📘 Chapter: RTT BASIC Programming on the C‑64

20 Example Programs + A Guided Teaching Sequence#

This chapter assumes the RTT cartridge is installed and its BASIC extensions are available.

⭐ SECTION I — FOUNDATIONS (Programs 1–5)#

These examples introduce the core RTT primitives: SUBSTRATE, FIELD, FLOW, ALIGN, RESONATE.

1. Hello Substrate#

Demonstrates: SUBSTRATE

10 SUBSTRATE 1024,2023 AS "TEXT"
20 FOR I=1024 TO 2023:POKE I,ASC("*"):NEXT
30 PRINT "TEXT SUBSTRATE INITIALIZED"

2. Wrapped Text Field#

Demonstrates: FIELD

10 SUBSTRATE 1024,2023 AS "TEXT"
20 FIELD 1024,2023 WITH "WRAP"
30 PRINT "FIELD READY"

3. Simple Flow Copy#

Demonstrates: FLOW

10 SUBSTRATE 1024,1279 AS "A"
20 SUBSTRATE 1280,1535 AS "B"
30 FLOW "COPY" FROM "A" TO "B" BY 1
40 FLOW "COPY"
50 GOTO 50

4. Raster‑Aligned Loop#

Demonstrates: ALIGN

10 ALIGN LOOP WITH RASTER 100
20 PRINT "TICK";
30 GOTO 10

5. SID Resonance Starter#

Demonstrates: RESONATE

10 SUBSTRATE SID1,SID1 AS "LEAD"
20 SUBSTRATE SID2,SID2 AS "BASS"
30 RESONATE "LEAD","BASS" BY 2
40 PRINT "SID RESONANCE ACTIVE"
50 GOTO 50

⭐ SECTION II — TEXT EFFECTS (Programs 6–10)#

6. Horizontal Text Scroll#

10 SUBSTRATE 1024,2023 AS "TEXT"
20 FIELD 1024,2023 WITH "WRAP"
30 FLOW "SCROLL" FROM "TEXT" TO "TEXT" BY 1
40 ALIGN "SCROLL" WITH RASTER 120
50 FLOW "SCROLL"
60 GOTO 60

7. Pulsing Text Brightness#

10 SUBSTRATE 55296,56295 AS "COLOR"
20 FLOW "BRIGHT" FROM "COLOR" TO "COLOR" BY 1
30 FLOW "DIM" FROM "COLOR" TO "COLOR" BY 2
40 RESONATE "BRIGHT","DIM" BY 1
50 FLOW "BRIGHT"
60 FLOW "DIM"
70 GOTO 70

8. Text Wave Motion#

10 SUBSTRATE 1024,2023 AS "TEXT"
20 FLOW "WAVE" FROM "TEXT" TO "TEXT" BY 3
30 ALIGN "WAVE" WITH CYCLE 4
40 FLOW "WAVE"
50 GOTO 50

9. Dual‑Flow Text Ripple#

10 SUBSTRATE 1024,2023 AS "TEXT"
20 FLOW "UP" FROM "TEXT" TO "TEXT" BY 1
30 FLOW "DOWN" FROM "TEXT" TO "TEXT" BY -1
40 RESONATE "UP","DOWN" BY 2
50 FLOW "UP"
60 FLOW "DOWN"
70 GOTO 70

10. Text Blink Field#

10 SUBSTRATE 55296,56295 AS "COLOR"
20 FIELD 55296,56295 WITH "MIRROR"
30 FLOW "BLINK" FROM "COLOR" TO "COLOR" BY 1
40 FLOW "BLINK"
50 GOTO 50

⭐ SECTION III — SPRITE & GRAPHICS (Programs 11–15)#

11. Sprite Orbit#

10 SUBSTRATE 8192,8703 AS "SPRITEFIELD"
20 FIELD 8192,8703 WITH "WRAP"
30 FLOW "ORBIT" FROM "SPRITEFIELD" TO "SPRITEFIELD" BY 1
40 FLOW "ORBIT"
50 GOTO 50

12. Sprite Wobble#

10 SUBSTRATE 8192,8703 AS "SPRITEFIELD"
20 FLOW "WOBBLE" FROM "SPRITEFIELD" TO "SPRITEFIELD" BY 2
30 ALIGN "WOBBLE" WITH RASTER 80
40 FLOW "WOBBLE"
50 GOTO 50

