[stella] Starmaster disassembled

[Thomas Jentzsch <tjentzsch@xxxxxx>]

Hi,
during the last days, I've nearly completely
disassembled, analyzed and commented one of my favorite
2600 games: Starmaster 

I always wanted to know some details, how the game
works. That's the reason why I did it. The code is
based on the NTSC version, the PAL version is nearly
identical.

Now that I have the code, I might make a better PAL
conversion (correct timings, taller screen, ...) and
add some features, if I find enough space. What do you
think about this idea?

If you look at the code, you'll find quite nice
algorithms for a 3d starfield, a random number
generator and some rather weird stuff (i.E. packing of
the sector state information).

Most code is very good optimized, but there are other
parts where some bytes of RAM and ROM could have been
saved for more features. I guess, Alan Miller just
didn't have the time to do so.

Some parts of the code might be quite interesting for
others too, so I post it to the list. 

I did all my comments in English, i hope they are
understandable.

Have fun!
Thomas

BTW: I also discovered a very subtile and minor BUG,
when the left upper starbase is attacked.
_______________________________________________________
Thomas Jentzsch         | *** Every bit is sacred ! ***
tjentzsch at web dot de |

Attachment: Starmaster.zip
Description: Zip compressed data