17 replies to this topic

[opcode]

Anyone interested on an online Z80 Assembly course for beginners?
A friend of mine wrote a top notch online course, but it is in Portuguese. If there is interest I would try to translate the course.

Eduardo

[GroovyBee]

It might attract more people if you run it along side a programming contest. Then at least people have a reason to stick with the course until the end.

[jaybird3rd]

Certainly! I've been getting into Z80 assembly myself with some recent projects. I've got a few books, but it's always great to have other resources.

[GroovyBee]

jaybird3rd, on Fri Feb 3, 2012 10:51 AM, said:

Certainly! I've been getting into Z80 assembly myself with some recent projects. I've got a few books, but it's always great to have other resources.

I gathered quite a few books in preparation for doing some Amstrad GX4000 stuff. However, I suspect that the GX won't see any love this year due to other projects.

[Jordiway]

I would because I have no experience at all so I need to start somewhere.

[Ikrananka]

I have wanted to learn Z80 assembly for years so an online course would be a wonderful start. You've got my vote.

[phattyboombatty]

I would be very interested!

[opcode]

GroovyBee, on Fri Feb 3, 2012 10:47 AM, said:

It might attract more people if you run it along side a programming contest. Then at least people have a reason to stick with the course until the end.

This is an absolutely wonderful idea. And a great way to bring new blood to the scene.
Ok, so we have 5 people already, I think that is good enough. I will check back with my friend (Julio Marchi) to see how he wants to do this.

[SpiceWare]

me too

[opcode]

I was checking with Julio again, and it seems his course is heavily focused on the MSX, which I don't think is of much interest here. So... I was thinking that perhaps it would be better if I write something from scratch, more focused on the ColecoVision, though the Assembly part should be generic enough to allow anyone here to use the knowledge anywhere else.
So let me think about the course structure here and perhaps I can post something tonight.

Anyways, I can already say this: learning Assembly is like learning piano. Piano isn't an instrument that you can start playing a couple of hours after having the first contact with it. It requires hard work and patience, but it is extremely rewarding once you get to master it. So is Assembly.

Also, don't be intimidated at first, as you are probably going to need a few months until you start feeling comfortable with the way Assembly works. But once you have got the hang of it, you will get total control of the system like no other high level language can offer you.

We are going to spend some time learning the Z80 architecture, then some of its main instructions, before we can actually start writing programs for the ColecoVision. The reason is that it will take some time until we can learn how to output something on screen, so again, patience is key. After we have learned the basic Z80, we are going to move to the input/output devices, that is how to put graphics on screen, play sounds, read joysticks, etc.

I will be assuming no previous knowledge whatever. During the second part of the course I hope to focus on game creation using the ColecoVision, so we will see not just the Assembly stuff and how to produce audio and video, but also how a video game works, how to logically organize your game program, basic routines that may be helpful with most types of games, etc.

I believe by the end of course you should be able to create a full CV game from scratch. I am not sure if we get to that point by the end of this year, due to all the stuff I am already currently working on, but we will get there.

So let me see if we can start tonight.

[Pixelboy]

Although I'll have no real time to study Z80 assembly in any capacity this year, I'll still keep an eye on your online course, Eduardo. Should be useful for next year...

[retroillucid]

Oh sweet! Count me in!!

And I would even say: Please!

[RKGames]

This is a great idea OpCode!!!! I dont know much assembly and a good course in z80 assembler would greatly help in my home brew dev! Cant wait to read them!

Russ

[Arjak]

This idea is awesome; count me in, too.

[DEBRO]

Just to add...I'd be interested.

[jblenkle]

I would love this...I have long wanted to learn something other than BASIC...but don't know how or where to start. I learn best by example so I can see how it's done and what various parts of the code do.

opcode, on Fri Feb 3, 2012 10:45 AM, said:

Anyone interested on an online Z80 Assembly course for beginners?
A friend of mine wrote a top notch online course, but it is in Portuguese. If there is interest I would try to translate the course.

Eduardo

[coleco_master]

WOW! Great idea ! I'm in !!!

[skosh]

Late to the party but I look forward to reading these lessons as well.