So, I'm looking into giving SNES development a try, as it seems like a fun project, but, I'm having some trouble figuring out what tools to use/how to set them up.
Specifically, I'm having trouble with finding and using an Assembler/Linker. Looking around, I'm finding a lot of people recommending different tools and saying all the other tools are crap/buggy/unstable, without actually giving any info or examples on why that's the case. Now, that's pretty typical with software tools in my experience, so, whatever, but even when I decide to go grab a tool someone recommends, I cant figure out how to use it. The documentation for these assemblers seem to list features and change lists but no actual "Heres how you install and use this tool" section. Hell, the readme for Asar just straight up assumes you're familiar with Xkas and tells you to read THAT documentation if you aren't, but the documentation for Xkas as far as I can tell only lists specific commands you can use with it and what they do, and when i try opening the .exe for Xkas it just closes itself immediately. Am I using it wrong? Do I need to put it in a specific location? I don't know. The readme doesn't say. It's not very helpful, honestly.
It's probably worth noting that I've never used a standalone compiler before, so, if installation and use for these tools are fairly standard for compilers and they just expect the user to know how those work, that's where I'm falling behind. I've done a decent bit with programming before, especially C and C++, but the only compilers I've used are either built into the IDE I was using, such as Visual Studio's compiler, or I was working on a school computer where we were working in Unix/Linux and the compiler was already set up and working beforehand.
I've tried looking for tutorials on making SNES games that might go over what tools they use and how to set them up, but, mostly I've just found tutorials on making repro carts, tutorials for rom hacking, and tutorials on patching roms, where as I'm looking to start making roms from scratch. The two tutorials I have found for making roms from scratch seem pretty solid, but- they're writing their code in C and using a C compiler. While I do know some C and I like C++ a lot- I really want to use 65816 Assembly for this project, just to do it, really.
So, those of you that are making roms in Assembly- what Assemblers/Linkers do you recommend? Why do you like them better than alternatives you've tried? And could you provide or point to some instructions on how to set them up?
For reference; I'm running Windows 7 64-bit professional (I know I found at least one Assembler that only supported 32-bit Windows), and I'd like to use Notepad++ for writing my .ASM files. I'll be using emulators for actually running roms, probably higan unless I run into issues with it.
Thanks for your time!
Specifically, I'm having trouble with finding and using an Assembler/Linker. Looking around, I'm finding a lot of people recommending different tools and saying all the other tools are crap/buggy/unstable, without actually giving any info or examples on why that's the case. Now, that's pretty typical with software tools in my experience, so, whatever, but even when I decide to go grab a tool someone recommends, I cant figure out how to use it. The documentation for these assemblers seem to list features and change lists but no actual "Heres how you install and use this tool" section. Hell, the readme for Asar just straight up assumes you're familiar with Xkas and tells you to read THAT documentation if you aren't, but the documentation for Xkas as far as I can tell only lists specific commands you can use with it and what they do, and when i try opening the .exe for Xkas it just closes itself immediately. Am I using it wrong? Do I need to put it in a specific location? I don't know. The readme doesn't say. It's not very helpful, honestly.
It's probably worth noting that I've never used a standalone compiler before, so, if installation and use for these tools are fairly standard for compilers and they just expect the user to know how those work, that's where I'm falling behind. I've done a decent bit with programming before, especially C and C++, but the only compilers I've used are either built into the IDE I was using, such as Visual Studio's compiler, or I was working on a school computer where we were working in Unix/Linux and the compiler was already set up and working beforehand.
I've tried looking for tutorials on making SNES games that might go over what tools they use and how to set them up, but, mostly I've just found tutorials on making repro carts, tutorials for rom hacking, and tutorials on patching roms, where as I'm looking to start making roms from scratch. The two tutorials I have found for making roms from scratch seem pretty solid, but- they're writing their code in C and using a C compiler. While I do know some C and I like C++ a lot- I really want to use 65816 Assembly for this project, just to do it, really.
So, those of you that are making roms in Assembly- what Assemblers/Linkers do you recommend? Why do you like them better than alternatives you've tried? And could you provide or point to some instructions on how to set them up?
For reference; I'm running Windows 7 64-bit professional (I know I found at least one Assembler that only supported 32-bit Windows), and I'd like to use Notepad++ for writing my .ASM files. I'll be using emulators for actually running roms, probably higan unless I run into issues with it.
Thanks for your time!