March 2000 news

Worm news 3.March.2000

I just fixed the respawn procedure (and removing worms) and made it quite a bit smaller (downto 3444 bytes).
Again having some trouble with that link-routine. I want it to be a lot faster and smaller.

Somtin 'bout this site 5.March.2000

Here's my monthly overview of the hits for february 2000 (total of 172; keep on comin!).

At the bottom of this page I made a worm status bar showing you how far Worm's done. Some sections updated; 71 reviews at my 86-reviews page now.

17 years 10.March.2000

Last monday (the 6th) I became 6210. Amazing, isn't it? And guess what, I've bought myself a new monitor!! A 17" Trinitron (CTX PR711F). Looking really great! I don't know whether I'll make better programs now, but it does mean I'll have less 60Hz-related headaces. By the way, although it's four days ago already, you can still send me presents and stuff (or congratulate me with my new screen =)

Pterodactyl / Worm 12.March.2000

A li'l something about the Ptherodactyl memory expander: Worm will almost certainly not work correctly with this program installed! I use that space for data storage (virtual screen and positions of all worms).

New Worm feature: the peaworm-mode. You have to eat as many peas as possible in a single level. Added this mode to replace the original Peaworm completely (for the ones who would've kept Peaworm besides my Worm it saves 700 bytes) and it was very easy to add.

Worm news 17.March.2000

AT LAST! Fixed the line-routine (some lines weren't displayed correctly) so I can start making some nice levels with exotic lines. And that's not all: the highest score of singleplayer games will now also be saved (hiscore visible at the stats-screen). And finally, I've added a bouncing ball in some levels! It just bounces against all walls and looks cool. You mustn't scrawl onto it, but it's not very big. I'll make a screenshot showing these new features soon.

New Worm screenshot 19.March.2000

Here ya go, a new animated screenshot. Because the first level(s) are a bit boring (empty, one line, etc.) I changed the levels a bit so you can see my latest improvements: In the first level you see lines are displayed correctly, and the just added - already famous bouncing ball. The second level shows scrolling which I just fixed today (it didn't work because I implemented a new findpixel which didn't support y>64). Then I attempt a brief four-player deathmatch which shows the thirth worm doesn't act weird anymore (yep, I fixed that too). Hope everybody's happy now; I know I am — all major bugs I'm aware of fixed.

BTW: In the MS Explorer the gif slows down, the real game is much faster.

FindPixel/Line-Routines 22.March.2000

For Worm I looked at some TI-86 Findpixel- and linedraw-routines to see which one I could use best. I put all of them, together with their properties (size, time, used/destroyed registers) in one file which you can download here so everyone can see my findings and safe time. A comparison-table can be found at my ticalc page. You may find it useful. (BTW smallest Findpixel is Snake86's: 25 bytes, the fastest one is ZAPO's: 104 cycles!)