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Author Topic: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!  (Read 17023 times)

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Offline saimoTopic starter

Re: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!
« Reply #14 from previous page: July 04, 2021, 09:44:47 PM »
Just released another update.

v1.95 (4.7.2021)
* Optimized ALS_SET_DISPLAY_COLORS_RANGE_FROM_PALETTE[] and ALS_SET_DISPLAY_COLORS_RANGE_FROM_PALETTE_RANGE[] a little bit.
* Removed wrong comment from ALS_SET_DISPLAY_COLORS_RANGE_FROM_PALETTE[].

https://www.retream.com/ALS

This is the last version that supports also OCS and ECS. ALS v2 will be AGA-only. The reason is that supporting all the chipsets requires lots of additional code and also slows down execution in many places, while functionality is still very limited on OCS and ECS due to the fact that they offer only 6 bitplanes and 32 color registers. ALS is much more useful on AGA, so it makes sense to have a leaner and faster version for that chipset.

Also, I decided to postpone the release of Follix to after ALS v2 is done, so that the game can benefit from it.
« Last Edit: July 04, 2021, 09:46:48 PM by saimo »
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
 

Offline saimoTopic starter

Re: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!
« Reply #15 on: July 06, 2021, 04:14:28 PM »
v1.96 and v2.0 released

As announced recently, here is ALS v2, whose main difference with the previous versions is that it's for AGA only and, therefore, can benefit from faster and smaller code (the compiled binary is about 3.5 kB smaller).
Besides the work done for the AGA-only transition, there are also a few more improvements, many of which made it also to a new v1 library (v1 is supposed to be end-of-line, but still I couldn't resist fixing/improving what surfaced along way). The changelogs below detail the changes.

https://www.retream.com/ALS

v2.0 (6.7.2021)
* Removed useless code from ALS_COPY_PALETTE_SEGMENT[].
* Removed OCS/ECS code.
* Removed OCS/ECS palettes support.
* Removed ALS_CHIPSETID, ALS_MAXLAYERCOLORSNUMBER, ALS_MAXPLANESNUMBER, ALS_PALETTECOLORSNUMBER, ALS_ADDRESSABLECOLORSNUMBER.
* Optimized code for AGA.
* Optimized ALS_SET_DISPLAY_COLORS_FROM_PALETTE[], ALS_SET_DISPLAY_COLORS_RANGE_FROM_PALETTE[] and ALS_SET_DISPLAY_COLORS_RANGE_FROM_PALETTE_SEGMENT[] a lot.
* Added ALS_BUILD_DISPLAY_COPPERLIST_HEAD[] and ALS_BUILD_DISPLAY_COPPERLIST_TAIL[].
* Made various other improvements.
* Revised/extended manual.

v1.96 (6.7.2021)
* Removed useless code from ALS_COPY_PALETTE_SEGMENT[].
* Optimized ALS_SET_DISPLAY_COLORS_FROM_PALETTE[] a little bit.
* Added ALS_BUILD_DISPLAY_COPPERLIST_HEAD[] and ALS_BUILD_DISPLAY_COPPERLIST_TAIL[].
* Made various other improvements.
* Revised/extended manual.

I have tested both version extensively through their test/demo programs and by means of ArtPazz and Follix. All tests have been done on a real Amiga 1200 (with and without accelerator board) and in UAE, and ran both from interpreter and as compiled programs. No issues were found, so it looks like the massive work didn't break anything.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2021, 04:40:37 PM by saimo »
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
 

Offline saimoTopic starter

Re: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!
« Reply #16 on: July 16, 2021, 04:04:24 PM »
Just released an update aimed at improving the terminology and the documentation.

v1.97 & v2.1 (16.7.2021)
 * Renamed "palette segments" as "segments".
 * Renamed: ALS_COPY_PALETTE_RANGE[] as ALS_COPY_SEGMENT_FROM_PALETTE_RANGE[]; ALS_EXTRACT_PALETTE_SEGMENT[] as ALS_CREATE_SEGMENT_FROM_PALETTE_RANGE[]; ALS_SET_DISPLAY_COLORS_RANGE_FROM_PALETTE_SEGMENT as ALS_SET_DISPLAY_COLORS_RANGE_FROM_SEGMENT[].
 * Updated/revised in-code documentation.
 * Updated/revised/fixed manual.

https://www.retream.com/ALS
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
 

Offline saimoTopic starter

Re: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!
« Reply #17 on: February 21, 2023, 12:38:00 PM »
A quick heads-up to let you know that I released a couple of littles updates.

