I've decided to try to incorporate Axe into zStart. But since Axe is constantly being changed, I can't statically link to addresses within it.

So my request is a call table that's at a static location that outside programs can call. The only two calls I can see needing though are:
-Compile OP1
-Set Axe Hooks

I want the Compile OP1 so I can make a button that compiles an Axe program. Preferably, have it display everything it normally does when compiling a program, and then just return. With enough hacking, this might even allow for an on-computer compiler.

And the set axe hooks would be so that even after ram clears, you have Axe's token set.

So after implementing ZTrumpet's idea with changing Degrees/radians, I realized I can make it a lot better.

Things I changed:

• RawKey hook (chained to Omnicalc)
• ON + [SIN] changes degrees/radians
• ON + [-] molar mass calculator
• ON + [ + ] base conversion
• ON + [ENTER] restore zStart settings
• OFFSCRPT is only used if you have a picture

So what does this mean to you? As soon as Kerm fixes a hook chaining bug, (hook only chains on first DCS run,) everything but the picture on startup will be fully DCS compatible.

Also, there sure are a lot of buttons on that calculator... Anyone have any cool ideas?


Edit:
    A key combo to compile an Axe program would be cool, of course I'd have to get some cooperation from Quigibo. Just edit the program, and press [ON] + <some key>

Yeah, don't use solver++. I only partially implemented the lower screen. And it has some quitting problems.

Yes, the base conversion are part of zStart. And if you use them with omnicalc's ON+LOG, you can do math completely in another base.

Found it!!! (Even though I've still never had it happen in wabbitemu.)

I was using the flags to signal whether the font needed to be shifted or not. I was also using port (07) to read fonts straight from the archive. Anyone see a problem? For those who don't know, the flags are stored at $89F0 on ram page 1. I was swapping in a different page to the $8000-$C000 memory region. Therefore, I was not reading the flags but rather the archive.

Anyways, I fixed it. So here you go.

I personally really like this App.  It's a very useful background App that only interferes with DoorsCS.  If that could be possibly fixed, I could see this on every single user in the calc community's calc.  Well, that and adding 1.19 support.

Oh, one request: Can you make a certain key combination (maybe [On] + [Sin]) switch the calc from Degree/Radian mode to the other without having to enter the Mode menu?

DCS incompatibility cannot be fixed without disabling stuff. The problem is that there is only one OFFSCRPT, so you have a choice of either DCS or zStart. One option would be to save DCS's OFFSCRPT and run it after mine runs, but as soon as you run DCS, it's going to kill mine. One easy option would be to have a DCS option that individually disables things.

The Degree/Radian switch is a pretty good idea, I'll have to permanently chain a hook to Omnicalc, but I guess that's ok. The only thing I wonder though is can I find a hook that neither DCS nor Mirage uses that gets run when a key is pressed. If I can't again, I'll have compatibility issues.

A few random questions:
Can this be made to support calcutil?
How about krolypto?

I don't know the specifics behind krolypto and calcutil, but I would almost guarantee that they use OFFSCRPT. So they'll have to fall into that "disable for compatibility section."


I did some testing. Mirage uses the GetCSC hook, DCS uses the RawKey hook. But, thank you kerm, DCS chains whatever hook was there first. Which means that I can install a RawKey hook and chain it to Omnicalc. Three way chains are the best!

Edit:
    Good news also, the cursor hook is free. This means I'll actually have a way to erase degrees from the homescreen. (The RawKey hook only gets called on button presses)

Can this program remember the time stored in the calculator clock so it doesn't reset itself every time the RAM is cleared?

No, I don't think that's possible. In order to make that happen, zStart would have to gain control at least once per second so that it could write the clock to memory. This would mean that it wouldn't be running during Asm programs which are when ram clears would usually occur.

Also, each time the calculator crashes, the clock will slow down by the amount of time it is crashed. So after about 10 crashes, the clock might be off a minute.

And before you say it, OS mods won't work either. When the calculator officially crashes, all registers including the clock get reset and the clock gets set back to 1997. Same thing with a battery pull. I did patch it once, and all that happened was when it crashed the clock just got stuck on 1997.

