Efficient Calculator Programming...
Author
I was trying to make a game on my friends TI-84 calculator and when I do key presses they don't exactly work efficiently and slow down the whole rest of the program. I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge about the subject.
i assume you are using just the programming tools already on the calc. best way is to use Z80 assembly to program ti but i have no idea how to, but u can still make pong and snake and other simple games using just whats already on there.
try something like this ...
:lbl 0
:getkey->k
:if k>0 then
:output(1,1,k)
:end
:goto 0
that will display the key code for which ever key you press, basically the only trick is to assign a variable to the key pressed once in each loop and not use multiple getkey's. if this doesnt solve the problem post the code.
try something like this ...
:lbl 0
:getkey->k
:if k>0 then
:output(1,1,k)
:end
:goto 0
that will display the key code for which ever key you press, basically the only trick is to assign a variable to the key pressed once in each loop and not use multiple getkey's. if this doesnt solve the problem post the code.
Author
the part of my code that i think is messed up is in the loop
in the for statements, but any way I set them up it still doesnt update smoothly and efficiently.
:0->x:0->y:0->a:While a<9999999 //pretty much forever:a+1->a:If getky=whatever key:x+1->x:If getky=whatever other key:y+1->y:ClrHome:Endin the for statements, but any way I set them up it still doesnt update smoothly and efficiently.
Try putting an else if when detecting the key presses. Also, clearing home every frame is slow in basic. Avoid it if possible [ie. hard coded dirty rects].
Expect basic programs on the calculator to be slow. Even on the Ti-89, it's so difficult to develop good real-time games. Assembly programming will allow you to write pretty fast games, but expect it to be a challenge if this is your first experience with such low level code.
Expect basic programs on the calculator to be slow. Even on the Ti-89, it's so difficult to develop good real-time games. Assembly programming will allow you to write pretty fast games, but expect it to be a challenge if this is your first experience with such low level code.
Use While 1 instead of using a variable. Then for keypresses do this:
getKey->A
If A=keycode
dosomething
...
getKey->A
If A=keycode
dosomething
...
If you want to create games for TI calculators, I suggest you check out http://www.ticalc.org/. TI-BASIC is way too slow for pretty much everything. Assembly is the way to go, though I've also seen C compilers for several TI calculators (83, 83+, 89, etc).
try this:
:0->x
:0->y
:0->a
:While 1
:getkey
:a+1->a
:if Ans = key
:x+1->x
:if Ans = key
:y+1->y
:ClrHome
:End
having ClrHome in the loop will slow it down so move it out unless you must have it in
:0->x
:0->y
:0->a
:While 1
:getkey
:a+1->a
:if Ans = key
:x+1->x
:if Ans = key
:y+1->y
:ClrHome
:End
having ClrHome in the loop will slow it down so move it out unless you must have it in
Quote:Original post by kelcharge
the part of my code that i think is messed up is in the loop:0->x:0->y:0->a:While a<9999999 //pretty much forever:a+1->a:If getky=whatever key:x+1->x:If getky=whatever other key:y+1->y:ClrHome:End
in the for statements, but any way I set them up it still doesnt update smoothly and efficiently.
ticalc.org is indeed a good resource for TI calculator programming. You should change your code to something like this:
:0->x
:0->y
:0->a
:While 1 //this is a better choice as a previous poster suggested
:a+1->a
:GetKey->k;
:If k=whatever key
:x+1->x
:If k=whatever other key
:y+1->y
:ClrHome
:End
So what it's doing is only calling GetKey once per frame and storing the result in a variable. I made a simple 2 player tron clone and when I called GetKey more than once per frame things got really messed up, which I suspect is your problem. Anyway, so just GetKey->k or whatever variable you want and check the value of k for key presses.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
