Omnimaga

Calculator Community => Major Community Projects => The Axe Parser Project => Topic started by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 01:17:47 am

Title: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 01:17:47 am
Ok so I was wondering who was entering the Axe contest now, as a lot of people who participated lost their project or stopped and some other people may have joined later, so now I don't know anymore? Remember the contest ends on September 16th 2010 at 12 AM GMT-5 DST, by the way.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: TIfanx1999 on August 31, 2010, 09:54:21 am
I was gonna, but I'm not gonna lie. I've been super lazy, and I'm currently occupied with other things. :P
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on August 31, 2010, 11:41:04 am
Now that I have some time at school, I might begin anew. I was thinking a tech demo for my action-oriented game, because I won't have enough time for any actual content.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: squidgetx on August 31, 2010, 01:19:31 pm
I was, but my summer was stolen by the terror that is AP assignments and other stuff. Still, yesterday i just got a wicked idea, so maybe I'll be able to get something in by the deadline.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: FinaleTI on August 31, 2010, 02:44:02 pm
I'm entering. (kinda obvious to those who've checked the topic on Nostalgia.)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Builderboy on August 31, 2010, 02:45:31 pm
Im not because i am a judge :P
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 03:53:45 pm
Btw remember that if you are making a large game, it doesn't need to be finished to be entered. However, if it's a demo or beta, it has to be functional, offer enough features and be as stable as possible to have a chance to compete. If I try a game that crashes every 3 minute it may not get a very good score and people may not vote for it..
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on August 31, 2010, 04:34:26 pm
Ah, just finished. I'll enter as soon as school starts (so I can upload my program).
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 04:41:28 pm
Your parents won't let you install computer softwares, right?
/me hopes he succeeds in uploading it (no linking issues like I had in college x.x)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: patriotsfan on August 31, 2010, 06:27:48 pm
Would like to, but currently illiterate in Axe. :P So, no.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: _player1537 on August 31, 2010, 06:40:33 pm
I will probably, I just got a great idea to follow through with in axe :D
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 06:43:22 pm
Nice to hear. I am curious about what idea you got.

Also guys remember to backup. Sorry if I say this so often lately but many entries died from RAM clears and I see at least one data loss post a week nowadays x.x
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: tloz128 on August 31, 2010, 06:47:40 pm
I clicked yes because I'm pretty sure I'll make it by the 15th ;D (been working on it every chance I've gotten at school). I just finished the horizontal collisions today, actually. Here is a screenshot just showing off some tiles and the character sprites. I'm not going to go into much detail about it right now (mainly because I'm still a bit unsure about a lot of things :P), but what I can say for sure is that there will be 3 different room sizes (24 x 16, 48 x 8, and 12 x 32), and there will be about four rooms per-level. Also note that you won't be able to fly in the actual game  ;).
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: SirCmpwn on August 31, 2010, 06:49:56 pm
Those character animations are really cool!
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 06:50:38 pm
Ok now that's just epic win o.o. Nice graphics and I like the scrolling too. Can't wait to see jumping and stuff being added. Will this be a puzzle game or a game with enemies like Mario?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Darl181 on August 31, 2010, 06:54:50 pm
I've been working on The World's Hardest Game (a port from an online arcade game) since sometime in late July.  So far I have the Level editor finished, and have a basic structure for how to code the game.  If I finish it in the next week or so, I might enter the level editor/game, maybe packaged together as an app.  If not, then oh well.  I'm not stressing myself--I work horrible under a timeline.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: tloz128 on August 31, 2010, 06:55:30 pm
Ok now that's just epic win o.o. Nice graphics and I like the scrolling too. Can't wait to see jumping and stuff being added. Will this be a puzzle game or a game with enemies like Mario?

Thanks! I'm thinking that the game is going to be like a mixture between Mario and Kirby, in that it will involve jumping on enemies like in Mario, but will allow you to travel between rooms like in Kirby's Adventure. Also note that this game is running in 6 mhz mode right now, so I'm *hoping* that it will run at an alright speed on 84s.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 06:57:27 pm
@Darl181 Hmm I heard about that game before, I swear. I doN't exactly remember what it was, though. I would need to check online for it (probably Youtube vids). I wish you good luck on your project. Remember you are not allowed to post a download until Sept 16th 12 AM, though, and if you have external levels, I recommend including at least one or two (or more if they,re very short)

