4 replies to this topic

[caveman]

It sounds like an obvious question, but can I program for the 2600 through an emulator, and not the original console? I ask only because my original 7800 got stolen, which needless to say would make things rather difficult. If I can program and play games thru Stella, I'm in.

[Robert M]

Of course you can. I do all my development via emulation. You can post bins on the forum, and ask people with cuttle carts to try it on real hardware just to be sure it still works.

[Rob Mitchell]

Robert M said:

You can post bins on the forum, and ask people with cuttle carts to try it on real hardware just to be sure it still works.

I have a Cuttle Cart 2 and standing by to try any new binary programs on the 2600/7800.

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Albert]

Yep, you certainly can do development without ever touching an Atari 2600, although if you are serious about writing games for the 2600 I would look into picking one up. Emulators are great for development (and most programmers will use them even if they own several 2600 consoles), but it's always good to get some firsthand experience running your game on the real thing. Emulators will simulate Atari 2600 hardware nearly perfectly, but seeing how your game looks on an actual television and how it plays with real controllers is important. Plus, there's always the off chance that your game may not work quite properly on real hardware even if it runs fine via emulation.

..Al

[atwwong]

Albert said:

Plus, there's always the off chance that your game may not work quite properly on real hardware even if it runs fine via emulation.  

..Al

I can attest to that statement.

BTW, if anyone needs 2600 testing done on real hardware for their binaries, I have an EPROM burner and a few 4k and 8k chips.