Pikuma has released a new course to teach you 6502 Assembly to be used on the Nintendo Entertainment System through a 22-hour-long video. At the end of the course, you’ll have a working knowledge of 6502 assembly language, a comprehensive understanding of the NES hardware, and a toy homebrew game project that we’ll code together from scratch. We’ll start with small examples and proceed to glue everything together in a final project that demonstrates how a simple NES game works.
The course is presented by Gustavo Pezzi is a university lecturer in London, UK. He teaches fundamentals of computer science and mathematics; his academic path includes institutions such as Pittsburg State University, City University of London, and the University of Oxford.
I’ve been taking another course available at Pikuma, targeting the Atari 2600, and it is excellent. I am 30% done, and so far, I like very much the way the instructor presents the information, the code examples and also the visual aid tools (animations, etc). If the NES course follows the same pattern, I am confident it will also be great.
Contents
1. Introduction
- Motivations & Learning Outcomes
- How to Take This Course
2. NES History & Early Years
- The NES in the History of Game Consoles
- The Early Years of Nintendo
3. NES Hardware Overview
- NES Hardware (Console)
- NES Hardware (Cartridge)
- Opening the NES Cabinet
- Quiz: NES Hardware
4. Review of Binary & Hexadecimal
- Binary Numbers
- Hexadecimal Numbers
- Quiz: Binary & Hexadecimal
5. The 6502 Processor
- 6502 Pinout
- 6502 Registers
- 6502 Status Flags
- Quiz: 6502 CPU
6. Assembler
- The Assembler Flow
- Popular 6502 Instructions
- The CA65 Assembler
- Installing CA65 on Windows
- Installing CA65 on macOS
- Installing CA65 on Linux
- Quiz: Assembler
7. Intro to 6502 Assembly
- iNES Header
- Our First Assembly Code
- Assembler & Linker
- The FCEUX Emulator
- Exercise: Our First Assembly Bug
- Addressing Modes
- Instruction Set
- Exercise: 6502 Warmup Exercises
- CPU Memory Map
- Clearing RAM Addresses
8. NES Graphics
- NES Graphics & the PPU
- NTSC, PAL, & VBlank
- PPU Memory Map
- Color Palette
- NES Initialization Code
- Include Files
- PPU Address Latch
- Unnamed Labels & Subroutines
- Quiz: Picture Frame & VBlank
9. Background Graphics
- CHR-ROM Tiles
- Loading Nametable Tiles
- Loading Attributes
- Dynamic CA65 Macros
- RAM Variables
- Pointers
- Loading Full Nametables
- Quiz: Pattern Tables & Nametables
- Displaying Text
10. Sprites
- NES Sprites
- Hello Mario
- OAM Decay
- Hiding Sprites
- Sprite Flickering
- Exercise: Hello Goomba
11. Controller Input
- NES Controller Architecture
- Joypad Input Routine
- Checking Button Presses
- Moving Sprites using the Joypad
- Quiz: Controller Input
12. Subpixel Movement
- Integer & Fractional Position
- Velocity & Acceleration
- Signed Velocity
- Animation Frames
- Quiz: Subpixel Movement
13. Random Numbers
- Generating Random Values
- Bitshift Operations
- Random Enemy Position
- Exercise: Random Values
14. Scrolling Background
- Nametable Mirroring
- Horizontal & Vertical Scrolling
- Swapping Nametables
- Loading Background Dynamically
- Dynamic Scrolling
- Drawing Column of Tiles Off-Screen
- Loading Attributes Off-Screen
- Quiz: Background Scrolling
15. Split Screen
- Scroll Split Screen
- Different Split Screen Techniques
- Sprite-0 Hit
- Separating Game Logic & NMI
- Saving Registers in the Stack
- Buffering
- Quiz: Split Screen
16. Game Objects (Actors)
- Array of Actors
- Adding & Removing Actors
- A Routine to Add Actors
- Looping Array of Actors
- Rendering Actors
- Updating Actor Position
- One Missile Per Button Press
- Removing Actors
- Relative vs. Absolute Jumps
- Spawning Submarines
- Spawning Airplanes
- Quiz: Managing Game Objects
17. Generating Random Numbers
- Random Numbers & LFSR
- 8-bit LFSR Example
- Random Airplane Position
- Random Submarine Position
- Quiz: Random Numbers
18. Collision Detection
- Sprite Collision Check
- Missile-Airplane Collision
- Point Inside Bounding Box
19. Incrementing Score Values
- Simulating BCD Increment
- A Routine to Increment Score
- Buffering Background Changes
- Incrementing Score on Enemy Hit
20. Title Screen
- CHR Bank Switching
- Game State Enumeration
- Adding a Title Screen
- Displaying Menu Items
- Quiz: CHR Bank Switching
21. Compressing Level Data
- Encoding & Compression
- LRE Compression
- Block Encoding
- Quiz: Data Encoding & Compression
22. Audio
- APU
- NES Audio
- FamiStudio
- Quiz: NES Audio & the APU
23. Conclusion & Next Steps
The course costs US$49.99, which gives you lifetime access to it so you can take all the time you want and come back when needed.
Link: Pikuma.com
