Hans, I understand.
Sad to see that efforts made for Datatypes evolution were never considered as officials ... :(
I second Whose concerning the source code of this project.

Whose, thank you for all your informations :)

I've sent an e-mail to the author (his domain is now http://www.droolsoft.co.uk/ so his e-mail may be changed as the one in os4depot is wrong nog (it was previously .ltd.uk domain ... ) )

Kindest Regards,
AmiDARK

Hans, thank you for your answer, I will take a look at this library but it may make a "generic engine" support only 1 audio file format ... that's not top :(.

Whose, I send you a PM with my e-mail informations.
Thank you for your help proposal :)

Kindest Regards,
AmiDARK

BroadBlues,
Yes, but AHI is far more complex to use and I don't understand how I can do all the needed functions ( DELoadSound, DEStopSound, DEPauseSound, DEResumeSound, DeDeleteSound ) using AHI directly.
I tried but ... all DOCS are in English ... and English is not my native language ... this makes things a bit harder ...
And I didn't find how to do all these...
So I am obliged to use DataTypes ... no other solution

Kindest Regards,
AmiDARK

Hi,

I encounter a problem on which I have no solution.
Due to the structure of the AmiDARK Engine, audio is defined this way :

1. Function to load an object : DELoadSound( File, ID )
2. Function to play/pause/resume/stop object : DEPlaySound( ID ), DEPauseSound( ID ), DEResumeSound( ID ), DEStopSound( ID )
3. Function to delete object : DEDeleteSound( ID )

I can load an audio using datatype, delete it without problem.
The problem is when I want to play it.
I copy the functions there to show you :

Quote:

So, everything compiles ok in the libAmiDARK.a file.
When I use these functions from a fresh project (that'll use the libAmiDARK.a lib), here is the problem I encounter.

1. With the line "IExec->Wait( SIGBREAKF_CTRL_C );" removed : No audio playback.
2. With the line "IExec->Wait( SIGBREAKF_CTRL_C );" not revmoed : audio playbak but program lock infinitely. and I cannot quit the application nor doing anything from the moment the sample started to play.

Here the source code I use to test the DEPlaySound function :
Quote:
As you can see, I load 4 samples.
when you press a key from 1-4 it start play a sample.
So, due to this way of working, I cannot use Wait functions to wait the sound finished.
(do you see in a game a ship fire a projectyle and the game pause until the sound is finished ? :p)
So, Does someone have an idea on how I can fix this problem ?

Thank you.

Kindest Regards,
AmiDARK

Abalaban :
It's a distortion of what CBS TV is for you ;) lool
It makes me remind.
Last times I read a coffee box ... Instead of reading "Tonic" ... I read "Toxic" ... Weird ? not ? ...

Rigo,
CodeBench is really cool I like use it for testing my GDK on AmigaOS4 :p

Hi,

As I'm working on the release 0.8 with two major need :
- Fix the PlaySound audio playback.
- Fix Sprites stability issue.

I had an idea ... for a special plugin for the AmiDARK Engine.
This plugin is called : FX2D.
Why ? Simply because it'll contain some special 2D effects.

And, the First of these is the so called "Fake Rasters"...
You said ... What ? You emulate old Amiga Copper lists and colors effects ?
Hum ... I'll answer ... "not exactly".

In fact, I wanted to find a way to "fastly" add colors gradients like we did on our old Amiga 68k computers...

And I got it !!!
I have created some new commands :
- Added commands FXCreateFakeRaster, FXCreateFakeRasterEx & FXCreateFakeRasterEx2.
- Added commands FXDeleteRaster & FXUpdateRaster.
- Added commands FXSetRasterLine, FXSetRasterGradient and function FXGetRasterLine.
- Added commands FXSetRasterFromMemblock & FXMakeMemblockFromRaster.
- Added command FXSetRasterY & function FXGetRasterY.
- Added functions FXRasterExist & FXGetRasterHeight.
- Added commands FXHideRaster, FXShowRaster & function FXIsRasterHidden.
- Added commands FXEnableRasters, FXDisableRasters & function FXIsRasterDisabled.
- Added function FXIsRasterUpdated.
These commands and functions will allow you to create lines gradients like in the old Amiga 68k classics computers.

