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Best Plain Old TI BASIC Games (w/MP3)


ballyalley

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18 minutes ago, Omega-TI said:

Well, if you want some unsolicited advice, MAKE THE FINAL GROM CARTRIDGE YOUR PRIORITY.  Honestly, you'll get much more bang for the buck with that cartridge than any other single item, especially if you have 32K plugged into the side.  

 

Ah-ha-- I knew it!  Sure, first it's the FinalGROM, then it's a 32K upgrade (or those even available anymore?  Don't they require some other sort of upgrade first?), then it's the chip to the a VGA monitor and then... you know what I mean.  I like the idea of that sort-of-multicart, but... we'll see.

 

Adam

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6 minutes ago, jrhodes said:

There is a fair number of titles you could enjoy without a 32k on the finalgrom99.

 

The 32K upgrade requires an external upgrade expansion box though, right?  I probably don't need to be asking these questions here, as "WhataKowinkydink" lives nearby and we're gonna meet up this week.  He's going to show my his system and I'm sure that I'll learn a LOT from him.  Or, at least I'm going to try to learn a bit, which shouldn't be hard, as right now I'm starting from near-know-nothing-ness.

 

Adam

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31 minutes ago, ballyalley said:

 

The 32K upgrade requires an external upgrade expansion box though, right?  I probably don't need to be asking these questions here, as "WhataKowinkydink" lives nearby and we're gonna meet up this week.  He's going to show my his system and I'm sure that I'll learn a LOT from him.  Or, at least I'm going to try to learn a bit, which shouldn't be hard, as right now I'm starting from near-know-nothing-ness.

 

Adam

There is a sidecar version.

Takes up just a inch or so on the right of the console.

If you add a TIPI and 32k (plus the rPi) on the sidecar, it all only takes about as much space as the tape recorder would have used.

https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/TI-99-4A/c/5051340

I would recommend taking a peek at Greg's (arcadeshopper) store if you ever feel like expanding your setup.

Edited by jrhodes
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When you visit WhataKowinkydink bring along a cassette recorder and do some old-skool software pirating! :ahoy:

 

Or, as I was gonna suggest- Do it real old-skool, the way I and others did it "back in 1983." We typed in the program from the magazines or books, then hunted down all our typos and mistakes, plus guess at what other bugs the original author or magazine typesetter introduced!

 

That was actually a fun challenge, as you got a chance to learn some coding as you went, which led to modifying the program as you entered it. Then update it again as you learn new tricks elsewhere.

 

You have the advantage now we didn't all have then, a full and complete digital archive of most everything in TI print, so you can search subsequent magazine issues for any bug reports, etc. You won't have to wait a couple months to find out if it was your error or theirs!

 

Or get lazy, and use your PCwin machine to run CS1er to convert FIAD files to wav and skip all that boring typing nonsense! And use TIdir or TIImageTool to extract the FIADs you want from a DSK image.

 

The FlashROM99 is cartridge that plays many stored carts using only the console.

 

That's all listed and linked on this thread in the Development section:

So that's another "free" thing you can do... read a whole bunch!! BITD I scrounged and absorbed all things TI I could find. Today, it's all there in full splendor thanks to all us old hoarders who kept all the crap, er, priceless treasure! Won't take you long to realize why console-BASIC only was quickly left in the dust, but there's still many an hour to be spent gleaning and harvesting what you can use with what ya got.

 

And Arcadeshopper has another great FAQ stuffed full of resources.

 

I'd recommend TI's Teach Yourself BASIC series. You'll find it on whtech and use the PC programs I mentioned to convert it back to wav.

 

Far, far more than I had when I started and flipflops fit on your feet not in a box on your desk and it was uphill to skool both ways and we only had half a bowl of dirt and corncobs for supper and...

-Ed

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Ed in SoDak said:

When you visit WhataKowinkydink bring along a cassette recorder and do some old-skool software pirating!

