There are many calculator games that come out every year, most of which aren't that good, but many which are. Many great gems have managed to make it on Omnimaga front page before, but unfortunately, when our staff is busy or when many good games come out in a short period of time, the games will be missed then lost into oblivion.

Below, here are some titles that might have been overlooked that you might want to check out, one of which, however, is for a calculator model that came out before most Omnimaga members were born:


-Space Invaders TI-81 Port

Although the TI-81 was discontinued in 1997, it took 12 more years before ASM arrive on this model. Now earlier in 2013, the TI-83 Plus game Invaded was ported to the TI-81 by Jared Briggs. Although the game is rather simple, it is the 2nd ASM game ever released for this ancient 2 MHz machine that only had 2.4 KB of user RAM, the first game being Hangman, which was included with Unity. If you feel like like typing the code by hand (the calculator has no link port), feel free to check it out!


-Quake IV for the TI-82 Stats/83/83+/84+

Back in the NES days, a first-person view game used pseudo-3D dungeon graphics where you could only face 4 directions, rotating by 90° instantly. TI-BASIC games of that kind used the same technique. Although pseudo-3D BASIC first person shooters were considered the bane of the TI community back in the days (especially after Gemini 3D came out), there are a few of them that are actually good and worth mentionning. Quake IV, by Nicolas Bernier, was released way back before Omnimaga existed, in 2000, for the TI-83 (now known as the TI-82 Stats). Unlike most other pseudo first person shooters of the pre-xLIB era, this one runs at playable speed. And the fact that its walls have textures makes it unique too, because most other game of that kind only used a few line() commands. Although it was released for the old TI-83, it appears to run fine on newer monochrome models as well. If you missed that game before or simply feel nostalgic, download the game via the link above. Just beware of the initial loading time!


-Legends (TI-83+/84+)

Released last Winter, Legends is a role-playing game for the TI-83 Plus with a trading card game twist. From the description, "basically this is another wizard game where you cast spells and defeat your opponent. In order to play this you need a friend or alternatively you should have an issociative identity disorder, because Legends is a two player game only! Before you fight, you and your opponent chose spells from a library. That's the first screen you get to. There you can divide your skill points among 14 spells and determine starting power of those spells. Spells have power (the black filled spheres) that loads every turn. Spells that reached their power maximum can be cast. Both players decide which spell they cast subsequently. The spells are then cast in a specific priority order ("speed of a spell"). A fight is pretty easy, but hard to master. How can you trick your opponent? Maybe he leveled the awesome spell Revenge, that deals back twice the amount of damage your Fireball would do? Maybe you will just cast a healing spell and wait for your opponent to react. Or you puzzle out a masterplan, level three Pyroclasm that hits both of you and then Drain his Life. You can become a Legend! "


-Swords (TI-83+/84+)

Back in 2011 and 2012, there was a big Axe Parser physics craze, with many games such as Tag, Graviter and Portal Prelude coming out. Sword 2 is another of them, with improved physics and graphics over its prequel. As the description says "Yes, it's the character you love and the sequel to the great platform game you love. Hop over spikes, get keys, jump on platforms, avoid all other peril, all while being an awesome little sword. Packed with 40 intense, action filled levels and a fully functional level editor, so the fun never ends! The game is written in Axe 1.1.2" and the original discussion topic can be found here.


-Hunt for Freedom

An entry for the TI-Concours 2013. There are only 3 levels due to the contest's 4kb size limit, but get ready for fun anyway. You've been kidnapped by the state and like every good prisoner have decided to fulfill the duty of every prisoner: escape! Based on the classic Whack-a-mole game, you'll need to whack-a-guard before they whack you, all the while traveling through the prison trying to find your way out to freedom! Thankfully, you are wacking guards, not nethams. The game is available in multiple languages.


