Thanks for saying. I'm just delighted that I can talk about TI-99 BASIC for 24 minutes in the year 2022 and people are actually interested in what I have to say. That is crazy and awesome. :)
wow I wish I would have had The Missing Link back when I was learning to code on a TI-994a back in the 80s. I made some basic graphics test but it ran so slow I couldn't do much with it. Thanks for these videos, they're like a stroll down memory lane.
Oh for sure. There really wasn't anything at all in the first year of the TI-99/4A that actually showed what it could do graphically. I imagine if there had been, it would have made a much bigger splash at CES and such.
Very useful! I was pondering which XB to go for. This one or the compiled xb256 you covered in another video. Can this one do everything xb256 plus the TML goodies? I guess I wanted to have super compiled speed which suggests xb256 but stacked sprites looked fantastic too, so that suggests TML. Is there a way of having my cake and eating it?
Yes, the XB Game Developer's Kit now supports integration of libraries like (but not limited to) TML into compiled programs. So a compiled Extended BASIC programs which uses any and all available TML CALL LINKs works fine (as long as TML is included at compile time).
TML on the new G.E.M. cartridge does not support 60 different fonts as you mentioned at 16:00 It has 20 internally for instant use, they used to have to be loaded from disk, which took time, and they had to be on the disk in drive 1!. Some TML programs that call for fonts from disk will error, and have to be slightly rewritten. But the cart is great for most of the old, demonstration, programs, that do not call for fonts, and for any new ones.
Very early versions of XB G.E.M. had fewer fonts. If you are using a very old version of XB G.E.M., you may not have access to all 60 fonts. I would suggest updating, if you are receiving errors loading higher-numbered fonts in the described way. Though I think it was 30 fonts Harry debuted it with, rather than 20. Anyway, definitely best to use a current version, for that an other reasons, which will give you all 60.
The Sierra On-Line's games like SpaceQuest were notorious for avoiding bitmap graphics in favour of a fancily compressed vector graphics for their lavish backgrounds, though: th-cam.com/video/sclZDCjUVvI/w-d-xo.html
I love all your vids, but the lights are always so white-bright when you're facing the camera. I sound like a jerk saying this but I always wonder if a warming filter could be used.
Yup. Any of the XB GEM libraries can be used in a compiled program. Directions pertaining to inclusion of assembly support routines in a compiled XB program are included in the XB Game Developer's Kit manual. Including them does add another layer of complexity to the process, inevitably.
@@PixelPedant I forgot one important thing.... I would like to use more than 32k from the exended basic is it possible? i read that there is RXB reads 1mb is it true? Do you know where to find the documentation? thank you very much!
I believe you got your answer on the AtariAge forum, there, from the best experts in the business. To wit - that RXB is the only XB distribution with some inbuilt support for SAMS, at this point. As SAMS under XB has not attracted much interest, so far. We'll see whether it does in the long run, but I'm not sure it will. Traditionally, among XB programmers, the mentality has been that if you're writing directly to memory, you probably do it in assembly (which you can integrate with your XB program as you please), and if you need to store a whole lot of XB data per se, you do that on disk (since TI-99 BASIC has pretty rich device and file i/o features built in). Extensive use of LOAD and PEEK for general program data is seldom ever seen, not just with respect to SAMS, but in general. But perhaps compiled BASIC will change that, eventually.
bitmap mode makes TI graphics look shockingly decent and comparable to "better" systems. I assume few if not none of the official TI games that were released on cartridge in the early 80s were not in bitmap mode (due to memory restrictions). A pity as the life of the TI would have been far longer.
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You are the Bob Ross of the TI99/4A! Your videos are very interesting to this old commodore and TI user from the 80s! Thank you for making them.
Thanks for saying. I'm just delighted that I can talk about TI-99 BASIC for 24 minutes in the year 2022 and people are actually interested in what I have to say. That is crazy and awesome. :)
Except female.
grew up on this computer// i love your content always stay with it
I just wanted to thank you for making those videos. Coming from C64/European tribe TIs are completely unknown to me.
wow I wish I would have had The Missing Link back when I was learning to code on a TI-994a back in the 80s. I made some basic graphics test but it ran so slow I couldn't do much with it. Thanks for these videos, they're like a stroll down memory lane.
By the time I actually get my first TI-99/4a, I’m going to be an expert thanks to you.
Really loving this series on TI BASIC's. Can't wait until you get to the modern versions with compilers. 😀
We'll get there, for sure!
Cool, did not know of this option! Thx for another great vid!
Great insight and information as always… Thank You!
Never knew there was a Ti space quest. That’s one of my favorites. Be nice to see police quest, lsl and quest for glory on their too.
You get the impression that if this was written sooner, it would have transformed the public perception of the Ti99.
