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DarkBASIC Discussion / The DB Classic Programming Challenge Thread

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NanoGamez guy
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Posted: 29th May 2008 12:36
Cool challenge TDK! I'll start on that right away.


What are the chemical formulae of:
Sodium Nitrate, Gallium, Manganese and Einsteinium
Latch
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Posted: 30th May 2008 02:25
Congratulations TDK ! That was fun. Reminds me of an old game called Type Attack!

Enjoy your day.
Insert Name Here
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Posted: 1st Jun 2008 16:02
I might rise from the depths like Cthullu and join in this one. Always nice to dig out DBC again.

Lee Bamber - Blame Beer
Libervurto
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Posted: 1st Jun 2008 23:07 Edited at: 1st Jun 2008 23:09
I'm actually at a computer!
Not mine though

Here's a pretty lame start that will hopefully win when no-one else bothers to enter


It looks very small. Are high score tables supposed to take up the whole screen? How the heck do you fill up a screen?... Random stuff!!

[edit]

yes the smilies are back!

Quote: "I might rise from the depths like Cthullu and join in this one. Always nice to dig out DBC again."

Dig out? You burried it?
Have you got DBP now or something or is it just under a pile of clothes?

It is far better to complete a 10 line program than to start a 10,000 line program.
LBFN
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2008 12:55 Edited at: 18th Jun 2008 06:08
The challenge is for ten scores.

I like the background and the winner's cup. You should make everything much bigger in order to take up more room on the screen. Centering it would help too.

LB


Insert Name Here
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2008 14:19 Edited at: 2nd Jun 2008 14:40
Quote: "Dig out? You burried it?
Have you got DBP now or something or is it just under a pile of clothes?"

I just haven't been using it for a while. I bought FPSC but... Yeah. No.

EDIT: This is a very rough idea of what I'm aiming at:


Lee Bamber - Blame Beer
Sinani201
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Posted: 4th Jun 2008 05:11
Ahem... INH, I think someone's name on the high scores should be replaced with Lee... and that name starts with an "S". Now, I wonder who that could be? (Just kidding, I really don't care where I go on the high scores). But at least give me more than 9,201,532 points. I did well on that game! (9,201,533 is a good value).

Your signature has been erased by a mod because it's larger than 600x120
Latch
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Posted: 5th Jun 2008 19:46
Here's an example where I pulled out a few old bitmap and matrix tricks. I used memblocks, I'm not sure if that disqualifies the entry or not. Anyway, it's a bit heavier on processing than I expected and might be slow; it's not optimized. It's really the shimmering water effect that's eating up the FPS - but if you have a fast computer, it might run ok (maybe too quickly to read the scores!).



Enjoy your day.
NanoGamez guy
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Posted: 5th Jun 2008 21:07
I didn't realise the deadline was so soon!
Here's my entry:


It's slow, because there are so many polygons.
Use the up and down keys to move through the hiscores.
It's very messy code because I didn't have time to sort it out, but it works.


What are the chemical formulae of:
Sodium Nitrate, Gallium, Manganese and Einsteinium
LBFN
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Posted: 5th Jun 2008 21:18
NanoGamez guy
Really a fresh way to show the high scores. Nice job.

Latch
Cool idea also. The lettering was a little hard to read, but still cool nonetheless.

LB
Irojo
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Posted: 6th Jun 2008 04:16 Edited at: 7th Jun 2008 02:08
TDK Man-
Nice game, I noticed on your final version two things that you should fix if you want to make it a game. First, if I get a question wrong, and then Press 'q' before the "Oops wrong answer" message leaves the screen, it get's stuck on the main menu until I start the game again. O_o


EDIT: I think I might just enter in this one... I'm not the greatest and I know I won't win... but it'll still be fun!

It's far better to write a funny signature then to write one of lines.
Irojo
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Posted: 7th Jun 2008 02:25 Edited at: 7th Jun 2008 02:27
Ok, here's my entry. It's.....flashy...





Sorry for my lack of skills but I thought I'd enter..

The challenge is over, but I think I remember that we can still enter until The Person who sets the challenge says it's over?

It's far better to write a funny signature then to write one of lines.
Libervurto
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Posted: 7th Jun 2008 04:36
@Irojo
You'll soon improve if you take part in these challenges.
Although your code does show a lack of experience, it is logical (which is more than can be said for many novices).

Your code has three major flaws that I can see:
1. it isn't indented
2. your gosub never returns.
3. you have several lines that only differ slightly in parameters. This can be eliminated by learning how to use FOR loops more efficiently.

It looks like the only reason you made a gosub is because the code was getting cluttered; that's a good sign but you're not using it properly.

