Omnimaga

Omnimaga => News => Topic started by: shmibs on April 08, 2012, 02:49:55 pm

Title: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: shmibs on April 08, 2012, 02:49:55 pm
James Vernon (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/authors/57/5713.html) has just released two wonderful games for the 83/4+, Invaded (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/446/44687.html), a side scrolling shoot-em-up, and Alien Breed IV (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/447/44709.html), the conclusion to his popular series.

Invaded features many different enemy types, bosses, fun terrain, and a few other things. The most notable feature of all, however, is a powerup called "the Orb". the Orb can be attached to one's ship on either front or back by simply running into it, and detached again with alpha. when attached, it acts as a shield against weaker bullets, while leaving it on its own causes it to fire at the same time you do. you can also pick up weapon bonuses which increase the blob's power, giving it different weapons while it is attached or the ability to fire four bullets when detached. altogether, it makes for a pretty unique experience.
oh, and it includes a custom level editor as well, written for windows machines.  ;D
(http://img.removedfromgame.com/imgs/inv83p.gif)

the second of James' two games, Alien Breed IV: Final Assault, is a top down shooter. there are separate objectives for each level, but the basic premise of the game is "to blast away as many of the aliens as you can to save the Human race." it has a pretty full feature set, including clean, four-way smooth scrolling maps, interactable map elements, different weapon types, a radar, alien spawning pits, multiple enemy types, one way doors, time limits for certain areas, and more! the enemy AI is a bit basic, but with that many enemies being simulated at once i'm not going to complain. check it out!
(http://img.removedfromgame.com/imgs/ab4.gif)
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on April 08, 2012, 03:04:06 pm
Actually those games came out over 10 years ago, but I think for the 83+, only the demo of Alien Breed was available (the final version being only for the TI-86) and those add bug fixes. It's nice to see the author still around, though.
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: Deep Toaster on April 08, 2012, 03:12:23 pm
Glad to see people still releasing awesome assembly games :D

That shooter looks really fun -- I want to try it sometime soon. But what is that boss O.O
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: shmibs on April 08, 2012, 03:35:45 pm
AB4 was still just a demo, and i thought that the other version of invaded was only for 83, as it was in that section, but, looking at it now, it has an 8xp file as well...
i guess it should be "James Vernon releases AB4 and updates Invaded"
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on April 08, 2012, 03:36:05 pm
It reminds me of Pac Man, to a certain extent. :P
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: Deep Toaster on April 08, 2012, 03:40:40 pm
It's like a cross between Pac-Man and a Goldfish cracker, and it looks so happy I'm not sure I'd want to hurt it :(

Still, awesome game :D
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: hellninjas on April 09, 2012, 08:08:51 am
I remember scrolling through Ti-calc.org and seeing the Alien Breed series, back before I even joined omni!
I never once downloaded it sadly... But after seeing these screenies, I really want to!
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: TIfanx1999 on April 09, 2012, 08:30:47 am
I was surprised to see the title of this thread. At first I thought a bot had bumped a really old thread or someone had mistakenly necroposted. x.x  I kind of assumed these games had already seen a 83+ series release, and I didn't even know James Vernon was still around and programming. O_o
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: Yeong on April 09, 2012, 06:09:09 pm
I was surprised to see the title of this thread. At first I thought a bot had bumped a really old thread or someone had mistakenly necroposted. x.x  I kind of assumed these games had already seen a 83+ series release, and I didn't even know James Vernon was still around and programming. O_o
When I saw the AB4 update few days ago, I was like "woah, somebody still works on that?"
Good to see the full version. :D
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: Deep Toaster on April 09, 2012, 06:12:18 pm
I remember scrolling through Ti-calc.org and seeing the Alien Breed series, back before I even joined omni!
I never once downloaded it sadly... But after seeing these screenies, I really want to!
The last time he updated this (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/191/19184.html) seems to be 2001—nearly eleven years ago O.O
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on April 10, 2012, 10:45:53 pm
That's definitively a long-time TI coder and one of the few who remained around for so long ans is still active. Kinda like Kerm and BrandonW I guess. Or maybe PatrickD and myself if we count those that stayed around that long, but are not necessarily active coding anymore.
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: Yeong on April 11, 2012, 03:31:29 am
That's definitively a long-time TI coder and one of the few who remained around for so long ans is still active. Kinda like Kerm and BrandonW I guess. Or maybe PatrickD and myself if we count those that stayed around that long, but are not necessarily active coding anymore.
But I'm pretty sure DJ will resume coding at 2020./me runs
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on April 11, 2012, 03:33:22 am
*2025

http://ourl.ca/3119

That's how long I have to finish Illusiat 13 :P
/me thinks that should almost be turned in fake news (because it's kinda funny even though it's real)
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: Yeong on April 11, 2012, 03:35:02 am
lol go for it!
I'm pretty sure you can finish until 2020. :P/me checks his ROL3 deadline, which is supposed to be before 12/21/2012

