★ APPLICATIONS ★ CREATION GRAPHIQUE ★ PICTURE BUILDER ★ |
| Picture Builder | Applications Creation Graphique |
This is hi-tech art on your Amstrad, though it is unlikely that any of your ‘masterpieces' will ever fetch thousands of pounds. The program starts by asking for the mode (0, 1 or 2) and colours to be used for the border (0 26), paper (0 15) and the initial ink (0 15). A list of colour numbers is in your reference manual or in Appendix 5 of this book. A set of drawing colours are contained in the program. (Change the data in lines 20 110 and 20 120 for different colours.) The next request is for a picture name, which will be used for saving. The final option offered is to have an ‘information window' displayed. This will constantly show the current x,y co-ordinates of the drawing pointer and may be used to plan out plotting sequences to be incorporated into programs. The map of Great Britain in this book was generated in this way. The window appears at the top or bottom of the screen and automatically moves if it is in the way, whilst the picture underneath is still retained. When the screen appears a graphic ‘pencil' shows where the line will be drawn. The pencil is moved using the joystick or cursor pad. Pressing the lire button or copy key changes the pencil to an eraser symbol. This will then rub out any lines that it passes over. If the fire button is pressed again a cross symbol will be displayed. This indicates that the cursor may be moved without drawing a line. Once in position to draw again, pressing the fire button will return to the pencil and draw mode. The cursor can be cycled through these modes by repeated pressing of the fire button. A very useful alternative to using the pencil is to use the'Auto line' mode. First the ‘Move'symbol is obtained and moved to where the line is to start. Pressing‘Space'gives a beep and stores that position. The cross is then moved to the second location. ‘Space' pressed and a line will be drawn between the two points. At any time the current drawing ink can be changed using the ‘Enter' key. Each press of the key steps through the available inks and the cursor changes colour to show the one selected. ‘Shift' ‘S' saves the current picture immediately to tape when selected. ‘Record' and ‘Play' should be pressed beforehand as prompts are not displayed. ‘Shift' ‘1.' then ‘Play' on the tape deck will load the first picture file found. The current screen will be cleared and the new one displayed. Although drawing a picture can take some time, dependent upon the mode, producing ‘art' in this way can be very enjoyable.
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