Famicom World

I'm working on uploading the data and audio for as many Family Basic tapes as I can find.  I've uploaded:

Shonen Media (少年メディア) Vol 1: Book, Box, Tape (https://archive.org/details/hudson-collection-vol-1-data-and-audio-ozidual)
Shonen Media (少年メディア) Vol 2: Book, Box, Tape (https://archive.org/details/hudson-collection-vol-2-lode-runner-world-data-and-audio-ozidual)
Shonen Media (少年メディア) Vol 3: Book, Box, Tape (https://archive.org/details/hudson-collection-vol-3-data-and-audio-ozidual)
Famicom Data Recorder: Box (https://archive.org/details/FamicomDataRecorderHiRes), Tape (https://archive.org/details/famicom-data-recorder-tape-data-and-game-ozidual)
Game Pochette Vol 1 (ゲームポシェット1): Box, Book, Tape (https://archive.org/details/game-pouchette-vol-1-audio-and-data-ozidual)
Let's Play With Family Basic: Book (https://archive.org/details/lets-play-with-family-basic-book-ozidual), Tape Scan (https://archive.org/details/lets-play-with-family-basic-cassette-ozidual), Tape (https://archive.org/details/lets-play-with-family-basic-cassette-tape-data-and-audio-ozidual)
Me and My Family Basic Classroom (ぼくとわたしのファミリーベーシック教室): Book (https://archive.org/details/me-and-my-family-basic-classroom-book-ozidual), Programs
Game Game 20: Interesting 20 Box (https://archive.org/details/interesting-20-box-cassette-and-inserts-ozidual), Book (https://archive.org/details/game-game-20-book-ozidual), Tape, Programs
Shogakukan Encyclopedia 191: You Can Make It Too!! Family Computer Games: Book (https://archive.org/details/shogakukan-encyclopedia-191-you-can-make-it-too-family-computer-games-ozidual), Programs Typed Up and Recorded (https://archive.org/details/shogakukan-encyclopedia-191-you-can-make-it-too-family-computer-games-programs-ozidual)
Introduction to Nintendo's Family Basic: Book (https://archive.org/details/introduction-to-nintendos-family-basic-book-ozidual/mode/2up), Programs
Family Computer and Family Basic Perfect Guide: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-and-family-basic-perfect-book-ozidual) Programs typed up (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-and-family-basic-perfect-book-programs-ozidual)
Family Computer Game Strategy Secret Techniques Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-game-strategy-techniques-ozidual) Programs and levels (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-game-strategy-techniques-programs-ozidual) (Family Basic, Lode Runner, Excitebike)
Family Computer Encyclopedia Parts 2-8: Programs
Family Computer Encyclopedia Part 2: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-encyclopedia-part-2-ozidual)
Family Computer Encyclopedia Part 3: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-encyclopedia-part-3-ozidual)
Family Computer Encyclopedia Part 4: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-encyclopedia-part-4-ozidual)
Family Computer Encyclopedia Part 5: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-encyclopedia-part-5-ozidual)
Family Computer Encyclopedia Part 6: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-encyclopedia-part-6-ozidual)
Family Computer Encyclopedia Part 7: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-encyclopedia-part-7-ozidual)
Family Computer Encyclopedia Part 8: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-encyclopedia-part-8-ozidual)
Family Basic Hop: Famicom Daisakusen: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-basic-hop-famicom-daisakusen-ozidual), Programs
Family Basic Step: Famicom Daisakusen: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-basic-step-famicom-daisakusen-ozidual), Programs
Family Basic Jump: Famicom Daisakusen: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-basic-jump-famicom-daisakusen-ozidual), Programs
Famicom Software Collection 001: Famicom Daisakusen Book (https://archive.org/details/famicom-software-collection-001-famicom-strategy-ozidual), Programs
Famicom Software Collection 002: Famicom Daisakusen Book (https://archive.org/details/famicom-software-collection-002-famicom-strategy-ozidual), Programs
Famicom Software Collection 003: Famicom Daisakusen Book (https://archive.org/details/famicom-software-collection-003-famicom-strategy-ozidual), Programs
Learn With Pictures Famicom Basic: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-family-basic-learn-with-pictures-famicom-basic-ozidual), Programs
Family Computer Original Game Collection 25: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-original-game-collection-25-ozidual), Programs
Keibunsha Encyclopedia 222: Family Basic: Book (https://archive.org/details/keibunsha-encyclopedia-222-family-computer-2-nintendo-ozidual), Programs
Nintendo Family Computer Family Basic Introduction to Our Famicom: Book (https://archive.org/details/nintendo-family-computer-family-basic-introduction-to-our-famicom-ozidual), Programs
Let's Sing With Family Basic: Box (https://archive.org/details/lets-sing-with-family-basic-box-and-cassette-ozidual), Book (https://archive.org/details/lets-sing-with-family-basic-book-and-pamphlet-ozidual), Programs (https://archive.org/details/lets-sing-with-family-basic-cassette-tape-data-and-audio-ozidual)
Hard Work: Family Computer Game+Basic Guide: Book (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-game-and-basic-guide-600dpi-ozidual), Programs
Beep's Funny Game Daisakusen Programs (https://archive.org/details/funny-game-daisakusen-data-and-audio-ozidual), Cassette Scans

