Atari 2600 Development Tools

This tool allows for easy assembling and execution of your 6502 source file. It assmebles your code using DASM and executes the resulting ROM file in the Stella emulator. I use this in tandam with Notepad++ to build demos. Before you can use it, you will need to configure the paths to both DASM and Stella by clicking the Options button.

This is an application that allows you to design playfield graphics! It will export data for the PF0, PF1, and PF2 TIA registers, as well as foreground / background color data, in both hexadecimal and binary formats. It has support for non-reflected (asymmetrical), reflected (symmetrical), and mirrored playfield modes. Support for the CTRLPF SCORE bit may be incorporated into a future release. This setting allows for the color of the left half of the playfield to match the color of player 0 and the right half to match that of player 1. Other additions may be incorporated into future versions.

This application replaces the process of drawing sprites out on paper and manually calcuating the hex/binary data each line. Drawing a sprite is a quick and easy task with this program. Just fill in the points you want to set and select the colors for each row. After you draw a sprite you like, you can save so you can load it later. The program calculates the sprite data you need for your demo or game and it can append this data to an existing source file or it can create a simple demo for you.

Various documents that are useful when trying to develop on the Atari 2600

Download 6502 Reference Document (99k)
Download Stella Programmer's Guide (755k)