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ZX Basic for Sega Master System
Post Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 1:26 am
Last edited by haroldoop on Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
Hello,

This is a frontend that allows one to compile BASIC source code into a Sega Master System ROM.

It uses Boriel's ZX Basic to translate the source into Z80 assembly language, then translates it into a asm format that's compatible with WLA-Z80 and then, finally, it uses WLA to assemble and link the translated code, resulting into a ROM that can be executed by any Sega Master System emulator.

In order to compile, all you need to do is to go to the command line and invoke zxb-sms.exe, passing the name of the BASIC source code as a parameter.

To build the example source, simply go to the \example folder, and run build.bat (test.zxb is the BASIC source code for the example).

*** Download ZXB-SMS 0.03 alpha ***
.
zxb-sms-alpha-0.03.zip (4.48 MB)
ZXB-SMS 0.03

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Alpha 0.04 released
Post Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 3:36 am
Last edited by haroldoop on Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
This new alpha adds the possibility of adding binary resources to the ROM;
The included example program is now also more elaborate, with joystick handling, palette/tileset loading et al;
The toolset is now at a stage that it could be used for an actual game, as long as you mind those details:
- Multiplication, division and strings aren't working, yet;
- Array handling is currently extremely broken;
- Floating point support is not working; remember to explicitly declare every variable as some integer value;

*** Download ZXB-SMS 0.04 alpha ***
zxb-sms-alpha-0.04.zip (4.91 MB)
ZXB-SMS 0.04 alpha

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Post Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 4:03 am
Thanks for the work.
Can you use the Attachment feature to add files to the forums? Because other services such as dropbox tends to delete files after some time.
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Post Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:33 pm
Okay, no problem.
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Post Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:25 pm
The test.zxb file really, really looks like assembly and not BASIC. What am I missing?

Do I need this other thing, the Boriel ZX Basic compiler? Can I use the same sound and graphic BASIC commands even though it's for the Spectrum?

Is there a way to wrap this into a Genesis binary ROM?

This could be VERY, very big if people can program SMS games in BASIC now =)
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Post Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:39 pm
slobu wrote
The test.zxb file really, really looks like assembly and not BASIC. What am I missing?


Well, since I still haven't made a library to acess the hardware, many low-level operations had to be implemented in assembly (about 60% test zxb is assembly). If you start reading from line 237, you'll notice that at this point, the code starts to be almost pure BASIC; the idea would be that once all of the most common low-level operations had been moved into libraries, then the programmer could make a game using only BASIC code.

slobu wrote

Do I need this other thing, the Boriel ZX Basic compiler? Can I use the same sound and graphic BASIC commands even though it's for the Spectrum?


Well, ZXB-SMS 0.4 already includes Boriel's ZX Basic, so you can use it right away, without needing extra setup steps.
At the moment, ZXB-SMS doesn't support many of Boriel's ZX Basic features, so multiplication, division, string manipulation, sound/graphical commands, etc. simply wouldn't work, but they could be made to work in the future.

slobu wrote

Is there a way to wrap this into a Genesis binary ROM?


Well, it could, with some effort, be adapted for producing conde for Genesis' Z80 sub-CPU.

slobu wrote

This could be VERY, very big if people can program SMS games in BASIC now =)


Yes, Boriel's ZX BASIC produces very efficient code, and allows one to easily mix-up BASIC with Z80 ASM; if ZXB-SMS could be made to support it better, it would be a nice tool for SMS ROM developers.
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:04 pm
@haroldoop: Thanks for the reply! I have an Everdrive flash cart that can patch some .SMS roms to run on the Genesis. If you ever need to have someone test a binary I can do it.

Thank you for your work so far :)
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i'm Linux-only... :(
Post Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 4:24 pm
haroldoop wrote

slobu wrote

Do I need this other thing, the Boriel ZX Basic compiler? Can I use the same sound and graphic BASIC commands even though it's for the Spectrum?

