@E37 Oh man that RTS game is very very nice. I'd love to check out the source. Is the game running at 6MHz? If so how did you squeeze out such performance while handling grayscale? If not, its still very impressive. I'm also curious about the font. Is that your text axiom? Either way I am definitely interested in learning more.

@E37 As usual, thanks for all the help! I will definitely be making use of this. I figured dereferencing for each variable would be slow but your idea is wayy better. Idk what I was thinking. I was also thinking of creating one big appvar instead of creating multiple appvars with GetCalc() so I'll definitely be doing that. I've run into a weird little bug/issue with Axe that I cannot explain and I was hoping you would be able give me some answers. What I am currently attempting to do in my rewrite at the moment is ensure that only 1 keypress is registered at a time. I'm following a tutorial series and although it's in another language it's pretty easy to convert to Axe. Anyways, my original input code looked like this:
Lbl UpdateGame
If getKey(2)
PlayerX--
⁻8→ScrollXOffset
ʟUpdatePlayer→UpdateState
End
If getKey(3)
PlayerX++
8→ScrollXOffset
ʟUpdatePlayer→UpdateState
End
If getKey(4)
PlayerY--
⁻8→ScrollYOffset
ʟUpdatePlayer→UpdateState
End
If getKey(1)
PlayerY++
8→ScrollYOffset
ʟUpdatePlayer→UpdateState
End
If getKey(15)
ʟUpdateQuit→UpdateState
End
Pause 16
Return
Lbl UpdatePlayer
If ScrollXOffset<<0
ScrollLeft()
End
If ScrollXOffset>>0
ScrollRight()
End
If ScrollYOffset<<0
ScrollUp()
End
If ScrollYOffset>>0
ScrollDown()
End
If ScrollXOffset=0 ? ScrollYOffset=0
ʟUpdateGame→UpdateState
End
Return
Lbl UpdateQuit
1→Quit
Return
However this results in diagonal movement when 2 buttons are pressed, which I don't want. So, following the tutorial I tried this code:
Lbl UpdateGame
For(I,1,4)
If getKey(I)
PlayerX+sign{I-1+°DirX}→PlayerX
PlayerX+sign{I-1+°DirY}→PlayerY
sign{I-1°DirX}*8→ScrollXOffset
sign{I-1°DirY}*8→ScrollYOffset
ʟUpdatePlayer→UpdateState
End
End
If getKey(15)
ʟUpdateQuit→UpdateState
End
Pause 16
Return
Lbl UpdatePlayer
If ScrollXOffset<<0
ScrollLeft()
End
If ScrollXOffset>>0
ScrollRight()
End
If ScrollYOffset<<0
ScrollUp()
End
If ScrollYOffset>>0
ScrollDown()
End
If ScrollXOffset=0 ? ScrollYOffset=0
ʟUpdateGame→UpdateState
End
Return
Lbl UpdateQuit
1→Quit
ReturnThis somehow causes the program to quit straight to the homescreen. I tried to figure out the cause of this by commenting out different lines and testing. If I comment out the lines that dealt with either horizontal movement or vertical movement and scrolling, the program executes just fine. However if all 4 lines of code are present it results in an immediate quit to homescreen. This should be impossible since the game screen hasn't even been drawn. It skips any execution of code and seems to instantly quit and I cannot for the life of me understand why. I'm really hoping that you might have some insight. I can provide the entire source so you can test it yourself if you would like.

I think I am going to do a full and final rewrite of this project. I'm encountering issues that I do not understand and quite frankly it has been very frustrating. I feel so helpless not knowing why my code behaves the way it does. Things that used to work no longer do with little to no modification. And I don't know if it's because of mistakes I made as a programmer or something I don't know about the language/calculator. I really really wanted to create a good game but it feels like I've been fighting the language at each step.

Way way late, but thanks to both E37 and Zeda I was able to implement a working A* Algorithm in my game. The source for the project is on Github here: https://github.com/kiloments/axe-rl
I've been pretty inconsistent in working on it, but recently I started back up again. I've reached the point where I need to make the program into an app. I thought it would be as simple as change from compiling to No Shell to Compiling as an Application, but once I did it looked like the my appvars were somehow being corrupted. When I moved around the map random tiles would get changed when I left an area and came back to it. The attached gif illustrates what I mean.

You can also see a little confused slime walking outside the map. This is because the DistMap appvar I'm using to calculate the AI is somehow also being corrupted. It's initially spawned in the room that gets corrupted then wanders its way out ignoring collision. I even compiled an older working version to verify and it seems to confirm. Everything works as a program and not as an App. I would like any help in beginning to convert this project into an app. And any other advice/optimizations you may have. Thanks!

