Stars of Shareware: Programmierung/SOURCE.mdf/programm/msdos/asm/3dvect25/readme.doc

Text File | 1993-09-06 | 13.0 KB | 258 lines

                          3d Vectors Source 2.5

   Date of release - sept 6/93

   Written by: John McCarthy
               1316 Redwood Lane
               Pickering, Ontario.
               Canada, Earth, Milky Way
               L1X 1C5

   Home phone, [phone], don't call at 2 am eh!

   Ok, lets make this quick...

   Routines to be used by all for anything, just send me  a  copy  of  what
   you've accomlished (final product) - or at least send me a postcard from
   someplace near where you live.

   Many thanks to: Razor - for providing source for their demo.  This  gave
                   me the idea of how to draw polygons in the first place.

                   Mode X routines - Matt Pritchard

                   Protected Mode Header - Tran

                   Bitmap X-mode Scaling routine - John A. Slagel

                   Technical support - Robin Ward
                                       Danny Hawrysio
                                       Robert Johnson
                                       Ciaran Gultniers
                                       Mark Rostek
                                       Sebastian Dwornik
                                       Adam Kurzawa

                   Food provided by - My Mommy

  As noted above, this file would not  be  possible  without  other  people
  giving away their source code.  I continue the tradition of "knowledge is
  power" and give this away.  Most people who see this will never do a damn
  thing with it but look at it and say "uh, so, what next?" so I don't want
  you to register or anything dumb like that.  By the way, people who  want
  money for crappy shareware progs can rot in hell.  But if you do  make  a
  commercial game, and make billions, at least  send  me  a  postcard  from
  the Bahamas ok!  Like I'm not going  to   refuse  a  cheque if  you  make
  something commercial, but like I said, only 1 in a million  may  actually
  have the time/effort/patience/guts/brains to make a commercial game.

  The original Mode X routines have been  modified   to  support  protected
  mode.  Many thanks Matt Pritchard for the X-Mode knowledge.  I  hope  you
  don't mind my changing your routines.  Matt Pritchard can be  reached  at
  P.O. Box 140264, Irving, TX  75014  USA.

  The protected mode header has been supplied by TRAN and can be reached on
  Sound Barrier BBS [phone].  I have included all of TRANs  protected
  mode package because I really hate getting code from  someplace  and  not
  getting the support for it.  I make no claim  to  any  of  this  code,  I
  simply want to supply you with all the info to effectively work with this
  3d vector package.

  The bitmap scale routine has been supplied by John A. Slagel.  Thanks  to
  you as  well  where  ever  you  are.   The  scale  routine  now  supports
  transparent bitmapping.  As of this writing, John  A.  Slagel's  internet
  access has been canceled and I have no other address for him.

  If you want the original non-protected mode Vector  routines, I  can  dig
  them up for you if you send me a  disk  or  something.   But  first,  ask
  yourself, "Why would anyone want to  go back to  segmented  coding?"   If
  you still want those  routines, hit  self  on  head  with  nearest  blunt
  object and re-ask question.  (Many thanks TRAN)

  Routines are heavily optimized for 3d  vectors.   Any  code/routine  that
  slow is not intended to be used with animation and has  been  written  to
  simply get the job done.  You will know which routines are slow/fast once
  you look at the code.

  I don't apologize for the lack  of  effective  documentation  or  example
  programs as this code was written for my own use.  I would like to  spend
  more time writing code than writing docs.  I also don't apologize for the
  lack of universality of code execution.  For example, Matts xmode code is
  callable from C but mine isn't.  Some of the routines must have registers
  set up before entry and some require memory to be set up.  U figure which
  is which.  It usually says at the begining of the routine.   Once  again,
  making  everything callable from C slows things down  and  this is what I
  wanted to avoid.  Speed is the key considering it is for my own use.

  You must have a 386 to run this.  If you only have a 286, get a  job  and
  buy a real machine!

