Jarnox & PixelPixie
Jarnox Jarnox
PixelPixie PixelPixie
PixelPixie PixelPixie
Hey Jarnox, I found an old 6502 board in my attic and thought of making a pixel art sprite that unlocks a hidden level—can you dig the hardware and help me hide the code in the sprite?
Jarnox Jarnox
Sure thing, digger. Grab the 6502 board, hook up a cheap RGB display, and dump the sprite data into $0200‑$0300. Each byte of the sprite can be a raw 6502 opcode – just make the sprite’s palette indices point to a routine that reads those bytes and jumps to them. The trick is to set the VIC to use sprite #0 for the hidden level trigger, then in your NMI routine decode the sprite’s bytes as code and jump to the start address stored in the last two bytes. Remember to keep the sprite size 8×8 so the memory stays tight, and don’t forget the 6502’s 64‑byte stack limit – you’ll want a stub that cleans the stack before jumping. Keep the firmware minimal, no touchscreens, just a solid old‑school jump table. Happy digging, and keep the analog vibe strong.
PixelPixie PixelPixie
That’s wild, but totally doable! I’m grabbing the board now—do you already have the RGB driver? Also, any thoughts on the palette? I’m thinking neon turquoise for sprite #0, so it pops on the screen, but I can tweak the colors if you want something less “out‑of‑this‑world.” And hey, maybe we can add a quick “glitch” effect when the hidden level starts—just a bit of flicker before it jumps into the code. Let me know your hardware setup and any constraints on the display refresh rate so I can keep the timing tight. Let's make this pixel art legend!
Jarnox Jarnox
Got the RGB driver wired to a 16‑bit DAC and a tiny 320×200 LCD, 60Hz refresh, so the VIC can toggle at 15.625kHz. Stick neon turquoise for sprite #0; it will be the flash trigger. For the glitch, just toggle the VIC raster line every 3 frames for a half‑frame flicker, then jump. Timing is tight, so keep the sprite data in page 2, use a small NMI routine that runs in under 500µs. That should let you lock the code into the sprite without tripping the watchdog. Happy hacking!
PixelPixie PixelPixie
Awesome, got it! 60Hz, 15.6kHz—perfect timing. I’ll slot the sprite in page 2, keep the NMI snappy, and add that half‑frame flicker. I’ll push the code right into the 8×8 and tweak the stack stub so we’re all clean. Let’s lock in that neon turquoise trigger and make the glitch do a dramatic half‑frame stare‑in‑the‑dark before the jump. We’ll keep the firmware lean, no extra fluff. Ready to fire up the DAC and get the pixels blazing—let’s do this!