GRAVITATION 2.0 FOR THE TI-83 and TI-83+ by Jason Ruvinsky I. Introduction Gravitation is a game I invented. It is inspired by Connect 4, but with many key differences. The pieces are dropped from any side of a grid, instead of just the top. The land on obstacles, either shaded blocks or other pieces. This creates many interesting strategies, as you will see. The goal is the same, obtain 4 pieces in a row first and win! Gravitation was originally conceived for the TI-83. The program was very slow, and lacked most of the features you will see in this version (custom block arrangement, random, single play, tournament, etc.) Playing it was very grueling, because it was horrendously slow. Instead, playing with pen and paper became favorable. This program was never released. Quite a while later, my coding skills much improved, I decided to remake this program. I started from the ground up, not reusing any of the old code. The game I developed was very fast and had several bonus features. That is Gravitation 2.0. Unfortunately, I could not code an A.I. for one player play, because it would take several minutes for each move. (If I ever learn assembly, I might be able to make an A.I. for it.) II. Gravitation Rules PLAY Gravitation is played on an 8x8 grid by two players. Four squares on the grid are shaded in, representing blocks. (There are several variations of block placement, 6 are built in, but you can make custom placements or random placement.) Each player is represented by a symbol, a plus and a box. The players alternate turns dropping their pieces (represented by their symbol) into the grid. The player who gets four pieces in a row first wins. (They may be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal.) PLACEMENT In Gravitation there is no up, down, left or right. Every side is treated the same as any other side. Pieces are dropped from ANY of the four sides (edge of the grid) and fall towards the opposite side until their passage is blocked by an obstacle. (Obstacles can be blocks or pre-placed pieces) PIECES MAY ONLY BE DROPPED IF THEY WILL COLLIDE WITH AN OBSTACLE! III. Keys Arrow keys move your piece before it is dropped, alpha or mode will switch the side of the grid you are on in clockwise order. Once you are satisfied with the location of your piece, press 2nd or enter to drop it into the grid. If the move is valid, the piece will fall and the next player's turn will begin. (Pass the calc.) If the game must be cut short, or if there simply aren't any valid moves, then a draw can be called by pressing clear. The game will be considered a tie. If you accidentally drop a piece where you don't want it, you can quickly undo the move by pressing delete. Please do not use the undo feature to cheat. IV. Modes of play There are three modes of play, Progression, Single play, and Tournament. Progression loops through the six built in levels in a tournament. Single play allows you to choose one level to play, including custom or random. Tournament allows you to set up your own tournament, and includes random. V. Options There are a few options that you can toggle on or off. Turning options off increases the speed of the program. They are as follows: Grid Preview : This option shows a preview of the grid when you are selecting a level for play in either single play mode or tournament mode. The preview takes awhile to load, so once you know what the levels look like, it is best to turn it off. Drop Animations : This option determines whether the piece is shown falling into the grid. If it is off, the piece appears where it lands. Turning it off slightly boosts speed. Player Names : If this option is on, you are prompted for name entry every time you play a game. If it is off, the players are referred to as player 1 and player 2. Intro Screen : This allows you to turn off the intro screen that plays every time you load the game. (After awhile, it gets annoying and you just want to go straight to the menu.) VI. Credit This program and the game Gravitation are copyright Jason Ruvinsky, 2002 and 2001 respectively. Beta Testers: Bill Ruvinsky Stephanie Ruvinsky Alex Ruvinsky Brice Farrel Andrew Nixon VII. Contact Bugs? Comments? Need programming tips? Email me at : another1one@yahoo.com I would enjoy hearing from you. VIII. Also by STARSOFT and coming soon Racer 2 : Every programmer makes one of these race programs. This is my version of the traditional race program, with a few features and good coding. (Like Gravitation it is a remake of an older program by me that isn't worthy.) Coming soon for the TI-83: EliXar : A basic RPG. It has been in the works for a long time, and will be in the works for still longer. Also a remake of an older incomplete RPG by me that was poorly coded. Stay tuned. Year of Darkness : A fully graphical space strategy/combat game. Loosely based on Master of Orion. (The menu system in Gravitation was actually borrowed from this program.) Still in the works, stay tuned. Periodic Table 83 : Contains info on 95 elements and can perform stoichiometry. Great for Chemistry class. Triangle Solver : The most challenging math program I ever made, and I am very proud to announce that I succeeded. When three parts of a triangle are entered, the program finds all the sides and angles of the triangle. IX. Distribution and legal stuff Feel free to give this program to all your friends. Do not modify the code, or use any portion of it without permission (including the menus) and credit to me. Also, the game itself is my own creation, so I retain the rights to it.