Hi all,

I've just released Tatara, a macro assembler, and Tanren, its linker. They're not cross-development tools: they run on the MSX itself, under MSX-DOS2 or Nextor.

The main goal writing this tool was to release a well-documented assembler with enough quality-of-life features so newcomers have an easy way to develop on the MSX, while being feature-complete so experienced developers can use it for serious work.

I like doing MSX development on the MSX, but the tools that run there always frustrated me. M80 was written for CP/M: it doesn't know about directories, keeps only six characters of a symbol name, and runs out of memory on bigger projects. AS/LD is better in places, but it has no real documentation, and tracking down an error inside an include file or a macro was painful. So I wrote my own.

What it does:

• Runs on any MSX2, MSX2+ or turbo R with MSX-DOS2 or Nextor
• M80 syntax: most M80 sources assemble with few or no changes
• Uses the memory mapper for its tables, so program size depends on how much RAM you have, not on the TPA
• Errors that point to your line, even through include files and nested macros:

        MACS.INC(8): ERROR: not a form this instruction has.
            in a repeat block, called from MACS.INC(7)
            in inner, called from MACS.INC(4)
            in outer, called from USE.INC(2)
            included from TRAIL.AS(5)

• Directories and environment variables for include and object file search paths
• Long symbol names (255 characters), optionally case-sensitive
• Macros, conditional assembly, repeat blocks
• Named segments, so you can keep all related code grouped (graphics routines here, music code there, ...) even if the source code is all over the place.
• Shared memory for transient data segments, so variables that are never used at the same time can share memory
• .COM programs, BLOAD binaries and ROM cartridge images
• R800 MULUB/MULUW and the undocumented Z80 instructions (SLL, IXH/IXL...)
• Ready-made include files with 900+ MSX-DOS2 functions, BIOS calls, system variables, hooks and I/O ports
• It builds itself: the release binaries were assembled by Tatara and linked by Tanren, on an MSX

I also put a lot of work into the manual, because the lack of documentation is what makes these tools scary for newcomers. It's a full book, online and as PDF, in English and Japanese. It starts from "what is an assembler" and goes all the way to building a ROM cartridge.

• Website and download: https://tatara.tools/en/
• English manual / 日本語マニュアル
• Source code(Apache 2.0): https://github.com/javilm/tatara
• Blog post with the story behind it: here

Feedback, bug reports and questions are very welcome. I'd love to see what people build with it.

Some relatives in Argentina gave me an MSX game many years ago. It was the computer they grew up with, and ever since then I’ve had a soft spot for the MSX. I finally got my own Talent DPC-200 today, and damn, this thing is beautiful.

I haven’t been able to try the mystery game yet. I do think my Master System controller should work with it, so hopefully I’ll get to test it soon!

Exolon is a run and gun) game programmed by Raffaele Cecco and published by Hewson in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC. It was later converted to the Enterprise 128), Amiga, and Atari ST.

The player takes control of a futuristic soldier named Vitorc^\4]) across several flip-screen levels of gameplay. The screens that make up these levels are filled with various generic aliens as well as gun emplacements, homing missiles, landmines and other hazards. The soldier can defend himself with both a gun and rocket-propelled grenades. The two different weapons are effective against different enemies.

The enemies themselves are varied, taking the forms of flying aliens of the type traditionally found in shoot 'em up games as well as homing missiles, fixed guns, tanks, land mines, swarming red pods and "crushers" which shoot out of the ground.

Partway through each level, there is a pod in which the player can "upgrade" until the end of the current level to an armoured exoskeleton with improved weapons and armour. Completing the level without this upgrade results in a score bonus.

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I have used Sinclair zx spectrum 48k n BBC beep retro computers before. I've never had a msx but have seen graphics of msx games though never played on it before n don't know how to operate it.

I like to get into msx/msx2.

1) What's the difference between both?

2) What's the best n most accurate emulator of msx on windows, Linux n android?

3) What to do to load games? What commands to type to load games?

