Hey, have you thought about a 2-player link mode? I am making a 2-player Quake-type game for TI83. It will also have different modes like capture the flag, and if you cant find another calculator, theres a split-screen mode. Its programmed in basic though, but it's still real fun. So if you can figure out how to do multiplayer, it will help out the replay value tremendously (like Ztetris)

I remember that I once tried to make a linked Bomberman game in 82 BASIC. The graphics were too slow though, and the lame link routines I tried to use only "froze" (or at least slowed it down like heck) the calculator. How did you manage to make a linked Quake game? Or is it like a refresh every 1 second kind of thing?

Yes I have. In fact, someone has already emailed me about it. If the engine can stand it, I'll add multiplayer (with link support of course) and it will be split screen anyway. So there.

~Adamman

Hey Adamman, I was wondering what equations you're using to make the 3-D environment, and how the character moves around in it (i.e. turning and walking).

thanks

It's not 3D by any means. It's like raycasting, but it goes a step further. I'm thinking of putting a method page up to explain how the engine will work.
In the meantime, there are several links to the Fear engine on the 3D Game page. Looking at the sourcecode will give you a pretty good idea of how it works (it's in C++)

~Adamman

umm if its raycasting why do you call your game 3d game?????

I don't see what you mean. Sure it's raycasting, but I could have called it "Adam's MultiSync XE15 Glossary of Literary terms".

~Adamman

With all the talk of 85/86 users being prejudized as "egotistical" I thought I would just chip in. I have a 83 and an 86 so I got the "best of both". The reason why 86 programming could be considered better is that ASM is built in, it has about triple the memory, and there is a bigger screen size that allows better graphics. The only downfalsl are that for an 86 you have to boot up the program beforehand and it seems slower then an 83. There are some good games for the 83 and some good games for the 86. (As well as the 82, 85, 92, etc etc) 86 users don't "suck" or "stink" they just bought a more advanced calculator.

This 3d Game sounds cool. I have a ray caster that i was going to put on a TI-89. Now that i see it is being done, i am going to try it on a TI-89. The source code is qbasic so i will just have to move it from one to the other.

with all this arguing, i had to clear things up. the ti-83 is slower than all other ti-8x calcs because it uses an lcd driver instead of a memory mapped lcd. on the other hand, all other ti-8x calcs move at a very close speed to eachother. my friend just got an 86 and i have to say it IS the fastest ti-8x calc out there. if you compare two ports of the exact same game, the 86 is faster. just to let you know, i am an experienced z80 programmer so i know what i'm takling about.

unfortunatly it seems that you have never played the ti-82 version of penguins. If you have, you would see that the ti-82 version is FASTER than the 86 version. Do you understand...FASTER..thats right! the TI-82 is FASTER than the 86(when it comes to penguins that is...). Don't assume that just because you're an "experienced z80 programmer" and the TI-86 has "more memory and a bigger screen size" that it is faster. I have just brought up a point that shoots your whole theory in the gutter. And really...who cares if you are an "experienced programmer"....you could be the "steven speilberg" of z80 programming but that still doesn't mean that your "movie" will win an oscar. just something for you to think about....

Speed has very little to do with the calculator, and all to do with the coding by the author/porter. The CrASH guys intentionally made Penguins faster through optimization and a quicker display routine. The ti-8x series(except the 89) all use the same Z80 processor. If there are any speed differences, they are fractional and hardly noticeable. If they are noticeable, the author can accomodate.

Not to bash the calc I've been defending, but there could be a speed difference because of the display controllers in 82/83's vs. the memory-mapped display in the 85/86's. This makes it slower by a little bit, but basically it only makes grayscale routines trickier to make.

~Adamman

All this talk about the aryan calculator series has got me wondering. I'm being offered a free TI calculator of my choosing. I have an 82, and I really only want this calculator for games and stuff. Right now, the current offering is a 92, but I'm guessing that not too many games are coming out for it. Should I just go with an 86 or 89?

I would go with an 86, unless the 89 has built-in ASM support. It depends on what you want to use it for. If it is for math, go with the 89. If it is for games, go with the 86.

Go with the 89 DEFINITELY. I've had an 85, and and 83, but my new toy, the 89, blows them OUT OF THE WATER. It IS true that there arent ANY asm games out there for it yet, but asm IS built in and the 600k of memory kicks ASS too. Even if no games EVER came out for the 89, the math functions alone would be worth the $146 it cost me

Get a 92+ and sell it and buy an 89 and you still have money left over :)

When do you think screenshots will be avadable?

thanks

Hopefully Monday or Tuesday, depending on how much work needs to be done. By then there should be some black and white, solid walled screenshots on the 3D Game page. Until then, keep checking it for updates

~Adamman

Um, am I the only one who actually SUGGESTED a name for 3D Game? I think I am. (Just for the record, it was "Foxenstein").

Um, did you read the article??? He wants you to send the suggestions to HIM. But Foxenstein is pretty funny!!

I read the article, but I think it would be more fun if everyone got to read the suggestions. Here are mine:

Inch by inch 3D
Malcolm XXX 3D
Black and Proud
High Voltage
Paradise Lost


Why?
Inch by inch is a pretty good name, it's profound, yet descriptive, and Malcolm XXX deals with the racial thing too, we are way too few brothers in the ti-community.


Rawk on, broz n siz!


Machinator of Mayhem

You all suck peoples.

Why don't yall get a life?!!