HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: vputz@nyx.cs.du.edu (Victor Putz)
Subject: YakIcons 2.0 out tomorrow?
Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci.
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 21:14:13 GMT



Yick... soryy this has taken so long but recent updates to the YakIcons
library have upgraded my "next release" from 1.4 to 1.5 to 2.0; mouse
routines, onscreen gadgets and gadget managers (buttons, sliders,
switches), a joystick object, scrollable mode x text boxes, font editor,
icon editor, millisecond timer (for animation frame rates, etc), hopefully
much faster map objects, overlaid maps for aprallax scrolling... I was up
until 3am last night trying to finish this before monday comes; my wife
and dog are growing impatient... but yakIcons 2.0 should with all good
reason be out tomorrow.  I will try and document it and include FAQ-like
questions, etc... the source code will be included and should read like a
(bad) object-oriented game programming textbook with LOTS of examples. 
Wish I could spend more time on it (I've lost track of my own game
project!), but pilot training comes soon and I'm moving to Lubbock in two
weeks, so it's up to y'all now.  If you want info or the laterst version
of yakIcons (if you don't have ftp) send me a letter at

yakWare c/o Victor B., Putz, sr. (my Dad)
701 Bellevue Blvd South
Bellevue, NE 68005

YakIcons is free shareware, so please don't consider this an
advertisement.  I'll get the "press release" out tomorrow explaining what
it can do.  Best of luck and good gaming-->Vputz the fried
From: florian@wvnvms.wvnet.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Yakicons, and Gameto 2.0 ?
Date: 21 Nov 92 09:07:31 GMT
Organization: West Virginia Network for Educational Telecomputing


    I have been hearing much about various Gamelibs, and I'm quite
    interested in looking over a couple of them, specifically
    Gametp20 and Yakicons, however, thought they were supposedly
    uploaded to Wuarchive, I haven't seen them any where.  Anybody
    who could direct me towards them, would be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks.


*******************************************************************************
* Nicholas LaFlamme    *Florian@Wvnvms.Wvnet.edu *  You live and die for      *
* Vagrant, Programmer  *  Cis: [70742,1316]      *   freedom!                 *
* Poet, and Madman     *                         *       -Buzzkirk, Lensman   *
*******************************************************************************
                           But Dr. Pickering, in science as in morality the
                             Ends never justifies the means!.
                                         -The Docter (in Robot)
From: sill@zoe.as.utexas.edu (Daniel Sill)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: video noise w/ palette change (int 10) ????
Date: 17 Nov 92 22:32:11 GMT
Organization: McDonald Observatory, University of Texas @ Austin

hello all,

i (and a friend) are writing a gfx lib for 
hi res graphics ( >= 640x480x256) in assy...

we have run into a small problem...

when we use int 10 to change the 
pal registers, there is some noise
(little dots) that appear at the top
of the screen...the kicker is that
the problem appears on ony a few cards...

for example: on a compuadd computer (386sx 16)
that uses a compuadd video card (based on a 
tseng 4000 chip, 512k), the problem is not there,
however on another computer (386dx 33 clone)
that uses a siig video card (based on a tseng
4000 chip, 1M), the problem appears...i have also
seen it on a paridise card...

i have tried to sync my int call with the vsync and
have also used 'cli' before the call,however
the problem persists...

does anyone have any ideas how to get rid 'o 
this ????????

i would like email replies, but i'll check the
posts too...

thanks very much,

daniel a. sill
sill@zoe.as.utexas.edu



-- 
Daniel Sill  - sill@zoe.as.utexas.edu
  The Department of Astronomy - the University of Texas at Austin
From: florian@wvnvms.wvnet.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: Wolfenstein 3D
Date: 18 Nov 92 05:49:54 GMT
Organization: West Virginia Network for Educational Telecomputing


  I am a !clue newby to Graphics programming, and would be quite interested
  in that discussion of Wolf3d as well, as well possible sources of Info.