It's quite easy, just look this :
Quote:
This simple demonstration gives this result Without raster :

And with raster on :


You'll tell me "but ... it's not really ... impressive" ...
I can tell you .. "ok, I understand, but it's just the "example source code to show you how the system work"...

Effectively, I have done more impressive tests...
I have made a technical demonstration showing you how rasters work and mixing 2D, Rasters and 3D... It gives this amazing result :

And of course ... the demonstration can be downloaded for your pleasure to test it.
Here is the link :
http://files.amidark-engine.com/Rel0.8/RasterDemo.lha"" rel="external" title="">RasterDemo.lha

So ... we have detailled, you can create rasters, they are drawn before image and you can paste image over them using transparency and alpha to mix them with the image ...

It's interesting but ... I though "I can go further and make something more interesting!" and I did it !

I was thinking that in the "old ages" Raster/Copper can be put in any of the color register we wanted from the color palette ... unfortunately, I didn't find any way to make a raster being visible on 1 RGB color but ... I managed to make Raster effect being visible within 1 texture...

And I heard some telling "What ? what do you exactly mean ?"
I want to say that, when we paste an image in the screen, we can directly draw it with the raster in it ! And All black/transparent pixels will not be drawn! Raster is only on used pixels of the texture !!!

Hum ... that Seem interesting ... and it work really easily with 1 command. So I have also added these extra FX2D commands :
- Added commands DEFxImageRastered, DEFxImageRasteredEx, DEFxStretchedImageRastered & DEFXStretchedImageRasteredEx
To paste image with raster in them.

technically, imagine I use 5 images :
1. The first for the sky and stars we'll rasterize.
2. The second for a graphics "sun"
3. The third for an horizontal bar graphics we'll rasterize too.
4. The fourth for the main "text" logo wel'll rasterize too.
5. The fifth for a "light halo" around the main text logo.
The combined images should give this result :

"Wow ... nice picture!" ... yes, but we can make it more impressive when we activate some raster on the 3 mentionned images :


of course, source code is more complex, but it's now a "technical demonstration" too :)

This plugin is currently available in the "beta" version of the AmiDARK 2D engine but, I don't know if it will be part of an "extra" plugin or ... if it will be integrated directly in the main engine ...