D: D: D:
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: JamesV on April 15, 2012, 10:07:28 pm
Hey guys! :) Just to clarify, both games are minor updates. AB4 was released as a full version back in December 2001 for TI-83/83+/86, but due to a file archive compression at ticalc.org a few years ago, only the TI-86 version has been showing since

That boss shown on Invaded is on one of the demo levels, which is why I was lazy and just drew it as a smiley face haha :)

It's cool to see the TI scene still kicking along, I normally get nostalgic every year or so and release an update or 2, or even finish one of the many projects I never got around to completing lol

- JamesV
http://www.jvti.org
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on April 15, 2012, 11:51:20 pm
Did they actually remove it from ticalc.org due to lack of space or something or was it a mistake resulting from the Ticalc CD fiasco file purge? I guess that now explains why I didn't find the 83+ version there lol. I personally tried some of your games before, but I didn't realize there were multiple Alien Breed games until recentlyé

And yeah around 2010 or so it seems like the TI community has enjoyed some sort of revival (probably due to Axe Parser and renewed ASM interest resulting from Axe release, along with the Ndless craze). Nowadays it's quieter on the TI-Nspire side but I still see a bunch of awesome z80 projects coming along.
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: JamesV on April 16, 2012, 01:03:04 am
Did they actually remove it from ticalc.org due to lack of space or something or was it a mistake resulting from the Ticalc CD fiasco file purge? I guess that now explains why I didn't find the 83+ version there lol. I personally tried some of your games before, but I didn't realize there were multiple Alien Breed games until recentlyé

And yeah around 2010 or so it seems like the TI community has enjoyed some sort of revival (probably due to Axe Parser and renewed ASM interest resulting from Axe release, along with the Ndless craze). Nowadays it's quieter on the TI-Nspire side but I still see a bunch of awesome z80 projects coming along.

I think it was because I had copies of AB4 in 4 different folders (83 Ion, 83+ Ion, 83+ MirageOS & 86), but the zip files were all identical (I had all .83p, .8xp, .86p etc. files included all together in each zip file), and thus to ticalc.org, they saw it as the same file, and deleted 3 out of 4 to try and reduce the number of files on the server

Anynow, now I only include relevant files for each calculator in each zip file, which fixes this problem :)

Yeah it is great to see the scene still continuing, I guess there will always be quiet periods. What calculator is most popular in schools these days? Is it still the TI-83+/84+?
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on April 16, 2012, 02:18:29 am
I think at one point they actually merged files, but still made them listed in multiple folders. They probably did a mistake or something.

And yeah, the TI community has ups and downs. For example 4 years ago, not a single calc forum had more than 5 active topics per day and there were no z80 POTY. Then in 2010 Omni averaged around 400 posts per day for a while, but now we usually have 100 or 125. I'm betting in 2 years it will be quiet, then rebound again afterward.

These days it's mainly the TI-Nspire that is popular, but the TI-84 Plus (83+ compatible) is still very popular too. Nspire users are just more quiet these days because Texas Instruments constantly tries to block ASM/C from being possible on that calculator and there are not any development kit yet (stuff like Spasm/DCS SDK I mean). Besides that there's the Casio PRIZM, which is still quite new but at least not closed-down like the Nspire and also has huge programming potential. 68K seems dead, though.
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: JamesV on April 16, 2012, 11:57:43 am
Mmm I suppose it's only natural for it to peak and drop, etc. over the years. I know nothing much about the Nspire, or any of the Casio calcs, but if I get time I'll have a look at them. I'm always interested in learning new platforms, when time allows lol :)
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on April 16, 2012, 03:02:34 pm
Yeah, the only bad thing though is if an activity slumps occurs and the staff of a website is not active enough nor trying to renew the team with new blood, then it becomes really hard for the site to recover afterward. Not that low activity is a bad thing in the sense that it makes it easier to stay in touch with new stuff, but it sucks when new programmers asks questions or when a member announces a great project or release, but nobody replies.

As for the TI-Nspire, it's kinda like the PS3 and iOS scene, as in TI is in constant war against jailbreaking to prevent native code from being executed on the calc. The calc is popular due to TI's monopoly in schools, but programming is sparse on it because TI's actions against the TI community have discouraged a few. On an other hand, however, the Nspire got Lua, which gives an extra language choice for users, since the TI-BASIC on the Nspire is even more limited than on z80 calcs (no Getkey command, for instance).
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: JamesV on April 16, 2012, 06:24:34 pm
It's strange that TI is being so negative towards programming now, when 10+ years ago they were so supportive of people learning Z80 assembly, etc. We used to actually communicate directly with programmers at TI for assistance on TI-83 memory layout back in the early days, and they were great, providing documentation, advice, etc.

