Really nice, and like many others i would have liked to have such a cartridge back in the days. I love your trick at the very end :) thinking that it might have been possible to parse the basic line holding the "*=" directory and dynamically generate the buffer data in the very last line so that one can assemble and run at any memory location. Awesome stuff !
BASSEM was another similar assembler published in Apr/May 1990 Compute!'s Gazette. I didn't know about this Mikro assembler at the time. Bassem allowed to combine assembly code within Basic structures like For/Next, If/Then.
There was an assembler released with the Commodore Disk User Magazine vol.2 #4, May/June 1989 which can be found and downloaded easily. This had a free assembler called 6510+, the instructions were in the magazine and the assembler on the disk that came with the magazine. This assembler was based on Mikro and had some improvements.
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, It is a very interesting piece of c64 history and I didn't even know that this exists. But I really really like it :) Cheers!
Interesting! I'll have a look at the Mikro Assembler. I also recommend everyone to have a look at a new C64 BASIC called Vision Basic. Vision Basic is very fast since it's compiled to machine code when you press RUN. You can also have machine language code embedded in your BASIC code! I'm having great fun trying it out at the moment. It's not free but well worth the money IMHO.
Thank You for watching :) Yes, I know about Vision Basic and it is more powerful than anything else on the market. But I really enjoy using these products from the past; I was not aware that this Mikro Assembler cartridge exists until a month ago... Cheers!
@@JosipRetroBits I've been on you about this before also, would love to see what you could do with it. But I know you're old school and that I totally respect! And @Frobard, please post your results!
Yes you are right, but PAL assembler was loaded from a disk, not a cartridge, but the concept is the same. Yes. I didn't know about "Wolves on the BackBit", thanks for sharing :) Cheers!
Great video Josip. Thank you. Vision Basic from Dennis gives you an option to use assembler commands within the BASIC code. Not the same as here but for someone who wants to use both worlds is great.
Thank You Igor :) Yes, Vision Basic is very powerful indeed. This was interesting to me as a solution from 1983 and I didn't even know about it. Cheers!
Great video Josip. 👍Nothing compares to programming the old way. Very interesting how you used the raster beam register $D012 instead of the SID register $D41B to get a random number.
The PAL assembler (used by Charles Brannon to write SpeedScript) uses basic style line numbers (and maybe the screen editor?) but is loaded from disk. Mikro Assembler is neat as it appears like BASIC with extra options and is instant on. Great video Josip, thanks for making it.
Yes, you are right, and PAL assembler was first, published before Mikro Assembler, but yes, Mikro is more user-friendly :) Thank You for watching Andrew :) Cheers!
Thank You for sub :) I didn't either...and it was published in 1983, so early years of c64. That is why c64 is so interesting as a platform and it is my favourite 8bit machine :)
I saw that kind of BASIC-Assembler on other machines but didn't know it exists for C64, too! Thanks for sharing that! 🙂 And if you ASSEMBLE your code and save it from TIM to disk, you can load it later by calling the SYS command without the cartdridge!
@@JosipRetroBits This is a good point that I was wondering about. Since it didn’t appear there was a “assemble to disk” or similar command. So normal use must require running the assemble command, noting the addresses, and then using TIM to write it out? That feels a little clunky but not too bad.
Great video mate .. Nice to see my assembler cart in action .. i enjoyed programming in basic back in the day .. but completely lost with this type of coding .. Maybe one day ill sit and have aplay :) .. Keep up the great work mate :)
First of all, I've said it before - I love your channel, your content is great. This episode was a bit extra fun to me, as I explained a little bit of boolean math to my wife just yesterday... as well as saying that I asked my first question to chat gpt and had to correct it since it didn't know how 10 print worked 😁 I don't think AI will take over the world anytime soon haha
Thank You for Your kind words, again :) Yes, boolean math is such a perfect tool, clean and fast...and it is fun :) About chatGpt, Yes, You are right, it's a very nice tool for chatting :) but the facts are the problem, sources of information also. ..and this is not just chatGpt problem, but the whole internet as such... On the other hand, chatGpt is keep on learning so we need to give it a bit more time :) Cheers!
