Ticalc.org: The end?

[DJ Omnimaga]

I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I was just saying because in the past (1998-2002) ticalc.org posted news about projects especially when there were not a lot of news. That said, only the best ones were featured tho and only when there was a decent engine completed, not just walking/moving around, one map or even just a title screen

That said that could always be left to a TI-News conglomerate feed but then it wouldn't solve the problem of lack of games news on ticalc.org

EDIT: Another idea is that they should get a decent forum system, because the messageboards on ticalc in the upcoming programs/releases section are very hard to read

[Jim e]

I don't think much will change the way things are going. Game programming on calcs isn't nearly as attractive in contrast to the console world. When the Gameboy and Gameboy Color were around, creating games that were similar in graphical prowess was an easier task. As time progressed GBA became the comparator and so we saw a step up in quality, Acelgoyobis, Gemini, Fire Track 2. Then, in 2004, the NDS was released and everyone gave up trying to compete. Theres no love for 8bit, simple as that.

You could also take into account, though, that most high schools are buying calculators in bulk to loan to students and are not providing a means to link with a PC. Therefore, we have a smaller audience.


C'est la vie.

[DJ Omnimaga]

hmm yeah i didnt thought about this. This must be why there are so many ppl who don't have a link cable on my board

[Recursive Acronym]

The only reason to choose calculator over console is that consoles are not allowed in classrooms or, for some schools, anywhere in the building. The calculators are getting better (gaming on the 92 series is much better than on the 81), but less quickly than the consoles. There isn't as much of a drive to make the calculator have better graphics or a faster processor. Still, I would say that a game is a game, and content is vastly more important than the complexity of the game. I'd take Tetris over a poorly-designed PS3 game any day.

[JoostinOnline]

You mean people buy calculators just for games? At my school it is a requirement.

[angel14995]

TI Calc is losing it's audience. And reasoning skills.

I uploaded a pretty good file, my map editor (see sig) and on TI Calc, when I look at my uploaded files list, it says that it is now in the TI 83+/84+ Basic Graphics programs directory. No, it doesn't say that it is still in the queue, it says that it has been uploaded to the front-page download section. When I check my author account information, it says I only have my pic -> hex editor uploaded.

But yeah, they need a better forum. Currently this is what your account is used for on ticalc-

:: Upload
:: Post in topics 3 years dead

And they focus to much on ASM.

[Recursive Acronym]

ticalc.org will not die. Its current and possibly future problems with decreased activity are not important because ticalc.org's biggest attribute is its program archive. It still has a very large number of visitors, and due to its advertisements, the staff will have decent funds to maintain their site. It doesn't need a forum because other sites have well-developed forums, and there are too many as it is.
ticalc.org's focus on assembly is good. People got upset when I brought up this opinion before, but it can't be overlooked. Invariably, the best programs for calculators are written in assembly (or C). The TI-BASIC programming language is just too limited. ticalc.org can't help this fact; it is a site for the user, not the developer. The majority of people ignore BASIC games because they frankly suck compared to assembly games, and ticalc.org is only catering to that majority. In the area of TI-BASIC, programming has become a pursuit in itself; people are producing programs just to get recognition, even though nobody will ever use them. Just look at all the tutorials out there that cover making better BASIC programs. BASIC was made to be easier to learn than other languages, but people are now spending their time trying to become experts at BASIC (a contradiction in terms). This time could be spent to move beyond BASIC and learn assembly. I'm not saying that devoting yourself to programming in BASIC is entirely bad; after all, programming stretches and enriches the mind. However, if you program in assembly, you are not only exercising your mind but also creating products that will actually be used.

[DarkerLine]

A fair amount of ticalc.org users who download my games don't seem to think so

[JoostinOnline]

What bothers me is that ticalc seems to accept the most useless BASIC programs, and yet deny great ones.

[DarkerLine]

They deny programs?

[Harrierfalcon]

"deny" in the sense of not featuring, maybe.

While ASM is much more powerful, it's weakness lies in its instability and complexity (to learn). Basic is more mobile, more stable, and easier to learn. There are plenty of Basic games than can easily overrun some of the most coveted ASM programs (IMO). I like Contra more than Super Mario. I played DQII more than I ever played Fast Tunnel. I played Bowling for quite a bit. ASM is great if you know what you're doing, but let's see you make an ASM quadratic solver (as if we needed any).

[JoostinOnline]

http://www.ticalc.org/help/faq/34.html

[Super Speler]

Considering what they accept, I'd like to see the ones they don't.

[Recursive Acronym]

@Darkerline
Please explain why you say that.
@Harrierfalcon:
You do make a good point. The statement that "BASIC is easier than assembly" is invalid because, like I said, people are becoming "BASIC experts" and actually working much harder to learn BASIC than they would if they were learning assembly. The point that you make about programs like Contra and DQII is a good point. I contradicted myself over whether capability of the system or content is more important. I must say now that content is more important, but there are few BASIC programs out there today that have enough originality and charisma to overcome the disadvantages that BASIC has concerning speed and capability (though, kudos to DarkerLine, I do think that Donut Quest II would be one of those few). Concerning your last argument about the assembly quadratic solver, I was not talking about using assembly for math. The calculator being a calculator, it is natural that its built-in functions are geared towards mathematics. The BASIC language can make math programs that are extremely compact as compared to an assembly version, and so all math programs that don't require excessive speed can be done well with BASIC. Games, on the other hand, usually require a large amount of graphical capabilities, which BASIC doesn't have.

[DarkerLine]

I'm just saying that the people who go to ticalc.org to download games seem to download good Basic games about as much as good assembly games. Though the number of good Basic games themselves is less, I think that this is due to other factors than the language's inferiority.

[Recursive Acronym]

That's what I thought you were saying. I don't think that 2361 total downloads for your two games compares to the 100,000's of downloads that the top assembly games are getting. Nothing against you or your program, but your argument doesn't work. Then again, the BASIC Tetris game is 4th on the list of top downloads right on the heels of Super Mario 1.2, but the two reviews of Tetris both agree that the assembly versions are better.

[DarkerLine]

Erm, my games haven't been up there nearly as long - less than a year - and this is a major factor. xLib xLib Revolution (the first game that popped into my head) was around since February 2006 and it's getting up there. The games you're referring to have been around for much longer, and ticalc.org was also much more active then (downloads++).

And I never claimed my work was brilliant. I'm just saying that a well-written Basic program gets downloaded roughly as often as a well-written assembly program (looking at the 7-day stats this time).

Finally, Tetris demonstrates how much being released in 2000 does for your overall stats. (And I'm sure that enough people check the file stats that they tend to reinforce themselves, and files that are at the top therefore tend to stay at the top)

P.S. Discussions like this don't tend to end well. Maybe we should agree to end it here while we can still manage to talk civilly?

[tifreak8x]

While a valid point that asm is superior to basic in graphics and speed, please don't say that it blatantly sucks. If it did, my first graphscreen game, Age of Darkness, would not have over 10k dls. Pokemon Purple would not be up to almost 7k.

As a basic programmer, that has had games on since 2002, I have over 63k dls. I think that is pretty darned good, all things considered. And for the past 7 days have 248 dls.

So, please take into consideration. BASIC does not "suck". The programmers are the ones that "suck".

[Recursive Acronym]

@Darkerline:
Yes, I didn't take into consideration how new your program. And yes, we should not close the topic, but get back on the topic of ticalc.org's state. I have my opinion, hopefully I made an impression on some people, perhaps not, oh well.

[Fryedsoft]

Speaking of ticalc, They just updated their archive.

Hmm. no one must program the 89 anymore, unless you really like math.