Starting programming... compiler?

Hi all!

I want to start to program some vectrex related stuff. I've found a
lot of tutorials, example code and goodies here!
Thank you all!
I need only 2 things to know:
What is the best ASM compiler for the vectrex on a PC running Windows?
I will first run the program on the ParaJVE then on a real Vectrex...
Are there some differences I should know?

Thank you again!

Adriano

Adriano,
I don’t know what the best 6809 assembler is, but the one that most
Vectrex programmers use is AS09 by Frank A. Kingswood. This is already
built in ParaJVE v5.0 so that you can automatically build any ROM from
its assembler source. This is environment is good for testing small
programs quickly but as you can also use the AS09 assembler
separately I prefer using this outside ParaJVE.

AS09 is a command line executable and it allows you to change the
assembler options by using command line parameters. Also you can call
AS09 from another program. In my case I use it with TextPad. TextPad
is a sophisticated but easy to use text editor ideal for use by
programmers. You can download a trial version from
http://www.textpad.com/products/textpad/index.html
With TextPad you can set up scripts, so by the touch of an onscreen
button, the code presented/edited in a TextPad window can be assembled
automatically using AS09. Any output such as error listing from AS09
can be directed to another window. It is almost like an Integrated
Development Environment.

To get you going pretty much immediately, have a look on Vectorzoa’s
website for the following download http://vectorzoa.com/vecdraw/vecdraw.zip
.. This zip has the AS09 executable together with examples.

As for differences between ParaJVE and a real Vectrex – yes there are
– as good as ParaJVE is, it cannot compete with the real hardware. The
Vectrex uses a lot of analogue electronics for the vector display.
Even displays on different Vectrex consoles can exhibit different
effects – analogue electronics have tolerances which can vary across
different consoles (especially considering their age). ParaJVE is not
able to capture this. For example the Vectrex screen normally flickers
and shimmers when there are too many Vectors displayed at the same
time. In ParaJVE this effect is not seen. So you can spend a lot of
time of tweaking the code in order to reduce the flicker when you
actually test on a real Vectrex.

Hope this helps…

Regards
VectrexMad!
www.vectrex.co.uk/news