*******************************************************************************
* Nicholas LaFlamme    *Florian@Wvnvms.Wvnet.edu *  You live and die for      *
* Vagrant, Programmer  *  Cis: [70742,1316]      *   freedom!                 *
* Poet, and Madman     *                         *       -Buzzkirk, Lensman   *
*******************************************************************************
                           But Dr. Pickering, in science as in morality the
                             Ends never justifies the means!.
                                         -The Docter (in Robot)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: moeur@chtm.eece.unm.edu (Bill Moeur)
Subject: Re: VGA
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 14:48:13 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

In article <1992Nov17.121643.12000@bsu-ucs> 00rbspelman@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu writes:
>In article <1992Nov14.142027.3539W@skylark.edb.tih.no>, thomash@edb.tih.no (Thomas Hagen,o91b) writes:
>> In article <8715@dirac.physics.purdue.edu>, saxena@bohr.physics.purdue.edu 
>>   (Virendra K. Saxena) writes:
>> 
>>>	Ok, I've got the code for placing a bitmap on screen in mode 13h. 
>>>	How do I wait for vertical retrace?
>> 
>> In Borland C, you could do the following:
>> 
>>   #include <dos.h>
>>   ....
>>   void wait_for_retrace(void){
>>     while (!(inportb(0x3da)&8));
>>   }
>> 
>>  
>> thomash@edb.tih.no
>> 
>> 	
>	Can the same thing be done with QuickBasic or VisualBasic?
>

Yes, in QuickBasic:

     while (inp(&h3da) and 8) = 0 : wend

Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: protonen@daimi.aau.dk (Lars J|dal)
Subject: Re: Text Adventure Languages
Organization: DAIMI: Computer Science Department, Aarhus University, Denmark
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 09:36:01 GMT

amead@s.psych.uiuc.edu (Alan Mead) writes:

>Today I received the v2.0 announcement and they no longer support Atari
>but promise to work with 3rd parties to support a lot more platforms.

Yes, and I happen to know that David Baggett is working on it (and has
been for some time). Thus (we) Atari users apparantly should not be too
worried. I expect it to be out "soon" (what ever that means), but this
is a truly personal guess.

>While the focus on DOS and Mac may be frustrating, I think the reason
>(because the author wants to support the game on all platforms) is
>sound.

(-: SOUND!? I guess you don't have an Atari :-)
From: benrg@ocf.berkeley.edu (Ben Rudiak-Gould)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: vga mode 13
Date: 19 Nov 1992 23:15:32 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: maelstrom.berkeley.edu

In article <1eeorfINNorv@aludra.usc.edu> mduffy@aludra.usc.edu (Michael Duffy) writes:
> 1) Use an array in standard memory the size of your screen and write screen
>    data to that instead.
>
> 3) Use a tweaked 256 color mode that allows multiple pages.

Assuming that I'm writing a game which isn't too heavy on sprites and
doesn't require hardware scrolling, split screens, or any of that jazz
(which I am), would your first suggestion above (i.e. mode 13h, erase
sprites, draw sprites, wait for VBL, movsw) be reasonably fast and
flicker-free? And would it remain so on a slow system?  The reason I
ask is that mode X seems like an unnecessary pain in this case.  Am I
right, or should I use it for the benefit of 286 systems?  Thanks for
your help.

>Mike Duffy (mduffy@aludra.usc.edu)

--
Ben Rudiak-Gould
benrg@ocf.berkeley.edu
"Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar." -- Freud
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: thomash@edb.tih.no (Thomas Hagen,o91b)
Subject: MCGA 320x400x256
Reply-To: thomash@edb.tih.no
Organization: T I H / T I S I P
Posting-Front-End: Winix Conference v 92.05.15  1.20 (running under MS-Windows)
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 19:53:08 GMT

!

I've heard there is a standard MCGA 320x400x256 mode available on all VGA cards. Is this
true, and if so -

1) What mode-number is it? 
2) How is the screen organized (bitmap/bitplanes)?
3) Where must I write to change which bitplane/screen area to write to/read from?

Thanks a lot -

Thomas Hagen
thomash@edb.tih.no
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: natas@leland.Stanford.EDU (Aaron Urbina)
Subject: JPEG convert to PCX 
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 21:30:35 GMT

Hi,

	Does anyone know where I can find some C source that converts a
JPEG file to a PCX file?

	Thanks in advance,
	Aaron
	natas@leland.stanford.edu
From: nllopis@ecs.umass.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: How about a FAQ?
Date: 21 Nov 92 10:17:44 GMT

