Dunion's Debugging Tool (THAT'S the reason for the name--yes, it's a pun) was first sold by APX The Atari Program Exchange as a supplement to the Atari Macro Assembler and Program Text Editor (AMAC/MEDIT).
DDT screen drawing looks lightning fast in comparison to legacy output of main editor. I wonder why OSS did not implement the same windowed interface for the latter.
Wow, this brings back memories, thank you!! My first pc was an 800 XL and we purchased a Trak AT-DT drive at the same time. That drive came with(?) DOS XL and Mac/65. DOS XL because that was the only DOS at the time that supported true double density. Why Mac/65 was also bundled is beyond me, but I'm glad it was.
My recollection is Mac/65 was created by an independent developer who sold it through OSS. I have a vague memory from listening to an interview with its author that it was originally sold on disk, and then on cartridge.
I have a cart with a sticky note label that says Mac/65 DDT..... I don't have a system up and running to try it out... It been years... I been meaning to get a modern powersupply to try stuff out... I don't want to fry one of my old systems with a bad supply
Brent Garvey you can get a cable that powers the Atari from an everyday USB adapter like from cell phones...search eBay for “Atari XL XE Replacement Power Cable for USB power”, $11.50
Really love your videos. As others have said you have a really great presentation style and know how to present and explain things in a very clear, straight forward way. Thank you for all your hard work! Just got my 800XL and am just waiting for the right video cable to arrive in the next couple days! Can't wait to try my hand at some assembler!
I got Mac/65 running with my MyIDE-][ cartridge now and will follow your tutorial videos. I hope there's more to come. I really like how you go into the details, e.g. of comparing MAC/65 to ATASM.
Since you're talking about Antic Podcast you can check out the interview with Kathleen O'Brian (#22, 2015) about Atari Assembler and Paul Laughton (#126, 2016) about Atari Basic. And finally with of Clinton Parker (#111,2015) of ACTION! fame.
@@8bitandmore Bunch of shareware games. Diamond Hunter, Caves of the Trolls, Tank Battle, Sub Wars and Dungeon Quest. Along with some development tools.
I own an original yellow label MAC65 cartridge. I used it to write the machine language loop for my game "Push It!" The compiled TurboBASIC program modifies it as it runs and the loop solved a bottleneck problem I had. I also own their BASIC XE cartridge. Another name you should know is Bill Wilkinson.
not sure if developing on the platform itself is something you'd still want to do.vt100s and mini computers have always already had 80 columns and far better keyboards. and already were the way to go even back then. and ca65 compiles to literally every platform currently out there anyway. something like tedmon which can be ripped from commodore plus/4 or 128 roms still has it's uses for on the fly debugging tho. (although it works best if you also implement the full cbm style 'editor' so you can cursor back to lines and just change them and enter.. literally all of that cbm stuff does also work with only character input and output to the screen channel implemented and no cursor support tho ;) also the atari is a tad harder to interface to let's say a minipro programmer :P (although that also basically speaks rs232 over usb so you can potentially just remove the usb converter.. the program itself still would be rather large for it's memory). it's all just a lot faster if you can include tons of files, have your character generator roms, sprites, etc all in a larger, faster, filesystem, can just run search and replace with sed or perl over al of it, and just kick the rom into some emulator with a built in cross debugger to test. or just flash an eeprom instantly and put it in a real system. without all of this 'one program at a time' stuff that commonly comes with 6502 systems. not to say the development setup can't be a 6502 system... but then take at least a fully fitted out 65c816 kinda thing and write all your tools for that. with ssds. with everything. for the firmware or software part that's all still relatively easy... also doing the hardware design on that... ehm. well.kicad isn't exactly portable to such things :P lol.
actual nice functionality for an assembler would to also keep track of the clockcycles per routine and per instruction. maybe also of the stack use on jsr's ending up in other jsr's
Hey Rick! Thank you for the Atari 8-bit videos. You are excellent at teaching in these videos. Will you show us how to work with Synassembler? Steve Hales is very friendly and he sent a link to the source code for his Fort Apocalypse github.com/heyigor/FortApocalypse I don't know how to load and run it. This is more for your expertise. :)
you really need to keep making videos - you are really great at it. ... you should teach.
I remember reading DDT stood for Dunion's Debugging Tool
Dunion's Debugging Tool (THAT'S the reason for the name--yes, it's a pun) was first sold by APX The Atari Program Exchange as a supplement to the Atari Macro Assembler and Program Text Editor (AMAC/MEDIT).
Every Antic or ANALOG magazine I opened, I drooled over the MAC/65 ad but alas, as a kid, I couldn't afford the $99
OSS did created many excellent development tools such as Basic A+, Action!, and OS A+, etc.
Finally, ever since 1986 or so, I get to try Mac/65. Thanks for this video explaining how to use Mac/65 and DDT. That was great fun!
DDT screen drawing looks lightning fast in comparison to legacy output of main editor. I wonder why OSS did not implement the same windowed interface for the latter.
Thank you for the next video... I was used to Quick Assembler in Poland... But the Mac/65 seems to be great as well.
Another great video, thank you. I forgot all about the Max/65 until I saw this video.
