well, i don't have an 85 (i did for a while, but...) but i'm glad to see that a great game like this is being ported to it. no save feature??? seems kinda strange... oh well. i've been wanting to see the final version of this game for a while now, and i'm glad to see that it's finally beginning to progress.

THe old automatic save feature had no restart option. Once you beat the game, you couldn't do anything else.

Yes, I recall that from when I played this on a friend's '83. Perhaps a better solution to this problem would have been to add a "delete saved state" option, rather than to omit saved games. Not that a one-level demo really needs saved games, but still....

Yes, I beat the game in 10 minutes, then there was nothing I could do!! I think it is a great game, but no replay value!!!! You need a new or continue feature, but good luck in the upcoming versions. It can only get better!!

-Joel

A reset option is easy to add. The real reason I didn't include a save feature was that I wanted to get a demo out before leaving for vacation. The Usgard & signs made a save feature take too long to impliment. The demo takes less than 15 minutes to beat anyway, so it's not that big of a deal. I'll probably do that when I return, as well as fixing a few unconfirmed bugs(for example, someone says that the shield doesn't work entirely correct) and adding animation to the shield(an option that I forgot to include).

oh yeah, i remember that now. maybe there should be a save feature like in Joltima, where you only save when you want to, and can start a new game any time. also, i remember that the demo of this game froze my calc quite a few times... i hope that's been fixed.

Yes,I played the TI-82 demo and it froze my calc alot. Of course, I was using ash at the time, and my calc always froze. I use CrASH now and haven't had a problem since.

On behalf of all TI-85 users, I would like to take this space to thank Sam Heald for the wonderful job he has done porting hit TI-82/83 games to the TI-85 calculator. We have watched patiently (and some of us impatiently) as game after game is turned out for the TI-83 and the TI-89. Heck, we '85ers are the only calc users to not have a playable Mario game!

Anyway, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Heald and others like him, we now have access to a number of high-quality games that were unavailable to us before. Not much is released for the TI-85 any more (boy, will it be good when Neontech II finally comes out), and the "old" games that have sat in the '85 ASM archives forever have grown somewhat tiresome. Thank you again.

-The Notorious Computerman
(Digitus sapiens notorioso)
President and Founder of CompuStarr

Not quite the only ones not to have Mario, since the only one for the 83 sucks and no one I know plays it. . .

if there were more levels, i think we would. where is the guy that made it???

I e-mailed the author regarding his game, urging him to finish it and giving him a few suggestions (like better graphics), but got no response. This game may only be a two-level incomplete demo, but what's there is pretty good. If the source is available (is it?) maybe someone should pick it up and complete it...it could be a good competitor against Super Mario 86 (where is Bill Nagel, anyhow?).

How can u have a program compete with another on a different platform? It's not even fair if it's a competition. BTW Bill has been gone for quite some time, where have you been? Also to the article above by nitorious, its more like watching 89 and 86 games come out :] not many 83 games have came out that i can recall? Well I'm glad to see this, good job Sam!

Sorry; used a poor choice of words when I wrote competitor. I meant something along the lines of "It would hold its own against Super Mario 86" (in that it would be just as good). Where have _I_ been, you ask? What do you mean by that? I'm not a programmer, just an average TI calc user. I was just wondering if anyone knew what ol' Bill was up to...

I'm not a real programer either, tho I know lots, and I still know Bill has been gone for a long time. He probally went on to college and found things that HE liked to do better. Geez I wish ppl would stop asking about him :]

Hey, I was just looking for a friend. His name is Bill Nagel. If you know where he might be, please tell me.

Yea, if we keep asking, he might actually come...


BIIILLLLLLLLLLLL!!!

might happen

As I have stated at various times in the past, I do not own a TI-83. I probably never will. However, I am in the common practice of borrowing other people's calcs to load them up with games, seeing as how I'm one of the few people at my school with a GraphLink. Anyway, I have played the '83 Mario game, and the only thing I can say is that it is a pity it wasn't finished. If it had been completed, it probably would've been better than the one for the TI-86. It already had more features: going down pipes and a distinction between walking and running, to name a couple. Had this been finished (preferably with a level editor, since it supports external levels), and there wasn't much left to finish, either, it would really have been a good game. But to quote Dennis Miller, "That's just my opinion; I could be wrong."

I agree! This version "felt" more like the original Nintendo version in that the gameplay was truer to the original...it even went one step better by allowing forwards AND backwards scrolling...plus throwing fireballs and going down tunnels is always cool! With more levels and better graphics, this would have dominated Bill's version (as long as it had external level support)! But to quote Colin Quinn, "That's my story, and I'm sticking to it."

while the 83 version may be good, the 89/92+ version (SMQ v1.0.1) is AWESOME!!! it's just like the original, AND it has an on-calc level editor (v9b).

