AcliVisiON
We put you in the game.
PET programs can be used on the 64 if you first load a program called a PET emulator into the 64. This program is available from Commodore.
Atari Paddle Programming
I own an Atari 1200XL computer. Can I use the paddle controllers from my Atari 2600 game machine in my own 1200XL programs?
Eric Sneed
Yes. All controllers used on the 2600 game system are compatible with the Atari computer line. As a matter of fact, the 2600 game controllers have become a de facto standard. Atari joysticks also work on the Commodore VIC-20 and 64, Coleco Adam, and on some other game machines. Atari paddles work on the VIC-20 and 64, but give a slightly different range than Commodore paddles. Atari BASIC has two functions, PADDLE and PTRIG, for supporting up to eight paddles on the 400 and 800, and four paddles on the XL series.
VIC Game Loader
In the June issue of COMPUTE!, two recreational programs were presented for the VIC-20, "Pest" and "Olympiad." Both of these programs require 8K expansion and several POKEs before loading. It is quite easy to forget these POKEs and also very inconvenient when you just want to be able to load and run the program. Because of this, I wrote the following routine. It does all the necessary POKEing and then loads either Pest or Olympiad. You can choose by hitting either the P or the O key.
Shawn K. Smith
5 PRINT"{CLR}{DOWN}{3 SPACES}[RVS3O[OFF}L YMPIAD[4 SPACES}(RVS)P{OFF]EST":rem 141 7 GETA$:IFA$ < >"O "ANDA$ < >"P"THEN7 :rem 99 10 PRINT"{CLR}{3 DOWN}POKE43,1:POKE44,32: POKE8192, 0:":PRINT:PRINT:Q?=CHR?(34)
:rem 83
15 IFA$="P"THENA$="E4 SPACES]"+Q?+"OLYMPI AD"+Q5+",8{3 UP}":GOTO20 ¡rem 169
17 A$="{4 SPACES}"+Q$+"OLYMPIAD"+Q$+",8
20 PRINT"POKE36869,240:P0KE36866,150:POKE 648,30:PRINTCHR?(147)" :rem 187
30 POKE631,13:POKE632,13:POKE63 3,63:POKE6 34,65:POKE635,36 :P0KE636,13 :POKE637 ,13 1 :rem 133
32 POKE198,7 :rem 153
35 PRINT"[HOME}" :rem 76
VIC Tape Directory
We bought my VIC-20 a couple of months ago. With it, we also purchased a Commodore Datas-sette. Our question is: Does the Datassette have a directory? If not, is there any way to obtain something similar to one?
Sharon and Veronica Miller
Computer recorders do not have a directory. A disk, however, must have a directory because it is a random access device—information can be read from anywhere on the surface of the disk. The directory stores information that the drive needs to know in order to get the right program from the right place.
The difference between disk and cassette can be compared to the difference between an audio record and an audio cassette. You can choose to play a specific song if you know on which groove it starts on the record, but on a cassette you would have to search through the tape for the song (tape counters help, but it still is not the same nor as speedy as a record).
On the VIC, however, you can obtain a screen listing of what is on the tape by typing a WAD command followed by a nonsense name. Here is an example:
The computer will search through the tape looking for the nonexistent file and, in the process, print on the screen the names of everything it finds on the tape.
Atari Machine Language
I would like to know how to create an AUTORUN.SYS program in machine language using the Atari Assembler Editor cartridge. Also, how do you generate a random number in machine language?
Paul Stach
An AUTORUN.SYS file is much like any machine language binary object file. When DOS boots up, though, it checks for AUTORUN.SYS, and loads it during the boot process. But to make it run automatically, you must append a special run vector at the end of your file. Atari files can load in several stages, each stage going to a different part of memory. After a file is loaded, an attempt is made to execute it by jumping through the address found at $02E0/$02E1. In order to have your machine language run after it has been loaded, the starting address of your program must be loaded into $02E0. This is easily accomplished in the source code. At the end of your listing, include two lines:
m"$02E0
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