Star Trek reloaded (bad pun on the 'ld' command)

[ACagliano]

also, I took the liberty of writing a quick EXAMPLE 3 level gray rendering routine in assembly.  I just took a few minutes to basically show how it'll work in theory -- in implementation I have no idea how this would look, it has some mistakes I'm sure and no interrupt triggering.  But here's what it shoudl look generally like:

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Level3copyInt LD HL, Buf1 + 767 LD DE, Buf2 + 767 PUSH HL PUSH DE LD C, $10 LD A, $04 ;this uses Y auto-decrement mode ;) OUT (C), A LD B,64 LD A,12 PUSH AF @ ;set to last row .db $ED,$70 JP M,{-1@} OUT (C), $BF @ ;set to last column .db $ED,$70 ;IN F, (C) JP M,{-1@} OUT (C), $2E LD A,12 PUSH AF @ LD A, (HL) AND %10101010 DEC HL PUSH HL PUSH AF LD A, (DE) AND %01010101 DEC DE POP HL OR H POP HL @ .db $ED,$70 ;IN F, (C) JP M,{-1@} OUT ($11),A POP AF PUSH AF EX DE, HL DEC A CP $00 JR Z,{-2@} DJNZ {-3@} @ RET

My way of doing it was to merely flash two buffers, using 'call FastCopyb'. Not an interrupt. It is only for a splash screen.

[Ashbad]

thing is, when you flash between two buffers mindlessly, you'll get awful seizure-inducing effects you need to do a simple dithering thing like I just did to get it somewhat close -- and with crystal timers and interrupts, you can make it almost-flickerless

[ACagliano]

Ok. Can someone add to that a way to trigger interrupts, then how to disable them. I'd rather not mess with interrupts myself. Once that is done, I'll give the code a whirl and fix it up (if it needs it).

Edit: First successful compile. This seems to freeze:

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quit: b_call(_ClrLCDFull) ld hl,AppVar b_call(_Mov9toOp1) b_call(_ChkFindSym) jr nc,overwrite createappvar: ld hl,AppVar b_call(_Mov9toOp1) ld hl,14 b_call(_CreateAppVar) overwrite: ld a,b or a jp nz,unarc2 ld hl,ShieldPoints ld bc,8 ldir ld hl,photons ld bc,6 ldir ld hl,AppVar b_call(_Mov9toOp1) call arcf ret

[DJ Omnimaga]

ACag I tried converting the picture, but with no luck . I think the ship is just too dark. Increasing the contrast messes with the background.

EDIT: This is pretty much the best I could get:

[ACagliano]

Thanks anyway.

**Bump

Ok. Can someone add to that a way to trigger interrupts, then how to disable them. I'd rather not mess with interrupts myself. Once that is done, I'll give the code a whirl and fix it up (if it needs it).

Edit: First successful compile. This seems to freeze:

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quit: b_call(_ClrLCDFull) ld hl,AppVar b_call(_Mov9toOp1) b_call(_ChkFindSym) jr nc,overwrite createappvar: ld hl,AppVar b_call(_Mov9toOp1) ld hl,14 b_call(_CreateAppVar) overwrite: ld a,b or a jp nz,unarc2 ld hl,ShieldPoints ld bc,8 ldir ld hl,photons ld bc,6 ldir ld hl,AppVar b_call(_Mov9toOp1) call arcf ret

[ralphdspam]

I'm a big fan of Star Trek, and I am looking forward to your game.  The first person aspect sounds promising. 

[ACagliano]

Uploaded screenie: When I run the part that freezes in game alone, it works fine, and creates the appvar....Why is it not working right in game?

See AppVar  STSave.

[Deep Thought]

Maybe it's code at some other section that's freezing up?

[ACagliano]

Maybe it's code at some other section that's freezing up?

I'm trying something else. It's an optimization too. Previously, anytime you need to Arc/Unarch a variable, I use b_call(_Arc_Unarc) and a jump loop.  From now on, I will have it as a call, not a jump and it will use either b_call(ArchiveVar) or (UnarchiveVar).

[ACagliano]

Ok, so I now have the code from Axe:

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ld a,i push af di ld a,$80 out ($10),a ld (OP2),sp ld hl,flags+asm_Flag2 rr (hl) sbc a,a xor %01010101 ld (hl),a ld c,a ld l,appbackupscreen&$ff-1 ld sp,plotSScreen-appbackupscreen __DispGSNext: ld a,l ;4 ld b,64 ;7 add a,$21-(appbackupscreen&$ff);7 out ($10),a ;11 Into loop: 59 T-states inc l ;4 ld h,appbackupscreen>>8 ;7 ld de,appbackupscreen-plotSScreen+12;11 __DispGSLoop: ld a,(hl) ;7 Loop: 61 T-states rrc c ;8 and c ;4 add hl,sp ;11 or (hl) ;7 out ($11),a ;11 add hl,de ;11 djnz __DispGSLoop ;13/8 Next Loop: 60 T-states ld a,l ;4 cp 12+(appbackupscreen&$ff);7 jr nz,__DispGSNext ;12 __DispGSDone: ld sp,(OP2) pop af ret po ei ret

Now, how do I pass the location of the buffer data?

[Deep Thought]

Remember not to double-post unless it's been six hours

Is that code the three-level grayscale routine? Remember that the buffer is plotSScreen and the back-buffer is appBackUpScreen, so just replace those with whatever you're using.

EDIT: And make sure you know how the code works. It's a bad idea to go about using ASM code without knowing exactly what it does, because it makes messing up that much easier.

[ACagliano]

Remember not to double-post unless it's been six hours

Is that code the three-level grayscale routine? Remember that the buffer is plotSScreen and the back-buffer is appBackUpScreen, so just replace those with whatever you're using.

EDIT: And make sure you know how the code works. It's a bad idea to go about using ASM code without knowing exactly what it does, because it makes messing up that much easier.

Thanks Deep. Although, I think I'll use mono for v1.0. Look at what I got to work:

[ACagliano]

A great deal of progress on the data handling. I've decided that instead of trying to create the appvar on first run, the appvar gets tested for upon Quiting. If none is found, it is created before quitting. On startup of the game, the appvar is only handled if it exists, in which case the data is sent to RAM.

As for networking, I know that having attacks, joins, and quits sent alongside position updates can be taxing on CALCnet. Thus, I have decided to have the position update fire every THREE cycles of the main loop, not every ONE cycle. All other transmissions will fire immediately.

[ACagliano]

COUNTDOWN TO BETA

I hope to have a beta release out soon. It won't have exceptional graphics, but it will be functional...

[Munchor]

COUNTDOWN TO BETA

I hope to have a beta release out soon. It won't have exceptional graphics, but it will be functional...

That sounds great, will wait to see it