I've tested them and you should be able to hook your computer up to your Family Basic keyboard and load the games and backgrounds directly using whichever audio program you like.

If you are interested in typing in Family Basic games, this spreadsheet is what I use to slide the code and backgrounds into VirtuaNES: https://www.mediafire.com/file/skmiriospz5vygj/Family_BASIC_v3_RAM_Code_1.3_release.xlsm/file

I'm working on Game Pouchette Vol 1 (there was only 1 volume as far as I can see) which has about 24 games on it (done), and I have one more on its way.  I'm also working on typing up the micomBASIC Family Basic games.  You can find them mixed with a few other tape systems done by other people here:

Typing Task Force (https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22Typing+Task+Force%22)

Here are the books and tapes I am actively seeking.  If you can help in any way, I would greatly appreciate it!

Family Basic Books and Tapes (https://ozidual.github.io/FamilyBasicTracking/Main.html)

Along with any other Family Basic books with programs.  Sorry, I'm no web designer - it's more meant to be a functional laundry list of things I'm trying to track down.  I try to update it every few weeks or so.

I am open to any suggestions/recommendations on changes or how I did things.  I loosely (badly?) translated the few bits of text I could find to make the games a little more accessible for the roms, but I included all of the original audio, code, and background data.

Special thanks to UglyJoe for the help early on, and for first posting about the Vol 1 collection.

EDIT: Also special thanks to the translators of the Family Basic manual (that was a HUGE help!) and everyone else working on Family Basic stuff here!

Awesome!  Happy to see you saw it through.

I'll add a link to here in the Family BASIC Super Thread (https://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=11959.0).

Oh, FYI, I don't think the "game" from the 3rd book is broken like you suspect.  The listing (as it appears in the archive text, anyway) should roll the dice whenever you press a key on the keyboard.  If it rolls doubles, then it'll do a little celebration song and animation.

Fantastic! Thanks for doing this, and so thoroughly done! ;D

I also started to type in programs long ago and save in text files (so that they can be pasted in emulators) but never got very far. How did you make the ROMs?

Quote from: P on April 30, 2021, 01:44:30 pmFantastic! Thanks for doing this, and so thoroughly done! ;D

I also started to type in programs long ago and save in text files (so that they can be pasted in emulators) but never got very far.

Glad to contribute :)  I like preserving stuff.

Do you still have any of those text files around?  If so, please send them along with sources for them if you still have the sources.  Even cell phone or camera shots are good for sources as long as they are legible. 

I have a way to "side load" code into Family Basic using a program I made in Excel and VirtuaNES save states.  I've only done one or two games that way, but I think it will eventually be a huge time saver.  I use the same program to extract the Family Basic code from VirtuaNES save states.  Eventually I'll release it, but it's still a little rough around the edges.

