15 replies to this topic

[matthew180]

As per a conversation from another thread, I'm offering this thread as a melding pot for *software* (we have enough hardware projects to keep us busy for years) ideas, suggestions, and anyone who will volunteer to head one up.

It would be nice to have three lists:

1. People willing to work on stuff and their ability / what they can contribute. Keep in mind that we need more than just "programmers". A successful project needs a leader (ONE LEADER) to make final decisions and pull everything together (a director / producer), graphics, sounds, code, testing, etc.

2. A list of suggested projects that people would like to see on the 99/4A. If you make a suggestion, please provide DETAILS! A suggestion like "an RPG" is useless, so please don't offer a suggestion if you don't have more than that to say about the idea. Having a list of "wants" gives a good starting point for those interested in working on something. We could use the "like" button feature of the forum to indicate which projects people are most interested in. Since I'm starting the thread, I will also try to edit this post and keep the list updated and a summary of the interest in each suggested project.

3. A list of the projects currently being worked on so people can get an idea of where they might help if they want to, or what might be coming down the line soon.


PEOPLE:


matthew180:
I'm an assembly programmer, tools developer, and good at small to medium size modules. I'm good with the VDP and CPU, not so familiar with disk or I/O, but only because I never had a reason to do it on the 99/4A (I am capable of learning though... ) I like to optimize for speed and efficient code. I really like mazes for some reason, algorithms, parsers, language development, graphics, and sound (although I'm not so good at *making* graphics or sound.)

UnderExtended (Rich G.):
I'm a TIer who is happy to contribute to projects. I enjoy doing pixel art and game design. Even though I don't post here much, I usually keep up with things regularly. I can get artwork done quickly if needed.


PROJECT IDEAS:


* none



ACTIVE PROJECTS:


* none

Edited by matthew180, Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:33 AM.

[Tursi]

I didn't want to leave this great idea of a thread idle, but I didn't originally reply because I absolutely can't contribute to any more projects for the next little while, as much as I'd love to. There's an awesome team of insanely skilled people here that I'd love to work with, just that time is my enemy.

I do have several projects going on, but I hate asking anyone to help since I'm not actively involved with them at the moment - those being my Linux project, my GROM device, and my MPD. Though PCB layouts probably wouldn't hurt, I'm not at that stage yet either.

For all that, I really want to do a game, but I'm hoping when I catch up (like that'll happen) that GCC will be mature enough for me to port Mario Bros and Super Space Acer back to the TI from the ColecoVision.

I also kind of need to get the keyboard interface produced and out to people. For that I really just need hookup cables.

[sometimes99er]

As such I think it's a nice idea.

There have been many initiatives, projects, ideas, contests, people etc. coming forward, and quite a few has disappeared or nothing happens for months or years. I think that's about the only way it can be with a spare time hobby like this - the TI-99/4A.

A bit of commitment might not hurt, but again it has to be fun. I've made a few tools, demos, games and graphics, nothing too big. I've announced too much for me to do, but most is not forgotten.

I like to contribute to active threads with ideas and stuff. Basically I don't know how much time I will be having/using on the TI, and would hate to be in a situation where some project leader was begging me to deliver since I was now the bottleneck.

This hobby of mine is low priority, residual, late evenings and has to be fun. I like to contribute, but I can't promise anything. As someone else said on the forum, my wife would like me to drop this completely (she has other priorities for me - ain't that nice).

I'd like to thank you, Matthew, for the interest you've shown in my, what was it ? ... nonogram, and even though it's not that far from being finished, I've lost interest for now.

I liked the Atariventure game collaboration thread. And it's not completely off my list.

[matthew180]

Thanks for the feedback guys, but I think this is proof about just how small we are and how strapped everyone is for any spare time. Hell, I don't know, maybe not. We'll see what happens in the next month or two as summer comes to a close.

Also, I didn't mean to sound as if working on some project was a time "commitment" per se. Actually I was hoping for the opposite. I don't have time to write a whole game either, but I could certainly provide a piece of something, a routine, an algorithm, etc.

I was also hoping to get a list of ideas of software people would like to see. There is nothing worse than spending a lot of time on something, only to have no one use the program or play the game. Hmm, maybe our "time" has passed for new software and people just want to tinker and reminisce...

[retroclouds]

Yeah, I'm counting with a big software boost in about 20-30 years, when we are all retired

Seriously, lack of time really is the biggest thing preventing new software. We all have family and a real-life.

That said, I also think that the TI scene always has been more hardware oriented. You have the wildest hardware add-ons, but barely any software to run on it.
In the last few years I've seen some amazing hardware developed by the germans, but what software do you wanna run on it.

I have decided that my target platform is the unexpanded TI-99/4A. The only addons I'm currently considering are the CF7+/Nanopeb, as these are still for sale
and widely avalable (and affordable) in the TI community.

