Native Blitz Basic for AROS ever?

[Amiga_Nut]

I am [slowly] starting a couple of games but I wondered if there were any plans for AROS specific version of Blitz for some time in the future? One of the games I am writing would look awesome in super highres but even AGA is too slow on initial tests. But on a nice beefy x86 CPU it could work really nicely and give you at least 4x more viewing area improving the game a lot.

It would be nice to be able to write games for AROS in a similarly great language too like the old day, but Google didn't find anything promising.

[Amigamia]

I am [slowly] starting a couple of games but I wondered if there were any plans for AROS specific version of Blitz for some time in the future? One of the games I am writing would look awesome in super highres but even AGA is too slow on initial tests. But on a nice beefy x86 CPU it could work really nicely and give you at least 4x more viewing area improving the game a lot.

It would be nice to be able to write games for AROS in a similarly great language too like the old day, but Google didn't find anything promising.

I know there is a project called Mattathias BASIC which is supposed to be the AMOS basic for AROS but it is far from finished I think:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/mattathias/

[bubblebobble]

Amiblitz3 has a nice API for system friendly Games, running on Classic, OS4 and MOS, but not natively on AROS.

See here: http://a1k.org/forum/showpost.php?p=320433&postcount=367

I plan to write something in the far future that shall target various AmigaOSes.

[xeron]

Why not just learn C?

[bloodline]

Why not just learn C?

I agree with Xeron, C and SDL will hold you in good stead on pretty much any platform (AROS, MOS, AOS4, MacOS, Win, etc)

[Amiga_Nut]

Thing is as far as Amiga is concerned you won't really get any performance advantage from C over BB2.1 but at the same time for me it would take many times longer to think as C programmer. And I have used C before and I find it inferior personally. It's not really my cup of tea

I've used Basic 2, Basic Lightning, Laser Basic, STOS, AMOS, Blitz etc for years, I never found a problem beyond performance in some cases in the 8 bit days. Hell I even wrote a joystick controlled GUI desktop with pull down menus (but no way to execute PRGs so pretty useless) as a project using a C64 and Laser Basic, if only I still had it I could use it with a joystick emulating mouse today....and then I might have re-written my epic 38kb graphical adventure game.

T

[Daedalus]

Well, there will be a speed advantage to using C over Blitz Basic on the Amiga, depending on how it's used. Blitz supports OS calls ans assembler, which I imagine is not going to carry much of a speed penalty, but other Blitz functions will.

Having said that though, I code in C when I have to, and Blitz Basic when I want to, as with Blitz I personally find it easier and quicker to make progress and gain some satisfaction in the process. C is one step closer to how a computer works internally, hence the speed gain and tight control, but also the longer and more frustrating (for me anyway) development time.

Anyway, for your original topic, AmiBlitz as I understand it still contains a great deal of 68k assembly code, and so a port to Aros would be extremely difficult indeed. Rewriting the compiler from scratch would probably be easier, though if Aros had in-line, transparent 68k emulation like OS4 and MOS have it would solve this and many other problems...

[xeron]

@Amiga_Nut
I know exactly how you feel. Back when I was an AMOS/Blitz Basic programmer (14 years ago), I had exactly the same opinion of and attitude towards C as you do now. Eventually I taught myself Amiga E, and then moved on to C, and I haven't looked back (well, i also taught myself several flavours of assembler, C++, Java, PHP and a bunch of other languages since then). I wouldn't program in any form of BASIC now unless I was being paid a lot of money. Once you stick with C long enough for it to click, you start to see why it is a better language than BASIC.

Another case in point, where I work, we used to program an embedded board in Z80 assembler. My colleague was a hardcore BASIC fan for hobby programming. When we switched to a more modern board programmed in C, he wasn't happy. Recently he went to do some programming in his spare time and couldn't stand BASIC any more and used C instead. He was surprised; he expected to find doing some hobby stuff in BASIC familiar and a nice break from C, instead he realised he actually preferred it after all.

[bloodline]

C's syntax is a little difficult at first... Constant ; at end of lines and {} everywhere... But the real difficulty for those coming from BASIC is the lack of built in functions for gfx etc... Thus I suggest learning the library SDL, include that in your project and you will have a nice set of gfx and other I/O functions that you can use quickly and simply.

[bubblebobble]

I think "lean C!" is not really what one wants to hear if asking for a Basic dialect.

I program C/C++ and Java at work, and Amiblitz in my free time. This says something, doesnt it ;-)
On 68K, C is not faster than Amiblitz since you can always use very easy inline-asm for the ciritical parts. Also, the Amiblitz compiler generates fairly efficient code that does not fall behind GCC. But Amiblitz is not a BASIC dialect.

The biggest concern is anyway not the syntax of a programming language. Given enough training, you can get used to almost anything. It is the runtime that makes the difference. Amiblitz is not faster (to develop) or easier than C per se, if you need to implement everything via AmigaOS calls. It gets faster if you start using the runtime.
For C, you have, apart of the spartanic clib, a lot of "runtimes" in form of linker libs, like SDL. The problem here is, that they dont know each other, and you have to do a lot of dirty work to get them together. SDL is quite a complete runtime, so this is less of an issue here. But SDL can also be used in Amiblitz.

[xeron]

He wants to program on AROS. 'Learn C' may not be what he wants to hear, but its the best answer.

[Karlos]

He wants to program on AROS. 'Learn C' may not be what he wants to hear, but its the best answer.

Correct. Plus, once learnt, it opens up a lot of other languages too.

[bloodline]

Correct. Plus, once learnt, it opens up a lot of other languages too.

Yeah totally!!! Like Obj-C :lol: I'll get me coat

[Karlos]

Yeah totally!!! Like Obj-C :lol: I'll get me coat

Well, provided you don't mind mixing it up with smalltalk.

I have to say, Objective-C is the ugliest mash of two unrelated syntaxes ever. Worse still is Objective-C++.

Although it's doubtless regarded as the pinnacle of beauty by acolytes of the Cult of Jobbs.

[persia]

Worse still is the non-objective version of C++, that is ordinary C++.  All attempts to implement objects in C fail because C is, in many ways, antagonistic towards the idea.