v1.99 and v2.3 (20.2.2023)
* Changed the conditions of many If, Until and While statements and turned For ... Next loops into Repeat ... Until loops to have the AMOS Professional Compiler produce shorter and faster code.

v1.98 and v2.2 (19.2.2023)
* Added CPU caches clearing after machine code routines generation in ALS_INITIALIZE_SYSTEM[].

https://www.retream.com/ALS
https://retream.itch.io/als
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
 

Offline saimoTopic starter

Re: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!
« Reply #18 on: March 18, 2023, 02:38:18 PM »
Ring around the World received an update yesterday. Today is ArtPazz's and Follix's turn - but first comes the library they're built on: ALS.

v1.100 & v2.4 (18.3.2023)
* Removed dependency on mathtrans.library by replacing CN=2^LD with CN=1 : Rol.l LD,CN.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
 

Offline saimoTopic starter

Re: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!
« Reply #19 on: May 22, 2023, 08:22:24 PM »
A couple of experiments done while brainstorming about a new game made with ALS.
The first effect is obtained basically at no processing cost, while the second one requires only the minimal cost of blitting a 2 bit mask. A stock Amiga 1200 can handle this without breaking a sweat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Il8SYeYoAs

To be honest, I'm at a loss regarding which game to make.
It all started with the itch of remaking the second game I ever made (and never publicly released), but while fiddling with ALS these effects came to mind - and they don't happen to be very suitable for that game.
So, I tried to think of alternatives, and the best idea I came up is a game where: there are two parallel worlds, a real (dangerous/dark) one and an illusory (pleasant/nice) one; the screen mostly shows the illusory world, but the character controlled by the player is inside a bubble around it that shows the real world or there's some mechanism that allows the player to somehow reveal the real world - e.g. with a sort of torch light. The problem with this idea is designing the game and producing the content (double graphics work!) - it's something I can't undertake now.
Also, a sports game is sorely missing from my catalogue, but so far I couldn't think of anything interesting.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
 

Offline saimoTopic starter

Re: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!
« Reply #20 on: May 24, 2023, 05:04:05 PM »
I don't know that game. Anyway, it's unlikely I'll make a game based on the concept of world duality (as said, I can't afford that now).
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
 

Offline saimoTopic starter

Re: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!
« Reply #21 on: May 29, 2023, 04:37:39 PM »
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
 

Offline saimoTopic starter

Re: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!
« Reply #22 on: June 06, 2023, 06:21:04 PM »
Just released an update.

https://retream.itch.io/als

v1.101 and v2.5 (06.06.2023)
* Updated the documentation: expanded the sprites section in the manual (now it is a full crash course so that also who does not know how sprites work can use them); replaced a leftover <displayed planes number> with ALS_DISPLAYEDPLANESNUMBER; replaced bullet points (ยท) with asterisks (*).

v1.101 and v2.5 (05.06.2023)
* Removed ALS_GET_LAYER_DEPTH[].
* Renamed ALS_BUILD_DISPLAY_COPPERLIST*[] as ALS_BUILD_COPPERLIST*[].
* Replaced ALS_WAIT_NEXT_FRAME[] with ALS_WAIT_FRAME_END[] (it does the same thing, but it does in a better way, no longer requires the display to be on, no longer uses ADKCON.PRECOMP0 and the name reflects more accurately what it does).
* Added ALS_SET_PLANES_POINTERS_IN_COPPERLIST[].
* Optimized ALS_MAKE_DISPLAY_DESCRIPTOR[].
* Added ALS_DISPLAYEDPLANESNUMBER.
* Speed-optimized a few loops by replacing Repeat...Until with While...Wend.
* Updated demos: used ALS_SET_PLANES_POINTERS_IN_COPPERLIST[] in place of ALS_BUILD_COPPERLIST[] where appropriate; simplified font handling.
* Touched up the comments in the code.
* Revised/extended manual (in particular, added extensive information about using sprites with ALS).
« Last Edit: June 08, 2023, 10:52:20 PM by saimo »
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
 

Offline saimoTopic starter

Re: ALS, a new graphics system - RELEASED!
« Reply #23 on: June 08, 2023, 10:52:27 PM »
Hotfix release.

https://retream.itch.io/als

v1.102 and v2.6 (08.06.2023)
* Fixed ALS_SET_PLANES_POINTERS_IN_COPPERLIST[] (due to a typo, it contained a division by 65535 instead of 65536).
* Optimized inner loops of ALS_BUILD_COPPERLIST[], ALS_BUILD_COPPERLIST_HEAD[] and ALS_SET_PLANES_POINTERS_IN_COPPERLIST[] (replaced Repeat...Until with a more efficient While...Wend).
* Improved a paragraph in the sprites section of the manual.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC