Does anyone really play the old BASIC games?

[InfernalKeith]

I have always been interested in the older software made back in the 99/4A's heyday, the BASIC and XB games that people like Not-Polyoptics and Moonbeam Software created. I had a website for a short time with reviews of some of those old games, written more to keep their memory alive and maybe interest anyone looking for a more in-depth look at some of these moldy oldies.

 

I'm restarting a blog to put up reviews and screenshots of some of these games. I've been playing Ant Wars and writing my thoughts about it. My son, who's 12 and into modern gaming, looks at these old, slow turn-based clunkers with disdain. Playing Ant Wars for him would be about as appealing as a trip to the dentist.

 

I am finding that I actually enjoy the experience, though, as long as the game has some merit. Ant Wars is slow as molasses and the AI isn't that great, but it HAS AI, and I enjoy playing it. I've whiled away hours playing Ray Kazmer's "Maze of Grog" game and attempting to beat it. Sometimes99er made a comment once about the game "Diablo" being bad, but I like it too, as slow and ponderous as its pacing is.

 

Does anyone else still find themselves playing these old games? Apart from the 'collector value' or the notion of preservation, or the hoarder aspect of having the most files or disks, does anyone else actually deal with the speed limitations and enjoy the experience? I'm going to do my reviews and put up my blog regardless, but I almost wonder if it's going to reach anyone.

[Omega-TI]

 

Does anyone else still find themselves playing these old games?

 

The last Extended BASIC game I played was B1 Bomber, but for the most part, I don't know which of the old games are any good, so I like your idea of a blog to bring games to peoples attention. I just went and checked a minute ago, but it's not setup yet, at least on Atari Age. Let us know when it's ready, it sound like a great idea. I'll be sure to visit!

[+hloberg]

Actually, yes. From time to time I play a Mille Bourne card game I wrote and working on Uno. If the game can be written with in the parameters of XB or BASIC it can still be a fun game.

[+remowilliams]

The last Extended BASIC game I played was B1 Bomber,

 

Hah, I was going to say the exact same thing for last Basic game, for the TI anyway. Truly last I played was Midway Campaign

 

 

[am1933]

 

Hah, I was going to say the exact same thing for last Basic game, for the TI anyway. Truly last I played was Midway Campaign

 

 

MMM-a whole row of SSI games, I think I may have made a sexy pee!!!!!

[am1933]

BUT-back on topic,

 

I was actually having an evening of going through my tapes a couple of nights ago and enjoyed one or two of them-let's face it-tape software for Basic was never the TI's strong point.

 

I am waiting on my latest Ebay purchase arriving so I can break out the tape player again "Santa & the Goblins" by Intrigue Software- a snip at £3

[Omega-TI]

There was one old Extended BASIC game that a friend shared with me (and told me not to give to anyone else) that was kind of cool. It was a Battleship type of game that we played over the modem. I'd love to get my hands on that one again! I bet once connected, it would work over the UDS-10 just fine.

[+arcadeshopper]

camelot rox

[InfernalKeith]

I agree that a lot of it wasn't great. The clunky slow Frogger and Donkey Kong clones ad nauseam, etc. I guess I just wondered if for a lot of people, NONE of these older games - regardless of how clever or well-written - could hold interest. If they're just too primitive to be worth more than a passing curiosity.

 

I'll post a link when the blog is up, I hope to have the "Ant Wars" review completed in the next day or so.

[RXB]

RXB runs TI BASIC games fine.

And now with RXB 2014 has a RND that is faster then TI BASIC RND using same routine.

But XB gets faster the more graphics you add to the program unlike TI BASIC that gets slower the more you add to the program.

[+hloberg]

 

Hah, I was going to say the exact same thing for last Basic game, for the TI anyway. Truly last I played was Midway Campaign

 

 

never knew SSI made so many games for the TI99

[sometimes99er]

RXB runs TI BASIC games fine.

And now with RXB 2014 has a RND that is faster then TI BASIC RND using same routine.

But XB gets faster the more graphics you add to the program unlike TI BASIC that gets slower the more you add to the program.

About the last part, "XB gets faster the more graphics you add to the program". Could you explain/elaborate on that in a few words ?

[Willsy]

Ahhh.... Sigh...

 

Typing OLD CS1...

 

REWIND TAPE THEN PRESS ENTER

 

...screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech

 

Memories...

[am1933]

Ahhh.... Sigh...

 

Typing OLD CS1...

 

REWIND TAPE THEN PRESS ENTER

 

...screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech screech

 

Memories...

I don't think you have ever used a tape, if you had you would see that you missed a screech on the second line

[InfernalKeith]

Load tape

Make sandwich

Brew a pitcher of Kool-Aid

Go pee

Get yelled at for not doing homework

Get books out and resolve to study after "a couple games"

Go back to bedroom

Realize it didn't register the last *ENTER* you pressed and it still says "PRESS CASSETTE PLAY...."






Stare longingly at PEB picture in Triton catalog.

[Willsy]

Does anyone remember the XB where you're jumping across the roofs of a train? You're some kind of spy or something. It was AWESOME! I think it originated in the UK so possibly not well known outside of UK/Europe. EDIT: Found a reference to it (but not the game itself) here.

 

Another reference here (showing the pretty graphics).

 

Also, check out Stardust. Available here (scroll to bottom).

Edited August 12, 2014 by Willsy

[RXB]

 

About the last part, "XB gets faster the more graphics you add to the program". Could you explain/elaborate on that in a few words ?

Sure, in testing if you add in a couple of FOR / NEXT loops and some graphics routines the same program in XB runs much faster then TI BASIC.