Family BASIC has a 1-byte code for every command (e.g. STRIG is 0xD6), and specific ways numbers are written.  Once you sort that out, you can read the code directly from RAM.  There are 2 tables - one with code and one used when REM or quotes are used so more text characters/graphic characters are available.  I'll see if I can attach the tables here:

You cannot see attachments on this board. - This is the "code" table
You cannot see attachments on this board. - This is the "text" table

Quote from: P on April 30, 2021, 01:44:30 pmHow did you make the ROMs?

The program STTONES listed in the Family Basic Super Thread (https://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=11959.0).  You need to have a Family Basic V3.0 ROM renamed to FAMIBE_V3.nes and STTONES in the same folder.  Then run FAMIBE_V3 in VirtuaNES, load the code, run the code, and BREAK out of the code.  Then create a save state in VirtuaNES on Save State 0.  It creates a FAMIBE_V3.st0 file that you can drop on STTONES.

Woah this is amazing!  Thank you for your work and effort in doing this!

Quote from: ozidual on April 30, 2021, 04:31:49 pm

Quote from: P on April 30, 2021, 01:44:30 pmI also started to type in programs long ago and save in text files (so that they can be pasted in emulators) but never got very far.

Do you still have any of those text files around? If so, please send them along with sources for them if you still have the sources. Even cell phone or camera shots are good for sources as long as they are legible. 

I really didn't get very far. I started typing out the sample games and a few other things in the manual (like Mary Had a Little Lamb and Rock'n Rouge MML songs). I've also typed out a few other programs I found here and there in screenshots or videos (like the Xevious BGM program). I didn't finish any of the sample games yet.

I can't find how you attach files to your post anymore, but here are they in code tags:
The final one is used before hotswapping with Super Mario Bros to select any world number to 255.


The forum seems to really hate the "GOTO" command used in the Xevious BGM program, and prevented me from posting it at first. Really weird. :(
Anyway I made a new post and this time it worked.


I see you used STTONES to make the ROM.

Double post because the previous one wouldn't let me post this code:

'XEVIOUS BGM

10 DIM A(7):POKE &H4015,15:FOR I=0 TO 7:READ A(I):NEXT
20 RESTORE 50:FOR I=1 TO 4:FOR J=0 TO 7:POKE &H4000,&H89,&HF,A(J),8:
25 FOR K=0 TO 192:NEXT:NEXT
30 READ A(2):A(6)=A(2):NEXT:GOTO 20
40 DATA 212,105,112,105,83,105,112,105
50 DATA 118,126,133,112


That's exactly what I needed - thanks! 

Most of the code is breaking my script because I didn't plan for 0xA-0xF in &H for some reason.  Funnily enough, I'm in the middle of coding something to help with N64 translation, so I'll have to look at this when the code space in my head isn't devoted to that :)

Still, the first thing you coded works (see attachment).  I'm not sure if it's OK to post ROMs here even if they are made with STTONES, but you can LOAD the attached audio to Family Basic. STTONES does make a ROM that plays the music too. 

Hmm, won't let me attach that either.  I'll upload it somewhere later, but it worked well!  Again, thank you!

Quote from: Sho on May 03, 2021, 05:19:07 pmWoah this is amazing!  Thank you for your work and effort in doing this!

You're welcome!  If you're interested in these, keep an eye on this post.  I plan to update it as I work on stuff.  I have 3 more tapes on the way.  2 of them to fix problems in existing uploads and another tape:

Game Pouchette Vol 1 - 2 games to fix so they can be played
Hudson Collection Vol 2 - 1 Lode Runner Level (and need to confirm one of the others)
Mystery Tape - who knows :)

I got my latest (and last for a while) shipment from Japan.  I was able to get a clean recording of the missing Lode Runner level for the Hudson Collection Volume 2, and get a clean recording of the missing game and background for Game Pouchette Volume 1.  I uploaded it all to archive.org in the original Game Pouchette Vol 1 and Hudson Collection Vol 2 uploads.  They wouldn't go into the folders, so the new stuff is sitting in the main directory.  Specifically Lode Runner Level 52 for HCV2 and for GPV1 both Game02 and BG22.

