== Setting Up a Programming Environment ==
Before you dive into writing Super Nintendo programs, you need the necessary
utilities and other things that will simplify your journey of learning how to
program this beast.
Documents:
1) One great assortment of files was gathered by Qwertie,
it contains documents on the cpu, graphics, etc. Get it Here.
2) Yoshi's docs - Oh wait, that's in the zip above. :) (in the Misc Directory)
3) 65816 Primer - wait, that's in the zip above as well. It's named 65816info.txt (in CPU dir)
4) Asmtutor - Great read for learning 65816 assembly. Get it Here.
5) eKid's pcx2snes (windows only. sorry linux people):
Inside Qwertie's package are a few key files you need to have on tap.
They are qsnesdoc.html (in Mmio&PPU directory), the entire yoshi directory, and the 65816 primer.
Development Kits:
1) Neviksti's Snes Starterkit - get it Here.
The ASSEMBLER
I've heard all kinds of Snes assemblers - SNASM, TRASM,
X816, etc, but for many reasons, we'll be using WLA.
Where to put all the executables:
stick wla-65816 and wlalink into
C:\WINDOWS\system32\
/usr/bin/ for Linux users (I think that's it.)
This way you will be able to use them wherever you are, rather then having to
put them in a certain directory.
Here is batch and shell script file which fully assembles projects into an smc.
read their usage notes inside them. The batch is by Neviksti, shell script was
converted by me.
Win: wla batch
Linux: wla shellscript
The Text EditorAnything.. notepad, wordpad, ultra-edit, some kind of word processor.
Ok, now you have a decent programming environment. Try to organize all the files
so they are relative to each other. For instance, make a folder called Snes,
and make a sub-directory named "docs," another called "code," etc. You don't
have to be organized, but it helps (I've even printed out some docs). Do
whatever the hell you want, ok? Alright, we'll start learning some 65816 asm
in the next tutorial.
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