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Continuing with the neslib examples, I will import a full background (with rendering off) from a RLE compressed nametable.

Last time, I successfully imported a BMP into NES Screen Tool (the newest version, with ‘lossy’ on). I saved the .chr graphics file. Then, I exported the nametable as a compressed RLE with a .h extension.

(note, I had to remove 1 used tile from the .chr, because the RLE code won’t work with 256 unique tiles on screen. See, I made one of the tiles an X, and removed references to it on the nametable, then saved the RLE, and resaved the CHR)

Also, I cut and pasted the palette, from NES Screen Tool…palette/put to clipboard/C data. And, pasted into the .c file.

In the crt0.s file, I had to edit the CHR segment to include the “Girl2.chr” file. In the C code, I had to import the “Girl2.h” (our RLE compressed background data).

Step 1, set a nametable address to start from.

vram_adr(NAMETABLE_A);

Step 2, uncompress the BG data, by sending a pointer to the data to this function…

vram_unrle(Girl2);

(if you open the Girl2.h file, the array of chars is called ‘Girl2’).

And, then turn on rendering. (the scroll position is still set to the default, nametable #0, X and Y are 0,0).

ppu_on_all();

And, compile. Here’s what we have…

I find that flat tones (Anime style) works well for NES images.

Here’s the source code…

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/1ozfna9ro09qz8n/lesson23.zip

 

The latest version of NES Screen Tool has improved BMP import features. I’m going to give them a try. The BMP must be a color indexed, 16 color, or 256 color. I think 16 color works better.

I found this image somewhere on the internet. I reduced the image to 256×240.

Using GIMP, first I adjusted the levels, especially the midtones, so they will not wash out.

My first attempt, I darkened the background and then converted to NES color (I previously made a custom palette using the NES palette). Then, Image/Mode/Indexed, and chose the NES palette. Then I Image/Mode/RBG. Then I Image/Mode/Indexed, Optimize to 16 color. Here’s what we have…

Then, I imported to NES Screen Tool, with only ‘lossy’ checked. This is what I got.

Ugh. Not great. Try again. Took the Original Image (256×240), leveled, with a darkened background…

Image/Mode/Grayscale, then Image/Mode/RGB. Then I selected the Pencil Tool (or brush), and changed it’s mode to ‘color’ and selected a Orange color, and recolored the gray image like a duotone. (I also adjusted the levels again).

Now…Image/Mode/Indexed, chose NES palette. Image/Mode/RGB. Image/Mode/Indexed, optimized for 4 color. Image/Mode/RGB. Image/Mode/Indexed, optimized for 16 color. (The NES Screen Tool seems to do better if you have the final in 16 colors).

This is what the final version looks like in GIMP. Let’s import BMP from NES Screen Tool again (only ‘lossy’ checked)…

Much better.

Next time I’m going to import this as a background, compressed as an RLE file.

 

I thought this would take me 5 minutes. Boy was I wrong. Here’s some examples on neslib use for NES development. I’ve made some changes, that will probably annoy everyone. Sorry.

I changed the cfg, moving the symbols to crt0.s, adding ONCE segment
I changed PAD_STATE to _PAD_STATE in crt0.s (etc), so I can access it from c code as
extern unsigned char PAD_STATE;
I made slight changes to neslib.s (notably removing _ppu_wait_frame as potentially buggy with split screen effects)

 

 

The first example is a simple “Hello World”. Note, I have arrays of chars called “PALETTE” and “TEXT”. As stated in an earlier blog post, I have created a tile set that positions the letters and numbers exactly in their ASCII position, so I can reference them with actual letters in the code “Hello World!”.

This is how to write to the screen with rendering OFF. Set an address, vram_adr(), then write, vram_write().

void main (void) {
 
 // rendering is disabled at the startup
 // the init code set the palette brightness to
 // pal_bright(4); // normal
 
 // load the palette
 pal_bg(PALETTE);
 
 // load the text
 // vram_adr(NTADR_A(x,y));
 vram_adr(NTADR_A(10,14)); // screen is 32 x 30 tiles
 // this sets a start position on the BG, where to draw the text, left to right
 
 vram_write((unsigned char*)TEXT,sizeof(TEXT));
 // this draws the array to the screen 
 // this function only works with rendering off, and should come after vram_adr()
 
 // normally, I would reset the scroll position
 // but the next function waits till v-blank and scroll is set automatically in the nmi routine
 // since the RAM was blanked to 0 in init code, scroll variables will be x = 0, y = 0
 
 // turn on screen
 ppu_on_all();
 
 // infinite loop
 while (1){
 
 // game code will go here.
 
