserbeams.p..
Download the prg for VICE and the C64:
http://relationalframework.com/brkoutlaserbeams.prg
Check out how pretty this demo looks on a real CRT with custom PETSCII graphics and coloring in the color RAM:
http://relationalframework.com/Player_Designed_Graphics.JPG |
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chatGPZ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 11101 |
Quote:Pacman and Joust could be made to run with customization to the kernel, but they do not scroll.
??? What does scrolling have to do with it?
Somehow i am getting the impression that calling this "emulation", let alone "cycle exact" or "pixel exact", is quite a bit of a misnomer. *shrug* |
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Mr SQL
Registered: Feb 2023
Posts: 114 |
Quote: Quote:Pacman and Joust could be made to run with customization to the kernel, but they do not scroll.
??? What does scrolling have to do with it?
Somehow i am getting the impression that calling this "emulation", let alone "cycle exact" or "pixel exact", is quite a bit of a misnomer. *shrug*
The kit is designed for writing demos and games that scroll in BASIC using Display Lists like on the Atari 400/800.
Consider that since the same code is running it must be emulation.
The emulation appears cycle precise and pixel perfect unless you have an example besides PETSCII and lack of colors.
The emu is not designed to be compatible with every Atari 2600 ROM, it was designed to run ROM's that use the Display List technology in the soft ANTIC chip. It is now being expanded so it can accommodate more ROM's. |
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chatGPZ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 11101 |
Sounds to me like "emulation" is indeed the wrong term - and it is a wrapper library that happens to work with some things specifically built for it. Is that what it is? |
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Mr SQL
Registered: Feb 2023
Posts: 114 |
Quote: Sounds to me like "emulation" is indeed the wrong term - and it is a wrapper library that happens to work with some things specifically built for it. Is that what it is?
No it's the other way around. The Emulator was built specifically to run Advanced Atari games and demos that use the soft ANTIC blitter.
Activision released an emulator that only ran their games, there are no requirements for an emulator to run every ROM and chip configuration and there are many for the Atari 2600.
The TIA and RIOT chips and Atari 2600 system bus architecture are emulated closely enough for these programs to run. |
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chatGPZ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 11101 |
Now i wonder what "Advanced Atari games" means in this context. The examples seem to be anything but "advanced" to me :) |
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Mr SQL
Registered: Feb 2023
Posts: 114 |
Quote: Now i wonder what "Advanced Atari games" means in this context. The examples seem to be anything but "advanced" to me :)
One of these prods won first place at Silly Venture the scene for advanced Atari demos using only classic hardware and expansion schemes.
There are also advanced Atari games that use the ARM chip, but they are not allowed in demo scene competition only classic hardware with completely software solutions like the comparative soft ANTIC chip powering these demos. |
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chatGPZ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 11101 |
wat |
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