OK, I was going to call this thread tools, but I don't personally want it to be that general as I personally don't want sprite converters and all that kind of thing listed here, but feel free to start other threads for that kind of thing.
So I'm interested in compiler and assembler options for various architectures. What people use and also what is known to work, and please remember that these days the whole world does not revolve around Windows. It sounds like at least myself and CMonkey are on OS X and I know of other people that are as well who haven't shown up here yet, but I would expect probably will when they have time (I'm talking about you Nes4Life !!)
I also know that not using assembler is frowned upon wherever you look. I get it all the time on the Vectrex FB group and I expect to get it here as well, but for me this isn't all just about writing new games for old hardware using old methods, this is the 21st century, so for me half the fun is in making use of modern methods. So I want to be able to develop in a higher level language like C for example, where I can (you're always going to need to dip into assembler somewhere along the line).
For 6809 then I use (and can supply for OS X if anyone needs):
asxxxx Assembler tool chain. Specifically as6809: http://shop-pdp.net/ashtml/asxxxx.htm
gcc6809 C compiler. https://github.com/bcd/gcc
I have a feeling that I'm using the as6809 that was built as part of the GCC-6809 distribution. I will say that the GCC-6809 was an absolute bitch to compile and get working on OS X 10.9 (as it was at the time) and not only can I not really remember what I did to get it working in the end but I also wouldn't wish that on anyone. So if anyone wants that (for OS X) then let me know and I'll send it over to them provided I can package it.
For 6502 cmonkey suggested yesterday:
64tass asembler tool chain : http://sourceforge.net/projects/tass64/
I don't know if I'm being too picky here but it seems to use a different syntax to as6809 above right down to fundamental things like $0d for hex whereas as6809 is 0x0d - (may or may not be correct off the top of my head, as I said, I'm not that familiar with assembler). Using a different syntax seems to further add complication and be a pain in the ass! But like I say, not sure if I'm being too picky?
I've not investigated a C compiler yet but it looks like the only one I could really spot was cc65 which is now defunct, but as long as the host OS is supported them defunct is OK. Let's face it, the target hardware is long since defunct too
For Z80 I remember using:
sdcc : http://sdcc.sourceforge.net/index.php
I had a little tinker about with that for Amstrad CPC work but I never did anything with it. I remember seeing some examples which is what led me there. That suite contains an assembler based on asxxxx as well incidentally.
That's it for me, I will be eagerly awaiting some input from others on this one!
What I will do at some point is write up my development process for Vectrex (suitably tagged as OT
) It may not specifically be arcade home-brew but in my mind it will demonstrate the method that I have been using (all on modern tools) and in my mind, I think I can make the same process work for arcade projects, though I'm not 100% sure on that just yet, I'm still mulling the intricacies of it over in my head...
So I'm interested in compiler and assembler options for various architectures. What people use and also what is known to work, and please remember that these days the whole world does not revolve around Windows. It sounds like at least myself and CMonkey are on OS X and I know of other people that are as well who haven't shown up here yet, but I would expect probably will when they have time (I'm talking about you Nes4Life !!)
I also know that not using assembler is frowned upon wherever you look. I get it all the time on the Vectrex FB group and I expect to get it here as well, but for me this isn't all just about writing new games for old hardware using old methods, this is the 21st century, so for me half the fun is in making use of modern methods. So I want to be able to develop in a higher level language like C for example, where I can (you're always going to need to dip into assembler somewhere along the line).
For 6809 then I use (and can supply for OS X if anyone needs):
asxxxx Assembler tool chain. Specifically as6809: http://shop-pdp.net/ashtml/asxxxx.htm
gcc6809 C compiler. https://github.com/bcd/gcc
I have a feeling that I'm using the as6809 that was built as part of the GCC-6809 distribution. I will say that the GCC-6809 was an absolute bitch to compile and get working on OS X 10.9 (as it was at the time) and not only can I not really remember what I did to get it working in the end but I also wouldn't wish that on anyone. So if anyone wants that (for OS X) then let me know and I'll send it over to them provided I can package it.
For 6502 cmonkey suggested yesterday:
64tass asembler tool chain : http://sourceforge.net/projects/tass64/
I don't know if I'm being too picky here but it seems to use a different syntax to as6809 above right down to fundamental things like $0d for hex whereas as6809 is 0x0d - (may or may not be correct off the top of my head, as I said, I'm not that familiar with assembler). Using a different syntax seems to further add complication and be a pain in the ass! But like I say, not sure if I'm being too picky?
I've not investigated a C compiler yet but it looks like the only one I could really spot was cc65 which is now defunct, but as long as the host OS is supported them defunct is OK. Let's face it, the target hardware is long since defunct too
For Z80 I remember using:
sdcc : http://sdcc.sourceforge.net/index.php
I had a little tinker about with that for Amstrad CPC work but I never did anything with it. I remember seeing some examples which is what led me there. That suite contains an assembler based on asxxxx as well incidentally.
That's it for me, I will be eagerly awaiting some input from others on this one!
What I will do at some point is write up my development process for Vectrex (suitably tagged as OT
