Lua Chess for the Ti Nspire

Dream of Omnimaga · September 16, 2015, 07:54:42 AM

That is cool. Have you set up the minimul API level properly, though? Because even if you don't use images, I think programs will still warn about outdated OS if the program's minimum API level is too high for the OS.

semiprocoder · November 25, 2015, 06:52:26 PM

So I decided to look at my code again just cause I was bored, and I found a glitch where if you take anything with a pawn you get to move again, and I deleted the one line of code that caused that. Now it should be free of such glitches

Dream of Omnimaga · November 25, 2015, 06:54:31 PM

Awesome, I didn't realize there was this bug but I'm glad it's fixed now. Do you have plans for other Nspire/non-Nspire games? Maybe Checkers since those seems rare for calcs.

calcplays · November 25, 2015, 09:43:01 PM

TI-Chess ( http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/116/11606.html ) for the TI-89 has a CPU (which, according to the reviews, is somewhere between incredibly easy and impossible) and source code, along with puzzles and other features. Perhaps the 10th most downloaded file of ticalc.org's history might hold to the key to creating a CPU for your chess program on the TI Nspire (a calculator I do not have.)

Dream of Omnimaga · November 25, 2015, 10:11:16 PM

Would it be easy to port to Lua?

semiprocoder · November 26, 2015, 12:13:53 AM

I mean, it would take a while(but probably could be done) because its in c and its a really big game. I'll take a look at it though. I am a very inexperienced programmer though(not too many game/c programming courses for eight graders, although I do take c, but not graphical and I am still inexperienced) so don't promise anything at all.

Lionel Debroux · November 26, 2015, 06:37:07 AM

TI-Chess is indeed by far the most popular TI-68k file on ticalc.org

IIRC, it used to rank higher, but the popularity of the TI-68k series has waned.

Using existing Lua chess engines as a starting point should be easier than using a C chess engine, though.
Also, the speed of an AI written in Lua won't be that great on the Nspire. Only native code would make the more advanced (3 and beyond) levels of the TI-Chess AI acceptably fast on the Nspire, whose raw power is quite a bit higher than that of the TI-68k series.

Dream of Omnimaga · November 26, 2015, 07:39:22 PM

What about OS 3.6 Lua, though? Didn't speed improve significantly over OS 3.1, or was it only graphical-wise?

Lionel Debroux · November 26, 2015, 07:46:46 PM

Only some graphical functions were made faster in OS 3.6, AFAICT. The Lua core hasn't changed.

Adriweb · November 26, 2015, 08:25:07 PM

Eh, image handling changed massively in 3.6, with resources instead of inline strings

Other changes are minor for the handheld (for the iPad, there is now a touch library): https://wiki.inspired-lua.org/Changes_in_OS_3.6

Dream of Omnimaga · November 26, 2015, 08:50:30 PM

I see. That said I guess it would not hurt to try. I doubt the speed can be anywhere close to as bad as 83+ basic.

semiprocoder · November 27, 2015, 05:10:26 PM

Someone else should probably do this(contest?) because I have never even wrote minimax(I know how it works though and I started but gave up). I would probably need more ai training before writing this.

Dream of Omnimaga · November 27, 2015, 07:38:51 PM

An AI co test would be nice, but unfortunately, CW Contest #2 (which starts soon) is something different.