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A few updates, mainly around Atari 2600.
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DualBrain committed Sep 7, 2023
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40 changes: 39 additions & 1 deletion atari.md
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[Home](https://gotbasic.com)[VB 7+](vb.md)[VB 1-6](vb6.md)[FB](freebasic.md)[QB64](qb64.md)[QB45](qb.md)[GW-BASIC](gw-basic.md)[Micro](micro.md)[Retro](retro.md)

# Atari 600XL and 800XL
# Atari

## 2600

- [2600 (STELLA) Programmer's Guide by Steve Wright](https://archive.org/details/StellaProgrammersGuide)

### BASIC Programming

- [BASIC PROGRAMMING - ATARI GAME PROGRAM INSTRUCTIONS](https://archive.org/details/basic-programming-atari-2600-us)
- [Basic Programming - Atari - Atari 2600](https://atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SoftwareID=852)
- [Try BASIC Programming on the Atari 2600 (15-30 mins)](https://atariprojects.org/2019/12/24/try-basic-programming-on-the-atari-2600-15-30-mins/)
- [Everything I Needed to Know About Programming I Learned from BASIC (Coding Horror)](https://blog.codinghorror.com/everything-i-needed-to-know-about-programming-i-learned-from-basic/)

### Atari Dev Studio

- [Atari Dev Studio for Homebrew Development [Release]](https://forums.atariage.com/topic/290365-atari-dev-studio-for-homebrew-development-release/)

### batari Basic

- [batari-Basic: a BASIC-like language for creating games that run on the Atari 2600 console (GitHub)](https://github.com/batari-Basic/batari-Basic)
- [batari Basic Commands](https://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#ideforbb)
- [Official Home for batari Basic](https://forums.atariage.com/topic/300856-official-home-for-batari-basic/)
- [batari Basic (defunct website?)](https://bataribasic.com/)

## 7800

### Atari Dev Studio

- [Atari Dev Studio for Homebrew Development [Release]](https://forums.atariage.com/topic/290365-atari-dev-studio-for-homebrew-development-release/)

## 600XL and 800XL

### Atari BASIC

![Atari 600XL](images/atari600xl.jpg)

Expand All @@ -12,6 +44,12 @@ Atari BASIC is an interpreter for the BASIC programming language that shipped wi
- [Atari BASIC - A Self-teaching Guide](https://www.atariarchives.org/basic/)
- [Atari BASIC - XL Edition](https://www.atariarchives.org/basicxl/)

### FastBasic

This is a fast interpreter for the BASIC language on the Atari 8-bit computers and the Atari 5200 console.

- [FastBasic - Fast BASIC interpreter for the Atari 8-bit computers (GitHub)](https://github.com/dmsc/fastbasic)

## Emulation

![Atari 800XL](images/atari800xl.jpg)
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- [NES Dev Wiki](https://www.nesdev.org/wiki/Projects)
- [Tool to compile Family Basic programs to .NES](https://archive.nes.science/nesdev-forums/f2/t10156.xhtml)
- [Programming NES Games in BASIC](https://atariage.com/forums/topic/149491-programming-nes-games-in-basic/)
- [Compare intermediate code betweeen S-BASIC and Hu-BASIC](http://retropc.net/ohishi/museum/SvsHu_700.htm)
- Sega Genesis/MegaDrive
- [SecondBASIC Studio](secondbasic.md)
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Expand Up @@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ This list isn't meant to be the all inclusive list of all emulators that exists;

So with that said, these are the ones that I have either used (or spotted) in the process of exploring these retro machines (assuming I don't have the actual hardware at hand - wouldn't be wonderful if it were possible to have all of them; but, alas, I am married and will continue to do my best to remain so.)

## Atari 2600

- [Stella: A multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS emulator](https://stella-emu.github.io/)
- [z26 -- An Atari 2600 Emulator](https://www.whimsey.com/z26/index.php)
- [PCAE: PC Atari Emulator](http://pcae.vg-network.com/)

## 6502

- [SYMON - A 6502 System Simulator (Github)](https://github.com/sethm/symon)
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There is also a [version that works on Windows (XP+)](https://geoffg.net/Downloads/WindowsMMBasic/DOS_MMBasic.zip); no installation required.