I also received the mystery tape.  It is a tape that came with "Lets Play with Family Basic!" - the book that is scanned and available on the main Family Basic Super Thread.  Unfortunately, the recording appears to be quite damaged.  I didn't try them all, but I tested a few from both sides of the tape both in VirtuaNES and with my physical Family Basic set.  I used the exact same recording settings that pulled clean audio from the other sets.  TP ERRORs every time.  BUT the label says that it is all of the backgrounds and audio from the book.  I can make pretty good guesses at what's a program and what's a background based on what the audio looks like.  So I'm hoping to re-create it at some point using the book. 

I picked up a couple of other Family Basic books in this shipment that I'm hoping to upload and type up programs for at some point. I also have a lot of scanning and other projects going on, but I'll continue to work on Family Basic stuff along with the rest.

The Lets Play With Family Basic cassette tape has been fully re-created using the list that was included with it (see link in main post for the cassette).  It involved typing in and saving most of the programs and backgrounds from the book including 4 games at the end.

While typing in the game, I found a couple of references to the cassette.  One in the table of contents and one after the code in the 1st game at the end of the book.  It cost 1800¥ and you had to contact the company that made the book to order it directly from them.  They offered a Family Basic V2.0 version but not a Family Basic V1.0 version of the cassette :)

The cassette has all the data on side A and side B could be re-recorded.  It looks like one of the last owners decided to try to record the audio from Side A to Side B, possibly to get it to work properly.  I think there is some distortion in the background on the tape that is messing it up.  I was able to use Noise Removal in Audacity to get rid of enough distortion so I could at least load the name on one or two of the programs, but never a full program.

I'll upload the scans of the tape and included stuff at some point in the future.

I scanned in the book `Shogakukan Encyclopedia 191: You Can Make It Too!! Family Computer Games` and then typed up the programs in it.  They're 2 separate uploads on archive.org (https://archive.org/details/@ozidual) - see the links in main post. 

The book is a step-by-step guide teaching Family Basic similar to the Lets Play With Family Basic book.  This one focuses more on how the sprites are created and how they can interact with backgrounds.  It introduces backgrounds by having you make an image of a Famicom and then manipulate that image.  There are comics in between each chapter, and the final comic talks about making sure not to play too long, the upcoming FBv3.0, and the excitement of some new technology called Famicom Disk system. 

There were 5 games at the end though only 3 of them could be converted into NES roms playable without a keyboard.  I'll be honest, I have no clue how the 5th game works.  It appears to be one of those love tests.

Enjoy!

Quote from: ozidual on July 24, 2021, 08:43:19 pmI scanned in the book `Shogakukan Encyclopedia 191: You Can Make It Too!! Family Computer Games` and then typed up the programs in it.

Awesome! Can't wait to dig into this one.

Quote from: ozidual on July 24, 2021, 08:43:19 pmI'll be honest, I have no clue how the 5th game works.  It appears to be one of those love tests.

Looks like it asks for two ages and then runs some algorithm?  My Japanese isn't good enough to know what the results are, haha.  And it makes you type in ザ to finish entering your age (instead of pressing enter or whatever).  Pretty weird.

FYI, with that one in particular your txt file (https://ia601408.us.archive.org/11/items/shogakukan-encyclopedia-191-you-can-make-it-too-family-computer-games-programs-ozidual/5%20-%20Code%20and%20Misc/Game05%20%28Japanese%29.txt) has a syntax error:

310 D$=M1D$(DA$,2,1)
The "M1D" there should be "MID".


Thanks so much for doing these scans, I really appreciate the time and effort it must take.

Quote from: UglyJoe on July 25, 2021, 06:51:42 pmLooks like it asks for two ages and then runs some algorithm?  My Japanese isn't good enough to know what the results are, haha.  And it makes you type in ザ to finish entering your age (instead of pressing enter or whatever).  Pretty weird.

FYI, with that one in particular your txt file (https://ia601408.us.archive.org/11/items/shogakukan-encyclopedia-191-you-can-make-it-too-family-computer-games-programs-ozidual/5%20-%20Code%20and%20Misc/Game05%20%28Japanese%29.txt) has a syntax error:

Code Select Expand

310 D$=M1D$(DA$,2,1)
The "M1D" there should be "MID".


Thanks so much for doing these scans, I really appreciate the time and effort it must take.

