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CVBasic compiler v0.6.0

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 11:33 pm
by nanochess
Hi all.

I created this BASIC compiler originally for Z80 machines, however, I was intrigued by the fact that there are consoles with TMS9918 video processors, but 6502 processor!

In this case I decided to target the Vtech Creativision (also known as Dick Smith's Wizzard).

Of course, re-coding a whole Z80 compiler to support 6502 was pretty an achievement! Also rewriting the whole library. :D

CVBasic v0.6.0 is pretty complete, and all the example programs should compile just fine for Creativision. (just use the --creativision switch)

There are several examples and minigames included.

The Creativision Emulator is available from https://sourceforge.net/projects/creativisionemulator/

I've enlisted the help of some people to test in real hardware, but in the meanwhile, enjoy it! 8)

P.S: The full manual for the compiler is included, there is also my book Programming Games for Colecovision that fully applies to the Creativision port.

P.S.2: The source code for the compiler is available at https://github.com/nanochess/cvbasic

Re: CVBasic compiler v0.6.0

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 6:33 am
by BigEd
Looks interesting! (I experienced mild disorientation that gasm80 now also supports 6502 but that's fine!)

Re: CVBasic compiler v0.6.0

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2024 4:51 pm
by nanochess
BigEd wrote:
Looks interesting! (I experienced mild disorientation that gasm80 now also supports 6502 but that's fine!)
I'm glad you like it.

I needed a certain set of assembler features to support CVBasic, so it was easier to make gasm80 to support 6502. An option could be making gasm02 :D but the 6502 instruction set is pretty small so it fits perfectly in gasm80.

I see there are several homebrew computers based on 6502 and using TMS9918, it shouldn't be too difficult for users to make adaptations in the source code of CVBasic.