James Vernon Interview (#1)

James Vernon Interview

burr 19 Jun 2012 22:42

Seeing as James Vernon is available for an interview, I think we should go ahead and start it.

For those people that aren't familiar with James, here is a brief summary taken from his wiki page:

James Vernon is a z80 assembly programmer for the TI-83/83+/86 calculators, and is most known for his popular series of Alien Breed games. He was a member of the TI-Calculator Programming Alliance (TCPA) from 2000-2002, one of the premier programming groups in the community at that time. He is also one of the longest active members in the community, having been involved since mid 1998.

Everybody can ask James any questions that they choose, and he will do his best to answer them. Enjoy!

Re: James Vernon Interview

burr 20 Jun 2012 00:25

I know people are probably hesitant to post questions, so I will start.

What is new in your latest version of Alien Breed over previous releases?

Re: James Vernon Interview

James_V 20 Jun 2012 06:25

Hey Burr :)

Planned improvements for AB5 are as follows. Some still aren't definite yet, but I'm determined to fulfil as many (hopefully all!) of them as possible:

• Mission objectives/text displayed before each level (already implemented)
• Better weapon variation, both functionally & graphically. AB5 has a flamethrower! :) (already implemented)
• Bigger levels. Currently planned at up to 60x48 tiles, as opposed to 32x32 in previous version (implemented but may need to be reduced if memory issues arise)
• Dynamic passcodes that will store your progress including ammo supplies, weapons, etc. In the previous version if you used a passcode, it only saved your level number, so you would start on a later level with basic weapons, which made it hard (still to be programmed, but will be definite)
• At least two difficulty levels, "normal" & "tough" for more of a challenge (still to be programmed, but will be definite)
• Enemy triggers will work more similar to how they did in the Team 17 Amiga versions, ie. triggers don't deactivate after spawning an enemy, they trigger each time the screen edge scrolls over the trigger point (still to be programmed, but I can't see it being a problem)
• A couple of extra enemy types. The initial release will most likely have the same enemies from the previous installment, but other types will be ready for additional levels down the track - this is a story thing (not programmed yet)
• Intex consoles (computers) have been reprogrammed to work more similar to the original Team 17 game, printing text the old terminal way (like the text in the teaser program, albeit printing the lines much faster). There will also be an option to fast track the "text printing" for those that have sat through it enough times :) (already implemented)
• Graphics touched up in various ways. I found AB4 had too many wall & floor variations that just made the screen look cluttered, so this time I've gone for the "less is more" approach to make things clearer. Also things such as power domes, intex consoles & alien eggs have been redrawn: power domes are now 16x16 as opposed to 8x8; intex consoles are 16x8; alien eggs are 16x16 (already implemented)
• Fire doors have been reprogrammed so that they don't automatically close when you walk through them. This was one of my biggest pet peeves in the past installments, which was really just lazy programming on my part. They are now activated to close by pressing [ALPHA] when facing them (already implemented)
• During boss fights, the screen will scroll so that the player is towards the bottom of the screen at all times so that it's easier to see the boss coming at you (not yet programmed, but shouldn't be a problem)
• When the player is hurt or picks up first aid kits, a health bar will temporarily appear at the left of the screen (not yet programmed but should be fine)

There are also a couple of other ideas from the original Team 17 games that I'm hoping to implement, although they're only concepts in my head at this point, so I won't bother bringing them up as I'm yet to attempt coding them whilst jugging with limited RAM.

Sorry that answer kind of got out of control, but I think that covers a lot of my ideas for this new installment :)

Re: James Vernon Interview

burr 20 Jun 2012 11:31

That is a rather impressive list :D

If you don't mind me asking, how much time have you spent working on the game?
On a related note, what is the timetable for the release of the completed game?

Re: James Vernon Interview

James_V 20 Jun 2012 23:50

I started on AB5 in April, but I had a period of about 4 weeks or so where I didn't get any work done on it due to a road trip with my band and then Diablo III coming out :P Other than that, I work on it whenever I have spare time outside of my full time job, band commitments & social life.

