Under 50 posts/day??? Yikes!

[DJ Omnimaga]

I was thinking a lot about an handlheld devices section in the non calc section. It could include or have categories such as Android development and Petit Computer programming. The rest is pretty much aimed at computer development.

[Juju]

True, there's no section about handhelds (unless you consider them as either computers or consoles).

[Scipi]

Something I just had an idea about, what if we had a few very small contests/games that would help bring in new ideas and concepts?

I think a game like, code this small application and the best at the end of a week determines the next app could do well. I know we had a thread like that before, but it died.

[Stefan Bauwens]

I think the Nspire series is just much less popular than it used to be a few years ago. Back then, the arrival of Ndless gave it some momentum, until TI started doing crap against it. I'm pretty sure that just because of that, people don't see as much future in the platform as back in 2010-11.

I think that Lua has enough programming possibilities, and should be a good reason for people to code on the Nspire. Especially since TI has many updates improving Lua. The fact that TI blocks Ndless, with a good reason, should not be a reason to not learn Lua and create epic programs for the Nspire series.

[blue_bear_94]

Lack of a standard print() function? (Without Ndless) Inability to read/write files? (Without Ndless) Annoying bar at the top of the screen? (Also without Ndless)

[Scipi]

Lack of a standard print() function? (Without Ndless) Inability to read/write files? (Without Ndless) Annoying bar at the top of the screen? (Also without Ndless)

Meh, Nspire Lua is a fun language. I found it very flexible compared to Java and C++, even if it's limited.

Although we could debate if a language is suitable or not, it gets us nowhere. People just aren't using the languages and platform, or are not active with it. Thus lowering activity. Attracting new members would probably be better for increasing activity.

[cyanophycean314]

Lack of a standard print() function? (Without Ndless) Inability to read/write files? (Without Ndless) Annoying bar at the top of the screen? (Also without Ndless)

You really don't need a print() function or the ability to read/write files to make a decent game. The annoying bar can be removed in 3.1 WITHOUT ndless. Levak does that with nyan cat. Seriously, Nspire Lua can do plenty of things...

And yeah, arguing about this will get us nowhere. 

There has been somebody named David Paquette who has uploaded maybe three or four Lua games to ticalc. There's also a Karl Noss who has developed a few Lua applications.

[blue_bear_94]

Lack of a standard print() function? (Without Ndless) Inability to read/write files? (Without Ndless) Annoying bar at the top of the screen? (Also without Ndless)

You really don't need a print() function or the ability to read/write files to make a decent game. The annoying bar can be removed in 3.1 WITHOUT ndless. Levak does that with nyan cat. Seriously, Nspire Lua can do plenty of things...

I stand corrected.

[ruler501]

Something I just had an idea about, what if we had a few very small contests/games that would help bring in new ideas and concepts?

I think a game like, code this small application and the best at the end of a week determines the next app could do well. I know we had a thread like that before, but it died.

Yes community run contests for fame(and maybe occasionally prizes) I remember when I first joined I tried to start something like that but there was already the cage matches so it didnt really work. My idea was to have people vote on a topic for a program/game and then give people 3 weeks to make it (individually or teams) then when it was done just post a poll for voting on winner. If I can find my old thread I'll see if I can post the rules from that if we want to try doing something like that

EDIT: http://www.omnimaga.org/index.php?topic=6212 was the topic but I was way to inexperienced to actually set it up especially with cage matches already running

[Scipi]

I remember another thread similar to that where I had released my first game on this site.

I would definitely try to keep up with it, should we start it up again.

[ruler501]

Yeah my other idea was to have a large community project(s) with at least one being on computer. I'd think that could generate traffic especially when we finally made something amazing.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Something I just had an idea about, what if we had a few very small contests/games that would help bring in new ideas and concepts?

I think a game like, code this small application and the best at the end of a week determines the next app could do well. I know we had a thread like that before, but it died.

Yes community run contests for fame(and maybe occasionally prizes) I remember when I first joined I tried to start something like that but there was already the cage matches so it didnt really work. My idea was to have people vote on a topic for a program/game and then give people 3 weeks to make it (individually or teams) then when it was done just post a poll for voting on winner. If I can find my old thread I'll see if I can post the rules from that if we want to try doing something like that

EDIT: http://www.omnimaga.org/index.php?topic=6212 was the topic but I was way to inexperienced to actually set it up especially with cage matches already running

YEah that was actually pretty cool. Too bad there were many other contests going on at the same time. It could be an idea to have such contest during Fall or Winter, since during Spring and Summer we have calc contests. It's best we be careful with team projects, though, because most of those fall apart due to poor management.

Also, if a computer contest is done it should probably not be restricted to specific languages. I notice that Omni users often go towards higher-level languages such as Lua or Java rather than ASM or C, so such contest should focus on the game content, ease to install/use and usability I guess.

[ruler501]

I think I might try remaking that topic and starting a new version of it. The only questions I'd have would be that since I'd be making it language independent what requirements must it meet(being able to run on XP/7 or linux or both?). There has to be some standardized way of running it so they can be compared on even ground(at least in my opinion)

[DJ Omnimaga]

For now, I think it would have to be Windows XP or above, but add Linux and Mac if there's demand. Surveys/polls should be ran, though. As for judges, I guess they could be required to run both Linux and Windows, like Juju. Mac might not be a good idea, though, since most people cannot afford a mac computer.

Another contest idea would be android. It's not calc-related either, but it's still for portable devices for the most part.

[Juju]

Most projects can be easily compiled for both Windows, Mac and Linux using the right libraries, like LOVE, SDL, Qt and others, so it's not a problem.