Denial

I've programmed my robotron style game, in VICE, but I don't know how to save the .prg file. It's very crude and not optimized in any way. I just wanted something quick and dirty and fun.

The gameplay is not very Robotron-like, but it has a suitable feeling of fast action and panic. The big difference is how enemy movement works. To keep things fast, I only move one random robot per turn. This means that the robots get faster when they are fewer! You need to carefully set up the destruction of the last few robots.

The other big difference is that there's only one bullet. This bullet can mow through multiple enemies, though, and you can reshoot the bullet at any time (Gorf style). The result is a strange sniping style of shooting rather than the classic Robotron bullet hose.

Despite the differences, the overall experience feels like Robotron to me--it's fast, relentless, and HARD.

So how do I post this program here? I'm using VICE on a Linux machine. Thanks!

And within 'Settings' > 'Peripheral settings ...' > Drive 8, select Directory '.', and uncheck the box 'write P00 files'.

Denial currently doesn't host binaries for the forum, you'll need to use your own webspace, and set a link to the *.prg file.

I'm very confused.

I figured out how to create an empty disk image (I named it vd1.gdx), and I was able to save the program onto that disk image.

If I detach the disk image, then I can try SAVE"GAME V001",8, then it tries to save and it acts like it works, but no file is created. From then on, any attempt to access the disc just gives me ?DEVICE NOT PRESENT ERROR. I have to reset the VIC (losing my program) in order for it to be able to perform any load/save operations successfully (after reattaching my disk image)...

I didn't see an option for "write P00 files", but there are two options called "Convert P00 file names" and "Create P00 files on save"; both of these were checked by default.

Is there some way to simply copy/paste program text?

Hit up Settings->Peripheral Settings

Check "Use IEC Device"

Select Directory

Browse to a directory you want to save the prg

Uncheck "Read P00 files"

Uncheck "Write P00 files"

Hit OK

then in the emulator SAVE "MY.PRG",8

and you'll have a PRG in the directory you specified. You may want to detach any disk image first.

I probably should have asked this first: What version of VICE are you using?

I'm using the version in Debian Stable, so it's probably a bit old. Help->About says xvic 1.22 (c)1998-2007.

Yes, version 1.22 was the last of the 1.X branch. The most current version is 2.1 which has a couple of improvements on the VIC-20 emulation like a completely rewritten sound emulation and also some video improvements that some of the most recent demos may take advantage of. You probably should step aside what the Debian packet handling system offers and compile it from sources.

Or use debian unstable, it's about as stable as any Windows two years after release
Don't know if debian unstable got any newer version of VICE though.

Quick update--I've downloaded VICE version 2.1 for Windows, on my Windows computer, and I've tried all of the above suggestions and I still haven't been able to save a ".prg" file.

It behaves the same way as described above. It acts like it works, except the virtual drive error light stays blinking after the save. No file is created. Any further attempts to save to or load from the disk gives ?DEVICE NOT PRESENT ERROR.

This is highly frustrating and demoralizing. I have all of these ideas for VIC20 programs to develop, but I'm stuck on the most basic issue!

I've tried Checking "Use IEC Device", explicitly specifying a directory, and Unchecking both "Read P00 files" and "Write P00 files". I've also tried it with those options checked (performing a full quit and restart of VICE between attempts).

No matter what I do, "MY.PRG" is never created.

I am not attempting to attach or create any disc image.

Within Options, uncheck 'true drive emulation'.

When we access a host directory, we aren't emulating the 15xx hardware, no?

THANK YOU!

It works now, and it also works for the version of VICE on my Debian Stable machines. Hooray!