With all these, here are the current changes for the upcoming Rel 0.8 :
AMIGAOS4
- Updated makefile.aos4 files to compile correctly with latest changes.
- Added missing Makefile.aos4 files so all samples can be compiled on AmigaOS4 with these makefile.
- Removed gstabs & wall flags from all Makefile.aos4 so, compiled demonstration should run faster.
- Updated "default project" files to work with the latest changes.
- Updated HELP "Using The Language" to work with the latest changes.
MORPHOS
- Added samples that were missing under MorphOS. MorphOS now have exactly the same samples than AmigaOS4 release.
- Added Makefile.mos files so, all samples may be compiled directly under MorphOS with these makefile (untested).
- Updated "default project" files to work with the latest changes.
- Updated HELP "Using The Language" to work with the latest changes.
GENERAL
- Removed some old printf debug outputs and replaced them with the default DebugMessage function.
- Added more commands & functions documentation. Nearly all commands & functions are now documented.
- Added a new *special* command set called FX2D that does not exist in DarkBASIC Professional. It will contain various 2D effects.
- Status of FX2D additional command set is not yet defined. It will be a separate plugin or maybe integrated in the main engine core. Not yet decided.
- Fixed display sizes that were 1 pixel less than sizes specified in DESetDisplayMode command.
BASIC2D
- Fixed a bug that prevented DEInk to be used for text outputs.
BASIC3D
- Added internal support for Anisotropic filtering
- Modified DESetObjectFilter, when activating Anisotropic filtering, that function can't set extra value so, it will be set to 1 per default.
- Added function DESetObjectFilterEx function to handle Anisotropic on/off and extra value for anisotropic filtering value.
- Warning : These DESetObjectFilter(Ex) functions is available but it will not work until both Warp3D & MiniGL will include changes to handle Anisotropic filtering.
CORE
- Added support for FX2D Fake Raster special effect in the Synchro refresh process.
- Fixed DEPrint function now correctly handle font height for horizontal alignment drawing.
FX2D
- Added commands FXCreateFakeRaster, FXCreateFakeRasterEx & FXCreateFakeRasterEx2.
- Added commands FXDeleteRaster & FXUpdateRaster.
- Added commands FXSetRasterLine, FXSetRasterGradient and function FXGetRasterLine.
- Added commands FXSetRasterFromMemblock & FXMakeMemblockFromRaster.
- Added command FXSetRasterY & function FXGetRasterY.
- Added functions FXRasterExist & FXGetRasterHeight.
- Added commands FXHideRaster, FXShowRaster & function FXIsRasterHidden.
- Added commands FXEnableRasters, FXDisableRasters & function FXIsRasterDisabled.
- Added function FXIsRasterUpdated.
- Added commands DEFxImageRastered, DEFxImageRasteredEx, DEFxStretchedImageRastered & DEFXStretchedImageRasteredEx
- Added internal function to display rasters on screen.
- Added internal function to display raster within an image.
- Added 2 demonstrations samples to show the use of FXRaster commands.
- Added 1 technical demonstration with FX raster and some other stuffs.
IMAGE
- Added support for rasterized images in the refresh process.
- Fixed a bug preventing image from using linear filtering.
SPRITE
- Fixed sprite backdrop restore process.
SETUP
- Added 2 special commands : DERefreshDoubleBufferOn & DERefreshDoubleBufferOff
TEXT
- Now text output uses color from DEInk command.
- Fixed font size support.

Soonly ...

Regards,
AmiDARK

Thank you Hans.

It works now :)

Nubechecorre & Kas1e : Thank you for your support :)

Kas1e : on my Sam440EP-Flex 800Mhz I am probably near to 100% cpu loading.
Tell me more about Stripping ? I have never used that.

Concerning the AmiDARK Engine in its 2D version, it nearly completed.
I have only minor bugs to fix (audio sound ouput)
And finish the HELP + Some samples (source code).

With all these finished, I will release the AmiDARK 2D Engine RC1 ( Release Candidate 1 )
With that, I may be really near to the final release.
Probably under 1 month ? not really more...

Bye.

Hello,

I'm currently finishing the upcoming Release 0.8 of the AmiDARK Engine in its 2D version development.
I have fixed many issues, and added many things.

And, at a moment .. An idea came in my mind ...
What may people think, if we may have the capability to create Raster effect like on olds Amiga ?
Ok ... Technically ... There are things I can't do exactly like Copper did but I can do something nice and interesting.
The most interesting thing with these old raster lines, is that it can be used for background to create sky gradients for example... And I said "it's on that point that I must focalize"... and I did it ...
I've created a plugin, that is currently in the main engine but, that will be maybe released as a separate plugin .. I don't know yet what I'll do but, I wanted everyone to see what it can do...

I can create sky gradients.
Just take a look at this shot :


The upper shot show the original image (with a black background)
The bottom shot show the same image but with the raster under it...
I'm not sure my sample is really demonstrative so, I decided to create a small demonstration I release now .

This demonstration show 4 fake raster FX with 2D and 3D stuffs on screen. Source code is provided so you can see how it work but, you cannot compile it with the actual AmiDARK Engine 0.7 release. You'll need upcoming release 0.8.

