Textbook in PDF format

Build your own retro games for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
From Super Mario Bros to The Legend of Zelda, games of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) defined the childhoods of millions. Now with the power of modern tools you can start creating NES games of your very own! This all-practical beginners guide will show you how to get started, with guidance on everything from graphics and music, to the Assembler language needed to get the most out of the NES, to enemy AI.
Inside Classic Game Programming on the NES you’ll learn how to
Use the 6502 Assembler language to create your own game
Create and display tile and sprite graphics
Play sound effects and music
Design and develop your own action game from scratch
Do you have an amazing idea for a NES game you’ve been itching to turn into reality? Classic Game Programming on the NES will show you how! You don’t need any game development experience or specialist programming skills. You don’t need a team of developers and graphic artists. This one-stop guide teaches you everything you need to know, step-by-step.
about the book
Classic Game Programming on the NES is a comprehensive guide to developing your first retro game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It brings together the scattered secrets of NES development, distilling them into clear instructions on how to get started, what your game needs to work, and what tools you’ll need to use. Learn about the NES’s awesome and unique architecture, the surprisingly simple 6502 Assembler language, game logic, and more. Throughout, all concepts are illustrated with a simple space-based shoot-em-up that’s based on the awesome Astrosmash game reminiscent of games from your childhood.
The 6502 microprocessor was very popular and used for many home computer systems and consoles starting from the late 70s. Its main appeal at the time was its simplicity and it being able to execute each instruction very quickly. It has a very small set of instructions and is the forefather to current generation reduced instruction set (RISC) processors that you would find in the mobile phones we all love to use today. As the NES console has a 6502 processor with limited memory and registers, it can be difficult for higher-level languages (like C and Basic) to produce assembly code that runs fast enough to be useful for game development. Games require precise timing, to ensure objects are drawn to the screen on time and that music and sound effects are played without slowing down. For our first chapter on 6502 Assembler, we will look at how the processor stores and processes information, with examples for each instruction and the different memory modes that can be used.
welcome
Letв’s_program_games!
Getting_set_up
Starting_6502_Assembler
Maths,_loops,_conditions,_and_bits
Starting_Somewhere
Starting_a_game
Move_and_shoot
Enemy_movement
Collision_detection
Keeping_score
Player_collisions_and_lives
More_enemies
Animations_and_more
Sound_effects
Music
Where_to_from_here?
Appendix_A._Installation_and_setup
Appendix_B._Memory_Mappers
Appendix_C._Memory_and_IO_Map