 }
};

Pretty straightforward way to write to the screen with rendering off. Here’s the source code.

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/5p8o0umed5k10r5/lesson21.zip

 

Part 2

This “Hello World” writes 1 letter at a time, then blanks it, and starts over. This is how to write to the screen when rendering is ON.

In this example, I am writing to the screen in 2 different ways, with rendering on. With rendering on, you will write data to a buffer, and set a pointer to that data. The nmi code will automatically push the data to the screen during v-blank.

Both of them are examples of set_vram_update(). The first, non-sequential data. This will write the letter A and the letter B at different screen locations.

// example of non-sequential vram data
const unsigned char TWOLETTERS[]={
MSB(NTADR_A(10,17)),
LSB(NTADR_A(10,17)),
‘A’,
MSB(NTADR_A(18,5)),
LSB(NTADR_A(18,5)),
‘B’,
NT_UPD_EOF}; // data must end in EOF

The second, using the CLEAR array, is a sequential data set. It will write 12 zeros to the screen, covering over the “Hello World!” when the loop ends. NT_UPD_HORZ or NT_UPD_VERT is required to tell the vram update to go sequentially.

// example of sequential vram data
const unsigned char CLEAR[]={
MSB(NTADR_A(10,14))|NT_UPD_HORZ, // where to write, repeat horizontally
LSB(NTADR_A(10,14)),
12, // length of write
0,0,0,0, // what to write there
0,0,0,0, // data needs to be exactly the size of length
0,0,0,0,
NT_UPD_EOF}; // data must end in EOF

And, I’m actually constructing a data set on the fly, when pushing letters of “Hello World!” one at a time to the screen.

v_ram_buffer[0] = high;
v_ram_buffer[1] = low;
data = TEXT[text_Position]; // get 1 letter of the text
v_ram_buffer[2] = data;
v_ram_buffer[3] = NT_UPD_EOF;

This is also an example of delay(), which waits a certain number of frames, before moving to the next line. Here’s the main code (with some comments edited out).

void main (void) {
 
 // load the palette
 pal_bg(PALETTE);

 // set some initial values
 text_Position = 0;
 
 // turn on screen
 ppu_on_all();
 
 // load some non-sequential vram data, during rendering
 memcpy(v_ram_buffer,TWOLETTERS,sizeof(TWOLETTERS)); // copy from the ROM to the RAM
 set_vram_update(v_ram_buffer); // this just sets a pointer to the data, and sets a flag to draw it next v-blank
 // works only when NMI is on
 
 // infinite loop
 while (1){

    delay(30); // wait 30 frames = 0.5 seconds

    address = NTADR_A(10,14) + text_Position; // 2 bytes wide
    high = (char)(address >> 8); // get just the upper byte
    low = (char)(address & 0xff); // get just the lower byte
 
    v_ram_buffer[0] = high;
    v_ram_buffer[1] = low;
 
    data = TEXT[text_Position]; // get 1 letter of the text
    v_ram_buffer[2] = data;
 
    v_ram_buffer[3] = NT_UPD_EOF;
 
    ++text_Position;

    if (text_Position >= sizeof(TEXT)){
      text_Position = 0;
      ppu_wait_frame();
      memcpy(v_ram_buffer,CLEAR,sizeof(CLEAR)); // if at end, clear screen
      // by overwriting zeros over the text
    }

    set_vram_update(v_ram_buffer); // set a pointer to the buffer 
    // it will auto-update during v-blank
 
  }
};

So, step 1, fill the v_ram_buffer. Step 2, set_vram_update(v_ram_buffer); will set a pointer to the data and set a flag to push the data to the PPU during the next v-blank.

Note: set_vram_update(NULL); will disable v-ram updates.

