A85: Rigel, where'd it go??

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A85: Rigel, where'd it go??

For those interested in the TI-85 OS/Shell known as Rigel, I have some
announcements.  First of all, you may have noticed a lack of following
for this new OS.  I apologize for this.  This is largely due to the fact
that I released the initial version 0.9 prematurely.  I probably should
have waited until I had better documented the shell, and provided a
better system for development.  Currently I am in the process of
revamping Rigel to an even better OS/Shell.  Stay tuned in the next week
for the official release of Rigel 1.0, coinciding with the launch of its
own support World Wide Web Page, The Rigel Vault.  Below are a list of
some of its features, along with the changes.  These may not be
important to most, but basically once software is developed to take
advantages of these features, you will hopefully start to confuse your
TI-85 for a Gameboy. (* denotes a change with Rigel 1.0)

- Full ZShell Support
- Fixed Address Relocation
  * No longer use Video Memory as the buffer (no more annoying garble)
- Daisy Chained Interrupts
  * Easy method of Removing interrupts
  * Interrupt vector is now within Rigel
- Dynamic Link Libraries
  * the Fixup Table within all Rigel strings is now located at the end
    of the programs, meaning libraries can easily be expanded on with
    complete downward compatibility (as the location of the routines
    doesn't have to change).
- TSR support
  * TSRs can exist outside of Rigel (wait 'till you see the program that
    showcases this new feature!)
- JP Table for ROM Calls
  * will include Variable functions (delete, resize, create, etc.) as
    part of a library 
- Contrast change, automatic and manaul power down

All of these features, including a user-interface (the shell), in a
package less than 1500 bytes.  I can understand one not wanting to
abandon their completely capable OS/shell, as their isn't much support
software for Rigel.  The reasons, however, are there to program for it. 
I, myself, plan on releasing grayscale versions of Tetris, Dr. Mario,
and some sort of shooter following the release of Rigel.  If not the OS
itself, maybe these games will convince you to try out Rigel.  Thanks
for the time.

Ben Sferrazza
bens@eden.rutgers.edu
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