kl99

Hi Tursi! I love your project and seeing it already working is wonderful! As far as I know there were several bugs found in the original GROM0 and GROM1 for which there exists fixed GROMs: As far as I know Winfried Winkler, Heiner Martin and SNUG do earn most credits for those fixes http://home.arcor.de/system-ninety-nine-user-group/index_e.htm Please correct me if I am wrong. As far as I understand the german manual from this SNUG peripheral card which lets you put the GROM0 and GROM1 outside of the console into the PEB [http://home.arcor.de/system-ninety-nine-user-group/hsgpl/hsgpl-mb.pdf]: Bug N°1 - Review Modul Library: Let me try to translate from the german manual: Okay - as far as I understand the document, there is no bugfix for this yet? Bug N°2 - Bug in TI Basic with the use of 80chars-cards: This is important to enable the use of 80chars cards. Original: http://home.arcor.de/system-ninety-nine-user-group/hsgpl/grom0.bin Fixed GROM0: http://home.arcor.de/system-ninety-nine-user-group/hsgpl/grom0-80.bin Bug N°X - Several bugfixes corrected in Extended Basic 3: Extended Basic 3 was released in its original form and to my knowledge it fixes a lot of bugs in the original system from TI. My guess is that they were mostly bugs from XB though. Other releated stuff: Here you can find an interesting GROM0 designed by Winfried Winkler: http://home.arcor.de/system-ninety-nine-user-group/hsgpl/grom0ww.bin It allows you direct selection of GROM bases (whatever that is). This is TI Basic with corrected 80chars-bug: http://home.arcor.de/system-ninety-nine-user-group/hsgpl/tibasic.zip This is an enhanced GROM0 which includes "EasyBug" but its meant for the SGCPU peripheral SNUG card: http://home.arcor.de/system-ninety-nine-user-group/sgcpu/sgcpuupd.zip

Report on the TI-Meeting - Birkenau, Germany 2011 Dear friends, The german TI-Club Errorfree invited to a regional TI meeting for the 2nd of April 2011. My brother Reinhard and me attended. On our travel from Vienna, Austria, we did stop near munich, where we had a meeting with Helmut Fiedler, who donated us a giant TI-99 collection. He quit the hobby over 5 years ago and gave us really everything without asking anything for it. A big thank you again! With a well-stocked car we arrived in the early evening hours in Birkenau in the ancient inn "Zum Engel". It was a really nice evening with Klaus T, Annette and Oliver A. On the next morning we all shared a big breakfast. It was a warm welcome of the arriving club members. Everybody knows each other or the connection is quickly made. While some were still enjoying their breakfast, others were starting to build up their setup. The official part of the meeting was set for 9am. to 4pm. - in our eyes it went by far too quick. We counted a total of 22 attendees. There were times where we were short of space but the unbelievable nice weather did let you communicate outside as well. Reinhard and me did find lucky guys who wanted our duplicate magazines and hardware-parts from Helmut Fiedler. Bernhard L did arrive with big boxes full of TI Stuff for donation. The collectors searched through with visual pleasure. We were among them of course and our car was fully laden afterwards! No matter how nice it is to collect TI stuff, it is the friendships who arised from the shared hobby, which makes the attraction to come again to the TI-meetings. Photos will be placed on the upcoming website www.ti99.at Friday, 30th September to 2th October will be held the international TI Meeting in Rom, Italy. The next regional TI-Meeting 2012 of the Club Errorfree will be localized between Munich and Augsburg. Klaus Klaus Lukaschek TI-99 Club Austria

Hi! There is (was) a nice conversation going on about my project ideas at OLUG: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ti99-4a/message/76300 I do think doing this without a CMS in the backend is a failure, because you get so much features by simply using one. Giving the data structure is what makes the content valuable. Think of this example: a website offers 100 ti-disks in one single zip package. No further information, the user only gets disknames, and filenames. The user has no idea which of the programs he already has in his collection or how to use the ones he may want to try out. Any user will have to check the 100 disks with probably 1000 programs against his program collection. I don't know how many people would really like to do this. In the end the zip gets stored on the harddisk and properly never touched again. The content (here it's more likely data) is of not much value in this form! How many games have you stopped within 2 minutes because you have no idea how to play them? Same goes for programs. You probably won't ever touch those programs again. Of real value is not the donwload itsself but the information about a program. The opposite to this extreme example is what I have in mind. A visually driven Wikipedia-like TI-99 information portal, which features a program information database and let you download PD-software. With browsing capabilities like in Amazon where you can basically click on any actor, director, manufactor, genre to get a list of new items to explore, in a nicely image-driven view. For the program information database think of background information, hardware requirements, software requirements, a manual, instructions, tips & tricks, title screens, sample screens, links to youtube videos where the programs gets used/explained or played. You will have the ability to comment exactly at the program entry if you have troubles... You like how the author codes? Check out his other software by simply clicking on the authors name. Rate the author, comment on the author himself,... This information around a program is all content and content should be managed within a Cootent Management System: Publishing & Workflow process, Versioning, Multi-Language Support, Interlinking within articles, Security, User Roles, Content Folder Structure, defining structured Templates for each type of content, central Link Repository, multiple views, RSS feeds for updates. Using a CMS System you could let the system output a filtered list and create a PDF document for you using XSLT transformations! Imagine your 20 pages catalog with all information about your selection on a 1 program per page view ready to be printed. (We could even think about a text-only output view for access from a TI-99 in the future.) Users without technical knowledge will be able to add content. Such a project is predestinated for the use of a CMS, don't you think. In the end, it's all content. Perhaps we should talk together via skype, this weekend. Having two 'concurrent' systems in development is not a good idea, especially for such a low numbered group of people. I don't like the idea of building a FTP dominated service in the year 2011. There is so much more possible today. Sorry for all the pro CMS talk but at work our team is responsible for the CMS system and its development, so that's why I can see so much benefits.

