Amiga Tools 5/Amiga Tools 5.iso/tools/developer-tools/amos-tools/eaissue3a/text/getting_involved.asc

Text File | 1996-07-13 | 14.4 KB | 309 lines

ü
                               Getting Involved
                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ý
        In order for Extreme AMOS to run the way you want it to, we will
    need your input to help us along. We ask of this in the form of
    articles and suggestions, as well as your text and IFF
    adverts/messages. The below pieces of text explain briefly about each
    of the different ways that you can become involved in the projects,
    but for more information, try consulting the "About" documentation
    files in the appropriate section. Alternatively, you can write to me
    with your questions at the address given at the end of the text. Here
    is how you at home can get involved :

ù
        EA desperately needs articles of an AMOS nature, such as
    programming tutorials, as well as simple hints + tips you have lying
    around. We are also looking for people to run a "Programming Diary" on
    a PD game they intend to release with the source code. A Programming
    diary, is a file which you write notes and things down as you are
    working on your game. For example, if you get stuck on a sprite
    collision routine, in the diary you would document the problem you
ÿ
ù
    had, and the different ways of trying to solve it, as well as the
    final solution that you chose. The diary can be in one or several
    pieces spread over a number of issues, and also comes with some source
    code from the various routines you have been working on, until the
    final version is released with the last part of the diary. This
    program is then compiled, and is entered into the library under one of
    the Mushroom disks, along with the entire source code, and all of the
    programming diaries used on it. For information on using colour in
    your text, see the below header labelled ARTICLE LAYOUT near the end
    of this document.

û
        EA also needs smaller, more topical tutorials on a whole range of
    different AMOS predicaments. At the moment, EA has covered tutorials
    on Graphic Equalizers, making a Tracker demo, as well as being able to
    determine a music module within AMOS, as well as a huge Multiripper
    tutorial featured in issue 3. All of these have been written by
    myself, and I am running out of ideas. Your own tutorials would be a
    great help to the magazine, as would any documented routines you
    have, such as quick ways round larger AMOS problems. All source code
    used on any of the disks, along with any of the other articles sent,
ÿ
û
    is credited to your name in the credits list.

ù
        Apart from the articles sections, you can also contribute to the
    other sections designed for you, the reader. These sections consist of
    the Messages, and advertisement sections. Anyone can contribute to
    these sections, but I put a limit on that you must send at least 1
    article in order for your message/advert to be used. IFF screens can
    also be used, and so you must send more than 1 article. I will include
    it if there is enough space on the disk. A standard reader page in the
    new EA engine, consists of 20 lines, each holding a maximum of 80
    characters per line. A simple text advert can take up this entire
    page, using any kind of text design that you want. If you are going to
    include lot's of text adverts, I would be gratefull if you sent
    several articles you have written, and not stolen from anyone else
    without their permission. The same screen parameters also goes for the
    messages. There should be a small program on the disk which will allow
    you to design your own text adverts, and save them as an ASCII file to
    be sent directly to me. For information on colour within your text,
    see the below section labelled ARTICLE LAYOUT.

ÿ
û
        I also welcome IFF adverts and messages. The screen parameters
    however, must be to a specific level. The ideal picture for use in
    this NTSC size reader, is either 640 or 320 pixels wide, and 200
    pixels high. When in your favourite paint package, you can select the
    size of the page when you begin work. If you want your picture to be
    full size of the PAL screen, something like 320x256 or 640x256, then
    remember that the lower half of the screen will be cut when the
    picture has been displayed, losing the bottom bit of the picture after
    the button has been pressed, so it is advised that you use the NTSC
    screen sizes. I have also limited the number of colours, to no more
    than 64, otherwise the size of the file get's a little big. I will not
    allow the use of AGA or HAM pictures, simply because of there size,
    however, if you wish to bribe me into using it with a couple of unused
    first-class stamps, then you can give it your best shot. All pictures
    must be sent to me in IFF form, and all messages and adverts in ASCII
    form. I will not accept adverts sent on bit's of paper, unless for a
    very good reason.

ù
        When it comes to putting the disks together, I am often stuck for
    programs to fill it with, so I tend to fill them with my own, and I
ÿ
ù
    get lot's of letters telling me they are crap. If you have a program
    that you would like to have featured on a coverdisk, then why not send
    it in to me for evaluation. I accept all kinds of programs, including
    demo's of bigger programs. All programs that are sent to me will be
    included on future Mushroom disks, so remember to state that the
    program is shareware when you send it in to me. I am also looking for
    budding programmers to write Extreme AMOS exclusive games. These will
    go straight onto the coverdisk, providing that I think they are good
    enough to use.

û
        The source code sections in the library are now looking a bit
    bleak, as I have used almost all of the best programs. Do you have any
    source code or AMOS PD disks full of source lying around, then why not
    send them in to me. If you have source code of your own that you would
    like to have included on the coverdisks, then I shall take a look at
    it. Remember, every disk that is sent to me entitles you to 35p off
    any Mushroom disk order. All source code sent will go straight into
    the library. The source that I include has very strict guidelines. See
    the appropriate section on SENDING SOURCE CODE for the list of
    guidelines that I like the source code to follow.
ÿ

ù
        A disk magazine is absolutely nothing without any kind of
    graphics. Hopefully, every couple of issues I hope to change the
    engine to a different format, to try and remove the repetitiveness of
    each issue. If you are a budding artist out there, then perhaps you
    would like some of your work featured. I am always looking for
    backgrounds of an interesting nature to include, as they give the
    magazine a feeling of it's own. Backgrounds must be no more than 16
    colours, and be in low resolution. Perhaps you have designed a
    graphical interface for a disk magazine, and would like to try it out
    on someone. Send it in to me, and if I like the look of it, then I may
    decide to use it for an issue. I am also looking for cartoon artists
    to draw comical captions to some of the sections, such as a section on
    regulary backing up your work, and explain about losing month's of
    effort, and the cartoon at the bottom could be someone smashing their
    Amiga to millions of bits with a large hammer !! The list of
    possibilities is endless.