13. Resonant Sprite Motion#

10 SUBSTRATE 8192,8703 AS "SPRITEFIELD"
20 FLOW "A" FROM "SPRITEFIELD" TO "SPRITEFIELD" BY 1
30 FLOW "B" FROM "SPRITEFIELD" TO "SPRITEFIELD" BY 3
40 RESONATE "A","B" BY 4
50 FLOW "A"
60 FLOW "B"
70 GOTO 70

14. Sprite Pulse#

10 SUBSTRATE 8192,8703 AS "SPRITEFIELD"
20 FLOW "PULSE" FROM "SPRITEFIELD" TO "SPRITEFIELD" BY 1
30 ALIGN "PULSE" WITH CYCLE 8
40 FLOW "PULSE"
50 GOTO 50

15. Sprite Field Mirror#

10 SUBSTRATE 8192,8703 AS "SPRITEFIELD"
20 FIELD 8192,8703 WITH "MIRROR"
30 FLOW "MIRROR" FROM "SPRITEFIELD" TO "SPRITEFIELD" BY 1
40 FLOW "MIRROR"
50 GOTO 50

⭐ SECTION IV — SID AUDIO (Programs 16–20)#

16. Dual‑Voice Resonance#

10 SUBSTRATE SID1,SID1 AS "A"
20 SUBSTRATE SID2,SID2 AS "B"
30 FLOW "ENV1" FROM "A" TO "A" BY 1
40 FLOW "ENV2" FROM "B" TO "B" BY 2
50 RESONATE "ENV1","ENV2" BY 3
60 FLOW "ENV1"
70 FLOW "ENV2"
80 GOTO 80

17. SID Pulse Train#

10 SUBSTRATE SID1,SID1 AS "LEAD"
20 FLOW "PULSE" FROM "LEAD" TO "LEAD" BY 1
30 ALIGN "PULSE" WITH RASTER 100
40 FLOW "PULSE"
50 GOTO 50

18. SID Drone Field#

10 SUBSTRATE SID3,SID3 AS "DRONE"
20 FIELD SID3,SID3 WITH "WRAP"
30 FLOW "DRIFT" FROM "DRONE" TO "DRONE" BY 1
40 FLOW "DRIFT"
50 GOTO 50

19. Resonant Tri‑Voice Stack#

10 SUBSTRATE SID1,SID1 AS "A"
20 SUBSTRATE SID2,SID2 AS "B"
30 SUBSTRATE SID3,SID3 AS "C"
40 RESONATE "A","B" BY 2
50 RESONATE "B","C" BY 3
60 FLOW "A"
70 FLOW "B"
80 FLOW "C"
90 GOTO 90

20. SID Raster Sync Sweep#

10 SUBSTRATE SID1,SID1 AS "LEAD"
20 FLOW "SWEEP" FROM "LEAD" TO "LEAD" BY 1
30 ALIGN "SWEEP" WITH RASTER 50
40 FLOW "SWEEP"
50 GOTO 50

📚 RTT BASIC Teaching Sequence#

A gentle, myth‑aware introduction for new learners#

This sequence teaches RTT concepts in the order that feels most natural on a C‑64.

Lesson 1 — Substrates#

Concept: “A substrate is a region of memory or hardware you name.”

Exercise:

SUBSTRATE 1024,2023 AS "TEXT"

Lesson 2 — Fields#

Concept: “A field is a substrate with boundary rules.”

Exercise:

FIELD 1024,2023 WITH "WRAP"

Lesson 3 — Flows#

Concept: “A flow is a transformation applied over time.”

Exercise:

FLOW "SCROLL" FROM "TEXT" TO "TEXT" BY 1

Lesson 4 — Alignment#

Concept: “Flows can be synchronized with raster or CPU cycles.”

Exercise:

ALIGN "SCROLL" WITH RASTER 120

Lesson 5 — Resonance#

Concept: “Two flows can be coupled into a stable pattern.”

Exercise:

RESONATE "A","B" BY 3

Lesson 6 — Composition#

Concept: “Flows, fields, and resonance combine into emergent behavior.”

Exercise:
Build a scrolling, pulsing, resonant text effect using all primitives.