@tloz128 Sounds cool :) A Kirby game would be nice actually, although something new inspired from Kirby would do pretty well too and be easier, since you would have more freedom on what to include and what to exclude. :)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: tloz128 on August 31, 2010, 06:59:05 pm
Hmm I heard about that game before, I swear. I doN't exactly remember what it was, though. I would need to check online for it (probably Youtube vids). I wish you good luck on your project. Remember you are not allowed to post a download until Sept 16th 12 AM, though, and if you have external levels, I recommend including at least one or two (or more if they,re very short)
Actually, I think the levels will be small enough that they will be able to be stored within the program(or app- I can't decide). They're only 256 bytes  8).
EDIT: oh wait, you were talking to Darl  :-X my bad
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 06:59:58 pm
Wow nice. Do you use any form of compression?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: tloz128 on August 31, 2010, 07:02:08 pm
Wow nice. Do you use any form of compression?
Well, I read SirCmpwn's Axe tilemapping guide and found out about storing each tile as a nibble (though I didn't use the code from the tutorial- that I figured out myself :D).
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: SirCmpwn on August 31, 2010, 07:05:34 pm
^_^
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Darl181 on August 31, 2010, 07:05:40 pm
The levels are about 500 bytes each.

As for what the game is, why not play it?
http://armorgames.com/play/1043/the-worlds-hardest-game (http://armorgames.com/play/1043/the-worlds-hardest-game)

I would check for an exact number, but Krolypto's bricked my calc (again).  Until I can get a screwdriver, I'm stuck.

ADDENDUM:
Okay, 496 bytes.
Now for the people's opinion: would it be preferred to have an external level in an A)appvar or B)program?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 07:10:07 pm
Wow nice. Do you use any form of compression?
Well, I read SirCmpwn's Axe tilemapping guide and found out about storing each tile as a nibble (though I didn't use the code from the tutorial- that I figured out myself :D).
Aaah good, and yeah it's a nice guide. I wonder, though: Do you have acceleration/deceleration physics when moving left or right? I really wonder how you handle the scrolling with such compression if you do? Scrolling up/down seems easier but left and right seems more complicated to me.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: SirCmpwn on August 31, 2010, 07:10:18 pm
x.x not good.
Try reinstalling TIOS by pulling a battery and holding down DEL as you put it back in.  That might work.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 07:15:13 pm
Aaah right now I remember this game. I played it several months ago. I hope you include some easier levels, though, because I couldn't even get past lv 1 x.x

Also why do you need a screwdriver to fix your calc? Can't you just pull a battery then RAM clear? If that fails you can reset the entire memory too (doing ON+CLEAR first) or reinstall the OS.

Also I would say inside the main program and if it's impossible, appvar. In both cases the PRGM menu won't get cluttered too much with many programs.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Darl181 on August 31, 2010, 07:15:43 pm
Solved it. Pulled out a AAA battery and backup at the same time, which clears the RAM.
That's why a screwdriver would be needed.
Luckily, I have almost everything in archive, which is easy to use with Calcutil and incidentally makes GarbageCollect a nightmare.
It's worth it, though.  And no progress has been lost.

EDIT
just read DJ's post.
I think Krolypto takes advantage of the backup battery to keep it from clearing the ram.
Same thing as changing the batteries after the typical 2nd+ON; it keeps something going on the backup battery.
In fact, the solution is in the app's manual.
But who reads those things these days???

Levels.
I didn't really consider internal levels.  What if speople make a level and they want to share it?  What do they transfer, the whole program?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 07:19:38 pm
Oh, weird. Normally you don't even need to remove the lithium battery. Just pull one AAA battery during one second then put it back. If the calc wasn't frozen you can press DEL while putting it back and pressing ON too. Glad you did not lose progress. Btw the new Axe got a backup feature. I think you need to press B in the compile menu and it creates a copy of your game hidden from menus, in the Archive.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: tloz128 on August 31, 2010, 07:20:38 pm
Wow nice. Do you use any form of compression?
Well, I read SirCmpwn's Axe tilemapping guide and found out about storing each tile as a nibble (though I didn't use the code from the tutorial- that I figured out myself :D).
Aaah good, and yeah it's a nice guide. I wonder, though: Do you have acceleration/deceleration physics when moving left or right? I really wonder how you handle the scrolling with such compression if you do? Scrolling up/down seems easier but left and right seems more complicated to me.
Pulling off the acceleration wasn't very hard. I made it so that you would increase your velocity if you were holding down left or right, and decrease if neither or right and left together (so xor logic). I'm not going to say how I got the acceleration to work with collisions until the contest is over, though. As for the scrolling, all I have is a variable for how far vertically and horizontally it is scrolled, which is added to X and Y when determining your position on the tilemap.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 07:25:40 pm
It's fine. I'm glad you managed to do it, though. Do you redraw the entire tilemap every frame or just the side that is scrolling in? That's one part in particular I never figured out.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Darl181 on August 31, 2010, 07:28:18 pm
Kind of confusing, reading two conversations at once.
Anyways, it wasn't frozen, it would just turn off after it recieved the legitimate password which wasn't the same as the corrupted password.
Problem solved.

