QL Tinkering

[stevepoole]

Hi Qbits,
I had to set the QPC2 screen to 1024x512, then your DotLookup program worked OK.

DotLookup works great with other DIY 'games' fonts I tried...

But, QbitsConfig halts at line 1007, as there is no file supplied.

Will look again much deeper this evening. Regards, Steve.
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[qbits]

Hi stev,

Dot_Lookup2_bas had gx=40 gy=40 if you changed to gx=0:gy=0 !

These two might help with a little edit for your default device name...

Qbits

[stevepoole]

Hi Qbits,

I was getting horizontal bars when SCROLLing on variously enlarged characters.

Fix : Modify lines 1510 & 1531 so the windows are 512,176,gx,gy+40.

For BOLD characters : alter line 1510 so that Rd=sca/120.

Otherwise, all is fine ! Next job, word justification... under examination... Steve.
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[stevepoole]

Hi Qbits,

Here is a dot_lookup version that has word justification....

Still requires Chans_Code, (as in previous versions). Regards, Steve.
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Dot_Lookup_Justify.zip

(2.39 KiB) Downloaded 99 times

[stevepoole]

Hi Qbits & Tinkerers,

Dot_Lookup_justify version two, now scrolls up when pages are filled...

Remember to LRESPR chans_code again, and alter line 140 for your device...

Tested OK on QPC2 set to 1024x512. Still experimenting before final version. Steve.

Dot_Lookup_Justify2.zip

(2.47 KiB) Downloaded 92 times

[qbits]

Hi all,
Looking at Font Scaling and Proportional Spacing moving form Bitmaps to Vector Graphics is the most obvious way, but for the compatibility issues across Different QL Platforms (Oh! And the speed of execution of course).

i thought with the recent changes to FontEditSE this might be a good time to upload associated QBITS Progs and pdfs.

QBITS

[stevepoole]

Hi Qbits,
The vector graphics programs were mostly written in the '80s, but on a 4mhz 128ko QL, output was fine, but far too slow for comfort. But now with QPC2, speed is OK, which is why I have dug them out again....

Thanks for the zip files. Will look into them once the lawns are all mown, as with this damp weather of late, all is behind schedule !
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[stevepoole]

Hi Qbits,
I downloaded your font programs, and tried some of your fonts using my Dot_Lookup_Justify_bas routines. But you often seem to be using wider fonts, as some pixels get missed ?

Bitmap graphics were originally used for games on early PCs, as these latter had no graphics cards. Ok, so character-based graphics are faster, but not versatile...

But as few QL games are now being produced, I wonder if we should be going down the 'vector' path to innovate ? There is still plenty of scope in that direction on emulators !
Ideally, we should write our vector routines in 'C' to accelerate them for 128ko QLs.

By the way, your 'music' fonts vectorise successfully. Stimulating.

Regards, Steve.

[qbits]

Hi Steve,
It is Andrew we have to thank for nearly a hundred ported ZXFonts across to the QL some use 6 others 8 bit columns. I dabbled a bit with C++ way back, I think I have a C68 version amongst my QL Floppies.

Did later versions of Exchange or Text 87 go down the True fonts (ie vector) route I wonder.

QBITS

[stevepoole]

Hi Qbits,

Yes, I dabbled with C++ several years ago, to translate a VERY long SuperBasic program.

The first step was via a SB to c68 recompiler, then that code was hand-twinked for C++. The result was of course blisteringly fast code ! I will have to dig into my reference books to see if C68 handles QL-style bitwise operators, needed to convert bitmap routines into vector functions....

Could maybe make an interesting project ? Regards, Steve.

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