Hi all,
In 1985, as a 15-year-old tackling my O-level Computer Studies, I set out to create an arcade game for the BBC Micro—a version of Burger Time. With a little help from my friend, a copy of Assembly Language Programming for the BBC by Ian Birnbaum and the Advanced User Guide, I coded in 6502 assembly, designing sprites on graph paper and calculating HEX codes with my Casio scientific calculator. The game was basic and unfinished; life intervened, and the project, stored on a now-lost 5.25-inch floppy, faded away.
Fast forward to 2025, a loft clear-out unearthed my project notes: graph paper with sprite designs, flowcharts, and handwritten code. The floppy was gone, but my old books, now joined by How to Write Arcade Games by Jonathan Griffiths, reignited my passion. I've decided to finish what I started forty years ago.
This is a slow-burn project. Using the B2 BBC Micro emulator and a recently acquired BBC Master (whose power supply promptly gave up in a puff of smoke![:shock:]( "Shocked")
), I’m relearning 6502 assembly with help from my books and this forum. The goal is a playable version of Burger Time with the pepper, closely represented screens and game play and those pesky enemies! It’s tough—my assembly skills are rusty, and limitations of the BBC is unforgiving.
Why bother? To honour my 15-year-old self and rediscover the joy of creating. This blog will track the journey: triumphs and probably mainly setbacks and headache. If you’re into nostalgia or passion projects, join me and chip in with advice as I bring a 1985 dream to life, one line of code at a time.
So an evening or two in I have made a start. I did consider using a custom 32 column Mode 1 to maintain the correct scale, but this is quite a colourful game and the 4 colour limitations isn't going to work. So using Mode 2 and reducing the size of the screen sprites I've made a passable scene of the first level of the arcade game. Looking at all the levels, it should be possible to display at least, all of them. The arcade game had various sized sprites and this is an area I think I will need compromise. My sausage baddie is on a 8x16 grid and I think looks better than the larger arcade version. I'll also be reducing the number of frames for each sprite especially the climbing baddies. I do intend if possible to keep Peter Pepper full size with most of the arcade frames.
In 1985, as a 15-year-old tackling my O-level Computer Studies, I set out to create an arcade game for the BBC Micro—a version of Burger Time. With a little help from my friend, a copy of Assembly Language Programming for the BBC by Ian Birnbaum and the Advanced User Guide, I coded in 6502 assembly, designing sprites on graph paper and calculating HEX codes with my Casio scientific calculator. The game was basic and unfinished; life intervened, and the project, stored on a now-lost 5.25-inch floppy, faded away.
Fast forward to 2025, a loft clear-out unearthed my project notes: graph paper with sprite designs, flowcharts, and handwritten code. The floppy was gone, but my old books, now joined by How to Write Arcade Games by Jonathan Griffiths, reignited my passion. I've decided to finish what I started forty years ago.
This is a slow-burn project. Using the B2 BBC Micro emulator and a recently acquired BBC Master (whose power supply promptly gave up in a puff of smoke
), I’m relearning 6502 assembly with help from my books and this forum. The goal is a playable version of Burger Time with the pepper, closely represented screens and game play and those pesky enemies! It’s tough—my assembly skills are rusty, and limitations of the BBC is unforgiving.Why bother? To honour my 15-year-old self and rediscover the joy of creating. This blog will track the journey: triumphs and probably mainly setbacks and headache. If you’re into nostalgia or passion projects, join me and chip in with advice as I bring a 1985 dream to life, one line of code at a time.
So an evening or two in I have made a start. I did consider using a custom 32 column Mode 1 to maintain the correct scale, but this is quite a colourful game and the 4 colour limitations isn't going to work. So using Mode 2 and reducing the size of the screen sprites I've made a passable scene of the first level of the arcade game. Looking at all the levels, it should be possible to display at least, all of them. The arcade game had various sized sprites and this is an area I think I will need compromise. My sausage baddie is on a 8x16 grid and I think looks better than the larger arcade version. I'll also be reducing the number of frames for each sprite especially the climbing baddies. I do intend if possible to keep Peter Pepper full size with most of the arcade frames.
Statistics: Posted by PhilHP — Sat Jul 19, 2025 10:51 am