★ CODING ★ SOURCES ★ BRUCE ABBOTT GAC FAST FILL PATCH : FASTER PICTURE DRAWING FOR GAC ADVENTURE GAMES ★ |
| Bruce Abbott GAC Fast Fill Patch : Faster picture drawing for GAC adventure games | Bruce Abbott GAC Fast Fill Patch |
Here's a patch for people who love playing games created with Graphic Adventure Creator, but hate waiting while the pictures render. My code dramatically speeds up filling areas, and also eliminates unnecessary drawing of the picture frame after each fill command. The result is up to 8 times faster rendering and more enjoyable game play. I originally wrote this patch in 1986. Sadly the source code was lost when I gave the CPC664 to my father a few years ago, so I had to write it again from scratch! The good news is that this second version is even faster than the original. :) If you play games in WinAPE or WinCPC then the easiest way to apply my patch is simply run the game, then load and assemble the source code "gac-fill.asm" into memory. This only takes a few seconds, but has to be done every time the game is run (including each section of a multi-part game). If you want to permanently patch a game then run the BASIC program 'PATCH.BAS" (found in the disk file "gac_patch.dsk"), insert your game disk, then enter the name of the executable to patch (a binary file typically around 40K long) and it will create a patched version of the file. After it returns to the prompt you should reset the computer/emulator to ensure that its memory is cleaned out. This procedure is quite straightforward, but there are a few things to watch out for:-
NOTES: GAC executables are standalone binary files which load at address &0040 (wiping out any BASIC program that was there) and can be run by simply typing RUN"". Some games are started via a short BASIC loader which allows you select the part you wish to run or display an intro screen etc. but this has no effect on the main game. On the included disk file are two versions of the game "Timer Traveler" - one is the original, and the other is the faster 'patched' version. You can see how well the patch works by running each one in turn. To try out the patching procedure run "PATCH.BAS" and enter the name "TIME.BAS". This will create a new file "TIME.BAS" and rename the original to "TIME.BAK". The .asm files on the disk are for reference only, they are not required for patching files or running the game.
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