Hej Josip, thank you for this! Very well explained and influential - at least to me - as i haven't tried anything else than the creepy Basic on C64!... 😀 so far!..
Thank You very much :) It's ok to try something else, just a little bit :) I'm far from being an expert in assembly code but to create an efficient code in assembly/machine code, it's thrilling stuff :) Cheers!
I don't recall you saying it directly, but the Run command will just stop after the Assemble command? I'm guessing so, since you didn't just move the SYS from line 70 to line 7. Very interesting stuff!
I think I explained that, but maybe I cut myself in the editing process :) ha ha ha Yes, once the compiler is done, it just stops executing the rest of the basic code. Thank You for watching :)
I really enjoyed that, as you know I'm new to this sort of thing but I'll put that cart on my Kung Fu flash and play around with it some. Thanks for sharing ;)
Oh yes :) ..if they had put another additional ram slot in the machine, something as they tried with plus/4, that would be really nice :) Thank you for watching :)
Thank You Tommy :) I think I explained that, but essentially, once the compiler is done, it just stops executing the rest of the basic code. There is nothing you can do/change (or hack) because the compiler code is on the cartridge. Thank You for watching :)
Really nice, and like many others i would have liked to have such a cartridge back in the days. I love your trick at the very end :) thinking that it might have been possible to parse the basic line holding the "*=" directory and dynamically generate the buffer data in the very last line so that one can assemble and run at any memory location. Awesome stuff !
BASSEM was another similar assembler published in Apr/May 1990 Compute!'s Gazette. I didn't know about this Mikro assembler at the time. Bassem allowed to combine assembly code within Basic structures like For/Next, If/Then.
Hi Fernando, Thank you for Your comment. I didn't know about BASSEM, I will check it out. Thank You :)
What if I had this knowledge at my disposal in the eighties. Thanks 👍🏻
Oh Yes, same here :) ha ha
Thank You for watching :)
There was an assembler released with the Commodore Disk User Magazine vol.2 #4, May/June 1989 which can be found and downloaded easily. This had a free assembler called 6510+, the instructions were in the magazine and the assembler on the disk that came with the magazine. This assembler was based on Mikro and had some improvements.
Oh wow, didn't know that. I will try it out :) Thanks! and thank You for watching the video :)
Thanks for this video Josip! Very interesting bit of history. I enjoy your video, nice and clear style. Cheers from Canada!!!
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, It is a very interesting piece of c64 history and I didn't even know that this exists. But I really really like it :) Cheers!
Interesting! I'll have a look at the Mikro Assembler. I also recommend everyone to have a look at a new C64 BASIC called Vision Basic. Vision Basic is very fast since it's compiled to machine code when you press RUN. You can also have machine language code embedded in your BASIC code! I'm having great fun trying it out at the moment. It's not free but well worth the money IMHO.
Thank You for watching :) Yes, I know about Vision Basic and it is more powerful than anything else on the market. But I really enjoy using these products from the past; I was not aware that this Mikro Assembler cartridge exists until a month ago... Cheers!
@@JosipRetroBits I've been on you about this before also, would love to see what you could do with it. But I know you're old school and that I totally respect! And @Frobard, please post your results!
Very cool. Looks something like PAL assembler being used by Wolves on the Backbit series.
Yes you are right, but PAL assembler was loaded from a disk, not a cartridge, but the concept is the same. Yes. I didn't know about "Wolves on the BackBit", thanks for sharing :) Cheers!
Great video Josip. Thank you. Vision Basic from Dennis gives you an option to use assembler commands within the BASIC code. Not the same as here but for someone who wants to use both worlds is great.
Thank You Igor :) Yes, Vision Basic is very powerful indeed. This was interesting to me as a solution from 1983 and I didn't even know about it. Cheers!
Good job on video...wish this was built in
Thank You very much :) So do I :) Cheers!
Great video Josip. 👍Nothing compares to programming the old way. Very interesting how you used the raster beam register $D012 instead of the SID register $D41B to get a random number.
Thank You very much and thank You for watching the video :) Yes, I must admit, it's a very special feeling to code directly on C64 :) Cheers!
