[Aquarius DSTAR]

[catsfolly]

I recently discovered that the ti-86 program dstar.asm, which was the "inspiration" for my Intellivision "ISTAR" game, has been ported to the Z88dk C compiler. This version can be compiled and run on the Aquarius without changing a single line of code.

 

The program uses the low res plotting characters of the Aquarius, so the default output is single color and a bit blocky.

 

I did a quick hack to use the graphics characters of the Aquarius for the graphics. There is tons of room for improvement (suggestions cheerfully accepted), but at least I think I have made it more colorful.

 

To try this version in the virtual Aquarius:

 

1. type CLOAD . Hit enter a couple times.

2. load cassette file _dstar2.caq

3. type run. Hit enter a couple times.

4. load cassette file dstar2.caq.

 

It uses these keys

up      A
down    Q
left    O
right   P
quit    G
replay  H
switch  SPACE

 

dstar2.zip

 

It's a start!

 

David

[Chuck D. Head]

I recently discovered that the ti-86 program dstar.asm, which was the "inspiration" for my Intellivision "ISTAR" game, has been ported to the Z88dk C compiler. This version can be compiled and run on the Aquarius without changing a single line of code.

 

 

Very nice David! Thanks! Yet another new member of the Aquarius "community" contributing something of value! morgan

[jaybird3rd]

Wow, that's great! I'll have to give this a try over the Christmas break.

 

One of the nice things about the Aquarius is that it uses fairly common hardware (Z80 processor, 8910 sound/IO chip, etc.), so it can benefit from a lot of the work that's been done on other similar machines, and this is an example.

[barnieg]

Did you hack the z88dk sprite routines or replace them with your own?

 

Barnie

 

 

 

I did a quick hack to use the graphics characters of the Aquarius for the graphics. There is tons of room for improvement (suggestions cheerfully accepted), but at least I think I have made it more colorful.

 

David

[catsfolly]

Did you hack the z88dk sprite routines or replace them with your own?

 

Barnie

I replaced the calls to the "putsprite()" routine with calls to my own hardwired "putblock()" routine.

 

putblock() takes an x coordinate * 2, a y coordinate *2, and a sprite number.

 

Based on the sprite number, it outputs a 2 by 2 grid of Aquarius characters (and sets the corresponding color values).

That's all I've done so far.

 

David