Pfah.  Need a dual tape deck with turbo dubbing.  Mine was an Emerson CTR-930.  It might not produce high-quality copies via its dubs, generational loss and such, but it was way faster than loading and saving on the TI :)

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See, yet more gear to run down! LOL

 

My dad used one of those dual-hi-speed cassette machines to dub some TI tapes. Very hard to load the dubs back in. 'Course we were using erased "greatest hits" el-cheapo bought at a gas station music tapes, what could go wrong with that plan? Dad didn't even pay that price, he'd pick 'em up at the flea market from some grab-a-lot bin 10 for a buck.

 

Actually, I was guessing the programs would likely be on disk, if on the original iron, so SAVE CS1 is their main option. With CS1er for whatever he has on his PC.

Edited by Ed in SoDak
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On 7/22/2018 at 5:17 AM, jrhodes said:

The attached zip file uncompresses to around 1GB, and consists of programs intended to be launched from TI-Basic and TI-Extended Basic.

Some of these .wav's were made before i got a 32K memory unit, and as such, they may be altered a bit.

For instance, since i do not use a disk system, i may have removed things like the ability to save scores to disk.

I think i remember removing a "level preview" feature in a game, where it would show you the levels in a cycle until you started the game.

This resulted in code that was barely able to be used on a TI without memory expansion, just minus that feature.

None of the actual gameplay/levels were cut from any game.

Data files holding character data/level data may have been incorporated into the main program in a few games.

They should all play like you expect them to.

Highlights of this collection include Cerberus, Jungle Hunt, and Pole Position.

favorite ti programs.zip 16.08 MB · 246 downloads

Loads of console basic games here. 

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19 hours ago, jrhodes said:

If you add a TIPI and 32k (plus the rPi) on the sidecar, it all only takes about as much space as the tape recorder would have used.

https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/TI-99-4A/c/5051340

I would recommend taking a peek at Greg's (arcadeshopper) store if you ever feel like expanding your setup.

 

Thanks for the tips.  There is a LOT of modern hardware available for the TI, isn't there?!?  For now, I'm set with my basic model, but that website certainly has caught my eye.  The page has been bookmarked and I'll revisit later.

 

(At first, I thought that the pictures of the 6 rolls of thermal printer paper were toilet paper!)


Adam

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19 hours ago, Ed in SoDak said:

When you visit WhataKowinkydink bring along a cassette recorder and do some old-skool software pirating! :ahoy:[...]

 

I never went to any copy parties, but I did exchange software with local friends back in my C64 days.  We also would type in programs together.  I'd say I miss those days-- but typing in those programs was a time consuming process.  Those days, be damned!  Luckily, we usually could find and fix all of our typing errors.  Well, most of the time.

 

I have been using Archive.org and skimming many of the TI books that they have there.  It's a fun way to pass the time.  There are literally over two hundred books related to the TI that I've come across so far.  Wow!

 

Thanks for pointing out the CS1er, TIdir and TIImageTool utilities.  I'll try them out.

 

The Development section thread looks useful-- and time consuming (in a fun way) to read.

 

To whom is the "Teach Yourself BASIC" series aimed?  Is it ultra-simple?

 

Adam

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14 hours ago, sparkdrummer said:

Loads of console basic games here. 

 

Yes, I did find my way to the massive "favorite ti programs.zip" download.  It's from there that I have been been trying the programs that have been recommended in this thread so far.  It's also where I found the game, Goblin.  I've been loading these games from an old hand-me-down Windows Vista laptop.  It is essentially a tape recorder with a fancy screen.

 

Adam

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I have been inspired by this TI BASIC thread, so last night I shot some video footage of me playing three BASIC games and flipping through three more TI books in my collection.  I haven't finished editing that video yet, but I did post a video a couple of days ago called, "TI-99/4a Collection Overview (Part 1) - General Overview and First Test."  Somehow, 19 people have already watched it; that surprises me.

 

In this 40-minute video, I sort through my small TI-99/4a collection and get it set up and running on a 14" flat-screen CRT TV.