Well, ZXB-SMS 0.4 already includes Boriel's ZX Basic, so you can use it right away, without needing extra setup steps.
At the moment, ZXB-SMS doesn't support many of Boriel's ZX Basic features, so multiplication, division, string manipulation, sound/graphical commands, etc. simply wouldn't work, but they could be made to work in the future.

i think most of them can be temporarily created as library, and later added defaultly?

btw, @haroldoop - since i used the original zx-spectrum version of zxbasic-compiler (submitted some games at csscgc contest made with it), i found interesting your sms version, as it can help some other architectures as well (for this i created this wikipage there: google for "boriel zxbasic other architectures" (i'm not allowed to post weblinks here yet...) ) - the problem on using your version is i'm a Linux-only user, and struggled a lot using that .exe stuff you have there... :| - but anyway, it's really interesting the way you used WLA as dependency

btw, for everyone also interested on zxbasic-compiler, Nathan from Mojon Twins started this very interesting zxbasic tutorial - google for "tcyr wordpress 2012 tutorial zx basic fourspriter introduccion" (i'm not allowed to post weblinks here yet...) - maybe it will need some adaptations for sms, but i think the essential is all there.
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Post Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 5:18 pm
working fine on Linux - tested now

the only think i needed some attention is that i have zxb.py from the zx-spectrum version in an assigned directory, for zxb.py acting as terminal command

and based on build.bat i used this build.sh:

# @echo off
# rem :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
# rem :: Do not edit anything below here unless you know what    ::
# rem :: you're doing!                                           ::
# rem :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

# wla-z80 and wlalink found from an rpm search for wla-dx
# at Debian/Ubuntu: i made a tarball from it and istalled with
# sudo tar -zxvf wla-dx_9.4a-2.96_i586.tar.gz -C /
# (please make sure that 'usr' folder appear when opening this .tar.gz with FileRoller, for checking)

# rem Cleanup to avoid confusion
# if exist object.o del object.o
rm object.o

# rem Compile
# zxb test.zxb --asm
#? python zxb-sms.py test.zxb --asm
zxb.py test.zxb --asm

# python zxb2wla.py test.asm
python zxb2wla.py test.asm

# wla\wla-z80.exe -o test.wla.asm object.o
wla-z80 -o test.wla.asm object.o

# rem Make linkfile
# echo [objects]>linkfile
# echo object.o>>linkfile
echo [objects] > linkfile
echo object.o >> linkfile

# rem Link
# wla\wlalink.exe -drvs linkfile output.sms
wlalink -drvs linkfile output.sms

# rem Fixup for eSMS
# if exist output.sms.sym del output.sms.sym
# ren output.sym output.sms.sym
rm output.sms.sym
mv output.sym output.sms.sym

# rem Cleanup to avoid mess
# if exist linkfile del linkfile
# if exist object.o del object.o
rm linkfile
rm object.o

# run Osmose emulator with the result
osmose output.sms



now, what i think is missing is improving zxbasic-sms with libraries for having an efficient use of it, and any help on editing the weblink you may find from "boriel wiki ZX_BASIC Other_architectures" (Master System link) for adding useful information are very welcome! :)
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Post Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:40 pm
@haroldoop look for "nitrofurano altervista retrocoding zxspectrum" and see if some examples i have there for zxbasic-zxspectrum can be useful for zxbasic-sms as libraries - for now, i have special interest for snippets using palettes, patterns and text (like vpoke on msx), joystick, sound, etc. - as far you may have some interesting snippets running, please share a new version of it! thanks! :)
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Post Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:29 pm
Hello!

It's always nice to find a fellow retrocoder. =)

I haven't updated ZX-Basic for SMS for a while, but I did make some experiments for the 2012 coding compo, before settling for making Data Storm.

The attachment contains the ZX-Basic compiler with full source (most of the Python sources for the translator are in the "wip" folder), along with some extras, like a scrolling shoot-em-up prototype, a Punch-Out prototype (not much done there), and a very slightly improved version of Data Storm.

http://haroldo-ok.com/downloads/zxb-sms-2012-02-23.rar
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:01 am
haroldoop wrote
Hello!

It's always nice to find a fellow retrocoder. =)

I haven't updated ZX-Basic for SMS for a while, but I did make some experiments for the 2012 coding compo, before settling for making Data Storm.


i enjoyed Data Storm a lot, recalls me some atari2600 game looking alike it! :) - but i struggled a bit trying to understand the sources you used there, since most of the tile contents i done there (zx-spectrum version) were with defb hex value sequences, not binary inclusions - i also struggled to understand how sms deals with video memory and how is it organized, if it is shared with z80 (like zx-spectrum), or accessed by i/o (like msx) - the documentation available at smspower is not that simple to understand


Quote

The attachment contains the ZX-Basic compiler with full source (most of the Python sources for the translator are in the "wip" folder), along with some extras, like a scrolling shoot-em-up prototype, a Punch-Out prototype (not much done there), and a very slightly improved version of Data Storm.

http://haroldo-ok.com/downloads/zxb-sms-2012-02-23.rar


thanks, i'm taking a look at it now! :)
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:21 am
Quote