fig.forth is not the same like TI-Forth. I found a manual on whtech.com: ftp://ftp.whtech.com/Powertran%20Cortex/Documentation/CORTEX%20FIG-FORTH.pdf But i don't know if its for TI-99. kl99

There was a fig.forth 1.0 cartridge avaiable as well - at least in the austrian TI-99 Shop. It was avaiable since the year 1984 and made by the same author.

ad 1. Yes, fully supported. Just make sure that your nanoPEB gets a 5V external power adapter. ad 2 and 3. You should always try to return to the master title screen before switching a cartridge or turning off your console. That way you avoid damaging chips, which may be accessed otherwhise. ad 3. Maybe you should look for a reset button like there is on a Navarone Expander (Widget). It helps avoids these problems. BR, Klaus

Hi there! I am actually in the preparations of the specifications for a web project, which will be a website for all TI-99 programs. Besides giving screens and informations about the program, the user can download the program, if it's Public Domain. This project will not violate copyright! This is important to me and to have support of the TI community. There will be User Roles like Editors and Users. Editors may add and update content (program entries) and approve content, entered by Users. Users can comment, rate any program, and enter content for approval of Editors. Any member of the TI community can become an Editor, it will be a manual appointment however. The web project is successful, if it will becomme the number one source for TI software information on the web. The project will need the support of the TI community. I see my job to provide the best platform for this. Entering data on a program will be as easy as filling out a form, you won't need any programming or html skills! By using a CMS (Content management system) and defining a very specific Template (think of a Form) which will be filled out when data is entered, it can later be searched by every field (Title, Author, Company, Required Hardware,...), Keywords etc... Example: You will be able to easily get a view of all Extended Basic Programs using the Speech Synthesizer. The website will be visually dominated, you will browse through title screens, screenshots... The key to this project is really the template for a program entry. I don't like to add/change things after content is already entered. So preparations will be intense as they are key to success. Once I have a draft for the program data template I will ask for feedback from the community.

You will notice that level 1-4 seem to have the same car speed, however level 5 has a significant lower speed of the players and enemys car. My highest scores are somewhere around 37000 points kl99

I don't think that you can do that in Basic/XB. That sort of things came later...

The game is really fast. Once you get to level 3 it gets interesting. Two cars chasing you! In Level 5 its three cars chasing you... I will make some videos of game play...

How far do you get in Car Wars? I got to the 6th track (Level) last weekend. The 5th track features 3 enemy cars trying to force you into a crash. The 6th track starts really similar like the 5th with 3 enemy cars, only that the lowest car starts at another position. Did anyone reach a higher level than this?

If you just want to use the software on real hardware, you can buy a nanoPEB (CF7+) as well and run the disk versions of the cartridges. BR, kl99

Hi! I would like to do a few TI Highlight Videos with captured scenes from famous ti games & programs. I want to integrate real pictures into the video clips as well, pics with features like panning, sliding, zooming, fading. Opry99er helps me with technical settings in order to get captures of any TI-software from the classic99 emulator. I would need pics of the TI-99 console, peripherals, cartridges manuals, hardware manuals, German magazine Covers... (I have the TI99-Journal covers already) The purpose of this is to gain attention from youtube viewers who enter "ti-99" as keyword and have no idea that there are still user groups about the famous home computer. And thanks to emulators you can enjoy all ti-software, even if you no longer have your ti-hardware. And that there is ebay with the option to buy a ti-console for your 21th century home. So please send me all pics that I am allowed to use in those videos. Many thanks, Klaus

Website updated, check out the review! http://ti99blog.webs.com

Website updated with Photos from the first meeting: http://ti99blog.webs.com A review will follow shortly... BR, Klaus

