Hi there,
I'm curious whether anyone is using Reservoir God's GodLib + PureC to develop small games or even demos and wants to share his experiences. It seems to be a nice alternative to GFA-Basic and the whole API is nicely structured and very convenient. I'm thinking about writing a music disk with my favorite chiptunes from the mid eighties to the present. This may not be original, but as the documentation is a bit sparse it certainly is a fun way to learn more about the lib.
Anyone using GodLib?
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Anyone using GodLib?
Last edited by Cohen on Tue Mar 29, 2005 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Zorro 2
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Very curious and good question. For my part I use gfa and asm to program something on ST but the language C for me is not made for construct demos or games 
Member of NoExtra Team
Re: Anyone using GodLib?
Cohen wrote:I'm curios whether anyone is using Reservoir God's GodLib + PureC to develop small games or even demos and wants to share his experiences. It seems to be a nice alternative to GFA-Basic and the whole API is nicely structured and very convenient. I'm thinking about writing a music disk with my favorite chiptunes from the mid eighties to the present. This may not be original, but as the documentation is a bit sparse it certainly is a fun way to learn more about the lib.
Never used GodLib but I do use a Pure C (and Pure Assembler) for developtment. Great combination especially on lager projects. I should check out the GodLib. Never heard about it before.
Nyh
As far as I know, all of the more recent RG games were developed using this library. Most of the routines are implemented in assembler, so simple demos should be possible too, as long as you don't want to break any sprite records. 
C is the language of choice for me, because I usually code on PC. To be honest, i really dislike Basic and I don't know much about assembler coding.
Well, a music disc shouldn't be too complicated, even SNDH-replay is a piece of cake when you use this lib. (Only about 10 lines of code to load, depack, initialise and play the tune.)
C is the language of choice for me, because I usually code on PC. To be honest, i really dislike Basic and I don't know much about assembler coding.
Well, a music disc shouldn't be too complicated, even SNDH-replay is a piece of cake when you use this lib. (Only about 10 lines of code to load, depack, initialise and play the tune.)
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prog99
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Zorro 2 wrote:Very curious and good question. For my part I use gfa and asm to program something on ST but the language C for me is not made for construct demos or games
C's fine for this kind of stuff, with a decent compiler (and pure c is that) you can get pretty good results. Plus PureC has an easy to use integrated assembler too (I used it on my depacking series of utilities)
All my real skills are undervalued
Yes, GodLib was used for all our recent games, including "Chu Chu Rocket", "GodPey" and "SuperFly".
I am continually updating it and adding new features such as CT60 compatibility and front end systems.
One of the big recent changes is full PC compatibility - it's now a true cross platform library so I can build and run my games on PC and use debuggers on the PC. The devstudio debugger is a bit nicer than the pure c one
As for performance issues, it has a profiling system so you can profile your game and see the most expensive functions. Generally the majority of CPU time is spent in a small amount of functions (sprite routines etc) and thats the stuff I code in assembly.
I am continually updating it and adding new features such as CT60 compatibility and front end systems.
One of the big recent changes is full PC compatibility - it's now a true cross platform library so I can build and run my games on PC and use debuggers on the PC. The devstudio debugger is a bit nicer than the pure c one
As for performance issues, it has a profiling system so you can profile your game and see the most expensive functions. Generally the majority of CPU time is spent in a small amount of functions (sprite routines etc) and thats the stuff I code in assembly.
Pink/RG wrote:One of the big recent changes is full PC compatibility - it's now a true cross platform library so I can build and run my games on PC and use debuggers on the PC. The devstudio debugger is a bit nicer than the pure c one
The Pure debugger is not bad at all. I liked it better as the devstudio debugger but it is some years ago and I have been using Pure C a lot.
Pink/RG wrote:As for performance issues, it has a profiling system so you can profile your game and see the most expensive functions. Generally the majority of CPU time is spent in a small amount of functions (sprite routines etc) and thats the stuff I code in assembly.
There is also a profiler for Pure C. Works fine but is a bit unstable. For ARJBETA I couldn't do multiple runs. Never used it in game and demo development.
Nyh
OK, I have done a few tests on Steem and not on my real ST, but I have already stumbled upon a few problems. Perhaps the gods can help me?
It seems that the compiled programs (including most of the GodLib examples) fail to work on anything below TOS 2.06. I'm probably missing something as I'm new to Pure C. Changing the default compiler settings made things worse, so I kept them.
Also I'd like to know what's the best way to create 2 bitplane sprites. Is it possible to this with Degas Elite, which seems to be the preferred format? What's the best way to scroll a canvas? I remember the smooth scrolling in "SuperFly" and I'm still wondering how RG did that.
It seems that the compiled programs (including most of the GodLib examples) fail to work on anything below TOS 2.06. I'm probably missing something as I'm new to Pure C. Changing the default compiler settings made things worse, so I kept them.
Also I'd like to know what's the best way to create 2 bitplane sprites. Is it possible to this with Degas Elite, which seems to be the preferred format? What's the best way to scroll a canvas? I remember the smooth scrolling in "SuperFly" and I'm still wondering how RG did that.
Yes, the latest GodLib will be released freeware.
The PureC debugger is ok for debugging simple system friendly programs, but once you start to take all the interrupts, start changing screen address, using your own IKBD vector etc, it tends not to work too well.
The current GodLib works fine on TOS 2.06, this is what I use for most of my testing.
You can create 2 bitplane sprites easily enough in degas. We tend to use 4 bitplane sprites for everything. The smooth scrolling in SuperFly was achieved by using a 1 plane background and a 'delta scroll' (only drawing/clearing areas of the screen that had changed since previous frame).
The PureC debugger is ok for debugging simple system friendly programs, but once you start to take all the interrupts, start changing screen address, using your own IKBD vector etc, it tends not to work too well.
The current GodLib works fine on TOS 2.06, this is what I use for most of my testing.
You can create 2 bitplane sprites easily enough in degas. We tend to use 4 bitplane sprites for everything. The smooth scrolling in SuperFly was achieved by using a 1 plane background and a 'delta scroll' (only drawing/clearing areas of the screen that had changed since previous frame).
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Perihelion
WOW!
Cross platform, that's way cool. As for the library, I know bpadinha had a code project which he showed me that he used the godlib for, the godlib seemed to me to be a very impressive work with good structure and documentation.
I think everyone wanting to write a game should at least take a very serious look at it!
Cross platform, that's way cool. As for the library, I know bpadinha had a code project which he showed me that he used the godlib for, the godlib seemed to me to be a very impressive work with good structure and documentation.
I think everyone wanting to write a game should at least take a very serious look at it!
Perihelion wrote:As for the library, I know bpadinha had a code project which he showed me that he used the godlib for
Correction, my (currently stalled) game development isn't using GodLib directly, but I have adapted parts of it, such as the IKBD handler. Also, looking at its source has been a hell of a way to learn cool coding tricks, and a great incentive to begin using Pure C / Pure ASM as a (great) development environment on the ST.
So cheers for that Mr. Pink!
bp
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