Monochrome sprite functions

[Javi Perez]

Hi everyone,

I?m working on a monochrome game with pixel by pixel movement. I have used SP1 library in all the tests I have made so far. I have accidentally come across the header file games.h and I was wondering if these functions are more suitable than SP1. I?m primarily looking at efficiency in terms of speed and memory usage. Has anyone made any comparison between both libraries?


Cheers,
Javier

[alvin]

The graphics and 3d library goes pretty much unnoticed but the results are quite good.

The mono sprites take much less memory than sp1 but they are also slower. They operate directly on the screen so you may also have to worry about flicker. I think it's probably more suitable for games that are not live-action.

You should try compiling some of the examples in z88dk/examples/graphics

* chessboard.c, "zcc +zx -vn chessboard.c -o chessboard -lndos -create-app"

Uses putsprite() to draw the chess pieces.

* clock.c, "zcc +zx -oclock -lndos -create-app -lm -llib3d -DDETAILED clock.c"

Uses putsprite() to draw the roman numerals. The clock's hands keep time.

* spritest.c, "zcc +zx -vn spritest.c -o spritest -lndos -create-app"

The mono sprite functions are used to move a pointer around. CAPS+5+6+7+8 to move.
If the program exits right away it's because you're still holding enter when the program starts.
I've committed a fix for that now.

It's not a pretty example but it shows the speed if the sprite is drawn masked with background restore
and moved 1 pixel at a time. Moving faster than 1 pixel would improve things as would using OR sprites.
Masked sprites means two draws of the sprite image (mask then graphics).

* stencil.c, "zcc +zx -vn -lndos -create-app -llib3d stencil.c -o stencil"

Shows how nice the stencil graphics library is. It draws rotated filled shapes on screen very quickly.
Not related to sprites but the rest of the graphics lib deserves some attention too


Stefano can commit further. The graphics lib will be very light on memory requirements; sp1 is heavy so that it can be fast and easy to use at the same time (no flicker and no tv sync). The graphics lib is one thing I would like to personally look at as I'd like to add clipping, optional transformations and draw context (for colour) in a graphics pipeline structure.

[alvin]

There is also a low-rez colour graphics library for the zx target (64x48 or so) but that may not be suitable for your project.

[stefano]

The monochrome lib inherits by a root codebase for the z88 but it grew up a lot since then.. my intention was to have a good number of portable functions so now you can compile the same program for different targets with little or no changes, so the color support is almost absent.
My intention was to have all the targets covered soon, so the code in some case slower than necessary (Alvin is right telling it is not suitable for interactive games.. see the "microman.c" demo to see the most you can get). On the other side this minimalistic approach permits to extend the codebase easily and to add a new function on all the targets with very little effort. The element I like most is the "stencil" element, coming from a 3D buffered engine for the MSX by Rafael de Oliveira Jannone which I rewrote in machine code. It permit to use the same graphics set to create convex figures which can be applied over the current screen choosing its "shade" (dithering pattern). I used this element to render some simple SVG file, which can be previously converted to meta-graphics sequences with the z80svg tool.
The lo-rez graphics is in turn specific to the Sinclair machines and a bit cumbersome, but there should be a limited version for the ZX81 too.

[stefano]

http://z88dk.org/wiki/doku.php?id=targets

.. the targets supporting at least some of the B/W graphics functions are more than 30.
I'd say all of them is able to run "dstar", "chessboard" and "coswave".

[Javi Perez]

* chessboard.c, "zcc +zx -vn chessboard.c -o chessboard -lndos -create-app"

Uses putsprite() to draw the chess pieces.

I ahve tried compiling chessboard.c and this is the result:

C:\z88dk\trabajos\12. test graphics>zcc +zx -vn chessboard.c -o chessboard -lndos -create-app
1 file(s) copied.
1 file(s) copied.
Warning at module 'chessboard': symbol 'coords' used as 'COORDS'
Warning at module 'chessboard': symbol 'coords' used as 'COORDS'
Warning at file 'C:\Users\Colino\AppData\Local\Temp\s608_1.asm' module 'zx82_crt0': symbol '_Main' used as '_main'
Warning at module 'plotpixel': symbol 'coords' used as 'COORDS'
Error at module 'draw': symbol not defined in expression 'line'
Warning at module 'respixel': symbol 'coords' used as 'COORDS'
Error at module 'undraw': symbol not defined in expression 'line'
2 errors occurred during assembly

Seems like I need an external library?

[alvin]

It looks like you have an old install. Try to update your nightly build.

[Javi Perez]

It looks like you have an old install. Try to update your nightly build.