-Chambers (84+)

People have wanted something like CalcRogue 89 on their TI-84 Plus for a while, but last Winter, Ryan Boyd have ended their wait, with Chambers! It is a rogue-like RPG for your z80 calc. Use items, strategy, and your force to fight back the unruly forces of darkness and reclaim your old life. Note that this game will only run on 15 MHz monochrome screen calculator models. (Discussion topic)


-Super Crate Box (84+)

This is another Axe masterpiece where you have to dodge enemies, kill them, while collecting boxes. There are multiple weapons and it is hard! Good luck! (Discussion topic)


-Mr Oops (84+)

This is a portage of the MrOops!! game that you can find on smartphones, tablets and smartPMPs, featuring "Rolling Stones", "Iron Cannons" and "Laser Weapons". How long can you survive? There is a discussion topic here.


-Rainbow Dash Attack (84+)

This is a port of Ashbad's game for the Casio Prizm, now for your z80 TI calculator. Play as Rainbow Dash, collect apples to score points but avoid Clouds. Those who are fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (or even people who aren't) will most likely like! (Discussion topic)


-Pokemon Topaze (84+)

It was inevitable that this game would make it in Omnimaga front page news: It was just a matter of when. There are several Pokémon clones and ports for the TI-83 Plus, so many in fact that Ticalc.org has made a sub-folder just for them. Sadly, among the ones that were even close to finished, low quality prevailed. Pokémon Topaze, by Hayleia, is an exception. "This is a clone (not a portage) of the now famous Pokemon Yellow game. It came second at the 2011 edition of the zContest. You can capture up to 44 Pokemons, fight against other trainers and even trade Pokemons with your friends (with the external program by Zero44) ! Become the best trainer of all times and defeat the Elite Four. Available in English, French and Deutsch (see in the zip). It isn't complete, but it is fully playable and is one of the most complete Pokémon game available for Z80 calcs so far." The discussion topic is available here. http://www.omnimaga.org/index.php?topic=9844.0


Enjoy!

ExtendeD is still working on Ndless, and has just solved technical issues that prevented C++ support from being implemented in Ndless.
Here you go for a brand new version of Ndless

The first C++ programs for Nspire have been coded by tangrs a while ago, but the issue was that elf2flt was not handling some relocations with recent GCC versions for ARM. This caused issues with hoffa's nSDL, and was reducing the number of programs you could port for the Nspire.

Now that the issue has been identified, ExtendeD patched elf2flt and published :

• Ndless r825 SDK, with official C++ and bFLT format handling (much simpler than ELF, it was specificly made for embedded devices) for Ndless programs. bFLT is now the recommended format for object files.
  
• Ndless r825, compulsory to run C++ programs (with or without nSDL);
  
• YAGARTO & MSYS binaries for Ndless r825 SDK. Linux will need to compile elf2flt by themselves: follow the steps on Hackspire

Here's a preview of the new features of a direct port (with small changes to adapt to the platform itself, like keyboard, resolution...) showing what c++ with nSDL can provide, with a quick  port of Advanced Tetris by GDO, by Extended :






Source and downloads: http://ndlessly.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/cpp-for-the-ti-nspire/ & ExtendeD for tip

Cross posted from TI-Planet

After fixing several bugs and adding features, Slova is here!  Slova, a fan-made sequel to Word Rescue, is a 2D platformer aimed at helping you learn a new language.  Your goal is to match English words with words in another language.  Use nuclear weapons to kill the gruzzles that are trying to stop you, and collect E-book readers and letters to increase your high score!

Better yet, you can customize Slova!  You can create language packs for Spanish, French, German, anything you want.  Furthermore, full source is provided.

Included are 4 language packs -- Russian, Dutch, Swedish and English Rhymes.

