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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : PicoMIte graphics in PETSCII ROBOTS explained
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| Volhout Guru  Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4223 |
All, Please find attached PDF (insized the ZIP) that is a short writeup on the method used to do graphics in a game on the picomite. For most of you it may not be usefull, but people wanting to port larger games to the picomite, might find it interesting. I promised Peter to write this, and I hope it is to use of anyone. Volhout pico_graphics.zip Edited 2024-02-10 00:27 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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LeoNicolas Guru Joined: 07/10/2020 Location: CanadaPosts: 479 |
Volhout Thank you. It will super useful for me to migrate Knightmare to it. There are new commands and limitations compared to the CMM2 which your document explain perfectly well. |
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PeteCotton Guru Joined: 13/08/2020 Location: CanadaPosts: 368 |
Thank you. Very interesting and informative. |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4223 |
Hi Leo, Honestly, I knew your objective and that is why I finished this (shorter) version of the long one. Attached it the (unfinished) version of the longer one. But that needs so much more work that I pressed the short one forward. But for you it may give some additional information anyway. I also planned to include Martin's writeup on audio in this longer version. It is especially interesting to see the way he creates the MOD files, and samples. PETSCII ROBOTS in MMBASIC explained.zip Regards, Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 1113 |
Thank you Volhout Very well explained. Now even I have understood the, so far to me incomplete, procedure for saving the sprites as binary to flash.  Cheers Martin btw. For Petscii Robots, Ive done all the conversion stuff on MMB4W. There you have a larger canvas. All the tools you need (mainly the drawing programme) run in parallel and the processing speed is much better. 'no comment |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3150 |
Thanks very much for this valuable write-up. I have taken the liberty of proofreading it from the viewpoint of someone who knows a little, but not very much, about the process (me). Most of my suggestions are editorial rather than substantive. "an small module" -> "a small module" "If you write to screen a lot" maybe "If you write to screen faster than the hardware can keep up with" "If you use any other color, you see the pixels of layer N" should this be "layer L"? "the LCD version does the merging on framebuffers F and L, en then" -> "and then" "Framebuffers N are default available" -> "Framebuffer N is available by default" "POKE-ing is done automatic"-> "POKE-ing is done automatically" "Essential is that" -> "It is essential that" "A few SUB’s that do only this." Perhaps rewrite this to make the meaning more clear. "build out of tiles" --> "built out of tiles" "The L layer, with magenta" -> "Use the L layer, with magenta" "The relative are referenced" perhaps "The relative positions are referenced" "to copy the 3’rd sprite" -> "to copy the 3rd sprite" "but work different" -> "but work differently" "Essentially below program" -> "Essentially, the following program" "It easily takes one whole hour to do this for 400 elements." It's not clear to me exactly what is meant here: one hour human time, one hour MMB4W time, one hour per element (i.e. 10 weeks--so that can't be what is meant). Perhaps amplify. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4223 |
Hi Lizby, If you have the tools in place, and know what to do, it takes one hour concentrated work. Make a mistake, and you see the result when you run the game. I have actually wasted an evening by doing this while distracted by my wife, and at the end of the evening ran the process 3 times before I had a working library. Thank you for the corrections. I understand that to a native English speaker these must be quite annoying. I should have run this throug a spellchecker before sending it. Excuses. Volhout Edited 2024-02-10 03:02 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 9110 |
This is really useful - many thanks. Once you've had a few days to take comments and make any changes I'll ask Geoff to include it in the download with the rest of the documentation. PS: I wish I spoke a second language even half as well as you do  Edited 2024-02-10 03:14 by matherp |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3150 |
Amen. And writing is even harder. And to do it with technical documentation, even harder. Hats off. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3800 |
+2 (Harm's English is very good and so very useful here) John |
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Turbo46 Guru Joined: 24/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1611 |
Thank you so much for those documents Harm. I struggle with the graphics so maybe I can learn something. Maybe I'm a little colour blind but I have trouble reading the blue sections. Can I please suggest that you use the same style of formatting as Geoff does in his manuals, use black for all text and make the program listings a larger font? It's far easier to proof read someone else's writing than your own, well it is for me. For a second language your English is great and your contributions are always appreciated! I take my hat off to ALL of the non English speaking members of the forum. Bill Keep safe. Live long and prosper. |
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| PeteCotton Guru Joined: 13/08/2020 Location: CanadaPosts: 368 |
When I first arrived in Canada, I had somebody tell me that my English was "coming along nicely", and they encouraged me that I would master it in no time. ...... English is my first and only language - I just have a Scottish accent  Edited 2024-02-10 08:52 by PeteCotton |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3150 |
Soon as you get the "eh"s down, you're good. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| PeteCotton Guru Joined: 13/08/2020 Location: CanadaPosts: 368 |
 And the toques. |
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| Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 1113 |
The MOD format: The MOD format was originally developed for the Amiga hardware, which is why only a maximum of 4 channels could be played simultaneously in the original format.(more on the differences later) The File Structure: A mod file is a collection of 8-bit Mono samples(the typical samplerate is usually 16 kHz) of the musical instruments used of which a maximum of 32 can be saved in the file. Without going into too much detail about the commands, the rest consists of lists (patterns) that contain a list of the order in which the samples are played, at which pitch and on which audio channel. A "playlist" deals with a list of patterns and determines the sequence in which they are played. Using with Picomite and in PetsciiRobots As already mentioned, a mod file is a collection of a maximum of 32 samples, but rarely are all 32 samples used for instruments. I have used this fact to accommodate the samples of the sounds and effects in the free "slots". Thanks to the "PLAY MODSAMPLE" command, these can then be played without interrupting the music being played. The specified channels used are also independent of the channels playing the music. Therefore,(different from the Amiga hardware) non of the "Music-channels" is affected here either. Just sounds The PLAY MODSAMPLE command only works if the MOD was previously started via PLAY MODFILE If you only want to play sounds, it is sufficient to create an MOD file containing only the samples, an empty playlist and empty patterns. The PLAY MODFILE command plays the module, which itself does not generate any sounds. Nevertheless, you can now call up the individual sounds via "PLAY MODSAMPLE" (maximum 4 at the same time) I think that was roughly it Edited 2024-02-10 16:09 by Martin H. 'no comment |
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| LeoNicolas Guru Joined: 07/10/2020 Location: CanadaPosts: 479 |
You made my day Pete |
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| Turbo46 Guru Joined: 24/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1611 |
Och, Ah Dinnae Ken if that's true. https://blog.busuu.com/scottish-expressions/ Bill Keep safe. Live long and prosper. |
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| PeteCotton Guru Joined: 13/08/2020 Location: CanadaPosts: 368 |
Thanks  |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4223 |
@Peter, others, I have updated the document with suggested changes. It should be a little easier to understand. I included both the PDF, and the WORD version, so you could adapt where appropriate to make it "web worthy". picomite_graphics.zip Volhout P.S. Martin, thanks for your text, it is added to the other document, that explains PETSCII ROBOTS. I hope to finalize that document in a few weeks. Edited 2024-02-12 20:07 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| Turbo46 Guru Joined: 24/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1611 |
Hi Volhout, Thank you for the document. I have taken the liberty of making a few changes to (I hope) improve readability and added a footer with page numbers. My changes are highlighted in yellow. It was done using LibreOffice so I hope it's compatible. pico_graphics_V2m.zip My apologies if I have misunderstood anything. Please do whatever you want with it. Bill Keep safe. Live long and prosper. |
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