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Pipeline Software Tutorials (Amstrad Action) | Code breaking (Amstrad Action) |
So now you've got Zapp you're ready and raring to have a go at Machine Code programming, yeah? One problem - it's a tricky business. Simon Forrester's been looking at a couple of tutorial booklets that might just be able to help you out. You're set to make a million pounds. You've come up with a winning concept, you've drawn everything up in an art package, and you've already received a payment up front of a Porsche, a mansion and a swimming pool full of champagne, when suddenly you realise you don't know the first thing about writing games in Machine Code! Bummer luck, but an easy mistake to make - what you need is a tip or two about Machine Code. In issue 91, I reviewed of a set of a dozen or so Machine Code tutorials from Pipeline Software that received an excellent verdict: “These books have to be the best Machine Code guides so far, and well worth the price,” I said at the time, and I'd still say it now, if asked. Or indeed if not asked, like I just haven't been. In fact, now you've got a copy of Zapp (it's on the covertape in case you hadn't noticed) they're a good bet to buy if you want to get seriously into Machine Code programming. Since then, Robin Gilbert, the author, has been working on some sequels, so let's have a look at the first two to see the light of day. Techniques Of Demo Programming Aaargh! Demos! No! It'll all end in thousands of identical demos from France with a few scrolling messages and a couple of hundred raster bars. What's the point? A demo is supposed to show programming skill, not how well you can repeat the same effect that everyone else has used since the dawn of time (or 1988, anyway). There are probably a lot of people who would violently disagree with this view of demos, such as Face Hugger, who creates demos without a single irritating moving raster bar (or if there is, it's put to good use instead of just moving up and down) relying instead on maths calculations, etc. Good for them. So, my The book takes you through scrolling messages, colour cycling (which allows you to display more than the designated number of colours on screen), multicolored characters, rasters, somebody please help me, overscan, I'm falling asleep, underscan, music... It has to be said that this one really isn't as well written as the sprite book - there is more emphasis on working listings as oppose to step-by-step explanations. For a proficient Machine Coder, this won't pose too many problems, but this is a book you should only approach when you've got a very firm grasp of just about every other Machine Code concept. Beginners, on the other hand, should steer well clear (and anyway, the later they get indoctrinated into demos the better as far as I'm concerned). The World Of Sprites For all those of you who don't already know, a sprite is a picture that is drawn on screen, and moved around. It's quite a bit more complex than that in reality, when you want to get sprites to do things like pass over each other, collide and not erase the background, but the basic concept is still the same - a sprite is a multi-coloured character of any definable shape or size. This tutorial is 34-pages thick, covering (hopefully), everything you'd need to know about how sprites are stored, the layout of the screen (as far as your CPC's concerned) and all the technical bits you'll need to know to get a sprite off your art package screen and springing into life in your very own game. It begins by detailing the layout of the screen memory on the CPC and how the different coloured pixels are encoded (and, therefore, how to utilise the system). Next, the guide talks about animating your sprites, using them as background items, moving them (it's not the same as animating, honest), collision detection (working out when one sprite is hitting another), special effects (spraying your sprite with a wall of fire while a Tyrannosaurus Rex chases it, forcing it to melt through a set of metal bars, or something along those lines). As a guide, it's concise, but very clear. Though what you're reading will be nothing but the facts (a world apart from your writing, then - Dave), a fair amount of time is spent on each concept, and a decent amount of explanation is given for each of the principles covered. There are example Assembly listings provided, that are provided on disk for an extra £3. All in all, if you want a guide to creating and using sprites, this is definitely the book for you (well, booklet) (does that make a large pamphlet a pamph? - Dave). It would also be a fairly good idea only to think about attempting things like sprites if you're sure you've got a good grasp of most of the principle concepts of Machine Code - your brain'll explode if you're not too careful! Anyway - happy coding! AA |
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