Wow, this brings back memories, thank you!! My first pc was an 800 XL and we purchased a Trak AT-DT drive at the same time. That drive came with(?) DOS XL and Mac/65. DOS XL because that was the only DOS at the time that supported true double density. Why Mac/65 was also bundled is beyond me, but I'm glad it was.
Awesome! Those were good times.
Great video. Love the level of detail. Thank you for putting this together!
Glad you liked it!
My recollection is Mac/65 was created by an independent developer who sold it through OSS. I have a vague memory from listening to an interview with its author that it was originally sold on disk, and then on cartridge.
This is the best Atari programming channel on YT! Subbed. You are really great at teaching this stuff.
Wow, thanks!
Muy agradecido por el video, voy a seguir estudiando por acá. Un abrazo
I have a cart with a sticky note label that says Mac/65 DDT..... I don't have a system up and running to try it out... It been years... I been meaning to get a modern powersupply to try stuff out... I don't want to fry one of my old systems with a bad supply
Brent Garvey you can get a cable that powers the Atari from an everyday USB adapter like from cell phones...search eBay for “Atari XL XE Replacement Power Cable for USB power”, $11.50
Thanks, excellent presentation. Keep it coming!
More to come!
Really love your videos. As others have said you have a really great presentation style and know how to present and explain things in a very clear, straight forward way. Thank you for all your hard work! Just got my 800XL and am just waiting for the right video cable to arrive in the next couple days! Can't wait to try my hand at some assembler!
It could be interesting to have an episode presenting how to display a text on screen using asm. What do you think about it?
I'm actually uploading that video today lol.... look for it!
nice just picked this up from a guy near me... comes with the assembler cartridge loads of tapes disks and a nice floppy drive.
I got Mac/65 running with my MyIDE-][ cartridge now and will follow your tutorial videos. I hope there's more to come. I really like how you go into the details, e.g. of comparing MAC/65 to ATASM.
yes, I am working on new material, stay tuned
Great stuff! Thank you.
Since you're talking about Antic Podcast you can check out the interview with Kathleen O'Brian (#22, 2015) about Atari Assembler and Paul Laughton (#126, 2016) about Atari Basic. And finally with of Clinton Parker (#111,2015) of ACTION! fame.
DDT - Dons Debugging Tool if I remember right, seeing I last wrote a game with it in 1983-84
Dunion's Debugging Tool, you where close! What game did you write?
@@8bitandmore Bunch of shareware games. Diamond Hunter, Caves of the Trolls, Tank Battle, Sub Wars and Dungeon Quest. Along with some development tools.
I own an original yellow label MAC65 cartridge. I used it to write the machine language loop for my game "Push It!" The compiled TurboBASIC program modifies it as it runs and the loop solved a bottleneck problem I had. I also own their BASIC XE cartridge. Another name you should know is Bill Wilkinson.
Yes I know about Bill Wilkinson, I made an earlier video where I talk about him and his work for the Atari.
not sure if developing on the platform itself is something you'd still want to do.vt100s and mini computers have always already had 80 columns and far better keyboards. and already were the way to go even back then. and ca65 compiles to literally every platform currently out there anyway. something like tedmon which can be ripped from commodore plus/4 or 128 roms still has it's uses for on the fly debugging tho. (although it works best if you also implement the full cbm style 'editor' so you can cursor back to lines and just change them and enter.. literally all of that cbm stuff does also work with only character input and output to the screen channel implemented and no cursor support tho ;) also the atari is a tad harder to interface to let's say a minipro programmer :P (although that also basically speaks rs232 over usb so you can potentially just remove the usb converter.. the program itself still would be rather large for it's memory). it's all just a lot faster if you can include tons of files, have your character generator roms, sprites, etc all in a larger, faster, filesystem, can just run search and replace with sed or perl over al of it, and just kick the rom into some emulator with a built in cross debugger to test. or just flash an eeprom instantly and put it in a real system. without all of this 'one program at a time' stuff that commonly comes with 6502 systems. not to say the development setup can't be a 6502 system... but then take at least a fully fitted out 65c816 kinda thing and write all your tools for that. with ssds. with everything. for the firmware or software part that's all still relatively easy... also doing the hardware design on that... ehm. well.kicad isn't exactly portable to such things :P lol.
actual nice functionality for an assembler would to also keep track of the clockcycles per routine and per instruction. maybe also of the stack use on jsr's ending up in other jsr's
I've just bought original orange OSS MAC/65 + DDT :))))))))
Nice! I still use that cart.
Hey Rick!
Thank you for the Atari 8-bit videos.
You are excellent at teaching in these videos.
Will you show us how to work with Synassembler?
Steve Hales is very friendly and he sent a link to the source code for his Fort Apocalypse github.com/heyigor/FortApocalypse
I don't know how to load and run it. This is more for your expertise. :)
I have never used Synassembler but I am not opposed to trying it. I will check out the source code for Fort Apocalypse. thanks!
We cordially invite you to the "Atari 8-bit Programming" Discord server: discord.gg/GTapZjCsgp
What dos are you using?
Sparta DOS X
Can also see DDT in Atari millipede- th-cam.com/video/r8IX8Y2t0LQ/w-d-xo.html