ý
        Music is another strong point of a disk magazine. Without it, it
    would be so dull and boring. I have trillions of modules lying around
ÿ
ý
    my hard drive, but they are either commercial ones which I have ripped
    out of top games, or they are what is known as "Chip music", or SID
    modules ported over from the Commodore 64. I cannot use any of these
    in AMOS, especially the commercial modules. Are you a top musician,
    and would like to have some of your modules featured on an issue? If
    you would, then please send me some of your best work for inspection.
    I normally use around 3 modules per issue, with the biggest one up to
    around 100K uncrunched. If you have an awesome module slightly bigger
    than that, and it sounds really cool, then I shall still consider
    using it.

ü
                                Article Layout
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
þ
        Looking at this article, for example, you will see that some of
    the paragraphs are in different colours. You too can make your
    articles into colour productions, by following these simple rules and
    explanations as to how the program works.

        When writing an article, you have the choice of using 8 different
    colours. Each colour is represented by inserting a special CHR$ string
ÿ
þ
    on a line of it's own, before the line of the new colour is to be
    printed. In the next issue, you will be able to have more than one
    character, and place it just before the text to be printed. The
    control characters are :

þ
                          Light Grey - Character 254
ý
                            Green - Character 253
ü
                            Yellow - Character 252
û
                             Blue - Character 251
ú
                             Red - Character 250
ù
                         Medium Grey - Character 249
ø
                          Dark Grey - Character 248
÷
                            White - Character 247

ý
        The line created by the control character is ignored when the text
    is placed on the screen, but you must remember to change the colours
    of your text back to normal afterwards.

ú
        It is a good idea that you place the current text colour code at
    the very top of each new page, as one page could print half an
ÿ
ú
    article, and you could skip a couple of pages to another half-article,
    whic is printed in the old colour, when it should be in a new colour.

û
        Your final control character is 255, which indicates to the
    program that it has found the end of a page, and increases the needed
    variables. This can be placed anywhere to indicate the end of a page.

ü
        Pictures can also be called within your text. Call the 255
    character, then insert these lines (right at the start of the line) :

û
                PIC=TRUE
                (Path to picture SQG)

ý
        The graphics will then be loaded in and drawn on the screen. Only
    SQG pictures can be displayed at the moment. The squidger program is
    available from the library, and pictures must be save in the "Save
    SQG" form, and not a PP SQG. See review of Mushroom disk 58 for more
    details.

þ
        Each page holds 20 lines, with each line holding the standard 80
ÿ
þ
    characters. For a nice border effect as seen in some of these
    articles, set your right border to 70 characters, and when converting
    files, use INDENTER_2 to automatically set the border. INDENTER_1 will
    not add a border, so you can use standard WP files.

ú
        To cap the article off, you must place the 3 control characters
    "EOF", and hit enter. This is recognized by the program as being the
    very last line. If you start getting an "End of File" error, then
    there is something wrong with this. Remeber, it should be entered AND
    RETURN HIT !!

÷
        You should now know all you need to know about creating files for
    use in the issue. I shall now go about the best way's to process your
    files in the quickest possible way. On disk 2 in the drawer labelled
    EA_Stuff, you should find 3 executable programs. The first 2 being
    INDENTER_1 and INDENTER_2, which are files for processing and
    converting text files into EA readable files. The third program is
    called EA_READER which is basically the reader routine in a program of
    it's own. It has had the turbo extensions taken out, so it can be run
    in AMOSPro mode, and without the library, it cut's down on the size.
ÿ

ý
        Once you have entered the first couple of colours onto the first
    page of your text, it is time to begin prepping all of your page
    colours. To do this, convert your file using one of the converters,
    then load it into the reader. As you flick through the pages, you will
    be able to see the first lines of each of your pages. For each of
    these, just insert the character which will continue the colour. You
    can also add and delete lines to space out articles to flood onto the
    next page, but remember to re-convert the file and load it back in
    before making any other changes.

ù
        Well that just about sums the layout of the articles. If you are
    still a bit stumped, then read in one of the articles already done,
    bot in the reader and a word processor, and you will see exactly how
    it is done. Alternatively, you can write to me or give me a ring where
    I will be willing to give you a hand.

û
        Once you have completed an article, you can send it in either a
    processed form, or as a normal WP file, which I will be happy to
    convert for you. If you would like your game reviewed, then send me a
ÿ
û
    demo version of it AND a couple of screenshots for inclusion in the
    review.

ý
        Remember, that anything that is sent in to me by anyone, must
    accompany a name and address. If you contribute articles that I decide
    to use, you will of course receive a FREE copy of the first issue that
    it appears in. The same also goes for anyone who contributes any music
    and coverdisk programs/source code. Adverts and Messages however, do
    not qualify for a free copy unless the articles you send with them are
    used. OK then, I supposed I best give the Extreme AMOS address out to
    you. The address to send ALL your stuff to is :


û
                          Andrew "Mushroom" Kellett
                            32 Castleton Crescent
                                   Gamesley
                                   Glossop
                                  Derbyshire
                                   SK13 9TH
                                   ENGLAND
ÿ

ù
        Well, I think I have explained everything you need to know. If you
    have any queries on particular sections, then consult the CONTRIBUTING
    article on that appropriate section, which should contain all
    necessary information. Thank-you for taking the time to read this
    document.

ú
    [Andrew "Mushroom" Kellett]

÷
EOF