In article <1eepklINNq3c@aludra.usc.edu>, mduffy@aludra.usc.edu (Michael Duffy) writes:
> Hmmm... I shudder to bring up this topic but......
> 
> I have yet to see a FAQ for this group, or at least a comprehensive one.
> I know that a number of partial FAQs are floating around, and I want to know
> what you guys think about putting together a definitive collection.  There
> should still be more than one FAQ; one just for IBM-PC stuff (graphics like the
> VGA and its tweaked modes, joysticks, pointer to sound card sources), one for
> other systems of the same sort (Amiga, Mac, Apple II, C-64, etc.), one for 
> globally usefull stuff (LOS, map storage, basic AI), and maybe even one for
> the "how to I program the Nintendo/Sega/Atari system?" people.  Is someone
> working on such a beast or do I <*shudder*> have to volunteer.  I can probably
> handle the IBM specific FAQ with some help from others who feel generous.  How
> would we handle distribution of the FAQ?  email? ftp site? regular posting?
> 
> Feedback is appreciated, either by e-mail or posting.  If you have something
> just for me, then e-mail to save bandwidth on the group.
> 
> Dreading the replies,
> Michael Duffy (mduffy@aludra.usc.edu)
	To me it sounds like a GREAT idea. I am a newcomer to the
newgroup although I have been programming games for a _long_
while, and I would really enjoy having a comprehensive FAQ list
(from which I am sure I could take lots of hints). I would also
love to share what I know to contribute to it.
	How to distribute it? Hmm.... I guess the obvious answer is 
to post it once every week or so in the newgroup. E-mail would
be nice but surely more time consuming. FTP... well, that'd be
OK too... but where?

	Anyway, if there's anything I can do to make that FAQ list
just drop me some e-mail and I'll be glad to help.


	Noel Llopis
	nllopis@ecs.umass.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: brs@cs.brown.edu (Brian Stormont)
Subject: Re: Help building a game?
Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, Brown University
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 22:50:07 GMT


The weighting of boxes method you describe might give a reasonable opponent.
I used a very similar method for the game of Qubic (like 3-D tic-tac-toe, but
get 4 in a row). The resulting algorithm was extremely fast (no time delay)
and in a software engineering class here at school, it finished in 3rd place
out of about 30 programs. Most of the competing programs used alpha-beta
pruning with look ahead. The winning program used 9 level lookahead with
alpha-beta pruning. I was surprised the no-lookahead method did so well...

Another interesting method would be to implement a neural net that could
learn. A paper was recently published about using Temporal Difference algs
for learning to play backgammon, with extremely good results. (Unofficially
beat world class level players more than 50% of the time.)

For a description of TD, see "Machine Learning", volume 3 (I think), from
1988. Its seems to be a very good neural net learning method...


-Brian
From: dpn2@po.CWRU.Edu (Damien P. Neil)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: Text Adventure Languages
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 01:05:09 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University
NNTP-Posting-Host: b63519.student.cwru.edu

In article <1992Nov18.093601.666@daimi.aau.dk> protonen@daimi.aau.dk (Lars J|dal) writes:
>>While the focus on DOS and Mac may be frustrating, I think the reason
>>(because the author wants to support the game on all platforms) is
>>sound.
>
>(-: SOUND!? I guess you don't have an Atari :-)

Or an Amiga! :-)
+-------------+------------------+---------------------------------+
| Damien Neil | dpn2@po.cwru.edu | Case Western Reserve University |
+-------------+------------------+---------------------------------+
From: ron@zooid.guild.org (Secret Mud)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: Advice needed for fastest sort algorthm
Date: 16 Nov 92 16:02:17 GMT

From: roberts@angelo.amd.com (Dave Roberts)
>
>My post was a knee jerk response that bubble sort is bad.  It's not.
>Used wisely and carefully chosen, it's a beautiful thing.  I just hate
>it when people automatically think that quicksort is the be-all
>end-all sort of the millenium.
>
>You can now safely interview since you correctly recalled that bubble
>is n*n. :-)
>

A trivial mod to bubble sort can reduce the worst case to n*n/2.  The main
thing is what is the sort being used for, and just how important speed is.  If
it's a sort of an object list of max 20 objects, and it's mostly sorted
already, then throw in a bubble sort and move on to the real programming
problems.

 - Ron Sharp.
From: blaisdel@ucrengr.ucr.edu (james blaisdell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: 8514a programming
Date: 23 Nov 92 23:36:55 GMT
Organization: University of California, Riverside

I'm interested in getting into 8514a graphics programming, does
anyone know of any books, or code that would be useful?

thanks
james blaisdell
blaisdel@cs.ucr.edu
Organization: The Leader Desslok School of Diplomacy
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 17:52:20 EST
From: Mark 'Mark' Sachs <MBS110@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: Text Adventure Languages

If you're using IBM, Mac, or Atari ST, "TADS" is probably your best bet.
I'm no authority, but it's the most well-supported adventure
language out there, has many nifty features including complete object-
orientation, and is shareware.

