How do you compile the *.asm source code to machine language in the ti89? And How are hexadecimal numbers used in flagging?

I don't think Bryan did our alliance justice in that description so let me elaborate:
We are an information based alliance, meaning that while we still program, we also produce tutorials, text information and databases for the calculators we cover. We are currently (and near completely finished) merging the 86 Central site into our own page, including ROM central, and the ti86emu homepage (for which we are creating html based help and lessons on debugging and disassembly w/). We are also creating an 89 Central that will evolve as more becomes known about the 89. We do not cover all calculators as Bryan said, only the 86 and 89. Our web page should be up by the end of this weekend, so keep an eye out for it ;-)

Superb! This was very welcome!

This is a great idea. I have been looking for a way to group some standard routines into a shell so that a person writing an assembly game can simply call the routine instead of writing it into his/her program saving time and space. Also It's great that you guys are providing so much information seeing as my asm skills on the 86 now bearly allow me to write text and graphics to the screen. Hopefully this will stimulate the recently dry area of 86 asm programming :)

Andrew Kaplan
nofx_3@hotmail.com

We won't be creating shell libraries for the 86. Sorry. The routines we are creating are things that will have to be cut-and-pasted into your code (for both the 86 and the 89).

Just wondering why you don't do programming for the 92+, it's asm is basically the same as the 89.
Daniel Plaisted
dsplaisted@bigfoot.com

Because we don't have 92's with the plus module. Only cheap 89's.

this is a very good idea. and i can't wait to get some good tutorials so i can finally learn asm. i mean i am good at basic but you can only push it so far. and i got alot of ideas i want to start. but as far as tutorials go. how to write hello world has been killed. what i am having trouble finding is on how to do graphics, and moving graphics around the screen. if someone has a good tutorial on this already please send me a link.

Most of the ACZ 86 asm tutorial is already online :-)
http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~assets/t_intro.html

If you're looking for information on m68k assembly. (I.E. TI-92, TI-92+ and TI-89). Check out Techno-Plaza (URL theplaza.ml.org).

I am also working on creating an entire set of m68k assembly tutorials relating directly to the TI-89.

I tried that site for Techno-Plaza, it didn't seem to work. Maybe I typed it in wrong, I don't know. Please tell me the exact URL

ex: <http://www.website.com>

I want to program games for the M68k

Now could this group take on the difficult task of
Hal-Ic? now that would be sweet.

What happened to HAL-IC? It is supposed to be released Halloween 1998...

Yeah!

Just what I'm waiting for. I just think you would take som time for those routines that need high optimized speed, or size. What I'm talking about is that a group of five programmers can make over six times better results. I think you can get into the hard routines, such as a "fill" routine for tracing space in areas. Or why not a routine for handling very fast 3-D rotations. THAT would be very useful for other programmers and set the game standard way higher. The menu bar could be maked by everyone.

What do you mean "the menu bar could be maked by everyone"? Do you mean that it "could be made by anyone"? Sure, anyone _could_ write a menu routine like that. And I know there are a few areas in there that I could have done better, but the overall design is good.

It's a very simple yet versatile menu routine. For 137 bytes, you can have nice looking table-driven bar menus all over your program. If the routine works for you, great, learn from it and use it. If not, write your own. It's that easy.

Now, what in the world would be the point of very-fast 3D rotations? About the only reason I can see is to make a full 3D game such as Descent that SCaBBy is working on. Any routines for a game like that are very specific to the game itself, and if you can't write a fast 3D rotation routine yourself, then there is _no way_ you could write a 3D game.

As much as I'd like to back you up, I have to dissagree with your visions of 3D routines. If only the 3D routines were made for specifics. Specifics such as "rotate up", "rotate down", "rotate left", and other basic things that the 89 does while changing the *eye variables when graphing a 3D object.

If the routines were made to do the basic things, then 3D graphics would be possible, although a bit slower than their 2D counterpart.

Another thing slightly related: Does Maze3D have a pop-up problem, and if it doesn't, how was it programmed without it?

-Miles Raymond

Maze3D is a ray casting engine. Ray casting is a technique to quickly draw something in 3d. It works like your eyes do, only in reverse. Instead of receiving light in all directions, it casts out "rays" for each pixel strip and figures out where they intersect the map and then the texture for that map position.

A pop-up effect comes from a polygon based engine, where objects are made drawn from polygons. Objects pop-up because they are clipped from view too close to the viewer. The reason for this is usually to save cpu time by not processing objects that are far away.

I was just wondering how Clem's "Infinity" was comming along, or if at all. It promised to be an exciting game, as Maze 3d was great.

I think you guys should really try to find an ASM programmer with a -92 + because it is SO similar to the -89, and there would be a lot of work duplicated by other programmers if you didn't get a -92 + programmer.

My $0.02