Date : Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:19:07 +0000
From : samwise@... (samwise)
Subject: Retro Software site launch
All,
Some time less than a year ago, we started to notice that a number of
talented 8-bit Acorn developer bods were gathering over in the STH
forums.
Never one to miss a bandwagon, a few pints later and it was decided
the best thing to do was to exploit them all.
Therefore, we're proud to invite you to the unveiling of
retrosoftware.co.uk. It's a community which is designed to help
people develop for old machines, particularly the 8-bit Acorn
machines. As well as a forum to discuss with like-minded individuals,
the site can provide you with hosting for your project and an army of
volunteers to help with gameplay and platform testing, as well as
artwork and distribution if you make it to a final cassette and/or
disk release.
There are already a number of 8-bit Retro Software projects covered on
the site. However, we also have some very useful PC development
tools, including:
SWIFT - an IDE by Steve O'Leary, with built-in code editor, designed
to aid development of software for 8-bit Acorn microcomputers.
Projects can make use of multiple third party cross assemblers such as
the free Python assembler, P65, as well as multiple emulators. SWIFT
provides Error Throwback highlighting in offending source code,
One-Click Testing and One-Click Source Assembly with the option of
writing the assembled code direct to a DFS disk image.
BeebAsm - a portable 6502 assembler by Rich Talbot-Watkins, designed
specially for developing assembler programs for the BBC Micro. It uses
syntax reminiscent of BBC BASIC's built-in assembler, and is able to
output its object code directly into emulator-ready DFS disc images.
This site is for anyone who'd like a crack at 8-bit coding for
old-times sake, or those PC developers who'd like to contribute to the
effort with useful development tools or, finally, anyone who'd just
like to get an early look-see at what's going on. There's plenty of
scope for beta-testers or anyone of the artist temperament, who'd like
to help with poster/cover artwork or loading screens. Simply join-in,
list your skills and see which projects come running to you first ...
http://www.retrosoftware.co.uk/
Hope to see some of you there.