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Site URL
http://www.rbdc.com/~butler/stufdoll.htm
Founders
Colin Butler
Founding Date
Spring 1997
Years Active
1997 to 1999
Programmed For
TI-82
Languages
TI-Basic
Aliases
Stuffy Doll
Affiliations
Stuffy Doll Productions was a TI-Basic programming group that programmed for the TI-82 graphing calculator.
Group Significance
They made several quality TI-Basic games including Tower: Ascent of the Avatar (3D maze RPG), TI-Chess, BlackJack, Nibbles!, Art of War (turn-based strategy game), Foxhunt:Halcyon (space shooter), and El-Hazard: The Magnificent World (a complex RPG).
Group Contributions
- List of their programs and games
- Include a screenshot for some of their best games/programs
Group Staff
- Colin Butler (Ford Prefect) — founder
- John Lamb (Pinball Wizard)
- Andrew Tompkins (Tralfamadorian)
- Loren Pinilis (Sir Loni)
Group Milestones
- List of their important milestones (founding, important programs, etc.)
Site URLs
- http://www.rbdc.com/~butler/stufdoll.htm
Site Screenshot
(Screenshot of Group homepage circa year)
Group History
(Taken from about page)
Well, Stuffy Doll (I) started about two years ago in my freshman year of high school. My real name is Colin Butler, but I sign all of my works under Ford Prefect (read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and no, it is NOT Ford Perfect.) or Stuffy Doll. I began with simple programming and stuff like Battleship. That used 2 pictures and no matrices. Basically, it sucked. After that, I tried one of those Breakout games. Also sucked. Not because of the code, but because it was Breakout on a calculator. It was still in pretty high demand. After that, I made Minesweeper, which was lost without even being completely bug-fixed, then I made BlackJack 82. This was my first really popular game, locally at least.
About then I got a Graph-Link ($55! ZouNDS!) and was able to back it up. Stuffy Doll officially originated when I got my Graph-Link. After that, I created a 3D maze program for kicks (this was about 2 years ago, beginning of Stuffy Doll) and after a failed attempt at a Zelda/Final Fantasy-style RPG, used it instead. Thus, Tower was born. It was very popular and people would come up and ask me if I had my calculator with me. Ugh. After that, I was exhausted with the 6 month endeavor that was Tower (LOTS of beta-testing and debugging) and settled down to a nice game of Nibbles. Nibbles WAS lost when my HD crashed recently, but I recently found a backup copy and have put it up here for your enjoyment. After that, my creative well ran dry.
Then one day in English class, sophomore year, I was doodling on a sheet of graph paper, considering the possibility of Chess. Being HaRDCoRe like I am, I chose not to use text, but real graphics. I found a way of drawing all of the pieces within the dimensions of the screen and designating white and black. Well, I've got nothing to lose, I thought, so I made Chess. After it sat dormant collecting dust and requiring two people to stare at one tiny LCD screen, I experimented with the Get( command and figured out the nooks and crannies of its finicky operation. Then, I revived Chess and added the 2-player link option, allowing two people to stare at two DIFFERENT tiny LCD screens! That was finished recently, while I was also working on a sequel to Tower, cunningly named Tower II.
I chose to make a sequel despite my vows to never make one and sat down one day to some serious coding. By the end of the day, I had completely rewritten the Tower engine to be faster, more efficient, and slightly more aesthetically pleasing. I revolutionized my old code with new techniques and tricks and created new enemies, a new fight engine, and new segmented (3-part) bosses. That was practically finished and in a state of debug when I decided that it would be completely stupid and insane to make an El-Hazard RPG, based on my favorite anime. Being just stupid and insane enough myself, I decided to make it after realizing that I could capture the art as TI-82 images.
Now freshly inspired, I was thoroughly stupid and insane enough to write enough to fill my calculator and decide to make a 7-episode monster version to include everything I could fit on 7 calculators worth of space. Thus I begin the semi-new year with two large productions, coming anywhere from "soon" to "next time I make straight A's" (HA!). That pretty much explains the whole existence of Stuffy Doll, except for the name.
The name has been the topic of many a question, and it comes from something you either love or hate: Magic: The Gathering. I HATE it. I used to enjoy it, but it really got on my nerves seeing guys with briefcases full of cards and velvet covers for tables so their cards would stay immaculately clean when they played. So I ditched it and swore everything about it off. Except for one thing. There were a few cards based on torture devices that were a common sight in the game. The subject of the torture was not so graphic as a human being, or even a little goblin or something. No, it was a Stuffy Doll, as it was affectionately known. I liked the general sound of Stuffy Doll, so I adopted it as the name of my group.