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  1.  
    I have a new beta test of ICE editor available. This font editor allows for making fonts in software character flip modes. At current, you can edit in 6 modes (Super 9, Super 10, Super 11, HIP 0, CHIP 0, and APAC 0. I just added a nice copy function, copying the current character being edited to the cursor position on the character set display, or from the character set display back to the character being edited.

    Still more to do yet. So little time. :)
  2.  
    Major update on my ICE editor: The editor has been split up into three seperate editors, which will edit in 19 different characterflip modes. Supported are all 6 GTIA modes (Super 9, Super 10, Super 11, APAC, HIP, CHIP), 9 CIN modes (3 types of CIN, MIN, PCIN), also Super 0, 2 versions of Super IRG, and DIN. DIN and Super 0, and the CIN 0/MIN 0/PCIN 0 are currently only supported using Graphics 0 artifacting.

    The zip file I am attaching has two ATR's:

    ice-editor.atr:

    ICE3.TUR will edit in the GTIA modes
    ICECIN.TUR will edit in the CIN modes

    ice-editor2.atr

    ICEIRG.TUR will edit in Super 0a, Super IRG, and DIN a.

    The zip also contains updated documentation on these 19 software modes, the normal GTIA text modes, and screenshots of this editor.

    Warning: ICECIN.TUR will not display properly on Atari800Win because of a bug which prevents Graphics 12/13 with the GTIA set to 9/10/11 from displaying properly. You need a different emulator like Atari++ for this, or a real Atari.
  3.  
    And, a nice screenshot from my editor :)
    • 4:
       
      CommentAuthorKaz
    • CommentTime30 Oct 2010 zmieniony
     
    Wow, this modes sound interesting. I'm just reading txt file to get more about...

    PS. Good pc-based editor, like G2F, would be great and essential to get proper results.

    PS2. This picture of Super IRG 2 is great:

    • 5:
       
      CommentAuthorKaz
    • CommentTime30 Oct 2010
     
    Synthpopalooza - what's the difference between Super IRG and Super IRG 2 modes? It's unclear for me.
  4.  
    Super IRG does a simple character flip, no color register changes. 14 colors total.

    Super IRG 2 also flips the color registers every vblank, 708-711, increasing the number of colors to 23. Tradeoff is, you can't dither the colors like in Super IRG.

    I will be posting some demo BASIC programs tonight.
  5.  
    Ok, I am posting up an .atr for Super IRG 2. Attach this to drive one, boot without BASIC, and then run the program "D:SUPRIRG2.TUR"

    You should get a display on your screen, screenshot is attached to this post

    This is an example of text, plus a pallette test showing all 23 colors. There are 16 in normal video, plus an additional 7 which are accessed through Inverse video (ATASCII 128-255) which makes up the total 23.

    Hint: The colors are controlled through registers at memory locations 1042 through 1049 (8 color registers in total) plus the background can be changed through SETCOLOR 4 or POKE 712. The listing of registers:

    1042: 708 (1)
    1043: 708 (2)
    1044: 709 (1)
    1045: 709 (2)
    1046: 710 (1)
    1047: 710 (2)
    1048: 711 (1)
    1049: 711 (2)

    The number in parentheses indicates which VBLANK the register color will be on.

    This mode (as do other flicker modes) tends to look better on NTSC Ataris which run at 60 cycles per second, giving a faster VBLANK refresh rate. You should also get a good display using Atari800Win or Atari++ which I used to test out this mode.

    More tests of other modes (including DIN and the CIN modes) will follow.
  6.  
    Another ATR, this time a demo of CIN 2. Again, boot this with BASIC disabled and run D:CINDEMO.TUR:



    This mode displays 80 colors (16*5 shades) in ANTIC 4 resolution. This is achieved by the following VBLANK flips:

    1. CHBAS (756) flip
    2. GTIPRIOR (623) flip between 0 (normal) and 192 (GRAPHICS 11)
    3. DLIST (560) flip between an ANTIC 4 and ANTIC 2 display list stored in page 6, making sure ANTIC 2 is active when GTIPRIOR is mode 11
    4. COLBK (712) flip between 0 and 2, to sharpen the color display

    Useful color registers:

    1048: POKE this to the brightness of your colors
    708-711: POKE these to monochrome values

    Note: The first four luminances are achieved in ATASCII 0-127 (normal video) ... 64 colors
    The fifth luminance is achieved in inverse video (ATASCII 128-256) adding another 16 colors to the mix

    The chroma values are also inversed when using inverse video. This can be remedied by adding a CHACT (755) flip to the routine:

    DPOKE 1028,755:POKE 1044,2:POKE 1045,0

    The tradeoff bewteen this and CIN 1 (which has only 60 colors and no display list flip) is that you cannot use this mode in GRAPHICS 13 (ANTIC 5) resolution.

