BatLib Ideas/Wishlist

[Munchor]

I do plan to add assembly mnemonic support in BASIC ReCode.

like...

Mnemonic(ld hl,1

??

[Xeda112358]

No, this does not create its own tokens. It would be like:
LD A,B
OR A
RET Z

So it would take up a lot of memory...
Maybe I should just make a compiler...
That can compile to a program or just return the hex...
I do have it working for simple mnemonics, but that just means some LD and ADD/SUB things.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Ahh, this isn't a programming language, it is like Celtic 3. This just modifies the regular OS command "dim("

However, when I do get back to work on command 40 (BASIC ReCode), it uses "." as the start of a comment... BASIC ReCode is a programming language, but I am pretty sure it doesn't work anymore.

I haven't checked but I hope we can still use dim( normally with Batlib, though, right? (or at least that there's a way to temporary disable Batlib when we need to use dim(. (we tend to use that command a lot to create lists.

[Xeda112358]

Yep, it still works properly I use it the normal way in the example program.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Good to hear

[Xeda112358]

Okay, so I just got an idea for a super complicated command... for a new tilemap routine. I have not changed the current routine in over six months, so I think it is time for an update. So here is kind of a projected syntax:
dim(xx,DisplayMethod,"Tilemap",MapWidth,DispHeight,DispWidth,XOffset,YOffset,"SpriteVarName",SpriteHeight,SpriteWidth,FlipVert,FlipHoriz,Offset

So it will take, say, a 32x96 tilemap, display a portion of it using sprites from a variable of some size. Then, if you choose to flip a sprite vertically, say a 8x8 sprite, it will display a 16x8 sprite and flipped horizontally will make it display each tile as 16x16 (useful for symmetrical tiles).

As a note, I doubt I will add it anytime soon, but it is a neat idea that I have wanted to add for a long time.

[Hot_Dog]

Sweet idea!

[DJ Omnimaga]

Seems interesting. By the way have you thought about adding a pic-based tilemapper that reads data like Illusiat 12? Some people might want to use pics for the size advantage, despite being limited to 3 tiles and not being able to store event tiles there.

[Xeda112358]

I'm confused... Pictures use more space unless you use the whole thing... and 3 tiles? I can do it, but it will be at the cost of speed. I will try to add it I mean, I have over 8000 bytes to fill up yet!

Also, how about making a command to convert a pic to the form of map data used for the current tilemap command...

IDEA! Okay, before I forget, I just thought of a way to make a fast version using pics. It will be slightly slower, but much faster than what I originally thought. I am jotting this down before I forget...
Okay, so I will copy the pic to the graph buffer, convert it to saveSScreen in the proper format, and then just use the regular tilemap routine using the pointer to saveSScreen as the tile data!

Thanks DJ

[DJ Omnimaga]

Oh, when you use pics to store tilemaps, you fill the entire pic with maps. If you look at Illusiat/ROL maps they usually fill entire pics. Otherwise the only advantage there was to use pics was that pixel test is the fastest way to do collision detection in TI-BASIC.

[Xeda112358]

Ah okay Yeah, I've never used a whole picture for tiles, so I just made BatLib able to use strings or appvars or any other var that could be variable size to store the sprite data. I mean, you can actually use pictures right now, but you would have a tough time recognising your sprites if you did RecallPic. But yeah, I'll work on a code to convert pictures to sprite sets right now.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Oh I didn't store sprites into the map pic. I really drew a map in a pic using Pen and the map engine read from the graph screen usign pxl-test. Sprites were stored in a different pic.

[Xeda112358]

Oh, okay. Well, I did just make a routine that lets you use a picture as a tileset. But that being said, I did add that routine a week or two ago that lets you pixel test pictures without recalling them to the graph screen.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Cool. Personally I like to store my sprites inside pics because it's easier to organize them. I always hated having to convert them to hex all the time. X.x

[Xeda112358]

Ah, yeah, I know what you are talking about... That is where command 35 comes in handy It converts a sprite on the graph screen to data. It even lets you choose the size of the sprite I made the command because BatLib only used data (for speed purposes), so it was more difficult to create sprite data. This command does all the work and saves it in its compressed form.