  Also, I really hate people who give away their "source" code but actually
  only give away the object file.  If these people are so embarassed  about
  their crappy code then we don't want your crappy object file.  Give  away
  all or nothing.

  It would be really nice if I got a postcard from some place near where you
  live.

    Some files in this zip:

      main.asm      ; example program to show vectors
      3d1.asm       ; 3d vector routines by John McCarthy, fast sort method
      3d2.asm       ; 3d vector routines by John McCarthy, full sort method
      xmode.asm     ; xmode routines by Matt Pritchard
      xmouse.asm    ; xmode/protected mode mouse routines
      pmode.asm     ; protected mode routines by TRAN
      file.asm      ; pmode file routines by TRAN

      xmode.inc     ; files defining externals for linkage
      xmouse.inc    ; with above asm files
      pmode.inc
      3d.inc
      file.inc

      xscale.inc    ; bitmap scaling routines
      math.inc      ; math functions for 3d.asm
      sin.inc       ; data tables for math functions: math.inc
      arctan.inc    ; inverse tan function tables: math.inc
      vars1/2.inc   ; variables for 3d.asm routine
      equ.inc       ; list of constants

      macros.inc    ; macros used throughout

      qb.zip        ; qb quickbasic programs to generate sin and arctan tables
      modex104.zip  ; (some of the) original files from Matt's modex104.zip

  Some bugs fixed for 2.1:

    Mouse routine draw_bitmap fixed (start of bitmap is x and y). Fixes crash

    Also, the mouse resolution has been divided by two to stop that dang  two
    pixel movement!

    Many bugs fixed in Xmode.asm conversion from segmented mode to protected
    mode.  Too many protected mode bug fixes to list.

    Also added some palette fading routines to xmode.asm

    The big change is the new method of  sorting  surfaces.   Before,  objects
    were sorted first, then surfaces within objects were sorted.  Now, drawing
    an object simply draws the surfaces in   memory   and  then  ALL  surfaces
    are sorted as a group.  This now allows small objects to go inside  larger
    objects.  This is not possible in 3d1,  small objects will disappear.  The
    3d1 file is faster but the 3d2 file has greater flexability with  objects.
    The old file is 3d1.asm while the full sorting file  is  3d2.asm.  To  use
    you must call sort_list and drawvect after makeobjs (if using  3d2  -  the
    full sort method).  See main1 and main2 for examples.   To  give  you  the
    speed difference between the two, the calculation for a   bubble  sort  is
    (n^2+n)/2 for number of times routine will sort.  In 3d1 - 30 objects with
    30 sides will take 465 sorts * 30 objects + 465 to sort those  objects  is
    =  14,415  loops.   But  3d2  uses  the  basic  30*30  sorts.   Therefore,
    (900^2+900)/2 = 405,450 loops!  You can use 3d2 in portions and still  get
    the speed of 3d1 if you know certain objects will be far or near (eg  land
    scapes and stars are always far) and this can provide you with  the  speed
    and versatility of objects going inside one another.  The only  difference
    between 3d1 and 3d2 is the sort method - full objects then surfaces (3d1),
    or all surfaces together (3d2).

    Also made it possible to now have points (single dots) and  bitmaps  as
    part of an object.  You no longer need to make a bitmap it's own object
    but can now have it as part of another object.  It is still possible to
    have bitmaps as their own objects (for explosions and bullets).     See
    sphered cube and regular sphere in example file.

  Optimizations for 3dvect22:

    Better make1obj routine  now  uses  ematrix  more  efficeintly  by  only
    calculating matrix x,y and z as needed - makes better use  of  cpu  time
    when there are many objects off screen (behind camera or too far lft/rgt
    up/dwn)

    Added more math functions

    Optimized erotate when usez = no

  Changes for 3dvect23:  Aug 10/93

    Implemented new pmode.asm code by TRAN.  This replaces the  start32  code
    and allows 3dvect to be run with memory managers like HIMEM  and  EMM386.
    Many thanks to TRAN!  Note: Maximum speed is still found with  no  memory
    managers - ei. raw memory.  Change all int 30h's to int 33h's.