Thanks for checking through that!  I updated archive to fix the txt file and the recording because that was pulled directly from the game.  Usually I type up the code, run the program (trying all paths in the program) and also double check line by line against the original.  I only did the line by line for this one.

That reminds me that I added a corrections.txt file to the book scans because I noticed some coding errors.  Some of those corrections may be to update the code to run on FBv3.0.  Shogakukan 191 uses TR as a variable which I changed to T, but I noticed the Perfect Book also uses TR at one point.  My guess is FBv2.1 and below may be fine with that.  There are definitely errors in there too where for example a `1` was used instead of an `I` though the mistake you found was entirely my own :)

There may also be mistakes in some of the Japanese text.  I try to match them, but I do not know the first thing about Japanese.

If anyone notices anything that could use corrections, let me know and I'll update the archive. 

Quote from: ozidual on July 27, 2021, 06:03:47 pmThanks for checking through that!  I updated archive to fix the txt file and the recording because that was pulled directly from the game.  Usually I type up the code, run the program (trying all paths in the program) and also double check line by line against the original.  I only did the line by line for this one.

Sure.  I wrote a lexer for 2.1 syntax so I can sniff out syntax errors pretty quickly (assuming my lexer code isn't buggy!).  I ran all five games through it (Japanese and English where applicable) and they all look good now.

I thought it was funny that some of their code samples have bugs in them.  I guess they're trying to teach you how to debug code ;D

Quote from: ozidual on July 27, 2021, 06:03:47 pmShogakukan 191 uses TR as a variable which I changed to T, but I noticed the Perfect Book also uses TR at one point.  My guess is FBv2.1 and below may be fine with that.

3.0 added the TRON and TROFF commands (trace on/off) so TR probably became a reserved word.

Ahh that makes sense. Checking my spreadsheet - TR, ON, and OFF are all given their own bytes for programming purposes.  That probably means my spreadsheet is made for FBv3.0 only.  I guess I'd rather have it all working in FBv3.0 anyway to standardize it all.

Along the lines of code errors in books, I scanned in my copy of 'Lets Play With Family Basic!' (ファミリーベーシックで遊ぼう!) and found a slip of paper in it with code corrections.  It's all uploaded on archive along with Me and My Family Basic Classroom (ぼくとわたしのファミリーベーシック教室) and Game Game 20 (GAME GAME 20 ファミリーベーシックで遊ぼう!).  I updated my links above to include those.

They're all from a company called Micro Design I believe.  I'm still working on getting their Let's Sing With Family Basic to round out the collection.  I'd love to get their box/tape sets with Game Game 20 and Let's Sing as well, but we'll see.  It isn't FB, but I picked up their only other Famicom book which is for Golf. I'll upload that at some point.

I'm working on the audio for a different book right now, but I do plan to do the Game Games 20 and Me and My Family Basic Classroom audio as well.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I linked my scans of the Famicom Data Recorder when I updated everything above.  Also I just added the Lets Play With Family Basic (ファミリーベーシックで遊ぼう!) tape scans too.  They're still uploading but should be done in the next couple hours.

Added Typed up Programs for the book Family Computer and Family Basic Perfect Guide to archive.org and linked it in the main post.  I have scans for it, just need to edit them down to something I can upload to archive.org.

After finishing that, I decided to type up the January programs from MicomBASIC for Family Basic.  I did 1986-1989 and hope to finish 90-94.  I'll be uploading those to archive.org and trying to find a way to group them so I can provide a link here to all of them at once.  Some really amazing ones like:

1987 -PEN PEN- (Binary Land clone): https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8091578
1988 Fisraduth: https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm2353283
1989 The Spirit of Satan: https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7275541

It's interesting to see the evolution of the games and the code over the years.  More POKES/PEEKS and using DATA in the later games.  Also moving toward combining character sprites to make larger sprites and things like backgrounds that move or change multiple times.  You can see how people were always striving to push  Family Basic further.

