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Text File | 1993-02-15 | 12.4 KB | 305 lines

Ameko v1.01 (C) Copyright Carl Revell, 3 February 1993 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DISCLAIMER ---------- THE AUTHOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE USE OR MISUSE OF THIS DOCUMENTATION AND/OR THE PROGRAM(S) IT DESCRIBES. INTRODUCTION ------------ Ameko is an Amiga conversion of a program called Neko which was written by Dara T. Khani to run under Windows on PCs. The idea for Ameko was inspired by Dara's Neko program, however the code and Amiga implementation of Ameko are my own work. When the program is run, a small kitten called Ameko runs around within the confines of the program's window, chasing the mouse pointer. If Ameko reaches the edge of the window and the mouse pointer is outside the window boundaries then Ameko will scratch at the window border in a vain attempt to get at the mouse pointer. If there is no mouse movement within a predetermined length of time, then Ameko starts to fall asleep, eventually curling up and entering the land of nod. If the mouse is then moved, Ameko is startled and wakes up. Once the haze has cleared from in front of his eyes, he is off again, chasing the mouse pointer. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------- Amiga computer with at least 512K RAM with KICKSTART 2.0 or later. (KickStart 1.3 owners see MISCELLANEOUS section below) Ameko has been tested on the following configurations... Amiga 500 Plus, Amiga 600, Amiga 600HD, Amiga 1200, Amiga 1200HD (GVP 85MB Maxtor), Amiga 1500 (68000), Amiga 1500 (GVP 50MHz 68030), Amiga 1500 (GVP 28MHz 68040), Amiga 3000, Amiga 4000. USAGE ----- Ameko should at all times be run from Workbench by double-clicking on the appropriate program icon. There are two different program icons. One runs the Interlaced version of Ameko and the other runs the Non-Interlaced version. Two versions were required because the Interlaced version (the one I orginally developed) appeared stretched on a non-interlaced screen. I could have combined both interlaced and non-interlaced graphics into a single program but I would have sacrificed the size of the program for convenience. Most users will want to run one version or the other and won't have to lose the memory that the other screen mode's graphics would have consumed. Simple, huh ?!? If you don't know which version you should run, run them both and see which one looks best on your display. Ameko can be run from the CLI/Shell but was not designed with that in mind so I wouldn't do it if I were you. Anyway, you cannot adjust any startup options if running Ameko from the CLI/Shell (see ToolTypes below). The only reason alot of programs enable CLI/Shell startup (apart from use of the console) is so they can be run from the Startup-Sequence upon boot-up. Because Ameko requires Kickstart 2.0 or later, it can always be automatically run at boot-up by placing it in the WBStartup drawer of your boot disk. TOOLTYPES --------- Ameko can be configured to your own personal taste by modifying the icon's ToolTypes. These can be accessed by clicking once on the program icon and then either pressing Right-Amiga + I or selecting the Information... option from the Workbench Icons menu. The values that you can change and their effect are listed below. For more information on changing ToolTypes see your Amiga Workbench manual. LEFT = nn where nn is the number of pixels from the left edge of the screen that the Ameko window will open up. Negative values and values larger than your screen's width should be handled and automatically adjusted by the program. I stress the word SHOULD. TOP = nn where nn is the number of pixels from the top edge of the screen that the Ameko window will open up. Negative values and values larger than your screen's height should be handled and automatically adjusted by the program. I stress the word SHOULD. WIDTH = nn where nn is the starting width of the Ameko window in pixels. The program should replace any stupid values (like negative or zero width) with a reasonable default which it calculates based on screen values. No guarantee is given that it will always choose the correct value so I suggest sticking to sensible values to be safe. HEIGHT = nn where nn is the starting height of the Ameko window in pixels. The program should replace any stupid values (like negative height) with a reasonable default which it calculates based on screen font. I would suggest that you try and keep your values for HEIGHT within sensible bounds just in case. SLEEP = nn where nn is the time (in seconds) that the mouse must remain stationary before Ameko starts to fall asleep. Permissible values for nn are 1 to 3600 seconds (1 second to 1 hour). SOUND = nn where nn is either YES or ON which will play a sound sample when the Ameko window is opened and again when it is closed. OR nn where nn is either OFF or NO which will disable the playing of a sound sample when the Ameko window is opened and closed. DONOTWAIT = This is really only to tell Workbench not to wait for the program's return if you put it in the WBStartup drawer on your boot device. If you don't already know, any programs placed into the WBStartup drawer are automatically run when Workbench is loaded which means you can drag the Ameko icon into your WBStartup drawer on your boot disk and let the little fella run riot automatically, every time you boot up your Amiga. It's best not to alter or delete this ToolType unless you know what you're doing. TOOLPRI = Amiga beginners need not read this section, just leave the ToolType set to it's default value which is 21. If you are interested, this sets the Task Priority of Ameko above all others (on my system anyway) which I found necessary to reduce the flickering which occurred when the mouse was moved around a lot (see TECHNICAL SECTION below). I found no problem with speed or operation of my Amiga with this high task priority, but if you experience any difficulties then by all