Family BASIC

[cubelmariomadness]

Yeah, I guess I don't really know why I posted that then 

[jpx72]

Hi everyone,

I came across this thread while looking for info about Family Basic.
I am currently translating the manual and posting the translation of each page on the following site:
http://volunteers.playpower.org/photo?xg_pw=&page=4

Please feel free to check these pages and leave any comment in order to improve the translation.

-Sebastien

I don't know if anybody's watching his progress, but it seems to me that he actualy finished translating the whole Basic manual!
Great work!

[zmaster18]

Does anyone know what the 'GRPH' key does? It's not mentioned in the instructions I don't think...

[UglyJoe]

Does anyone know what the 'GRPH' key does? It's not mentioned in the instructions I don't think...

It says that it is used for adding those little dots (nigori) to katakana to make voiced consonants (e.g.  te　テ -> de　デ)

It's also used to input "graphic symbols" from the upper row of keys on the keyboard.

So you have to be in Kana mode for it to do much of anything.  I think you need to hold it down (like a shift key), but I don't have the keyboard here in front of me.

[zmaster18]

Does anyone know what the 'GRPH' key does? It's not mentioned in the instructions I don't think...

It says that it is used for adding those little dots (nigori) to katakana to make voiced consonants (e.g.  te　テ -> de　デ)

It's also used to input "graphic symbols" from the upper row of keys on the keyboard.

So you have to be in Kana mode for it to do much of anything.  I think you need to hold it down (like a shift key), but I don't have the keyboard here in front of me.

I just tried it and it works only in Kana mode like you said. It will add the nigori to katakana and will create a few graphic symbols when you press the number keys.

[P]

It's not mentioned in the instructions I don't think...

Page 4 and 9. It's for voiced consonants in kana mode but also for typing "graphical symbols". It's like the AltGr key on modern keyboards.

[zmaster18]

It's not mentioned in the instructions I don't think...

Page 4 and 9. It's for voiced consonants in kana mode but also for typing "graphical symbols". It's like the AltGr key on modern keyboards.

Ah I see. My scan of the English-translated manual only starts on page16. 

[P]

Yeah that's the problem, the old translation only has the BASIC part of the manual. I scanned and translated everything up to page 15 but it's not inserted into any scan yet. It's just a text file.

[UglyJoe]

My copy of The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers Volume 2 arrived yesterday and it has a Hudson chapter.  Some interesting Family BASIC info from it:

- It was developed by Takashi Takebe.
- The Nintendo / Hudson relationship was fostered via Sharp.  Hudson had made a BASIC interpreter for one of Sharp's early PCs, so Sharp recommended them to Nintendo for Family BASIC.
- Family BASIC was developed on a Sharp X1 (which has a different CPU architecture!) and then cross-assembled for the Famicom.  This was apparently a common thing for Hudson to do at the time.

Check out the book (and volume 1) if you haven't already.  If you're into old development tools like Family BASIC then I can't see how you won't find the interviews interesting

[P]

Sounds like a mighty interesting book! Also it looks to me, from the description, that they also finally took note of what could be yakuza connections for a certain video game company based in Kobe.

By cross-assembling do you mean they ran the code on the Sharp X1 through some kind of emulation? Developing video games on a computer with a different architecture must be the norm I thought (or maybe it's a modern concept?).

[UglyJoe]

By cross-assembling do you mean they ran the code on the Sharp X1 through some kind of emulation? Developing video games on a computer with a different architecture must be the norm I thought (or maybe it's a modern concept?).

It doesn't go into too much detail.  I doubt it was emulating anything, given that this was early 80s.

[chowder]

By cross-assembling do you mean they ran the code on the Sharp X1 through some kind of emulation? Developing video games on a computer with a different architecture must be the norm I thought (or maybe it's a modern concept?).

Yeah, cross assembling is pretty standard practice.  No one ever developed Famicom games on Famicom hardware, so I seriously doubt Famicom BASIC would have been either.  A different CPU is no obstacle, I develop Famicom games on a laptop with an Intel Core i5, and cross-assemblers were certainly around in the 80s.

[P]

Either way it's interesting to learn what kind of computers they developed the software on.

[chowder]

Either way it's interesting to learn what kind of computers they developed the software on.

Oh yes, definitely   I remember seeing some old pictures of dev hardware, but couldn't identify it.

[fredJ]

Could anyone help me?
I have a family basic cart with some rusty batteries in it that I fixed up, I hope.
How can I most easily test if it saves data?
I don't know much about family basic so a very simple step by step would help. Yes I have the keyboard.

Also, If anyone is interested I have a family basic V3 manual that I could take some pics from or if you want me to look something up, but it has 140 pages and I can't take pics of everything. (But of course you can buy it from me once I decide on a price)