Where to begin...
category: general [glöplog]
I am heeding the warning here about newbies to the scene, so I'm expecting quite a flaming for this.
Yup. I want to learn to code demos. (Anticipating thrown tomatoes)
Over the past few years, I have found a fascination with the Commodore 64, and ended up tracking down two Commodore 128 computers, and have made my "attempts" at coding in Commodore BASIC V7. Most of my work ends up being small-scale productivity apps, but screw that. Sure, utilities are nice, but I want to code DEMOS. Lately, my interests have picked up in the Atari ST, as it turns out my girlfriend's dad has two of them that he offered to sell me. (Yeah, I know, crap scrolling, but I'm a bit too poor to get a hold of a CatWeasel, so the Amiga is not an option for me, and I prefer the ST sound hardware).
I'm working in an emulator and STOS Basic for now, and admittedly, not getting much done.
I would like to move on from basic, to 68000 assembler, but I've got a bit of learning to do..of yet another BASIC dialect.
Dumb question here, but how could I, say, look at something written in 386 assembly, and port it to 68000 assembly? :P (dumb question, I know)
Anyways, just wondering if anyone could give me some tips or advice, and perhaps get me pointed in the right direction.
Yup. I want to learn to code demos. (Anticipating thrown tomatoes)
Over the past few years, I have found a fascination with the Commodore 64, and ended up tracking down two Commodore 128 computers, and have made my "attempts" at coding in Commodore BASIC V7. Most of my work ends up being small-scale productivity apps, but screw that. Sure, utilities are nice, but I want to code DEMOS. Lately, my interests have picked up in the Atari ST, as it turns out my girlfriend's dad has two of them that he offered to sell me. (Yeah, I know, crap scrolling, but I'm a bit too poor to get a hold of a CatWeasel, so the Amiga is not an option for me, and I prefer the ST sound hardware).
I'm working in an emulator and STOS Basic for now, and admittedly, not getting much done.
I would like to move on from basic, to 68000 assembler, but I've got a bit of learning to do..of yet another BASIC dialect.
Dumb question here, but how could I, say, look at something written in 386 assembly, and port it to 68000 assembly? :P (dumb question, I know)
Anyways, just wondering if anyone could give me some tips or advice, and perhaps get me pointed in the right direction.
Quick answer: Dont. There is a horribly large mass of old magazines with every kind of Assembler tutorials. Better check out for these. They have commented mostly soucecodes.
Why i dont code then? God question. :P
Why i dont code then? God question. :P
God is dead anyway. ;)
Quote:
Dumb question here, but how could I, say, look at something written in 386 assembly, and port it to 68000 assembly? :P (dumb question, I know)
You would need to rewrite it, not port. Assembly language is not portable by definition, and having a lot of experience in x86 assembly and some experience in 68k, I can say that the architectures are not related enough to make it worthwhile. Plus, the rest of the hardware (screens etc) are different as well.
Just start writing stuff in 68k. It's not hard and is load of fun :)
If 68k assembler isn't hard, then would it be advisable to learn 68k, and throw STOS out the window? or no?
68k asm is nice and easy to learn so that question can be answered with a "YES!" :)
JOIN TITAN ALREADY!
Heh, assuming Titan is a demogroup, I don't think I'm quite ready :P
I can't even write "Hello World" in 68k :P
Where can I find a good tutorial for coding 68k on the ST?
I can't even write "Hello World" in 68k :P
Where can I find a good tutorial for coding 68k on the ST?
Btw,. if you are going for AtariST 68k assembly check these tutorials at the forum here.
It's a nice start, almost got me started in the essential (but didn't made a st demo yet because I left it after few days because I had plans on PC, CPC, C64, gamepark, etc and no more time for one more machine :P), it's 68k and teaching you things for demos like how the graphics are controled and ends up helping you making a scroller, raster with music, so it's a nice start specifically focused for ST democoding starters, not a random 68k tutorial. The tutall files I mean, I haven't checked the others but they may be good too. The tutall has 14 chapters and each one has the source code example there step by step. Cool!
It's a nice start, almost got me started in the essential (but didn't made a st demo yet because I left it after few days because I had plans on PC, CPC, C64, gamepark, etc and no more time for one more machine :P), it's 68k and teaching you things for demos like how the graphics are controled and ends up helping you making a scroller, raster with music, so it's a nice start specifically focused for ST democoding starters, not a random 68k tutorial. The tutall files I mean, I haven't checked the others but they may be good too. The tutall has 14 chapters and each one has the source code example there step by step. Cool!