Quote from: ozidual on November 24, 2021, 02:50:12 pmIt's interesting to see the evolution of the games and the code over the years.  More POKES/PEEKS and using DATA in the later games.  Also moving toward combining character sprites to make larger sprites and things like backgrounds that move or change multiple times.  You can see how people were always striving to push  Family Basic further.

Looking forward to it! Will be interesting to analyze the lower-level code to see if there are some common techniques being used.

First off, does anyone here have a copy of the Playbox BASIC manual?  I'm wondering if we can get simple scans or even photos of the pages.  I'm curious about what programs/music/etc. may have appeared in there for typing up that may have been removed or changed for the Family Basic V2.x release.

Today I added 2 more books and uploaded the programs for one (links in the main post).  I've scanned in quite a few books but aligning and cropping everything takes time.  I also have more in a stack to scan.  Overall I've collected 23/30 books with Family Basic material in them.  There could always be more, but I'm pretty sure I've ID'ed all of them.  Here are the other books (besides Playbox Basic) I am missing:

ファミリーベーシックおもしろゲーム大作戦 (Family Basic Funny Game Strategy) [Tape purchased, need guide]
一生懸命　ファミリーコンピュータ　ゲーム＋ベーシック入門 (Difficulty Starting Family Computer Games + Basic Introduction)
ファミリーベーシックジャンプ : ファミコン大作戦 (Family Basic Jump: Famicom Strategy)
ファミコンソフト集001 : ファミコン大作戦 (Famicom Software Collection 001: Famicom Strategy)
ファミコンソフト集003 : ファミコン大作戦 (Famicom Software Collection 003: Famicom Strategy)
ファミリーベーシックで歌おう (Lets Sing With Family Basic)
Those first two sometimes have cassettes but everything should be in the books included with the cassettes.  I have a listing of all books with the missing ones in bold here: https://ozidual.github.io/FamilyBasicTracking/Main.html

As for what I uploaded recently:

Family Computer Encyclopedia Part 8
Family Computer Game Strategy Secret Techniques
  - 3 very simple Family Basic games, 10 Lode Runner levels, and 4 Excitebike levels

There are only 1-2 Family Basic programs per Family Computer Encyclopedia so I may upload the books individually but upload the programs together.  The holidays can be tricky for free time, but I'll see if I can upload more in the near future.  I'm halfway through editing scans for Famicom Software Collection 002: Famicom Strategy right now.

EDIT: Small update on my project to type up every Family Basic program from January issues of MicomBasic.  I finished most of them.  I ordered the last 2 January issues (95 & 96) along with the 1st and last issues of MicomBasic with Family Basic programs from Japan.  I should get those in the next couple weeks.

EDIT: Got one of the books.

Fantastic work as usual!

Oh and if anybody has the Playbox BASIC manual to share I would be all over it, compare and translate anything new to English.

Added the rest of the Family Computer Encyclopedia books that have Family Basic programs in them (2-8).  I have books 1 and 9, and checked indexes on a few others to be sure.  I also added Book 002 in the Famicom Daisakusen series (still need 001 and 003) and Learn With Pictures Famicom Basic.

There's still more to come.  I'm in the middle of scanning a collection of 25 Family Basic games and there are at least 2 more on my scan pile.  There are 2-3 more already scanned that I need to edit/upload, so look forward to all of those in the next couple months.

Article about the Family Basic work I've been doing: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2022/02/nintendo-family-basic-type-in-games/ (https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2022/02/nintendo-family-basic-type-in-games/) (The original tweet for it can be found here (https://twitter.com/GamingAlexandri/status/1491092572802265088?cxt=HHwWgMDRke-ytrEpAAAA)).  The article will be updated with more games regularly.  It currently holds quite a few of the games I worked on from typing up the Family Basic games in all the January issues of Micom Basic (mentioned in a previous post).

I updated the main post a few times since my last post with links to more scans and updated the missing books post with 1 more acquisition (another is on the way and I'll update the post when I receive it).

