Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!crdgw1!uunet!tnc!m0154 From: m0154@tnc.UUCP (GUY GARNETT) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.programmer Subject: Re: Lemmings - a tutorial Part V (last) Message-ID: <781@tnc.UUCP> Date: 29 Mar 91 22:27:53 GMT References: <23788@well.sf.ca.us> <23837@well.sf.ca.us> Reply-To: m0154@tnc.UUCP (GUY GARNETT) Organization: The Next Challenge, Fairfax, Va. Lines: 64 [As much as I've been trying to ignore this discussion, now I'm going to open my big mouth ...] I, too would like to see sources for both permanently taking out the operating system (for a high performance game), and for suspending and resuming multitasking properly. How about a list of trade-offs (what parts of the OS you can and can't use, and how v2.0 impacts the whole scheme). This would be useful information, no matter which "side" of the discussion you are on. I, too have been involved with writing high-performance games on the Amiga (no, you won't find my name in any credits; I was a technical advisor and algorithm guru rather than a programmer --- most of the programmers I worked with were high-school or college kids who taught themselves everything; lots of raw talent, and most of them handn't the foggiest idea how to figure out a blitter minterm, so I taught them). At the time, the only way we knew of to get effective arcade games was to kill the OS at boot-up time; I would have preferred to be able to suspend and then resume the OS, but couldn't figure out a way to do it without causing a crash later on. Most of the "whiz-kids" working with me thought of the OS as an obstacle anyway. On the other hand, games like Sim-City and Lemmings have no real use for that kind of environment. I agree that the game comes first, *BUT* if you don't need total control, *DON'T* take it. With the OS comes a lot more flexability (HD installation, a real file system, multitasking, and lots of "Wow! What a neat game, and it multitasks, TOO!"). Take what you need, bit be sure you need it before you take it. There is no excuse for software to break on 68010, 68020, and 68030 machines, and too many programs (most of them games, but does anybody remember TDI Modula-2?) break on accellerated systems. Be aware of what you are doing when your write your code, and make it upward compatible. For timing, use one of the many timebases supplied by the OS, or if you have killed it, then program one of the CIA's directly. Pay attention to compatibility; it will ensure that royalties come trickling in for years to come, instead of months. *NOT* learning how the OS works is a kind of intellectual lazieness, even if you take the effort to "roll your own". There is always a programmer or program out there who can show you a trick or two, and a lot of clever people spent a lot of time working on the AmigaOS (I have nothing but respect for people like -=RJ=- and the rest of the Amiga crew). The OS is decidedly *NOT* full of bugs (and if the last time you looked at it was in v1.1, take another look!) and can be your ally, if you learn to control it ("Use the OS, Luke ... Use the OS!" ;-) I'm not trying to flame or put down anyone, but better games than the current crop can still be written! Better both in terms of awesome-take-over-the-machine-graphics, and better in terms of awesome-playability-and-multitasking-code. I suggested earlier that Mike Farren expand and polish his articles, include source code examples which make a complete, small game, and send the whole thing off to AC's Tech. I still feel very strongly that this should be done. I also would like to encourage Mike Schwartz to do the same: write up his techniques for taking over the system and programming down to the hardware, inclulde sample code, and send it off to one of the technical magazines (like AC's Tech). Wildstar