I hope you'll enjoy it :
RasterDemo.lha

Here is a shot of this demo :



Here is the list of all changes that are already available in the upcoming Release 0.8 :
AMIGAOS4
- Updated makefile.aos4 files to compile correctly with latest changes.
- Added missing Makefile.aos4 files so all samples can be compiled on AmigaOS4 with these makefile.
- Removed gstabs & wall flags from all Makefile.aos4 so, compiled demonstration should run faster.
- Updated "default project" files to work with the latest changes.
- Updated HELP "Using The Language" to work with the latest changes.
MORPHOS
- Added samples that were missing under MorphOS. MorphOS now have exactly the same samples than AmigaOS4 release.
- Added Makefile.mos files so, all samples may be compiled directly under MorphOS with these makefile (untested).
- Updated "default project" files to work with the latest changes.
- Updated HELP "Using The Language" to work with the latest changes.
GENERAL
- Removed some old printf debug outputs and replaced them with the default DebugMessage function.
- Added more commands & functions documentation. Nearly all commands & functions are now documented.
- Added a new *special* command set called FX2D that does not exist in DarkBASIC Professional. It will contain various 2D effects.
- Status of FX2D additional command set is not yet defined. It will be a separate plugin or maybe integrated in the main engine core. Not yet decided.
Test.pngBASIC3D
- Added internal support for Anisotropic filtering
- Modified DESetObjectFilter, when activating Anisotropic filtering, that function can't set extra value so, it will be set to 1 per default.
- Added function DESetObjectFilterEx function to handle Anisotropic on/off and extra value for anisotropic filtering value.
- Warning : These DESetObjectFilter(Ex) functions is available but it will not work until both Warp3D & MiniGL will include changes to handle Anisotropic filtering.
CORE
- Added support for FX2D Fake Raster special effect in the Synchro refresh process.
FX2D
- Added commands FXCreateFakeRaster, FXCreateFakeRasterEx & FXCreateFakeRasterEx2
- Added commands FXDeleteRaster & FXUpdateRaster
- Added commands FXSetRasterLine, FXSetRasterGradient and function FXGetRasterLine
- Added commands FXSetRasterFromMemblock & FXMakeMemblockFromRaster
- Added command FXSetRasterY & function FXGetRasterY
- Added functions FXRasterExist & FXGetRasterHeight
- Added internal function to display rasters on screen.
SPRITE
- Fixed sprite backdrop restore process.

Regards,
AmiDARK

ok.
Thank you for your fast answer :)

Just keep me informed, when the Warp3D Update will be available under AmiUpdate, I'll see with Hans de Ruiter for the changes in MiniGL.

Kindest Regards,
AmiDARK

Karlos, is it actually possible to define this in Warp3D or will we have to wait you made the needed changes ?

If needed, I can try to make the changes in MiniGL to handle this.

Karlos,
Thank you for your answer.
And good job concerning Anisotropic filtering :)
Keep us informed on evolutions ;)

Concerning MiniGL, There is already the function glTexParameterf that can set the effect on/off
and the val GL_TEXTURE_MAX_ANISOTROPY_EXT that is set in the definition files. (.h)

Same for GL_MAX_TEXTURE_MAX_ANISOTROPY_EXT. The value is set in the definition files (.h)

So :
float anisotropy;glGetFloatv (GL_MAX_TEXTURE_MAX_ANISOTROPY_EXT, &anisotropy);
and
glTexParameterf( GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_MAX_ANISOTROPY_EXT, (float)AnisotropicVal );

should be supported(internally to work) in MiniGL to be able to use Anisotropic filtering (per object and not on the full scene)
I can already compiles AmiDARK Engine with these 2 lines that does not generate any errors (but do nothing in visual appearance). So, their support may be added. Maybe by Hans ?

If you need tester when improving MiniGL (via Warp3D changes), feel free to ask me ;)
It will be a pleasure for me as I start the development of the rest of the 3D engine for the AmiDARK Engine, checking 3D features will be easy as I will add features in the process :p

Kindest Regards,
AmiDARK

After several test and checkings, these shots don't show the Anisotropic filtering in actions.
In fact the latest MiniGL doesnt handle Anisotropic Filtering.
That's a true pain.
I can turn it on/off using the OpenGL commands for but, they have no impact on render.
(that mean that these informations are not sent to Warp3D or not handled this way).