Enjoy the game, and let me know of any bugs!

http://www.omnimaga.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16480.0;attach=15405

     

     

Over the past two days, I have released three key pieces of Cemetech software that have finally reached fruition this week after about two years of development. In order of release, the three programs are Doors CS 7.2 Beta 3, gCnClient 2.0, and Sandpaper 1.0. Doors CS 7.2 Beta 3 is final beta release of Doors CS 7.2, which brings new networking features to the popular calculator shell. gCnClient v2.0 is a stable, final version of the Windows/Linux/Mac OS software for connecting calculators to the internet. Sandpaper 1.0 is a completed FTP server/client for transferring files across a room or around the world.

globalCALCnet (gCn) Client v2.0: version 1.0. While Doors CS 7.2 beta 3 contains everything you need to network calculators together locally, you can't easily connect your calculator to the internet or to other calculators dozens or thousands of miles away. That's where globalCALCnet comes in. First, gCn allows you to connect CALCnet networks together, making calculators that are far apart think they are locally networked. Secondly, gCn lets non-calculator services like HTTP, IRC, and FTP be easily connected to CALCnet networks. This means that you can browse the internet with Gossamer, chat on IRC with CALCnet Chat!, or browse the ticalc.org archives with Sandpaper, all directly from your calculator.

To connect your calculator to gCn, you need a computer to mediate between gCn and CALCnet (although that may soon change). On that computer, you run the gCnClient software, which you can download below. gCnClient 2.0 lets you use a mini-USB cable with a single TI-84+/SE, or an Arduino or AVR as a bridge to a large network of TI-83+/SE and TI-84+/SE calculators. This version adds the mini-USB ("direct USB") support, as well as greatly improving the stability of the entire client.

Doors CS 7.2 Beta 3: The last Doors CS beta, version 7.2 beta 2 was released one day shy of two years, the same day that Gossamer, the widely-publicized web browser for TI graphing calculators. The next version will (hopefully) be the full Doors CS 7.2, which will probably be the last release for the TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus line of non-color-screen graphing calculators. So what does Doors CS 7.2 Beta 3 bring? The three major changes:

• Across-the-board optimizations, bug fixes, and speed improvements
• Greatly-improved direct USB (miniUSB) globalCALCnet stability
• BASIC CALCnet, a set of libraries within the DCSB Libs to let TI-BASIC programmers use the CALCnet networking system in their own programs.

Special thanks go to Tim "Geekboy" Keller for his hard working writing the BASIC CALCnet libraries and helping to debug and repair other CALCnet/gCn features. If you want to try making multiplayer TI-BASIC games, if you want to use direct USB CALCnet, or if you simply want the latest and greatest in Doors CS versions, you should grab this update.

Sandpaper v1.0: I began Sandpaper as a bit of a toy project to challenge myself while riding a bus up to Massachusetts and Maine to visit fellow Cemetech administrators Merthsoft and elfprince13, but it blossomed into a much larger project than I first anticipated. I entered it into the TI Concours 2011 contest and won second place in the ASM category, and continued working on it only very occasionally in the intervening two years. I'm very happy to finally have it completed and off my to-do list.

What is Sandpaper? Sandpaper v1.0 is an FTP client and server for TI graphing calculators, with two major purposes. The first is to let you transfer files between two (or more!) calculators, even if you're not close enough for a link cable. You can connect over CALCnet or globalCALCnet, connect to a remote calculator, browse the programs, groups, pictures, appvars, matrices, lists, GDBs, and strings, and send files to and from the remote calculator.
Its second purpose is to let you download (or potentially back up) files directly from and to the internet. A bridge for ticalc.org is complete, meaning you can browse the ticalc.org file archives directly on your calculator, view the contents of zip files and readmes, and then download calculator files directly from those zips onto your calculator.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FRi6HX8mP4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FRi6HX8mP4</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfAL3FqnAY0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfAL3FqnAY0</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0-6py1VQiA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0-6py1VQiA</a>

Sources:
Part 1 (Doors CS 7.2 Beta 3): http://www.cemetech.net/news.php?id=599
Part 2 (gCnClient v2.0): http://www.cemetech.net/news.php?id=600
Part 3 (Sandpaper v1.0): http://www.cemetech.net/news.php?id=601

OS 3.2.4. It is not available yet on Texas Instruments' website, but the latest TI-Nspire CX made ​​come with a new OS, the 3.2.4.1237 (source).

The TI-OSes include an "anti-downgrade" protection, a minimal installable OS version that they write in the NAND memory between the Boot2 and the Diags, an inaccessible area to different official reset procedures.

