Program: Corner Art Author: Andy Kay E-mail: andykay100(at)yahoo.com Version: v1.1 System: TI-83+ ------------------------------------------------ I DESCRIPTION: A unique drawing program that uses patterns of angle turns to create pictures. For example, a pattern of four right turns would create a small square. Depending on the patterns you input, drawings can be simple or elaborately decorated. It is MirageOS- compatible and less than 1k. See the pictures and readme for more info. New for version 1.1: -You can use the stored Str0 pattern to the draw same picture at a later time -You can now have your pictures centered in the middle of the screen ------------------------------------------------ II INSTALLATION: 1) Send CORNER.8xp to your calculator through TI-Connect or a similar computer program. It can be downloaded here: http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_ti_connect.html 2) You can either run CORNER.8xp by choosing PRGM >> EXEC >> CORNER. Or you can also use it through MirageOS, which can be found here: http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/139/13949.html ------------------------------------------------ III THE BASICS: Corner Art uses a combination of patterns of turns to create drawings. There are four different angle measurements you can use: Left (4 on the keypad): Makes a 90 Degree left turn Right (6): Makes a 90 Degree right turn Back (2): Makes a 360 Degree turn, going back the space it just traveled Forward (8 or any other key on the calculator): Goes straight A real pattern (I might refer to them as design codes) looks something like this: 466 In the above pattern, the line will turn left, then right twice. After each turn, the line will go a short distance before making its next turn. This distance can be lengthened with straight movements (by using 8) For example, both of the following pattern will create a small square. Try them in the program so you can see them for yourself: 4444 (4 Left turns), or 6666 (4 right turns) In each of these cases, the squares can be made larger with straight movements (8) 48484848 (4 left turns, with an extended straight movement between each. 68686868 (same idea) Here are some other simple patterns. Try them out: 4888448884 (a variation of the above. This will create a rectangle) 466466466466 (this will create a bubble plus-sign shape) 42424242 (first example of back turns. The little lines that stick out are the "2"s) 44664466 (makes a square wave that could continue forever) 46464666 (makes a diagonal zigzag that could also continue forever) ------------------------------------------------ IV UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS: In the last two patterns above, you probably noticed that the pattern repeated itself more times than you specified, even going off the screen. On the main screen where you input the pattern, take a look at the options above it. There are three of them: "+" Pressing "+" and then "ENTER" will give you the option of changing the size of your straight lines in pixels. The higher the number, the larger your patterns will be, but the smaller the number, the more you can fit on-screen. "*" This is the reason for the high number of repetitions in the last two patterns. With this option, you can change the number of times your pattern repeats. For example, set it to "1" and your pattern will be drawn once. Set it to "2" and the pattern will be drawn twice, etc. Using repetitions, some design codes can be made easier. Let's demonstrate this. Set the number of repetitions to "4" and enter this pattern: 4 See what happened? The pattern was drawn four times, so the actual pattern drawn was "4444", or the simple square you drew before. 466 This makes that plus-sign shape again. Unless you have some sort of pattern that could go on forever (like the zigzag "46"), you will never need more than four repetitions. To demonstrate this, set the repetition number to 20 (although the program says (1-4), this is mainly meant for people who have never even glanced at this readme, who might make an infinite pattern and get stuck waiting a long long time, get annoyed, and throw their calculator. It's safe to go over this limit), and use type this: 4 We still end up with the simple square. Although the pattern is technically repeated 20 times, the line theoretically starts drawing over itself after the first four turns. However, there is a piece of coding that recognizes when a pattern is about to draw over itself. This coding stops the drawing when that occurs so so you don't have to wait for it to do a pointless draw-over "/" Will redraw the pattern stored to Str0 (See Section VII: Conclusion) "-" Simple enough. A minus sign quits. It's best that you never ever ever quit. Note that the square size and number of repetitions are saved into memory when you quit the program. ------------------------------------------------ V TYPES OF DESIGN CODES All design codes fall into 4 major categories: 1) Never-Repeat: These patterns, if allowed to repeat at all, will immediately start drawing over themselves: 28 (very simple, will keep turning around and redrawing itself) 4262 (almost as simple) 4444 (when taken as a whole and not individual "4"s) As a general rule, Never-Repeats include all the patterns that will finish on the exact same pixel they started on and face the exact same direction (up). 2) Repeat-Once: These patterns can only be drawn twice before they start drawing over themselves: 4644 64646444 (a more complex version of the above) 66466464 3) Repeat-Fours: These make up some of the more interesting designs. 4666446 4644844666 646646446 6866686646446 (a more complex version of the above, and one of my favorites) 4) Repeat-Forevers: you've already seen two of these. Basically, these are patterns that, no matter how many repetitions, will never start drawing over themselves. You'd be wise to set your repetition number below 5 for these :-) 4466444666 664646646664 ------------------------------------------------ VI ADVANCED DESIGN In the last few patterns, you probably noticed my designs get more and more complex. There are a few different ways to discover new patterns: 1) Randomly hit some combination of keys that takes up anywhere from 1 to 8+ lines and see what happens. That's how I ended up with this: (broken down for simplicity, but all one pattern) 46464288646428886 46428286464282864 As much as I seem to shun this method, it actually turned out to be a neat design. 2) Although it takes a lot of time, and may be overkill and obsessive, you could take out a sheet of graph paper and map out what turns to make, and then type it in. It can have really neat and um, organized results: (broken down for simplicity, but all one pattern) 62824 682888284 6882888882884 6884 44284442 42484428 86662866 62468448 4884 68886 Important: note that changing even one number in this or any pattern could result in a drawing that is similar, yet very different from the original, and probably just as good. Try it. ------------------------------------------------ VII CONCLUSION Well, that's about it. By now, you should completely understand how corner art works, and be able to think of and draw your own designs (the entire point of the program). Two last things. By now, you've noticed that after every drawing, you are asked if you want to save your picture. If you choose YES, it will be stored as Pic0. Note: if there is already a Pic0, it will be overwritten! Also, you can choose CENTER FIRST to have the picture redrawn in the middle of screen. Note: Repeat-Forevers cannot be centered because of how they work. Afterwards, you will be asked if you want to store the pattern itself. If YES, it will be stored as Str0, overwriting any existing Str0. Also, at any time during drawing, you can press any key to return to the menu. Alright, then! I hope you find this program original and interesting. ------------------------------------------------ VIII OTHER STUFF Don't steal this idea, or write any programs like this without my permission first, or I will get angry. Um, I can't think of any FAQ, so... Questions or comments? E-Mail me at andykay100(at)yahoo.com Future Versions (depending on how popular this program is, I may or may not release them) 3D Corner Art (make 3D designs) Add diagonal directions (angles of degrees 45, 135, 225, 315) Other options, like horizontal and vertical lines? Random direction button? Whatever 10+ people suggest