Uhmm, back on topic...
I already have it storing it in appvars, such as WHGLVL1, WHGLVL2, etc.  Up to nine levels.
Notice--level editor.  Level's too hard?  Make it easier.  Done.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: tloz128 on August 31, 2010, 07:29:36 pm
It's fine. I'm glad you managed to do it, though. Do you redraw the entire tilemap every frame or just the side that is scrolling in? That's one part in particular I never figured out.
Every frame. That's what causes me to worry about speed...
*tloz hopes that it will be okay on his 84+ SE
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Darl181 on August 31, 2010, 07:34:22 pm
Blazing fast or not, it looks good already.
Unless there's still a ton more stuff to add, it doesn't look like you'll have much of a problem with speed.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: tloz128 on August 31, 2010, 07:37:42 pm
Blazing fast or not, it looks good already.
Unless there's still a ton more stuff to add, it doesn't look like you'll have much of a problem with speed.
Thanks ;D. The one main thing I'm worried about, though, is how fast it will go if there are enemies, because if you think about it, they will need to also have their own variables and code for movement and collision detections and all that fun stuff
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Darl181 on August 31, 2010, 07:45:22 pm
I'm not sure what the rules are about helping with code...
Try reading through some of the old forums. Something like June, in the posts/critique thread someone said something that has really helped me.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: tloz128 on August 31, 2010, 07:47:30 pm
^^ok, thanks I will
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 07:54:16 pm
Kind of confusing, reading two conversations at once.
Anyways, it wasn't frozen, it would just turn off after it recieved the legitimate password which wasn't the same as the corrupted password.
Problem solved.

Uhmm, back on topic...
I already have it storing it in appvars, such as WHGLVL1, WHGLVL2, etc.  Up to nine levels.
Notice--level editor.  Level's too hard?  Make it easier.  Done.
Yeah but what I mean is that people who will judge the games will want playable levels to be included. If somehow we get more entry than expected, example, 10, and most people are busy with school, they'll not want to spend hours making new levels, so they'll try the included ones. If the levels are way too hard, they may not enjoy the game and may vote for something else. However, it is your entry so it's up to you to decide. Just a suggestion I give.

As for help, you need to keep usage of other ppl help to a certain minimum. If you use way too much source code from other people, this will affect your originality score. if you get help but use no source code from other people who helped you, you will be fine, though.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: shmibs on August 31, 2010, 10:00:17 pm
tloz, that looks like it's going to be AMAZING!