And, here it the source code…

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/cupgyz9bg8ibjny/lesson22.zip

Shiru wrote the neslib code, for NES development. These are all my detailed notes on how everything works. I will be adding example code, a little later. I mostly use a slightly modified version of the neslib from

http://shiru.untergrund.net/files/nes/chase.zip

And, here again is the example code

http://shiru.untergrund.net/files/src/cc65_nes_examples.zip

And this link has a version of neslib that works with the most recent version of cc65 (as of 2016) version 2.15

http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?p=154078#p154078

pal_all(const char *data);

const unsigned char game_palette[]={…} // define a 32 byte array of chars
pal_all(game_palette);

-pass a pointer to a 32 byte full palette
-it will copy 32 bytes from there to a buffer
-can be done any time, this only updates during v-blank

pal_bg(bg_palette); // 16 bytes only, background

pal_spr(sprite_palette); // 16 bytes only, sprites
-same as pal_all, but 16 bytes
pal_col(unsigned char index,unsigned char color);
-sets only 1 color in any palette, BG or Sprite
-can be done any time, this only updates during v-blank
-index = 0 – 31 (0-15 bg, 16-31 sprite)

#define RED 0x16
pal_col(0, RED); // would set the background color red
pal_col(0, 0x30); // would set the background color white = 0x30

pal_col() might be useful for rotating colors (SMB coins), or blinking a sprite
NOTE: palette buffer is set at 0x1c0-0x1df in example code
PAL_BUF =$01c0, defined somewhere in crt0.s
-this is in the hardware stack. If subroutine calls are more than 16 deep, it will start to overwrite the buffer, possibly causing wrong colors or game crashing

pal_clear(void); // just sets all colors to black, can be done any time

pal_bright(unsigned char bright); // brightens or darkens all the colors
– 0-8, 4 = normal, 3 2 1 darker, 5 6 7 lighter
– 0 is black, 4 is normal, 8 is white
pal_bright(4); // normal

NOTE: pal_bright() must be called at least once during init (and it is, in crt0.s). It sets a pointer to colors that needs to be set for the palette update to work.

Shiru has a fading function in the Chase source code game.c

void pal_fade_to(unsigned to)
{
  if(!to) music_stop();
  while(bright!=to)
  {
    delay(4);
    if(bright<to) ++bright; 
    else --bright;
    pal_bright(bright);
  }
  if(!bright)
  {
    ppu_off();
    set_vram_update(NULL);
    scroll(0,0);
  }
}

pal_spr_bright(unsigned char bright);
-sets sprite brightness only

pal_bg_bright(unsigned char bright);  -sets BG brightness , use 0-8, same as pal_bright()

ppu_wait_nmi(void);
-wait for next frame

ppu_wait_frame(void);
-it waits an extra frame every 5 frames, for NTSC TVs
-do not use this, I removed it
-potentially buggy with split screens

ppu_off(void); // turns off screen

ppu_on_all(void); // turns sprites and BG back on

ppu_on_bg(void); // only turns BG on, doesn’t affect sprites
ppu_on_spr(void); // only turns sprites on, doesn’t affect bg

ppu_mask(unsigned char mask); // sets the 2001 register manually, see nesdev wiki
-could be used to set color emphasis or grayscale modes

ppu_mask(0x1e); // normal, screen on
ppu_mask(0x1f); // grayscale mode, screen on
ppu_mask(0xfe); // screen on, all color emphasis bits set, darkening the screen

ppu_system(void); // returns 0 for PAL, !0 for NTSC

-during init, it does some timed code, and it figures out what kind of TV system is running. This is a way to access that information, if you want to have it programmed differently for each type of TV
-use like…
a = ppu_system();

oam_clear(void); // clears the OAM buffer, making all sprites disappear

OAM_BUF =$0200, defined somewhere in crt0.s

oam_size(unsigned char size); // sets sprite size to 8×8 or 8×16 mode

oam_size(0); // 8×8 mode
oam_size(1); // 8×16 mode

NOTE: at the start of each loop, set sprid to 0
sprid = 0; , then every time you push a sprite to the OAM buffer, it returns the next index value (sprid)

oam_spr(unsigned char x,unsigned char y,unsigned char chrnum,unsigned char attr,unsigned char sprid);
-returns sprid (the current index to the OAM buffer)
-sprid is the number of sprites in the buffer times 4 (4 bytes per sprite)

sprid = oam_spr(1,2,3,0,sprid);
-this will put a sprite at X=1,Y=2, use tile #3, palette #0, and we’re using sprid to keep track of the index into the buffer

