rlw@ttardis.UUCP (Ron Wilson) (03/03/90)
In article <8776@wpi.wpi.edu>, dseah@wpi.wpi.edu (David I Seah) writes: >In article <1580@crash.cts.com> tsouth@pro-pac.cts.com (System Administrator) writes: >>I'd have to disagree about the NEED for higher resolution in games. While >>CAD and other high definition work would SINCERELY benifit from a 640x400 (or >>480!) screen I feel that in the game department the one thing seriously >>killing the //gs (besides speed) is the fact that we only have 16 colors on >>the 320x200 game screen. This is the SAME as a frickin Commodore 64 folks! > >More relevant to the color issue, our choice of 16 from 4096 colors is >a heap of a lot better than the C64's fixed palette. With this range >of colors, artists have quite a bit more freedom in choosing harmonious >and mind-affecting color schemes. But as a novice artist I'd have to >tell ya that ONLY 16 colors really, really stinks! It certainly does >train you in the wise choice of colors and judicious application of >dithering techniques. > >Dave Seah | O M N I D Y N E S Y S T E M S - M | Internet: dseah@wpi.wpi.edu After reading these several threads reguarding graphics and color resolution of the IIgs, it appears to me that people are forgetting the fact that each scan- line of the IIgs SHR screen can be independantly assigned to any one of 16 color pallets (not to mention, independant selection of the 320 and 640 modes). GRANTED this method of increasing the number of available colors is awkward, it does make dithering much easier, AND it allows different regions of the screen to have different color pallets. DON'T get me wrong - I would vastly prefer more color choices per pixel than 16, it *IS* very limitting - EVEN with multiple pallets available - I just want to remind the world that the current IIgs isn't quite as bad as many people think it is.
asd@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Kareth) (03/03/90)
In article <2488@ttardis.UUCP> rlw@ttardis.UUCP (Ron Wilson) writes: >After reading these several threads reguarding graphics and color resolution of >the IIgs, it appears to me that people are forgetting the fact that each scan- >line of the IIgs SHR screen can be independantly assigned to any one of 16 color >pallets (not to mention, independant selection of the 320 and 640 modes). I can't claim to know a heck of a whole lot about this, but in order to do this (in my understanding), ya have to do all kinds of nifty interrupt routines and the alike. This method is fine for just displaying screens, but not that great for anything useful. Spending all/most of the cpu time just keeping the screen up isn't my idea of a workable graphics mode. >DON'T get me wrong - I would vastly prefer more color choices per pixel than 16, >it *IS* very limitting - EVEN with multiple pallets available - I just want to >remind the world that the current IIgs isn't quite as bad as many people think >it is. No, it isn't. I've seen 3200 color viewers (I wonder, were there really 3200 colors?) that looked DAMN good. But all they could do was just the demo. Ya couldn't have a screen that looked like that and be able to do anything else at the same time. While we are on the subject tho, are there any more 3200 color pics out there for that 3200color viewer, ya know, the one that does the really cool bald eagle pic, and some picture of a girl (or was it a clown?). Okay, sue me, I don't know the name of the program. But there were only about 3 pictures posted or sent out. I figured there would be more. Or at least a program to generate more pictures from standard pics. The author had to create them didn't he? Are there more of these pics out there, and is the program to create them in PD??? I'd really like to get access to it if it is. Any info would be appreciated. -k
nagendra@bucsf.bu.edu (nagendra mishr) (03/03/90)
All those pics are available on AMerica Online. Though I refuse to spend money to down load them, maybe someone who already has them will post them on the net. nagendra
toddpw@tybalt.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel) (03/03/90)
asd@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Kareth) writes: >In article <2488@ttardis.UUCP> rlw@ttardis.UUCP (Ron Wilson) writes: >>line of the IIgs SHR screen can be independantly assigned to any one of 16 color >>pallets (not to mention, independant selection of the 320 and 640 modes). >I can't claim to know a heck of a whole lot about this, but in order to >do this (in my understanding), ya have to do all kinds of nifty >interrupt routines and the alike. This method is fine for just >displaying screens, but not that great for anything useful. Spending >all/most of the cpu time just keeping the screen up isn't my idea of a >workable graphics mode. As you've mentioned, you've seen the 3200 color demos. What we're talking about here is 256 colors (16 per palette and 16 palettes) which requires NO cpu time once the scan line control bytes are set up{ to give the correct palette for each screen line. 3200 colors can only be obtained by manipulating those 16 palettes while the picture is being displayed, and that's what grabs the CPU and makes it a demo. I repeat, you can get 16 palettes of 16 colors each and the display hardware will take care of it for you. If you want more, then you have to resort to special tricks. Todd Whitesel toddpw @ tybalt.caltech.edu
jason@madnix.UUCP (Jason Blochowiak) (03/10/90)
In article <4300@mace.cc.purdue.edu> asd@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Kareth) writes: >In article <2488@ttardis.UUCP> rlw@ttardis.UUCP (Ron Wilson) writes: >> [Deleted his comments about the current gs graphic capabilities] > [Deleted his comments about having to fiddle with stuff, wasting CPU time, > as Todd Whitesel already responded] >No, it isn't. I've seen 3200 color viewers (I wonder, were there >really 3200 colors?) that looked DAMN good. But all they could do was >just the demo. Ya couldn't have a screen that looked like that and be >able to do anything else at the same time. I'm not sure if any of the pictures actually uses 3200 colors, but it's certainly possible. Basically, instead of 16 palettes with 16 colors each (yielding 256 colors onscreen at once), there are 200 palettes (one for each line) with 16 colors each (yielding 3200 colors onscreen at once, with a max of 16 colors per line). >While we are on the subject tho, are there any more 3200 color pics out >there for that 3200color viewer, ya know, the one that does the really >cool bald eagle pic, and some picture of a girl (or was it a clown?). >Okay, sue me, I don't know the name of the program. But there were only >about 3 pictures posted or sent out. I figured there would be more. Or >at least a program to generate more pictures from standard pics. The >author had to create them didn't he? Are there more of these pics out >there, and is the program to create them in PD??? I'd really like to >get access to it if it is. Any info would be appreciated. There are quite a few of the pics - I _think_ that I have all of them, and I think that John Brooks (yaknow, Tomahawk, Rastan GS, etc.) did all of the conversions with a, uh, "programmers conversion utility" - one that wouldn't be the least bit suitable for end-users; however, it's been quite awhile since I've spoken with him, and my memory is notoriously bad... There's certainly not a 3200-paint program available, although one is possible (you wouldn't be able to view the whole screen at once, as doing the 3200 colors sucks basically ALL the CPU time, but it would be possible to have, say, 1/3 of the screen to edit, with the possibility of viewing the entire screen). Although I don't have a conversion utility to give out (I tried one once - this is the sort of programming that I hate), I do have a small suite of programs that lets you select a batch of the pictures and view them, slide-show fashion that I can post. Once again, if enough people ask for it, I'll post it, otherwise, I'll mail it... (Btw, I got enough responses to warrant posting the Find File NDA). The suite of programs are FreeWare - John wrote the viewer, and I wrote the selector. I'm _not_ going to post the pictures, as they take up too much space. >-k -- Jason Blochowiak - jason@madnix.UUCP or, try: astroatc!nicmad!madnix!jason@spool.cs.wisc.edu "Education, like neurosis, begins at home." - Milton R. Saperstein