well they havent been turned off. how much will this speed things up, in reality? is it even worth it to go through all this, or will it really make the game alot better? if it does, i may THEN post it on ticalc, but its still pretty slow and pretty crappy

An example of high-end pure BASIC (or only XCOPY as ASM lib, a small lib that does something like Doors CS real(10 function) game that can be done would be this:


With ASM libraries usage:


However, if you are very new to TI-BASIC, I would suggest mastering the language first before using too many libraries, because then the program can get quite complex. Grayscale is something that you should keep for later.

Grayscale, sprites, and even extensive use of pure-BASIC graphscreen work should be saved until you have a firmer grasp on TI-BASIC in my opinion, as DJ Omni said. However, when you do get there, Hybrid libraries have a lot to offer you in the way of fanciness.

Of course you do not have to know every single existing optimizations tricks before venturing into that stuff, though. I recommend it, though, because I must say that I had an hard time getting a playable speed on Metroid II at 15 MHz.

Definitely not vital, but I think it's important to have a firm enough grasp on the language before branching out that those optimizations will come naturally.