Author Topic: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)  (Read 22855 times)

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Offline calc84maniac

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Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« on: November 04, 2013, 12:16:18 am »
So, for a while now I've been working on a secret project (or perhaps not-so-secret if you've been on IRC at the right times). This is a clone/remake of the 8-bit sequel to the Steins;Gate anime/visual novel. Even though it's a non-canon spinoff, it does contain major spoilers for the original Steins;Gate story. It might not make sense unless you've watched/played Steins;Gate, which I highly recommend doing! (The anime is available for purchase or streaming online, and the visual novel is available for preorder here).

The game I'm cloning is meant to emulate the environment of old 8-bit computers in an old-school text adventure, which includes the low color depth and legacy sound hardware. The original game allowed selection of 6 different computers to emulate, each with slightly different graphics and music arrangements, but this port I'm simply basing on the TI-84+CSE constraints. I've included vector graphics display with 8-bit color as well as sound output through the I/O link port, using one of the simpler arrangements from the original game (this can be enabled through the options menu).

The demo available here contains the entire first segment of the game up until the opening credits, which should be the length of the free demo of the PC version. This includes 9 background music tracks (out of 18 total) and 16 different CG images, as well as 3 different endings. Just send the app to your TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition, and off you go!

Spoiler For Controls:
Any time:
MODE: Open pause menu

Menu:
Up/Down: Move selection
2ND/ENTER: Select/change option

Command entry (this stuff should be intuitive, but it's here just in case):
ALPHA: Press to switch between letter and number entry
2ND: Hold to type capital letters or switch predefined commands
F1-F5: Paste a predefined command (as shown onscreen)
Letters/Numbers: Type characters
Left/Right: Move cursor
Up/Down: Recall previous entries
DEL: Delete a character
CLEAR: Delete all characters
ENTER: Submit command
Spoiler For Command tips:
Here are some tips when entering commands in the game, because it can be slightly confusing. I've tried to make this version a bit more lenient than the original game as to what commands you can enter, but it helps to have the text adventure mindset.

There are usually three rules that valid commands follow:
1) If you want to move in a direction, simply type the direction. (left, right, front, back, up, down, etc.)
2) If you want to perform an action, simply type the action. (look, talk, eat, etc.)
3) If you want to perform an action on a certain object, type the action then the object. (look poster, kick can, etc.)
Spoiler For Using audio output:
In order to listen to the music in the game, you will need either a 2.5mm male to 3.5mm female adapter to plug in headphones to the I/O port, or else a pair of headphones that has a 2.5mm jack.

You will also need to enable audio output through the in-game options menu. You can either enable music only or both music and text sound effects, depending on your preference.
Obligatory screenshots:



Edit: Uploaded demo to archives.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2013, 02:18:04 pm by calc84maniac »
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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2013, 12:37:30 am »
O.O

Looks like I'll be busy more playing CSE games than coding in the next day or so. Also I was shocked at how fast vectorials and flood filling was in the Youtube vid a while ago, despite some of these scenes being so detailed.. O.O

So yeah I know that the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition is very limited in terms of speed (since it's a 15 MHz Z80 with a 16 bits 320x240 LCD display) and that if programmed correctly, games can still run at very fast speed, but now you truly pushed things 1000 times further. Not to mention the small game size despite the detailed graphics. If you used bitmaps for this, the game would have been several times larger.

On top of that, this is the only calculator game (other than the TI-Boy SE emulated games) to have sound quality similar to the 8 bit consoles. Every other calc game only had small beeps worse than the Atari 2600.

Here's a Youtube video of the demo (running on a real calc. I plugged a cable from the calc into my mic port for better sound quality):



« Last Edit: November 04, 2013, 01:56:28 am by DJ Omnimaga »

Offline Juju

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2013, 12:40:00 am »
That looks really awesome for a TI calc game, especially considering the fact the 84+CSE is fairly new and it has music.

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2013, 01:56:16 am »
I just uploaded a video on Youtube now. See post above for it.

EDIT: Btw, for those with no 2.5mm adapter, there is also the good ol' AM radio trick (tune in a channel with just static and place the calc near the radio). The sound quality will be bad, though.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2013, 02:09:27 am by DJ Omnimaga »

Offline Keoni29

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2013, 03:05:44 am »
I haven't even heard music this good in regular 84+ games :o Great job! Are the sound routines compatible with the monochrome models?
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Offline Sorunome

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2013, 07:58:27 am »
Wow, that just looks awesome! O.O

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Offline calc84maniac

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2013, 09:33:32 am »
I haven't even heard music this good in regular 84+ games :o Great job! Are the sound routines compatible with the monochrome models?
Yeah, they should be (at least with the 15MHz models).

I just uploaded a video on Youtube now. See post above for it.
Thanks DJ, looks great!
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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2013, 10:48:23 am »
I think you just made me want a CSE. Oh well, I might be able to borrow one from a classmate a little :P

Seriously, the music just sounds... unreal. When watching DJ's video, I couldn't even recognize that that was supposed to be coming from a calc.

Offline tifreak

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2013, 11:07:08 am »
Fantastic bit of work! Hope to see more soon :)
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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2013, 11:11:57 am »
You got that out of a calculator o.o This is amazing :thumbsup: You're really pushing me to get a CSE now :3

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2013, 11:35:30 am »
You got that out of a calculator o.o This is amazing ;D You're really pushing me to get a CSE now :3
You just have to win the contest :P

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2013, 11:44:48 am »
I think you just made me want a CSE. Oh well, I might be able to borrow one from a classmate a little :P

Seriously, the music just sounds... unreal. When watching DJ's video, I couldn't even recognize that that was supposed to be coming from a calc.
Yeah I was shocked when i heard the music. Even Project M music quality wasn't even close to this good and TI-Boy SE music pitch just constantly changed due to the emulator slowing down.

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #12 on: November 04, 2013, 03:33:30 pm »
I love the music, i could just listen to the game instead of my mp3 player ;)

This looks great, calc84maniac!

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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #13 on: November 04, 2013, 03:38:23 pm »
I haven't even heard music this good in regular 84+ games :o Great job! Are the sound routines compatible with the monochrome models?
Yeah, they should be (at least with the 15MHz models).

I just uploaded a video on Youtube now. See post above for it.
Thanks DJ, looks great!
Can you publish the source for that? Maybe make it into an axiom :D
« Last Edit: November 04, 2013, 03:38:36 pm by Keoni29 »
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Re: Steins;Gate 8-Bit (TI-84+CSE)
« Reply #14 on: November 04, 2013, 03:51:31 pm »
I haven't even heard music this good in regular 84+ games :o Great job! Are the sound routines compatible with the monochrome models?
Yeah, they should be (at least with the 15MHz models).

I just uploaded a video on Youtube now. See post above for it.
Thanks DJ, looks great!
Can you publish the source for that? Maybe make it into an axiom :D
That would be pretty cool if someone makes a tracker or something that can produce such music and an axiom that can take the output of said tracker.

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