Oh for sure. There really wasn't anything at all in the first year of the TI-99/4A that actually showed what it could do graphically. I imagine if there had been, it would have made a much bigger splash at CES and such.
Thanks for the great information!
Great video! Have you done any programming with the TI 99 / 4A?
Thanks for a good video on the missing link, it’s been on the list of software to check out!
great video
...i love everything ti
.
Makes that machine so exciting to own that I wish I had one when I was a child. Would have spent hours coding on it.
Great video mate I love the ti99
Very useful! I was pondering which XB to go for. This one or the compiled xb256 you covered in another video. Can this one do everything xb256 plus the TML goodies? I guess I wanted to have super compiled speed which suggests xb256 but stacked sprites looked fantastic too, so that suggests TML. Is there a way of having my cake and eating it?
Yes, the XB Game Developer's Kit now supports integration of libraries like (but not limited to) TML into compiled programs. So a compiled Extended BASIC programs which uses any and all available TML CALL LINKs works fine (as long as TML is included at compile time).
@@PixelPedant Well I will have to take a look. Thanks for reply!
I had no idea this was even possible.
Awesome video.
Cool!
TML on the new G.E.M. cartridge does not support 60 different fonts as you mentioned at 16:00 It has 20 internally for instant use, they used to have to be loaded from disk, which took time, and they had to be on the disk in drive 1!. Some TML programs that call for fonts from disk will error, and have to be slightly rewritten. But the cart is great for most of the old, demonstration, programs, that do not call for fonts, and for any new ones.
Very early versions of XB G.E.M. had fewer fonts. If you are using a very old version of XB G.E.M., you may not have access to all 60 fonts. I would suggest updating, if you are receiving errors loading higher-numbered fonts in the described way. Though I think it was 30 fonts Harry debuted it with, rather than 20. Anyway, definitely best to use a current version, for that an other reasons, which will give you all 60.
I just did bitmap mode in assembler. Assembler was actually easy to program.
If only they had used the TMS99105A and 512KB of RAM things might have looked up for Texas Instruments.
And here I thought that the missing link was the MkII version of the F18A...
It’s magic how a ram module could improve the capabilities of a system and also add extra freedom for programmers😁
The Sierra On-Line's games like SpaceQuest were notorious for avoiding bitmap graphics in favour of a fancily compressed vector graphics for their lavish backgrounds, though: th-cam.com/video/sclZDCjUVvI/w-d-xo.html
I love all your vids, but the lights are always so white-bright when you're facing the camera. I sound like a jerk saying this but I always wonder if a warming filter could be used.
No, I do appreciate the feedback. But then again, it may be there's not a great deal to be done for someone as pale as me, in this department. ;)
the 21st cemtury Missing Link for the TI is Pixel Pendant
Hmmm Basic can not use 32K memory, XB can.
I have made this mistake in my own video often as XB and Basic are not the same when talking RAM and VDP.
hello everyone!
can i compile tml with xb256?
Thanks a lot!!
Yup. Any of the XB GEM libraries can be used in a compiled program. Directions pertaining to inclusion of assembly support routines in a compiled XB program are included in the XB Game Developer's Kit manual. Including them does add another layer of complexity to the process, inevitably.
@@PixelPedant I forgot one important thing....
I would like to use more than 32k from the exended basic is it possible?
i read that there is RXB reads 1mb is it true? Do you know where to find the documentation? thank you very much!
I believe you got your answer on the AtariAge forum, there, from the best experts in the business. To wit - that RXB is the only XB distribution with some inbuilt support for SAMS, at this point. As SAMS under XB has not attracted much interest, so far.
We'll see whether it does in the long run, but I'm not sure it will. Traditionally, among XB programmers, the mentality has been that if you're writing directly to memory, you probably do it in assembly (which you can integrate with your XB program as you please), and if you need to store a whole lot of XB data per se, you do that on disk (since TI-99 BASIC has pretty rich device and file i/o features built in).
Extensive use of LOAD and PEEK for general program data is seldom ever seen, not just with respect to SAMS, but in general. But perhaps compiled BASIC will change that, eventually.
bitmap mode makes TI graphics look shockingly decent and comparable to "better" systems. I assume few if not none of the official TI games that were released on cartridge in the early 80s were not in bitmap mode (due to memory restrictions). A pity as the life of the TI would have been far longer.
Parsec is in bitmap mode
@@arcadeshopper that would explain its excellent graphics and scrolling
And Slymoids is another TI first party title which uses bitmap mode to quite lovely effect.
Because Parsec is in bitmap mode it's no wonder it can't run on the original TI-99/4.
The link to the TMP 2.0 disk returns a 404 error, just FYI...
It works for me, but keep in mind that it's case sensitive, so would need to be clicked or otherwise copied exactly.