- [MMBasic](https://mmbasic.com/)
- [MMBasic for Windows based on olcPixelGameEngine (GitHub)](https://github.com/UKTailwind/MMB4W)
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- [thinBasic](http://www.thinbasic.com/): A BASIC programming language for Windows.
- [Tiny BASIC](http://tinybasic.cyningstan.org.uk/): Welcome to Damian Gareth Walker's Tiny BASIC Portal! Tiny BASIC is a subset of the BASIC programming language, originally developed in 1975 by Dennis Allison and others. It was designed for hobbyists who couldn't afford the cost of a full Microsoft BASIC package, or didn't have enough memory to run it. It was meant to be easily extensible, and people extended it from pretty early on.
- [TNT Basic](http://tntbasic.com/): TNT Basic is the easiest way to make your own games for the Mac!
- [ToyBASIC (GitHub)](https://github.com/demosthenesk/ToyBASIC): A BASIC interpreter written in FreeBASIC.
- [Vintage BASIC](http://www.vintage-basic.net/): Vintage BASIC is an interpreter for a programming language of days gone by. A time when every home computer had a simple language called BASIC, and every kid who owned a computer learned it. It is implemented in Haskell, a modern language very unlike BASIC. Lyle Kopnicky constructed it as a way to demonstrate how Haskell's monads could be used to implement BASIC's dynamic control structures. This odd marriage has now produced a fully functional implementation of that old favorite.
- [XBasic](http://www.maxreason.com/software/xbasic/share.html): XBasic is a comprehensive program development environment that integrates a powerful editor, compiler, debugger, function libraries and GuiDesigner into a seamless working environment that encompasses the whole process of creating fast, efficient, reliable, portable 32/64 bit programs. See XBasic overview. Compatible and equivalent implementations of XBasic are available for Windows95/98/NT and Linux. XBasic is written entirely XBasic, plus a little assembly language. XBasic is open-source freeware released under the standard GPL and LGPL licenses to assure all enhancements and derivatives remain open-source.
- [Locomotive BASIC interpreter written in Haskell](https://github.com/jarmond/locomotive-haskell)
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# SmartBASIC (Coleco ADAM)

The Coleco ADAM is a home computer released in 1983 by American toy manufacturer Coleco. It was an attempt to follow on the success of the company's ColecoVision video game console.

The ADAM was not very successful, partly because of early production problems. Coleco announced the ADAM in June 1983 at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and executives predicted sales of 500,000 by Christmas 1983. From the time of the computer's introduction to the time of its shipment, the price increased, from USD $525 to $725.

In its favor, the ADAM had a large software library from the start. It was derived from and compatible with the ColecoVision's software and accessories and, in addition, the popular CP/M operating system was available as an option. Its price gave a complete system: an 80 kB RAM computer, tape drive, letter-quality printer, and software including the Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom video game.

The IBM PCjr sold for $669 but included no peripherals, and although the popular Commodore 64 sold for around $200, its price was not much lower after the purchase of a printer, tape or disk drive, and software.

Like many home computers of its day, the ADAM was intended to use a television set for its display.

The SmartWriter electronic typewriter loaded when the system was turned on. In this mode, the system operated just like a typewriter, printing letters as soon as the user typed them. Pressing the Escape/WP key put SmartWriter into word processor mode, which functioned similarly to a modern word processor. A less expensive version of the ADAM plugged into a ColecoVision, which delivered on one of ColecoVision's launch commitments that owners would one day be able to upgrade their game system to a fully featured computer system.

The ADAM received some good reviews based on the quality of its keyboard and printer, and offered competitive sound and graphics.

Its BASIC interpreter, called SmartBASIC, was largely compatible with Applesoft BASIC, which meant that many type-in programs from computer books and magazines would work with the Adam with little or no modification. However, sales were weak, especially after the technical issues became obvious.

Coleco lost $35 million in the fourth quarter of 1984 as returns flooded in. Officially, Coleco blamed "manuals which did not offer the first-time user adequate assistance." Coleco reintroduced ADAM with a new instruction manual, lower price, and a $500 college scholarship along with each unit for use by a young child (to be paid when the child reached college). Less than 100,000 units ultimately sold. The ADAM was discontinued in 1985, less than two years after its introduction. The ADAM weakened Coleco by absorbing much of the money it had made from Cabbage Patch Kids; the company filed for bankruptcy in 1988.

![SmartBASIC Digital Data Pack](images/smartbasic.jpg)

> Unlike other computers at the time, the ADAM did not have its BASIC interpreter stored in ROM. Instead, it featured a built-in electronic typewriter and word processor, SmartWriter, as well as the Elementary Operating System (EOS) OS kernel and the 8 KB OS-7 ColecoVision operating system. The SmartBASIC interpreter was delivered on a Digital Data Pack tape cassette; this version of BASIC was designed to be mostly compatible with Applesoft BASIC. The interpreter was developed by [Randall Hyde](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Hyde) of Lazer Microsystems; who is best known as the author of *The Art of Assembly Language* and developed a language called *High Level Assembly (HLA)*.
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -33,3 +51,5 @@ And... in the comments to "Coding Horror"'s blog post, Richard continues...
> *Rich* (March 2006)
- [ADAM SmartBASIC Programming Manual Revised Edition (PDF)](https://archive.org/details/coleco-adam-smart-basic-manual)
- [TOSEC: Coleco ColecoVision ADAM (2012-04-23)](https://archive.org/details/Coleco_ColecoVision_ADAM_TOSEC_2012_04_23)
- [ColEm: Portable ColecoVision and Coleco Adam Emulator](https://fms.komkon.org/ColEm/)

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