^^that would actually be mad useful.

Also, can I ask for clarification on the molar mass/hex/bin>dec converter? I tried holding down - and + both on the homescreen and in the zStart menu, but I couldn't tell if anything happened...

Sorry, hold down + or - while turning the calculator ON. Also, make sure that you have run zStart since the last time you ran DCS.

I still think a basic opening database would be extraordinarily helpful. I don't imagine (I don't know, though) it would enlarge the file much, and therefore it would act more human in that respect. Also, what do you mean by "only looks at the last best 4"?

Also, in bullet chess, thinking is not necessarily significant for much of it. But the AI would have to be highly specialized to counter easy mates for it to be decent, which may make it either significantly enlarge the program or be a separate file, and is probably a lot of work... Yeah, it's probably not worth it. =)

Another quick thing— I've done some (in-class) testing, and once or twice it hasn't recognized it could checkmate me. Is checkmate priority at max?

For opening moves, I think I've figured it out. I'm not going to implement it until I can get some major speed increases, but I think that if the number of moves available before and after the move is made are counted, then it should make some pretty good moves. Obviously using this system, the best first moves would either be the queen or king pawn, which is exactly what we want. Plus, moving a piece to the center of the board opens up a lot of moves, and while the AI doesn't realize it, it is taking a powerful position.

When I do the AI, it keeps a running list of the four best moves it's seen so far. Each move gets a rating and if it is better or equal to the lowest on the list, it boots it off and takes its place. This of course causes a problem when all moves are rated the same (first move) which is why the right two pawns are always moved first.

With the version you have, checkmate is not even considered. But on my newest version, if one of the moves is checkmate, it gets a rating of like 4000. Speaking of which: I lost to the AI today. I both failed and succeeded at the same time. I made an AI that could beat me, and I lost to a calculator AI. Oh well, it just keeps getting better.

I don't know if your AI already does this, but I think you should specifically program the AI to prioritize controlling the center, especially early in the game. Right now the AI does strange moves half the time. It only really shines when more pieces come into play, limiting its options. I think making the AI prioritize controlling the center could really give the AI a significant boost in competency, especially when it's playing white. The AI isn't good at playing white because it doesn't really give much thought to the center, allowing you to take control of the game easily.

Of course, whether this would cause significantly more slowdown than there is already, I don't know... Maybe it could be an "hardcore" mode?

I agree with that, I was playing today and I realized that the main reason that it fails so bad is that it has a poor opening. The hard part is telling the AI how to move towards the center because moving towards the center should never put the piece itself in danger, and this is a possibility if I give center moves a value. Also, whatever system is in place should probably only last about 10 moves, because especially in a 3 piece checkmate situation, it is pointless.

One thing I'm going to do to fix this is make the AI consider more move choices, right now it only looks at the last best 4, which is why black always moves the rightmost two pawns. I might also give the move a bonus if it moves a piece away from a wall, but it would have to be small so that it wouldn't put the piece in danger.

There was another chess game with an ai... and programmable difficulty. I'm not criticising you, I'm saying this because it was open source and you could look at the code. I could find it if you want

Sure, I'd love to see it if you can find it, although I believe the one you are talking about is TI-Chess. It does have source but for one it is in C and I'm programming asm. I remember critor talking about this, and he said that he didn't even look at the AI code, he just got it from somewhere else. And lastly, the AI takes like 5 min to make a move and the 68k calculators are about twice as fast as the z80s. This means on the hardest difficulty it would take 10 minutes between moves and even then the AI isn't really all that great.

Edit:
   Sorry, missed a few posts.

Bullet chess
Chess960
Swappable chess piece "sets"

Bullet chess at the moment is not possible because to be fast, the AI would suck really bad.

Chess960 is a maybe, if I could work out the castling situation it would be pretty easy though.

Swappable piece sets will definitely be done. I'll probably also have just a plain letter set too for maximum readability.


@madskillz
    I'll try to use that sprite set when I add in sets. The only thing I worry though is that even zoomed in on that picture, I really couldn't tell the pieces apart.