It's hard to predict a release date at the moment. I'm hoping to get the majority of the coding completed during the next 2 months or so, and then after that it's level design & testing. The plan is to release the game with a set of 12 levels, which will be the v1.0.0 full release :)

Re: James Vernon Interview

Jim Bauwens 20 Jun 2012 07:34

James,

You recently become much more active after several years (and you did so several times) of inactivity. What makes you return ?
Is it the community itself that attracts you, or just the fun of programming ?

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TI-Nspire projects of me:
nCreator | PCspire | Klondike Lua | LogoMagic | EEPro for the TI-Nspire | Other

Last edited on 20 Jun 2012 07:34 by Jim Bauwens Show more

Re: James Vernon Interview

James_V 20 Jun 2012 09:52

A bit of both actually. When I'm inactive on the scene, I still tend to check ticalc.org every few weeks to see what's being released. I always get a buzz out of seeing what cool games / programs people can put together on the TI calcs. Occasionally every 1-2 years I get a bit "programming-itchy" and get the urge to either: do some optimisations on an old game; try to pick up an old unfinished project and drag it over the finish line; or even start a new project.

Oddly enough, although programming was something I always wanted to do professionally, after I finished my studies in 2001, I did some casual programming work for a company that ran a bunch of laser cutting machines for about 6 months, and since then I haven't done ANY paid programming work. I've spent the last 9 years working for a lighting manufacturer & importer, where I now manage the logistics/purchasing/production side of things. The closest thing I do to actually programming in my job is setting up some basic SQL queries for reporting.

So yeah, I often start to miss hanging out on irc in the #tcpa channel, working on games, etc. Right now is probably the most active I've been in the community since around 2002. I've finally joined up on the forums at Maxcoderz, Omnimaga & Cemetech, I've made some minor updates to a few old games and now working on a new one. I have ideas for future projects after AB5, so we'll see how I go :)

Re: James Vernon Interview

stefan bauwens 21 Jun 2012 16:55

Have you considered trying to program in Axe?

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Re: James Vernon Interview

James_V 21 Jun 2012 23:46

Hey Stefan!

In short, no I haven't, but I do think that Axe is a great tool for BASIC programmers that want to take that next step and gain further control of the calculator with their programs, but who are struggling with actual assembly programming. The debates have been endless in regards to BASIC vs ASM over the years, so tools like Axe help bridge the gap. It's easy for assembly programmers to say that BASIC programmers should "just learn ASM" and that "it's really not that hard". But I can still vividly remember trying to pick up the Z80 language many years ago, and it was a little intimidating & took me months to get some confidence with it. So for people that might not feel like ASM is for them, Axe would certainly be the way to go :)

I'm fairly uneducated when it comes to the Axe language, so forgive me if I'm way off with this statement, but I'd still argue that pure Z80 assembly is still the way to go if you want access the full control & speed capabilities of your calculator. But like I said, ASM isn't for everyone, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that :) Programming on calculators is meant to be fun :)

Re: James Vernon Interview

burr 21 Jun 2012 22:05

What do you think about the current landscape of the community compared to the past? Do you think the community is dying?

Re: James Vernon Interview

James_V 22 Jun 2012 00:13

I think it's hard to measure. On the surface it does seem less active, but there are still new programs being released fairly regularly. ticalc.org still has programs being released and/or updated every week, and there are some really cool programs being made.

Around the time that I joined the community in 1998-99, it was only just breaking out from the underground so to speak, and it was really going crazy. There was all the early platformers like Penguins, Sqrxz, etc. being released & then ported to all the Z80 calcs, as well as shoot-em-ups like Spaze Invaders, and then Galaxian, then Phoenix, etc. Back then we didn't have things like iPhones, so having a handheld calculator that could be so powerful was an amazing thing. Having said that, I do actually have an iPhone now, and did at one point consider trying to do some programming on it, but I never really looked that far into it as yet.

