Dash
VirtuaSoft's screen 13h graphics library, Dash, has really grown
in the last
two months. Dash is 32-bit!!!!!! Now, there are tons
of new subs for those of you
who need more for your game projects...
VSSpriteT: sprite-translucency
VSSpriteR: sprite-rotation
VSPcopyT: transparent PCopy
VSPoke32: 32-bit POKE
VSPeek32: 32-bit PEEK
VSNegative: palette negativing
VSFadeToPalette: cross-fading
VSFadeToColor: alternative to VSFadeBlack
and VSFadeWhite
VSPut: a solid PUT sub that is slightly faster
than VSSprite
VSPut32: a 32-bit PUT sub that's 4x
faster than VSPut and VSSprite
For more info on Dash, go to VirtuaSoft.
DirectQB
Dash has competition...and what formidable competition this is.
DirectQB is
a graphics library made by Angelo
Mottola for QB4.5. It has most of the same
subs as Dash standard and Blast! as well as subs for sound-effects,
graphics file
formats, and EMS. DQB also allows wave mixing for 8 simultaneous
sound
effects in the background. Dash(X) and DQB have been
rapidly updated - as to
not fall behind one another. This friendly competition has
not only bettered the
libraries, but it has also greatly advanced the QB community.
It will be
interesting how this competition goes....
LiquidAGX
Another library!? This library will be released sometime in the near
future by
LordQBASIC.
LiquidAGX is written in pure 32-bit assembly, and
is designed to be as
fast as possible without sacrificing functionality. All graphics routines
from primitives to sprite handling support full customizeable clipping
boundaries. An LAGX program's memory is enhanced with direct and
fast access to EMS and XMS, while standard memory functions allow the
user to manipulate anything from individual bits or bytes to huge data
blocks with the utmost of speed. Sprite handling allows users to
draw full
blocks or transparent sprites very quickly. LAGX's scrolling capabilties
give complete control to the user with 16 routines. The whole palette or
individual colors can be manipulated with LAGX's palette routines.
The
mouse is also supported with every standard function plus the ability to
change the cursor. Text can use the standard BIOS font or a custom
font of any size.
Future versions are planned to support sound, unchained VGA
resolutions and page flipping, and SVGA support.
LordQB has been using the subs in LAGX for a while in his own
projects
(like Syraphage) but has decided to release the library to the public.
It seems as if the trend of QB is moving from everyone making an RPG to
everyone making ASM libraries.... :)
The Mystical Journey
TMJ has seen some minor updates, but due to schoolwork, there hasn't
been
much time to update it. A new (unfinished) village has been added
called Rangoon;
translucent menus have been added; the music has been dropped because it
crashes computers with certain sound cards; and it has been accelerated
with the
new update to Dash. Expect a few more levels by December 1st
- unless I'm too
busy playing Zelda 64 then... :)
For more info on TMJ, go to VirtuaSoft.
Super Mario World: Clone
I never realized how fast the word would spread on this little project.
:) I
post it on my site, and within a few days, everyone in the QB community
knows
about it. Well, anyways, SMWClone is a clone of Super Mario
World (duh!) that
uses DashX and QMidi to attain speed and music, respectively.
The music
comes from http://www.vgmusic.com
in the form of midis. The music is ported
from SuperNES emulators. It has parallax pixel-scrolling and is compatible
with
any 4-button game pad.
The people working on the project are Necrolyte,
DJRed, and Danny
Gump
(that's me!).
SonicBlue's Bricks
SonicBlue has been working hard on his new Tetris clone. SB
Bricks has
most of what makes Tetris the addictive game it as - as well as
several extra
features like bomber blocks, etc.
For more info on SonicBlue's project, go visit SonicBlue
.
Wrath of Sona
Kaddash's RPG, WOS, has seen some major updates in the past months.
The newest release, v.17, now uses a blend of Dash and DQB
for the engine.
It has tons of new updates (too many to mention here). This game
is a definite
"must see." Get your copy now.
For more info on Nekrophidius's project, go visit Kaddash.