    WARNING: Do NOT use this with Atari800Win, the mode will not display properly due to a bug in handling the GTIA modes. Best to use Atari++ or a real Atari. Best results are on 60hz Ataris due to faster refresh.

    More demos soon!
  7.  
    OK, one more ATR.. boot without BASIC and run D:CIN1DEMO.TUR




    This is CIN 1 mode ... which can display 60 colors at ANTIC 4 resolution. Unlike CIN 2 there is no display list flip. The following registers get flipped every VBLANK:

    1. CHBAS (756)
    2. GTIPRIOR (623) between 0 and 192 (normal and GRAPHICS 11)
    3. COLBK (712) between 0 and 2 to stabilize the display

    This mode uses an ANTIC 4 display list, so there are fewer Graphics 11 hues available due to the way ANTIC 4 handles the GTIA colors.



    You will note that some of the hues are redundant. There are 9 unique hues in the normal pallette, and an additional 5 hues available in the inverse (ATASCII 127-128) pallette. In addition, the "5th color" shade (register 711) becomes available in the inverse pallette, increasing the total number of colors displayable to 60.

    As in CIN 2, you will want to set 708-711 to 0-14 (monochrome shades) ... in this routine, location 1046 handles the brightness of your colors ... set this to 0-14.

    This mode can be used in either ANTIC 4 or ANTIC 5 (Graphics 13 40x12 char) unlike CIN 2 ... a 4x8 ANTIC 4/5 grid is used, each pixel can be any of 4 luminance, but every pair of pixels in the grid has to be the same hue. Here's a screenshot of the CIN 1 grid in ICE editor:




    Again, usage of Atari800Win will cause this mode not to display properly. Real Atari only or some other emulator like Atari++ will display correctly
    • 10:
       
      CommentAuthorKaz
    • CommentTime31 Oct 2010 zmieniony
     
    Synthpopalooza - I just analyzing your examples. I think it could be great to prepare some fullscreen graphics in SIGR2 and other modes, I really would to try. You right, some gfx editor would be essential for this project... However, we don't have any :(

    Question: are you able to write a conversion util to turn GIF picture (with colors limited to 23 in line, with correct pallette) into SIRG2 format?

    PS. I'm just looking for solution, how to get fullscreen pictures in your modes. Do you have other ideas?

    Tebe - a czy mozna te tryby dodac do AIS?
    • 11: CommentAuthortebe
    • CommentTime31 Oct 2010
     
    CIN obsługuje AIS w trybie bitmapy, edytory do CIN na XE/XL są dostępne, oczywiście w trybie bitmapy

    AIS powstał dla trybów bitmapy - interlace

    jeśli używa się trybu znakowego-kolorowego (ANTIC=4) i włącza tryby GTIA, to uzyskuje się tryb jak w Ilusii, nie ma pełnej palety szarości (16 w bitmapie) tylko 9+6, które dodatkowo nie są ułożone w kolejności rosnącej, podobnie z kolorami, tak jak to opisał Synthpopalooza, znaki w inwersie to dodatkowe kilka kolorów (6), potem takie kolory trzeba ułożyć w odpowiedniej kolejności żeby przypominało to paletę

    G2F wspiera taki tryb z odcieniami szarości, trzeba tylko w programie rastra ustawić $D01B=$44 ($x4 to piorytet duchów), wtedy zamiast standardowych 16 odcieni szarości będą wyświetlane te nowe (w załączniku przykład antic4_gtia.g2f)

    p.s.
    G2F nie wspiera 9 rejestrów kolorów i nie został zaprojektowany aby wspierać, tak że tryb 9 kolorowy GTIA nie będzie dostępny
  8.  
    I think a Super IRG 2 - GIF conversion is certainly possible. I'm not good with PC coding ... but, if someone can direct me to the source for the GIF format I might try it. One thing to remember, is that there are 5 colors in the inverse pallette (ATASCII 128-255) which will not be present in the normal (ATASCII 0-127) pallette, which are created by intermixing with register 711, this will have to be accounted for too. Also, these will be double fonts, twice the size of a regular ANTIC 4 font as well.

