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9781592009060

Retro Game Programming : Unleashed for the Masses

by
  • ISBN13:

    9781592009060

  • ISBN10:

    1592009069

  • Edition: 1st
  • Format: Paperback
  • Copyright: 2005-03-11
  • Publisher: Cengage Learning Ptr
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List Price: $39.99

Summary

There are an estimated 500,000 retro computer and game enthusiasts who are absolutely fanatical about retro game machines. This number consists of four main groups: hardcore hackers, enthusiasts, seasoned programmers, and novices. Retro Game Programming: Unleashed for the Masses” seeks to expose, teach, and preserve retro era programming techniques with the goal of providing a strong programming foundation on which to build the knowledge needed to understand modern game programming concepts. By teaching the fundamental principles of game programming the reader learns not to be intimidated by modern games because even the most complex modern games are based on repetition of simple tasks. This makes modern game programming concepts easier to understand and clarifies how they all work together. Written in clear and simple language, Retro Game Programming: Unleashed for the Masses” does not require the reader to be tech savvy, yet it covers technical aspects of programming. The book also covers the importance of the history and preservation of retro game programming. By reading and practicing the techniques in the book the reader is contributing to the preservation of the world of retro game programming.

Author Biography

Earl J. Carey now enjoys a fulfilling career as a computer programmer and graphic artist and is currently the chief graphic artist/programmer of Capital City Marketing in Nassau, Bahama

Table of Contents

Introduction xv
Bringing Your Retro Machine to Life
1(26)
Setting Up Your TRS-80 Color Computer
1(3)
Color Computer Storage Devices
4(3)
Setting Up Your Atari 400/800
7(3)
Installation Instructions
10(1)
Installing the Power Supply
10(2)
Connecting the Atari to a Monitor
12(4)
Connecting Your Atari to a TV
16(1)
Installing Your Disk Drive
17(2)
Connecting the Joystick
19(1)
Setting Up Your Commodore 64
20(4)
Setting Up Your Apple II
24(3)
Simply Complicated Game Programming
27(32)
Game Systems: Similar but Different
30(1)
Assembly Dialect
30(1)
The Memory Map
31(1)
CPU, Bus, and Memory Characteristics
32(1)
Basic 101
32(2)
Principles of Basic
34(1)
The Variable Principle
35(5)
The Input Principle
40(3)
The Listing Principle
43(1)
The Math Principle
44(3)
The Logic Principle
47(1)
The Screen Mode Principle
48(2)
The Graphics Principle
50(4)
The Branch Principle
54(1)
The Looping Principle
55(4)
The Early History of Video Games
59(44)
Build It and They Will Come!
59(1)
Noughts and Crosses
60(1)
Willy Higinbotham's Game
60(2)
In a Land Far, Far Away
62(1)
Spacewar!
63(1)
The 1960s
64(8)
Return of the Killer Pong
72(5)
Spot Generators
77(3)
The Odyssey
80(4)
The Syzygy
84(2)
Atari and Pong
86(2)
The Knockoff
88(3)
Big Business
91(4)
The Birth of Vector Graphics
95(1)
Space Wars
95(1)
A New Age of Video Games
96(2)
Space Invaders
98(3)
Conclusion
101(2)
Assembly Language
103(36)
Understanding Assembly Language
103(1)
Moving Memory Around in Your Computer
104(3)
Understanding Numbers and Math in Assembly Language
107(10)
Addressing Modes
117(5)
Working with the Stack
122(1)
System Flags
123(1)
Logic and Branching Instructions
124(2)
Facing the Code
126(1)
6502 Programming
127(4)
Sweet 16
131(2)
6809 Programming
133(5)
Conclusion
138(1)
A Game Graphics Primer
139(12)
Color
140(1)
What Makes a Picture?
140(4)
Approximating Shapes with Limited Pixels
144(1)
Symbolism
145(1)
Visual Cues
145(1)
Putting Them Together
146(3)
Conclusion
149(2)
Setting the Video Mode
151(72)
Setting the Video Mode
152(1)
Setting the Video Mode on the COCO
153(4)
Setting the Video Mode on the Apple II
157(2)
Setting the Video Mode on the Atari 400/800
159(16)
How Does the Display List Interrupt Work?
175(3)
Timing Considerations
178(5)
Multiple Display List Interrupts
183(3)
Create a Generic Display List
186(1)
Find the Location of Your Display List in Memory
186(2)
Find the Start of Video Memory
188(7)
Creating Your New Display List
195(1)
The Load Memory Scan Instruction
195(1)
Inserting the Remaining ANTIC Mode 2 Lines
196(1)
A Look at What You Have So Far
196(1)
Switching Back to Video Memory
197(1)
Polishing Off the Display List
198(1)
And Then There Was Light
199(1)
A More Advanced Display List
199(1)
Creating a Generic Display List
200(1)
Inserting Text Mode Lines
201(1)
What's Next?
202(3)
Writing DLI Interrupts
205(1)
Writing a Display List
205(1)
Writing the Code for Your Display List Interrupt
206(1)
Guarding the Computer's Memory
206(3)
Writing the Actual Heart of the Display List Interrupt
209(2)
Converting Assembly Language Code to Decimal
211(1)
Inserting the Display List into Memory
212(9)
Setting the Video Mode on the Commodore 64
221(1)
Conclusion
221(2)
Hacking the Video Buffer
223(18)
Identify the Characteristics of the Current Graphics Mode
224(2)
Video Buffer Hacking 101
226(6)
Placing Data in the Video Buffer
232(6)
Page Flipping
238(2)
Conclusion
240(1)
Adding Player Input, Physics, and Al
241(14)
Creating Your Computer's Intelligence
242(1)
Tracking Algorithms
242(2)
Evasion Algorithms
244(1)
Better Tracking and Evasion Algorithms
244(1)
Patterns
245(1)
Random Movement
246(1)
Fuzzy Logic
247(1)
Reading Player Input
248(1)
Modeling Game Physics
249(1)
Thrust
250(1)
Friction
250(1)
Gravity
250(1)
Putting All the Forces Together
251(3)
Conclusion
254(1)
Sound Effects
255(12)
How Sound Works in the Real World
255(2)
Mimicking Real World Sounds on a Retro Game Machine
257(1)
Computers with Special Sound Hardware
258(1)
The Commodore 64
258(3)
The Atari 400/800
261(1)
Basic Sound Command
261(3)
Assembly Sound Programming
264(2)
Conclusion
266(1)
Putting It All Together: Building Games
267(30)
The Universal Game Structure
268(1)
Initialization
268(1)
The Game Loop
268(1)
Cleanup
268(1)
Programming Text-Based Games
269(1)
What Is a Text-Based Game?
270(1)
Building Your First Text-Based Game
271(1)
The Story
271(1)
The Lay of the Land
271(4)
Creating Things That Go Bump in the Night
275(6)
Tools of the Trade
281(2)
Creating a Language for Your Game
283(1)
Writing the Code for Your Game
284(1)
Mapping Out Your Program
284(1)
Mapping Out Your World
285(10)
Jumping from Text-Based Games to Graphics-Based Games
295(1)
Conclusion
295(2)
Index 297

Supplemental Materials

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