Pocket Burning Sand (Open Source)

[colin9876]

just trying the physics - this little demo is more like 'Dripping Tap' than 'Burning Sands'
The problem is with lots of particles moving it will get slow. Really we need a way to alternate bitmaps (like in ur post above with the flashing colours) to emulate movement, because litterally moving thousands of pixels will not be fast enough

To try this game just load the demotap.sbp and you will need the tap.bmp in the same folder -FOR POCKETPC ONLY, NOT DESKTOP
To Play-
Use the stylus to plant bouncy pads on the screen, turn on the tap, and get the water to come to rest on the blue tray!

[neilnapier]

Could you possibly alter it so that it works with my BS program? There is no need for realistic bouncing action just gravity (different weeights if it is possible) and slide (in the air so that it sperates and on wall so that it slips of it, if possible)

I could alter it to work on it but I feel that you would do a better and quicker job at it.

[colin9876]

Yes sure, Im away from home at the mo, but when I get back I will look at the PC version of burning sands and see if I can emulate it.

Also Ive just realised my game will only play properly on the pocketpc. I didnt use a timer, just let it run at maximum speed so Im sure it will go too fast if people play it on the computer!

[neilnapier]

Ok no hurry, there are only 2 forums awaiting the next update

As i said once you do your peice of magic then then next main priority is gasses (if not already done along side your liquids) then moddablity.

Moddabiliy will be the most difficult to accomplish I think because i am not to sure about the FILEREAD function and you would need to learn what the modding language is like...

for anyone who cares here are examples of the modding language:

 Group Clear 0 File erase.bmp
Element Clear Clear 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 Clear 0 File erase.bmp
Interaction Water Salt saltwater Saltwater 2000
Message "Hello!!!  Whats up?"

If anyone wants to know what the coding actually means PM me and I will explain.

[colin9876]

can u just explain a bit more what this moddability is supposed to do?

[neilnapier]

Well with Burning Sand moddability you can make new elements by adding lines of code. Then using Interaction function you can make the elements react with one another. So if I wanted to make fire burn some wood then I would do

Interaction Wood Fire BurningWood Fire 1000

The first two elements in that line are the things that react with eachother and the last two are what each of them turn into.

EDIT: This is a basic idea of the BS element code:

Element [Group] [Name] [Colour-Red] [Color-Green] [Color-Blue] [Weight] [Spray] [Slide] [Viscosity] [Deathrate] [Die to] [Order] [Icon]

If someone implemented it I would gladly make the config for it (config is where the mods go)

EDIT2: go to here to learn about BS modding.

[colin9876]

Oh yes I understand now.
I dont think its that difficult in theory.
Certainly you can open a file and read all the values in
Also variables like how fast it falls, viscosity etc would be things that would have to be represented in the physics engine anyway so it wouldnt be a problem to load those values in.

Ive done a bit of a demo going using 3 different substances, but the problem Im having is its slow if uve got a few elements moving round at the same time. Its more like 'sliding mud' than 'burning sand'. Im still working on it.

I think one question to Erel would be, for graphics programs, how much faster will a compiled exe run compared to running from Basic4ppc when version 6 comes out? Also when do u expect version 6 to arrive?

[colin9876]

Ok, Ive had a look at Burning Sands on the PC now, amazing. What blows me away is that you can have 400x400=160,000 different pixels moving and interacting and its so fast.

That program uses a dll file SDL.dll that does all the hard graphics work.
Is there such a thing for Basic4ppc or can we use SDL.dll? I know nothing about dlls. Another question for EREL ?

[Erel]

I think one question to Erel would be, for graphics programs, how much faster will a compiled exe run compared to running from Basic4ppc when version 6 comes out? Also when do u expect version 6 to arrive?

It will run faster, but I can't estimate how much faster.
Version 6.00 will be ready in a few months (2-3 months ?).

You can use .Net dlls with Basic4ppc.
Can you provide a link to SDL description ?

[colin9876]

Saw this posted on libsdl.org
Q: Can I build SDL for Windows CE?
A: SDL is not officially supported on Windows CE, but some people have successfully built and run SDL applications on Windows CE.
SDL 1.2.5 and newer contain project files and information on building SDL for Windows CE. Take a look at the file README.WinCE in the source archive for more information.

Ive been looking at how Burning Sands works, its by the same colour of the pixel method that I thought about using! The program runs over every pixel and depending on the colour of it knows what it is, and then moves it one pixel etc according to its characteristics.

What I find amazing is it does a whole scan of 160,000 pixels, and moves each one a tiny bit, within a fraction of a second.