0xC0DE

I finally got around to creating a simple static website with most of my free games and tools. Play my games online by clicking on the game's image, or visit the corresponding GitHub page. It also lists most of the places you may find me online 😎 0xc0de6502.github.io

Very early test with some enemies. No collision detection and no clipping yet. I shrunk the viewport a little in advance to create enough frame time for enemies, moving platforms, etc.

Quick screenshot of the new layout before 💤💤

The little struggles... picking up coins or other things (and hence erasing the sprite correctly on all 4 buffers) when they are only partially visible at the left edge of the viewport... was pretty challenging. Also, no more preshifted tiles but on-the-fly shifting while plotting

see I've tried using AI for coding I'd like to think I'm special and immune to AI addiction, but the reality is probably just that I'm incapable of feeling any kind of attachment or pride in AI generated code I feel like it pollutes the project and displaces my own motivation, I just don't want it

I have just released Lander for the ARM Evaluation System. So that's the first ever ARM game running on the first ever ARM chip. See this Stardot thread for details: stardot.org.uk/forums/viewt... Fly safe! #retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #archimedes

I should've thought of this before...

Et tu, Stardot? 😭

Space optimisation round. 1.5K bytes for tile shift tables now. Wondering if I miss a trick here. Plotting is slower of course but saving a lot of RAM for not storing preshifted tiles. Will experiment without shift tables as well, by faffing about with LSR/ASL/AND on-the-fly

Unnamed Electrobots game (WIP) for Acorn Electron 🚫AI. Created more varied tiles and tile types. Next up: stats, enemies, moving platforms?

#RETROGAMING #8bit #thomson #mo5 Lala Prologue for the Thomson MO5/MO6 Tape and Cartridge format. original #zxspectrum game by @mojon_twins . Get it now for #FREE while it is hot: iapetus2019.itch.io/lala-prologu... . . . #8BitArt #IndieGame #PixelPerfect #GamingCommunity #ArcadeVibes

When reverse engineering was still fun... 🥹 (left: Exmon II, right: SoftICE (image from alchetron))

Coin collection is a surprisingly hard problem. Debug view shows a thin blue line as an indication of raster time. One of four hidden back buffers is also shown. I have been optimising quite a bit but I still think I may need to shrink the viewport a little to maintain 25fps

Painful and awesome at the same time!! 🤯👏

I have been tweaking the jump (including 'coyote time') and fall animation until it felt just right. It is (un)expectedly difficult to erase a collected coin on all 4 preshifted back buffers, at the right location and at the right time... not perfect yet!

Strongly confusing myself with world tile coords vs screen pixel coords using 4 preshifted back buffers... in 6502 asm... on a rainy Sunday afternoon... what more could one possibly want in life? 😅 (hope to show some WIP video later today)

Every time I make a platform game, I realise I need to implement 'coyote time' when jumping off the edge of platforms, so I don't frustrate players (including myself)

I know the feeling but I will keep handcoding my games because I enjoy it. At the same time I find myself being less enthusiastic in engaging with retro devs on here because it's not always clear that uncle Claude did most of their work

Someone mentioned a certain Italian plumber and this gave me the idea for the current game mechanic instead of an "endless runner" game. Funny enough, having the screen scrolling continuously is easier to get right! Showing the advanced back buffers (4!) technique for your viewing pleasure 😎

OK, back to the bottom of the screen and giving the little robot a little more wiggle room (16 char rows instead of 12). However, this version takes more time and space. I also need to check if this is stable on a real Electron. Did I say I thrive on self-imposed constraints? 😂

Tinkering with my electrobot-themed prototype. Currently designed as an "endless runner" kind of game. The usual doubts: is limited screen space enough? Will it be FUN? Should it be a "free moving" type of game instead? What about platforms, puzzles, ladders, doors, enemies, shoot-em-up?

Keep making games. Keep drawing art. Keep playing music. We never stopped putting paint on canvas, and we never stopped appreciating what a brush stroke means. Your games mean something.

Now feeding an actual level "design" (made in Tiled) into the game instead of a looping image...

Look who's back to save the world again! Your favourite electrobot, aww 🥰

Just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks for my next Acorn Electron project. Scrolling is smoother in real life than this video shows. Using the top part of the screen for a change, for reasons...

I'm sorry to say I have to pause my "Wanted: Monty Mole" conversion for the Acorn Electron. I was unable to come to an agreement with the IP holder. I'd like to pick it back up if circumstances change. Auf Wiedersehen for now, dear Monty!

I took some time to make sure all tiles (and their specific properties) are correct for all 21 rooms in my conversion of Wanted: Monty Mole from ZX Spectrum to Acorn Electron... sharing this pretty picture for those who may attempt their own conversion of this classic game in the future 😎

"Wanted: Monty Mole" (WIP) on Acorn Electron. Took longer than expected because movement code is quite convoluted. Not perfect yet. Slowed down to target 25fps. Funny quirks in original game (and in mine): 1. No eye when walking right, 2. Walks slower on some tiles because constantly "falling"

A random thought that's been on my mind lately. Am I destined to be that stubborn old man still driving a horse and cart while everyone else is driving cars?

Minor update to Electroniq (0xc0de6502.github.io/electroniq/), my online Acorn Electron emulator. You can now Quick Play™️ new games like Pyjamarama, Citadel 2, Chuckulus, Apache Canyon & Zezito and the Lost Stars. Many thanks to their authors and Nyimski for hosting the ROMs

Many familiar faces! 🥰 👋

Now that my ZX Spectrum Next upgrade board (from KS2 to KS3) will soon be on its way, I really REALLY need to figure out what to do with it 🤣 Good thing I've been reading a lot of Z80 code lately...

Wanted: Monty Mole (WIP) on Acorn Electron. When porting a game, I always seem to begin with the graphics (loading screen, sprites, tiles, etc). At least that way I get something on the screen as soon as possible, which boosts my motivation to continue with the rest of the conversion! 💪😎

I am thrilled to announce the release of my latest Elite hack: Two-player Elite for the #BBCMicro This is the original 1980s Acornsoft Elite, but with split-screen, two-player, deep-space combat See the thread for links, downloads and details (1/10) #retrocomputing #retrogaming #elitedangerous

Confirmed working on a real Acorn Electron (see photo)! 😌 However, there seems to be a 4 pixel offset between a real Elk and Electroniq, i.e. an improvement opportunity for my emulator! 🧐

Exploiting RAM contention to sync to hblank after RTC interrupt fires to get stable horizontal colour palette switching in MODE1 on Acorn Electron (from SWRAM). Video reveals the exact locations of the palette switches, including partial colour changes. Bit afraid to test on real hardware 🫣

This is more like what I really want. I wish I could make a vertical colour split in MODE1 (but the CPU is stalled during the active part of scanlines on an Electron)... but wait a minute, not when that code runs from SWRAM (with interrupts disabled) 🧐🤯 To boldly go..............

Old school and humble beginnings (just the way I like it!). When a bit of BBC BASIC is just fine to convert the byte order of software sprites (Sinclair to Acorn). (No AI was harmed during this process)

Acorn Electron quick mockup (Wanted: Monty Mole). Spot the technical design choices... 🧐

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