[A83] Re: 8x8 Tilemap routine.


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[A83] Re: 8x8 Tilemap routine.



Then how do you expect to get better by having other people write all
the hard stuff for you?  Sure, there's something to say for not having
to reinvent the wheel everytime you write a program.  But something like
a tilemap is pretty specific to your program.  There are a lot of
different ways to write one.  Do you even know how one works?  If not,
then you need to do some research before you write a program that uses
one.  If you do, and just can't program it, then you need to write some
simpler stuff first.

You wouldn't believe how many people get the idea to write something
like an RPG, and then whine about needing a tilemap routine, saying that
if they just had a routine to draw a map and move a guy around, that's
all they need.  That is one of the simplest things you can do in
assembly.  I wrote a routine to draw one screen tilemap the first week I
was programming z80, to get a feel for doing stuff in assembly.  It was
just a matter of learning how to do things like loops in assembly.  If
you haven't written things like that before in other languages, then it
will be a lot harder.

Maybe some of these people are really good artists and have great
stories in mind, and would create a really great RPG if they had the
programming skill.  But I haven't ever seen anyone announce that they
had an idea for an RPG and would do the story and graphics, if only
someone would program it.  I'm sure there are a lot of programmers that
would jump at the opportunity.  Last summer I had some free time and was
still interested in programming calcs, so I decided to see if there was
anyone interested in working on an RPG for the 86 that would be of GB
quality (likely using graphics ripped from GB games).  I talked to a lot
of peple, and no one was interested.  Maybe people like that are out
there, but they are far and few between.

I don't write assembly programs anymore, mainly because it takes too
long.  It know exactly how to do something, but actually writing the
code takes a long time, even for trivial stuff.  It gets boring after a
while.  I'd love to have a compiler that would produce efficient code,
so it would be easier to write a program, without having to hand code
every single little bit of it.  As was discussed recently on the A86
list, I will write the compiler if someone is serious about helping to
design the language.  I have some experience with this type of work, and
have books on writing optimizing compilers, so I'm fairly confident that
I could write a better compiler in terms of code generation than
anything else available (unless there are some really good commercial
compilers for z80 that I don't know about).  But interest in that seems
to have died down, and no one has stepped up to help design the
language.  So I don't think it's worth the trouble, if no one is going
to use it.  And, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a big demand
anymore for this type of compiler technology.


> Gee, thanks... that was a lot of help...  I'm not an astute ASM programmer.  
> I can only take what's out there and use it.  Besides... I don't think that 
> THOSE are the only 8x8 sprite routines!  I just don't know where to get a 
> better one.
> 
> >If you don't like what's available, write one yourself.





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