Programming:Cross Development

General

There are various Z80 assemblers which you can use to develop games for the CPC. I always test on an emulator first then when the program is complete I test it on a real CPC.

Once you have your binary file you have two choices depending on if the game will be for cassette or disc.

Cassette

• Use 2CDT to add the files to a Cassette Image File (CDT)
• Then you can run the program on the emulator the same way as you would run it on a real CPC

Disc

• Use CPCFS or CPCXFS to put the binary files into a Disk Image file (DSK)
• Then you can run the program on the emulator the same way as you would run it on a real CPC

Snapshot

The fastest way of testing your code on an emulator is by creating a snapshot. Use CPCSnapshot to insert your assembled code into a snapshot file. Then just load the snapshot file into the emulator. Windows users may also try WinAPE's integrated assembler which assembles the code directly into the emulated CPC's memory.

Cross Assemblers

• Pasmo
• ZMac
• zasm
• WinApe's built in assembler

Testing on a real CPC

For cassette

- Use Tape2WAV to convert the Cassette Image file (CDT) into a WAV file. - Connect your CPC (CPC664 and CPC6128 have a cassette input) to the Line-Out output of your PC soundcard - On the CPC type: |TAPE:RUN" - Start your WAV player - Set the volume to maximum - play the WAV file - Wait for the program to load...

For disc

If your CPC has a 3.5" disc drive then the easiest method is to transfer the DSK to a 3.5" disc using the PC.

- Then use CPCDiskXP to write the DSK to a 3.5" disc drive - Put the disc into your CPC's 3.5" disc drive and type - |B: RUN "<gamename>

Web links

• CPC Cross Development tools by Ramlaid