I can't believe the BASIC language on Nspire doesn't even have a Getkey command lol, that's bizarre!
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: TIfanx1999 on April 17, 2012, 12:44:24 am
Hello James! It's really nice to see some of the older TI community members still hanging around. =) In regards to the lack (for the longest time) of programming on the Nspire series; it's all about appearances. That's what the educators want, so TI has tried to please them.

As far as what's popular these days, the 83+ series is still everywhere and quite popular. Many newer students do have the Nspires instead or as well. The 68k series is still somewhat popular, but it's moreso in France and Europe. As for the other z80 models, they are more or less dead since TI doesn't support them anymore. The only exception is some of the French TI 82 models; TI-82 stats and TI-82 fr. If I remember correctly, they are actually normal TI-83s.
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: JamesV on April 17, 2012, 01:15:57 am
Lol I'm nearly 30, and yet I still get curious and suckered back into the TI community... It's always good to see what's going on and see if there are still new programs & games being developed :)

Yeah that makes sense I suppose.. It's easy to forget how much teachers must rage over students sitting and playing calculator games in class :P That's good to hear about the 83+ series still being popular, as if I were to develop anything new, it would most likely be for that calculator
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: Jim Bauwens on April 17, 2012, 03:09:50 am
Indeed, TI has changed a lot since then.
But recently there has been some more positive stuff from them. They introduced the Lua language on the Nspire (far better than basic, and with a good API), and are constantly improving it. Several members of the community have close contacts with them (including me), and they are quite helpful.
However, they have made it clear they don't plan to support native programming .. and that's quite a big deal :(
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: JamesV on April 18, 2012, 07:48:13 am
Yeah that's a bummer, but I guess TI reserve the right to make that choice lol :/
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: Hot_Dog on April 18, 2012, 11:30:29 am
Yeah that's a bummer, but I guess TI reserve the right to make that choice lol :/

I'm impressed by how well you were able to duplicated "Invaded" to the letter!  That was my favorite cell phone game to play ;D
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on April 18, 2012, 02:51:54 pm
It's strange that TI is being so negative towards programming now, when 10+ years ago they were so supportive of people learning Z80 assembly, etc. We used to actually communicate directly with programmers at TI for assistance on TI-83 memory layout back in the early days, and they were great, providing documentation, advice, etc.

I can't believe the BASIC language on Nspire doesn't even have a Getkey command lol, that's bizarre!
This is nothing though. When the Nspire first came out, it did not even have a programming language althogether, and when it did, it did not even have any Input/Output function. Now try porting the TI-81 version of Illusiat to that TI-Nspire OS: Good luck. :P

I think TI simply worries that ASM will be used to bypass teacher programs and restrictions such as PTT and allow students to cheat in exams. I wouldn't be surprised if Casio did the same with the PRIZM if such program ever came out (due to what TI did, the Casio PRIZM community is deliberately trying to discourage the release of tools that would allow students to cheat).
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: JamesV on April 18, 2012, 11:21:55 pm
I'm impressed by how well you were able to duplicated "Invaded" to the letter!  That was my favorite cell phone game to play ;D

There's a cell phone game called Invaded? Or are you referring to the cell phone version of R-Type lol?

The original R-Type was a childhood favourite of mine! I used to play it on my Sega Master System, and then on my Amiga 500 as well haha. Back in the 80's & 90's! :)
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: Yeong on April 18, 2012, 11:36:16 pm
R-Type is the shooting games with adapters that attached to the plane for more attack, right?
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: JamesV on April 19, 2012, 01:31:45 am
R-Type is the shooting games with adapters that attached to the plane for more attack, right?

Yep, that's the one :)
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: Jonius7 on April 19, 2012, 01:38:10 am
Wow nice games! Cool to see some updates.
Also JamesV I noticed you're from Australia!
I'm also from Australia too.
Title: Re: James Vernon releases AB4 and Invaded
Post by: JamesV on April 19, 2012, 02:23:56 am
Wow nice games! Cool to see some updates.
Also JamesV I noticed you're from Australia!
I'm also from Australia too.

Thanks man, they're over 10 years old now, but I still have a chuckle at them :)

Yeah I'm from Melbourne. I was in QLD back in January touring with my band, hopefully be up there again soon too! We didn't really spend much time on the Gold Coast unfortunately, apart from a day trip to Wet n Wild :P