I'm currently working on recreating the tape that would have come with the Game Game 20 book in the Interesting 20 set.  I have about 16 out of 20 games typed up.  It's an earlier book but it's interesting to see them using PEEK to access the microphone so early on and in 3 games so far.

I also put together a morguefile.wiki about Family Basic with all the known Family Basic books, their dates, and links to archive.org if they've been uploaded.  You can find that here (https://morguefile.wiki/Family_Basic).

I finally finished scanning/editing the last of the Family Basic books I have.  We now have full scans of Seibundo Shinkosa's double trilogy of Family Basic books:

- Hop, Step, and Jump which go in depth into programming Family Basic with low level details like RAM locations and high level planning such as how you would write an RPG with it.
- 001, 002, and 003 which each hold ~10 games including Mini Trek.

It looks like the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd books were each released together (e.g. Hop came out at the same time as 001).

The last 2 scans were Keibunsha Encyclopedia 222 and Nintendo Family Computer Family Basic Introduction to Our Famicom.  Both also teach you Family Basic in their own way (like most of the books I've uploaded).  The Keibunsha Encyclopedia includes a handful of programs and music while the Introduction book only has 1 or 2 programs.

I updated the main post, archive.org, and the Morguefile Wiki with these links and scans.

There are still 3 more Family Basic books/cassettes that I need to get ahold of:

ファミリーベーシックおもしろゲーム大作戦 (Family Basic Funny Game Strategy with cassette)
ファミリーベーシックで歌おう (Lets Sing With Family Basic with cassette)
一生懸命　ファミリーコンピュータ　ゲーム＋ベーシック入門 (Difficulty Starting Family Computer Games + Basic Introduction)

I finally purchased Let's Sing With Family Basic.  I uploaded the programs in audio form here: https://archive.org/details/lets-sing-with-family-basic-cassette-tape-data-and-audio-ozidual

and added it to the main post.  I'll get around to scans of the box/book at some point too.

I also wanted to mention that Gaming Alexandria is pushing ahead with its Type-In Programs here: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/type-in-programs/

It's for all Type-Ins, not just Family Basic.  Hubz has added his Type-Ins for PC6xx1 computers, and we're hoping to bring in other people's work as well.  I've typed up a couple more Family Basic programs and I'm working on adding in all the ones I've done in the past so they have a central location for others to find.  Currently I'm typing up what appears to be a password generator for Hydlide Special for the Famicom that was featured in an early Famitsu.  I hope to have that one up in the next few days.

Gotta save that to favorites. Too bad there are no MSX programs though, I do have an MSX2+.

No MSX... yet :)  Activity is picking up a little bit on that channel of the Gaming Alexandria discord.

The magazines with the code are being collected and scanned in.  Login Magazine issues are being uploaded almost daily.  Micom Basic already has a good chunk scanned.  I hear word that more japanese magazines with code are on the way too.  It's just getting a solid base to type it in and upload it.  There's one person working on getting instructions together for emulators to make it easier for people to get started.  Another person is looking into OCR programs to help out.

How many tape recordings do you have that need to have the programs typed up?

I am working on some software that reads in a WAV file of a Family Basic tape recording, extracts the data, and converts it to a program listing.  Once I have it working I could have it print out the listings for you.

Quote from: UglyJoe on October 05, 2022, 08:38:43 pmHow many tape recordings do you have that need to have the programs typed up?

Just got one.  I'll see if I can send it to you.  Which is a good way to start this update.  I finally found Interesting 20 which is Game Game 20 in a box with a cassette that has all the games.  I saw it mentioned a couple times along with a few low res pictures, but there wasn't much out there.  Then a month or two ago it popped up on Mercari and I snagged it.  It's now uploaded here (https://archive.org/details/interesting-20-box-cassette-and-inserts-ozidual).  It's part of the 4 Let's Play With Family Basic books.

A month or so before that I got one of the last two Family Basic books - Hard Work: Family Computer Games+Basic Guide, which is now uploaded here (https://archive.org/details/family-computer-game-and-basic-guide-600dpi-ozidual).  There's only one left - a book/cassette set - but it is beyond my price range.