sprid = oam_spr (1,2,3,0|OAM_FLIP_H,sprid); // the same, but flip the sprite horizontally
sprid = oam_spr (1,2,3,0|OAM_FLIP_V,sprid); // the same, but flip the sprite vertically
sprid = oam_spr (1,2,3,0|OAM_FLIP_H|OAM_FLIP_V,sprid); // the same, but flip the sprite horizontally and vertically
sprid = oam_spr (1,2,3,0|OAM_BEHIND,sprid); // the sprite will be behind the background, but in front of the universal background color (the very first bg palette entry)

oam_meta_spr(unsigned char x,unsigned char y,unsigned char sprid,const unsigned char *data);
-returns sprid (the current index to the OAM buffer)
-sprid is the number of sprites in the buffer times 4 (4 bytes per sprite)

sprid = oam_meta_spr(1,2,sprid, metasprite1)

metasprite1[] = …; // definition of the metasprite, array of chars

A metasprite is a collection of sprites
-you can’t flip it so easily
-you can make a metasprite with nes screen tool
-it’s an array of 4 bytes per tile =
-x offset, y offset, tile, attribute (per tile palette/flip)
-you have to pass a pointer to this data array
-the data set needs to terminate in 128 (0x80)
-during each loop (frame) you will be pushing sprites to the OAM buffer
-they will automatically go to the OAM during v-blank (part of nmi code)

oam_hide_rest(unsigned char sprid);
-pushes the rest of the sprites off screen
-do at the end of each loop

-necessary, if you don’t clear the sprites at the beginning of each loop
-if # of sprites on screen is exactly 64, the sprid value would wrap around to 0, and this function would accidentally push all your sprites off screen (passing 0 will push all sprites off screen)
-if for some reason you pass a value not divisible by 4 (like 3), this function would crash the game in an infinite loop
-it might be safer, then, to just use oam_clear() at the start of each loop, and never call oam_hide_rest()

music_play(unsigned char song); // send it a song number, it sets a pointer to the start of the song, will play automatically, updated during v-blank
music_play(0); // plays song #0

music_stop(void); // stops the song, must do music_play() to start again, which will start the beginning of the song

music_pause(unsigned char pause); // pauses a song, and unpauses a song at the point you paused it

music_pause(1); // pause
music_pause(0); // unpause

sfx_play(unsigned char sound,unsigned char channel); // sets a pointer to the start of a sound fx, which will auto-play

sfx_play(0, 0); // plays sound effect #0, priority #0

channel 3 has priority over 2,,,,,, 3 > 2 > 1 > 0. If 2 sound effects conflict, the higher priority will play.

sample_play(unsigned char sample); // play a DMC sound effect

sample_play(0); // play DMC sample #0

pad_poll(unsigned char pad);
-reads a controller
-have to send it a 0 or 1, one for each controller
-do this once per frame
pad1 = pad_poll(0); // reads contoller #1, store in pad1
pad2 = pad_poll(1); // reads contoller #2, store in pad2

pad_trigger(unsigned char pad); // only gets new button presses, not if held

a = pad_trigger(0); // read controller #1, return only if new press this frame
b = pad_trigger(1); // read controller #2, return only if new press this frame

-this actually calls pad_poll(), but returns only new presses, not buttons held

pad_state(unsigned char pad);
-get last poll without polling again
-do pad_poll() first, every frame
-this is so you have a consistent value all frame
-can do this multiple times per frame and will still get the same info

pad1 = pad_state(0); // controller #1, get last poll
pad2 = pad_state(1); // controller #2, get last poll

NOTE: button definitions are opposite of the ones I’ve used, because they are stored with a shift right rather than shift left

// scrolling //
It is expected that you have 2 int’s defined (2 bytes each), ScrollX and ScrollY.
You need to manually keep them from 0 to 0x01ff (0x01df for y, there are only 240 scanlines, not 256)
In example code 9, shiru does this

– -y;

if(y<0) y=240*2-1; // keep Y within the total height of two nametables

scroll(unsigned int x,unsigned int y);
-sets the x and y scroll. can do any time, the numbers don’t go to the 2005 registers till next v-blank
-the upper bit changes the base nametable, register 2000 (during the next v-blank)
-assuming you have mirroring set correctly, it will scroll into the next nametable.

scroll(scroll_X,scroll_Y);

split(unsigned int x,unsigned int y);
-waits for sprite zero hit, then changes the x scroll
-will only work if you have a sprite currently in the OAM at the zero position, and it’s somewhere on-screen with a non-transparent portion overlapping the non-transparent portion of a BG tile.

