This is an old revision of the document!

NOSTROMO

AX-2: Uchuu Yusousen Nostromo (Space Freighter Nostromo)
Designed and Programmed for the Commodore Pet 2001 by Akira Takiguchi in 1981
Ported to the NEC-PC6001 by Masakuni Mitsuhashi aka Hiromi Ohba aka Mitsu in 1982
Cover Artwork by Masashi Iwasaki
Published by ASCII Entertainment in Japan
Ported to Radio Shack TRS-80 Micro Color Computer MC-10 by Jim Gerrie in 2015 and 2018
Ports to Tandy Radio Shack Color Computer and Dragon Data Dragon 32/64 underway

NEC PC-6001 Port
- Memory Layout: NOSTROMO Memory Map
- N60 BASIC Listing: NOSTROMO.BAS
- Z80 Machine Code: NOSTROMO.Z80
MC-10 Ports
- 2015-11 NOSTROMO: https://jimgerrie.blogspot.com/2015/11/
- 2018-05 NOSTRO: https://jimgerrie.blogspot.com/2018/05/uchuu-yusousen-nostromo.html
CoCo Dragon Port

UPDATES

NOSTROMO feels much more like a game now that the following work:

The alien stalks the corridors around the storage rooms
The crew can knock down walls to break into store rooms
The crew can only carry five items max
The crew can drop items in the escape shuttle
The tally of items carried and stored in the shuttle now update

Some of the remaining work to complete include:

Timer display (timer coded, display remaining)
The time expired screen
The alien killed you screen
The level completed screen
Score tally
Next level goal logic to update number of items needed of each type
Game configuration interface to choose video, audio, controls, expansions
17 x AY-3-8910 audio cues playable through sound drivers
Joystick control (written, needs to be integrated)
Hallway display 1 and 2 for time trial
The alien animation screens for level 7 and beyond
The game over play again screen
The ASCII and AX-2 logo screens (already mocked up)
The NOSTROMO intro screen (already mocked up)
Do I need to add a PMODE 3 screen for Dragon output?
Debug the item placement to fix the occasional mis-placement into the wall
Correct the wall display blocks for SG4 mode after the CoCoVGA font change
Take advantage of red/blue artifact colors on RG6 screen)
Add artifact color switch
High score display for screen shots
Help Key mode for later levels

CODE

All “code-” file prefixes have been changed to “ax2-” for starters.

Just the top-level source directory content needed to build the game are shown below.

Additional repo directories of various tests, mockups, and such created along the way are not shown, but are represented in the repo statistics above.

The code below gives you an example of where I got to by the mid-2023:

	CODE MODULE	DESCRIPTION
☐	*.BAS	Helper BASIC program for DOS command to run NOSTROMO
☐	ax2-acvc-v00.asm	Video driver for CoCo3 ACVC / GIME
☐	ax2-cgrom60-v04.asm	Modified NEC PC-6001 font data
☐	ax2-cocopsg-v00.asm	Audio driver for CoCoPSG by Ed “Zippster” Snider
☐	ax2-vdgvga-v00.asm	Video driver for the CoCo 1/2/Dragon MC6847 Video Display Generator (VDG) in Semigraphics 4 (SG4) mode with custom NEC PC6001-like font using CoCoVGA by Brendan Donahe
☐	ax2-config-v00.asm	Configuration menu and functions
☐	ax2-dcsg-v00.asm	Audio Driver for Texas Instruments Digital Complex Sound Generator (DCSG) SN76489N in the Game Master Cartridge
☐	ax2-gmc-v00.asm	Audio driver for Game Master Cartridge by John “Tuxdriver” Linville
☐	ax2-timer-v00.asm	Utility timer countdown code
☐	ax2-joy-v00.asm	Controller driver for CoCo analog joystick ports
☐	ax2-keyscn-v01.asm	Controller driver for CoCo and Dragon 53/57-key keyboard keyscn keyscn2
☐	ax2-midi-v00.asm	Audio driver for CoCo MIDI / MIDI Maestro by Jim “go4retro” Brain
☐	ax2-mmmpi-v00.asm	Audio driver and utility code for MEGA-mini Multi-Pak Interface (MMMPI) by Ed “Zippster” Snider
☐	ax2-mpi-v00.asm	Utility driver for Multi-Pak Interface (MPI)
☐	ax3-onebit-v00.asm	Audio driver for CoCo 1-bit DAC sound “beeper”
☐	ax2-opl3-v00.asm	Audio driver for Yamaha OPL3 (YMF-262) FM-synthesis in the MEGA-mini Multi-Pack Interface
☐	ax2-orch90-v00.asm	Audio driver for the Orchestra90/CC stereo 8-bit DAC cartridge
☐	ax2-pia0-v00.asm	I/O driver for the Peripheral Interface Adapter (PIA) used in Keyboard, Multiplexer, and Interrupts
☐	ax2-pia1-v00.asm	I/O driver for the Peripheral Interface Adapter (PIA) used for the VDG, DAC Audio, Joystick ADC, RS232, Cassette, and Interrupts
☐	ax2-psg-v00.asm	Audio driver for the General Instruments AY-3-8910 Programmable Sound Generator used in many CoCo audio devices
☐	ax2-rnd-v00.asm	Utility pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) for placing resources in main game level
☐	ax2-sam-v00.asm	I/O driver for the Synchronous Address Multiplexer (MC6883)
☐	todo-dac-v00.asm	Audio driver for CoCo 6-bit DAC sound
☐	ax2-ssc-v00.asm	Audio driver for the Speech / Sound Cartridge with Narrator SP0256-AL2 and AY-3-891x PSG
☐	ax2-ssg-v00.asm	Audio driver for the Yamaha YM2149 Software-Controlled Sound Generator (SSG) used in the CoCo PSG
☐	ax2-symphony12-v00.asm	Audio driver for the Speech Systems Symphony-12 / Philharmonic-12 by Jim “go4retro” Brain
☐	ax2-vdgrg6-v01.asm	Video driver for the CoCo 1/2/Dragon MC6847 Video Display Generator (VDG) in Resolution Graphics 6 (RG6) mode (aka PMODE4)
☐	ax2-vdgsg4-v00.asm	Video driver for the CoCo 1/2/Dragon MC6847 Video Display Generator (VDG) in Semigraphics 4 (SG4) mode
☐	ax2-vdgt1-v00.asm	Video driver for the CoCo 1/2/Dragon MC6847 Video Display Generator (VDG) in Semigraphics 4 (SG4) mode with VDG Lowercase font support
☐	build.sh	Utility script that assembles the code and packages it as a CoCo DSK file
☐	debug.sh	Utility script to test the work-in-progress code using MAME debugger
☐	nostromo.asm	The AX-2 Nostromo N60 BASIC/Z80 machine code port-in-progress to 6809 assembly
☐	run.sh	Utility script to run the game in MAME from a menu to test 5 different video modes
☐	template3.asm	Source code template v3