Do think that's an excellent idea you've posted here. We can surely use some more folks. Also not only in terms of programming.
I also would like to see more pixel artists and sound designers for the TI-99/4A.

Atariage is an excellent platform for doing so. An example: I've successfully worked together -as a contract job- with a great pixel artist from the colecovision scene
for upgrading Tutankham game-graphics. Now I only have to finish the darned game.....

Edited by retroclouds, Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:17 AM.

[InsaneMultitasker]

Similar sentiments here.

My free time comes in small increments which prevents me from getting into much besides the occasional fix, troubleshooting challenge, or simple upgrade. I have been toying around with my BBS software thanks to Mad Hatter's enthusiasm and interest but most of my other projects are on hold.

[marc.hull]

retroclouds, on Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:17 AM, said:

I have decided that my target platform is the unexpanded TI-99/4A. The only addons I'm currently considering are the CF7+/Nanopeb, as these are still for sale
and widely avalable (and affordable) in the TI community.

Doesn't that then include a PEB with expanded memory and disk drives ? . Glad to hear you are possibly coming around. You have a lot of talent and I for one would like to see it put to use with better and more resources....

[Willsy]

I'm too wrapped up in the world of Forth at the moment to take anything else on. I'd be happy to do something after that though, probably in about 6 months.

[retroclouds]

marc.hull, on Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:16 PM, said:

Doesn't that then include a PEB with expanded memory and disk drives ? . Glad to hear you are possibly coming around. You have a lot of talent and I for one would like to see it put to use with better and more resources....

Thanks

As far as the PEB and disk drives are concerned, they are probably widely available.
Didn't we have a poll a while ago? If not, I guess we could do one finding out how many are still around.

Still, nothing beats supplying software on a cartridge though, really

I do have a PEB, but hardly use it. The fan is way too loud.
I'm aware of the hardware hack on the mainbyte sote , but I'm just no good with hardware and don't wanna break my system.

[idflyfish]

Willsy, on Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:17 PM, said:

I'm too wrapped up in the world of Forth at the moment to take anything else on. I'd be happy to do something after that though, probably in about 6 months.

How's the book coming?

[Willsy]

idflyfish, on Fri Aug 12, 2011 8:30 PM, said:

Willsy, on Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:17 PM, said:

I'm too wrapped up in the world of Forth at the moment to take anything else on. I'd be happy to do something after that though, probably in about 6 months.

How's the book coming?

Not too bad. Still loads to do though The problem is that I chose to make it difficult for myself! The book not only teaches all the TurboForth words, it also teaches *Forth*. I considered this essential as most people in the (current) TI community don't know Forth, so without a book to teach them Forth programming they wouldn't be able to do anything more than 'kick the tyres' and then they would lose interest.

*Hopefully* the book will show them what Forth *is*, show that it's not as difficult as it looks and encourage people to sit down and give it a good spanking, rather than kick the tyres!

Mark

[idflyfish]

Willsy, on Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:16 AM, said:

idflyfish, on Fri Aug 12, 2011 8:30 PM, said:

Willsy, on Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:17 PM, said:

I'm too wrapped up in the world of Forth at the moment to take anything else on. I'd be happy to do something after that though, probably in about 6 months.

How's the book coming?

Not too bad. Still loads to do though The problem is that I chose to make it difficult for myself! The book not only teaches all the TurboForth words, it also teaches *Forth*. I considered this essential as most people in the (current) TI community don't know Forth, so without a book to teach them Forth programming they wouldn't be able to do anything more than 'kick the tyres' and then they would lose interest.

*Hopefully* the book will show them what Forth *is*, show that it's not as difficult as it looks and encourage people to sit down and give it a good spanking, rather than kick the tyres!

Mark

I am looking forward to reading it.

[jacquesg]

So far we have heard from those who have a real expertise with the
TI-99/4A and as expected most have projects on the go which prevents them from taking on anything new of significance. we have not heard very much from others like myself who I would like to refer to as being in the middle of the pack. I am not a hardware person and any ability I have in programming has been self-taught over the years.

I bought a TI-99/4A as a Christmas present for our kids in 1982. As the kids left home it became Dad's computer and I added to it so it now has a Rave99 XT keyboard, 3 HRD memory cards, a SAMS card, a CorComp RS232 card, a BwG disk controller, a HSGPL card and 2 half height disk drives. I also can use a few emulators but I prefer to work on my TI-99/4A.

Initially I taught myself Extended Basic and now consider myself fairly competent with it. There were two main programs that I worked on to develop my knowledge in this area. One was a sprite based program that simulated track and swimming events (GAMES). I then decided to tackle c99 and subsequently converted this program to run in c99. It is this c99 program that is on Walid's Game Shelf site. I consider myself to be no more than an intermediate level c99 programmer but it has been a few years since I last used c99.

