Changing The Atari 800 Cursor

I am working on a program for my Atari 800. I would like to know how to change the cursor from the ordinary box shape to a line. I saw this done in an adventure game and I thought it would be something nice to use in my programs.

John Runions

You will need to write your own input routine which accepts keys from the keyboard, puts them into a string, and permits correction. Then, the cursor you use is up to you. Disable the system cursor with POKE 752,1.

You can display a graphics character on the line below the character it is highlighting. You could use a redefined character set, with patterns for letters with the cursor included (you would then alternate between the normal character and the underlined character). You could also use a player or a missile as a cursor (as done in "Scriptor," April 1983). There are so many ways to display graphics on the Atari that these suggestions barely scratch the surface of the possibilities.