Mmastodon TechnologySoftware first seen 2 d ago, last 2 d ago, peak #9

ChipWits devs tackle 6502 branch range limits

Original: 🛠️ ChipWits Worlds Devlog: Every 6502 coder knows the dread of 'Branch target out of range'. Conditional branches only j

The developers behind ChipWits Worlds have detailed how their preprocessor handles the classic 6502 limitation that conditional branches can only jump 128 bytes in either direction. When a code block grows past roughly 100 bytes, the tool automatically synthesizes a five-byte trampoline pattern that redirects execution to the intended target, sparing programmers the familiar 'Branch target out of range' error.

Why now: The retro-computing community enjoys seeing modern tooling solve classic 6502 assembly headaches in an active game devlog.

ChipWits6502 processor

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Evidence

• 🛠️ ChipWits Worlds Devlog: Every 6502 coder knows the dread of 'Branch target out of range'. Conditional branches only jump -128 to +127 bytes. When a block exceeds ~100 bytes, our preprocessor synthesizes a 5-byte trampoline: BEQ *+5 JMP __TARGET Even better: our… · chipwits · 5

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