I've finally started work on my first 84+CSE project! Seeing as Spaze Invaders (by Hannes "Movax" Edfeldt) was the first TI calculator assembly game I ever saw 15 years ago, I figured it's only fitting that my first 84+CSE project should be to port the classic TI-83 game over and colourise it!

The current plan is to make as much use of Movax's original code as practical, but I'll obviously be re-writing all of the sprite & LCD routines, as well as adding colour to the sprites (and doubling them in size to suit the larger LCD). The sprites themselves will still have the same retro look. The LCD will be run in 160x240 mode to optimise speed and sprite data, seeing as the graphics won't be high resolution.

This image is simply a mock up at this stage, but I should have some on-calc progress to show in the next week or two!

This will be an awesomely fun game to get thrown on a calculator! Can't wait to see some oncalc action regarding this project! Very Happy
Very cool, JamesV. Can I perhaps pressure you to make this a Doors CSE 8 program (you can have icons, use the built-in sprite routines, and so on!) to help bring people to Doors CS? I find that most users don't know how to run Asm programs even with a readme, so you wouldn't lose users by tying it to a shell (and indeed I think you'd get more, as we have hundreds of users every day who search Google for a TI-84+CSE Doors CS or Mirage OS and end up here). No matter what you choose, this looks like an awesome project. Good luck!
Wowee, also the first assembly game I remember playing for the TI calculators, back in probably 4th or 5th grade.
KermMartian wrote:
Very cool, JamesV. Can I perhaps pressure you to make this a Doors CSE 8 program (you can have icons, use the built-in sprite routines, and so on!) to help bring people to Doors CS? I find that most users don't know how to run Asm programs even with a readme, so you wouldn't lose users by tying it to a shell (and indeed I think you'd get more, as we have hundreds of users every day who search Google for a TI-84+CSE Doors CS or Mirage OS and end up here). No matter what you choose, this looks like an awesome project. Good luck!

Certainly, if it's released as a "program", I'll make it a DCSE8 program Smile Unless it gets larger and I end up making it an app. I have no idea what kind of file size it'll eventually be at this stage, but I should have a decent idea in the next few weeks.
Here's the first screenshot of Spaze Invaders on-calc. Apologies for the quality, the colours don't show up very vibrantly as it's just a photo taken on my iPhone Razz Currently the game loads up and initialises the game play screen as shown. The player can move from side to side and shoot the laser. Aliens don't do anything as of yet, but the shields/barriers function properly.

I'll be sure to post more shots as I make progress Smile

Looks awesome, keep up the great work! Very Happy
Looks very nice. You should use jsTIfied so you can take screen shots!
merthsoft wrote:
Looks very nice. You should use jsTIfied so you can take screen shots!
Agreed! And if the reason you didn't is that you need 160x240 mode, I need to find time to implement that.
KermMartian wrote:
merthsoft wrote:
Looks very nice. You should use jsTIfied so you can take screen shots!
Agreed! And if the reason you didn't is that you need 160x240 mode, I need to find time to implement that.
Thanks all! Yeah it does run in 160x240 mode, and also, I haven't been able to dump myself an 84+CSE ROM yet, as I need a silverlink cable, is that right? (based on what I read here). I do look forward to making use of jsTIfied as soon as I can though Smile
JamesV wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
merthsoft wrote:
Looks very nice. You should use jsTIfied so you can take screen shots!
Agreed! And if the reason you didn't is that you need 160x240 mode, I need to find time to implement that.
Thanks all! Yeah it does run in 160x240 mode, and also, I haven't been able to dump myself an 84+CSE ROM yet, as I need a silverlink cable, is that right? (based on what I read here). I do look forward to making use of jsTIfied as soon as I can though Smile
No, that's no longer accurate. You can use Tari's in-progress (but functional) rom8x build: http://www.cemetech.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9383
FWIW, TILP can dump a 84+CSE's ROM, the support was added by Benjamin Moody. I tested DUSB 84+CSE ROM dumping yesterday morning Smile
Thanks all! I now have a TI-84+CSE ROM (thank you Tari for the updated rom8x!) Smile
I love space invaders; it would be epic to have that game, especially in color, on my calc (if I had the CSE)! And it looks great so far, James!

Although, about the original "Spaze" - I was not at all fond of the boss levels: I would much rather them be not present, like the original.
Just a quick update: I took a break from AB5 last night and jumped back over to this to make some progress. Aliens now do their side-to-side dance and make their way down the screen, and you can shoot them out of the sky with your trusty laser. Next up I'll implement the alien lasers, then loading a new level once all aliens are dead.

Seeing as it's hard for me to post any decent screenshots at this stage, I'll upload a demo version in the next few days for those that want to see how it looks on the calculator Smile

CalebHansberry: I guess I was kind of open either way with the boss levels; I didn't dislike them, but I wouldn't have missed them if they weren't there. Nevertheless, I'll be including them in my port, as my intention is to essentially make this a direct port of Movax's 83 version.
FYI, Doors CSE now supports a header flag to automatically set half-res mode for you, and Runer112 is working on super-optimized clipping sprite routines for me. I hope that might help convince you that this would make a good DCSE program. Wink Keep up the great progress it sounds like you're making.
The full release will definitely be a Doors CSE game, unless it got big enough to justify being a Flash App, but I don't see that happening. I'm only at ~2400 bytes at the moment.

EDIT: a very simple demo can be downloaded here.
JamesV wrote:
The full release will definitely be a Doors CSE game, unless it got big enough to justify being a Flash App, but I don't see that happening. I'm only at ~2400 bytes at the moment.

EDIT: a very simple demo can be downloaded here.
Plays very nicely! Thanks for sharing. Smile I look forward to seeing where it goes from here.
This has had a little more progress made. Some basic scoring has now been implemented, along with progressing to the next level once all aliens are killed. Boss levels aren't implemented yet, so it only goes to level 6, and then the game finishes. The player ship still can't die - I haven't bothered implement this yet as the game is easier to test without having to dodge alien lasers!

I've updated the demo download to the current build, which can be found here.

If you haven't got a TI-84+CSE, you can view this demonstration of the previous demo release (many thanks to AssemblyBandit for taking the time to make this demo video!)

I thought (Brian) Assembly Bandit had written this one ? As it is on his website....
Anyway great work - how long does it take to code this ?
  
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