Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!dank
From: dank@stealth.usc.edu (Dan King)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: A quick small animation question
Message-ID: <33427@usc.edu>
Date: 7 Jun 91 17:12:26 GMT
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Originator: dank@stealth.usc.edu


Hello, again.

I'm currently toying with writing a game.  I know, it's a bad and time-consuming
idea but man's life is not applications alone.  Anyway, what I'm thinking of
is a "Lode-Runner"esque type of game that involves lots of little (1 character?
maybe a small icon (SICN?)) men running around a (non-scrolling) screen chasing
each other.

OK, I can draw the screens, and write the logic for moving the guys.  Now, what
I'm wondering is: how should I draw (and animate?) the little guys.  I could
get away with using mini-icons (cicn's and sicn's, maybe?), but I don't really
think this is the way I should be going.  I'm not sure why I think this, but I
would guess it's because I tried it and the results are pitiful.

Now, I'm really not going to be doing any cool animation (in fact, I'll settle
for no animation as long as my little guys move), but I would like to be able
to show, say, two or three frames of something moving.  The frames are tiny
(I'm not trying to rewrite Dark Castle, here), but they have to be big enough
for a user to see what's going on (or else what's the point?).  Any suggestions?

Oh yeah, as for as implementation, I'm working in MPW C++ with MacApp.  But I'll
take help anywhere (Pascal/Assembler/Lisp (yeah, right!)/wherever).  Thanks,
people.  I also get night-sweats at the thought of having to use off-screen
bitmaps for something like this (but I guess I could do it if someone offered
some sample code).

dank