Since c99 has many functions that mimic XB statements I felt that it
should be possible to write a program to convert XB tokens from a DV163 MERGE format file to produce c99 source code. This was my second main program and I first started this project in XB more years ago than I care to remember. I had some limited success and some examples of simple conversions are in the Lima collection on the wht site. The conversion process was slow (because of XB) and it became obvious that I was running out of memory. Since I had previously converted my GAMES program to c99 I decided to do the same with this XB2c99 program. Once again it soon became obvious that I was running out of memory. About this time I acquired a SAMS memory card which came with software support from Art Green and a limited version of c99 adapted for use with this card. After I figured out how to use the RAG Linker to allow me to access the various levels of banks in the SAMS card I started to convert my XB2c99 program to use the
version of c99 (Ac99) that came with the SAMS card. Ac99 was used to write TI-NOPOLY that runs on the SAMS card but it was missing some very useful c99 function routines. A TI friend added some of the two main functions that were missing and I got my program up to over 50K in size and it is still not finished. I have put these efforts on a back burner because it is probably too much for one person to manage, especially someone like me who does not have a good assembly programming background. I just find assembly to be a tough nut to crack although I can walk myself through a GPL program and can install it in a bank on my HSGPL card.

Recently I got interested in Forth and tackled Wycove Forth and
TurboForth. I am still at a learning stage with both of these. I would like to convert my GAMES program to Forth. Then I could say that I have written a program in three programming languages, being XB, c99 and a version of Forth.

Now that I have explained my own experiences, here is what I would like to see and be interested in working on:

Any program that makes more use of the SAMS memory card. This could be my XB2c99 program because I feel that it could function as an XB compiler. Although I do not have much interest in games I would not mind being involved in developing a D & D type game with a very large number of rooms using a SAMS card. Perhaps a spreadsheet program could also be developed that expanded the limited size capacity of MultiPlan. Perhaps even Funnelweb could be adapted to run from a SAMS card. Each of these possible programs probably needs a team approach. I would also consider getting involved in any other team project that anyone cares to suggest.

Art Green wrote some nice assembler and other programs for use with a SAMS card. These programs will run quite fast on any emulator that supports a SAMS emulation.

It would be nice to hear from others who are in the middle of the pack like me. Perhaps two or three of us could decide on a program that all of us could work on. If some of you with a lot of expertise had time to point us in the right direction from time to time without feeling an obligation to devote a lot of time to a new programming project this would also help.

These are my thoughts on this thread.

Jacques

[UnderExtended]

Hi everyone. Sorry to be MIA from this forum, but it's just very time consuming for me to participate a lot (much as I want to). Hopefully, my computer situation should improve in the not too distant future, and I will be a regular here.

Matthew180, thank you for posting this collaboration thread. I think it's an excellent idea. I bet a lot can be accomplished with small teams, rather than one guy doing it all alone (like the "Hero" in Tunnels Of Doom ).

From everyone's comments, sounds to me like what we're going for is kind of "casual commitment": Just enough commitment to get a project done, but laid back enough for the project to be fun, with no pressure. Sounds good to me. :-)

So, please add me to the PEOPLE list:
UnderExtended (Rich G.): I'm a TIer who is happy to contribute to projects. I enjoy doing pixel art and game design. Even though I don't post here much, I usually keep up with things regularly. I can get artwork done quickly if needed.


A thought on Project Ideas, Matthew: maybe someone has an abandoned, half-finished game they want to submit to a team. I remember seeing an abandoned game here in the forum before. But I guess for a game to really happen, a programmer needs to come along with the desire to work on a project.

-- Rich G.

[Vorticon]

Willsy, on Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:16 AM, said:

idflyfish, on Fri Aug 12, 2011 8:30 PM, said:

Willsy, on Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:17 PM, said:

I'm too wrapped up in the world of Forth at the moment to take anything else on. I'd be happy to do something after that though, probably in about 6 months.

How's the book coming?

Not too bad. Still loads to do though The problem is that I chose to make it difficult for myself! The book not only teaches all the TurboForth words, it also teaches *Forth*. I considered this essential as most people in the (current) TI community don't know Forth, so without a book to teach them Forth programming they wouldn't be able to do anything more than 'kick the tyres' and then they would lose interest.

*Hopefully* the book will show them what Forth *is*, show that it's not as difficult as it looks and encourage people to sit down and give it a good spanking, rather than kick the tyres!

Mark

I hope so too! I want a signed copy!

[Vorticon]

I'm afraid I have too many projects in the works at the moment and precious little hobby time to be of much help here That said, as things evolve over time, I would be more than happy to contribute within my limited abilities.