Undoubtedly, Super Mario Quest is the best homebrewn Mario game for ANY platform. It's true to the original both in gameplay and graphics, has a level editor, and has all the neat little things like invincible, hidden boxes, swimming, and winged Koopa troopas that many other versions left out.

However, most of us (rather unfortunately), including myself, do not have TI-89's. Thus, we are looking for the best we can get with what we have. I myself have the worst calc as far is Mario is concerned (but definitely not the worst calc overall)... the '85. As has been debated throughout this thread, there is no functional Mario game for our calculator.

Hmm. I think I had a point that was relevant to the rest of this thread that I was building to. I just can't seem to remember what it is! :-) Anyway, as old as Mario may be, and as many different forms as he may have come in (platform games, rpg's... even a typing tutor), the people do not tire. One way for a budding programmer to earn a quick name for himself amongst the TI community would be to write a [grayscale?] Mario game for the TI-85, perhaps porting it to other calcs, and if he were REALLY ambitious, making cross-calc level compatibility (like Sqrxz).

What about MC-Mik?

I don't know about, but I have played a Mario game on the 85. Its called Super Mario Bros. v0.41 Alpha. It may not be much of a game, but it shows you that you are mistaken. So next time you feel like writting an open letter to a game author, please do your homework first. As for this version of Zelda, I think that this is good for 85 users, but I know that there are going to be better versions of Zelda that will come out for the 85 and 86 soon.

Jean Vásquez

Senior Vice President;
Dark Horizon Studios
www.discoverdhs.com

Actually, I was aware of that "Mario" game... the one where you move a blob to collect worthless coins. However, you should also notice that I said "playable" Mario games. Seeing as how it's an incredibly incomplete game, and the creator's homepage has ceased to exist, I don't really consider the thing playable. It's not Mario; it's an early development prototype.

So next time you feel like telling someone they're wrong in front of the whole world, please do your homework first :-).

That Mario for the 85 was playable. This Zelda is playable. Strangely enough, BOTH are only one level demos!!! So shut your yap, since here you are collecting worthless rupees that are not worth anything until you have more than one level in the game!

haa, u said rupees

The Zelda demo contains enemies, weapons, an objective, and one full dungeon that has enemies, a boss, etc. It is playable, yet not complete. What makes it so is that it can stand alone as a game... it just hasn't had all the levels added yet.

The Mario demo, on the other hand, lacks some of the most fundamental aspects of the game it was to be. It is really more of an engine test than a game. There is no object, no goal, no enemies, nada. It is about as playable as the Contra game that Erik Huizing never finished for ZShell. It is little more than a test of the game's interface. That is why I describe it as "not playable."

Thank you very much. It's just the beginning(rather the middle with my 85 ports of MegaMan, Mack 2, and FrAWgGuts already released). I have about 6 other half-done ports sitting on my HD, including Tetris Attack and my semi-popular Baseball '99.

"On behalf of all TI-85 users"
behalf of me? for what?

"I would like to take... thank Sam Heald for the wonderful job he has done porting..."
okay, i agree to that. sure.

"We have watched patiently... as game after game is turned out..."
umm, not too sure i said that.

"Heck, we '85ers are the only calc users to not have a playable Mario game!"
Definently don't want to agree to that.

Next time, don't speak for ALL 85 users if you don't know if they're opinion is the same as yours.

Thank you.

on a personal note, i defenintly do want to thank sam because just porting a game is just awesome

"i defenintly" want to tell you that you're being a bit idiotic with him. Give him a break!

BTW, he wasn't talking about you - where'd you get the impression that he was? :

>behalf of me? for what?
>umm, not too sure i said that.

sorry Mr. Grammer. But i dont really care u thikn bout my graaaaaaaaaaaamr

bet that really hurts huh. try to find 32 mistakes...
than u might be the real mr %^#( grammer

also, BTW isnt a real word is it? ouch. maybe u should spell check ur own ass

also he specifically said:
"On behalf of all TI-85 users," and that means me

got it?

hint: there are probably bout 5 mistakes in the first line

he wasn't even talking about your grammer, he just happens to be known to the TI commuinity as Mr. Grammer
You are dumb

Ha ha!

Ha ha! (Simpson's laugh)

Not dumb, ignorant, there is a disticnt difference.

Dumb is a state of mental sluggishness, where a person is aware of something but somehow screws up, does something unintelligable or what have you; ignorance is a lack of knowledge, not knowing anything about a subject, in this case, that "Mr. Grammar" was the guy's alias.

Also, he did correct his spelling on "definitely" so had plenty of reason to say some of what he said, he might not have wanted to be corrected.

And I am fully aware of the irony of me correcting you in this response, so don't bother pointing that out.)