OK enough lecturing, now I'll give you some help...

When coding anything that has multiple similar entities (eg scores, names), it's always possible to make a routine where "one and many are the same". What I mean by that is no matter how many entities there, each will be processed in the same way; they may have different outputs but the process is always the same.
Here's an example:


It is far better to complete a 10 line program than to start a 10,000 line program.
Libervurto
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Posted: 7th Jun 2008 04:54
[sorry forced to double]
in the above example all 8 instances are very similar, the only difference is their y position; I used the changing for-loop counter variable (y) to set different heights.
You can also use the counter to change what text is displayed: we have to make a string array that uses corresponding numbers, then we store the text in the numbered array fields:

Now how would we edit the first example to show the different words?
I'll leave that for you to work out.
I'm tired.

@TDK
can you merge these posts into one sorry had problems and can't copy and paste on PS3

It is far better to complete a 10 line program than to start a 10,000 line program.
Latch
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Posted: 7th Jun 2008 11:27
Sneaking in another entry:




Enjoy your day.
LBFN
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Posted: 7th Jun 2008 12:29
Latch

That is a cool way to show the high scores. You are a creative fellow.

LB
Latch
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Posted: 7th Jun 2008 20:45 Edited at: 7th Jun 2008 20:51
@LBFN
Thank you!

Here's an adjustment to the positioning of the display - a little less jerky :




Enjoy your day.
Tone3e
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Posted: 9th Jun 2008 04:01
wow latch, thats pretty cool. I had an idea but never got around to coding it. oh well, excuses excuses, i know.

[center]
Come see the WIP!center]
NanoGamez guy
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 18:37 Edited at: 11th Jun 2008 18:37
It's 6 days since the challenge was supposed to end, what's happening?


What are the chemical formulae of:
Sodium Nitrate, Gallium, Manganese and Einsteinium
Libervurto
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 19:24
I think TDK has forgotten that he set the challenge.

In TDK's absence, the last challenge master is the only one who can pass judgement and so save this thread.
Who will accept this perrilous quest and journey to the other side of the page to seek out the last challenge master?
Now that's a game!

It is far better to complete a 10 line program than to start a 10,000 line program.
Latch
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 19:36
@Tone
Thanks!

@All
Sinani was the runner up from the last challenge so I think he is in line to judge.

Enjoy your day.
Sinani201
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Posted: 12th Jun 2008 03:16 Edited at: 12th Jun 2008 06:23
Me???? Maybe we should wait one more day for TDK to set the challenge... to make it a week. For that time, I'll think of something, just in case he doesn't come back.
[EDIT]
MY BEAUTIFUL SIG GOT ERASED!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!
[EDIT]
Made it smaller. (and added a slogan. Does anyone like it?)


Project I am working on: Super MMORPG. Phenomenal graphics. Unique gameplay. Supports up to one player.
NanoGamez guy
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Posted: 12th Jun 2008 18:45
@Sinani
I think you should wait until tomorrow (a week after the dealine) and judge the current challenge. You won't have to set the next challenge, just judge this one.

I think that waiting a week is too long an this thread might die!


What are the chemical formulae of:
Sodium Nitrate, Gallium, Manganese and Einsteinium
LBFN
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Posted: 12th Jun 2008 19:36
To quote from the rules:

Quote: "9. If the challenge setter fails to judge entries or set a new challenge within 24 hours of the deadline, responsibility for judging and setting a new challenge will pass to the previous runner up. If that person also fails to act promptly, entrants may vote for a winner and new challenge.
"


Sinani201 was the runner-up to the last challenge, therefore, he should judge this challenge promptly, as 24 hours past the deadline was several days ago. Obviously TDK is having computer troubles or something else is preventing him from responding.

LB
Sinani201
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Posted: 13th Jun 2008 04:22 Edited at: 14th Jun 2008 02:16
Ok then, I'll judge the entries

Challenge: Make a highscores table

Champion Cup highscores list - By OBese87
Cool champion cup and fading background, but it didn't fill up the screen. (Wait... how do you fill up the sceren? Random stuff...)
There's nothing else to really say about it... (it also lacked realistic names and scores for the players... but that doesn't really count.)

"Flashy" highscores viewer - By Irojo
It was, as said, "flashy." The animation at the beginning where the top 3 (or is it the top 2?) are shown. The only problem was that when all highscores were shown, they were crammed and hard to read.

Rolling Cylinder On Matrix highscores list - By Latch
Cool and creative way to show the highscores. The cylinder rolling over the bumps was really cool, but sometimes the names would get cut off the screen, and additionally you could never see all the highscores at once.