OK, I have downloaded and installed the latest version -http://nightly.z88dk.org/z88dk-win32-latest.zip- and this what I get now when trying to compile:

Code: Select all

C:\z88dk\trabajos\12. test graphics>zcc +zx -vn chessboard.c -o chessboard -lndos -create-app
        1 file(s) copied.
        1 file(s) copied.
Error at file 'c:\Z88DK\lib\/spec_crt0.asm' line 177: symbol '_main' not defined
1 errors occurred during assembly
Key to filenames:
C:\Users\Colino\AppData\Local\Temp\sj0_.o = chessboard.c
Error at file 'c:\Z88DK\lib\/spec_crt0.asm' line 177: symbol '_main' not defined
                   ^ ----         call    _main           ; Call user program

On the contrary, I have compiled sprites.c and the .tap file is generated OK

[alvin]

I just downloaded the nightly from scratch and compiled without a problem.

The warnings a few posts ago about mixed case names is due to an old version of z80asm. The current error you have with no "_main" means there is no main() function in chessboard.c, which there most certainly is. Could you check your chessboard.c to make sure it has a main()? In case it's something to do with spaces in the path, maybe try compiling again after copying "chessboard.c" and "chessboard.h" up one directory to "C:\z88dk\trabajos\" so that the spaces won't be there.

In case you continue to have problems (which should be solved) here is chessboard compiled with the default pieces:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6XhJJ ... sp=sharing

Microman is probably what you should look at for what mono sprites can do (it's in the examples dir):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6XhJJ ... sp=sharing

[Javi Perez]

The current error you have with no "_main" means there is no main() function in chessboard.c, which there most certainly is. Could you check your chessboard.c to make sure it has a main()?

I found the issue: the main function was written with capital "m" (Main instead of main), thanks for the hint!

Now if I want to compile a program (main.c) with the SP1 features using the latest build, I use the following:

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zcc +zx -vn main.c -o main -lndos -lsp1 -lmalloc -create-app

But it seems the SP1.h file is not found...

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cpp: line 5, Fatal error: Cannot open include file "sprites/sp1.h"

In the previous build, sp1.h was located at

Code: Select all

C:\z88dk\include\sprites

[alvin]

The current error you have with no "_main" means there is no main() function in chessboard.c, which there most certainly is. Could you check your chessboard.c to make sure it has a main()?

I found the issue: the main function was written with capital "m" (Main instead of main), thanks for the hint!

You must be using an old version of that program. It should look like this in the nightly download:
http://z88dk.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc ... xt%2Fplain

Now if I want to compile a program (main.c) with the SP1 features using the latest build, I use the following:

Code: Select all

zcc +zx -vn main.c -o main -lndos -lsp1 -lmalloc -create-app

But it seems the SP1.h file is not found...

Code: Select all

cpp: line 5, Fatal error: Cannot open include file "sprites/sp1.h"

In the previous build, sp1.h was located at

Code: Select all

C:\z88dk\include\sprites

Yes for the classic c library, sp1.lib and sp1.h are not made for you. This is because sp1 works for a few more targets (zx81 and ts2068) but only one version can exist at a time so the user is supposed to make the version of sp1 needed. This can be done via the Makefile in z88dk/libsrc (type "make sp1" from there for instructions) but make does not come standard with windows.

You can use this default compiled version for the spectrum to avoid having to make it:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6XhJJ ... sp=sharing

Copy sp1.lib to z88dk/lib/clibs and the header file to z88dk/include/sprites (make the sprites subdir if you have to)

[Javi Perez]

You can use this default compiled version for the spectrum to avoid having to make it:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6XhJJ ... sp=sharing
Copy sp1.lib to z88dk/lib/clibs and the header file to z88dk/include/sprites (make the sprites subdir if you have to)

Thanks Alvin, now the program compiles successfully using:

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zcc +zx -vn main.c -o main -lndos -lsp1 -lmalloc -create-app

However, for some reason an error pops up reporting that "sccz80.exe has stopped working" and the .tap is not generated.

[alvin]

However, for some reason an error pops up reporting that "sccz80.exe has stopped working" and the .tap is not generated.

Is there an error message printed out? zcc will sometimes hang if a function or variable is not found .

[Javi Perez]

However, for some reason an error pops up reporting that "sccz80.exe has stopped working" and the .tap is not generated.

Is there an error message printed out? zcc will sometimes hang if a function or variable is not found .

I launched the command in the console and the string "sccz80.exe has stopped working" pops out in a window with the "OK" button.

[alvin]

I launched the command in the console and the string "sccz80.exe has stopped working" pops out in a window with the "OK" button.

There is nothing at all in the console window?? Are you able to post your main.c here or someplace else?