Short Circuit - an electronics puzzle game [ti-83+] [ti-84+] [monochrome]

b/Calculator Development publicado por u/JWinslow23 January 25, 2017, 06:39:51 AM

Short Circuit - an electronics puzzle game [ti-83+] [ti-84+] [monochrome]

Long time, no see, everyone

@123outerme 's programming "group" Tilda^3 just got a new member...me! Of course, the first project I suggested to do was a puzzle game on the TI-84+.
The result of our creative processes? Short Circuit.

This is a demo right now, showing you each object you can place (in order, these are straight wires, curved wires, forked wires, crossing wires, AND gates, OR gates, NOT gates, and diodes). Those numbers above each object will end up being the amount you have left to use.

Here are the controls:
ARROW KEYS - move cursor
PLUS/MINUS - go through objects
MODE - rotate selected object
2ND - place object
ALPHA - erase

Download here. We also have a GitHub repository, if anyone wants to take a look at that.

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u/p2 January 25, 2017, 12:44:13 PM

Wow it looks really nice!!

It's nice how you moved the items selector to the right so the numbers wont be misunderstood as row numbers ^^
ill there be harder//bigger levels? Or wont you ever use the entire map's space?

Also you might want to add some stats like level number and time on the right side (much empty space)

I like it

u/JWinslow23 January 25, 2017, 02:20:09 PM

Quote from: p2 on January 25, 2017, 12:44:13 PM
Wow it looks really nice!! It's nice how you moved the items selector to the right so the numbers wont be misunderstood as row numbers ^^
ill there be harder//bigger levels? Or wont you ever use the entire map's space?

That 8x11 grid is the maximum size we have for levels. I do believe there will be a few places where we will use the entire map space, and there may be a level editor to make your own levels as big/complicated as you want as well.

Quote from: p2 on January 25, 2017, 12:44:13 PM
Also you might want to add some stats like level number and time on the right side (much empty space)

I like it

That's the plan

Thanks!

u/p2 January 25, 2017, 02:35:24 PM

Quote from: JWinslow23 on January 25, 2017, 02:20:09 PM
Quote from: p2 on January 25, 2017, 12:44:13 PM
Wow it looks really nice!! It's nice how you moved the items selector to the right so the numbers wont be misunderstood as row numbers ^^
ill there be harder//bigger levels? Or wont you ever use the entire map's space?

That 8x11 grid is the maximum size we have for levels. I do believe there will be a few places where we will use the entire map space, and there may be a level editor to make your own levels as big/complicated as you want as well.

uuuh better stay away from introducing scrolling for bigger maps.....
sure it would be possible but you wont be able t oreally see everyrhing as it doesnt use greyscale xD TWould be too hard to see things then ^^
(by the way, a light greyscale would be AWESOME for the background grid)

u/JWinslow23 January 25, 2017, 02:38:42 PM

Quote from: p2 on January 25, 2017, 02:35:24 PM
Quote from: JWinslow23 on January 25, 2017, 02:20:09 PM
Quote from: p2 on January 25, 2017, 12:44:13 PM
Wow it looks really nice!! It's nice how you moved the items selector to the right so the numbers wont be misunderstood as row numbers ^^
ill there be harder//bigger levels? Or wont you ever use the entire map's space?

That 8x11 grid is the maximum size we have for levels. I do believe there will be a few places where we will use the entire map space, and there may be a level editor to make your own levels as big/complicated as you want as well.
uuuh better stay away from introducing scrolling for bigger maps.....
sure it would be possible but you wont be able t oreally see everyrhing as it doesnt use greyscale xD TWould be too hard to see things then ^^
(by the way, a light greyscale would be AWESOME for the background grid)

No scrolling, levels will never need to be bigger than the grid size. And grayscale in TI-BASIC would be nice, but impossible

u/xMarminq_ January 25, 2017, 02:46:22 PM

THIS IS IN BASIC?!

u/JWinslow23 January 25, 2017, 02:51:48 PM

Quote from: xMarminq_ on January 25, 2017, 02:46:22 PM
THIS IS IN BASIC?!

