hits since July 31rst, 2001.
A small news update: I've started combining the various blending code found in the programming section with the intention of making a full add-on for Allegro. More on this once I make the first public release.
I've also been adding new code to Allegro: SSE optimized masked_blit() which is over 2x faster on my system, and modifying the color convertors to be more robust and much more flexible (they are also faster as a side effect of being re-written by myself ;)
Zasx is nearing completion. I just got the final track from Ben so now I'm only waiting for the new asteroid graphics.
On the AllegroGL side of things, I merged in Bertrand's patch for allowing AllegroGL to use Mesa as the OpenGL renderer under DOS. Some bugs are fixed and extra functionality has been added, but it's been relatively quiet these days. We also had a record month in terms of page views and downloads. Yay!
SIGGRAPH 2001 has started. I wish I could have attended it. It's a shame you can't get yourself to California on a measely student income :/
School will be starting soon, and I look forward to all those new and interesting engineering courses.
2xSaI v0.92 has been released!
Changes include:
- New API has been extended to be more flexible.
- Original 2xSaI API has been restored for compatibility reasons.
- 20% speed boost on the Super2xSaI and SuperEagle engines.
- Documentation update
In the rush of things, I've almost forgot to post here:
AllegroGL 0.0.16 has been released!
The list of changes (and there are many) can be found here.
I've release the Unix package for AllegroGL, which you can get from here.
AllegroGL 0.0.16 is bound for release. This should happen on Monday (hopefully).
The transparency code is now fixed. Thanks to Chris Barry for pointing the bugs out!
Updated the code for color add and transparency. They now come with their own test programs. Check them out in the programming section!
Fixed a small bug in the fast 16bpp color adder. I also brought up the programming page to date, and uploaded the almost corrected second article.
Finally updated this page! I added pages for D.U.M.B. and Set Up Us the Bomb!. I also updated the AllegroGL version number to 0.0.14. Speaking of which, 0.0.16 is just around the corner.
I also added two articles in the programming section with respect to code optimizations. Hope you like them!
This just in: added a fast 16bpp color adder to the programming page. It's about 3 times faster than Allegro's.
Sorry for not updating in a while - I've been in the middle of exams, and the Allegro Team Competition (as part of Team Zig). I'll build up a web page for our entry soon. In the mean time, we (Ben, CJ and I) are working on completing the game.
And in case you are wondering, Zasx is essentially complete. I just need to get the final track from Ben, write the license for the game, package it, etc, and it can be called 'final' :)
Small bugs corrected in Zasx - the source hasn't yet been updated though.
I also UPX
packed the executables and the Allegro DLL - this shaves 26 KB off the download, and over 500 KB off disk!
Zasx 1.30-beta has been released!
Here's what's new:
- Sped up the drawing code by 2.
- Sped up the loading time by 4.
- Added laser weapons.
- Added controls and control setup for both players.
- Remade power-up and ship graphics.
- Multiplayer mode (2 players).
- Minor display bugs fixed.
- Auto wepaon changing.
- Better balanced the weapons.
- Joystick input.
Download your copy right here!
Put out a new screenshot for Zasx, showing off my newly found 'talent' for pixel arts :-)
Zasx is getting close to completion. I'm just reworking the ship graphics (don't wanna rip the Allegro Demo too much ;-). Ben Davis has also agreed to do the sound track (Thanks Ben!).
In the programming section you'll find a speed test program for the previous code, as well as a 16bpp fade routine that fades to white and back (included in fade16.c), just as fast as the fade to black one!
I also added a fast 50% translucency drawing routine, with (optionally) 1 bit loss of accuracy, per component.
I'm almost done reworking the webpage. Just a few more htmls to go, and then I'll be fully (ab)using CSS. Soon, I'll be able to generate the pages automatically from a datafile, which will save me quite a lot of time :-)
New screenshots for Zasx Have been posted up. A new public release should be made within two weeks, unless anything bad happens and the code breaks.
Sorry for the lack of updates. It's the time of year where I get my dose of final exams. Needless
to say I'm much too busy to update the wep page on a daily basis. I've worked a lot on Zasx
since the last post (3 weeks ago!), and I'm happy to announce it's almost complete! I'll post up a few screen shots this
week end so you can all see what I've been up to :-)
Anyway, back to studying for me.
Oh yeah, I'm testing out a new layout mechanism for the page (gotta love CSS).