I've been trying to implement an A* Star algorithm in Axe, but I've been encountering a whole host of bugs or things I can't explain. I need help so I'm hoping that @E37 reads this. It is in this code where I also get a few appvar bugs. Here is the whole AI code so far.
..AI
L2+00->->^^oDistMap
L2+02->->^^oTargetX
L2+04->->^^oTargetY
L2+06->->^^oStartX
L2+08->->^^oStartY
L2+10->->^^oCurrX
L2+12->->^^oCurrY
L2+14->->^^oHCost
L2+16->->^^oGCost
L2+18->->^^oSize
L2+20->->^^oMinIndex
L2+22->->^^oRoot
L2+24->->^^oRIndex
L2+26->->^^oMinHeap
Data(~1,1,~36,36)->^^oAIDir
Goto AIEND
Lbl DoMobAI
DrawGame()
For(M,0,Mobs-1)
^^oMobArray+(M*4)->Mob
CalculatePath(NewX,NewY,{^^oMobX+Mob},{^^oMobY+Mob})
End
Return
Lbl CalculatePath
GetCalc("appvDISTMAP")->DistMap
Fill(^^oTargetX,400,0)
~3->Size
Fill(DistMap,1296,|EFF)
[r1]->TargetX
[r2]->TargetY
[r3]->StartX
[r4]->StartY
Ge\tDistance(TargetX,TargetY,StartX,StartY)->HCost
GCost->{(TargetY-6)*36+(TargetX-6)+DistMap}
Insert(TargetX,TargetY)
While 1
Extract()->A
GCost++
0->J
For(4)
A+sign{^^oDir+J}->T
T^48->CurrX
T/48->CurrY
(CurrY-6)*36+(CurrX-6)->C
If ({T+Floor}<2)?({C+DistMap}=|EFF)
Ge\tDistance(CurrX,CurrY,StartX,StartY)->HCost
Insert(CurrX,CurrY)
GCost->{C+DistMap}
End
J++
End
EndIf ((CurrX=StartX)?(CurrY=StartY))
Return
Lbl Parent
Return ([r1]-3)/6
Lbl LeftChild
Return (6*[r1])+3
Lbl RightChild
Return (6*[r1])+6
Lbl ShiftUp
While ([r1]>>0)?({^^oMinHeap+Parent([r1])}>{^^oMinHeap+[r1]})
Swap(Parent([r1]),[r1])
Parent([r1])->[r1]
End
Return
Lbl ShiftDown
While 1
LeftChild([r1])->MinIndex+3->RIndex
If RIndex<<Size
If {^^oMinHeap+RIndex}<{^^oMinHeap+MinIndex}
RIndex->MinIndex
End
End
Swap([r1],MinIndex)
MinIndex->[r1]
EndIf (Size<<MinIndex)?({^^oMinHeap+MinIndex}>={^^oMinHeap+[r1]})
Return
Lbl Swap
{^^oMinHeap+[r1]}->[r3]
{^^oMinHeap+[r1]+1}^^r->[r4]
{^^oMinHeap+[r2]}->{^^oMinHeap+[r1]}
{^^oMinHeap+[r2]+1}^^r->{^^oMinHeap+[r1]+1}^^r
[r3]->{^^oMinHeap+[r2]}
[r4]->{^^oMinHeap+[r2]+1}^^r
Return
Lbl Insert
GCost+HCost->[r3]
([r2]*^^oFloorWidth+[r1])->{[r3]->{Size+3->Size+^^oMinHeap}+1}^^r
ShiftUp(Size)
Return
Lbl Extract
{^^oMinHeap+1}^^r->Root
{^^oMinHeap+Size}->{^^oMinHeap}
{^^oMinHeap+Size+1}^^r->{^^oMinHeap+1}^^r
Size-3->Size
ShiftDown(0)
Return Root
Lbl Ge\tDistance
abs([r1]-[r3])+abs([r2]-[r4])
Return
Lbl AIENDFirst off, the appvar bugs that I have been getting. I am declaring the point for the DISTMAP appvar at the same time as the FLOOR appvar like so:
GetCalc("appvFLOOR",2304)->Floor
GetCalc("appvDISTMAP",1296)->DistMapI'm only editing the floor appvar. I do not resize this in any way. If I do not call GetCalc("appvDISTMAP")->DistMap again in CalculatePath(), then nothing will happen and the appvar doesn't get modified even though it exists. If I create the appvar in the AI code, then the pointers for the floor and the distmap somehow get mixed up and random garbage is scrolled in on the screen. The same thing happens if the distmap appvar already exists when I run the main program. However this only occurs for the distmap appvar as the floor appvar never has this issue. Also calling DelVar "appvDISTMAP" does nothing. Not sure how this works. Please explain appvars to me like I'm 5 because something is not making sense.
Another bug I experience is using custom named variables to hold function labels. If that's not something that's possible please let me know. I know custom variables are 2 bytes and I am making sure of that so I don't know what is going on there. It only works with Alpha variables.
Back to the MinHeap, my ShiftUp function seems to do nothing. I don't know where the logic is failing. Each entry in the MinHeap is 3 bytes. The first byte is the F Cost of a given tile and the 2 bytes after that are the tile's offset. I'm trying to sort by F Cost, so that the lowest F Cost is the root of the MinHeap. Is the problem with my ShiftUp function or the Swap function? Please help! Thanks 

You use the degree when you are first naming any constant. If you are going to use it as a variable elsewhere you no longer need the degree when using it. On the other hand, if you are using the named constant for its value, then you always need the degree.

I'm starting to think that this is just an Axe bug. I'm never resizing or deleting or recreating, just editing them. I "fixed" the problem by calling GetCalc again before I manipulate the appvar. I have another issue. It seems that signed comparison or signed operations don't seem to work.
I have a line of code that looks like this:
~8->{°MobOX+Mob}Later on I call a function that looks like this:
Lbl AnimateMob
For(I,0,Mobs-1)
°MobArray+(I*4)->Mob
If {°MobOX+Mob}>>0
{°MobOX+Mob}--
End
If {°MobOX+Mob}<<0
{°MobOX+Mob}+1->{°MobOX+Mob}
End
If {°MobOY+Mob}>>0
{°MobOY+Mob}--
End
If {°MobOY+Mob}<<0
{°MobOY+Mob}+1->{°MobOY+Mob}
End
End
ReturnHowever, despite being a signed comparison, it still treats {°MobOX+Mob} as some large number and decrements it instead. I've used the sign{} command but that only breaks it further. How do I do this? It's starting to feel like I really have to fight the language to do simple things. I've hand calculated the offsets so nothing is off there when I draw. It is literally not working with negative numbers. I've subtracted 8 instead, I've changed the comparison from signed to unsigned. I'm really at a loss here. Please help!