Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@chesterbr
Last active June 18, 2024 02:34
Show Gist options
  • Save chesterbr/5864935 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save chesterbr/5864935 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
An Atari 2600 "Hello, World!" program(it indeed prints "HELLO WORLD" vertically, twice)
;
; hello.asm
;
; A "Hello, World!" which illustrates an Atari 2600 programming
; introduction talk (slides at http://slideshare.net/chesterbr).
;
; This is free software (see license below). Build it with DASM
; (http://dasm-dillon.sourceforge.net/), by running:
;
; dasm hello.asm -ohello.bin -f3
;
PROCESSOR 6502
INCLUDE "vcs.h"
ORG $F000 ; Start of "cart area" (see Atari memory map)
StartFrame:
lda #%00000010 ; Vertical sync is signaled by VSYNC's bit 1...
sta VSYNC
REPEAT 3 ; ...and lasts 3 scanlines
sta WSYNC ; (WSYNC write => wait for end of scanline)
REPEND
lda #0
sta VSYNC ; Signal vertical sync by clearing the bit
PreparePlayfield: ; We'll use the first VBLANK scanline for setup
lda #$00 ; (could have done it before, just once)
sta ENABL ; Turn off ball, missiles and players
sta ENAM0
sta ENAM1
sta GRP0
sta GRP1
sta COLUBK ; Background color (black)
sta PF0 ; PF0 and PF2 will be "off" (we'll focus on PF1)...
sta PF2
lda #$FF ; Playfield collor (yellow-ish)
sta COLUPF
lda #$00 ; Ensure we will duplicate (and not reflect) PF
sta CTRLPF
ldx #0 ; X will count visible scanlines, let's reset it
REPEAT 37 ; Wait until this (and the other 36) vertical blank
sta WSYNC ; scanlines are finished
REPEND
lda #0 ; Vertical blank is done, we can "turn on" the beam
sta VBLANK
Scanline:
cpx #174 ; "HELLO WORLD" = (11 chars x 8 lines - 1) x 2 scanlines =
bcs ScanlineEnd ; 174 (0 to 173). After that, skip drawing code
txa ; We want each byte of the hello world phrase on 2 scanlines,
lsr ; which means Y (bitmap counter) = X (scanline counter) / 2.
tay ; For division by two we use (A-only) right-shift
lda Phrase,y ; "Phrase,Y" = mem(Phrase+Y) (Y-th address after Phrase)
sta PF1 ; Put the value on PF bits 4-11 (0-3 is PF0, 12-15 is PF2)
ScanlineEnd:
sta WSYNC ; Wait for scanline end
inx ; Increase counter; repeat untill we got all kernel scanlines
cpx #191
bne Scanline
Overscan:
lda #%01000010 ; "turn off" the beam again...
sta VBLANK ;
REPEAT 30 ; ...for 30 overscan scanlines...
sta WSYNC
REPEND
jmp StartFrame ; ...and start it over!
Phrase:
.BYTE %00000000 ; H
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01111110
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000 ; E
.BYTE %01111110
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01111100
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01111110
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000 ; L
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01111110
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000 ; L
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01111110
.BYTE %00000000 ; O
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00111100
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %00111100
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000 ; white space
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000 ; W
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01011010
.BYTE %00100100
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000 ; O
.BYTE %00111100
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %00111100
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000 ; R
.BYTE %01111100
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01111100
.BYTE %01000100
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000 ; L
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01000000
.BYTE %01111110
.BYTE %00000000
.BYTE %00000000 ; D
.BYTE %01111000
.BYTE %01000100
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000010
.BYTE %01000100
.BYTE %01111000
.BYTE %00000000 ; Last byte written to PF1 (important, ensures lower tip
; of letter "D" won't "bleeed")
ORG $FFFA ; Cart config (so 6507 can start it up).
;
; This address will make DASM build a 4K cart image.
; Since the code actually takes < 300 bytes, you can
; replace with ORG $F7FA to build a 2K image. Such
; carts are wired to mirror their contents, so the
; CPU will pick up the config at the same address.
;
; You can even make it 1K with ORG $F3FA, but I'm
; not sure 1K carts were ever manufactured. Stella
; plays them fine, but YMMV on Supercharger and
; other hardware/emulators.
.WORD StartFrame ; NMI
.WORD StartFrame ; RESET
.WORD StartFrame ; IRQ
END
;
; Copyright 2011-2019 Carlos Duarte do Nascimento (Chester). All rights reserved.
;
; Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are
; permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
;
; 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of
; conditions and the following disclaimer.
;
; 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list
; of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials
; provided with the distribution.
;
; THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY CHESTER ''AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
; WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
; FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL <COPYRIGHT HOLDER> OR
; CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
; CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
; SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
; ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
; NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF
; ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
;
; The views and conclusions contained in the software and documentation are those of the
; authors and should not be interpreted as representing official policies, either expressed
; or implied, of Chester.
;
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment