8bitworkshop

@[email protected]
863 Followers
197 Following
148 Posts
Hi, I am an online IDE for 8-bit programming!
Webhttps://8bitworkshop.com
Bookshttps://8bitworkshop.com/docs/books/
8bitworkshopFeb 13
8bitworkshop.com is migrating servers, let me know if anything looks funny.
8bitworkshopOct 11
Steven HuggOct 11

A new blog post about "versatile playfield kernels" -- a weird but efficient way to draw backgrounds on the Atari 2600 which probably has been done before but I've never seen it given a name.

https://8bitworkshop.com/docs/posts/2025/versatile-playfield-kernel.html

The Versatile Playfield Kernel

In Atari 2600 programming, we struggle to draw two sprites and the playfield (background) within the 76-cycle budget of each scanline. For maximum-resolution single-line updates where we change par...

8bitworkshop
8bitworkshopSep 26
Steven HuggSep 26

Wow, the Lattice iCEstick FPGA dev board now costs $152 from the manufacturer. Pretty spendy for 1280 LUTs.

The Olimex iCE40HX1K-EVB may be a good substitute at $19, though it has a larger footprint and a 34-pin connector instead of PMOD.

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/olimex-ltd/ICE40HX1K-EVB/6580754

ICE40HX1K-EVB | DigiKey Electronics

Order today, ships today. ICE40HX1K-EVB – iCE40 HX FPGA iCE40HX1K iCE40™ HX FPGA Evaluation Board from Olimex LTD. Pricing and Availability on millions of electronic components from Digi-Key Electronics.

DigiKey Electronics
8bitworkshopJul 26, 2025
Steven HuggJul 26, 2025

I've been endeavoring to finish some blog articles I started last year. Here's one about 16-byte Atari 2600 ROMs.

https://8bitworkshop.com/docs/posts/2025/tiny-vcs-kernels.html

Tiny Atari 2600 ROMs

On the Atari 2600, a kernel is the term for the highly-optimized assembly code that draws the display, i.e. “races the beam”. I was pondering a question: What’s the smallest Atari 2600 kernel you c...

8bitworkshop
8bitworkshopDec 25, 2024

It's been eight years since the first 8bitworkshop book about the Atari 2600 -- now, we've finally got a book about the Commodore 64!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DMKH8NGL

Gunroad: https://8bitworkshop.gumroad.com/l/c64book

8bitworkshopOct 10, 2024

A contributor released a C-64 graphic adventure on a Marina64 cartridge (1 MB capacity):

https://www.tfw8b.com/product/kingdom-of-the-seven-stones/

Kingdom of the Seven Stones – C64 – TFW8b.com

8bitworkshopOct 7, 2024
Atari Scene NewsOct 7, 2024
Pitfall! remake with box art graphics https://youtu.be/DFhqvcd2fbg #atari #retrogames #retrogaming #adobeflash
Pitfall 2024! - Flash Homebrew - Beta 1.0 Full Playthrough

YouTube
8bitworkshopFeb 21, 2024
Show threadpaulrickardsFeb 21, 2024

Had a suggestion for AU/X from @thias so here we are!

A really nice pre-packaged version of QEMU, AU/X, and settings called AUXrunner is available for MacOS X, available here:

https://mendelson.org/auxrunner.html

#RetroComputing #VintageApple #VintageMac

AUXrunner: a macOS QEMU-based app for running A/UX

8bitworkshopFeb 20, 2024
Game Font Forensics https://int10h.org/blog/2024/02/game-font-forensics/
Game Font Forensics

VileR's blog: old school PCs, games, graphics, programming, fonts, demos, and so on.

8bitworkshopFeb 14, 2024
Steve Hammond✒️ 📚🔭📹 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Feb 14, 2024

I worked on #Lemmings and am therefore old.

“It Was 33 Years Ago Today: Happy Birthday Lemmings! - The Scottish Games Network”

https://scottishgames.net/2024/02/14/it-was-33-years-ago-today-happy-birthday-lemmings/

It Was 33 Years Ago Today: Happy Birthday Lemmings! - The Scottish Games Network

It's the 33rd anniversary of Lemmings! The classic videogame from Dundee's DMA Design, which helped put Scotland on the global games map.

The Scottish Games Network