My participation thread for CC22.

Though I previously stated in SAX that I would make a non-calculator project, I quickly I realized that that wouldn't be fun at all.
Instead, I'm going to make a puzzle-game for the TI-84+CE in C.

My idea was this: the player has to color a square with a 7x7 grid and advance through a level, as the square, while passing barriers, which are also colored. If one of your grid-blocks hits a barrier, the colors of both the block and the barrier determines if the block no-clips through it or not.

It probably sounds vague and incomprehensible with such a short explanation, but I'll post some screenshots when I have some basic parts of the game done. I'm also thinking of creating an on-calc level editor for it, so people can create their own level packs, but I'll see about that later.

I promised screenshots, so here's one!

With some visual support, I'm now able to explain the game better:
The player has to draw a square, made out of 7x7 blocks, and must then advance through a level with colored obstacles. If the colors of a block and the obstacle it runs into are the same, or if either is black, the block is blocked by the barrier. In the end there will be a button or a panel which you must press to finish the level.

The game is in its early stages and, as you can see, it's still trash. Why?

- The level only features a few walls, and nothing else
- The level is randomly generated
- The square is randomly generated
- The square is still uncustomizable
- It's just trash
These are all issues I will resolve in the next month (I hope).

I also started developing the level editor, which I intend to create simultaneously, adding features to both of the programs whenever I have a new idea. A level pack will contain 20 levels and I will try to reduce the appvar size as much as I can.

Screenshot:

Looks good so far. I'll give it a download later probably.

First of all, I want to apologize for my lack of activity on this project (although most of you probably forgot about it).
I've been suffocating in so many tests and projects ever since April started and I still have two deadlines in the next two days. This has been the busiest month of my entire school career, which obviously disabled me from working on this project for a long time.

Luckily, the school projects are almost done, and vacation is starting, so you'll be hearing more of this before the 1st of May. I've made very little progress on the level editor, which is now able to recognize, open, edit and save level packs, which will contain all the necessary data for a maximum of 20 levels.

I'm also thinking of down-grading the square to 5x5 blocks, to simplify puzzles and create more room for moving around. I'll figure out later whether I'm going to change this.

This time I promise I'll keep you updated and I hope I can still finish this before the deadline!

Looks great and love the speed. The progress is very impressive, well done!

I suddenly have too much time on my hands; update!

Both the original game and the level editor are now well-developed. They can both recognize, read and save appvars, the editor can also edit and rename them. The pack now also contains a 12-letter string, where the author can write their name.

I wanted to showcase me solving a puzzle, but my program unfortunately runs kind of slow on CEmu at the moment, so I still owe you that one. Instead, I have a simple screenshot:



The objects, from left to right:
Walls - Are impassible, form a barricade
Circles - Need to be covered in order to win the level (left vertical bar)
Crosses - Allow the player to redraw themselves
Boxes - Can be moved, can cover circles or collect dots
Dots - Need to be collected in order to win the level (right vertical bar)
For every object counts that they can only interact with stuff with the same color or black stuff (except for boxes with each other, those are hard to program properly).

I'm open for suggestions, so if anyone has an idea for a new object, I'll be sure to consider it.

You also see that the square contains some filled, already colored blocks. These cannot be changed and the level must be solved with these blocks in these colors. Next to that you see the four blocks on the right. These tell you which colors you are allowed to use while drawing the square (numbers indicate key shortcuts).

I will upload an APNG of a level being solved whenever I get the chance.

EDIT: After some speed optimization, I present to you, a 1-level pack containing a bit of a complex puzzle, demonstrating all features so far:

THIS GAME IS FRICKIN AMAZING!!!
The graphics are stellar, the speed is perfect, and the difficulty curve looks for this to be not only a success, but a PoTM winner! 10/10 would vote for this if it was. 11/10 would play this waaaayy too much

Update-time!

I have done a lot of stuff, mostly debugging, but also adding new features (which caused more bugs, but nevermind that). I honestly can't remember everything I have added, but here are some of the more memorable changes:

- Crosses - Repaint a Block at touch
The "Crosses" from the previous post will now officially be considered "Pluses".
- White Blocks
Probably better known as just "empty spaces". In the editor, you can now also choose to eliminate a few Blocks, to create different shapes, like the diamond shape in the screenshot (though I will continue referring to the shape as the "Square").
- Better Box System
Boxes which shouldn't interact, because of their color, now move through each other and can stand in the same location.
- Checkpoints
Pluses, previously only for redrawing, now also serve a saving function. When clicking [zoom], you reload your older save, with the same Square- and Field-conditions.
- Multiple Typing Cases
You can now type NOT ONLY IN CAPS, but also in lower case 4nd 1n num63r5.
- Starting Screen
I tried being creative, with this as a result.
- Help Page
Because my game is completely incomprehensible without one. A different Help Page can be found in the editor.

Here's a complex yet easy example-level to show most of the new features:


I'm currently working a level pack called DefPack ("Default Pack"), which I will include with the final entry (although it may also be fun to create your own pack (please, I worked very hard on the editor )). The pack will probably not contain 20 levels, due to a lack of available time, but I'll try hard to get close. Speaking about "hard", they will probably be quite difficult, though I'll try to make them as logical as I can.

I'm getting very close to finishing this project, and since the deadline is postponed, I still have a lot of time left to debug some more and perhaps add a few more things... if I find something to add...

In the meantime, you guys might be able to figure out beforehand how you would solve this puzzle:

Have fun theoretically solving!

Debugging and Lines.

I shan't say more.

I submitted the program!

I made some slight changes to it, but you'll see what it is when testing and rating the program. Now all I can do is hope I did a good job.

Thank you in advance, to the people who are going to vote for CC22!

I'm really excited for this one! I wish you luck for CC22!

Nice work Looking forward to downloading after the contest!

I think this is a very neat idea for a game - great work and cant wait to play.

Thank you guys for this!

After I make some changes to the game based on the feedback I received, I'll upload it to the archives.
I also probably need to apologise for submitting a game this complicated, but I'm grateful for the fact that most of you carried yourself through it!