Scrolling revealer highscores list - By Insert Name Here
Cool 'revealer' effect. However, besides that, it was kind of boring because you used plain text (and it didn't fill up the whole screen).

3D Highscores text viewer w/ moving camera - By NanoGamez Guy
Cool way of showing highscores in the Third Dimension. You could even move around with the camera! The only problem was that the text was hard to read. (it looked as if the text was cut off in the darkness.)

And... the results.

The runner up:


Last but not least... the winner:


Congratulations to the winner, and I'm looking forward to seeing the next challenge.


Project I am working on: Super MMORPG. Phenomenal graphics. Unique gameplay. Supports up to one player.
Latch
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Posted: 13th Jun 2008 15:09
Are you sure you looked at all of the entries? What about Nano and INH?

Enjoy your day.
Sinani201
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Posted: 14th Jun 2008 02:04
Oops! Sorry to the people who I missed, don't take it personally. I'll update the summary post.


Project I am working on: Super MMORPG. Phenomenal graphics. Unique gameplay. Supports up to one player.
NanoGamez guy
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Posted: 14th Jun 2008 13:39
Congratulations Latch! Looking froward to the next challenge!


What are the chemical formulae of:
Sodium Nitrate, Gallium, Manganese and Einsteinium
Latch
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Posted: 14th Jun 2008 22:40 Edited at: 15th Jun 2008 06:21
Scrolling Matrix Challenge

Deadline : Sunday June 22 2008 midnight gmt

The object of this challenge is to do something with an endless scrolling/scrollable matrix. What you do is up to you. You could for example, just move the camera around endlessly (though that would be a bit boring), or you might have someone/thing running or driving over uneven terrain. Maybe a marble madness type thing - whatever you can think of... I've included some sample code to get you started if you are having a bit of trouble. This code is right out of the rolling cylinder from the last challenge.

Creativity, playability (if a game) will be awarded higher marks.





Enjoy your day.
Libervurto
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Posted: 15th Jun 2008 04:58
Is it ok if i do a 2D version as i don't have a pc? (i have an old BASIC for PS2)
It'll still be a matrix but using arrays.

It is far better to complete a 10 line program than to start a 10,000 line program.
Latch
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Posted: 15th Jun 2008 06:23
Quote: "Is it ok if i do a 2D version as i don't have a pc"

Sounds ok to me. Should be interesting.

Enjoy your day.
NanoGamez guy
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Posted: 15th Jun 2008 13:29
here's my first entry, just a simple screensaver:




What are the chemical formulae of:
Sodium Nitrate, Gallium, Manganese and Einsteinium
Irojo
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Posted: 15th Jun 2008 18:49
Due to my massive experience in programming... (go figure) I'm not going to enter for this... (go figure)




Nano:
The challenge said endless... (nudge nudge) :


It's far better to write a funny signature then to write one of lines.
NanoGamez guy
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Posted: 15th Jun 2008 19:58
why isn't it endless?


What are the chemical formulae of:
Sodium Nitrate, Gallium, Manganese and Einsteinium
Latch
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Posted: 15th Jun 2008 21:37
@Nano
I'm getting dizzy!

@Irojo
You should give it a shot anyway. You only learn by learning! Just taking the two snippets I posted in the challenge, sticking in a DO LOOP and a sync rate already starts the ball rolling so to speak:



If you try, you might come up with something you like and learn something along the way. If you don't try, well...

Enjoy your day.
Sinani201
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Posted: 16th Jun 2008 01:20 Edited at: 16th Jun 2008 01:32
@Irojo
It is endless. Since it's a screensaver, when you move the mouse or press a key, it ends.
I am also going to use that as my screen saver, if you don't mind.


Project I am working on: Super MMORPG. Phenomenal graphics. Unique gameplay. Supports up to one player.
Libervurto
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Posted: 16th Jun 2008 01:29 Edited at: 16th Jun 2008 01:35
@nano
I'd have written your exit code like this:
first change your inner loop to a while endwhile and remove the outer loop that is never used.

then your program would exit the loop and end in a more natural and fluid way.
Dealing with values in a mathematical way (as opposed to logic operators) can simplify long lines and allows you more control to manipulate them.

It is far better to complete a 10 line program than to start a 10,000 line program.
Irojo
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Posted: 16th Jun 2008 18:45 Edited at: 16th Jun 2008 18:54
Does this fit the challenge...?




Please tell me if it fits the challenge, then help me to improve it even if it doesn't.

And yes... it is kind of intense...

