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1994-12-05
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TAPDL 1.3 05.12.94
ABOUT
This is a DL animation player for 020+/KS2 machines. It should be
able to play version 1, 2 and 3 files, and will automatically
unpack files that have been compressed with XPK.
DL files are a kind of animation found on PCs. The animations are
320x200 or smaller, in 256 colors. The colors are 18 bits each, 6
per gun. On a machine without AGA, the GRAY option should be used.
Version 3 DLs are reputed to support sound and password features
which TAPDL does not. I have not seen a DL file that uses these
features.
TAPDL can be made resident for command line users. To extract it
from the archive with the "pure" bit set, use LHA's "-a" switch,
or you can type "protect tapdI p add" in a CLI.
TAPDL is Copyright © 1994 by John Bickers.
REQUIREMENTS
TAPDL will work best on an AGA/020+/KS3 machine, but as a minimum
it requires an 020+/KS2 machine and the ReqTools and XPK
libraries. These libraries can be found on the Aminet sites in
util/libs and util/arc respectively.
PARAMETERS
The command template is:
FILES/M,DELAY/K/N,FONT/K,GRAY/S,TIME/S
The FILES option is one or more names of DLs that you want to
play. If you leave this blank, then a file requester will appear.
The DELAY option is a number, in 100ths of a second, for how long
TAPDL should delay between frames. The default value is 15.
The FONT option is a font name, including the ".font" extension,
to use for the TAPDL screen. An 8-point non-proportional version
of the font will be requested. The default is dlview3.font.
The GRAY option makes TAPDL convert the animation to grayscale
before playing it. This option is should be used on machines that
do not have AGA.
KEYBOARD CONTROL
When an animation is being played, the following keys control the
playback. They are similar to the controls allowed by SPARTA Inc's
ShowANIM.
F1,...,F10 Set different speeds. F1 is the fastest.
Down Pause the animation.
Right Forward one frame.
Up Resume the animation.
CREDITS
TAPDL is written by John Bickers using SAS C 6.51.
Thanks to Christian Geisert for a variety of sample files, bug
reports, and valuable suggestions. Thanks also to Andy Philpotts
for supplying me with my first version 3 DL file. And thanks to
Keith Stewart for testing TAPDL on a non-AGA machine.
The DL file format and PC programs were created by Davide Tome'
and Luca De Gregorio. The format of a DL file was obtained by
looking at sample files, and running Davide and Luca's DL-VIEW.EXE
under Microsoft's CodeView debugger. The "dlview3" font included
with TAPDL is copied from their PC program. The 16-point font is
an exact copy, while the 8-point font is a clone. Both were made
with Adam Costello's BMFC.
The chunky-to-planar routine used is the c2p_020 routine from the
net, written by James McCoull, Peter McGavin et al.
ReqTools is Copyright (c) Nico François.
The xpkmaster.library and sublibraries are the work of U. Dominik
Mueller and colleagues.
DISTRIBUTION
TAPDL is Copyright © 1994 by John Bickers.
Distribution is via normal channels. That is, distribute it for
free or for Fred Fish like costs, but not more. And remember to
include the documentation.
If you want to contribute something to the cause of PC animation
playback, you might want to consider sending me a CD of anims, or
a movie CD.
If you're putting together a CD of animations and you want to put
TAPDL onto it, by all means do so. Send me a copy of the CD in
lieu of any fee. Contact me at the address below if you want any
customisation of the program done.
CONTACT INFO
I can be reached at:
John Bickers
214 Rata St
Naenae
New Zealand
Or: jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz
Or: +64 4 567 7334 (home) +64 4 474 6625 (work)
DISCLAIMER
It works on my machine.
HISTORY
94.07.12 Created 1.0.
94.07.21 1.1.
Handles multiple filenames on the command line.
Handles multiselect in file requester.
Sets wait pointer while doing chunky -> planar stuff.
Title/Author screen falls back to topaz.font.
94.07.25 Fixed bug where 80x50 anims left title displayed.
94.08.22 1.2.
Resets screen color before opening file requester.
Added GRAY option, so it doesn't strictly require AGA.
94.09.12 Sets wait pointer while loading file (XpkUnpack()).
Uses header seq. length to avoid trailing junk bytes.
94.11.16 Added support for type 3 DLs using MOUTH.DL.
Finally fixed screen font bug, I think.
94.11.18 Removed GRAY option, too much hassle for my c2p code.
94.11.19 Fixed bug where CLI arguments weren't being freed.
Added FONT option.
Changed default font from DarkParticle to dlview3.
94.11.21 1.3
Improved tapc2p a little.
94.11.28 Now uses c2p_020 instead, smooth for worst-case.
94.12.05 Custom double-buffering, so KS3 no longer required.
Restored GRAY option, so AGA no longer required.