Bally Alley - The Newsletter for Astrocade Users

BASIC Programming

	Tutorials by Michael White. Written from "back in the day" to present time (2004)!
3x5 Character Set	*3x5 Character Set* - Fourteen pages. Instructions on how to create a small fonts (a 3x5 font set) with Astrocade BASIC. Type-in program is listed. Written by H.A.R.D.
	*Astro BASIC Manual* - This manual is for the second version of the Bally BASIC cartridge, the one that has the built-in microphone jack (often referred to as AstroBasic, as it is here). Though this is the version released by Astrovision, the cover does say Bally. An alternate version of this manual that says Astrocade on the cover is available here: here. The differences between these two manuals are list in: BASIC Manual Differences.
Bally BASIC Hacker's Guide	Bally BASIC Hacker's Guide - This was the supplement written by Jay Fenton that went along with the Bally BASIC manual. It's full of all sorts of goodies, most of which found their way into the AstroBASIC Manual... but not everything.
	*Bally BASIC Manual* - 130 pages - This manual is for the first version of the Bally BASIC cartridge, the one that does not have the built-in microphone jack. There are two first editions of this manual available. You can download the alternate version here. The differences between these two manuals are list in: BASIC Manual Differences.
	Bally On-Board ROM Subroutines Useful compilation of routines. This booklet explains what the On-Board ROM routines built into the Bally / Astrocade ROM do. This manual is used as a reference for BASIC programmers so that they can save a few bytes when programming and also take advantage of the faster routines that machine language offers. A Hex dump of the Bally 8K ROM is also included. - 28 Pages.
	Bally On-Board ROM Subroutines Useful compilation of routines. This booklet explains what the On-Board ROM routines built into the Bally / Astrocade ROM do. This manual is used as a reference for BASIC programmers so that they can save a few bytes when programming and also take advantage of the faster routines that machine language offers. A Hex dump of the Bally 8K ROM is also included. - 28 Pages.
BASIC Programming Notes	BASIC Programming Notes - These notes are provided to introduce the new Arcade owner to techniques and effects that can be generated by the Tiny BASIC cartridge. (These two pages have been lifted from the Arcadian compilation of ten programs.) - 2 Pages (125K).
Cartridge Conversion (AKA BASIC Cartridge Swapping)	*Cartridge Conversion (AKA BASIC Cartridge Swapping)* - Swap the Bally BASIC and Astrobasic cartridges while the machine is still on without losing the data. So, you can load 300 baud programs into Bally BASIC, swap with the AstroBasic cartridge, and then save at 2000 baud. VERY useful for archive purposes. The routine that is discussed is EASY to use, but a discussion of how it works (with ML source) is probably overkill for most of us. Excellent! - Text Document - (7K).
BASICart Code Key	BASICart Code Key - When creating a BASICart, use this very useful code key. 1 Page (28K).
	Differences Between Bally and AstroBASIC This document describes the improvements and differences between the original version of Bally BASIC and AstroBasic (the version with the build-in 2000 BAUD interface). This document will be useful when converting files from one language to another- especially when reading machine language material in the Arcadian (which primarily is directed toward the older version of BASIC). It also finally answers that question: "what's different between the two BASIC carts?"
Music Synthesizer, The	*Music Synthesizer, The* By Chuck Thomka "The synthesizer circuit, which is contained wholly within the 40 pin custom I/O chip, is a very versatile circuit which contains counters and amplifiers to give the programmer tremendous control of the three voice output along with a tremolo, vibrato, and even a noise generator. The output frequency range is very accurately adjustable from less than 14 hertz to ultrasonic frequencies. The upper limit may be set by the capacity of your TV sound system." This tutorial original was made up of two parts: "The Music Synthesizer [Part 1]," ARCADIAN, 1, no. 8 (July 1979): 62-66. "The Music Synthesizer, Part 2," ARCADIAN, 1, no. 9 (August 1979): 71-73. This text version of the tutorial is missing four parts as they appeared in the Arcadian newsletter. The missing parts are: "Sound Graph" - A Bally BASIC program that allows access to the sound ports and makes a simple graph of the results. ARCADIAN, 1, no. 8 (July 1979): 65. "Touch Tone Simulate" - A Bally BASIC program that can be used to dial phone numbers. ARCADIAN, 1, no. 8 (July 1979): 65. "The Sound Synthesizer as Perceived by Chuck Thomka" - A visual overview of the sound ports. Brett Bilbrey has said that this has some errors, but he can't remember what they are. ARCADIAN, 1, no. 8 (July 1979): 66. "Frequency Table" - A table of all the sound generating keys, their &(17) values, the resultant frequencies, and any special notes about them. ARCADIAN, 1, no. 9 (August 1979): 73. The two tutorials have been extracted from the two different issues of the Arcadian newsletter and combined into one PDF document, which is available here.
XY Tutorial	*XY Tutorial* By Timothy Hays A tutorial on the Bally BASIC XY command for exceptionally well controlled graphics. - 12 Pages (1.27 MB).