When installing, the OS 3.1.0.392 increases this minimum version to 3.0.2.1785 if the number was lower.
Similarly, the OSes 3.2.0/3.2.2/3.2.3 increase it to 3.1.0.392.

It officially becomes impossible to reinstall an OS version prior to the programmed number.
In practice, it was possible via two methods:

• using a Ndless utility reprogramming itself this version number
• using the nLaunch OS-pitcher who installs and launches the OS completely ignoring that version number

According to  a report this morning on TI-Planet, it seems that the OS 3.2.4.1237 greatly increases the minimum number of installable version that ... to a value which now refuses to install any previous OS to date, including OS 3.1, 3.2.0 or even 3.2.3!  

Therefore, if your new TI-Nspire comes with OS 3.2.4 or if you update your calculator with this OS, it officially becomes impossible for you to use Ndless because requiring the OS 3.1 and this just a few days of the exams.

The added bonus, the CAS-engine bugs introduced with OS 3.2 and not present on the OS 3.1 such as roots quotients are still here, and the prohibition to return to a version with CAS that worked better is simply incomprehensible from the point of view of users, even just a few days of the exams.

But does it remains always possible to override the anti-downgrade protection with nLaunch?

The OS 3.2.4 contains as added bonus a new version of the boot2: 3.2.4.4 against 3.1.0.16 since the OS 3.1.0.392.

nLaunch exploited a flaw in the boot2 3.1.0.16, and you can bet, I think, that it has been corrected.

Therefore it also becomes officially impossible to use nLaunch and number of legitimate applications like:

• make cohabit the OS 3.1 and 3.2 on the same calculator to enjoy the best of both worlds with both Ndless programs (3.1) and Lua programs (3.2)
  
• Launch a Linux OS

It can be assumed that this OS 3.2.4.1237 is a response to the recent use of TI-Nspire CX launching TI-Nspire CX CAS OSes to the Portuguese exams that prohibit CAS, possibility that allows nLaunch although this has never been the goal of the authors (not mentioned in the ReadMe).

The only feasible and untested bypass to date would be the reprogramming of the boot2 3.1.0.16 via a TTL / USB adapter (called RS232) to connect to the Dock of the TI-Nspire:

So we especially recommend you to not update your calculator to OS 3.2.4, if ever it appeared in the coming days.

And if you already have a TI-Nspire CX with OS 3.2.4, to date you must certainly not erase it. Indeed, as it is not available on TI's website and as all existing OS are rejected, you will find yourself with a calculator without any OS usable! Again, a few days of the exams, it is not very smart ...  

• source of the information on TI-Planet

Hi members and visitors,


There is now a new promotion for my music on Bandcamp that is based exclusively on Omnimaga forum posting activity. However, it needs the help of all forum members and staff in order to be interesting for everyone!



Basically, from now on, at the end of every month, the price of my three music albums for sale will be evaluated based on how many posts were made on Omnimaga forums that month. The higher the monthly post count, the bigger the rebate! Here is how it works:

-With fewer than 1,000 posts, there is no rebate. (Albums are $6.00 each)
-From 1,000 to 2,499 posts, the albums are $1 off. ($5.00 each)
-From 2,500 to 4,999 posts, they are $2 off. ($4.00 each)
-From 5,000 to 7,499 posts, they are $3 off! ($3.00 each)
-From 7,500 to 9,999 posts, they are $4 off! ($2.00 each)
-From 10,000 to 12,499 posts, they are $5 off! ($1.00 each)
-And if Omni ever goes back to March 2011 activity levels and gets at least 12,500 posts, then my music is FREE!

In other words, for the entire month of June, for example, Tales of the Knight of the Moon, A Decade of Magic Hardcore (my biggest seller) and A Decade of Omni Dance are now $4.00 each! Basically, if you stick around and continue contributing for Omnimaga, everyone is a winner.