If you're using Amiga or UNIX, "ALAN" is the way to go. Its redeeming qualities
include extreme flexibility and high readability and ease of use. It's
freeware (you have to get it via e-mail server or snailmailing disks.)

New versions of both of the above are on the version of coming out --
TADS 2.0 and ALAN 2.4. I suggest going to rec.{arts|games}.int-fiction
for more info.

 "But Dr. Radium, was that necessary?" "Rez, _everything_ I do is necessary."
[Your blood pressure just went up.]        Mark Sachs IS: mbs110@psuvm.psu.edu
DISCLAIMER: If PSU knew I had opinions they'd probably try to charge me for it.
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: s1151627@giaec.cc.monash.edu.au (RICHARD LYALL)
Subject: world generation ->source code anyone??
Organization: Monash University, Melb., Australia.
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 01:28:42 GMT

   I am looking for the source code for a world generation program in Borland
   Turbo C++, the object of the code is for me to generate a series of random
   maps for different worlds after I seed the generator. If anybody has some
   ideas (plus some sample code  if possible) on how to acheive this. the
   display will hopfully be in 640x480 VGA mode, also does anybody know if it
   is possible to program 256 colors in 640x480 mode on a Trident 512k DRAM
   video card. If anybody has any ides could the please mail them to me as I
   don't get the chance to read news much.


         Thanks..
              Richard.


==================================================
=============================================================================
              |
nothing here  |    "Uh Oh Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!"
              |        ....some woman and a little dog in some movie.
              |
==============================================================================

Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer,comp.programming,comp.os.msdos.programmer
From: im14u2c@camelot.bradley.edu (Joseph Zbiciak)
Subject: DMA--HOW!?!?!
Organization: Bradley University
Date: 16 Nov 92 03:36:13 GMT

I apologize if some of you see this post twice....


I'm hoping that somebody out there can help me.  I am looking for
(a) code fragments, (b) specification, (c) ANYTHING! that will
allow me to use the  High-Speed DMA circuitry to move huge chunks
of memory, and also, use the DMA to monitor a port's output to 
a buffer in memory at high speed.  ANY help--references, 
code fragments, possible sources, anything!--would be greatly
appreciated.  I just had a project plopped on me that
neccessitates DMA usage, practically, in order to have decent
results.  Again, ANY help would be greatly appreciated.


Please EMail me, as my news server is kinda flaky at times.

--joseph zbiciak   im14u2c@camelot.bradley.edu


--
Joseph Zbiciak                         im14u2c@camelot.bradley.edu
[====Disclaimer--If you believe any of this, check your head!====]
------------------------------------------------------------------

Clones are people two.
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: cvadsadm@vmsb.is.csupomona.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: C++/smalltalk which is better
Date: 22 Nov 92 22:39:58 GMT
Organization: California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Nntp-Posting-User: cvadsadm

which language is better for games programming? i want to learn C++, but
someone said most of the games are written in smalltalk, is that true?
From: f110019@hamlet.ucdavis.edu (Julian Burger)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: Advice needed for fastest sort algorthm
Date: 18 Nov 92 21:46:29 GMT
Organization: Computing Services, UC Davis

In article <1992Nov12.154308.4827@cbnews.cb.att.com> nak@cbnews.cb.att.com (neil.a.kirby) writes:
>In article <1992Nov11.161052.5552@panther.mot.com> asu@panther4.panther.mot.com (Russ Trotter) writes:
>>I hate to jump on this seemingly runaway train but.... 
>>
>>In one of my classes, I remember the teacher saying that it
>>had been proven that O(n log n) was the best one could do
>>for _comparison_ based sorting...  Is this a more correct assertion?
_single key comparison_...

[... lots of stuff on sorting condensed into the following character: % ...]

>*THE* thing to remeber in all of this is that order notation is applicable
>only as n rises.  Bubble sort has a very low overhead, it works well on
>semi-sorted data, and most programmers can write it correctly.  That third
>point should not be ignored.  Classical quicksort has to be modified to
>keep from choking (O n*n )on sorted data.

The *OTHER* thing to remember is that the order O(xxx) of the algorithm 
represents the number of OPERATIONS required to do the sorting.  The
operations for each algorithm are not necessarily the same.  For instance, a
single key comparison is a simple inequality test, but for a radix sort you
need to isolate each digit of the radix and work with that.