 

Here's a link to that video:

 

 

I begin by taking down my Amiga CD32, after all, I need to make space for the TI computer.  I show a few of the hardware accessories that I have for my system: the 99/4a cassette cable and the Atari-to-TI joystick adapter.  I show the seven books I have for the TI; I browse through three of them closely.  I hook up my TI to my wonder Toshiba TV via the RF modulator and then a composite cable.  I type in a few BASIC statements and then I play the Munchman "Command Module" (you know, a cartridge) with my Atari 7800 joystick.

 

I'll post the second video in this series in this thread too.

 

Thanks for all the feedback and advice that people have been leaving here.

 

Adam

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You're on a roll! In that resource link I copied to ya, there's a good listing of books there too. But I also use archive.org a lot. You gotta sort through a bunch of flack along with the good at that site.

 

I don't think anyone's mentioned the many great emulators we have for the TI for our varied modern platforms like Windows MacOS, Linux, etc... Again, find 'em in that same resource thread. I use Classic99 on a Windoze XP laptop. Mame is also well-liked. V9T9 for DOS (or DOSbox) and my old Macs , also now in java. But wait, there's more! lol Most all are actively supported by their authors on this forum.

 

All of them will allow you to sample carts and programs galore, then pick and choose those that you'd like to port to the iron. And all this at no cost, unless you want to donate to the respective emulator authors, of course!

 

I set out to show that you don't have to open that creaky old wallet. With the help of many others who posted, mission accomplished! Of course, when you really hit the iron, the coins will make a lot more happen! I've done pretty well with my own 30yo investment so far and use emulators more than the iron for the most part.

-Ed

 

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, ballyalley said:


To whom is the "Teach Yourself BASIC" series aimed?  Is it ultra-simple?

 

Adam

It's not so cutesy as to be tempting to kids but it is rather, ahem, BASIC, at least in the first few chapters. It does showcase a nice suite of screen display routines for adding window dressing to programs. Note it's written for the earlier 99/4 console, which uses commands like "SHIFT C" for BREAK, rather than FUNCTION 4 as implemented on the 99/4A. At several points, it asks the user to BREAK the program and do some exercise, then type CONTINUE (i.e. CON in 4A speak) to carry on.

 

I ran the first six of the ten included chapters today to reacquaint myself. I think I even found a bug in the section on arrays and the DIM statement. Chapter 1 begins with the very rudimentary stuff. The user obviously has figured out how to connect things, load a cassette program and RUN it to get that far. But it takes things from there one step at a time. By chapter 4 or 5 we were programming a bit.  Heavy on the math to start. Wouldn't hurt me to pay more attention to those, math in programming is not my strong suite, but it's something the TI is quite good at.

 

You can get the same stuff from the user manuals, but it's kinda nice to have it there on screen to see running examples with a bit of lipstick added to make it more entertaining. I was more than happy to speed it up a bit in emulation, though! :)

 

The Extended BASIC series of 7 lessons is perhaps more lively. But I'd say it's worth a spin and you probabably will pick up a thing or two you didn't know (or recall).

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I have finished and posted my second video to YouTube in my series that covers my very small collection.

 

https://youtu.be/oAmfKxBKouM

 

(The video doesn't seem to be pulled-up in the below link; this is always inconsistent for me in the forums, which is why I have the above link)

 

https://youtu.be/oAmfKxBKouM

 

In this 45-minute video, I use my standard TI-99/4a with a tape interface cable to play three TI BASIC games:

 

1) Boa Alley
2) Nerm of Bemer
3) Goblin

 

The first two games were recommended in this thread.

 

I also browse two TI books:

 

1) Games TIs Play
2) Zappers: Having Fun Programming and Playing 23 Games for the TI-99/4A

 

As I play the games and skim the books, I give commentary on my experience with classic 8-bit computers and the TI-99/4a.

 

Enjoy!

 

Adam

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On 9/20/2020 at 1:11 PM, Ed in SoDak said:

You're on a roll! [...] I also use archive.org a lot. [...] I don't think anyone's mentioned the many great emulators we have for the TI [...]

