a E i - Commodore Is Awesome

T
through _ computers, it is possible to
achieve a a wide range of graphical
effects. n As you will appreciate, the first
system k developed for animation
involved the creation of a number of
s
similar pictures which, when dis-
t
played in sequence, give an impression
of o movement.
t
Animator allows you to design,
store
h
and subsequently play back a
sequence e of 60 pictures. Depending on
the s delay used, the sequence can take
from p about two seconds to about 24
seconds. e
e So that you don't have to mess
about d with various utilities, the Animator
a program is self contained and
provides v options for:
1) Picture creation.
a
2) Play back of the sequence.
i
3) Saving and loading of files from
l
tape or disk.
4)
a
A character designer.
b In order to keep the amount of
typing l to a minimum, I have taken two
actions. e Firstly, the package is in two
parts, the editor/animation/data
handling module and the character designer.
These modules are almost completely
independent except that:
I) If you load and run the editor/animator
module alone, you must not use
the design characters option.
2) The character designer cannot save
or load character files itself — it relies
on the facilities in the editor/animator
module.
Secondly. 1 have left out a sprite
C64 GRAPHICS
Animator
Graphics can play a key part in C64
program in especially if you have the
right Our Animator should bring you one
step closer to perfection.
By Allen Webb
option. I originally intended to allow
you to overlay animated sprites on top
of the animated backgrounds. I hope,
in the near future, to write a third
module offering this option which will
use files created by these two modules.
Before I launch forth, let's consider
what you might do with this package.
When writing it, I had the younger
user in mind. Most children like car-
toons and the ability to easily create
and manipulate animated sequences is
equally appealing. Having said that,
the system is also of use to the more
serious user. It's very handy to be able
to quickly create and mess about with
sequences for use in games. As such, it
provides an ideal test bench.
The modules are given in the two
listings. Once you've typed them in,
SAVE them. To create a stand-alone
program, folloyv these steps:
I) Starting with a reset machine, type
in the line:
10 SYS 2200
2) Input the instructions:
POKE 44,48: POKE 12288.0: NEW
in direct mode.
3) LOAD and RUN the main module
loader.
4) LOAD and RUN the character
designer loader.
5) Input the instruction:
POKE 44,8: POKE 45.200: POKE
46,34
YOUR COMMODORE january 1987
95
in direct mode.
6) SAVE the program.
To ease the use of the program, a
series of menus is used with prompts to
the keys available as required. The
RUN/STOP key is used throughout to
return to the previous menu or to leave
the program.
On running, you will see the main
menu. This gives the options:
F1: Edit mode
F3: Animate mode
F5: Data manipulation
F7: Design characters
Pressing the relevant function key
gives you the next menu.
Edit Mode
The edit menu gives the following
options:
F1: Invert frame (this will only work
properly if you are using a set of reverse
field characters corresponding to
the normal set in use)
F2: Save frame to RAM.
F3: Scroll mode. This gives a sub
menu allowing charcter scrolling in
four directions. The keys U,D.L. and R
perform these tasks.
F4: Recall frame from RAM.
F5: Graphics mode. This gives a sub
menu with the options:
H: Switch to high resolution graphics.
M: Switch to multicolour mode.
E: Switch to extended mode.
I: Change background colour.