Nox-Rhea WiKi

Hello! This is Denthor here with the 5 part of the ASPHYXIA VGA Trainer Series : The Scrolling Saga. I have had many requests for information on scrolling, so I decided to make it this weeks topic. Note that I do make reference to my recently released program TEXTER5, which should be available from wherever you get this message. (Note to Sysops : If you put the trainer series up on your boards, please add WORMIE.ZIP and TEXTER5.ZIP as they both suppliment this series)

By the way, sorry for the delay in the appearance of this part. Tests, projects and a few wild days of sin at the Wild Coast all conspired against the prompt appearance of this part. Also note I need more input as to what I should do future parts on, so leave me mail.

If you would like to contact me, or the team, there are many ways you can do it :

            1) Write a message to Grant Smith in private mail here on the Mailbox BBS.
            2) Write a message here in the Programming conference here on the Mailbox (Preferred if you have a general programming query or problem others would benefit from)
            3) Write to ASPHYXIA on the ASPHYXIA BBS.
            4) Write to Denthor, Eze or Livewire on Connectix.
            5) Write to :  Grant Smith
                           P.O.Box 270 Kloof
                           3640
                           Natal
            6) Call me (Grant Smith) at 73 2129 (leave a message if you
                  call during varsity)

NB : If you are a representative of a company or BBS, and want ASPHYXIA to do you a demo, leave mail to me; we can discuss it.

NNB : If you have done/attempted a demo, SEND IT TO ME! We are feeling quite lonely and want to meet/help out/exchange code with other demo groups. What do you have to lose? Leave a message here and we can work out how to transfer it. We really want to hear from you!

If you have ever seen a demo, you have probably seen some form of scrolling.

Our SILKYDEMO has quite a nice example of scrolling. What it is is a long row of text moving across your screen, usually from right to left, eg :

                                       H     : Step 1
                                      He     : Step 2
                                     Hel     : Step 3
                                    Hell     : Step 4
                                   Hello     : Step 5
                                  Hello      : Step 6

etc. etc. See the program attatched for an example of scrolling.

Usually, letters. Most groups put greetings and information in their 'scrollies', as they are termed. You can also scroll and entire screen using the scrolling technique. Scrolling your text is a hell of a lot less boring then just having it appear on your screen. Unfortunately, 'scrollies' have been used so many times in demos they are wearing a bit thin, so usually they are accompanied by a cool picture or some nice routine happening at the same time (In our SILKYDEMO we had a moving checkerboard and colour bars going at the same time).

The theory behind scrolling is quite easy. Let us imagine that we are scrolling a 16×16 font grabbed by TEXTER () across the top of the screen (ie. 320 pixels) As we know, the VGA screen starts at zero at the top left hand part of the screen, then counts up to the right to 319, then goes back to the left hand side one pixel down at 320. (See Tut 1) This means that a 16*320 scroller takes up the space 0 to 5119 on the screen. In ascii this looks like this :

            (0)   .                                    .  (319)
            (320) .                                    .  (639)
                            "             "           "
           (4800) .                                    .   (5119)

Simple enough. Now what we do is we put down the first Y-line of the first character onto the very right hand side of the screen , like so :

              For loop1:=1 to 16 do
                Putpixel (319,loop1-1,font['A',1,loop1],vga);

This will draw some stuff on the very right hand side. Your screen should now look like this :

            (0)   .                                   X.  (319)
            (320) .                                   X.  (639)
                            "             "           "
           (4800) .                                   X.   (5119)

Next, we move each line one to the left, ie :

              For loop1:=0 to 15 do
                Move (mem[VGA:loop1*320+1],mem[VGA:loop1*320],320);

This scrolls the screen from right to left, which is the easiest to read. To scroll the screen from left to right, swap the +1 onto the other side of the command. Also, to increase the size of the portion scrolled, increase the 15 to however many lines from the top you wish to scroll-1.

After this move, your screen will look like this :

            (0)   .                                  X .  (319)
            (320) .                                  X .  (639)
                            "             "           "
           (4800) .                                  X .   (5119)
                                                      ^
                                                Note this space

What you then do is draw in the next line on the right hand side, move it, draw the next line, move it etc. etc. Tah-Dah! You have a scrolly! Fairly simple, isn't it?

To scroll up or down is also fairly simple. This can be used for 'movie credit' endings (I once wrote a little game with a desert scrolling down with you being a little robot on the bottom of the screen). The theory is this : Draw the top line (or bottom line) then move the entire screen :

             Move (mem[vga:0],mem[vga:320],63680);
                       { 64000 - 320 = 63680 }

For scrolling down, or :

             Move (mem[vga:320],mem[vga:0],63680);

For scrolling up. You then draw the next line and repeat.

Because of the simplicity of coding in a scrolly, most demos have one. It is usually best to have something extra happening on the screen so that the viewer doesn't get too bored, even, as I say, if it is only a really nice picture.

The University of Natal, Durban, Science Dept., now has 10 new 486's! This is a great boon, as now I can program nice routines during frees (even though I am a Commerce Student (Shhhhh) ). I can now use those previously wasted hours that I spent socialising and making friends coding instead

I suggest you get a copy of TEXTER, for coding demos with fonts, or in fact almost any graphics application, it is an amazing help, and we have used it for *ALL* our demos. (P.S. We have written many demos, but many have been written for companies and have not been released for the general public) NOTE : For TEXTER's test program TEST.PAS, add {$X+} {$R-} if you have range checking on (I code with it off.)

            [  "I'm from the Computer Inspection Agency, sir, I'm here to check your computer. Here is my identification."
               "Certainly. Have a look, I'm clean. I don't have any pirated software."
               The C-man pushes past him and sits in front of the computer. He notes the fact that the computer is currently off with a look of disdain. He makes a note on his clipboard. He boots up.
               "What is this?" he asks, pointing at the screen.
               "It's MasterMenu" stutters the man. "I wrote it myself!"
               "Do you know what the penalty is for using junk like this on a private machine?" The C-man smiles. "This is a two-month sentance in itself!"
               "I'm sorry sir! It won't happen again!"
               "I know. I'll make sure of that." He smiles again.
               The C-man runs through the hard drive, checking for illeagal software, bad programs and anti-government propaganda. He notes with satisfaction that he has enough to put this weenie away for ten years, not that it mattered. He usually could just make something up.
               He comes to the last entry on the aphebetised menu tree. His hands jerk away from the keyboard. Then, tentatively, he types in the three letters of doom. He looks at the man, who is backing away with wide eyes and his hands outstretched in front of him, as if to ward off a blow.
               The C-man smiles, his lips a thin, hard line.
               "Windows!"
                                                                     ]

Grant Smith

1:55pm

16/9/93

Cheers, Denthor