This promotion is valid for everyone and only on http://djomnimaga.bandcamp.com/ . Such rebate is not applicable on low quality posting and the staff will continue locking forum games, necroposts and splitting off-topic ponies talk. In such scenarios, admins can simply send me a log of the monthly forum stats for the humor/intro/misc boards anyway (so that their post count is substracted from the total), so beware, spammers. This promotion will also works for the future Ancient Kingdom of Omnimaga album.


A programming contest is also coming soon, so hopefully you share your project with us when it starts! We also encourage members to check out other members' calculator and non-calculator projects and post their thoughts in the respective topics, because there is always new stuff popping out. There is also an upsurge in hardware modding interest around here since the last few months.

In the Dragon Ball Z anime, C-16 is a cyborg created by Dr. Gero for the Red Ribbon Army.

It is damaged in an attempt to protect cyborgs C-17 and C-18 against Cell, and is repaired by Bulma and her father at the Capsule Corporation in order to participate in the tournament organized by Cell.



In episode 168 of Dragon Ball Z, while attempting to repair it Bulma manages to dump some part of the source code of the cyborg C-16 on her computer.
We briefly see two code segments, and we note that this is Basic code, Basic being a very common language in the 70s and 80s which was preinstalled on many 8-bits and 16-bits computers.

Here is a small part of the episode with:

• a first code segment visible between 0min11s and 0min20s
• a second code segment visible between 0min32s and 0min39s

We have the pleasure to invite you to a contest in order to win great prizes:

• 1 TI-Nspire CX non-CAS with its software and licence + 2 TI-Planet stickers
  
• 1 TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition (new color calculator for back to school 2013) with its USB charger + 2 TI-Planet stickers
  
• 1 Texas Instruments calculator poster (model of your choice, if available) + 2 TI-Planet stickers
  
• 1 Texas Instruments USB pen + 2 TI-Planet stickers
• 1 Texas Instruments notebook + 2 TI-Planet stickers
• 4 TI-Planet stickers

Go hunting for the seven crystal balls, and if you success before the others, you'll be able to ask dragon Shenron the prize of your choice! 

To complete your quest for the seven crystal balls and invoke the Shenron dragon, you just have to send us by email at [email protected] before Wednesday, June 2013 5 at 23:59 CEST (France time):

• a valid email address to you contact
• your names and address
• your answers to some or all of the following 7 questions:

	1st crystal ball question: Copy exactly in a text file the 1st Basic code portion visible between 0min11s and 0min20s in the above video.
	2nd crystal ball question: This 1st Basic code segment is actually taken from a much larger project. What could it be? (multiple answers possible)
	3rd crystal ball question: This 1st code segment is actually incomplete and the end is missing. Without changing the already copied lines, develop and add a coherent end for the code and add it to your text file. (multiple answers possible)
	4th crystal ball question: Copy exactly the 2nd Basic code segment visible between 0min32s and  0min39s in the above video.
	5th crystal ball question: Many families of Basic languages ​​have existed, and the 2nd code segment actually uses a very specific dialect of Basic. Give the exact name of the Basic language used here in the 2nd code segment. Which computer (brand and model) could possibly have been available at the Toei Animation when the anime was being produced, so that they were able to copy this 2nd code segment from it? (multiple answers are possible)
	6th crystal ball question: This 2nd code segment is actually incomplete and the start is missing. Without changing the already copied lines, develop and add a coherent start for the code and add it to your text file. (multiple answers possible)
	7th crystal ball question: Copy or adapt the 2nd code segment on the hardware, emulator or software of your choice. (the choice of monochrome or low definition screens is not penalized - only correct/complete adaptation of the code within the chosen constraints is taken into accound) Ignoring the part you had to complete, what does this 2nd code segment perform? You'll send: the name and version of the chosen hardware, emulator or software in a text file, the used source code, adapted if necessary for the chosen hardware, emulator or software a file directly usable with the chosen hardware, emulator or software in a text file, your description of what the program does perform (you have the right to attach fixed or animated images if some things are hard to describe)

Extracts from the rules:

