To TheDarkJay:
AFlib2 will be released in early 2006 as the main goal here, but if I can get it done before then (and that includes the forthcoming documentation that I have not even gotten to yet), I just *might* release it earlier than that. Be real patient and hang tight now, for I solemnly promise you right here that it would SURE be worth it, man! :cool:
=bAnd to all of you tonight:
I have just now done another new test for
AFlib2, this time entitled:
AFlib2 Optimized Score Test[/list]
.....where another version of the same recent scoring routines apply for the optimized versions of any of my 10 custom fonts also!! Have a glimpse at this one!
And even then, I still have some more left to do including the horizontal screen-flipping routine and some checks and testings as well as the forthcoming
AFlib2 doc indeed all before this thing gets released out to you. Patience is sure a virtue, you know.
All of you, see you again, and thanks a lot once more.
- Adigun Azikiwe Polack
One of the Founders of
Aura Flow ::: Continuing Developer of
Frantic Journey
Current Developer of
Star Angelic Slugger ::: Webmaster of the
AAP Official Projects Squad
Original Creator of the
The New FreeBASIC 8-Bit Palette Machine and
AFlib2 - Aura Flow Library 2
UPDATE (on December 11, 2005 at 12:25pm EST): The new horizontal screen flips are *now* completed at last, and it took me a while to get them in there, too!!!
=b !Picture this kind of flipping on the following image here, for instance:
As you can see, this is a horizontal screen flip of an original pic of a shiny glass bubble that I have made just earlier today (
! ), and it is done fast and effortlessly through the sheer power of
AFlib2!!
Hey, with all that in mind now, do feel free to download this all-new test entitled:
AFlib2 Horizontal Screen Flip Test[/list]
......and be sure to enjoy it richly as I now begin tests on getting ALL of my routines together in
one single separate FB source-code and compiling it into a FreeBASIC library! Later!!! :cool:
UPDATE (on December 12, 2005 at 1:15pm EST): From earlier today particularly in the early morning I successfully gathered up all of my routines to make one HUGE source code of the whole
AFlib2 project for the first and coming version already! And when I say HUGE, I plainly mean so because it all amounts to
nearly 5 megabytes long (or close to 5,000,000 bytes!). Then, I tried compiling that very source code here into a FB library file some number of times, with some trial and error. However, after tidying up the code and finally ran it through the FreeBASIC v0.15b stable compiler to make a lib out of it, at first I thought that it was doing it as quick as usual, but when I saw that blinking cursor in a DOS window after 10 minutes or so, I felt,
PLEASE do not tell me that FB is stalling! :-? ! . BUT, FB
really was not stalling at all, it was only taking its thorough time in compiling all the elements and the routines and everything in the source code together to make an FB library file out of it, thank God!!!
d==b Eventually, I was so patient though it all, as the whole thing only took around close to a half hour to be done, so all and all,
AFlib2 was a 100% successful compile!!! Now THAT is something to be rejoicing about, everyone!!!
(^_-)v !!UPDATE (on December 12, 2005 at 10:22pm EST): I must announce to all of you that the resulting FB library file of
AFlib2 came out weighing at somewhere between 6 and 7 megabytes! Man, talk about the biggest FreeBASIC-created library to date so far!!! :cool: To its major advantage, now 2D game programming in FB has gone a WHOLE rather lot easier to master, such as this simple program that you can do
inside of this very lib:
[syntax="FreeBASIC"]'===============================================================
' A F l i b 2 W e l c o m e P r o g r a m
'===============================================================
'This program in AFlib2 presents to you some of the absolutely
'amazing powers that this library in FreeBASIC can harness!!!
'
'Enjoy!!! ^_-=b !