 

I do feel like I'm on a roll-- and the best part is that I'm having fun.

 

One aspect of Archive.org that I like a lot is that I can browse without downloading the pdfs.  If I like them, then I can get the pdf and move it to my iPad.

 

Thanks for the recommend emulators.  I'm familiar with MAME and TI emulation (via GameBase), but my time with it has been strictly limited to cartridges.  I suppose that the emulators all must support additional RAM and hardware.  I use emulation very often and I can't imagine not using it... but I still prefer the real hardware used with a real CRT.

 

Adam

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On 9/20/2020 at 8:29 PM, Ed in SoDak said:

It's not so cutesy as to be tempting to kids but it is rather, ahem, BASIC, at least in the first few chapters.

[...] I ran the first six of the ten included chapters today to reacquaint myself. [...] You can get the same stuff from the user manuals [...]

 

Thanks for the very thorough overview of  the "Teach Yourself BASIC" series.  It was very informative.  I'm impressed that you dug right in there and used it yourself and even perhaps found a bug.

 

I do prefer user manuals-- and paper ones are much better than pdf files, but a pdf is a great place to start and is certainly better than nothing at all.  When I really want a document, I've been known to print out books from the pdf is the book isn't available anymore.

 

Adam

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I've added another video in my TI series to YouTube: "TI-99/4a Collection Overview (Part 3) - Saving a Program and Extended BASIC:"

 

 

In this 37-minute video, I use my standard TI-99/4a with a tape interface cable to play four TI BASIC games with Extended BASIC: Boa Alley, Closeout, Nerm of Bemer and Goblin.  I play the games in Extended BASIC to compare their speed against TI BASIC.  I also save a very short two-line program to "tape" as a WAV file using Audacity on a PC laptop with Windows installed.

 

Special thanks to "WhataKowinkydink" for lending me his Extended BASIC cartridge for my TI computer.

 

Adam

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  • 2 weeks later...

In the interest of keeping the TI alive with new "NEWBIE" cassette only users here is the Millers Graphics cassette collection in MP3 format.

 

I have tested ALL of these from a PC to the TI-99/4A  cassette audio input and they ALL loaded ok.

I used a headphone device called a BOOSTEROO to up the audio output to a level the TI needed.

As I have time, I am going to try and do more collections.

 

ALPHABET SOUP.mp3 BATTLE OVER TITAN.mp3 BLACKBEARD'S TREASURE.mp3 CASINO BLACKJACK.mp3 CRAZY FUN HOUSE.mp3 NIGHT MISSION JOYSTICK.mp3 NIGHT MISSION KEYBOARD.mp3 PHAROAHS TOMB.mp3

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NORTON collection

All tested.

Joystick games use joystick 2 - go figure...

 

2 Console Basic games in ASSEMBLY that run on a bone stock console running Console Basic.

LIFE

SAME COLORS

Senior Falcon sent these to me to convert. Awesome stuff.

Both games tested.

ATTACK MAN JOYSTICK.mp3 ATTACK MAN KEYBOARD.mp3 CROSS COUNTRY CAR RALLY.mp3 LUNAR LANDER.mp3 SUPER FROGGER JOYSTICK.mp3 SUPER FROGGER KEYBOARD.mp3 TANK BATTLE JOYSTICK.mp3 TANK BATTLE KEYBOARD.mp3 LIFE.mp3 SAME COLORS.mp3

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On 10/9/2020 at 2:52 PM, ti99iuc said:

wow, it is interesting to know that compressed MP3 works the same. I always thought that uncompressed .wav was the only safe format-
thanks for sharing these :) 

There is nothing to be lost in the lossy compression.  The TI listens for specific mark and space frequencies which are well within human hearing, and not enough noise (like none) is introduced during compression to distort them.  The MP3s I posted up in some other thread (too lazy to go searching) were done in lame with -vbr-new.  I have also used AAC encoding.  It all works fine.

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