theloon

In the ASM or BASIC thread Omegamatrix posted an assembly example that stated SWCHB had two unused bits.  How would one access these from bB?  Or, does the bB kernel already exploit these two unused bits?

Here is an excerpt from the comments:

Quote

http://www.atariage....50#entry2524373

This document states that SWCHB is a RIOT address
$0292 = (RIOT $12) - SWCHB  (read/write) (*)
http://www.qotile.ne...00_riot_map.txt

The controls seem pretty familiar to me.

Outside of Albert and AtariAge homebrew cart production gets complicated. If you had to choose, which option is better? Sega Genesis is the platform.

A. $35 Flash Cart with Large 32M ROM and 4 banks of 32k save game RAM.
No restriction on minimum order but only 8 in stock.
Cons: Worst up-front cost per cart. Save game battery runs out faster than normal cart. Manufacturer may stop selling these.
Pros: Can order 1-8 with no price change. If no one likes my game (or I find a last minute bug) I can re-flash. 32M ROM and 32k+ SRAM is huge. Can customize each cartridge per customer - unique names, items, levels, etc..

B. $20 "Ask a Friend to Build It" 2M with 8k save game RAM.
Minimum 25 pieces.
Cons: Asking a buddy for a favor requires different expectations then a business. $500 dollars up front is alot to an individual hobbyist. Once I send the final game binary there's no further updates - it is what it is.
Pros: Best price.

C. $25 "Proven Reproduction Maker" 2M with 8k save game RAM.
Minimum 50 pieces.
Cons: $1250 makes it the worst up-front cost total. I might end up with 50 unsold carts and a smaller bank account. I may have 50 carts with unexpected bugs that cannot be corrected.
Pros: Proven track record means better expected output.

D. Get a homebrew publisher.
No minimum since customers buy through them.
Cons: You give up full control of your work. Now I've got to "prove" my game is worthy to a business instead of the individual gamer.
Pros: Boards are now more like AtariAge. New parts all around. The only cart to purchase is my own copy.

I don't think SeaGtGruff truly recognizes how awesome some of his stuff is. One example is the recently rediscovered 128 palette example posted here:
http://www.atariage....e/#entry2497191

SeaGtGruff effectively made a "mini kernel" that allows for an 8x16 playfield with each pixel allowed its own unique color! I experimented with replacing the static values in the "COLUBK = $xx" statements with variables and that cut the resolution down - only allowing about 5 pixels per row. Adding more "COLUBK = $xx" statements created a venetian blind effect such that each row had a background color.

A big tradeoff is that the standard kernel called with the DRAWSCREEN command doesn't play nice due to fighting for CPU time. This is OK and can be worked around. Possible uses:

* Map screen
* Object close-ups
* Puzzle games

I'm sure this could be enhanced further. I thought I'd just reiterate how cool this example is given a different perspective on its uses.

Rather than take up Stephens time with a private e-mail I thought I'd post a topic here.

Is there room for a donation encouraged wrapper xcode project for iOS? I could see Stella being a vehicle to get Atari 2600 homebrew onto an iPad. Emulators are generally frowned upon but single ROM apps might pass muster.