anyways, my original idea is definitely not going to be finished for the contest(although i still intend to make it at some point), but i still want to enter. i am now working on a minigame pack similar-ish to the homescreen game pack. atm i have one finished(actually, it's just the very first program i ever made in axe modified a bit to fit with other stuff and save a high score), a couple others planned out(and in one case started), and other ideas for which i am currently testing methods. apart from one exception so far, they are all completely original games and will hopefully include a few fun graphics tricks i came up with recently.
EDIT: i also have to look at the new axe manuals to figure out app compiling and modifying os vars in arch as i havent read one since 3.something :P
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2010, 10:05:34 pm
THis seems like a cool idea. I hope there are some great games included in this :)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Hot_Dog on August 31, 2010, 10:22:08 pm
Tloz128, that is absolutely epic!  I'm glad that you're in the contest with that entry
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: tloz128 on September 01, 2010, 04:29:57 pm
@Hot_Dog and shmibs
thanks :D
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: FinaleTI on September 01, 2010, 04:40:41 pm
I just saw your screenshot tloz! It looks really cool!
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 01, 2010, 06:00:25 pm
I might fit it in the video if I have enough space left for the duration of the 2nd song, I think...
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Builderboy on September 01, 2010, 06:01:20 pm
Thats a really cool screenshot O.O Cant wait to see more of it! 
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Michael_Lee on September 01, 2010, 08:46:01 pm
I'm thinking of entering my Minesweeper game!
I don't expect it to do very well though, my originality score is pretty much shot to zero, but it'll be fun to try.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 01, 2010, 11:34:03 pm
Well, did you use a lot of code from other people (like their help and stuff)? Did you plan to add some cool features? Originality is usually based on other calc games rather than computer/console games. I see you got grayscale and better graphics and a lot of minesweeper clones are pretty basic. It could have a good chance if you all coded it or very close.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Michael_Lee on September 01, 2010, 11:47:17 pm
I made a point of using only my code.
By unoriginal, I meant that there are lots of other minesweeper games available (ticalc has an entire folder of TI-Basic minesweeper games).
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: LordConiupiter on September 02, 2010, 01:51:32 am
I'm also in! my game is already in some kinda alpha fase!
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 02, 2010, 02:44:32 am
I made a point of using only my code.
By unoriginal, I meant that there are lots of other minesweeper games available (ticalc has an entire folder of TI-Basic minesweeper games).
Yeah I know about this folder. I remember the days where the entire BASIC game section was one single folder. It was hectic x.x. Yours is much better than many minesweeper clones around there, though. Of course there are many ways to make a minesweeper game original, too, by adding features most others doesn't have.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 02, 2010, 12:04:31 pm
I have started my new one. No screenies yet. This will be an RPG, with little to no action, but awesome graphics. If I can pull it off, it should have a 16-level title screen and 8 to 4 level grayscale all over the place. nothing moving though :p except in the battle engine.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: LordConiupiter on September 02, 2010, 12:15:20 pm
wow! sound pretty neat! have you written 16 lvl grayscale routines for Axe? doesn't this consume too much CPU power?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 02, 2010, 02:22:50 pm
ThePenguin achieved 16 level gs on 15 MHz calcs. I am curious how Willrandhsip did it. I wish you good luck on your entry. It seems promising :)

I assume it will be for 15 MHz calcs, right?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: squidgetx on September 02, 2010, 04:45:32 pm
i think it will be for all calcs since gray in axe doesn't like 15 mhz mode, so i don't think it will make much difference unless the extra memory in 15 mhz calcs is needed

oh mah gawd 16 lvl gray in axe sounds mad smexy
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 02, 2010, 05:07:53 pm
16-level grayscale ... wow, that'd be amazing!
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: tloz128 on September 03, 2010, 05:30:33 pm
@willrandship
I'm interested to see how you'll pull that off.  8)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 03, 2010, 05:47:22 pm
Well I haven't written much yet, still working on the battle engine right now.

Something to note: the 16 level, if I don't go with something easier for the contest, will not be moving. It will be a still picture :P

I decided that I wouldn't have time to make a game that was great in many ways, so I decided to try to make a game that is great in one way, and decent in the other aspects: Graphics. Practically nada in the action department, I seriously doubt I'll use a tilemapper of any kind, and there will be a lot of just pictures and text. It will be an RPG, and it may (probably will) have a battle engine.

DJ, didn't you make a demo prog in axe once that was doing 16-level? that thing with the curvy line? It was back around v2.5 or so I think.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 03, 2010, 05:49:31 pm
Even a still picture would be absolutely astounding in 16-lvl grayscale in Axe. Heck, the pure ASM version is pretty amazing :D
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 03, 2010, 06:35:56 pm
Hmm.....darn, the routine I'm using only gives me nine level :(

While there are 16 combinations, there are only 9 results.

I need the evolving backbuffer thing from dispgraphrr on both buffers!!!! darn, anyone know how?

Oh and btw, no need for the extra ram or anything :P I don't even know where that stuff is! Plus, 15mhz isn't any faster on the nspire (at least to me) so it will probably be 6mhz too.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 03, 2010, 06:45:12 pm
Hmm.....darn, the routine I'm using only gives me nine level :(

While there are 16 combinations, there are only 9 results.

9 is already a lot, unless you need the extra 7 grays :P

I need the evolving backbuffer thing from dispgraphrr on both buffers!!!! darn, anyone know how?

