robotfindskitten, part 3 Dan’s MEGA65 Digest Podcast

Our robotfindskitten adventure continues! In part 1, we introduced the robotfindskitten experience, and described tools and techniques for building an rfk game in BASIC 65. In part 2, we started building a similar toolkit in assembly language, starting with KERNAL routines, memory access techniques, and screen memory registers. This month, we complete the toolkit, and I present my own attempt at an assembly language version of the game.
But first, a whole bunch of new stuff!
R5 main board in testing!
The new R5 main board test units have arrived and Paul has started the “bring-up” process, adapting the FPGA core to the design changes. With some minor corrections to the assembly, this should resemble the main boards that will ship with new MEGA65s going forward, including all pending pre-orders. Many thanks to Paul, Trenz Electronic, and the hardware testing team for the work they are doing.
Unicone, by deathy
deathy has another new game release! In Unicone, you are chasing a unicorn that poops ice cream. Move your ice cream cone left and right to catch falling ice cream scoops dropped by the unicorn. A fun game in the tradition of Kaboom! (or its lesser known ancestor, Avalanche), Unicone features high resolution graphics, sampled sounds, a wide variety of control schemes, and a unique ice cream balancing mechanic for extra challenge in later levels. Download Unicode from Filehost.
Want to see how it works? deathy has generously released the C source code to Unicone using an open source license, and the assets using a Creative Commons license. The code builds with the Calypsi C cross-compiler, a modern retro development suite by hth313 that recently added support for the MEGA65’s 45GS02 CPU. Check it out!
The Ghosts of Blackwood Manor, by Stefan Vogt
Stefan Vogt, the author of the adventure games Hibernated and The Curse of Rabenstein, has a new adventure out for multiple platforms including the MEGA65. The Ghosts of Blackwood Manor is an interactive horror game with three possible outcomes, and each outcome fills out the story.
And of course, Ghosts is getting another gorgeous boxed release from poly.play! Pre-order the boxed release, and get it digitally right now for a donation of your choice.
Gurce’s BASIC 65 Dev Vlogs
Gurce has been doing a series of live stream development vlogs coding a game from scratch in BASIC 65, using the Eleven programming environment. The game, currently titled “Way of the Imploding Foot” (or just “MegaFoot” for short), is a side-view fighting game, featuring low resolution block character graphics, animated fighting characters, and parallax scrolling.
You can start with episode 1, and subscribe to find out about new live streams. Also check out the Github repository for the game, or just try the latest D81 disk image. When browsing the repo, be sure to locate the .ELPC files (such as FOOT.ELPC), which contain the code in Eleven syntax viewable as a text file on a PC.
Gurce is welcoming contributions on this project! If you’d like to try implementing a feature in BASIC using Eleven, let Gurce know on the Discord.
Discord upgrade!
The MEGA65 Discord is the MEGA65 community’s real-time meeting spot, a great place to ask questions, show off your projects, and meet other MEGA65 enthusiasts. Thanks to MEGA65 Discord moderator KiDra, the Discord now has a fresh new structure and some really cool new features! Here are just a few highlights:
* New section layout. Channels and resources are now organized in sections based on how you engage with the project, such as regular use, programming, and platform development. Click or tap a section title to collapse sections you use less often.
* Discord forums. Sections now include Discord forums in addition to text chat channels. Forums are especially useful for asking technical questions: each question stays visible in a list, and answers and discussions stay organized by topic. Once you have the answer you need, you can close the discuss