In message <9C41CCCF846B466F871F9D8C4BE4C00C@mine5e8ac60903>, Lee
Privett <lee.priv...@gmail.com> writes
I have to sympathise with some of the points Dave has raised, as a
recent returner to the QL scene I also find it a lot to take in a short
space of time and there is a tremendous amout of reading to do, in
order to;
1: Get back in to the mindset of QL programming.
2: Decide the route you intend to take i.e. stick with the basic
hardware route or go emulator.
3: Get a handle on the QL scene now and where it has gone.
4: Read some, read some more, and then read it again as you probably
missed it the first time.
Hi Lee,
Yes, couldn't agree more. Very well put. Yet all a part of the fun ...
:-)
One thing for sure ... no one person knows everything.
Yes there are lots of tools and free utility software out there and
Dilwyn's massive site is a great place to start, but there is a warning
here,
too much to soon can be overwhelming and rather than get up to speed
such as in point 1, you jump from 'ohh thats available' and 'ahh this
is available' to 'wow let me try that' and 'this' and before you know
it you have lost sight of where you were, swimming before you could
even crawl let alone walk.
One of the many projects that popped in to my head over the last 6
months was a repository of QL software like on Dilwyn's web pages but
with a particular theme showing the evolution of console style computer
games, that all QL users could contribute to. This is to show the next
generation of yet to be discovered young QL programming people how they
can learn the fun way of computing.
So initially I am looking at Pong, Breakout, Asteroids, Space Invaders,
Galaxians etc. and you can see flight sim would be a long way down on
my list. Yes some of these already exist so why do them, yes why invent
the wheel when it already exists, why not used the latest
utility/software? Well I am not on that 'wave' that many of the
seasoned QL'ers are riding and have sinced moved on to bigger/smaller
and better/complex things. I am still learning (again) and it will be
awhile as I haven't even started Pong yet.
I am using SMSQ/e and it is great learning all the old and new commands
and their limitations but like Dave, the PTR environment was just
getting started when I left the QL scene and although I have had a
quick look at many pointer environments in their various forms, I am
disappointed that none of them are as 'intuitve' or 'consistent' in
operation as I feel they should be and I wont be looking at them for
awhile atleast.
On a slightly different note, I used to own the compilers Supecharge
and Turbo the first time around and now I have a copy of the latest
Turbo. I have bought Qliberator to compare them both as eventually I
want to compile my programs so that they multitask. My experience of
making the Turbo Toolkit resident is frustratingly difficult compared
to 'QL on a Stick' method where 'QL on a Stick' version works!. I can
recomend it but I am suffering as to why my way doesn't and those sorts
of problems are what makes QL programming interesting. I am not looking
for an answer here (yet), but once solved I should be able to complete
the current project and then move on to other stuff like 'pong'.
Lee Privett
If you can identify what the problem is, with Turbo Toolkit, then I am
sure someone will be able to assist.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Sent from my Laptop running XP
but emulating the QL using QPC2
----- Original Message ----- From: "Plastic" <plasticu...@gmail.com>
To: <ql-us...@q-v-d.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2011 11:14 PM
Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] Programming project request...
Malcolm,
SMSQ/E was just going through its "open-source" birth when I left the
scene
last time. I did get it, but never used it due to the compete
inadequacy of
the hardware I had. I'm not at all interested in the "commercial
marketability" of what I might do, but do understand the non-commercial
aspect of marketability.
I have, truly, no desire to do anything involving pointers whatsoever,
because I find the QL pointer environment(s) to be... a dealbreaker. Tried
it, didn't like it, no desire to change my mind ;)
That said, I have the conflict that I do need to exercise my brain, by
restoring abilities I had, but I may need to learn NEW things to do
something that will be particularly interesting to anyone else... This is
just a first project, while I recover both physically and financially.
Buying lots of things isn't possible for me right now. Also, I know that
SMSQ/E on the Mac Q-Emulator "works" but has a few disclaimers about files
and IO...
This is a first project and there will be a next project where I can take
the time to get into that. Right now, a bunch of new things to learn just
puts more distance between me and a period of focused programming that is
what my brain really needs.
Sorry if the above seems disjointed.
I've been thinking more about the air traffic control sim and it may
be too
hard. It requires me to do smaller fonts on a transparent background
(planes
overlap) and it also requires me to build a flight model. I'd also need to
write a parser to interpret fairly complex commands, while the sim works
independently in the foreground. I might be better served choosing an
easier
first project. Or I might figure out these things - I think I'll be
doing it
anyway. There was an ATC sim way back, but it was very limited and not
realistic. It had scale and realism issues.
As Phoebus once said, I need to be spoon-fed. ;)
Dave
On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 4:02 PM, Malcolm Cadman <q...@mcad.demon.co.uk>
wrote:
In message <4d3a784a.90...@sbcglobal.net>, Timothy Swenson <
swenso...@sbcglobal.net> writes
Dave,
The Turbo compiler (and Turbo Toolkit) are now freeware and
available, and
can be found on this page:
http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/turbo/index.html
You'll also find a large number of programming tools at the main
index for
Dilywn's side:
http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/downloads.html
You can find TK2 and the Pointer Environment there too.
Tim Swenson
Hi Dave,
Great that you are wanting to give the old brain a good new workout
...
:-)
It appears that you have not being using the QL environment, for
some time,
so there is a lot to catch up on with programming tools.
I would advise spending some time doing so, before embarking on too
ambitious a project.
You will need SMSQ/E - which is a newer version of the OS with the newer
TK2 and Pointer Environment built in.
It also has an enhanced BASIC.
By programming on this, your software can also be made backwards
compatible
to the original hardware, to a reasonable extent.
You do not want to limit your market appeal - as there are people
with both
older hardware and people with the newer hardware.
Anyway, good luck with what ever you do.
Keep us all posted.
--
Malcolm Cadman
--
Malcolm Cadman
_______________________________________________
QL-Users Mailing List
http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