Oh and btw, no need for the extra ram or anything :P I don't even know where that stuff is! Plus, 15mhz isn't any faster on the nspire (at least to me) so it will probably be 6mhz too.

OH! Are you alternating between DispGraph, DispGraphr, and DispGraphrr?

Can't help you, though, sorry.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Builderboy on September 03, 2010, 06:58:31 pm
:O That would be a deviously clever way to get multiple shades of grey.  And i think 9 is pretty impressive as it is :P
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 03, 2010, 07:02:07 pm
no, I'm using just dispgraphrr, and two sets of 4-level grayscale. Unfortunately, it behaves similarly to 3-level when done like that, so with 3, 2, 1 and 0 representing each sprite's 4 level value, 3 over 1 is the same as 1 over 3, and so on, giving only 9 values from the 16 pixels in my test pattern.

If I had the evolving pattern from the backbuffer also on the front buffer, this would be true 16-level.

I'm not sure how effective combining all three dispgraphs would be, since they basically build on each other.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 03, 2010, 07:04:09 pm
Plus, 15mhz isn't any faster on the nspire (at least to me) so it will probably be 6mhz too.
I only notice a slight increase in speed. Barely any difference indeed.

As for grayscale, I think you can use L1 as additional buffer, but to be full screen, you need to sacrify all variables, since they're stored next to the 712 bytes L1
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 03, 2010, 07:07:15 pm
Or you can set apart a 768-byte portion of your program :S
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 03, 2010, 07:11:10 pm
Although that takes more space in user RAM, while L1/L3/L6 are RAM areas used by the TI OS
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 03, 2010, 07:19:22 pm
Oh, right.

Just thought of something: Wouldn't it technically take less RAM to just use labels like GDB1 inside the program? Because initializing a value in L1 takes up 6 bytes or something, whereas initializing a byte to a label is just that one byte.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 03, 2010, 07:38:33 pm
I'm too inexperienced at programming in axe at all to worry about optimizations right now :P


I don't need an extra buffer, just for the current front buffer to flicker like the back buffer.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 03, 2010, 07:48:52 pm
You'll need your own (ASM) routine :P
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 03, 2010, 07:59:32 pm
Grrr.......that makes it ineligible for the contest :'(

I guess I can just stick with 9-level....strange no one else uses that. Unless of course 8-level doesn't include white :P then it is 8 level.

Edit: Plus I dont' know asm anyways :P
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 03, 2010, 08:03:48 pm
:D Well, 3 level and 4 level include white, so you're probably good with 9.

Good luck with your entry. I'd like to see 9-lvl grayscale in Axe :)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 03, 2010, 08:04:10 pm
I don't think 16 level is such a good idea, anyway. Due to the calc LCDs, on the 83+SE and even worse on the 83+, most grays will not even be visible depending of the contrast. On the 83+, when I play 8 level gs Chips Challenge, I only see 6 shades of gray at once.

EDIT:

(http://www.omnimaga.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2104.0;attach=2229;image)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: yunhua98 on September 03, 2010, 08:17:01 pm
whoa!  what game is that?!
guess, TI-Boy?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 03, 2010, 08:23:30 pm
Spencer's zelda, right?

I didn't know the lcd differs that much from calc to calc. the nspire's screen definitely flickers more though, especially noticable in chip

The 86 had 16 level in a few applications...
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 03, 2010, 08:43:45 pm
This was a Zelda mockup by Zera a while ago, not an actual program. The above demonstrates the grayscale difference between each calc. If you pay attention to the grays in the 83+ one, you'll understand why I don't recommend anything above 6 lv on that calc.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 03, 2010, 08:50:50 pm
Hmm...I'll keep that in mind, but since my 9-level method is by far easier than anything else I've tried (besides 4 and 3 level of course :P) and only has as much flickering unoptimized as unoptimized 4-level.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 03, 2010, 09:17:52 pm
well that'S good to hear. I can't wait to see it in action. :)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 03, 2010, 09:35:58 pm
Want an upload?

Here you go.