Quote

The attachment contains the ZX-Basic compiler with full source (most of the Python sources for the translator are in the "wip" folder), along with some extras, like a scrolling shoot-em-up prototype, a Punch-Out prototype (not much done there), and a very slightly improved version of Data Storm.

http://haroldo-ok.com/downloads/zxb-sms-2012-02-23.rar


thanks, i'm taking a look at it now! :)


i think your 0.04 is much more easier to use, from 2012-02-23 i'm only getting error messages from the terminal, like


guest@crunchbang:~/downloads/segamastersystem/rar/zxb-sms-2012-02-23/megamania$ bash build.sh
rm: cannot remove `object.o': No such file or directory
hardware.zxi:16: warning: SUB 'SetSprite' declared as FASTCALL with 4 parameters
hardware.zxi:77: warning: FUNCTION 'AndW' declared as FASTCALL with 2 parameters
hardware.zxi:120: warning: SUB 'LoadPalette' declared as FASTCALL with 3 parameters
hardware.zxi:138: warning: SUB 'LoadTiles' declared as FASTCALL with 4 parameters
hardware.zxi:157: warning: SUB 'SetBkgData' declared as FASTCALL with 5 parameters
test.zxb:54: warning: SUB 'SetBufferByte' declared as FASTCALL with 2 parameters
test.zxb:135: warning: Variable 'MManiaPal' declared as 'float'
test.zxb:138: warning: Variable 'MManiaTil' declared as 'float'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "zxb2wla.py", line 1, in <module>
    from version import VERSION
ImportError: No module named version
INCLUDE_FILE: Error opening file "test.wla.asm".
LOAD_FILE_DATA: Could not open file "object.o".
rm: cannot remove `output.sms.sym': No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat `output.sym': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove `object.o': No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat `output.sms': No such file or directory

OsmOse 0.8.5 beta build on Jan 15 2009 at 19:26:31 Written by Bruno Vedder.
Unable to open test.sms zip archive.
guest@crunchbang:~/downloads/segamastersystem/rar/zxb-sms-2012-02-23/megamania$ 
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:20 pm
Quote
i also struggled to understand how sms deals with video memory and how is it organized, if it is shared with z80 (like zx-spectrum), or accessed by i/o (like msx) - the documentation available at smspower is not that simple to understand


Well, basically, the Master System's video memory is accessed just like in the MSX; in fact, it's VDP is an improved version of the one found on the MSX. If you want to learn the basics on how to program SMS's hardware, I'd recommend Maxim's tutorial.


Quote
i think your 0.04 is much more easier to use, from 2012-02-23 i'm only getting error messages from the terminal, like (...)


From the error message, it looks like Python is having problems finding version.py; this is an small include file that I used just to declare the version of the program in a convenient way. It must be put in the same directory as the other source files, so Python can find it.
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Post Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 5:01 pm
btw, Haroldo, Boriel (the original zxbasic-compiler author) and me were talking about this SMS fork you made at http://www.boriel.com/forum/post3647.html#p3647 - be welcome talking with us there, since he is having lots of ideas on uniforming everything in just one cross-compiler, avoiding wla, etc.

and in the meanwhile i were trying to walk around from the stuff you have there, trying to create some library routines for vpoke (like on msx basic), and later cls, writing text, etc.

Quote


[quote="haroldoop"]
Quote
i also struggled to understand how sms deals with video memory and how is it organized, if it is shared with z80 (like zx-spectrum), or accessed by i/o (like msx) - the documentation available at smspower is not that simple to understand


Well, basically, the Master System's video memory is accessed just like in the MSX; in fact, it's VDP is an improved version of the one found on the MSX. If you want to learn the basics on how to program SMS's hardware, I'd recommend Maxim's tutorial.



thanks, this is a very useful link - added it at http://www.boriel.com/wiki/en/index.php/ZX_BASIC:SegaMasterSystem (the main multiplatform wikipage reference for Boriel's zxbasic-compiler - everything interesting and useful you wish to add there, be welcome! (contact Boriel if you struggle to login there) )


Quote


Quote

i think your 0.04 is much more easier to use, from 2012-02-23 i'm only getting error messages from the terminal, like (...)


From the error message, it looks like Python is having problems finding version.py; this is an small include file that I used just to declare the version of the program in a convenient way. It must be put in the same directory as the other source files, so Python can find it.


thanks, i'll try it - btw, i confess the worst confusion i found from there were those .exe w32 binaries - i imagine they may be very useful for w32 users, but definitely not for Linux users like me... :|

but don't forget to get in contact with Boriel as well, specially about the next versions of both of your approaches! :)
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Please continue guys!
Post Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:43 pm
If the compiler can be ported to the SMS then anything else is possible. Right now most BASIC compilers for video game consoles are dead or development is almost stalled. I *really* hope momentum continues to pick up on this!

