also, I took the liberty of writing a quick EXAMPLE 3 level gray rendering routine in assembly.  I just took a few minutes to basically show how it'll work in theory -- in implementation I have no idea how this would look, it has some mistakes I'm sure and no interrupt triggering.  But here's what it shoudl look generally like:

Code: [Select]

Level3copyInt
LD HL, Buf1 + 767
LD DE, Buf2 + 767
PUSH HL
PUSH DE
LD C, $10
LD A, $04 ;this uses Y auto-decrement mode ;)
OUT (C), A
LD B,64
LD A,12
PUSH AF

@ ;set to last row
.db $ED,$70
JP M,{-1@}
OUT (C), $BF
@ ;set to last column
.db $ED,$70 ;IN F, (C)
JP M,{-1@}
OUT (C), $2E
LD A,12
PUSH AF
@
LD A, (HL)
AND %10101010
DEC HL
PUSH HL
PUSH AF
LD A, (DE)
AND %01010101
DEC DE
POP HL
OR H
POP HL
@
.db $ED,$70 ;IN F, (C)
JP M,{-1@}
OUT ($11),A
POP AF
PUSH AF
EX DE, HL
DEC A
CP $00
JR Z,{-2@}
DJNZ {-3@}
@
RET

My way of doing it was to merely flash two buffers, using 'call FastCopyb'. Not an interrupt. It is only for a splash screen.

Ok. Can someone add to that a way to trigger interrupts, then how to disable them. I'd rather not mess with interrupts myself. Once that is done, I'll give the code a whirl and fix it up (if it needs it).

Edit: First successful compile. This seems to freeze:

quit:
b_call(_ClrLCDFull)
ld hl,AppVar
b_call(_Mov9toOp1)
b_call(_ChkFindSym)
jr nc,overwrite
createappvar:
ld hl,AppVar
b_call(_Mov9toOp1)
ld hl,14
b_call(_CreateAppVar)
overwrite:
ld a,b
or a
jp nz,unarc2
ld hl,ShieldPoints
ld bc,8
ldir
ld hl,photons
ld bc,6
ldir
ld hl,AppVar
b_call(_Mov9toOp1)
call arcf
ret

Thanks anyway.

**Bump

Ok. Can someone add to that a way to trigger interrupts, then how to disable them. I'd rather not mess with interrupts myself. Once that is done, I'll give the code a whirl and fix it up (if it needs it).

Edit: First successful compile. This seems to freeze:

Code: [Select]

quit:
b_call(_ClrLCDFull)
ld hl,AppVar
b_call(_Mov9toOp1)
b_call(_ChkFindSym)
jr nc,overwrite
createappvar:
ld hl,AppVar
b_call(_Mov9toOp1)
ld hl,14
b_call(_CreateAppVar)
overwrite:
ld a,b
or a
jp nz,unarc2
ld hl,ShieldPoints
ld bc,8
ldir
ld hl,photons
ld bc,6
ldir
ld hl,AppVar
b_call(_Mov9toOp1)
call arcf
ret

Uploaded screenie: When I run the part that freezes in game alone, it works fine, and creates the appvar....Why is it not working right in game?

See AppVar  STSave.

Maybe it's code at some other section that's freezing up?

I'm trying something else. It's an optimization too. Previously, anytime you need to Arc/Unarch a variable, I use b_call(_Arc_Unarc) and a jump loop.  From now on, I will have it as a call, not a jump and it will use either b_call(ArchiveVar) or (UnarchiveVar).

Remember not to double-post unless it's been six hours

Is that code the three-level grayscale routine? Remember that the buffer is plotSScreen and the back-buffer is appBackUpScreen, so just replace those with whatever you're using.

EDIT: And make sure you know how the code works. It's a bad idea to go about using ASM code without knowing exactly what it does, because it makes messing up that much easier.

A great deal of progress on the data handling. I've decided that instead of trying to create the appvar on first run, the appvar gets tested for upon Quiting. If none is found, it is created before quitting. On startup of the game, the appvar is only handled if it exists, in which case the data is sent to RAM.

As for networking, I know that having attacks, joins, and quits sent alongside position updates can be taxing on CALCnet. Thus, I have decided to have the position update fire every THREE cycles of the main loop, not every ONE cycle. All other transmissions will fire immediately.

COUNTDOWN TO BETA

I hope to have a beta release out soon. It won't have exceptional graphics, but it will be functional...

That sounds great, will wait to see it