DoorsCS Bin (GreyAxe2) and Source(Grey2)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 03, 2010, 10:13:52 pm
I hope it doesn't contain too much code from your entry, though x.x
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 04, 2010, 10:57:12 pm
None of it is my entry. This was an example/test prog, so no worries ;)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 04, 2010, 11:43:43 pm
Ah ok good :)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Raylin on September 06, 2010, 10:55:34 am
If one can make a really polished simple game, can one win the grand prize...?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: shmibs on September 06, 2010, 11:48:55 am
if said game astounded all those judging then it is possible, but considering the amount of work that has been put into some of the entries so far i rather doubt it
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: LordConiupiter on September 06, 2010, 03:56:19 pm
you can allways give it a try, why not, you'll see it. Or is this not something you are going to do? Is it a question for security reasons? that not somebody who came in lately and spent a very little time on coding his game will win the grand prize? I can't say it, but when the smallest game is the best, then that game will win the contest!
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Quigibo on September 06, 2010, 07:37:14 pm
If its super creative and unlike anything else out there now, and in addition very polished and fun/addicting, then yes definitely its possible.  I would say that even if its simple it can win, but we won't know until we see all the entries.  They are not really judged on how complex or how large they are, but more along the lines of creativity, enjoyability, and quality.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 06, 2010, 07:58:56 pm
If one can make a really polished simple game, can one win the grand prize...?
yes it is possible. It can be hard to compete against Starcraft with Arkanoid but if the Starcraft game has horrible controls, gameplay, runs slow and crashes every minute or so, the arkanoid game that is very polished with amazing controls and fancy features with moderately good graphics may be a good competitor. There's also the fact that besides judging, there will also be a poll that will be ran, where all Omnimaga the current forum members can vote. Everyone's different opinions may have unpredictable effects on the final results. Example, if someone absolutely hate strategy games he may be tempted to vote for something else.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: squidgetx on September 07, 2010, 06:01:30 pm
lol well yesterday i finally got my engine pretty much up and running and so now i'm really excited. I will probably enter it in the contest if i can smooth out the bugs in time (considering i started the project like less than a week ago shouldn't be too hard ;) )

oh and quigibo, the new backup feature pretty much saved my life today. :DD
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 07, 2010, 06:10:22 pm
Nice to see the backup feature worked for you. HOWEVER, do not rely 100% on it. It saves your life most of the time, but here I really say "most of the time". One person had data corruption, so I still recommedn some regular backups on a computer or another calc from time to time. Good luck on your entry. :)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: FinaleTI on September 07, 2010, 06:43:16 pm
Actually, my corrupted back-up came from the fact I used the Instant Goto on a program over 7kb most likely, so if your source gets too big, I suggest splitting it into include files.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 07, 2010, 06:53:10 pm
Do you mean Doors CS instant goto?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: FinaleTI on September 07, 2010, 07:23:24 pm
Axe's Instant Goto. It's a known bug that it can corrupt programs over 7-8kb in size when you use it. Then, since I had the Auto-Backup feature on, I backed up the corrupted program.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 07, 2010, 08:13:04 pm
I didn't knew Axe had instant goto O.o

Was it added recently? For me it always scrolled like in BASIC.

I recommend multiple files anyway, because otherwise the code gets friggin hard to read
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 07, 2010, 08:14:24 pm
Wow, there's Instant Goto? Does it actually use the TI-BASIC editor, then?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Builderboy on September 07, 2010, 08:18:51 pm
I believe that when you get an error on compile time, you just press Prgm and it automatically goto's ?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Quigibo on September 07, 2010, 08:19:59 pm
You press [prgm] after getting an error.  It's had it since 0.3.0 I think but it was initially a little buggy.  I fixed most of it now, but it still has that large program bug, so I don't really trust it too much.  I can't seem to find the error in the code I'm using, but I haven't looked at it for a while so I'll check through it again before 1.0.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 07, 2010, 08:20:24 pm
Yeah for me it always scrolled down in the same way as TI-BASIC. Keep in mind the last version I used where I got a compile error was 0.2.6, though

Good luck fixing it quigibo!
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 07, 2010, 11:58:14 pm
So...I started a really simple arcade game today, got some sprites. It's a pretty funny concept :P
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 08, 2010, 01:00:53 am
Nice. Is it the one with 9 level grayscale?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 08, 2010, 06:57:15 pm
I fixed most of it now, but it still has that large program bug, so I don't really trust it too much.  I can't seem to find the error in the code I'm using, but I haven't looked at it for a while so I'll check through it again before 1.0.

I noticed DoorsCS (6.2) also has a bug with instant goto occasionally as well. Don't know what causes it, though. Maybe it's the same oversized-luggage thing?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 08, 2010, 06:59:51 pm
I only heard about it once before, but it was 6.0 I think. I think it is fixed now.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 08, 2010, 07:04:20 pm
i tried the 9-level and a new 12-level (!!!) I achieved through dispgraphr plus dispgraphrr, and i found a bad occurrence. Some may not mind or notice though.

