Author Topic: Axe Q&A  (Read 528400 times)

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Ashbad

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #585 on: August 12, 2011, 09:35:10 pm »
This is probably very stupid to ask, but I find myself learning Axe very slowly. I read through the document and I read tutorials on Axe. But when I read codes from open source Axe programs, I have to spend a really long time to figure out what it does, most of the time, I can't figure out either. So I'd like to ask how you learned Axe at the beginning and how did you progress to this stage?

Looking at other people's code is never a good idea to boot.  Everything does things differently, and very different coding styles -- I personally air on the side of using too many offset variables with expense of readability; DeepThought uses like a million different source files with local variables; Runer crams everything all in one; and so on and so forth.  It's not like C or even higher level languages where everything has a name, comments are actually used more than like three times per program (I don't like them in Axe, good comment takes up a whole screen), structures are easier to follow for readers, etc.

I suggest the best thing you can possibly do is practice.  Make games, utilities, or even test programs to see how things work.  This is very productive, even if you don't finish any of the games; you'll learn a lot.  Plus, you'll be sure to run into more questions a lot quicker (and ask them here for answers!), and therefore will know more and more over time than you would be reading other people's work.
« Last Edit: August 12, 2011, 09:36:26 pm by Ashbad »

Offline Hayleia

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #586 on: August 13, 2011, 07:36:04 am »
Well, for me, I learnt Basic by using people's code. And then, Axe came quite easily, even if the commands are different (but my optimization is zero). But learning Axe by using people's code could be difficult, I even have difficulties to read myself sometimes :P
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Offline mrmprog

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #587 on: August 13, 2011, 11:11:54 am »
Reading other people's code is tough in axe, especially if it is very optimized. A good thing to start with is reading the command list, even if you don't understand it.

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #588 on: August 13, 2011, 08:54:04 pm »
I learned Basic by reading through other peoples' code and through TI Basic Developer, as well as learning some things at school.  From there, Axe came pretty easily.
I recommend picking a few simple games in Axe and looking through their complete source code to see how certain things are accomplished and how they're all alike and going from there.  Good luck! :)

Offline Darl181

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #589 on: August 14, 2011, 11:49:08 am »
Which is more optimized, While 1 or Repeat 0? Or are they the same size?
« Last Edit: August 14, 2011, 11:49:30 am by Darl181 »
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Offline Runer112

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #590 on: August 14, 2011, 11:51:02 am »
Both are the same size: 0 bytes.

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #591 on: August 16, 2011, 04:05:46 pm »
Hey guys, sorry for my english because i am french, but can some one explain me how to use the link port, how to send some variable, files, to make a multiplayer game.
Thank's
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Offline calc84maniac

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #592 on: August 16, 2011, 04:28:20 pm »
Both are the same size: 0 bytes.
They're 2-3 bytes including the End, right?
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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #593 on: August 16, 2011, 04:31:02 pm »
2 or 3 bytes with End, 4 or 5 bytes with EndIf or End!If. But While 1 and Repeat 0 themselves result in 0 bytes of compiled code. ;)

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #594 on: August 16, 2011, 08:32:23 pm »
But that's a moot point because Axe doesn't let you leave off the end, rendering the question itself wrong.
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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #595 on: August 16, 2011, 08:52:52 pm »
...I was asking about that simgle line, not the entire loop :P
2 or 3 bytes with End, 4 or 5 bytes with EndIf or End!If. But While 1 and Repeat 0 themselves result in 0 bytes of compiled code. ;)
Ok thanks, that's what I needed.
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Offline Stefan Bauwens

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #596 on: August 18, 2011, 05:21:53 am »
I have a question. I have just started in axe and I never programmed on the z80 calcs really before. I am used to in 68k basic to use matrices as a way to save map data. Something like this:
Code: [Select]
{{1,1,1,1,1,1},{1,0,0,0,0,1},{1,0,0,0,0,1},{0,0,0,0,0,0}}➝matrixBut I don't know if this is possible on the Ti-83+.
Maybe axe doesn't support it...
Also if it would be possible is there a limit, or can I have huge matrices? Thanks in advance. :)
« Last Edit: August 18, 2011, 05:22:30 am by Stefan Bauwens »