So, I don't think the community is dying. I don't know much about the newer calculators like the Nspire, although I have read a few articles about how TI are catering more to the teachers with these new models and being somewhat restrictive in regards to people wanting to do low-level programming. However, as long as students are still using the TI-83+ series & TI-89 series calculators in class, I think the TI online programming community will still be around. The thing is that technology continues to evolve, so I guess the sad day will come where the 83+ / 89 ranges are rarely used anymore, but when that day comes, there will be people at that time that will evolve with the technology and find ways to hack into whatever is released and do cool things :)

Re: James Vernon Interview

burr 22 Jun 2012 05:18

There are only a few highly active sites now, whereas the activity was spread out across several sites in the past. In addition, while ticalc.org still has new programs being regularly released, the volume of programs is nowhere near what it was previously. The competition from other technologies has eaten away at much of the community, and the interest is simply not what it once was. It'll be interesting to see what transpires with the TI-Nspire…

Re: James Vernon Interview

James_V 23 Jun 2012 00:08

Yeah that's true, 10 or so years ago we also had Dimension-TI and TI-Files both with sizable archives. ticalc.org also had the mailing lists, which was where I got started with learning assembly. Plus everyone was running their own site as well.

Re: James Vernon Interview

burr 22 Jun 2012 05:10

What is your favorite community memory?

Re: James Vernon Interview

James_V 23 Jun 2012 00:15

Oh man that's a tough question, but the one thing that jumps out at me was just finding the community and being welcomed into it; everyone was happy to lend a hand and guide newbies in the direction of resources to learn assembly, explain how certain instructions worked, memory layout on the calculator, etc.

It's great to see that in that regard, things haven't really changed; you have sites like Omnimaga, Cemetech, Maxcoderz, etc. where you can go on the forums and there's always someone willing to help if you're having issues :)

Re: James Vernon Interview

burr 22 Jun 2012 05:19

Have you met any other community members in real life? If yes, who?

Re: James Vernon Interview

James_V 23 Jun 2012 00:27

I've met one, and I don't think I could have asked for a more popular one - Patrick Davidson! In early 2006, he mentioned to me on #tcpa that he was planning a visit to Australia, and he wanted to know where I lived so that we could hopefully meet up and hang out, so we did! He came to Melbourne and I met him in the city and we hung out, grabbed some lunch, then went for a drive to find some kangaroos out near my place. Unfortunately we had no luck finding any.. Ironically enough, I almost hit a kangaroo on the way home from a gig last night

But yeah it was cool, and Pat is such a nice guy. Thinking back now, I wish I had've taken a photo of us together, would've been good! He even had his old TI-85 with him! :)

I vaguely remember a few years back talking to Patrick Prendergast (tr1p1ea) and we worked out that we only live about 1.5hrs away from each other, so maybe we can arrange a meet up sometime :)

Re: James Vernon Interview

stefan bauwens 25 Jun 2012 06:57

What is your favorite calculator?

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Re: James Vernon Interview

James_V 25 Jun 2012 22:48

I'd probably have to say the TI-83, just because it was the one I was required to get for school and thus, what ultimately led to me discovering the TI community.

In terms of programming, I've spent most of my time with the 83/83+ and some on the 86 as well, and they've all been just as fun. I think the 86 was probably the simpler one just in terms of it having so much more RAM, and with RAM being somewhat easier to handle than the Flash memory on the 83+.

I have a couple of times started learning 68K assembly for the TI-89, but I've never actually programmed anything more exciting than a "Hello, world" program in 68K lol

Re: James Vernon Interview

blue_bear_94 26 Jun 2012 18:21

That's nice. The TI-83 is probably the easiest to use of all TI calcs. Also, did you ever program in TI-68k Basic?

P. S. I'd have to say that I like the TI-89.

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Sunrise 3 Progress: 30%
Size: around 20 KB, not including the save lists and in-game RAM.

Last edited on 26 Jun 2012 18:33 by blue_bear_94 Show more

Re: James Vernon Interview

James_V 27 Jun 2012 03:48

Mmm that's true, the TI-83 is very user friendly and probably the most straight-forward to learn ASM on.

I haven't tried 68K BASIC. I own a TI-89 that I bought years ago on ebay, but I haven't used it very much. Maybe one day I'll try to give programming the TI-89 a serious attempt :) It's certainly a powerful unit; I've seen some great looking releases come out for it over the years!