The tiles end up having diagonal lines going from top-left to bottom right, very distinct sometimes.

I'm going to put off that for a bit, and make a nice arcade game, worthy of the compo in 10 days!
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 08, 2010, 07:06:10 pm
Oh, those occurs even with 4 lv grayscale anyway. We're kinda used to it really. Of course it depends to which extent they are visible, though. Well I wish you good luck on your arcade game and I hope not too many issues (like data loss or lots of bugs) occurs for you :)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 08, 2010, 07:10:45 pm
Yeah, that never seemed much of an issue to me. But then, I've never had many long projects (except on the 86, and those were all in basic without grouping and at 100kb of space)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: guy6020665 on September 08, 2010, 07:11:47 pm
Comsidering entering, but don't think I will be able to finish coding in time, and I would rather wait to release an actual playable version of my game. My main issue is keeping track of multiple values within an 9x9 array
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Runer112 on September 08, 2010, 07:22:43 pm
What trouble are you having in keeping track of variables? They won't try to run away, I promise ;)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 08, 2010, 07:24:06 pm
DO you mean you need help on how to use/create arrays?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: guy6020665 on September 08, 2010, 07:26:42 pm
Not help on how to use create arrays, just being able to write and recall L1, i've tried it by myself but it doesn't seem to work properly.  ??? I think I'm just doing something small wrong.

By the way i had it posted on the Axe thread, I'll go delete it now
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 08, 2010, 07:30:06 pm
To read and write to L1 and all other mem locations except variables, remember the braces...
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: guy6020665 on September 08, 2010, 07:32:04 pm
To read and write to L1 and all other mem locations except variables, remember the braces...

Sorry would like to clarify, i would like to write to L1 without by chance rewriting some of the A-Z vars
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 08, 2010, 07:32:57 pm
Just don't write to anything behind L1. A through Z are right behind L1, starting at L1-56.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Runer112 on September 08, 2010, 07:33:53 pm
L1 points to the start of 712 bytes of RAM you can use for whatever you please. The variables take up space in memory just before L1, so just make sure that all the data you store is at position L1 or greater.

Edit: ninja'd
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: guy6020665 on September 08, 2010, 07:35:01 pm
Just don't write to anything behind L1. A through Z are right behind L1.
Ohhhh ok I remember reading somewhere that someone overwrote those vars by accident using L1. Thanks! Will now get back to coding, may actually finish this on time now.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 08, 2010, 07:37:28 pm
I never understood it. So L1-56 is A, right? That means there are 56 bytes between A's low byte and L1. But at two bytes a var, A through Z and θ would only take up 54. So what are the last two bytes used for?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Builderboy on September 08, 2010, 07:41:22 pm
I believe they are used for the random seed, although im not positive.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 08, 2010, 07:48:39 pm
Not help on how to use create arrays, just being able to write and recall L1, i've tried it by myself but it doesn't seem to work properly.  ??? I think I'm just doing something small wrong.

By the way i had it posted on the Axe thread, I'll go delete it now
Do you mean the entire game was posted there?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: guy6020665 on September 08, 2010, 08:09:19 pm
Not help on how to use create arrays, just being able to write and recall L1, i've tried it by myself but it doesn't seem to work properly.  ??? I think I'm just doing something small wrong.

By the way i had it posted on the Axe thread, I'll go delete it now
Do you mean the entire game was posted there?

No just the details of the problem.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 08, 2010, 08:59:42 pm
Oh ok, good, because if it was the game, you would have needed to do some modifications to it to not get disqualified x.x (like Snake_X)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Raylin on September 09, 2010, 12:49:45 am
*cough*gRaViTy*cough*

:D
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 09, 2010, 01:19:56 am
Yeah about that one... I seriously hope this year there aren't any sort of e-mail issues causing files to not arrive at destination in time or something like that. Sadly, I do not know how to check if they were really sent at the deadline or not. This is a bit why I recommend sending them a bit sooner, in case, not to mention at the very last minute, if you get a RAM clear or something, you're screwed :/

Last year, also, there was another entry that got submitted that would have been our only pure ASM entry, but it was disqualified because the contest rules required people to make a platformer. However, Bejewelled is not a platformer, and it was totally broken (up arrow acted as left, down did nothing, right went in random directions, and so on x.x).