I had to make a workaround that modify the ENV file "on the fly" to turn it on/off and it's a TRUE PAIN!
We need MiniGL to be updated with the new Warp3D capabilities :)

Here is a shot truely showing the Anisotropic filtering in action :
http://files.amidark-engine.com/Rel0.8/Basic3D_FilteringDemo.png
In these case :
1. Top/Left : no filtering + Anisotropic.
2. Top/Right : Linear_Mipmap_Nearest + Anisotropic.
3. Bottom/Left: Linear_MipMap_Linear + Anisotropic.
4. Bottom/Right : same as 3.
(my objectives was to have Anisotropic only for the object 4 but it's actually impossible.
However, theorically, MiniGL specifications allow to activate Anisotropic Filter "per object" and not "per scene"...

Kindest Regards,
AmiDARK

@Hans :
Thank you for your support :)

@Antique :
Here are some shots showing the changes :
Left : no filter
Right : Anisotropic filter.
The best results are shown in the 3rd picture where there are feather far that show a more accurate display.

I will probably add soonly shots comparing linear filtering & anisotropic filtering to show the differencies too.





Regards,
AmiDARK

it's a filtering method. I don't know the origin of the name nor the meaning of it but it give more accurate result concerning texture quality :)

Hi All,
I managed to use Anisotropic from MiniGL glTexEnv functions :p
It look really nicer than before. I wanted to show you some shots about this upcoming new feature in the next release 0.8 of the AmiDARK Engine :



(click on the images to see them in the originals sizes)

Support for Anisotropic filtering added to the AmiDARK Engine :p
With a simple function :
DESetObjectFilter( ObjectID, FilterMODE )
DESetObjectFilterEx( ObjectID, FilterMODE, ExtraValue )
FilterMODE : 0 = No Filter / 1 = Linear/Nearest / 2 = Linear/Linear / 3 = Anisotropic using Extravalue to define the filter depth.

Thank you for this new add in the Warp3D/MiniGL :p
Kindest Regards,
AmiDARK

Ok Hans,

In that case, the interest is that the "static object" can also be called "static world" a bit like BSP were.
So, as it is a large object that will contain the (static part of the ) entire map of the game, it may be interesting to lock it... I keep this idea in my "to do list" for the Static Objects.

Thank you for all advices.

Regards,
AmiDARK

Hans,
Thank you for your advices.
I already know some of them (LOD, Culling) even if I don't yet use them (the 3D engine is in early alpha preliminary state :p) but some of them will probably be helpful when I'll really start the 3D engine development.

in the AmiDARK Engine, we can create "instances" of 3D Objects. That mean that there is 1 single 3D object with the mesh and textures data and you can create copies of it you place everywhere in the 3D world.
But, these copies will be at different positions/rotation than the original object. However, they will use the "source object" mesh and texture for render.
Does the GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array may be interesting in that case ?

Later, I'll add new commands in the 3D Engine to do what we can call a "static world". It will consist in 1 objects that will contain all objects that NEVER MOVE in the 3D world (environment). Probably the GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array can be applied to these *special* objets ;)

Hans,

I've looked using google for your GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array extension
and I've seen that it is used this way :
Quote:
Is it correct ?
I've effectively seen in the glext.h file that these 2 functions : glLockArraysEXT & glUnlockArraysEXT are available.

I will test them with the AmiDARK Engine to see if it improves performances :p

If you have any other tips to increase MiniGL performances, plz ask them :p

Regards,
AmiDARK

nubechecorre : Already done ;)

EDIT :
Kas1e: I run on an EFIKA ... It's terribly slow ..
Latest ftgl 2.1.3rc5
Configuration -> Slow ...
finished with syntax error :
checking command to parse /bin/nm -B output from gcc object... ./configure: ./configure.lineno[6304]: syntax error: 'if' unmatched.

then I make :
"no target specified and no makefile found"
make makefile : no rune to make target. stop


Regards,
AmiDARK