Easy tools means more people homebrewing games!
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Post Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:44 am
How do i open the program?
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Post Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:16 am
haroldoop wrote
In order to compile, all you need to do is to go to the command line and invoke zxb-sms.exe, passing the name of the BASIC source code as a parameter.


So, run cmd.exe, cd to where you unzipped and type zxb-sms.exe lucas_program.zxb

Without wanting to be unkind, if you can't get that far, you're likely to struggle with the assembly you'll need to learn to do anything remotely advanced.

Maxim's tutorial is a good introduction to Z80 assembly. You may find that by the time you've learned how to interface with the Master System that it's more worthwhile to work in assembly anyway. From what I can tell, this compiler is a stalled project.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 1:45 pm
Thanks! But i now need to know how to open the zxbasic-master file.
zxbasic-master.zip (2.72 MB)

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Post Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 3:52 pm
lucasyuhyuh wrote
Thanks! But i now need to know how to open the zxbasic-master file.


Wait. You mean like you cant unzip it?
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 4:42 pm
Last edited by lucasyuhyuh on Sun Oct 06, 2019 6:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
IllusionOfMana wrote
lucasyuhyuh wrote
Thanks! But i now need to know how to open the zxbasic-master file.


Wait. You mean like you cant unzip it?


No, i need to open the program inside the zipped file (i already unzipped it).
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 5:23 pm
Edit: Right okay, I think I understand a bit what's going on here. You downloaded that file from here, right?

If so I'll stop you right here and tell you: that compiler is intended for the ZX Spectrum. I don't believe it supports the Master System. If it does, you'll probably have better luck seeking support in the appropriate forums.

Maybe try some of the files that were posted in this thread, there's at least the outside possibility that someone here will be able to support you with those.

Also: back off with your caps lock key attitude. You're the one downloading random files from other places on the internet and expecting people to help you with them. People will be more willing to help you if you make it easier for them.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 6:50 pm
Wafer wrote
Edit: Right okay, I think I understand a bit what's going on here. You downloaded that file from here, right?

If so I'll stop you right here and tell you: that compiler is intended for the ZX Spectrum. I don't believe it supports the Master System. If it does, you'll probably have better luck seeking support in the appropriate forums.

Maybe try some of the files that were posted in this thread, there's at least the outside possibility that someone here will be able to support you with those.

Also: back off with your caps lock key attitude. You're the one downloading random files from other places on the internet and expecting people to help you with them. People will be more willing to help you if you make it easier for them.


Okay, so i downloaded this .zip file, now how can i open the program? I'm running 64-bit Windows 10.

Also: Sorry for that attitude of mine.

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Post Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 7:19 pm
Wafer wrote
haroldoop wrote
In order to compile, all you need to do is to go to the command line and invoke zxb-sms.exe, passing the name of the BASIC source code as a parameter.


So, run cmd.exe, cd to where you unzipped and type zxb-sms.exe lucas_program.zxb


If you can't get that far, then maybe this video will help you.

I'll stress this again: you will need to learn Z80 assembly to make anything remotely worthwhile with this compiler. If you open example\test.zxb in a text editor, you'll see that more than half of the code is not Basic, and the code that is Basic is not doing anything particularly complicated. This simple example program doesn't take any controller input, so that's something you need to code in assembly yourself before you even get round to any game logic.

You may as well follow Maxim's tutorial because whether or not you use this compiler you will still need to learn assembly if you want to work with the Master System.
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 2:47 pm
haroldoop wrote
This new alpha adds the possibility of adding binary resources to the ROM;
The included example program is now also more elaborate, with joystick handling, palette/tileset loading et al;
The toolset is now at a stage that it could be used for an actual game, as long as you mind those details:
- Multiplication, division and strings aren't working, yet;
- Array handling is currently extremely broken;
- Floating point support is not working; remember to explicitly declare every variable as some integer value;

*** Download ZXB-SMS 0.04 alpha ***


I was just trying to see if there were results of putting ZX Spectrum on the Master System, but once I found this, it's a good project. I only have v0.04, going to download the other version. Keep up the good work. :-)
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Sorry for necro-posting...
Post Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:32 pm
I hope this project continues.

By the way, hi! My name is Chase, but you can call me Cheez. I'm glad to be here since I'm a fan of Sega and stuff.
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