• If we receive several entries from you, only the latest will be valid

(meaning that if you send a second entry with new answers/modified answers, don't forget to add the other answers you sent us the previous time)

• we will grade you answers once the contest is finished, and we will establish a ranking
• if several people end up with the same grade, the sending date/hour will be used to choose
• each winner will be contacted in the ranking order, and will be able to choose among the prizes left in

The full rules are available here: http://tiplanet.org/forum/archives_voir.php?id=12093 or on UPECS




Source: (with hints)
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=11923&p=140702&lang=en

Crossposting the results from http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11914

You probably know it, TI-Planet recently organised a calculator programming contest. The aim was to find the n-th prime palindrome as fast as possible.
By the way, you can find informations about it in the  annoucement topic.



The deadline of the contest was a few days ago, and we have now completed our tests. It's now... results time!


TI-Nspire (BASIC) category
We received 14 entries, but we retained only 13. Indeed, one of the entries, PP08, outside competition and which dwarfed all others, will be presented in a separate news post.

Let's reveal the names hidden behind a few letters and numbers that were insuring impartiality during the grading
Bisam (PP01), Luc H. (PP02), Loulou54 (PP03), Benjamin K. (PP04), Michel B. (PP05), sammyMaX (PP06), Lepzulnag (PP07), Excale (PP08), Louis A. (PP09), Compu (PP10), Tangrs (PP11), Jim Bauwens (PP12), Jean-Yves L. (PP13), Handers (PP14)

Bisam (pp01) wins, with the faster program in average, even if his results are a bit "by steps" : indeed he uses a sieve that he fills up little by little, and the "jumps" are due to some big range without palindromic primes.

Then :

• sammyMaX [PP06], a bit slower than Bisam's in general, but whose execution time increases with the input value in a moderated and regular way. (probabilitic algorithm : Miller-Rabin)
  
• Louis A. [PP09] (who also uses Miller-Rabin, but in a less optimal way).

TI-z80 BASIC category
We received 5 entries.

Let’s reveal the (nick)names:
Nikitouzz (PZ01), Xeda (PZ02), Weregoose (PZ03), Linkakro (PZ04), Samer A. J. (PZ05)


Xeda [PZ02] wins, with the fastest program (which is also the smallest one!), using a palindromic number generator and primality testing (trial factoring).
Xeda earns a TI-84 Pocket.fr + 4 TI-Planet stickers! :bj:

The runner-ups are Weregoose [PZ03], with another very small program (props for size optimization), and Linkakro [PZ04], who earn respectively 1 TI calculator poster (model can be chosen as long as supplies permit it) + 3 TI-Planet stickers and 2 TI-Planet stickers! (Sorry for Nikitouzz who gets the 4th place because there weren't any explanations )


TI-z80 Native Code  category

We have received 3 entries : a single one in pure z80 ASM, the two others in Axe

Let's reveal the (nick)names:
Jacobly (PA01), Steven W. (PA02), Félix G. (PA03)


There hasn't been much of a competition, the two Axe programs being very limited: no handling of integers > 16 bit.. If Axe is still very good at what's it's been made for, the algorithm contest purpose here is clearly not its stronghold.
The winner is therefor unquestionably Jacobly [PA1], who earns a TI-84 Pocket.fr + 4 TI-Planet stickers ! :bj:
Notice that Jacobly's TI-z80 ASM program is actually faster than Bisam's TI-Nspire BASIC program, while the processor is almost 9x slower ! This can only make us regret once more that TI does not open to ASM its TI-Nspire platform...





Source:
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11914

A fan who wishes to remain anonymous, took the initiative to send us a great gift for you tonight ...

The first HD Photo ever of the new HP-Prime graphing calculator taken at the NCTM conference, a calculator scheduled for back to school 2013!  

The photo is a little blurry unfortunately, but do not forget that HD picture for lovers of high resolutions:

We notice (thank you Adriweb) some important differences as the model name is different: instead of "HP-Prime Graphing Calculator", here we get a "HP Advanced Graphing Calculator " meaning it's probably a prototype.



Source:
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=11894&lang=en