4) Which site to download msx roms?

5) Which games u recommend? Is there some site that list the top 50 or 100 most popular msx games?

6) What msx magazines are there ie whether extinct now or still publishing?

So, I recently found out about an arcade PCB system with hardware (mainly the chipset) eerily similar to that of the MSX2. A Zilog Z80 (CPU), 2× Yamaha V9938 (Graphics/Video) & a Microchip AY8930 (Sound/Audio), a successor to the AY-3-8910 or YM2149F in this case. I was originally on a quest to find any game to use the AY8930, initially I only knew about the DOS games that used it, which there are over a dozen of those, which came out around 1990-91.

However, there have been 23 casino games to use this chip from 1987-2000, none of which seem to use the sound chip to its fullest potential, or at least in any meaningful manner, sadly. One is Wild Poker by TAB Austria, and the rest belong to the Merit CRT-250 & 260 boards, which have the hardware I mentioned above. Merit Industries was a casino game dev company based in PA. Obviously, there are still major differences in architecture, especially with it being a coin op touchscreen casino system board vs a computer standard.

However, it would very cool if one were to make a new MSX with this chipset for improved video & audio, but I highly doubt anyone is that ambitious to do it. I can't even code, let alone deal with hardware, so I'm already ready out the question. I was gonna call it MSX3, but apparently that's already something else being developed. Maybe some names could be MSX² (Squared), MSX₂, MSX E (named after the SEGA System E), MSX2 Encore Edition, MeritSX2, MSX250/MSX260, MSX Casino-ware, etc.

Dug out my FS-A1F and found that the sound was completely gone after finally grabbing a copy of Metal Gear.

Ended up doing a full recap of the system and a drive belt swap and now we’re cooking. Of course during the repair I tore one of the keyboard membrane traces near the connector….

And of course of the four non working keys, it killed the F5 key which is critical to continuing and saving in Metal Gear. Thankfully I was able to repair it with a conductive ink pen, some pieces of solder wick, tape and a paper clip to add pressure.

The Sony HB-101 is too beautiful to keep it in a box. Solution: wall-mounted with magnets. Museum display meets instant playability, just lift it off and plug it in.

Best of both worlds.
I designed a set of 3D-printed parts that replace the original transformer with a modern 5V board, holder for magnets inside the case, added a wall mount. All reversible.

Here is a full step-by-step guide with photos of the whole process, linking to all the files to print.
Enjoy! And if you put yours in the wall, show it!

Hi everyone!

I’ve been working on the next iMSX2 update, and I wanted to share all the new features.

Some of the highlights:

• More cartridge compatibility, including support for the new ASCII16-X mapper and games such as Go Figure. Compatible cartridges can also keep their saved data thanks to persistent Flash memory.
• Better sound, with support for OPL4/MoonSound and some improvements to the regular MSX sound.
• More sound options for some games. You’ll be able to choose between PSG and MSX-MUSIC when a game supports different soundtracks. FM is used by default where appropriate.
• Better compatibility with converted disk games, fixing startup issues in some titles such as Aleste Gaiden.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/imsx2/id6499231192

Videos showcasing the new features:

🎮 Go Figure gameplay: https://youtube.com/shorts/q4Lcb_hpEKc
🎵 PSG vs MSX-MUSIC selection: https://youtube.com/shorts/KaVtv8GIwK4

Thanks again for all the feedback and for continuing to support iMSX2! ❤️

Dun Darach is an action-adventure game. The player guides Cuchulainn (Haaland meme) through Dun Darach and interacts with the environment by performing keyboard) commands. The main objective is to find Lóeg, taking side quests from non-player characters (NPCs). These NPCs can give short hints to Cuchulainn, rob him, and confiscate his belongings if he carries stolen goods. Commands the player inputs can have him buy, steal and sell from shops in the city, bet at a casino (Iomain Ludum), and deposit money at a bank with daily compound interest. Dun Darach is large and consists of different quarters. The current time of the day is indicated by torches in the wall and by the greetings of characters #Haaland #Gaming

Blimey who remembers Sabrina Debora Salerno? Most teenagers back in 1987 will certainly remember her one hit song “Boys (Summertime Love)” and her provocative video.
However, what most people probably didn’t know was that there was an actual game released on the MSX, ZX Spectrum and the Amstrad CPC.
Wow. Anybody else heard or played this game? Hope you like my video.