"Your a nerd Irojo."-person 'Am not.'-Irojo "Yes you are."-Person 'No. I play RuneScape.'-Irojo "Loser then."-person 'G1v3 1t up pl0x.'-Irojo
Libervurto
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Posted: 16th Jun 2008 19:45
@irojo
please indent your code
You should almost never have to use the exit command, use a repeat until or while endwhile loop instead. You should use while here:

This way, the program will end the loop as soon as the mouse is clicked or a key is pressed. Much better than asking it to jump about.

It is far better to complete a 10 line program than to start a 10,000 line program.
Irojo
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Posted: 16th Jun 2008 21:58 Edited at: 16th Jun 2008 22:06
Ok. I'll indent my code too...
[EDIT]
And...here it is...
Is it neater? Is there something that I should do to my indents?



"Your a nerd Irojo."-person 'Am not.'-Irojo "Yes you are."-Person 'No. I play RuneScape.'-Irojo "Loser then."-person 'G1v3 1t up pl0x.'-Irojo
TDK
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Posted: 18th Jun 2008 23:47
Sorry everyone - I'm back!

They have built a row of new houses across the road from me in the village and a very intelligent telecom engineer gave them all new phone connections.

Unfortunately, the idiot disconnected everyone on our side of the road to do it! Grrrrr...

I've had to have a new phone number and when that was eventually installed, had to re-apply and wait for a new ADSL line.

Over two weeks later and I'm finally back on-line. I daren't run Outlook Express after so long without checking my email - it's going to take hours to download all that spam...

TDK_Man

LBFN
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Posted: 19th Jun 2008 00:02 Edited at: 19th Jun 2008 00:04
Just like I said....
Quote: "Obviously TDK is having computer troubles or something else is preventing him from responding.
"


Sorry about all of the trouble TDK. I'm sure the company will rush to send you a check to compensate you for the inconvenience (yeah, right). BTW, I thought that engineers never made mistakes

Anyway, glad you're back.

LBFN
TDK
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Posted: 19th Jun 2008 00:13


They've given me two months free internet access and 60 minutes free calls to mobiles per month. If I argue, as they are a monopoly they will just cut me off again, so it's not worth bothering...

TDK_Man

LBFN
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Posted: 20th Jun 2008 00:18 Edited at: 20th Jun 2008 16:43
I am working on a mini-game to submit as a challenge entry. Here is a pic of it so far:



[EDIT: I didn't like the way that the mountains were textured, so I changed it.]

No code is being posted yet. I still have to work on the 'endless scrolling' part, the enemies taking evasive action (though they're pretty hard to hit already), having the enemies shoot at the player and lastly, having the enemy ships collide with the player. We'll see what all is done before the deadline.
LBFN
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Posted: 21st Jun 2008 06:15 Edited at: 21st Jun 2008 06:18
Hmmmm....doesn't seem like too many people are getting involved in this challenge. Anyway, here's my entry:


It is an outer space shooter located just above a planet. You have to fight off wave after wave of enemy tie fighters. The controls are listed in the code. There is something about blowing enemy ships to smithereens that I just enjoy.

LBFN

NanoGamez guy
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Posted: 22nd Jun 2008 00:40
Great entry LBFN! I can see what you mean about blowing up the ships!


What are the chemical formulae of:
Sodium Nitrate, Gallium, Manganese and Einsteinium
LBFN
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Posted: 22nd Jun 2008 04:17
NanoGamez guy

Thanks

BN2 Productions
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Posted: 22nd Jun 2008 12:01 Edited at: 22nd Jun 2008 12:03
Well, here is my entry. Not great, but I was mostly experimenting with getting the terrain-based rotation to go from theory to reality. I think it worked pretty well. It is essentially just a box (pretend its a car just for kicks and giggles) driving over the endless terrain. The up and down keys control speed and the left and right keys allow you to strafe. Use the mouse to rotate around the 'car'

It generates the texture for the ground at first, so don't freak out when the screen turns green with dots on it.


Ever notice how in Microsoft word, the word "microsoft" is auto corrected to be "Microsoft" but "macintosh" just gets the dumb red underline?
NanoGamez guy
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Posted: 22nd Jun 2008 13:44
Here's my entry.



Use the left and right arrow keys to move and spacebar to fire. The top colour that you can move with the arrowkeys is the current colour and the one below it is the next colour. My highest score is 67500. Can you beat it?


What are the chemical formulae of:
Sodium Nitrate, Gallium, Manganese and Einsteinium
Latch
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Posted: 22nd Jun 2008 21:24
I have a few guests here from out of town and may not have time to judge entries after the deadline. Would it be okay with everyone if we extend this two days or so to Tuesday midnight gmt? If not , I'll try and give the entries a fair shake and render a verdict.

Enjoy your day.

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