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VIC-20 video modes, etc.

category: code [glöplog]
 
I acquired an unexpanded VIC 20. I tried demos, of course, immediately. It's awesome. I also like the sound, it's much better than poor TED in 264 series. My question is: Are there some detailed docs of VIC 20's memory addressing incl. video RAM, color RAM, etc? What are graphics limitations? I've read it has two modes, text and multicolor, but I can't find any info about some colour clash or something. I'm also looking for Brickpaint32 gfx editor for Windows (probably by PWP). The VIC is cool, I love it :)
added on the 2012-09-10 10:01:03 by aki aki
I recently got 7 Apple2's. Any hints on programming? Any cool Graphics tools other than Beagle Graphics? :P
added on the 2012-09-10 10:25:15 by Exin Exin
Factor6: There's no bitmap mode it's basically a char screen, so if you want to do a bitmap screen you just have a matrix of chars. The text and multicolor generally follow the same format as the c64 char screen format. (though the multicols are in a different order iirc) Best advice is to download the Vic-20 Programmer's Reference Guide, there's a few copies floating on the net.
added on the 2012-09-10 14:06:56 by 4mat 4mat
Factor6: You can find some books on the VC-20 here: http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/books.htm
added on the 2012-09-10 14:44:08 by Parasight Parasight
http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/cbm/vic/memorymap.txt
That one was very helpful when I coded my VIC-20 stuff.
added on the 2012-09-10 16:52:28 by Sdw Sdw
also, if you see anyone calling it the VC-20, they're probably german :)
added on the 2012-09-10 16:53:21 by reed reed
Thanks :)

@reed: I know, actually I own the German version 8-)
added on the 2012-09-10 17:54:02 by aki aki
I will probably have to figure out the apple2 stuff myself :P

F6: Yo could also simply have asked me on ICQ...
added on the 2012-09-11 00:30:14 by Exin Exin
The Apple ]['s are fun to code. I did a lot of coding on these some 15-20 years ago. If you want to know something in particular, ask - I might remember some of it.
added on the 2012-09-11 00:51:12 by skurk skurk
For example, can he second hires page on the IIc or IIe with 128K be used for double buffering or is it just there to generate double hires?
added on the 2012-09-11 06:00:45 by Exin Exin
Finally I've found Picasso gfx editor by Aleksi Eeben. It needs memory expansion, but it satisfies my needs quite well.

I've also read important chapters about gfx in the Vic-20 Programmer's Reference Guide and tried examples in Basic written there, so I'm smarter already.
added on the 2012-09-11 14:16:15 by aki aki
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added on the 2012-09-11 16:54:31 by rudi rudi
Exin: 8/16 Paint and DazzleDraw are both good 8bit paint programs. DazzleDraw is double hires only, but 8/16 Paint also supports standard hires.
added on the 2012-09-11 17:26:38 by krue krue
Exin: there are two hires pages even on a 64k Apple II. Page 1 is at $2000 and Page 2 is at $4000. There are softswitches to select which page is displayed. The "pages" you mention in the second 64k hold the extra data for double hires. You can do double buffering with hires, though it is tricky because those same softswitches are used to control whether main or aux ram is written instead of which page to display :)
added on the 2012-09-11 17:34:07 by krue krue
Sorry for the late reply. Anyway, what krue said. :P
added on the 2012-09-11 23:04:12 by skurk skurk
Thanks man! I've been looking for AGES for the name. Now i remember it's Dazzle Draw. :)

I'm using that shitty and buggy Beagle Graphics, but i found out through the PAL color bug, solid colors can be mixed. I will post a photo soon. I wonder if these colors are the same as on NTSC...since that color trick in normal hires to achieve "yellow" does not work in pal....

Also, is there any double lores painting program?
added on the 2012-09-11 23:41:32 by Exin Exin
Not that I'm aware of. I feel the Apple][ scene is starved on xdev tools, if you're feeling the call, go ahead and make some :D

Regarding page switching, if I remember correctly you can do this easily by lda #0; sta $c054 for page 1 (or sta $c055 for page 2)
added on the 2012-09-18 15:22:35 by skurk skurk
I don't know of any either (but double lores is a good choice :)
WUDSN IDE recently added Apple II support.
cc65 supports Apple II.
I have a forth style cross assembler on my site.
added on the 2012-09-18 15:40:20 by krue krue

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