Completely. Commented source code is right here, or open the program in the editor if you don't believe me

u/Snektron January 25, 2017, 03:58:06 PM

Looks really cool

You should ad a freeplay mode too. What kind of building blocks are implemented/planned btw?

u/kotu January 25, 2017, 04:09:54 PM

i see a problem - where does a gate take its inputs from? two squares either side, and ignore the square directly behind it??

also, the levels could be fiendishly difficult (too difficult) with that size of map.

u/JWinslow23 January 25, 2017, 04:24:58 PM

Quote from: Snektron on January 25, 2017, 03:58:06 PM
Looks really cool You should ad a freeplay mode too.

Freeplay? What do you mean by that?

The gameplay, by the way, will be that you have some certain objects already placed, and you have to strategically place blocks in order to be able to connect the circuits. You will be able to see them running, which will certainly help in planning and visualizing.

Quote from: Snektron on January 25, 2017, 03:58:06 PM
What kind of building blocks are implemented/planned btw?

Quote from: JWinslow23 on January 25, 2017, 06:39:51 AM
(in order, these are straight wires, curved wires, forked wires, crossing wires, AND gates, OR gates, NOT gates, and diodes)

If you're looking for behavior, though:

Straight wires will allow a current to pass straight through a block.
Curved wires will turn the path of a current.
Forked wires will allow a current of one type to fork in two directions.
Crossing wires will allow a current to pass straight through a block, as well as pass straight through in the other orientation, without disturbing each other.
AND gates will take 2 or more wires hooked up to it, and output a current based on ANDing the currents supplied to it. (Currents can be ON or OFF while travelling, and if a current doesn't arrive, it counts as OFF.)
OR gates will take 2 or more wires hooked up to it, and output a current based on ORing the currents supplied to it.
NOT gates will take 1 current supplied to it, and output a current based on NOTing the input.
Diodes will allow a current to pass the direction it points, but not the other.

Quote from: kotu on January 25, 2017, 04:09:54 PM
i see a problem - where does a gate take its inputs from? two squares either side, and ignore the square directly behind it??

also, the levels could be fiendishly difficult (too difficult) with that size of map.

A gate will take input from any square that is not directly in front of it (besides NOT gates...we'll work out that behavior later). The currents coming to the gate at that time will be taken into account.

These levels COULD be difficult, but we plan for them not to be.

u/Dream of Omnimaga January 25, 2017, 11:52:18 PM

This looks absolutely amazing, especially considering it's pure TI-BASIC. Nice use of text sprites there. Also the game reminds me of Pipe Dream for the PC for some reasons, but with electric cables. As for free play mode, I think Snektron meant a sandbox mode where you can build a cable network of any size you want without being limited to the main levels, but maybe I am wrong

u/123outerme January 26, 2017, 12:04:56 AM

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 25, 2017, 11:52:18 PM
This looks absolutely amazing, especially considering it's pure TI-BASIC. Nice use of text sprites there. Also the game reminds me of Pipe Dream for the PC for some reasons, but with electric cables. As for free play mode, I think Snektron meant a sandbox mode where you can build a cable network of any size you want without being limited to the main levels, but maybe I am wrong

That would be a really interesting mode! I'm not sure how we'd handle outputting each item as having infinity of them though

Maybe we just wouldn't output numbers at all.
But yeah, I'll consult my higher-up.
(Even though he said he joined my programming group, JWinslow is pretty much the head of this project, since he's come up with most of the code and a lot of the ideas

)

u/Dream of Omnimaga January 26, 2017, 04:20:27 AM

For the sandbox mode I would just say have the user do whatever he wants then he can test his build to see if it will short circuit. It's not very important for now, though, as long as the rest of the game works

Also lol small programming groups are getting rare nowadays, although at least I am glad they no longer all start their own forums like back in 2005 (if you check TI-Story you will notice dozens of small forums starting in 2004-05 and not even lasting through the year lol)

By the way, this would most likely be possible on a CE, but there might be some artifacts since I don't think all character combinations are available. On color calcs, people might be better off using ICE or some BASIC lib.

u/JWinslow23 January 27, 2017, 08:18:58 PM

I would like to confirm that I am starting work on actually running currents. I will add in, at the very least, straight paths for now, and then we'll see where it heads. No pun intended