means raise or lower this value appropriately. Remember, +127 is the highest priority, -128 is the lowest and most normal programs should be set to TASKPRI 0. If for some obscure reason you wish to disable a particular ToolType, you can simply enclose it within a pair or angled brackets. For instance, to disable the LEFT=50 ToolType, just change it to <LEFT=50>. This is an excellent way to disable ToolTypes, whilst still enabling you to see the syntax of ToolTypes so you don't forget that it is LEFT=nn and not WINLEFT=nn, etc.. Ameko has built-in defaults for most of the ToolTypes in case any get completely deleted from the icon. They are... LEFT = 32 TOP = 32 WIDTH = 100 HEIGHT = 100 SLEEP = 5 (seconds) SOUND = ON TRICKS AND TIPS --------------- If you select the Ameko window by clicking once within its boundaries, then you have the ability to send Ameko straight to sleep and also stop him from chasing the mouse pointer. You do this by clicking once with your right mouse button. To wake him up again and let him chase the mouse pointer just click the right mouse button again. Remember, you must select the Ameko window first for this feature to work. TECHNICAL SECTION ----------------- Not really a technical section, more a chance for me to explain why part of the program is written the way it is and to ask for advice from anyone who 'knows their onions' when it comes to programming. The program is written in 'C' and although I can program in 680x0 assembler (software houses, my details are below!) I considered 'C' to be the best choice. I may recode some or maybe all of the program in 680x0 at a later date, but it does just fine for now. Basically, a window is opened and then the program is sent to sleep, waiting on either a CloseWindow message or a timed delay message sent from the timer.device. So, when the program isn't calculating Ameko's position or actually drawing him, then it is Waiting and allowing other tasks to get their share of the CPU. If the TaskPri is set to anything below the input.device (20 on my system) then the Ameko graphics 'flicker' within a certain (but not always stationary) area of the screen. Ameko does a WaitTOF before actually calling EraseImage and DrawImage, but (calculated guess time) because so many other tasks have priorities higher than Ameko they all get woken up before Ameko so by the time Ameko comes back from it's WaitTOF call the video beam is several inches down the screen. This is worse when you rapidly move the mouse, I guess because the input.device is busy handling all the new events before CPU is given to lower priority tasks. I thought of how I could double-buffer the Ameko window but when you think that the window can be sized to full screen and with the introduction of the 'AGA' chipset can be 8-planes deep, would require, even just on a 640 x 512 screen (640/8)bytes*512bytes*8planes*2buffers = 655Kb(approx) of CHIP RAM. This is plain stupid for a 'toy' like Ameko and even then there is still the problem of implementing window double-buffering. These same memory problems arise if you think about using a SuperBitMap window too. My solution was to raise the task priority of Ameko to equal or above that of the input.device. That way, Ameko can pre-empt or at least share CPU time on an equal basis with the input.device. The flicker has all but disappeared and system performance is not noticably affected. This is achieved by the ToolType TASKPRI=21 so it's not permanently hard-coded into the program enabling people to make their own decision on task priority. I have had no problems with TASKPRI=21. If anyone has any good ideas on another way to fix the flickering without raising task priority I would love to hear from them (details below). MISCELLANEOUS (just to prove I could spell it) ------------- Any bugs, letters, ideas and suggestions would be welcome (details below). I may well do a Kickstart 1.3 version of Ameko but this depends on the response I get from Kickstart 1.3 owners. If you are using Kickstart 1.3 and would like me to write a version of Ameko then write me a letter (don't send me any disks as I can't return them). I can't promise anything, but you never know! Alternatively, do the decent thing and upgrade to Kickstart 2. Not only will it enable you to run Ameko (your main reason for upgrading I'm sure!) but it has many benefits that are not immediately obvious and more and more software either has added features on Kickstart 2 machines or, in some cases, requires Kickstart 2. Kickstart 2 is very much like an iceberg, a little of its advantages can be seen above water like the new-look Workbench and requesters but most of its improvements and benefits are hidden below the surface and are not immediately obvious - however, they are there! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ---------------- Dara T.Khani - Author of the Windows version of Neko, source of inspiration. Mike Coupland - Prolific software author and great friend. Alex Slater - Originator of Barking Polecat Software and general all round good guy. Are your out there? Give me a call. Andrew Rowe - Sysop of Silica Systems Technical BBS (number below). Dial in and leave me mail or just look around. Darren Knowles - Still working on KnowlesPaint <laughs>!? AMEKO HISTORY ------------- Version 1.01, 2 February 1993. - Changed the section of code that calculates the sleeping frames of animation. They are now much more optimised and far less 'messy' than v1.00. This has enabled improved control over the playback of the sleeping animation frames, especially the speed of frame playback. Ameko no longer hyperventilates while snoring, hurrah ! - Added the SLEEP ToolType so the user can specify how long the mouse must remain stationary before Ameko starts falling asleep. ------------- Version 1.00, 27 January 1993. Initial release. (Wow, not much to tell your kids!) ------------- AUTHOR ------ // Name: Carl Revell \X/ Modem: +44-(0)81-309-6675 NorMail: 8 Western Road, MAIDSTONE, Kent, ME16 8NE, England. Have Fun !