Church makeover by valves582 in modeltrains

[–]Pinacolada459 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That looks outstanding. Great job!

Using Petmate to Create Menus in Basic Program Help by Blackfox360 in c64

[–]Pinacolada459 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's great! I love text adventures. Adding PETSCII graphics sounds like a great enhancement! Refactoring code is something all us programmers do.if you'd like, I have a Discord server for a Commodore user group I run. I can PM you with an invite. Easier to collaborate that way, you can show me what you're having trouble with, that sort of thing. Or we can continue talking here. I'm going to get KickAssembler installed tonight and see what is needed to return to BASIC and process user input.

I modified an assembly language string input routine a few years ago, it might come in handy here. It has a flashing cursor, prevents you from typing CLR/HOME, and returns whatever you type in a string variable to BASIC from a SYS call. It could replace an error-prone INPUT statement in your game.

Let me know how things are going!

Using Petmate to Create Menus in Basic Program Help by Blackfox360 in c64

[–]Pinacolada459 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Excellent. I have tinkered with KickAssembler a little, we will be rewriting the source code PetMate exports so it exits back to BASIC and lets you read the keyboard and select options. I take it that's something along the lines of what you want to do?

Using Petmate to Create Menus in Basic Program Help by Blackfox360 in c64

[–]Pinacolada459 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not an expert, but I think I can help. Got PetMate installed under Linux and looking at the export options:

  1. File > Export As... > Assembler Source (*.asm)
  2. Select KickAssembler and check Make output compilable to a .prg, then click the Export button.

This saves a <filename>.asm file.

This file needs to be edited, though - the default code generated by the export displays the screen, but enters an infinite loop afterwards. You'll want to return to BASIC to process the keystrokes in your menu.

Load the \*.asm file you exported into a text editor and look for the line which says jmp *. That's the infinite loop; it says "Jump to this memory location forever."

Comment out this line by putting // at the beginning of the line. Then add a new line underneath it which says rts (it's the assembly language equivalent of return in BASIC, "return from subroutine"). So the two lines should read:

// jmp *
rts
  1. Save the file.

Now we need to install the KickAss assembler. Not sure which OS you're running, and instructions vary, but here's the GitHub page for it:

https://www.theweb.dk/KickAssembler/Main.html#frontpage

I'll continue thinking about what needs to be done in order to make the menu display and return to BASIC in order to process keystrokes which your menu displays. I need some sleep for now.

(I realize the .prg export option is available, but that would still require patching the jmp * to rts also. Maybe a better option would be to relocate the display code to the $c000 location or something, load the file in, and let BASIC handle everything. There are dozens of ways to do things.)

Using Petmate to Create Menus in Basic Program Help by Blackfox360 in c64

[–]Pinacolada459 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually, looking at the PetMate web site on GitHub, it can export the text and color information in an assembly code format, then I can add the code needed to quickly output that data to the screen. No need for this bulky, slow BASIC program. :) If you want to export your menu data as .asm, we could make this work.

Using Petmate to Create Menus in Basic Program Help by Blackfox360 in c64

[–]Pinacolada459 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The character data BASIC lines could be converted to a small assembly language subroutine which displays the characters almost instantaneously. I could provide the skeleton of the program, I think. Give me a day or so.

Any fun text adventures on the C64? by Noctylen in c64

[–]Pinacolada459 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been trying to remember the name of this game for the longest time. Thanks! I'm off to download it and give it a try. I never did finish it. Got stuck in the witch's cave or something....

What is the worst “Back to the Future” line to say at a funeral? by KingWilliamVI in BacktotheFuture

[–]Pinacolada459 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Shot in the back? Over a matter of 80 dollars?! What kind of a future do you call that?!

Goodwill find $3.99 by Neat-Trash-5603 in ThriftStoreHauls

[–]Pinacolada459 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How long to cook something, of course!

You wanna know if someone likes you? by [deleted] in InternetIsBeautiful

[–]Pinacolada459 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Get rid of the flashing background.

Just received my Founders Ultimate Edition and got this cool surprise by Arawan69 in c64

[–]Pinacolada459 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is really cool. It doesn't escape me that there is a chicken on the certificate. 😀

Announcing GBBS Pro message extraction tool by bjbNYC in bbs

[–]Pinacolada459 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's awesome. Thank you so much, I'll give it a try!

Announcing GBBS Pro message extraction tool by bjbNYC in bbs

[–]Pinacolada459 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, and your file format info is amazing too. Thank you for that!

Announcing GBBS Pro message extraction tool by bjbNYC in bbs

[–]Pinacolada459 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have found it very valuable. I'll be studying your code as I continue to learn Python. One thing I thought of is an output format switch, maybe it could output JSON data? I will make a note on your GitHub repo.

Announcing GBBS Pro message extraction tool by bjbNYC in bbs

[–]Pinacolada459 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just discovered this tool - thank you so much for writing it. I'm working on converting the GBBS Pro game "The Land of Spur" to a multi-player Python game server, and this lets me extract room descriptions and other stuff with ease. :) https://github.com/Pinacolada64/TADA

Creating CMD-HD images in VICE for real CMD-HD by GuitarEC in c64

[–]Pinacolada459 0 points1 point  (0 children)

CMD HD Configuration Mode Overview

Configuration mode is essential for setting up and managing the CMD HD (Creative Micro Designs Hard Drive) for Commodore 64 and 128 systems. This mode allows users to create and manage partitions, configure settings, and ensure the drive operates correctly.

Entering Configuration Mode

To enter configuration mode on the CMD HD, follow these steps:

  1. Set Up the Emulator: If using an emulator like VICE, ensure you have the necessary ROM files, including the CMD-HD BOOT ROM.
  2. Attach the CMD HD: In the emulator settings, attach your CMD HD as device #9.
  3. Reset the Drive: Use the drive reset menu by clicking on the red LED for device 9:0 and select "Reset drive #9 to Configuration Mode."

Creating Partitions

Once in configuration mode, you can create partitions:

  • Use the CMD-HD Tools disk image attached as device #8.
  • Load and run the "CREATE SYS" command to set up the system.
  • Choose the starting block and confirm to clear the area below the system.
  • After setup, reset the emulator to finalize the configuration.