I also recommend that if you,re certain the entry is fine, to not wait to submit it, because I'll most likely start checking what I got before the deadline, unless I receive an update on a specific entry. That way, that will eliminate delays between the deadline and the survey/judging startup.

EDIT: I also hope they send it at the right e-mail address.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 10, 2010, 10:50:33 pm
I have bad news....Ram reset :'(

I hate the nspire for that. Everything lost because MSD8x doesn't work and it's impossible to do a ram clear from a crash, only RAM and Archive, so no recovery. Even though I had everything archived, and it was a simple crash that a RAM clear could have fixed, Doom to my project.

I still have the concept for my 9-level and 12-level grayscale though.

yeah, I don't think I'm entering the contest :P I managed to smooth out the 9-level grey though, but the 12-level is so lined up that you can't tell the shades apart :P
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 10, 2010, 10:53:52 pm
Sorry to hear, this is why I always recommend doing backups elsewhere, because on-calc it is not always reliable :/

I also hate how the Nspire does that. Did you try the reset button on the back, though? Sometimes that works
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: willrandship on September 10, 2010, 10:57:43 pm
That brought up the "Reset All Ram and Archive" Menu. I'm using Version 1.6

Is there any way that USB8x could be made to run on the nspire? I think I would prefer that as to connecting to the computer, because I can back up my stuff on the go.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 10, 2010, 10:58:25 pm
I see, that sucks, then. As for USB8x you may need to ask BrandonW
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 11, 2010, 10:10:40 am
Really? The Nspire doesn't automatically reset RAM anymore?

Ouch x.x that's too bad.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 11, 2010, 02:36:59 pm
On OS 2.0.1, sometimes pressing the reset button will cause a RAM clear, other times it will do nothing (you'll remain stuck in the crash) and other times it will revert to a previous state and you may even lose some archived stuff.
/me wonders if Willrandship could manage to enter another smaller game instead...
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: fb39ca4 on September 11, 2010, 05:50:09 pm
Its too bad calc84maniac couldn't continue with his 83/84 emu. If it were finished, I'm sure it would have save states, making backing up so much easier.

PS: Is anyone annoyed with  my signature?
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: jnesselr on September 11, 2010, 05:56:43 pm
PS: Is anyone annoyed with  my signature?
No... *wince* of course not... *wince*
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: fb39ca4 on September 11, 2010, 06:04:57 pm
Thanks for the feedback.
*fb39ca4 makes his sig larger
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: jnesselr on September 11, 2010, 07:50:32 pm
Thanks for the feedback.
*fb39ca4 makes his sig larger
Okay, I think I'm about to go write a Safari plugin that removes the words "The Game" from any webpage", and replaces them with "I like losing too".
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 11, 2010, 08:01:11 pm
Thanks for the feedback.
*fb39ca4 makes his sig larger
Okay, I think I'm about to go write a Safari plugin that removes the words "The Game" from any webpage", and replaces them with "I like losing too".

Or replace it with <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="
s=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="
s=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: jnesselr on September 11, 2010, 08:02:25 pm
Yeah, but on this site, that would be like 20,000 youtube vids at once.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: Deep Toaster on September 11, 2010, 08:14:36 pm
Lol, and if you replace all rickrolls with the embedded video as well, that's another 30K :D
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 11, 2010, 11:38:57 pm
Mhmm it's a lil big and intrusive to be honest, but I didn't do anything as a lot of sigs are bigger and yours is still a reasonable size. IMHO I would remove the text color, though, so it won't disrupt the flow of conversations/topic reading too much.
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: squidgetx on September 12, 2010, 06:11:22 pm
**shameless plug of contest entry**

uh, yeah, so i'm definitely entering.

three lvl gray, and firin' lazars and stuff.


and he should make the text color bright orange

j/k
mhm yeah


Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 12, 2010, 06:34:09 pm
Nice to hear! I hope you succeed in entering it in time (or a demo) :D

Just make sure to follow the magic Omnimaga rule: backup frequently :P (not just on-calc)
Title: Re: Who is entering the Axe Parser programming contest?
Post by: jnesselr on September 12, 2010, 06:36:35 pm
firin' lazars and stuff.
LAZARS!!! I LIKE LAZARS! I am so sad I didn't have time to enter.