Hey, the other file is specifically good and atarist 68k oriented too. Check both!
your gf's dad is a crook :D
Hello world in 68k asm:
dc.b "hello world",0
Isn't that simple? :D
\o/
dc.b "hello world",0
Isn't that simple? :D
\o/
krang: i've got one damn good piece of advice for you -> #atariscne on IRCNet
and for a nice collection of tutorials, check this: http://www.atari-forum.com/wiki/index.php/ASM_Tutorial
and for a nice collection of tutorials, check this: http://www.atari-forum.com/wiki/index.php/ASM_Tutorial
I started very similarly a long time ago - writing stuff in STOS - and here's my summary:
Forget STOS. It's good to get some experience in coding in general and there are a few nice extensions.
But it makes a few things more difficult than they are in assembly and is very touchy sometimes.
Like Stingray said, 68k assembly is very easy to learn if you have a bit of coding experience already.
Evil of DHS has released a so-called demo-engine that makes getting started really easy since it
provides a framework you can run your code in.
I actually learned a lot from a book ("Atari ST - Programmieren in Maschinensprache", Nieber, Sybex)
and a lot from the people on #atariscne on IRC.
Good luck with it.
Forget STOS. It's good to get some experience in coding in general and there are a few nice extensions.
But it makes a few things more difficult than they are in assembly and is very touchy sometimes.
Like Stingray said, 68k assembly is very easy to learn if you have a bit of coding experience already.
Evil of DHS has released a so-called demo-engine that makes getting started really easy since it
provides a framework you can run your code in.
I actually learned a lot from a book ("Atari ST - Programmieren in Maschinensprache", Nieber, Sybex)
and a lot from the people on #atariscne on IRC.
Good luck with it.
[flame]Code for Windows.[/flame]
Isn't 1986 a great year to start demo coding ? Do you plan on doing some Cracktro too ? My Jumpman game for the 64 needs one. :(
That new 386 chip sure is good. They say it's the future of computers. But you should stick to 68000 it's easier and has a better community since it's been used for the last 6 years.
I think there are lots of information to get you started in coding intro/demo on comp.* on usenet. Go to the message board there and you'll find many answers.
That new 386 chip sure is good. They say it's the future of computers. But you should stick to 68000 it's easier and has a better community since it's been used for the last 6 years.
I think there are lots of information to get you started in coding intro/demo on comp.* on usenet. Go to the message board there and you'll find many answers.
I got two words....
Fuck Windows.
Fuck Windows.
krang: good luck, it's always nice to see people interesting in coding on old platforms.
I second Havoc and don't forget that you can also get help here, if you manage to ignore the usual unproductive trolls posting crap on the BBS.
I second Havoc and don't forget that you can also get help here, if you manage to ignore the usual unproductive trolls posting crap on the BBS.
krang: you can also find a lot of stuff on Sync's page by the way: http://www.lysator.liu.se/~celeborn/sync/page3.html
krang: happy coding. =)
If you still have a fascination of C64, everything you need to get started with asm coding is right here: http://codebase64.org
Stingray: No.
dc.b "hello world",0
dc.l $beefbabe
dc.w $b00b
There.
dc.b "hello world",0
dc.l $beefbabe
dc.w $b00b
There.
Doom: you're right. :)
dc.w $5HI7
then again, move.l #$4e714e71,doom will make you shut up
\o/
dc.w $5HI7
then again, move.l #$4e714e71,doom will make you shut up
\o/
o.O I tried your hello world examples...
Three bombs :P
Could you be out of practice?
Three bombs :P
Could you be out of practice?
krang: this should work a lot better (sorry to stop the lollercoaster, fellow pouet trolls) :
--- snip ---
; gemdos 9: print a string on screen
pea hello
move.w #9,-(sp)
trap #1
addq #6,sp
; pterm: end program
clr.w -(sp)
trap #1
; data
hello: dc.b "hello world!",$A,$D,0
even
--- snip ---
this should print a string and exit, the exit could be too fast btw ;) make sure you let devpac or turboasm wait for a key ;)
--- snip ---
; gemdos 9: print a string on screen
pea hello
move.w #9,-(sp)
trap #1
addq #6,sp
; pterm: end program
clr.w -(sp)
trap #1
; data
hello: dc.b "hello world!",$A,$D,0
even
--- snip ---
this should print a string and exit, the exit could be too fast btw ;) make sure you let devpac or turboasm wait for a key ;)