I will try my best concerning photos and maybe video... br, Klaus

Thanks Opry99er! I did a lot of preparations for the upcoming TI meeting I will hold in vienna tomorrow (mails, mail-lists, homepage, forum...). Well there was a time, when I ran out of memory (TI Basic - cassette storage limit). I don't think all those graphics and needed routines to establish an exact clone can fit within this limit. There are still plans to get a cool puzzle action game done until end of deadline, either through some game rule adaptions or graphic limitations. I got rid of the sound when the stone (pill) moves because it slowed down movement in TI Basic a lot. I disabled most of the graphics for now to concentrate on the game play, speed within TI Basic, and to get that routines complete. Klaus

I have updated the initial thread entry since we will hold our first meeting next week! See top entry for details!

You can find newsletters from this Usergroup here: ftp://ftp.whtech.com/user%20groups/Dallas/ As there is no index file, I don't know if the one is actually there. Klaus

I have found a guide what to do, when your console locks up (freezes): See Micropendium, 1989 August, Page 46: ftp://ftp.whtech.com/magazines/micropendium/mp8908.pdf I will continue searching and posting here...

Status Update: I know about the Q versus the X in the NEXT, this is only temporary to safe ascii-chars. Program Size: 38 Sectors (including ~20 REM statements) Done: ) code, that checks for 4+ stones of the same color and removes them ) stage clear screen done (it moves on to the next level afterwards) ) added score (not the real formula yet but the principe of it works, reset on gameover etc) Todo: ) merge the virus generator code I did seperately with my game program ) increase intelligence of that virus generator code ) create the code, that checks after removement of any stones if there are any remaining stones above that have to fall down (a taff one!) ) implement correct formula for score ) add nice level and speed select screen ) add nice title screen (depending on the remaining memory) ) optimize sounds I now have a basic idea about the last taff routine. What fields need to be checked, under what circumstances abort the check etc... Still, I have to write that down in Code. Since I am on vacation till the 9th, I hope to have enough time to finish this till the 14th of january.

I have got to check the new version out! Cool to have you here!

It sounds like either your VDP (Video Display Processor) or one of the Video RAM chips is malfunctioning. Matthew started a 99/4a console exchange program. Take a look at this thread: Console Exchange Program

I thought about this and the most practical use I could think of would be the possibility of saving the cartridge content to disk or to tape.

That's what I have a story to talk about... My initial plan was a very special christmas gift for my brother and my little nephew. We just started our way back into the TI world. In 2009 my brother got a console with a bunch of cartridges for free on the TI Treffen in Vienna. Since then he only bought Extended Basic. So I decided for him that it is time to upgrade!!! I didn't have a TI-99 setup when I made up this plan. I wanted to surprise him and his son with a bunch of TI-99 cartridges for xmas 2010. So I got several game cartridges of ebay from exiletoledo. But while actually searching for all those little treasures on the net, it brought back so many memories from my childhood, that I couldn't resist buying myself a TI-99 console. The interest of my brother and myself grew when talking about our shared memories on the TI, and he told me that he wanted to buy some cartridges in the internet. So I had no choice but to tell him that santa claus might already bought something TI releated stuff for him. In the meantime I started collecting cartridges for my new setup as well. I got such a big collection of cartridges and manuals from Dave Howell who had to give up most of his collection. I bought much stuff from several sellers from ebay. My brother and his nephew got as xmas gift: ) a brand new TI-99/4a proctective cover ) WICO Atari Joystick adapter ) Extended Basic Manual ) around 25 cartridge Manuals (for cartridges he already has, he got as a gift or we only have in disk format) ) Adventure ) Chisholm Trail ) Connect Four ) Editor/Assembler ) Football ) Hopper ) Hunt the Wumpus ) Hustle ) Indoor Soccer ) Mind Challengers ) Moon Mine ) Number Magic ) Pole Position ) Shamus ) Star Trek ) Super Demon Attack ) The Attack ) Tombstone City ) Tunnels of Doom ) Video Chess ) Video Games 1 ) Video Graphs The following 3 gift cartridges are yet to arrive: ) Donkey Kong ) Jungle Hunt ) Protector As my brother and I do TI most of the time together, there is not really a "mine" and "yours", so the other stuff is either at his place or at mine. The only sad thing was that we celebrated christmas at our parents house, where no TI setup was to try out the "new" stuff. That's why my nephew still has no clue what to expect of these cartridges. But the next TI session is coming! Oh, by the way, I bought myself an european TI console, looks and smells brand new. It arrived one or two days before christmas. So TI Santa Claus was coming to me as well. Really crazy how things went by. As most of you probably know by now, my brother and I are from Austria, Europe and in January there will be the very first meeting of our new TI-99 club. Interesting path, when you think that I was initially searching for a christmas gift on ebay.