'
'
' - Adigun Azikiwe Polack
' One of the Founders of Aura Flow
' Developer of "AFlib2 - Aura Flow Library 2"
Option Explicit
' First, we rev up AFlib2!!!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
'$include: 'AFlib2.bi'
' Next, we set up our arrays!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
Dim as Integer GFX.Width, GFX.Height, Lightctrl, In_and_out
Dim as ImageType AFlib2pic
' Now, setting up the graphics mode to a 320x200 resolution,
' 256 colors (8-bit), fullscreen, with 2 pages!!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
ScreenRes 320, 200, 8, 2, 1
' Let's extract the exact size of the screen resolution (using
' ScreenInfo), and get rid of that mouse pointer too!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
ScreenInfo GFX.Width, GFX.Height
SetMouse , , 0
' Setting the work page to Page 1, with the display page set to
' Page 0 (which is gonna be the screen we can see out of!
).
'---------------------------------------------------------------
ScreenSet 1, 0
' Initializing and loading up our BMP file here, with the
' *exact* size coordinates of the picture within this file
' indeed!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
AF2.InitSpr_BMP AFlib2pic, 160, 92, "AFlib2_mini.bmp"
' Setting up our starfield, in just ONE line!! ^_-
'---------------------------------------------------------------
AF2.StarInit 300
Lightctrl = 0
In_and_out = 0
' Now, we display/move our starfield and show our .BMP image
' flawlessly, with custom fading of the picture itself upon
' startup and exit. It is all done in a Do-Loop pattern here.
' You can exit this test with the "ESC" key.
' ^^
'---------------------------------------------------------------
Do
' Since all the blitting is being drawn on Page 1 (our work
' page), we first clear the screen to the color 0 with the
' "AF2.ClearScreen" command here before doing anything else in
' the loop. Like drawing in animation frames here, you know?
'---------------------------------------------------------------
AF2.ClearScreen 0
' Let's get the starfield into display and moving to the left
' now!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
AF2.StarMotion 300, 1, 0
AF2.StarMove 300, AF2.Left, 5
' Blitting our pic, with custom fades built in!!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
AF2.SprBlit_brightness 0, 40, Lightctrl, @AFlib2pic.p_data[AFlib2pic.p_dataindex[1]], GFX.Width, GFX.Height
Locate 1, 1: ? "Welcome to AFlib2!!!"
' Now comes the REAL magic here: we turn an ordinary 320x200
' graphics mode into a 160x200 MODE IN 256 COLORS, using the
' command "AF2.LowRes_horiz"!!! (
)//
'---------------------------------------------------------------
AF2.LowRes_horiz
' Setting our custom sync to the potential of 60fps average with
' "AF2.CustomSync 3"!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
AF2.CustomSync 3
' We zap the contents of what we drawn into our display page
' (Page 0), using "ScreenCopy"!!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
ScreenCopy
' Waiting for the user to press the "ESC" key....
'---------------------------------------------------------------
If inkey$ = Chr$(27) then In_and_out = 1
' This is our If-Then loop, where it is in position for our main
' Do-Loop pattern to be exited upon the user pressing the "ESC"
' key and our main pic fading out after that!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
If In_and_out = 0 then
Lightctrl += 1: If Lightctrl > 31 then Lightctrl = 31
End if
If In_and_out = 1 then
Lightctrl -= 1: If Lightctrl < 0 then Exit do
End if
Loop
' Removing our .BMP picture array safely so that we do not
' suffer any memory leaks upon exit!
'---------------------------------------------------------------
AF2.RemoveSpr AFlib2pic
' And that is that!!! (
)v !
'---------------------------------------------------------------[/syntax]
And here now is the run-time result from inside the lib indeed, which is found in this download entitled:
AFlib2 Welcome Test[/list]
.....and in here, you are gonna witness some of the
truly amazing stuff that you can do in a custom-tweaked fullscreen graphics resolution of 160x200 in 8-bit mode, real easy with NO hassles whatsoever! No kidding!!!
One slight disadvantage though: the compilation to .EXE files using
AFlib2 start at a size of at least 3.5 megabytes per .EXE (mainly due to how large the lib really is, perhaps). But hey, it is just a minor price to pay to get all of that *phenomenal* 2D game programming power in 8-bit modes in this lib, that is for sure!! Overall, not a bad trade-off in the long run if you know what I mean especially for those working on big game projects like myself, too!
