I have become pretty adept at creating and managing hooks. For those who don't know what a hook is, it allows the programmer to modify the OS's behavior on certain events such as modifying or cancelling key presses, creating custom menus, among other things. If you haven't tried zStart yet, you really should. I won't give an advertisement for something I didn't make, but it does do some really cool things almost all of which are hooks.

So let me explain why I created this post. My calc's trace key is broken. I can press it but it won't register any key press. I would like the function of that key back - without getting a new calc. So, I make a key hook. It allows me to press ON and GRAPH at the same time and the calc to think that the trace key is being pressed. Awesome right? But what about 2nd - trace? I can make it so that when I go to to the catalog and select ZoomRcl it instead presses 2nd - trace. I can go on swapping keys all day long... But, what if I want to do something else? Say, when I press ON+X it runs a program, changes a setting or opens a custom menu. That is some of the power of hooks.

I would be happy to teach anyone who knows the basics of assembly how to use hooks or to write a custom one for someone since I don't have a project to work on right now. Any suggestions on what to create?

Ok, I'm heading off to college soon and am thinking of buying a new calc. I will probably get some version of the nSpire or ti89. I am looking for a good balance between math functions and programming abilities. It would be nice to know if some professors ban a certain calc. Speed doesn't play a big role but any programming restrictions would be nice. (I won't consider a calc that has only basic)
Does anyone have any comments on what I should choose?

Quote
[8:57:25 PM]   Iambian:   That sounds like an ugly, horrible, awful workaround. Resourceful, though
[8:57:42 PM]   E37:   That sounds like my life

Here is the newest release of Driller kNight!
I have added a huge amount of content since my last release. Eight new units and several new buildings have been added. Combat has been added to the game and giant monsters made of rock have come to destroy your base and slugs are sliding in to drain power from buildings! A story has been added to the beginning of each level and a conclusion at the end of each level. Each unit and building has a range of tasks and many have special abilities. The settings menu is well developed and allows frameskip for faster games, greyscale tuning, difficulty adjustment and more. The game takes about 10 hours to complete, but 100% completion takes more than 40 hours. It still will not run on an 83+ however. 
There are 2 addons, Godmode and RandomLevels which I will release on August 19 and September 2. These add on to the original game and allow for many fun new games but aren't required to play.


[spoiler=Old Version]
After several months of long programming sessions I have finished Driller kNight, a full length overhead mining strategy game.
It has 20 levels. Unlike most games, the levels can be chosen. You can choose between 1-3 levels to beat in order to progress deeper. The only exception is that the first 11 must all be beaten to unlock the last 9. There are 15 units and 6 buildings. It will not run on an 83+ due to lack of memory.

It may not be an on the edge of your seat excitement, but it is a fun way to pass some time.
I believe that the screenshots speak for themselves, so... here is the download.

[spoiler=more detailed overview]
   Driller kNight - Release

The controls are pretty simple. 2nd is always the select key. Press and hold it to create the drag box. Alpha selects or unselects a tile. Stat opens the menu for a unit. Pressing left or right changes the current job. (if it is a job the unit cannot have, it will change to one it can have once the menu is closed) Some units can only have one job, while others can change it. XTOn places a road on the selected tile. Delete kills the unit or building selected giving a refund if needed (select buildings by selecting their tile) The building menu only opens if you have selected a tile. Clear is always quit. Be careful not to press it too long since it will quit the level. Press mode to end the level when you have completed the goal. Pressing ON+stat pauses the game and turns the screen off. Pressing ON will resume. (If you don't press it, you can keep playing after the goal has been completed)
Once the first 11 levels have been completed, the last 9 will unlock.

