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Drugwars for the TI-82/83/83 Calculators

https://gist.github.com/mattmanning/1002653/b7a1e88479a10eaae3bd5298b8b2c86e16fb4404
50•robotnikman•2h ago

Comments

BewareTheYiga•1h ago
The amount of classroom time I wasted playing this game…
firesteelrain•1h ago
I wish I had a cable to download these games or even a unit to unit cable. I hand typed them into my TI-82.
jonhohle•1h ago
I did, as well. It was neat learning about programming using those listings.

I also remember being concerned about teachers finding “Drug Wars” on my calculator.

al_borland•1h ago
Same. I didn’t know the cables existed I until college. Though typing it all in was its own form of distracting entertainment.
jasonjayr•1h ago
I LOVED the TI calc forums. I got my hands on enough parts (and went to radio shack to get the rest) to make my own cable from the parallel port to the 2.5mm jack they had back then.

I'm still amazed they cost as much now, as they did 30 years ago, but if you just realize you're buying a license for decent computer algebra system (CAS), at least in the ti-85/89/etc models, it kinda makes sense.

fragmede•1h ago
Damn, that takes me back. I built a cable with my dad's help to download games from the Internet to graphing calculators. Ticalc.org!
jckahn•1h ago
This game is a really big deal for me! I was addicted to it in high school and it left a lasting impression. Drugwars directly inspired my passion project, Farmhand: https://www.farmhand.life/

I'm so happy to see this pop up here! :)

mikestorrent•56m ago
I loved this game. I played this game instead of learning math, unfortunately. It was only by the grace of other apps on my TI-83+ that I was able to pass my exams...

I feel vindicated by the rise of AI. Soon nobody else will know how to do anything without a small computer either.

mrhyyyyde•1h ago
First experiences around programming were on an 83, I'll never forget those choose your own adventure games I let friends play in class.
apatheticonion•1h ago
Can someone please compile this to wasm? I'd love to play this again
zeckalpha•1h ago
coincidentally, a SilverLink cable arrived here today so I can program my 85 and 83 Plus.
rationalist•13m ago
Are they valuable? They seem a little rare but findable on eBay. I have one in my closet just gathering dust.
gurkin•1h ago
Jesus. Based.
dietrichepp•1h ago
I remember playing this, but also a puzzle game called “dstar”, which I ported to the web: https://www.moria.us/games/dstar/play
_0xdd•1h ago
I spent a lot of time in math class playing this...
no-name-here•1h ago
For those unfamiliar, the game started in 1984 on DOS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Wars_(video_game)
EvanAnderson•1h ago
I'm a little older so I missed these models of TI calculator.

I loved programming my TI-81 my freshman year of high school. Having a programmable computer on my person-- even one as weak as the '81-- was so cool. I made a bunch of crappy games and graphical "demos", but being that the '81 didn't have a link cable I couldn't pass them around.

I got my '85 my freshman year of college but, by that time, I had a laptop and was much less interested in programming a calculator. I ended up misplacing my '85 in a move. Now that my daughter is old enough to appreciate it I wish I still had it.

jacquesm•12m ago
Ebay? They're about $10!
TimTheTinker•11m ago
A lot of those old calculators can be had on eBay for less than $30 shipped. I've been building up a small collection - 73, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 89
BeetleB•45m ago
Interesting. I always knew it as Dopewars.
bearjaws•42m ago
What a throw back damn.

I didn't have a Ti-83 so had to ask my friend for his once he got bored with the game.

There was a moment in 2011 I started writing it in "pure" SQL (MySQL) as a joke, but gave up, I'll have to find my DrugQL repo.

zoba•39m ago
For TI-89, I recently updated the FAT engine to have height mappings. You can read more about it here: https://github.com/dzoba/ti-89-raycasting-with-z
conductr•33m ago
Dude. 7th grade like a mug
cphoover•18m ago
block dude was my favorite.
nsnzjznzbx•3m ago
Emulator link?
TimTheTinker•2m ago
TI-83 Basic was the first programming language I really felt like I had mastered. For a while in my first CS college class I was writing code in TI basic and translating it to C++.

It was incredibly exciting to download and try assembly games. Bill Nagel blew my mind with Turbo Breakout and Snake...

Does anyone remember the TI website wars? TI Files (later TI Philes) vs the lowly weak ticalc.org... but look which one is still around :-)

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Drugwars for the TI-82/83/83 Calculators

https://gist.github.com/mattmanning/1002653/b7a1e88479a10eaae3bd5298b8b2c86e16fb4404
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