I realize you're asking a historical question, but if you're interested in developing for the 2600, one of the best go-to sources is this page: http://atariage.com/2600/programming/ As for the original system, according to Joe Decuir, Atari alumnus, in a presentation at CG Expo: * 6502 Cross Assembler, based on host, such a timesharing machine, or DEC PDP-11. * Hardware emulator with RAM in code space. * Debug monitor, for downloading and manipulating object code. * HP-1600 series symbolic logic analyzer. The full presentation slide deck is here: http://www.atariarchives.org/dev/CGEXPO01.html On Thu, May 8, 2014 at 9:31 PM, Zane Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote:

I realize you're asking a historical question, but if you're interested in developing for the 2600, one of the best go-to sources is this page: http://atariage.com/2600/programming/ As for the original system, according to Joe Decuir, Atari alumnus, in a presentation at CG Expo: * 6502 Cross Assembler, based on host, such a timesharing machine, or DEC PDP-11. * Hardware emulator with RAM in code space. * Debug monitor, for downloading and manipulating object code. * HP-1600 series symbolic logic analyzer. The full presentation slide deck is here: http://www.atariarchives.org/dev/CGEXPO01.html On Thu, May 8, 2014 at 9:31 PM, Zane Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote: > I've found myself wondering just what a typical development system for an > Atari 2600 or 5200 looked like. I gather that an Atari ST was used for > developing Atari 7800 software. > > Obviously now, something like DASM can be used for the 2600, but what was > used back when the systems were new? > > Zane > > > > -- > healyzh at aracnet.com > http://blog.zanesphotography.com > http://www.flickr.com/photos/zanes-photography/ > > > > > > >

Hi Zane, we actually discuss some of this in Atari Inc. - Business Is Fun plus I believe the development process is discussed in Racing the Beam. The original 7800 titles (the ten launch titles done in 1984) were obviously not done on STs (since they didn't exist yet of course). Rather they were coded the same as most console and coin development was done: on mainframes running CPU simulators and then loaded over to the real hardware for testing. In the case of 2600 and 7800 games that was by burning an EPROM. Here's an example of GCC's console game setup (how they usually developed their 2600, 5200 and 7800 games). For those not familiar, GCC is the company that actually developed the 7800 and the initial launch titles. http://galleryszy.stevenanne.net/archives/2005/05/at_work_8.html As far as mid through late 70s, most of the work was done on trainers/stations connected to a teletype, where the assembly code was then written and turned in to the mainframe's program entry operators to be entered on Atari's mainframe and stored there, assembled by them and outputted on paper tape which would then be used for testing. This middle man approach was mainly for revision control and cost. In fact there's a humorous story in our book that when Owen Rubin (one of the first programmers hired when they started switching to microprocessor driven coin-ops) he was just shown his area that included Mikbug 6800 kit connected to an ASR 33 teletype and assumed that he was just supposed to do all the development directly on that. They wrote their own in house 6502 and 6800 simulators for the mainframe in the very late 70s to allow direct mainframe development for the programmers, which became the norm by the early 80s (though eprom burning was still handled by a secondary person for control). On Thu, May 8, 2014 at 8:31 PM, Zane Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote: -- Marty