Let's Make an Atari 2600 Game! - Part 1

In this video I demonstrate my prototype Atari game and talk a bit about why the Atari 2600 is a good system to make games for.

[BananaMan]

This video just reminded me that when you’re limited with something you’re forced to have to be more creative with what you do. This is also really interesting, and I like everything you go through in your videos. I might not make home brews, but now I’m feeling even more inspired to code things while also having limits.

[JustWastedHoursHere]

The way David Crane squeezed 256 screens into only 4k of ROM is extremely clever. He used a mathematical algorithm that could output a byte that represented the layout of a screen, and if you did it in reverse it would output the byte of the previous screen. That's right: Each screen was defined by only one byte: Each bit determined certain factors like vine/no vine; alligator, etc. Very clever.

There's a series called "Stella at 20" about the creation of the Atari 2600 that talks quite a bit about this kind of thing and the incredibly limited architecture they had to deal with:
- 128 BYTES of RAM (Yes, you read that correctly)
- No video processor. YOU were in direct control of what was drawn, where and when AS the beam moved from top to bottom
- Only 8k maximum of game ROM (though there were tricks that could be used to get around this) due to the slightly cheaper version of the 6502 that was used, the 6507

[wallacelang]

Thank you in advance for your series of tutorials on writing Atari 2600 video game cartridge programs. I want to add more game cartridges to my Atari video games library.

[alkohallick]

That's because Pitfall 2 had an extra chip in the cartridge.

[sa]

Unfortunately watching this on YouTube they have reduced the frame rate to 30 frames per second so you totally miss the flickering effect, and only see one sprite. Watching it in person on real hardware and TV or a good emulator you would see the sprites in alternate frames.

[brandonreina]

I should literally create a video game for game consoles (Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, etc)

[AdamBarkerThe]

what did you use to make your game? I am thinking about trying batari basic a go.

[TMS]

why flicker the entire sprites per frame, why not alternate lines?

[JRJohnson]

How is the arrow using the same sprite as the bow? As in, using the same on-screen space, or something else?

[LtCdrRoyFokker]

I really like your sprites! How did you make the arrow? I know I'm over five years late to the party but I figured I'd ask just in case. Did you use a combo of the ball and missiles or did you use them to enhance the background?

[gonkdroidincarnate]

I haven't seen all it but if you added a bullet hell kind of boss

[marouaniAymen]

Thanks for the video, I appreciated the game and the concept behind Atari 2600. Can you tell us about the emulator used for programming ? is it possible to recreate a board where we can run the game on hardware ? thanks.

[sandal_thong]

What I want to know is if you can alternate the sprite for player 2, can you alternate the sprite for player 1? I would think that you could then get six sprites each on the screen on the same row with no flicker. I think this channel is dead, so don't expect an answer from the creator, but maybe someone else out there....

[michealschmidt]

Programer who made ET on Atari 2600 was given six weeks and paid for every one unit made so he didn’t show much enthusiasm for it cause he was paid b4 programming ET was a horrible blunder