>Neil Kirby

JB @ UCD
From: egg@dstos3.dsto.gov.au
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: XLIB04 now available from wuarchive
Date: 18 Nov 92 16:10:33 CST
Organization: Defence Science and Technology Organisation

Some minor changes were made to the XLIB zip on wuarchive on the 18th
of November to fix some overlooked bugs in modules XCBITMAP and XPBMTOOLS

Apologies for any inconvenience...
Themie Gouthas
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: tsullivan@trentu.ca (God)
Subject: Re: GAME.MAKER
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: Trent University Computer Services Department
Distribution: rec
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 13:26:00 GMT

  You mentioned that Game Maker can output .EXE files, for shareware-type 
distribution. Could you point me in the direction of a good sample program 
that could show off the abilities of the program?


   Tim Sullivan
   tsullivan@trentu.ca
   cstes@blaze.trentu.ca

A Disclaimer? Yeah, and people BELIEVE what I write, too...
---
 "Virtual Reality has NOTHING on Calvin."
       - Suzy, from Calvin and Hobbes

Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: scarnie@esk.compserv.utas.edu.au (Stuart George Carnie)
Subject: How do computer controlled enemies work?
Organization: University of Tasmania at Launceston
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 11:11:06 GMT

Does anybody have any algorithms or ideas on how the computer can control a
character which has some form of intelligence.  ie say a fighting character
that can track a human opponent and position itself to attack with a shooting
weapon.

Thanx, Stuart
-- 
scarnie@esk.compserv.utas.edu.au

"On a distant planet, a creature strums his guitar..." {:-)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: nllopis@ecs.umass.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: X-MODE info
Date: 15 Nov 92 22:49:00 GMT

Recently I've heard of that X-Mode deal (I used to do all
my stuff in 320x200x256)... and I guess I was really missing
some good stuff!
Could anybody please post/e-mail me with the numbers of the 
Dr. Dobb's journal that had info on that X-Mode for VGA?
Any info on other sources concerning X-mode would really be
appreciated.

Thanks...

	Noel Llopis
	nllopis@ecs.umass.edu
From: mal4@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (Marty Lamb)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: sb programming info needed
Date: 19 Nov 92 05:07:42 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

hi -

     i've got a sound blaster pro & i'd like to start incorporating some of
its capabilities into my programs.  if anyone has any info on programming the
sb & sbpro, i'd appreciate it - even point me to some information (perhaps
something creative labs puts out that i haven't heard of?) - as well as any
programming tips (no matter how small) of common bugs or obstacles.  thanks in
advance. . . .

                                                marty
-- 

 ___________________________________________________________________________
/-------------------------------------------------------------------------/|
|  Be like the 22nd elephant with     |     Marty Lamb   (215)758-1402    ||
|  heated value in space.   Bark!     |     Box 0151                      ||
|--------------------------------------     Lehigh University             ||
|  mal4@lehigh.edu                    |     29 Trembley Dr.               ||
From: warwick@cs.uq.oz.au (Warwick Allison)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: Advice needed for fastest sort algorthm
Date: 20 Nov 92 02:12:49 GMT
Reply-To: warwick@cs.uq.oz.au

gjs@mustang.dsto.gov.au (Graeme Simpkin) writes:

>I am really interested in the answer to the original post here, but
>there appears to be a rolling discussion (and great I encourage it),
>but can I ask some kind soul to post an article at the end with the
>header:

>Fastest sort algorithm -> HERE IT IS

>when the results of the debate are apparent ?



GROAN.   If you'd read any of the "rolling discussion", you'd have got the
clue that:

	THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE FASTEST SORTING ALGORITHM

In some cases, Bubble Sort can beat Quick Sort.  But not in others.  Given
random data, choose Quick over Bubble.  Given almost sorted data, usually
Bubble will be better.  If you have data that has only a small number of
keys (ie. lots of duplicates), use a Radix Sort.  If you're sorting on
temporary storage, try a File-based Merge Sort.  If your programmers
cost more than the next faster model of computer, use whatever is in
your standard libraries.

There are DOZENS (dare I say "HUNDREDS") of sorting algorithms.  Which
to use depends totally on the environment were the sort is to be used.  

Maybe you want to use the Monte Carlo Sort:

	1. Swap two elements
	2. See if all in order - if not, goto 2

:-)

--
Warwick
--
  _-_|\      warwick@cs.uq.oz.au            /Disclaimer:
 /     * <-- Computer Science Department,  /  
 \_.-._/     University of Queensland,    /   C references are NULL && void*
      v      Brisbane, Australia.        /