Amiga ISO Collection/AmigaUtilCD2.iso/Programming/Misc/GameSmith1-Hisoft-System.DMS/in.adf/GDS_System.lha/ReadMe.Now

Text File | 1980-01-06 | 7.3 KB | 166 lines

                GameSmith Development System Release 2
                        Released 11/17/94
          (c)1994 Oregon Research and Bithead Technologies


Thank you for purchasing the GameSmith Developement System.  Please take
the time to read the information in this file.  It contains important
information inadvertantly omitted from or added after the manual was
printed.  To get the most out of GameSmith, it is very important you read
the entire manual. Remember to send in your registration card.  Registration
is required to receive technical support and is also very important so that
we may notify you of enhancements to GameSmith.

***************************************************************************
Commodore Includes and Libraries for DICE GS and Devpac GS

These libraries are licensed from Commodore on a per product basis,
distribution of these files without a valid license is illegal.  Until the
Commodore bankrupcy situation is resolved, there is no party that we can
obtain a distribution license for the includes and libraries.  Therefore,
they do not appear on the distribution disks.  When the capability of
obtaining a license is available, we will provide these files.  In the
meantime, it must be your responsibility to obtain the Commodore Include
files and libraries.

***************************************************************************
The following changes were made since the manual was printed:
***************************************************************************

Added new "plot_pixel_fast" routines that are MUCH faster than the previous
plot pixel versions.  These routines require a pointer to a bitmap offset
table, and so two routines are provided to build such a table and to free it
from memory.

  void gs_plot_fast(struct BitMap *,int *bm_offset,int X,int Y,int color);
                            a0           a1           d0    d1    d2

  void gs_plot_reverse_fast(struct BitMap *,int *bm_offset,int X,int Y);
                                 a0           a1            d0     d1

  int gs_plot_test_fast(struct BitMap *,int *bm_offset,int X,int Y);
  d0                         a0            a1           d0    d1

  int *gs_alloc_BMOT(struct BitMap *);

  Where a nonzero return value is a pointer to the bitmap offset table.  A
  NULL return indicates there was not enough memory to allocate the table.

  void gs_free_BMOT(int *bm_offset);

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Added new flag bit ANIMLOAD_LOCKCHECK to the anim_load structure.  Setting
this bit will cause a load error (new error code -9) if the anim object
being loaded is NOT locked.  This prevents other people from replacing
your anim objects with their own without your program knowing it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A feature was added to the animation system which yields a 25% - 30% speed
increase for objects that save/restore background data, and 10% - 15% over
objects that use the "erase" method.  By simply supplying a "spare" bitmap
which contains a pure background image, the animation system can remove
the "save" step altogether.  The image blit process then becomes simply
blit/restore instead of save/blit/restore, thus producing the significant
performance boost.  This also has 2 nice side effects if you can find the
Chip RAM for the extra bitmap:

1) Adding objects to an animation display list becomes MUCH faster.

2) Since no object save areas are required, your application will never
   run into memory problems when trying to add new objects to a display
   list.  Also, if the application is using many save/restore objects in
   a double buffered display, the amount of extra memory required for the
   the spare bitmap isn't much more than the other method.

The "spare" bitmap must be the exact same size as the target display
bitmap(s).

To make use of this new feature, the animation function gs_init_anim()
now accepts a pointer to another bitmap as the 4th parameter.  From
assembler, this pointer needs to be loaded into register a2.  If your
application will not make use of a spare (or secondary) bitmap, then this
parameter must be NULL.  For example:

gs_init_anim(dlist,bitmap1,bitmap2,bitmap3); /* double buffered w/spare */
              d0     a0      a1      a2
      or

gs_init_anim(dlist,bitmap1,NULL,bitmap3); /* single buffered with spare */

gs_init_anim(dlist,bitmap1,bitmap2,NULL); /* double buffered no spare */

gs_init_anim(dlist,bitmap1,NULL,NULL); /* single buffered no spare */

This is all that's required to make use of this new feature!  After a
display list is initialized with a spare bitmap pointer, adding objects
that save/restore background data will no longer require a save area (the
animation system is smart enough not to allocate a save area in the event
that a spare "restore" bitmap was supplied during initialization).  Note
that this method is also more than 10% faster than the "erase" display
method, so if you are supplying a spare bitmap, it's best to make sure
that the objects are displayed using the save/restore method (see demos
"bubble_blank" and "left_right" for good examples of how this is
accomplished depending on whether a spare bitmap could be allocated).

***************************************************************************

To briefly view the demos, click on (or execute from the CLI) either the
DEMO or DEMO_AGA scripts in the examples directory.

IMPORTANT!  To exit each demo, click on the right mouse button.  If the
demo does not immediately exit, hold the right mouse button down until it
does exit.  The very last "demo" executed from the script is a tank battle
game.  You will need a joystick plugged into port 2 in order to select game
options (one of which is the "Quit" option).

The demo scripts do not excersize all demo options/modes.  See the
respective document files and/or demo source code for more information.
All demos were designed to run from the CLI, and many will display parameter
information by simply running them without any parameters.

Some of the demos, especially the scroller demos, allow user control via a
joystick plugged into port 2.

***************************************************************************

Contact Information (North America):

  Oregon Research
  16200 S.W. Pacific Hwy., Suite 162
  Tigard, OR 97224
  USA
  [phone] (voice)
  [phone] (FAX)

  Internet  : [e-mail]
  GEnie     : ORA
  CompuServe: 71333,2655

Contact Information (europe):

  HiSoft
  The Old School
  Greenfield
  Bedford
  MK45 5DE
  U.K.
  [phone] (voice)
  [phone] (FAX)

  Internet: [e-mail]

***************************************************************************

Are you in possession of stolen merchandise?
--------------------------------------------
GameSmith Development System, DICE GS, and Devpac GS are copyrighted commercial
software.  If you are reading this illegally, then consider this:  Not only
are you commiting a Federal Crime, but you are also literally stealing food out
of the mouths of our children. Additionally, you are personally responsible for
the death of software companies like Oregon Research and for the cessation of
software development on the Amiga Computer by stealing from those who seek to
promote your favorite computer.  Think about it!