The PAL assembler (used by Charles Brannon to write SpeedScript) uses basic style line numbers (and maybe the screen editor?) but is loaded from disk. Mikro Assembler is neat as it appears like BASIC with extra options and is instant on.
Great video Josip, thanks for making it.
Yes, you are right, and PAL assembler was first, published before Mikro Assembler, but yes, Mikro is more user-friendly :) Thank You for watching Andrew :) Cheers!
Really enjoyed this , didnt know anything about this assembler on the C64 but.looks like a neat tool
Thank You Lee :) I didn't know either until Steve pull it off from his stash :) But it is my favourite assembler now :) Cheers!
Did not know this existed thank you! Subscribed
Thank You for sub :) I didn't either...and it was published in 1983, so early years of c64. That is why c64 is so interesting as a platform and it is my favourite 8bit machine :)
I saw that kind of BASIC-Assembler on other machines but didn't know it exists for C64, too! Thanks for sharing that! 🙂 And if you ASSEMBLE your code and save it from TIM to disk, you can load it later by calling the SYS command without the cartdridge!
Yes, you are right, you can save machine code from TIM, and that is your binary executable prg file. Thank You for watching :)
@@JosipRetroBits This is a good point that I was wondering about. Since it didn’t appear there was a “assemble to disk” or similar command. So normal use must require running the assemble command, noting the addresses, and then using TIM to write it out? That feels a little clunky but not too bad.
@@andrewgillham1907 Yes, as I know it, that is the only way to store compiled binary code on disk.
Really interesting and great cartridge. Wish I was as talented at coding like you 😊
Thank You Neil :)
Don't we all...!
Great video mate .. Nice to see my assembler cart in action .. i enjoyed programming in basic back in the day .. but completely lost with this type of coding .. Maybe one day ill sit and have aplay :) .. Keep up the great work mate :)
Thank You Steve :) ..and thanks once again for shoot and images :) Cheers!
@@JosipRetroBits Welcome .. Anytime mate :)...
First of all, I've said it before - I love your channel, your content is great. This episode was a bit extra fun to me, as I explained a little bit of boolean math to my wife just yesterday... as well as saying that I asked my first question to chat gpt and had to correct it since it didn't know how 10 print worked 😁 I don't think AI will take over the world anytime soon haha
Thank You for Your kind words, again :) Yes, boolean math is such a perfect tool, clean and fast...and it is fun :)
About chatGpt, Yes, You are right, it's a very nice tool for chatting :) but the facts are the problem, sources of information also. ..and this is not just chatGpt problem, but the whole internet as such... On the other hand, chatGpt is keep on learning so we need to give it a bit more time :)
Cheers!
Hej Josip, thank you for this! Very well explained and influential - at least to me - as i haven't tried anything else than the creepy Basic on C64!... 😀 so far!..
Thank You very much :) It's ok to try something else, just a little bit :) I'm far from being an expert in assembly code but to create an efficient code in assembly/machine code, it's thrilling stuff :) Cheers!
I don't recall you saying it directly, but the Run command will just stop after the Assemble command? I'm guessing so, since you didn't just move the SYS from line 70 to line 7. Very interesting stuff!
I think I explained that, but maybe I cut myself in the editing process :) ha ha ha
Yes, once the compiler is done, it just stops executing the rest of the basic code. Thank You for watching :)
I really enjoyed that, as you know I'm new to this sort of thing but I'll put that cart on my Kung Fu flash and play around with it some. Thanks for sharing ;)
Thank You very much, Peter :) Yes, this assemble has a really user-friendly approach, so sure, give it a try :) Cheers!
imagine Commodore would have delivered the C64 with such an assembler already builtin...
Oh yes :) ..if they had put another additional ram slot in the machine, something as they tried with plus/4, that would be really nice :) Thank you for watching :)
Nice video! But, could you not simply add line 6 GOTO 70 to jump to the sys command after assembly?
Thank You Tommy :) I think I explained that, but essentially, once the compiler is done, it just stops executing the rest of the basic code. There is nothing you can do/change (or hack) because the compiler code is on the cartridge. Thank You for watching :)
@@JosipRetroBits Ok, I see :)