Comments on: How David Crane Got Good Music Out Of The Atari VCS For Pitfall II https://setsideb.com/how-david-crane-got-good-music-out-of-the-atari-vcs-in-pitfall-ii/ The Flipside of Gaming Sun, 16 Oct 2022 02:42:44 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 By: rodneylives https://setsideb.com/how-david-crane-got-good-music-out-of-the-atari-vcs-in-pitfall-ii/#comment-1008 Sun, 16 Oct 2022 02:42:44 +0000 https://setsideb.com/?p=2350#comment-1008 In reply to xot.

This is the kind of comment that makes it a joy to write for Set Side B!

]]> By: xot https://setsideb.com/how-david-crane-got-good-music-out-of-the-atari-vcs-in-pitfall-ii/#comment-1007 Sat, 15 Oct 2022 23:38:03 +0000 https://setsideb.com/?p=2350#comment-1007 The story with Mappy is little complicated. It goes beyond what the DPC chip is capable of. Originally, the Harmony SD flash cartridge implemented an ARM-emulated DPC to allow homebrew to utilize it. Then the DPC emulator was extended with new capabilities and called DPC+. The DPC+ allows larger ROMs, more flexible banking, and enables faster TIA displays. DPC+ also has “kernel” mode that basically unlocks the ARM processor for general usage and allows the game logic to run on the ARM instead of the Atari 2600’s native CPU. DPC+ Kernel is still limited by the TIA’s 76-cycle scanline but it allows for some incredible things. The Harmony DPC+ technology is available on a Melody PCB intended as single, stand-alone games, and that’s what you’ll find inside a Mappy cartridge.

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