TI-Boy CSE Alpha 0.0.02 by calc84maniac (Outside The Box Programming) Table of Contents: * Disclaimer * Overview * Creating APPs * Sending APPs * Running TI-Boy * Controls * Frequently Asked Questions (READ THESE BEFORE ASKING YOURSELF) * Credits * Version History Disclaimer: This is an alpha piece of software. The creator is not held responsible for any damages caused. Use at your own risk! TI-Boy will temporarily replace part of the TI-OS, for greater speed and more available RAM. An automatic recovery feature is included in the case of a crash. Nonetheless, this program is not likely to permanently brick your calculator. The most damage it might cause is a RAM clear and/or an OS reinstall. Overview: TI-Boy CSE is a Game Boy emulator (no Game Boy Color support) for the TI-84+ C Silver Edition calculator. Do not expect incredible compatibility. This was ported from the Beta version of TI-Boy SE, and generally has the same level of compatibility as that. This version adds custom color palettes (based on those available when running Game Boy games on a Game Boy Color). Creating APPs: Method 1: Drag-and-drop Open the TI-Boy folder, then drag a Game Boy ROM file onto tiboycse_makeapp.exe. A command-line window should open. If the ROM opened successfully, the program will request a name for the APP. Type it in and press Enter. Method 2: Run the EXE Open the tiboycse_makeapp.exe directly. A command-line window should open and ask for a ROM filename. You may have to enter the entire filepath. If the ROM opened successfully, the program will request a name for the APP. Type it in and press Enter. Method 3: Command-line arguments Open a command-line window and navigate to the TI-Boy folder. Enter in the following format: tiboycse_makeapp romfilename.gb AppName Watch the console output for any compatibility warnings. Sending APPs: Use TI-Connect or other compatible linking software. Running TI-Boy: Open the APPs menu, and start the APP. It should display the splash screen. Do not press the reset button while this is loading, or you will have to reinstall the TI-OS. Then, start playing! (See controls below.) To quit, press the ON button. Quitting takes a few seconds as it restores the TI-OS. Again, do not press the reset button during this step. If the emulator freezes and pressing ON does not cause it to quit (which does work in most cases), feel free to press the reset button. TI-Boy will automatically restore the TI-OS and your previous RAM contents if this happens. Controls: Arrows: Game Boy D-Pad 2ND: Game Boy "A" ALPHA: Game Boy "B" MODE: Game Boy "START" XT0n: Game Boy "SELECT" ON: Game Boy power switch (exit the emulator) CLEAR: Battery Saver or Teacher Key (suspends emulation and turns off the screen) * (Times): Hold to brighten backlight / (Divide): Hold to darken backlight + (Plus): Zoom in (this feature is work-in-progress) - (Minus): Zoom out Numpad: Set frameskip value MATH APPS PRGM VARS x^-1 SIN COS TAN x^2 , ( ): Set custom color palette. "," is the default grayscale palette. Frequently Asked Questions: Q. How big are the APPs? A. Generally, take the size of the ROM and add 16KB (16384 bytes). Sometimes you might get lucky and have a smaller APP if there is a lot of empty space in the ROM. Pay attention to the size displayed when tiboy_makeapp.exe finishes. Q. Will xxxx ROM fit on my calculator? A. Most Game Boy ROMs will be able to fit on the TI-84+ C Silver Edition (since Game Boy Color is out of the equation). Make sure to delete useless APPs from your calculator if needed. Q. What exactly does TI-Boy do to my calculator when it runs? Why the warnings? A. TI-Boy needs part of the Flash (Archive) memory which is taken by the TI-OS. So, it backs up this section of the OS and puts its own data there. Also, this is where your RAM is backed up in the case of a crash. When TI-Boy exits, the OS is put completely back to normal. There are two reasons for doing this: 1) The emulator becomes quite a bit faster and simpler if Game Boy data can be in the space normally taken by the OS. 2) Having control of this memory space allows automatic recovery in the case of a crash. Q. Does tiboy_makeapp convert Game Boy ROMs into native TI code? A. No. The ROM is slightly rearranged to fit into an APP and bundled with the emulator code. Converting to native TI code is infeasible for many reasons. Q. My calculator died! It's all your fault! A. Don't panic! To send a new OS, hold DEL while inserting a battery to bring up the Send OS screen. And make sure to report the bug, because we don't want this sort of thing to happen, now do we? ;) Q. TI-Boy SE had audio output, didn't it? What happened to that? A. My optimized graphics code doesn't play nicely with the audio, so it had to go. It may make a comeback, but no promises. Q. Why is it so slow? TI-Boy SE Beta was faster than this! A. There's only so much I can do with the hardware in the 84+CSE. The LCD controller is particularly slow on a per-pixel basis compared to the 84+SE. Q. Where is xxxx feature? A. Be patient, there's a reason this is an alpha. I'll probably get around to it (as long as it's within reason). Q. xxxx ROM doesn't work! A. Sorry, but specific game compatibility is at the bottom of my to-do list at the moment. Q. how do i tern on my caclulater A. ... Credits: calc84maniac for coding/design BrandonW for flash unlock hack FloppusMaximus for Rabbitsign (app signer). Source code can be found at http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/383/38392.html Omnimaga for all the awesome community support Runer112 for yelling TI-BOYYYYYY at me periodically Version History: Alpha 0.0.02: * Fixed a glitch causing 32KB save files not to load properly. * tiboycse_makeapp.exe updates: * Warnings about pages starting with FFh are now suppressed. Alpha 0.0.01: * First public alpha (on omnimaga.org)