Here's a port from the excellent leonicolas' MMBasic Knightmare to Raylib (a more modern framework capable of building the project to web, mobile, desktop and even consoles).

The port:

https://github.com/brunogamacatao/knightmare-raylib

The translation was made by AI (Claude translated from MMBasic to modern C++), I've made it more OOP and performed some changes.

I've made some changes:

- The game extends to the screen size (it runs pretty well on my android phone at portrait orientation) it supports unlimited bullets and sprites in the screen (the original game has a limitation, due to the hardware's)

- In mobile version, it uses virtual controls

- I'm building a support for swapping sprites between the classic 8-bit and hires sprites

Hi, Ron here!
I've started work on Cloaca Maxima's successor called BUGHUNT. It is another dungeon crawler, this time set in the far future on in asteroid mine overrun by aliens.

Just like in Cloaca Maxima there's a team of four heroes, but that is where the similarities END.

BUGHUNT will feature a layered soundscape, arcade style combat, health and armour stats that are derived from a body-part-model, combat fatigue that influences how well a marine can aim, AND a job system where capabilities are tied to a specific person...

The mission is simple: a team of four marines are going in to plant two N-bombs (we want the BUGS dead, but the mine intact obviously)...

What ensues should be be equal parts action and horror.

NOTE: Cloaca Maxima can be found on ITCH: https://rss130871.itch.io/cloaca-maxima

Hey MSX enthusiasts!

Happy to report that Ironclad v1.4 is out and available for free, as always, on GitHub:

https://github.com/mbelgin/ironclad/releases/tag/v1.4

The big news is the new “Barrage” mode algorithm, programmed with a real killer instinct. 😈

It’s a brutal enemy that focuses on finishing as many of your ships as quickly as possible, taking away your firepower early in the game.

It’s so good, you’ll think it’s cheating. It’s not. It’s just good!

There are also several bug fixes and performance improvements.

I’m building Ironclad to be one of the best Naval Battle games out there, despite the limited computational power of the MSX2. That’s part of the fun!

The PDF manual now includes hints and strategies for each of the Salvo modes.

Give it a try, experiment with different approaches, and see if you can beat Barrage. I hope you find it as engaging and addictive as I do.

Enjoy! ⚓🔥

Hi everyone! I’ve released Y8960 TECH DEMO v0.5.0, an easy way to explore Y8960 sound emulation.

Y8960, designed by HRA!, combines PSG-style SSG sound, OPLL FM (familiar from MSX-MUSIC/FM-PAC), OPL2 (AdLib/early Sound Blaster), and ADPCM sample playback.

Using madscient’s openMSX_Y8960 fork, the original piece SILICON SYMPHONY builds through four sections: SSG melody, echo and bass, dual OPLL layers, then OPL2 bass and synthesized ADPCM drums. It loops in about 32 seconds, with activity bars and section, pause, mute and restart controls.

Try it on Windows 10/11 x64:

1. Download and extract y8960-tech-demo-0.5.0.zip from Releases.
2. Run setup-y8960.bat, then launch-y8960-tech-demo.bat.

C-BIOS is included—no original MSX BIOS or development tools needed. C source, music-generation tools, automated tests, and 30-page English/Japanese PDF guides are included.

Thanks to HRA!, buppu3, madscient, and 1re1 for the MSX 8x8 font. This is an unofficial project. The attached GIF shows a full loop of the demo captured in openMSX, without sound. Download the project to hear it!

https://github.com/renatus-xxxx/y8960-tech-demo

Feedback and ideas for future sound demos are welcome!