-i’m not sure why it asks for y, since it doesn’t change the y scroll
-it’s actually very hard to do a mid-screen y scroll change, so this is probably for the best
-warning: all CPU time between the function call and the actual split point will be wasted!
-don’t use ppu_wait_frame() with this, you might have glitches

Tile banks

-there are 2 sets of 256 tiles loaded to the ppu, ppu addresses 0-0x1fff
-sprites and bg can freely choose which tileset to use, or even both use the same set

bank_spr(unsigned char n); // which set of tiles for sprites

bank_spr(0); // use the first set of tiles
bank_spr(1); // use the second set of tiles

bank_bg(unsigned char n); // which set of tiles for background

bank_bg(0); // use the first set of tiles
bank_bg(1); // use the second set of tiles

rand8(void); // get a random number 0-255
a = rand8(); // a is char

rand16(void); // get a random number 0-65535
a = rand16(); // a is int

set_rand(unsigned int seed); // send an int (2 bytes) to seed the rng

-note, crt0 init code auto sets the seed to 0xfdfd
-you might want to use another seeding method, if randomness is important, like checking FRAME_CNT1 at the time of START pressed on title screen

---

set_vram_update(unsigned char *buf);
-sets a pointer to an array (a VRAM update buffer, somewhere in the RAM)
-when rendering is ON, this is how BG updates are made

usage…
set_vram_update(Some_ROM_Array); // sets a pointer to the data in ROM

(or)

memcpy(update_list,updateListData,sizeof(updateListData));
– copies data from ROM to a buffer, the buffer is called ‘update_list’
set_vram_update(update_list); // sets a pointer, and a flag to auto-update during the next v-blank

also…
set_vram_update(NULL);
-to disable updates, call this function with NULL pointer

The vram buffer should be filled like this…

Non-sequential:
-non-sequential means it will set a PPU address, then write 1 byte
-MSB, LSB, 1 byte data, repeat
-sequence terminated in 0xff (NT_UPD_EOF)

MSB = high byte of PPU address
LSB = low byte of PPU address

Sequential:
-sequential means it will set a PPU address, then write more than 1 byte to the ppu
-left to right (or) top to bottom
-MSB|NT_UPD_HORZ, LSB, # of bytes, a list of the bytes, repeat
or
-MSB|NT_UPD_VERT, LSB, # of bytes, a list of the bytes, repeat
-NT_UPD_HORZ, means it will write left to right, wrapping around to the next line
-NT_UPD_VERT, means is will write top to bottom, but a new address needs to be set after it reaches the bottom of the screen, as it will never wrap to the next column over
-sequence terminated in 0xff (NT_UPD_EOF)

#define NT_UPD_HORZ 0x40 = sequential
#define NT_UPD_VERT 0x80 = sequential
#define NT_UPD_EOF 0xff

Example of 4 sequential writes, left to right, starting at screen position x=1,y=2
tile #’s are 5,6,7,8
{
MSB(NTADR_A(1,2))|NT_UPD_HORZ,
LSB(NTADR_A(1,2)),
4, // 4 writes
5,6,7,8, // tile #’s
NT_UPD_EOF
};

Interestingly, it will continually write the same data, every v-blank, unless you send a NULL pointer like this…
set_vram_update(NULL);
…though, it may not make much difference.
The data set (aka vram buffer) must not be > 256 bytes, including the ff at the end of the data, and should not push more than…I don’t know, maybe * bytes of data to the ppu, since this happens during v-blank and not during rendering off, time is very very limited.

* Max v-ram changes per frame, with rendering on, before BAD THINGS start to happen…

sequential max = 97 (no palette change this frame),
74 (w palette change this frame)

non-sequential max = 40 (no palette change this frame),
31 (w palette change this frame)

the buffer only needs to be…
3 * 40 + 1 = 121 bytes in size
…as it can’t push more bytes than that, during v-blank.

