Source code for old BBC Micro games

[colinhoad]

Hi there,

Does anyone know if the source code for old BBC Micro games is available anywhere online? I've started developing my own game using the excellent BB4W and I am just curious to know how the old games were put together. Did they write them in BBC BASIC or was it all just straight down to the assembler? Games like "Imogen", "Stryker's Run", "Palace of Magic" and "Snapper" were old favourites of mine as a child, and it would be fascinating to look under the covers and see how they were put together. I understand these things are no doubt covered by copyright law etc. but if there are any generous programmers or former software houses out there on the web who have made their IP public in the spirit of "open source", it would be lovely to find out.

[David Williams]

Kevin Edwards recently released the source code for his BBC Micro game 'Galaforce':

https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16628

It's obviously not applicable to BB4W though, because Galaforce is written in 6502 assembly language.


David.
--

[colinhoad]

Hi David,

Ah yes, that brings me full circle back to my query a few weeks ago regarding old program listings using assembly code that wouldn't run under BB4W! I guess most of the games back then were written in assembly code rather than BBC BASIC.

Thank you for the pointer, though, I will definitely check out Kevin's listing on GitHub.

[KenDown]

Of course there is the point that something written in old 6502 assembler (happy days) will now run as fast, if not faster, when written in plain old BASIC. In fact, I can remember when the Archimedes with is ARM processor first came out, one of the boasts was that its BASIC ran as fast as the old BBC Micro assembler and achieving that end had been one of the aims of the producers.

[colinhoad]

Hi Ken,

Yes, unfortunately I am not able to program in 6502 assembler code, and the learning curve is pretty steep! I don't suppose there are any decent online resources you're aware of that explain how to? Even something that explained how to read it would be a good start...

[DDRM]

Hi Colin,

I think the point he was making is that you can probably write it in BBC BASIC, and a modern computer will run the code as fast as an old BBC would have run assembled code - so you don't NEED to be able to write 6502 code. Of course, if you are converting an old program, you DO need to be able to understand what is happening....

Best wishes,

D

[Repton]

Stryker's Run"? Called Chris Roberts hes busy with Star Citizen right now.
Repton on PC is a direct convertion from original beeb version.

[KenDown]

This page http://www.6502.org/tutorials/6502opcodes.html seems to provide a comprehensive list of the 6502 assembler commands, as well as indications of how they were used. I was never an expert with it, but could write simple routines - and just as I was getting into it along came the RiscPC! Bah.

Still, if you have time to spare, you might care to try and understand a bit of the old code - a bit like learning Latin or ancient Sumerian. No practical use but fascinating for those with a purpose.