🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3vbpg7$i4b@noc2.drexel.edu>, sg928ah5@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu (James Ianni) writes:
|> Bill Moyer (ttk@rahul.net) wrote:
|> : In article <3uuhbs$hkn@ccshst05.cs.uoguelph.ca>,
|> : David L Evens <devens@uoguelph.ca> wrote:
|> : >
|> : >Sprites are hardware functions.
|> : [..]
|> : >Except that sprites are implemented in hardware, not software.
|> : >
|> 
|> :   Sprites *can* be implemented as hardware functions.  They can 
|> : also be implemented as library functions between the application
|> : software and the hardware.  If amigas have chosen the former 
|> : implementation, well, nifty.  PC's and Macs have chosen the latter
|> : implementation, which has its pros and cons.  I'd rather have the
|> : option to upgrade my Sprite functions with a text editor and a 
|> : compiler than by writing letters to the computer company and hoping
|> : they pay attention.
|> 
|> :   -- ttk@rahul.net
|> : -- 
|> : Bill Moyer <ttk@rahul.net>
|> 
|> FULL SCREEN, MULTICOLOR sprites are support in library calls on the AMIGA
|> since it's inception (1985)...
|> 

A comment.

I am not sure exactly what is meant here by "sprites".
On the Amiga there are two types of movable objects.
"Sprites" were supported by the (sprite-engine) hardware
(up to 8 of them per line on pre-ECS; maybe more now);
"Bobs" -- short for "blitter objects" -- were also
supported by the (blitter) hardware, and bobs could be
up to 8 (ECS) planes deep.  Sprites are independently
colored (but colors interact on displays that are too deep
for a number of reasons, chief of which is colormap
cell collision) while bobs take on the colormap of the
background display (side note: this colormap could vary
line by line, and not only because of sprites!).

The Amiga global Intuition pointer (usually an arrow, but
heavily customizable even with the basic OS) is an example
of a sprite.

However, since modern CPUs have outstripped the blitter
in processing speed, there is no reason why bobs could
not be implemented purely in software.  Sprites, however,
will still require support from the graphics display
subsystem.  Bobs may also take advantage of the graphics
display subsystem to eliminate "flicker" as well by
timing their drawing just right.

And then there's the animation subsystem ... oh, the Amiga
was a very capable machine, it was.

And still is.

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------
eric_williams@mentorg.com
My views!