Tech tree:
   Storage: recruits workers and is where resources are deposited
   Small teleport: recruits everything below Loader dozer
   Power plant: powers nearby roads
   Support station: adds 10 air a tick (almost every unit uses 1 per tick) assuming it is next to a powered road
   Large teleport: recruits every unit from Loader dozer up
   Refinement station: Generates ore and crystals
   Buildings that need to be powered must have a powered road next to their main tile (the one you selected when you built them if they have multiple)

Units: Each unit can hold one of three jobs - Driller, clearer, or collector. Drillers mine the wall they are currently on and move to a nearby one if there is one. Walls will collapse (basically mined for free) if they are not next to two other walls. Clearers act just like drillers but they target the rubble left behind after the wall is drilled. Collectors collect the ore and crystals that are left behind by the clearers and drillers. They target crystals before ore and bring them to the nearest storage.
It is your job to figure out what all the units do. Be warned that the infinity ship is huge drain on resources.
[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]

Good news everyone! 
I fixed the bug! I am making several tweaks and will have a final version (with a separate thread) out soon.
All known issues are fixed.

I am still working on the bug. I will make a post when fix it/give up. I am making a workaround for right now.
Thanks for the support!

Quote from: E37 on March 14, 2017, 04:46:35 PM
Another beta release within the week!

I sure am punctual...

This could very well be my last update. Two weeks ago I found a but that caused slight memory corruption when revealing a large cavern which is not noticeable until the game quits. It only happens past Frozen Frenzy.
I still have not found a fix. I will post again IF I can fix it.
Other than that, I introduced a bunch of small tweaks and a new unit. Other than that one bug, I believe I have finished debugging.
I have to stop because I have hit the limit of the calculator - it is simply not fast enough.
Playing the game up until Frozen Frenzy Is the best approach. Later levels can suffer form lag because of their large size. However if you don't mind a bit of lag and the possibility of a ram clear, those levels are the coolest. (The last level especially, you can spend hours exploring and still have areas to uncover)
If I get some interest I can make a unit and strategy guide.

Until next time,
E37

Quote from: p2 on March 21, 2017, 08:03:31 PM
uuh well that's nice.
But I guess it's not possible to implement this in the OS itself so it's always used...? :/

Through the use of hooks, it would definitely be able to always be used.
Is this in Axe?
Looks neat. You should post how you do the math.

Quote from: mazhat on March 15, 2017, 02:15:24 PM
It would be amazing if someone could port Elite to the ti-8*Plus systems,
but I can't imagine it running faster than a few frames per second.

Elite? what's that? Can you give a link?
I *may* be interested

That is an epic transition! I hope it is only first time though, it is kinda long to be used every time the user launches the game.

You need to make a .001% chance that if you cut down a tree, an ent will come and kill your empire! Anyway... It looks like it is coming along nicely. Keep up the great work!

That's awesome!

If you move it next to a singularity (not too near) and view it from a distance it will be faster 

I'm back to work after taking a short break. The levels are a race against time until you can get a support station. After that, it is much more resource management.  The later drillers are quite powerful and you need to create the infrastructure to support them or your calc slows WAY down. You probably won't be losing a lot of levels. (the first couple are impossible to lose) It is more focused on planning and building. I have created all but the last level by now. I would like to add a random map generator, but that seems unlikely to happen due to space problems.
I am patching up the last couple bugs with the end levels. Levels 1-11 are completely stable (I have completed them 6+ times each without any bugs)
The big problem is that past level 11 some maps are bigger than 32x32 tiles (256 pixels) so I have to patch some really weird visual bugs.
Another beta release within the week!

I am continuing to debug and am finishing up creating the last couple levels!
Mostly movement bugs are all that is left.

Welcome!
Always glad to hear that someone else is still interested in the 84+!
As for your double post @DJ Omnimaga or @p2 should be able to delete it.
Hope you enjoy your stay 

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 26, 2017, 02:30:16 PM
What's a readme?

I found one other bug: opening the menu (with the graph key) and then closing it without doing anything leaves an empty rectangle on the screen. Scrolling offscreen removes it. I fixed it but haven't updated the download.