8bitworkshop.com - Making Games for the Atari 2600

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Published: Thursday, 29 December 2016 00:00

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Steven Hugg has released something really nice for Christmas: The book Making Games for the Atari 2600 which is available as paperback via Amazon.

The book targets the absolute beginner and builds up the required knowledge step by step. it is very well written and structured with plenty of illustrations. Starting with the basics of the 6502, assembly language, the VCS and TV hardware the you gain more and more insight into coding for the Atari 2600. And because the best way learn coding is not to read about but to simply do it, the author also provided a very nice WebIDE where you can just play around with the source code in your browser and run it immediately in the browser based emulator called JAVATARI.JS. The WebIDE is available for free under http://8bitworkshop.com.

I'm very happy to see this book and hope it attracts more people to coding for the Atari 2600 by lowering the barriers to just get started even further. And once you have become familiar with coding for the VCS, WUDSN IDE can be used mange the more complex projects with multiple files, includes, graphics conversions and leverage Stella and its excellent debugger. So I'm looking forward to see your first Atari VCS project come alive!

Spielentwicklung in 6502 Assembler für 8-Bit Heimcomputer (German)

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Published: Monday, 10 October 2016 00:00

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Thomas Schulz (8bitjunkie) explains the basics of game development for 8-bit home computers in 6502 assembly. He explains it using modern tools like Raster Music Tracker, WUDSN IDE and cool retro T-shirts with source code prints. Video is in German and was recorded at the Vintage Computing Festival Berlin (VCFB) 2016.

Thomas Schulz (8bitjunkie) erklärt die Grundlagen für die Entwicklung von Spielen für 8-Bit Heimcomputer in 6502 Assembler. Hierbei helfen moderne Tools wie Raster Music Tracker,  WUDSN IDE und coole Retro-T-Shirts mit Source Code darauf.

• Um was geht es überhaupt?
• Vorstellung des Spiels "GetUp!" (Live Demo)
• Übersicht über die Vorgehensweise und die Werkzeuge
• Der Hauptprozessor (CPU)
• Die Unterbrechungen (Interrupts)
• Die Grafik
• Die Musik
• Hilfreiche Quellen

30.000 views later - WUDSN IDE in a book

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Published: Thursday, 01 September 2016 00:00

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While everything in the world is turning into bits, some bits of WUDSN IDE have turned into some pages in a real world book. Thomas Schulz ilustated how what WUDSN IDE is and how cross-devlopement works in his chapter of the book Time to Play - Zeit und Computerspiel published by members of the Humbold University in Berlin. When I think back how I started with WUDSN IDE in 2009 ... I would never have thought of being an enabler for such great things like Dimo's Quest and so many other games and programs. Now, 7 years later my site has crossed the 30.000 views boundary, the IDE has over 130 active installations and became friends with many new Atari users. All this is simply great and I hope we'll a have lots of funs together in future. 

The IDE screen with the project, outline, editor and message panel.

The rainbow example program explained step by step to learn what "racing the beam" means.

6502 Assembler workshop on game development with WUDSN IDE

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Published: Sunday, 26 June 2016 00:00

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On 2nd and 3rd of July 2016, an interactive workshop on programming games in 6502 assembler will take place in Bad Oeynhausen in Germany. It will be held by Thomas Schulz aka 8Bitjunkie, the author of Dimo's Quest on both the Amiga (original version) and the Atari 8-bit. WUDSN IDE is used as the development environment for the workshop. The workshop is targeting absolute beginners and will be held in German. If you are interested, sign up to the Facebook page of the event. I know many people who are reading this dreamed of writing their own games when they were young. So get up and join the workshop, it's the best chance to finally make your dream come true.