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komame · (This post was last modified: 09-02-2024 10:36 PM by komame.)

(09-02-2024 08:17 PM)ab3ap Wrote: It's fantastic, Piotr, thanks for sharing your hard work!

Thanks!

When I saw the final result, it immediately reminded me of the good old days when I was programming my first games in BASIC on Atari. When I was in high school, I wrote an economic game (in C++) that took place several centuries ago. As the ruler of villages, you had to care for your subjects, farmlands, mills, defend against invaders, and at the same time multiply your wealth (without going bankrupt), despite many obstacles that fate threw your way. It was possible to play with several people (I think up to 4), including attacking each other for robbery Big Grin

This game spread throughout the whole school in the blink of an eye. Later, I graduated from that school and returned for a visit after about 3 years. I was incredibly happy when, upon entering the computer room, I saw my game on several screens! It was still there, they were still playing it. A wonderful feeling... Everything was in text mode. Unfortunately, I don't have the source code. It got lost over all these years.

(09-02-2024 08:17 PM)ab3ap Wrote: It really does offer many possibilities. Prime programming is not so different from 1980s programming in some ways.

That's right! With the option to set the cursor anywhere on the screen using the set_cursor(x,y) method, you can even create animated games in text mode, like 'PONG' or even more complex ones like 'Breakout' or 'Labyrinth'. I've noticed that just filling the screen with text content is incredibly fast, so if you prevent the screen from scrolling, you can really get a lot out of it. Besides, scrolling the screen is also very fast, definitely faster than in the factory terminal of HP Prime, and I think it would be even faster if I used a larger font (for now I am playing with very small ones). It seems that the 'tml' module is the foundation for giving old text games and programs new life on the HP Prime Wink

(09-02-2024 08:17 PM)ab3ap Wrote: Is your 5x10 font also available? It looks very nice and STTR1 is wider than trek. [...]

Of course, it is available, and another one is on the way, this time a bit larger. Attached you will find Trek with a slightly newer version of 'tml' (still in beta) featuring the 5x10 font.

(09-02-2024 08:17 PM)ab3ap Wrote: Thanks again, really nice work!

And thank you for the kind comments and appreciation of my work. I really am eager to develop this solution further, and I have many ideas for its development.

All the best!