Users of TI99/Sim can read either format of disk offered here.(v9t9 /PC99 disk (disk in a file) formats).
A Windows program called TiDir is available from WHTech which can read both PC99 and Mess TI emulated DSK formats, show TI Artist pictures, list basic programs and read DV80 text files, convert between the formats and allow file transfers between TI emulated disks. It will run in Linux using Wine.
The programs for download below are in the disk format used by PC99, a commercial program for DOS which emulates the TI99/4a hardware. PC99 is a COMMERCIAL program, NOT shareware and absolutely NOT freeware. If you use it, ensure you have paid Mike. He is a nice person and should not be robbed.
Several thousand programs for PC99 can be found on the inexpensive DVD-rom from CaDD Electronics, The Cyc, just $25 for programs plus huge amounts of documentation, many books and manuals - all legally copied and reformatted in searchable form, - considerable effort. Includes legal copies of all TI modules in PC99 format, including the much sought Tunnels of Doom module. Available to PC99 owners, and the cost of the CD plus PC99 Lite itself is a great deal less than the bare TI99/4 sold for originally. And it is legally licensed by TI. Might look costly but a huge amount of work has gone into it- US$72 for an immense organised fully searchable library plus TI programs and modules. UK readers can arrange with Mike to make payment into a UK bank account. VAT and post office collection charges are payable on delivery in the UK.
A huge resource of file to download can be found at Western Horizon Technology ftp site- lots of programs (eg for pc99) and documents.
General comments
In general when running programs with PC99 in Basic / Extended Basic you will need to amend the system variables for speed, keyboard, and sprite speed. The TI99/4A had two independant clocks, one for the CPU and one for the VDP which controlled sprite speed. As these were not tied to each other in any way, normal variation meant that you could not assume a sprite would move a constant distance whilst a program command was executed
on two different consoles. There was a significant variation between US and UK consoles. Thankfully PC99 allows you to fine tune sprite speed to perfection.
Latest new program for the TI99/4A is an assembly code version of Conway's Game of Life, code written by Mark Wills in December 2005. Presented here as a small (19k)
zip file, TI Life will run in PC99 using the Editor Assembler module - the object code is in the display fixed 80 format. Source code is
included together with a small howto text file. Nice, fun programme.
Due to an item of feedback a new PC99 disk to download- added April 2000!
Games beginning with H disk contains Basic game programs:
Hamurabi, Hang Glider Pilot, Helpman, Hotrod, Hot Welly, Hunch Back Havoc, Hungaruan Hex, Hungarian Square, Hunted, Hurdles. Quite a variety.
And in case games are not your thing, here is a sample of what the TI was really good at- small
programs for specific purposes - a collection of Calculators and Converters - (large file: 135k)
Cortex PowerBasic ported to the TI99/4a in v9t9 format- use TIDir above to convert to PC99. Leaves 5k for your PowerBasic program.
The Games beginning with B disk is quite full (44k zip) and
includes a short text file in the zip. There are two versions of
Backgammon, two versions of Blackjack, Blackhole solitaire, TX Software's
Battle Tank, Miller Graphic's Blackbeards Treasure; and Roland Truemans
Billy Ball games- Billy Ball Plays Catch and Billy Ball to the Rescue.
Four programs on the
Golf, Cards, hopping and strategy disk. -
Trapped is a simple game of
strategy where the computer gets better as it goes along
Turtle Hop is a really simple hopping game.
Par Fore by S David Yarborough is a golf game
Poker by Ron Johnson- good old card game with betting
There is a small text file in the zip.
A full disk for
Games beginning with the letter A (44k zip) with ABM Control by Fantasia99; Accordion from
Regena (Cheryl Whitelaw); Air Traffic Control by J J Volk; Airline by
B J Brun (from HCM); Alien Buster; Archeodroid; and Atomic Wylli.
A small (24k) zipped
Tunnels of Doom Garfield database plus XBasic games with four programs -
three for Extended Basic and a Tunnels of Doom database.
TI 1979 ANNUAL RESULTS : possibly
the oldest TI99/4A program around- Honest. A first demo program?
CHARGE - a small program
where an electron is aimed at a point past a charged particle in order
to hit a target.
PAINT by A O'Donnell. Paint the floor and don't fall
off or get hit by a paint roller.
A database for the Tunnels of Doom module, which you
will need in PC99 format. This is GARFIELD, inspired by the cartoon
strip cat. (NB: this is another cat called Garfield, but go get
the excellent comic books by Jim Davis anyway!).
Octal and Sir Prance-a-lot has two programs for TI
Extended Basic and a joystick using PC99. Unzip and tell PC99 the
resulting file is a disk. The zip is under 18k. The .dsk file
contains two TI programs which require both Extended Basic and a
joystick.
OCTAL by Mark Sumner, a very good American programmer (of PS Software)
who was not too well known. The central gun is rotated by moving the
joystick left or right and press fire to fire the bidirectional laser
and destroy the enemy- and most important, destroy the enemy mines!
You may need to run this at a slower speed than most Basic programs.
Sir Prance-a-lot (TI filename=Sirprance) is by Neil Lawson, well known to
UK TI owners. Neil moved from Leeds to Devon to work for Parco and wrote
in their magazine. Move from the opening screen by holding a key, and then
start the game by holding a key down.
Avoid the obstacles. (Make it harder or easier by adjusting z).
Woodstock a zipped PC99 .dsk file of Ray Kazmer's
famous 1987 program in Extended Basic. Unzip and it becomes KAZMER.DSK
ready to use in PC99. The zip file is under 12k. You may need to adjust the emulator speed / sprite delay
to get this just right. It wasn't easy to make the US written program run correctly on a UK console either... but it is fun.
Extended Basic programs to run on PC99- file is 115k in size and is in ZIP format.
The programs are:
Ant Wars from Not Polyoptics- the original documentation
is included as a separate (dos) text file.
Blackbox- the first Waddingtons game to be officially licensed.
Bowls by A McMath.
Bullrun. This is a strategic war campaign. Place your forces then watch as the computer places his, and battle commences. You may need to
amend the keyboard reaction time for this one.
Challenge Poker from Pewterware. Original docs in a separate text file.
Diablo - not the recent PC game but an older TI game from
Australia.
Dominoes
Golfp by A McMath, a very popular commercial TI Basic program which
sold well in its day. Amended to run in Extended Basic.
Penpig
Pokersol
Quintus
Reaction by
Malcolm Adams. Excellent
strategy game for one player.
Sheepdog
Testcard- this was comissioned by an engineer then working
for Yorkshire Television in Leeds.
TXB by Tony McGovern - you will need to adjust the sprite
speed in PC99. The exact value will depend on your system but
on my 266Mhz PC I need to increase the value from 2200 to 3000 - use
the debug command z 3000
Walls - Walls and Bridges from TIMagination with original docs
Wargame- from TX Software- original docs in a separate text file
Yahtzee (or Roll 5) by Tom Krohn, Pewterware. Original docs as a
separate text file supplied.