(this hasn’t been tested on hardware, only FCEUX)

// all following vram functions only work when display is disabled

vram_adr(unsigned int adr);
-sets a PPU address
(sets a start point in the background for writing tiles)
vram_adr(NAMETABLE_A); // start at the top left of the screen
vram_adr(NTADR_A(x,y));
vram_adr(NTADR_A(5,6)); // sets a start position x=5,y=6

vram_put(unsigned char n); // puts 1 byte there
-use vram_adr(); first
vram_put(6); // push tile # 6 to screen

vram_fill(unsigned char n,unsigned int len); // repeat same tile * LEN
-use vram_adr(); first
-might have to use vram_inc(); first (see below)
vram_fill(1, 0x200); // tile # 1 pushed 512 times

vram_inc(unsigned char n); // mode of ppu
vram_inc(0); // data gets pushed into vram left to right (wraping to next line)
vram_inc(1); // data gets pushed into vram top to bottom (only works for 1 column (30 bytes), then you have to set another address).
-do this BEFORE writing to the screen, if you need to change directions

vram_read(unsigned char *dst,unsigned int size);
-reads a byte from vram
-use vram_adr(); first
-dst is where in RAM you will be storing this data from the ppu, size is how many bytes

vram_read(0x300, 2); // read 2 bytes from vram, write to RAM 0x300

NOTE, don’t read from the palette, just use the palette buffer at 0x1c0

vram_write(unsigned char *src,unsigned int size);
-write some bytes to the vram
-use vram_adr(); first
-src is a pointer to the data you are writing to the ppu
-size is how many bytes to write

vram_write(0x300, 2); // write 2 bytes to vram, from RAM 0x300
vram_write(TEXT,sizeof(TEXT)); // TEXT[] is an array of bytes to write to vram.
(For some reason this gave me an error, passing just an array name, had to cast to char * pointer)
vram_write((unsigned char*)TEXT,sizeof(TEXT));

vram_unrle(const unsigned char *data);
-pass it a pointer to the RLE data, and it will push it all to the PPU.
-this unpacks compressed data to the vram
-this is what you should actually use…this is what NES screen tool outputs best.
vram_unrle(titleRLE);

usage:
-first, disable rendering, ppu_off();
-set vram_inc(0) and vram_adr()
-wait for start of frame, with ppu_wait_nmi();
-call vram_unrle();
-then turn rendering back on, ppu_on_all()
-only load 1 nametable worth of data, per frame

NOTE:
-nmi is turned on in init, and never comes off

memcpy(void *dst,void *src,unsigned int len);
-moves data from one place to another…usually from ROM to RAM

memcpy(update_list,updateListData,sizeof(updateListData));

memfill(void *dst,unsigned char value,unsigned int len);
-fill memory with a value

memfill(0x200, 0, 0x100);
-to fill 0x200-0x2ff with zero…that is 0x100 bytes worth of filling

delay(unsigned char frames); // waits a # of frames

delay(5); // wait 5 frames

TECHNICAL NOTES, ON ASM BITS IN NESLIB.S:
-vram (besides the palette) is only updated if VRAM_UPDATE + NAME_UPD_ENABLE are set…
-ppu_wait_frame (or) ppu_wait_nmi, sets ‘UPDATE’
-set_vram_update, sets ‘ENABLE’
-set_vram_update(0); disables the vram ‘UPDATE’
-I guess you can’t set a pointer to the zero page address 0x0000, or it will never update.
-music only plays if FT_SONG_SPEED is set, play sets it, stop resets it, pause sets it to negative (ORA #$80), unpause clears that bit

I edited every cfg. file to include a “ONCE” segment, so that they will compile with the latest version of cc65.

I also included a makefile in every lesson folder, for Linux users, or people that prefer to use Gnu Make over .bat files. Actually, Linux users will have to edit the makefile slightly. Just uncomment the rm *.o lines and comment the del *.o lines.

In other news, Shiru has updated the NES Screen Tool, to allow non standard nametable sizes (ie, larger ones for scrolling games). Also fixed was a minor RLE encoder bug.

I submitted 2 entries into the 2016 nesdev game competition. Here they are…

Flappy Jack

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/k3tpdfr5rj11e7s/flappy14.nes

Rock Paper Scissors (and Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock…I mean Sbock).

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/fnv35n959f58dvq/Rock9b.nes

Interesting side note…neither of these games were programmed in C. Both were written in ASM for asm6.

And, I’m working on a top secret project right now, that will probably be sold in stores. Hopefully. No, not the ninja game…I’ve shoved that on the back burner for a bit.

