Here is the other game by the way: http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/109/10951.html (it was originally for the TI-82, 83, 85 and 86)

I found another Boulderdash clone, called Repton, but which doesn't work on my calculator... It makes it crash. That's a shame, because the game looked great, and also had a level editor. EDIT : It's not really a Boulderdash clone, as it's in fact a Repton clone, but Repton is a Boulderdash clone, so... never mind.

Interesting, I didn't know that one existed, probably due to the name change. Since it was made by Benryves it's probably for older OSes and shells. I remember for example that ARPGCs like Star Wars or Legend of Zelda: Hero of Hyrule only worked properly on Ion 1.4 and OS 1.12. In other setups they would crash half of the time on exit.

Also I'll give your game a try when I have some time.

Here it doesn't crash on exit, but just after displaying the level - I wasn't able to move the player. But I don't have any older OS (than 1.19) ! And I don't think it's possible to downgrade TI's OS, I read somewhere they added a security, but I can't remember in which version... The best thing to do would be to update the game, since its source code is included (in z80 assembly), although I can't do it since I don't know anything about changes between OS versions (maybe the BCALLs' addresses ?), and I would lack of time.

Thanks ! Then I recommend you to play the levels in the following order (increasing difficulty) : DISCOVER to discover the game (but if you already knows Boulderdash well, you won't need it), UNDERGROUD (which has real levels), and finally TERRIERS (where you can find more enemies).

I'm currently thinking of what to add in the next versions of the game. Here are some ideas, tell me what you think of these, or if you have any other idea. (Note : the way the game works, only 5 different new objects could be added.)

• Amoeba : Propagates until it gets enclosed, and then get transformed into diamonds or stones, depending on how much amoeba there was. I'd like to add it, but I need to improve the game's speed before because it'll require to loop on all blocks of the level for each frame. That's a reason why I need to remake the game in assembly. Additionally, I've tired to do their sprites, but I'm not satisfied with what I did.
• Moving walls : Walls which duplicate when there's free space directly next to them. However I won't be able to make any animation of the propagation, because of the way the game works. Note you won't be able to choose in which direction they can propagate, they'll move everywhere they can.
• Teleporters : This is the only object of this list that wasn't in the original game. It would be quite easy to add, but it's not really in the spirit of the original game... For those who know Boulderdash, this game is interesting because of its physics : each bloc can only interact with one of its neighbours, whereas teleporters would break this rule. Nevertheless, if I add them, you'll be able to make teleporters which lead to death, to another teleporter which can bring the player back to where he was, or to anywhere.

What do you think of these ? Any other idea ?

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Otherwise, I'm working on a level editor for Windows, which will generate .8xv files (and will be able to read them !). I've stopped making the TI-83+ version because of some problems, but I might work on it again later.

For speed issues you could always try to ask for some advice in the Axe section, as some people might be able to help you find coding alternatives that could help you speed the game up while still using Axe. Moving walls seems like a cool idea if that won't slow the game down too much (although slowing down isn't that much of an issue, it's more key responsiveness that needs to remain good). Would moving walls crush you? I haven't played the original in ages.

Also a level editor would definitively be great

For the time being I don't have any speed issue, but when I'll add moving walls and other blocks I'll need to add a loop to check all blocs before each frame : I'm quite sure the game will be slowed down a lot (especially for big levels which don't fit in the screen and need to be scrolled). And currently, the game is highly optimized and I don't see any other way the code could be organized, so I'll need to write the game in assembly. (And the code is so optimized that no one but me can read and understand it !)

By the way, I have other reasons to make it in assembly : first, it'll save some more bytes (I've already saved 1000+ bytes by writing some parts in assembly), and moreover, the code will be more readable, because currently I have a lot of ugly and unreadable parts in the code such as Asm(0A5E93D8D60CD00303230A5E...).

No, moving walls won't crush you - they just fill free space, and it's annoying because you can't go through them (and if you manage to explode some of them, they'll be regenerated). I'm still working on the level editor, for Windows, which will work with 8XV files. I've done approximately 40% of the work. It'll perhaps be ready for next month...

Still thinking of what to add in the next versions of the game. Here are some ideas... tell me what you think of them.

• Teleporters, moving walls, and amoeba : see description here.
• Stone generator : An idea I had... I thought why not adding a stone generator, which will create new stones under it when there's free space. It could have a certain interest in some kinds of levels, to fill the map with stones and trap the player. Another use would be to put a magic wall under it, to create a diamond generator.
• Lava : I think this already exists in some Boulderdash-like games. The lava propagates and destroys everything (except maybe walls and stones), and kills the player if he touches it. This can be quite interesting too.
• Clocks : In future versions of the game, I'd like to add a limitation in time for each level (the remaining time will be written in a bar at the bottom of the screen, probably with other information such as the number of diamonds required). Each time the player will find a clock, the time left will be increased.

The problem I have, now, is that these are 6 ideas, whereas I can only add 5 objects to the game. What do you think ? Which is the least useful ? Should I add a pool poll to this topic ?

Just don't make time limits extremely tight like in Crystal Towers 2 where you had to play the game frame by frame to beat a level. Lava would be nice too.

Yes, don't worry, I'll put large time limits in my levels. And people will be able to choose the time available for each level in the level editor, so they'll be able to adapt the time to the level's difficulty. By the way, I could maybe add a difficulty mode which then requires to collect more diamonds in less time... Anyway, these features aren't for right now ! I'll take ages to convert the game in assembly, and then to add them, especially with school !

I'm still working on the level editor (Windows only), but I'm having some problems with my computer so it'll be delayed.

Will it be finished before my kids turn 65 years old, though? (I don't have kids right now )

I don't have the slightest idea... (Well, in theory, I should be able to finish it in less than 65 years.)

I've currently paused the development of the game, as I'm working on the level editor (and there's school).
I could then try to do some changes before trying to translate the code in assembly, because this step will require time.
However, I consider the game is nearly finished : the only things to add would be some new items and the time limit.
But if you want to see lava/amoeba/moving walls, then there's one thing for sure : you'll have to wait  !