Understandable as XB runs the program from RAM while TI BASIC has to run everything from VDP.

 

I posted in the RXB thread the new RND for anyone to try out using Classic99.

 

Just use Classic99 Option and select >A000 for the GRAM to load into XB or RXB or SXB or XB 2.6

 

Here is a test program to try out with the new RND.

100 REM  *********************
110 REM  *       COLOR       *
120 REM  *   KALEIDOSCOPE    *
130 REM  *********************
140 REM  BY MELODY COVINGTON
150 REM  HOME COMPUTER MAGAZINE
160 REM  VERSION 4.4.1
170 REM  TI BASIC
180 REM
190 CALL SCREEN(16)
200 CALL CLEAR
210 RANDOMIZE
220 REM  define characters
230 S$="0103070F1F3F7FFF"
240 T$="80C0E0F0F8FCFEFF"
250 U$="FF7F3F1F0F070301"
260 V$="FFFEFCF8F0E0C080"
270 FOR A=96 TO 152 STEP 8
280 CALL CHAR(A,V$)
290 NEXT A
300 FOR B=97 TO 153 STEP 8
310 CALL CHAR(B,T$)
320 NEXT B
330 FOR C=98 TO 154 STEP 8
340 CALL CHAR(C,U$)
350 NEXT C
360 FOR D=99 TO 155 STEP 8
370 CALL CHAR(D,S$)
380 NEXT D
390 REM  define colors
400 CALL COLOR(16,14,15)
410 CALL COLOR(15,12,10)
420 CALL COLOR(14,9,16)
430 CALL COLOR(13,7,11)
440 CALL COLOR(12,15,14)
450 CALL COLOR(11,10,12)
460 CALL COLOR(10,16,9)
470 CALL COLOR(9,11,7)
480 REM  these loops place 25 sets of each color combo
490 FOR M=96 TO 152 STEP 8
500 FOR I=1 TO 25
510 GOSUB 550
520 NEXT I
530 NEXT M
540 GOTO 490
550 REM  subroutine
560 REM  randomly generates coordinates
570 R=(RND*12)+1
580 C=(RND*16)+1
590 REM  plot character plus the reflections
600 CALL VCHAR(R,C,M)
610 CALL VCHAR(25-R,C,M+1)
620 CALL VCHAR(R,33-C,M+2)
630 CALL VCHAR(25-R,33-C,M+3)
640 RETURN

Run two Classic99 side by side like I did with same program in TI Basic and XB with the new RND installed.

RXB RND.zip

[+arcadeshopper]

I don't think you have ever used a tape, if you had you would see that you missed a screech on the second line

and a scronk

[am1933]

Does anyone remember the XB where you're jumping across the roofs of a train? You're some kind of spy or something. It was AWESOME! I think it originated in the UK so possibly not well known outside of UK/Europe. EDIT: Found a reference to it (but not the game itself) here.

 

Another reference here (showing the pretty graphics).

 

Also, check out Stardust. Available here (scroll to bottom).

Stardust looks suspiciously like Buck Rogers with small green bushes.

[sometimes99er]

But XB gets faster the more graphics you add to the program unlike TI BASIC that gets slower the more you add to the program.

I don't understand. I tried and add more graphics to an XB program, but it didn't get faster.

[senior_falcon]

And now with RXB 2014 has a RND that is faster then TI BASIC RND using same routine.

But XB gets faster the more graphics you add to the program unlike TI BASIC that gets slower the more you add to the program.

Your video of RND speeds in "RXB-Rich Extended Basic" post #357 shows the TI BASIC RND running 12.6% faster than the new routine in RXB.

 

I don't see how the speed of XB can change as you add graphics. The limited testing I've done comparing XB with TI BASIC does show that any CALL takes around 2.5x longer running in BASIC compared to XB, so of course as you load up the BASIC program with CALLs it will be slower than the same program running in XB. However, I believe that if you do not use any CALLs (which is kind of hard to do) a program will usually run faster in BASIC.

[moocowmoo]

Does anyone remember the XB where you're jumping across the roofs of a train? You're some kind of spy or something. It was AWESOME! I think it originated in the UK so possibly not well known outside of UK/Europe. EDIT: Found a reference to it (but not the game itself) here.

 

Another reference here (showing the pretty graphics).

 

Here's that game.

SECRETAGENT.DSK

[RXB]

Your video of RND speeds in "RXB-Rich Extended Basic" post #357 shows the TI BASIC RND running 12.6% faster than the new routine in RXB.

 

I don't see how the speed of XB can change as you add graphics. The limited testing I've done comparing XB with TI BASIC does show that any CALL takes around 2.5x longer running in BASIC compared to XB, so of course as you load up the BASIC program with CALLs it will be slower than the same program running in XB. However, I believe that if you do not use any CALLs (which is kind of hard to do) a program will usually run faster in BASIC.

What programs would be popular with almost no graphics other then data input?

And TI Basic sucks at that for slow Device access has limited VDP memory for Variables/Program/Device access as all of these use the same VDP memory?

And that fails to take into account the constant lock up of VDP by the TI BASIC Garbage Collection more often the less VDP memory available.

[RXB]

I don't understand. I tried and add more graphics to an XB program, but it didn't get faster.

Ok did another test to show the difference

 

[sometimes99er]

But XB gets faster the more graphics you add to the program unlike TI BASIC that gets slower the more you add to the program.

You said "XB gets faster the more graphics you add to the program". I add more graphics to a program and XB does not get faster. I add ridiculous amounts of graphics to a program and XB does still not get faster.