Yudo's Game Development Hub

Hey guys, I have a little bit of free time and internet access so I thought I might make a page dedicated to an old hobby of mine!

This page is gonna be a resource for all of you whippersnappers who want to try their hand at programming on antiquated gaming hardware.

Now keep in mind, this page is geared more towards consoles than computers, but I will include info about PC gamedev from time to time.

Here's a list of consoles you can program (ordered by ease of entry/abundence of dev materials/communtiy growth):

1. Sega Genesis\Mega Drive
   This is the best system in my opinion for homebrew games. Look below and you'll see why.
   
   • BEX: (NOTE: the developer's forums have been taken over by spammers and the community has effectively been killed off) BASIC Compiler/IDE for the genesis.The developer also made a sprite editor and image converter to work in conjunction with BEX. A bit old but very useful. It supports the 32x and Sega CD, as well as this weird proprietary mode that allows direct interfacing from your PC's paralell port (like I said, old lol) into the console's controller port. Dispite it's numerous glitches, lack of updates throughout the 2010s, lack of floating point operations and negative numbers, and terrible scalability, BEX is a highly reccomended platform for those that wanna jump right into the nitty gritty of programming the Genesis without the agony of a steep learning curve. If you've ever heard of a game called Papi Commando, I belive that game was written in BEX. Hell, I even made some tutorials for it on a popular video site back in the day, think you can find them?
     [EASIEST]
   • Second BASIC: Made as an update/upgrade to BEX. Syntax is very similar to BEX, and has native integration with music and sound effects. Latest version was releasted in June of 2018 with 32x support. I have yet to try it out, but it looks promising. The dev communtiy, however is still extremely small by comparison, and the forums are not as active as the BEX forums. Still worth a look.
     [EASY]
   • SGDK: Sega Genesis Development Kit in C. You can create some really clean games with this engine. Look at the demos! I'm not sure about the Sega CD or 32x support, but this is definately what you'll want to use if you want to create some commercial-grade games on the platform. Although the learning curve is steeper than the other stuff mentioned, if you already know C, you might as well skip everything and download this compiler. Highly Reccomened.
     [NOT THE EASIEST]
   • ASM68K: Assembly on the Motorola 68k. A lot of people online say programming on the 68k is really nice. I haven't touched any of it so I can't speak to that. But if you're into demoscene stuff or making processor/graphics intensive games that push the system to the edge, this is your best bet.
     [HARDCORE]
   • Java Grinder:Java on the Genesis. It's suprisingly fast.. but like.. Why, you know? I mean if you got Java experience and some fighting spirit🔥, I'd love to see what you come up with.
     [java]
2. Nintendo Game Boy
   Programming on the game boy is very accesible. Flash cartridges are cheap and abundant on the net, there are a plethora of dev tools for you to use. Because a list about GB dev stuff already exists. I'll keep this section breif.
   • Game Boy Studio This is probably the easiest tool on this web page. Game Boy Studio is a CODELESS development solution for the nintendo game boy. It has a vibrant community and has virtually breathed new life into the game boy dev scene. It's so easy I actually used it to make a really shitty skateboard RPG. I really wish I had this when I was a kid.
     [DOWNLOAD NOW]
   • GBDK (like SGDK but for gameboy, last version compiled in like 2001ish)
     [NOT THE EASIEST]
   • invisibleup's guide to gameboy programming in assembly
3. Atari 2600
   Weren't expecting this one were you? The dev communtiy for the 2600 is GARGANTUAN, and new games are released every year. Most of the major dev tools are usable in some form on all windows distributions since 95, and development is fun and easy. Once you're done with your game, get it on a cartridge here.
   • Visual Batari BASIC: An entire dev suite for the 2600, complete with IDE, compiler, graphics editor. It's similar to BEX in design, but is much more integrated and involved (not to mention updated LOL). It's a blast to use, and it supports some pretty big cartridge sizes. This was my introduction into game console programming when I was 12. If you ever have any young-ins you want to introduce to programming, this is a pretty neat teaching tool.
     [EASY AS IT GETS]
   • Java Grinder (again): Uhhh. It's a thing that lets you program Java on the Atari. Syntax wise, it's not thaaaat different from Visual Batari Basic, but like, it's Java. I guess if you're in the US and they tught you Java in high school (me lol), the learning curve is non-existant for you... but even so. Whatever floats your boat I guess.
     [java]
   • 6502 Assembly: Close to the metal atari 2600 programing. Even if you just want to use Visual Batari Basic, the first 3 sections are very informative for overall development on the 2600. But if you wanted to go deeper, the resource is here.
     [CLOSE 2 DA METAL]
4. Sega Saturn
   Atari 2600 not cooky enough for ya? Try this on for size!
   Back in the day, Saturn programming was harder than a rock. But nowadays, it's easier than ever.
   • Jo-Engine: Make Sega Saturn games in C! This is a pretty new engine, it's inspired by the old SaturnOrbit Engine, but it's much simpler and easier to grasp, as far as I can tell. Demos are looking very promising (like Sonic XTreme Promising). I'd say it's worth it if you want to get into Saturn Dev.
     [BEST BET]
   • Saturn Orbit: Make Sega Saturn Games in C++! This is a pretty old engine, it's inspired (and comes with) some official Sega Dev tools/documents, but it's not toooo difficult to grasp, as far as I can tell. The demos look pretty nice (pretty on par with the original virtua fighter). I'd say it's worth it if you're on an older system (like a windows 98 PC).
     [pretty good]
   • Game Basic: Make Sega Saturn Games in BASIC! This the oldest "engine" (it's a BASIC interpreter), but it's not toooo difficult to grasp, as far as I can tell. The demos look pretty good (pretty on par with the original virtua fighter). However, it's a pretty rare peice of software. Not to mention that it only works on japanese sega saturns, as you write and play the software on the saturn itself. This would be a nice option if it was an actual compiler like BEX, but because of limited availibility and the whole damn thing being in Japanese,
     [stay away]
5. Nintendo Entertainment System
   Ahh yes the good ol' Nintendo. For the longest time I've had my eye on tinkering with this machine, but the availible software was never enticing enough for me to get off the ground with. Not enticing enough, until now....
   • NESMaker: Make NES Games without code! Inspired by Mark Overmars' Game Maker, NESmaker is a beginner friendly tool that helps you make RPG and Platform games. Although this tool is not free (it's $36.00 USD), it's the easiest way to get going on the 8-Bit giant. Certainly worth the price.
     [SUPER EASY, CHECK IT OUT!]
6. Neo Geo Pocket Color
   Sorry I had to be the one to tell you this but the NEO GEO Pocket Color is pretty rad. It's pretty unfortunate that its library is so damn tiny. But maybe you can change that idk.
   • Dark Fader's C library: Make NeoGeo games in C! This looks pretty good. I don't know much about the NEO GEO but it seems to have produced results.
     [ONLY OPTION]
7. Neo Geo Pocket Color
   Sorry I had to be the one to tell you this but the NEO GEO Pocket Color is pretty rad. It's pretty unfortunate that its library is so damn tiny. But maybe you can change that idk.
   • Dark Fader's C library: Make NeoGeo games in C! This looks pretty good. I don't know much about the NEO GEO but it seems to have produced results.
     [ONLY OPTION]
8. Dev Kit Pro
   I'm too lazy to go through each one of these systems. So like, I'm just gonna leave this and be on my merry way.