Hello too!

[treflip]

Hi, just wanted to say Hello! I don't have too much programming experience... I've done a little for pic/ti/altera/atmega but not any games..(well maybe a little on ti-89!)

Anyway, I am wanting to do game programming on the Gameboy sp but haven't really jumped in totally and when I saw the gamebuino I figured me and my brother could work quickly-er to get into game programming with it!

We are looking into small rpg-arcana type.. maybe roguelike too. Plus some sim/hunter type games. I guess the hardware limitation will be our parameters as well.

I am glad you decided to make this Rodot but most important is the community behind it! I look forward to leeching off you guys!!!! ..and hopefully pay it forward a little too! bye!

[DFX2KX]

Welcome!

gotta love that TI-BASIC <3 Calculators where about my first taste of programming (I had an 81, and more 83s then I care to admit I broke), followed by Game Maker.

there's an emulator on the forums if you wanna take a crack at making games for it. It's actually been easier for me to understand then regular Arduino sketch code.

[Prozwolf]

Hello trfllp!
I own a TI-83, my sister-in-law gave it to me, meaning it didn't come with a manual.

However, i managed to learn how to sue the basic functions and use the [PRGM] function to my advantage, i've used it to make small programs to do math for me, record formulas, etc. i'm pretty happy with it, unlike everyone else, out school recommends an overpriced $150 Cas Nspire calculator, however, it's incredibly complicated.

I tried to make a hammer-scissors-paper game on my TI-83, but it's not easy... i nearly had it.

Game maker is pretty good in it's own right - simple, easy, and it contains a very good sprite editor. I had 'games programming' classes in year 9, using GM, however, not too many people seemed to be too interested in Games Programming.

I find that programming is another form of creativity, next to music and the arts, however, being terrible at both, programming's inspired me. However, i'm quite limited in what i can do due to my lack of knowledge and applications within programming languages, but understanding concepts is breakfast.

Anyways, that's enough ranting from me, good luck all!

[treflip]

Hey Guys!

I haven't used GameMaker before but have done some sim games or helped out anyway Jones in the Fast Lane is a game similar to the rags to riches (c64) game for the ti89/v200. It's a pretty solid platform there has been ports of games like Metroid/marioworld all done in C (to my knowledge) and the hardware runs them flawlessly!

Wolfe, I use to put almost all the formulas, functions I needed for studying class into the calc then make menus for each class (majored in EE so that was a pretty involved process!). And totally agree on the creative aspect of it.. My goal is make a fairly aesthetically appealing game on the 86x48 greyscale screen! Jonnection had some great examples here

[DFX2KX]

Hey Guys!

I haven't used GameMaker before but have done some sim games or helped out anyway Jones in the Fast Lane is a game similar to the rags to riches (c64) game for the ti89/v200. It's a pretty solid platform there has been ports of games like Metroid/marioworld all done in C (to my knowledge) and the hardware runs them flawlessly!

Wolfe, I use to put almost all the formulas, functions I needed for studying class into the calc then make menus for each class (majored in EE so that was a pretty involved process!). And totally agree on the creative aspect of it.. My goal is make a fairly aesthetically appealing game on the 86x48 greyscale screen! Jonnection had some great examples here

It's a black/white screen, not Greyscale. so you'll have your work cut out for you. Gray is a bit of a hack XD.

[treflip]

Hmm... I did start reading and noticed it wasn't really greyscale but monochrome. Which does make it harder but I have a hard time believing the sd card can't be accessed quick enough to use as additional ram. I know the access times from the arduino aren't USB speeds but it might work??? Or maybe flash module for one of the spi could be used ( although I shy away a bit from putting anything on the edge of the gambuino that will stick out far enough to hinder gameplay)

[DFX2KX]

Hmm... I did start reading and noticed it wasn't really greyscale but monochrome. Which does make it harder but I have a hard time believing the sd card can't be accessed quick enough to use as additional ram. I know the access times from the arduino aren't USB speeds but it might work??? Or maybe flash module for one of the spi could be used ( although I shy away a bit from putting anything on the edge of the gambuino that will stick out far enough to hinder gameplay)

I can't speak for the SD card access speed (Deneth's Emulator can't do SD at the moment, and I've had the worst case of programming writer's block), I think it's using I2C. it's fast, but you'd have to be clever to acess files from it fast enough to grayscale without loading them into Progmem first.

[treflip]

I'll have to check that out too. Hopefully it will allow a few active on-screen elements but I'll see how useful it will be. I'm looking forward to seeing the hardware parameters (beside the already documented stuff) and then challenging myself with the software to get around it! I'm assuming you're doing the same..

[rodot]

What do you mean, "hardware parameters"? Schematics are on the wiki
The maximum SPI speed of the micro SD card will depend on the model, and it's not documented by the seller as usually micro SD card aren't used in "SPI mode". I don't think the SD card will be fast enough to be accessed at each frame (in general, as it depends on your SD card and the amount of processing in your game), but it can be used to store stuff like sprites, monsters, maps... but between levels you can load only the ones you need in a buffer in RAM or PROGMEM.

[treflip]

Correct but I want to prove it. The lcd uses a driver so it has a set speed it works at. The arduino's being clocked at 16Mhz. So the access times to the sd card is what I'm interested in. It may not be as fast as the arduino access's its ram but if there's no noticeable flicker then in theory it would work. Although I need the time to research and test it to prove it to myself before I forget about trying to use it... Black and white games will make rpg's lean towards text based in my thinking.