    Removed some common routines from 3d1 and 3d2 and put them in poly.inc to
    avoid duplicate copies of routines.

    Also added to xmode.asm routines to turn off the screen to stop flicker
    when changing into xmode

    Updated TGA2ICON program so it will function with the new pmode header
    and can operate with those nasty memory managers.

    I am currently writing this from my living room floor where I  have  been
    laying for the last month due to a herniated disc in my lower back - fun!

  Additions for 3dvect24:  Aug 29/93

    The main addition for version 2.4 is the IRQ  routine  that  co-ordinates
    itself  with  the  routine  updvectors.   The  IRQ  increments  the  byte
    traces_past every time a vertical retrace occures  (regardless  of   what
    the vector routines are doing) and the routine updvectors (get it, up the
    vectors - d=the, like the poor people say) anyway, updvectors  uses  this
    value to make the objects/animation "jump" ahead and  skip  frames.   the
    slower the computer or the greater number of objects  there  are  on  the
    screen, the higher the value  traces_past  will  be  after  updating  the
    screen.  Therefore, if you write your own game/animation, use this  value
    to determine how fast the game should go - the IRQ is timed to match  the
    vertical retrace so every time one passes by, traces_past gets +1. I have
    two interrupts - a protected mode IRQ and a real mode IRQ. I did it  this
    way so that if you want to add music or whatever, you can use either type
    of IRQ.  Both add 1 to traces_past.  Also, I have timed  the  IRQ  to  be
    close to the vertical retrace time but I don't know if  I  have  done  it
    correctly.  If you notice that the out dx,al is not the way to  go  about
    it, drop me a line with the correct method of  setting  the  8253  timer.
    The value of traces_past will be from 1 to whatever (never 0 after trace)

    I also fixed a small bug in the updvectors routine - which is now  called
    updvectors2, called by "updvectors".

    I have also had a back operation to fix that herniated disc  and  am  now
    sitting upright at my computer.  So I have this message for you:  Sit  up
    straight at all occasions, bend from the knees, get two  people  to  lift
    a heavy object, don't be macho,stand straight at all times,walk straight,
    don't slouch when driving, don't over excercise, don't prop your head  up
    with your arm when watching TV, (put adjective here) straight.  TAKE CARE
    OF YOUR AMAZING MOTION MACHINE - YOUR BACK.   Learn  the  easy  way  from
    someone who learnt the hard way - we're not invincible. STRAIGHT STRAIGHT
    STRAIGHT! STRAIGHT! STRAIGHT! STRAIGHT! There, I'm done.

  Some bugs fixed for 2.5:

    Fixed the timer IRQ to have OUT 43h,AL (You'll never know the  difference
    but I thought it would be a nice gesture)

    I have also ripped a routine from someplace else  to  time  the  vertical
    retrace and set the irq to this value.  This replaces the static variable
    with a more accurate calculation for each computer's irq timing.

    I also added a total retrace counter called "frame_number"  which  counts
    from the begining of any animation so you can, let's say at  2.5  minutes
    into it, perform a certain function.  The  counter  is  only  reset  when
    reset_raster_count is called (begining of new animation sequence).

    I have also changed the math routine setsincose so that if  you  are  not
    using z rotations, you won't need to reset eyeaz to 0.  (Can be anything)
    This really doesn't increase speed much though.

    I optimized some of the imuls with a pre-calculated table. Just to remind
    you:  Changing  video  modes  can occure within the program, but you  can
    only change the vertical size, not the horizontal size (eg  swap  between
    320x400 mode and 320x200 mode, or 360x480 mode   and  360x240  mode)  You
    would only need to adjust the clipping limits and the make3d constants to
    change modes while the program is  executing.   Re-assembley   would   be
    required if you wanted to change into a different x-width mode.

    Fixed the xmouse.asm routine plot_mouse.  It was  not  using  an  earlier
    xmode bitmap change.