Would this help with creating my own NES game. I have zero knowledge of programming on any level or platform. I might have well been born yesterday when it comes to programming.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Programming-6...


http://cgi.ebay.com/VERY-RARE-650...

http://cgi.ebay.com/6502-Assembly...

I don't know much about programming either, but at NA there are lots of resources and I'm pretty sure many of the programmers here even started with Nerdy Nights. The two threads that would be useful are actually bookmarked at the top.

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/...

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/...

Maybe you should start there, there's a plethora of information and if it doesn't suffice and you're looking to get more serious, then maybe you should look into a class of some sort? Regardless, before buying the books you should check those out.

It might help, but like it's been said before, the NES 6502 is a little different than the 6502 you'll learn in books, so there's really no point in wasting time reading these books when Nerdy Nights will teach you exactly what you need to know without any wrong info. And it's free. And we're here to answer questions.

Generally, the larger barrier to NES development isn't 6502 -- which isn't particularly difficult to wrap your head around (maybe more so if you have no experience) -- but the NES-specific registers, sprite handling, initial setup, and so on. The books are a good start, but they won't get you up and running on real hardware.

I recommend this alot, so I think I will again: If you're a total beginner to programming, check out: Assembly Language: Step by Step, by Jeff Duntemann.. The catch here is he teaches x86 asm, not 6502, but if you teach yourself just a tiny bit of x86, you could easily pick up 6502 as all of the concepts are common to all assembly languages.

He actually says in the opening pages that the book is aimed at total beginners to programming. When I read it, I was not a total beginner, so I don't know how true that would be, but I do know that when I read it I needed something to hold my hand in order to learn assembly language and that is exactly what he does. So, I'd highly reccommend it, even though it is a somewhat less than direct path towards NES development. Maybe it could help clarify some of the more difficult aspects of assembly programming, like hex, binary numbers, logic operations, etc.

Start at nerdy nights, and read up on 6502 while your using all those instructions your using in nerdy nights to see how nerdy nights works and to understand it and why it does everything. Once you get the idea of how the 6502 works, start learning the registers of the NES and try to understand how it works. Combine those two afterwords, and you can program the NES easily.

I bet i could learn 6502 easily since i've allready done some sparc assembly

I have the Zaks (green/white) book and have heard it HIGHLY recommended, but I haven't actually read it so I don't know if it is better than the free resources around. Probably depends if you learn better with a website or textbook.

I learn by doing...what would help me the most. Read through the Nerdy Nights again...and still having problems comprehending it all...
You know what they say about grease monkey's...learn with your hands, not your brains...

I'm the same way Beni. With some things, it can come as easy as reading them, but most the time, I can read something over and over again, and still not comprehend it, but if you walk me through it personally, I will grasp it alot faster and have more of an understanding on it than by reading anything you throw in front of my face.

Prove it?

This is almost making me want to make an unofficial 6502 "translation" of all the example code in the book I mentioned, because if it weren't for the obstacle of it not being 6502, it does exactly what Benihana and Enslaved mentioned. Jeff Duntemann walks you through the concepts of x86 assembly programming in the most down to earth way imaginable.

Argh...I am so brain dead to this stuff, I could not even get the programs set up on my puter correctly so I could display a background...You know. Week 3 of nerdy nights...

Don't despair, I know I encountered similar problems when first learning this stuff. Maybe you just need a nudge. I enjoy helping others learn stuff; if you ever feel inclined to get some extra tips, I'm a pm away.

I am one to learn by hands on or example, from a book or online is very hard for me unless it has lots of pictures.

Learning the concepts of game programming is a necessity, but applying them is how you learn. Just read up, then try. Thats how I learned and am the same way.

I think a lot of people are locked into thinking books always suck at teaching. This is not the case. I was lucky enough to have parents that bought me every programming book I wanted when I was a teenager. While this was largely a waste of money and most of them read like dry textbooks that I could not follow, Assembly Language: Step by Step is the one, gleaming exception. I mean maybe I'm wrong and it'll seem dense to others, but if you give it a shot, it is WAY different. I should continue to qualify this with the fact
that this book is for x86, but I'm absolutely certain that if somebody worked through this book it would make the Nerdy Nights tutorials and other info on NES programming out there "click" for them. The only
real difference between x86 and 6502 are the names of various registers, names of instructions, flags, etc. But they all work the same way.

One more thing...I was a horrible student and hated study of any kind, in highschool and in college (how I
got through it is a mystery to me), this book is so good, it'll make you forget you hate books. No joke.

Yeah, I learned from a book about 6800 and 6809, It taught me a lot. And even better, most things it taught applied to 6502, except for a couple key differences. They're good to learn, but everything in it concept-wise can be had online, but books are more organized and probably easier to get through I'd get a book for a all-in-one reference, they're very nice to have and to learn would be good too.