Also, for more cc65 source code, visit the Mojon Twins website (caution, NSFW content). Their games are usually open source.

http://www.mojontwins.com/

 

Update – 3/26/2017

I’ve been working on a Python3 NES disassembler. It’s not done, but seems to be working for 80-90% of the games I tried. Reassembles with asm6.

Here is the github page where the Python script is located. PAY ATTENTION to the Usage.txt file.

https://github.com/nesdoug/NES-DISASSEMBLER

 

I have plans to make changes to these tutorials. Maybe add some SNES tutorials (much later), but I definitely need to finish my current projects first.

 

Hello,

I have been working on my Vigilante Ninja 2 game, off and on for 2 years (and a few other games). It is finished. All 5 levels. And, I put a few copies on cartridges.

If you would like a copy, send me an e-mail. I have a hotmail account that starts like dougfraker2. I’m also on twitter @nesdoug2.

LINK TO THE DEMO!

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2ipv0bgxllf1z55/Vig2-DEMO.nes

MANUAL

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/dw5fnwh11he26xj/VigNinjaManual4.pdf

some screen shots…(note, the color choices have changed for the final version)

 

 

 

 

Level 4 –

Also, I also helped out with the music programming of…probably the biggest NES game released of [2016]…Haunted Halloween ’86. It is available at…

https://cashinculture.3dcartstores.com/

and in the Cash In Culture Stores. Go check it out.

 

 

Purple Cape Man, Vigilante Ninja (aka Vigilante Ninja 1)

This was my first NES game, that I programmed before I knew anything about NES programming. It’s crap, but you might have fun playing it anyway.

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/0hnvrxix0kkoz5e/VIGD.NES

 

Probably the final 6502 ASM lesson. I’m going to try to cover everything I forgot.

Switch (foo){
case 0:
…
break;
case 1:
…
break;
case 2:
…
}

Let’s say we have a variable ‘state’ that if state = 0, we do one thing. If state = 1, we do another thing. Etc. Generally, it would be handled like this…

  LDA foo      load A from address foo, will set a zero flag if foo = 0
  BNE Check_1  branch ahead if foo != 0
  ...
  JMP Done     break

Check_1:       A is still loaded with value from foo
  CMP #1       compare to value 1, sets zero flag if foo = 1
  BNE Check_2  branch ahead if foo != 1
  ...
  JMP Done     break

Check_2:       A is still loaded with value from foo
  CMP #2       compare to value 2, sets zero flag if foo = 2
  BNE Done     branch ahead if foo != 2
  ...

Done:

Comments are done with a ; in ca65

;this is a comment

You add additional ASM source code like this…

.include “Second_ASM_File.asm”

You add binary files like this…

.incbin “Something.bin”

Often, you put a binary file just below a label, so you can index it from the label.

Label_Name:
.incbin “Something.bin”

You might wonder why I never add the lines .P02 (to set to 6502 mode) or -t nes (to set the target as ‘NES’), and the answer is…it makes no difference. The default mode of ca65 assembles exactly how I want, so I don’t bother.

I skipped over the V flag (overflow). The V flag is only set by ADC and SBC (and BIT). This is a way to treat the numbers as signed -128 to +127.

For ADC, the V flag is only set if 2 positive numbers add together to get a negative, or if 2 negative numbers add together to get a positive. Any other ADC operation will clear the V flag.

For SBC, the V flag is only set if Pos-Neg = Neg…or if Neg-Pos = Pos. All other SBC operations will clear the V flag.

What you do with the result is up to you, but you have BVC (branch if V clear) and BVS (branch if V set) to help you decide.

MULTIPLICATION/DIVISION

I went and wrote several routines that would do these as efficiently as I could think…and then I found these webpages, which do the same thing about 10x faster.

http://6502org.wikidot.com/software-math-intmul

http://6502org.wikidot.com/software-math-intdiv

I’ve tried them out. They work great.

OH, and before I forget, I found another webpage with an online assembler, that you can test out code.

https://skilldrick.github.io/easy6502/

I can’t think of anything else at this time, but you can look at these resources for more infomation…

http://www.6502.org/

http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/Programming_guide

http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/images/7/76/Programmanual.pdf

The last one has lots of info about 65C02 and 65816 processors too, but if you scroll down to Chapter 18 (p.326) it will describe how all the instructions work. Most of them are relevant to 6502 programming also.