If you look through my archive.org (https://archive.org/details/@ozidual) uploads, I have also uploaded quite a few Micom Basic issues and a Beep issue.  We now have almost all Micom Basic issues that include Family Basic programs in them (1984 08 - 1996 04).  We're only missing a handful of 1995 issues.

I also finished scanning and uploading the Lets Sing with Family Basic set (one of the other 4 Lets Play With Family Basic sets).  This and the other links in this message have all been added to the original post. 

I picked up the last missing Family Basic cassette which is part of the last book I needed.  I still do not have the book, but now the programs are preserved here (https://archive.org/details/funny-game-daisakusen-data-and-audio-ozidual).  The cassette was in great condition and Side B was a duplicate of Side A (all the data) so I was able to get pristine copies of all of the games/backgrounds.

One interesting thing is the last game in the list is in 3 parts AND it only runs in Family Basic v2.1.  I've seen quite a few later programs that required 2+ parts to play the game, but this is the first one I've seen for Family Basic v2.1.  The book/cassette came out sometime in 1986.

I'd would still like to get ahold of the book, and will keep an eye out for that.  Hopefully it is cheaper without the cassette.

Do you know why it doesn't work on any other version? AFAIK version 2.0 got some new command that version 1 is missing, but the differences between version 2.1 and version 2.0 is just some unknown bug fixes.
And does it not work on V3?

Yeah, it wasn't working when I loaded it into Famibe v3.0.  The first thing it was getting hung up on was CLEAR &Hxxxx commands.  I'm not sure if that function doesn't work the same way in 3.0 as it does in 2.1 (i.e. that it can clear RAM addresses). 

I thought about it a bit but don't have a solution.  Here's a few of my thoughts:

1. I replaced it the CLEARs with a POKE 00, &Hxxxx or something similar in all 3 programs and while that worked, it would crash later in the programs. 
2. Since it is using POKEs regularly, I wonder if data is stored differently between v2.1 and v3.0.  So what is free space in 2.1 is not free space in 3.0
3. Similar to 2. maybe the DATA function stores data in a different location between v2.1 and v3.0.

I didn't spend too much time working on it though since I wanted to get it out there in its original form.  It's also been a while since I did much programming in FB and I am nowhere near proficient in it so it could very easily be something else.

The memory map is indeed different in V3 from earlier variants (user RAM starts at &H703F in regular Famibe and at &H6000 in V3), so generally programs that uses commands like POKE, PEEK and CLEAR and targets the cartridge memory space will not be cross-compatible to V3 or vice versa. All commands should otherwise work the same way however, unless I forgot something.

I thought you said it works in v2.1 but not in earlier versions, so I was wandering why that was the case, since they all share the same memory map and the differences from 1.0 and 2.0 are quite small.

The Family Basic memory map is on page 104 in the scanned manual V3 memory map is on page 126 in the V3 manual (not sure if the scans are still uploaded though and my translation doesn't have addresses written out unfortunately as it's assuming you have the Japanese scans).





What the heck I'll just post it here:

--------------------------------------------------
6000
     User (RAM)
6FFF
--------------------------------------------------
7000
     Unused region
7FFF
--------------------------------------------------
8000
     BASIC Interpreter
CFFF
--------------------------------------------------
D000
     BG Screen (used for Mario World)
D3FF
--------------------------------------------------
D400
     GAME 0
DBFD
--------------------------------------------------
DBFE
     GAME 1
E681
--------------------------------------------------
E682
     GAME 2
F307
--------------------------------------------------
F308
     GAME 3
FFF9
--------------------------------------------------
FFFA
     Used by system
FFFF
--------------------------------------------------

The Famicom's address mapping isn't included like in the original Famibe manual, but I'm sure you know it already (for anyone reading this, it can be found here (https://www.nesdev.org/wiki/CPU_memory_map)).

I've definitely run into a type-in that used CLEAR and only worked 2.x and not in 3.0.  Pretty sure it was "Autoran" from マイコンBASIC 1990-05.

Yeah I also remember I had to port some programs to V3 by changing raw addresses.