Portal Prelude

[Builderboy]

You guys know i never halt progress on one project without creating another!    I have 2 anouncments to make.  

1) I have been working on a Portal Gold edition!
The engine is being completely remodeled for faster speed and better portal handling
More levels will be added, for even more Portal Madness
More levels means more GlaDOS! So get ready for a deeper storyline and interesting twists
All the original puzzles will be included, plus some new ones!

2) I have recently started working on PortalX.  An Axe version of the portal game.
PortalX will serve as the prequel to Portal, with a whole new storyline, and full Portal Physics!  Get ready to use new portal concepts like momentum and velocity to solve puzzles like never before!  New obstacles will be added as well, so you will need to be extra careful Are you thinking with Portals yet??

Here are some screenshots of the engine i have set up right now.  Full portal physics are already supported, as well as a crude portal gun.

Demonstrating the portal physics


Demonstrating how the new engine is (completely) different than the old.


About the Engine:
I am using Axe 0.0.06 to do my compiling (i didn't upgrade to 0.1.0 yet ) and the source is about 2000 bytes, and it compiles to about double that.  I'm sure there are many many places i could optimize however.  All collision detection is done via memory access, not pixel testing.  I wrote a pointTest sub to test whether or not a point in the world is solid or not.  Portals can warp this data Warping through portals actually takes up about 1/2 of the engine code right now, as i have to account for momentum change as well as the multiple sprites needed to complete the warping effect.

[meishe91]

Wow, that looks amazing. Can't wait

[Radical Pi]

Note to self: learn Axe while it's still young

This is simply stunning. I've never played the real Portal, but I'll be sure to give this a go when you finish it!

[Builderboy]

Yeah, i must say that a lot of credit needs to go to Quigibo for writing such an epic compiler.  Axe is simply amazing.  ^^

[meishe91]

*Give big round of applause to Quigibo*

[DJ Omnimaga]

WOW! Now I know what was that collision detection thing you worked on the other week! Awesome stuff Buildeboy, and look at the speed it runs!

Do you think I should add a sub-forum for this or do you think it's close to done? It's friggin awesome! That Axe parser is sure gonna trigger a lot of releases in the TI community, yet it' still only 10% complete, according to version number. Just one thing: backup backup backup backup! In case, and if you're on a Nspire, backup your archive too.

btw does this supports multi keypresses? I haven't messed with Axe Getkey yet

[Builderboy]

Well the engine still has a lot to add to it, including lasers, buttons, doors, and plasma balls.  (I'm trying to make it a lot more like the original portal) so its not *that* close to being done.  The portal gun isnt even bug free yet .  I think you can add PortalX and remove Castle Storm (its not calc, and i'm kinda stuck anyway, if i get unstuck i'll let you know )

Yep it supports multiple keypresses, and the traditional numpad portal shooting.  It also runs in 8Mgz right now, and it getting awesome speed so i am very happy   And don't worry, i have many backups already.  Whenever you see a screenshot, you can be content that i had to backup to my comp to make the shot

* Builderboy wonders if TiCalc will create an Axe section in the archives when Axe is released officially *

[meishe91]

I don't think they will until there is a wider variety. Which won't take to long though (especially with people like you lol)

[DJ Omnimaga]

I'll add PortalX and keep Castle Storm, since we allow calc, PC and rom hack projects anyway , Project M is inactive atm and I left the forum anyway since I know it's not really dead unlike for example Nyaar.

I doubt they will add an axe section on ticalc.org for the following reason: programs are compiled in ASM. All Axe games will be released in TI-83/84 Plus Assembly Games, either no-stub, mirage or ion, depending what you compile for. If you notice, all TI-89 C, GFA BASIC and  ETP Studio stuff is released under ASM section, anyway. For 83+, the EZAsm games are loaded in ASM section too. If it was interpreted language, then it would be a different story, but as for now, these games are compiled into ASM code.

I think Quigibo should release a build on Ticalc, though. Even if he doesn't update frequently there, it might interest many people, because it alerady does in #ti and United-TI

If you guys make games and release them on ticalc, I would recommend putting Axe in the title (like "Portal X (Axe Parser)") or the description and readme with link to download, so it might make it more known.

[Builderboy]

Alright, although the projects section is getting kinda crowded!

And yeah thats a very good point.  Some people might even choose to release their Axe games under the guise of asm without even revealing that it wasn't written in asm originally .  I'll be sure to give tons of credit when i release any Axe game though ^^

[DJ Omnimaga]

oh this is nothing, you haven't seen the old forum one.

Most were not very active, though

Also, Idk how Quigibo will handle credits when he releases the program on ticalc. Will he requires us to post the source code? I think it should be a requirement to mention his name and Axe in the readme, though. As for source, my only issue with this would be games where you open doors with passwords, then it would become too easy for players to beat the game as they would just look for the password in the source . Just in BASIC it is a major issue. Posting the source may encourage people to give Axe a try, though.

[{AP}]

Holy crap, mate.
Well, if there was ever a program that could make me want to learn Axe, this is it.

I would LOVE a look at that engine sometime. I've been staring at these screenshots dreaming up code in my head for how to do this but I just can't come up with a way for it to be THAT good. Damn, I need to just sit down and talk with you about coding one day. xP

[DJ Omnimaga]

I would like to see a new game from you in Axe ^^

Maybe first port that avalanche type game you made a year ago?

[{AP}]

Hm... might be a good idea. Especially for a first project.

I still need to learn Axe though. The best way for me would be documentation and example source code. That's how I learned basic and xLIB/CIII in no time.

Though, maybe I could talk with someone and have them tutor me. Of course, everyone's far too busy with their projects so I'll just go with the first option. =P

[DJ Omnimaga]

Altough simple, that Avalanche game was kinda cool, and because of the way it was coded, I am certain it could have been even faster. All that would have needed to be done is code the falling balls the same way I coded arrows in xLIB xLIB Revolution. Now imagine with Axe :O (altough it would use your own method, though, yet would run 10x-30x faster).

You should check out some source code and the doc included with the downloads. It also includes example programs. Then feel free to ask question in the exploding Axe sub-forum (I say exploding because I don't recall any project ever hitting 700 posts in one single month before on Omnimaga  ).