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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #597 on: August 18, 2011, 09:43:05 am »
I have a question. I have just started in axe and I never programmed on the z80 calcs really before. I am used to in 68k basic to use matrices as a way to save map data. Something like this:
Code: [Select]
{{1,1,1,1,1,1},{1,0,0,0,0,1},{1,0,0,0,0,1},{0,0,0,0,0,0}}➝matrixBut I don't know if this is possible on the Ti-83+.
Maybe axe doesn't support it...
Also if it would be possible is there a limit, or can I have huge matrices? Thanks in advance. :)
Well, Axe doesn't technically support matrices, everything used to store data is an array of bytes.

There are a couple ways to do it. One is to use hex:
Code: [Select]
[010101010101]
[010000000001]
[010000000001]
[000000000000]➝pointer

Another way is to use the Data() command:
Code: [Select]
Data(1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0)➝pointer
The only limit to these arrays of bytes is your free memory. If you had the memory free, you could have a 128*128 map or possibly larger.

Once you've set up your array of bytes, you would read each byte like you would a cell in a matrix.
Code: [Select]
{Y*Width+X+pointer}Where Y is your Y-coordinate, X is your X-coordinate, and Width is the width of the map, and pointer is the pointer to your map data.


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Offline Michael_Lee

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #598 on: August 18, 2011, 10:13:27 am »
Hey guys, sorry for my english because i am french, but can some one explain me how to use the link port, how to send some variable, files, to make a multiplayer game.
Thank's

To use the link port, use 'send' and 'get'

From the Axe documentation:
Send(BYTE,TIME)Tries to send the byte across the linkport. It will keep trying until the other calculator receives the byte or time runs out. Returns 1 if the byte was sent successfully or 0 if it timed-out. Time is in the order of microseconds.
GetChecks if the sender is trying to send anything. Returns the byte if it was received or -1 if nothing was sent. No waiting is done.

Note, however, that the two calculators have to be perfectly synchronized -- if the recieving calc doesn't use 'Get' at the same time the other calculator uses 'Send', the data won't be received.

What do you mean by 'sending variables and files'?  Do you mean while you're running an Axe program, or do you mean normally?

As far as I know, there really isn't any standard set of tricks that can help you make a multiplayer game; it's just critical that you design your program flow correctly.
I don't know how responsive sending and receiving is, so it might be a good idea to avoid any real-time multiplayer games, and instead make something that's more 'turn-based', if that makes sense.
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Offline Stefan Bauwens

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Re: Axe Q&A
« Reply #599 on: August 18, 2011, 12:10:34 pm »
I have a question. I have just started in axe and I never programmed on the z80 calcs really before. I am used to in 68k basic to use matrices as a way to save map data. Something like this:
Code: [Select]
{{1,1,1,1,1,1},{1,0,0,0,0,1},{1,0,0,0,0,1},{0,0,0,0,0,0}}➝matrixBut I don't know if this is possible on the Ti-83+.
Maybe axe doesn't support it...
Also if it would be possible is there a limit, or can I have huge matrices? Thanks in advance. :)
Well, Axe doesn't technically support matrices, everything used to store data is an array of bytes.

There are a couple ways to do it. One is to use hex:
Code: [Select]
[010101010101]
[010000000001]
[010000000001]
[000000000000]➝pointer

Another way is to use the Data() command:
Code: [Select]
Data(1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0)➝pointer
The only limit to these arrays of bytes is your free memory. If you had the memory free, you could have a 128*128 map or possibly larger.

Once you've set up your array of bytes, you would read each byte like you would a cell in a matrix.
Code: [Select]
{Y*Width+X+pointer}Where Y is your Y-coordinate, X is your X-coordinate, and Width is the width of the map, and pointer is the pointer to your map data.
So If I didn't make a mistake here, this should draw (a part of the map) to fill the screen?
Code: [Select]
.0
[hexcode1]->pic0
.1
[hexcode2]

for a,0,11
for b,0,7
pt-on(a*8-8,b*8-8,{Y*Width+X+pointer}+pic0)
end
end
Thanks a lot Final Ti. :)


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