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Development of this also appears to still be ongoing [0], though I don't think the code is actually public anywhere. [0] https://atariage.com/forums/topic/1545

by shakna 4y ago

Development of this also appears to still be ongoing [0], though I don't think the code is actually public anywhere. [0] https://atariage.com/forums/topic/154520-new-gui-for-the-atari-8-bit/page/158/#comments https://atariage.com/forums/topic/154520-new-gui-for-the-ata...

rbanffy 4y ago
I find this a real shame. If the code was available, a lot of people could be writing small programs for the GUI, running it on emulators, playing with the GTIA overscan modes (it can do more than 192x320 pixels) and so on.
- ddingus 4y ago
  348x200+ pixels is possible with the 48 byte wide mode.
- flashjazz 4y ago
  The thing needs to be finished and documented before anyone can write anything for it; open-sourcing it (as I notice from observing other projects) won't necessarily make great things happen. The GOS can already be run in emulation, althogh I don't know what would be accomplished by using the 48 byte playfield mode if one hopes to run it on a standard monitor. It's a lot of effort for a couple of dozen pixels.
  - rbanffy 4y ago
    > It's a lot of effort for a couple of dozen pixels. Sometimes, "because it's possible" is all you need ;-) But now, more seriously, it'd be fun to try to port it to different 6502-based computers. I've been looking for a good excuse to get myself an Apple III or a BBC Master and this seems like a great one. Not all of them will be able to have preemptive multitasking (interrupts aren't always convenient), but it'd still be fun. Imagine that - in 2023 we could have software that runs unmodified on more than one 6502-based computer...
    - jgerrish 4y ago
      cc65 provides a compiler suite and runtimes for many old 6502 machines. It really is a cool project. https://github.com/cc65/cc65 https://github.com/cc65/cc65 It provides some template configuration files describing different memory layouts. And provides common libraries for input/output. There's also a LLVM fork for MOS: https://github.com/llvm-mos/llvm-mos https://github.com/llvm-mos/llvm-mos They've got some interesting hacks with ZeroPage memory and register allocation: https://llvm-mos.org/wiki/Code_generation_overview https://llvm-mos.org/wiki/Code_generation_overview Interesting if you geek out on that kind of research.
mzs 4y ago
Thanks, I was wondering how page 2 stack could be shared with the limited bank switching available on the 800. Turns-out a special cart is needed that can switch the first two pages (and presumably protect IO somehow).
- flashjazz 4y ago
  No special hardware is required at all; just 128K of RAM and a bank-switched cartridge.

by shakna 4y ago

rbanffy 4y ago

I find this a real shame. If the code was available, a lot of people could be writing small programs for the GUI, running it on emulators, playing with the GTIA overscan modes (it can do more than 192x320 pixels) and so on.

ddingus 4y ago
348x200+ pixels is possible with the 48 byte wide mode.
flashjazz 4y ago
The thing needs to be finished and documented before anyone can write anything for it; open-sourcing it (as I notice from observing other projects) won't necessarily make great things happen. The GOS can already be run in emulation, althogh I don't know what would be accomplished by using the 48 byte playfield mode if one hopes to run it on a standard monitor. It's a lot of effort for a couple of dozen pixels.
- rbanffy 4y ago
  > It's a lot of effort for a couple of dozen pixels. Sometimes, "because it's possible" is all you need ;-) But now, more seriously, it'd be fun to try to port it to different 6502-based computers. I've been looking for a good excuse to get myself an Apple III or a BBC Master and this seems like a great one. Not all of them will be able to have preemptive multitasking (interrupts aren't always convenient), but it'd still be fun. Imagine that - in 2023 we could have software that runs unmodified on more than one 6502-based computer...
  - jgerrish 4y ago
    cc65 provides a compiler suite and runtimes for many old 6502 machines. It really is a cool project. https://github.com/cc65/cc65 https://github.com/cc65/cc65 It provides some template configuration files describing different memory layouts. And provides common libraries for input/output. There's also a LLVM fork for MOS: https://github.com/llvm-mos/llvm-mos https://github.com/llvm-mos/llvm-mos They've got some interesting hacks with ZeroPage memory and register allocation: https://llvm-mos.org/wiki/Code_generation_overview https://llvm-mos.org/wiki/Code_generation_overview Interesting if you geek out on that kind of research.

mzs 4y ago

Thanks, I was wondering how page 2 stack could be shared with the limited bank switching available on the 800. Turns-out a special cart is needed that can switch the first two pages (and presumably protect IO somehow).

flashjazz 4y ago
No special hardware is required at all; just 128K of RAM and a bank-switched cartridge.