Re: Starting out, looking for pointers

["BLuRry" <brendan.robert@gmail.com>]

> First, I'll need an emulator.  Does anyone know of a good one?
Kegs.  Definately.  If you want to test drive it with even the
strangest //gs demos then head on over to virtualapple.org, which uses
an active-x based version of kegs in the browser itself and has tons of
games and demos.

> Second, I'll need an assembler.  I have one, I'll just have to learn to
> use it, so I think I'm okay here.

> Lastly, I'll need some tutorials or lessons!  I've been searching
> extensively, but have so far been able to find a good web site for this
> purpose.  Any suggestions would be welcome and thanked.

The a2 faq is a very good springboard to get started.  Tons of great
information is in there.  Also check out their links.
http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/index.html

You can familiarize yourself with basic 6502 assembly by reading the
apple assembly line archives.  Lots of good information in there.
http://bobsc5.home.comcast.net/aal/

Well, the best place to start is to start simple and work your way up.
:-)  Try to draw a simple graphic (pixel, then a line, then a box, then
...) or produce a simple sound (using the apple //gs ensoniq DOC chip,
this is extremely dead simple because it does all the work for you)

Once you are comfortable with the basics of writing an assembler
program that can perform a few tasks and executing it in an emulator,
you can start to read up on the tech. specs. of the //gs and really
start to experiment with the different graphics modes, color palettes,
etc.  I have to do this for myself sometime as well -- but I'm stuck in
8-bit land until I take care of some unfinished business:

http://www.brendandy.com/apple/raycast/
http://www.brendandy.com/apple/
http://a2gameserver.berlios.de/

Also, there are quite a number of great projects out there by folks who
post here frequently.  From what I can tell, they love to chip in and
give advice, especially if you've already done your reading and are
just stuck on a particular problem.  Here's a list to get you started,
but is by no means inclusive:

http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/
http://iigs.dreamhost.com/gte/gte.html
http://rich12345.tripod.com/

Have fun!
-B

][ infinitum!