    For the CIN modes it gets trickier. CIN 2 may be easy, as all you'd need is to get a chroma and luma from a GIF, convert the chroma to a series of Graphics 0.11 fonts, the luma to ANTIC 4. But in CIN 1, you're using Graphics 12.11 so there are fewer chroma available and they're palleted differently.

    I'm going to demo 15 more modes as I get time ... these are:

    DIN mode (ANTIC 4 - ANTIC 2 flip ... 10 colors, 20 when artifacting)

    Super 0 - Graphics 0 while flipping only register 709 ... 4 shades, or 16 artifacted colors.

    CIN 0 - Graphics 0 with GTIA 11 flip. 32 colors or 64 artifacted colors

    MIN 0 - Graphics 0 with GTIA 9 flip. 32 shades or 64 artifacted colors

    PCIN 0 - Graphics 0 with GTIA 10 flip.

    PCIN 1 and PCIN 2 - Both are ANTIC 4 with GTIA 10 flip. You can get 34-35 colors here, more if you flip 708-711 each VBI. I need to experiment more with these.

    MIN 1 and MIN 2 - Like CIN 1 and CIN 2 except you use GTIA 9. Set 708-711 to either monochrome, or color. 60 - 80 colors with this mode.

    I almost have a DIN font created, and I think I can easily modify my CIN font for the PCIN/MIN modes to demonstrate these.

    There are 6 more GTIA modes, 4 of which I have fonts for and will show here too:

    Super 9 - Graphics 0.9 with 712 flip. 256 dual-tone shades, very pretty

    Super 10 - Graphics 0.10 character flip, 45 colors. You can get more colors by flipping 705-711 every vblank but it's not possible to support in my ICE editor.

    Super 11 - Graphics 0.11 with 712 luma flip. 256 colors but only 3 luminance, not sure how useful this will be

    APAC 0 - 0.9/0.11 flip, 256 colors (16 chroma 16 luma) as in APAC bitmap mode

    HIP 0 - 0.9/0.10 flip, 128 - 144 colors with the mode 10 pixels shifted to the right to get added 160 across resolution

    CHIP 0 - 0.11/0.10 flip, 128-144 colors, same as above except mode 10 becomes the luma.

    In the meantime, I am attaching a screenshot of my DIN mode font for you to look at. :)
  9.  
    OK, here are the MIN modes. :) Attached is min.atr, boot without BASIC, and run D:MINDEMO.TUR and D:MIN1DEMO.TUR

    First is MIN 1. This is like CIN 1, except ANTIC 4 gets flipped between GTIA normal and GTIA 9 (monochrome). As this is in ANTIC 4, 9 shades are available in the normal pallette, and 5 more in the inverse pallette. This mode will not display properly in Atari800Win, use real Atari or Atari++

    You can set 708-711 to colors, so it's basically 5-9 shades of each color.

    MIN 2 is like CIN 2: The Display list gets flipped between ANTIC 2 and ANTIC 4 every VBLANK, with GTIA set to mode 9 everytime the display list is ANTIC 2. The full range of 16 shades is overlaid with the ANTIC 4 colors. 80 colors can be had in all.
  10.  
    Next one: DIN Mode. Attach din.atr, autoboot without BASIC, and run D:DINDEMO.TUR




    This one is nice! ANTIC 4 flips with ANTIC 2 every VBLANK. In addition, 710 and 709 get flipped in order to maximise the number of colors displayable and to stabilize the display. Use these registers with the accompanying routine:

    708: PF color 0
    1040: Luminance of mode 0 text (0-14)
    1042: PF color 1
    1044: PF color 2
    711: PF color 3
    712 and 1045: background color, should be kept identical to avoid flicker

    10 colors are in use here, 20 if you include artifacting colors. This screenshot was taken on Atari++, actual colors may vary on a real machine depending on artifacting, so try it for yourself!
    • 15:
       
      CommentAuthorKaz
    • CommentTime2 Nov 2010
     
    Synthpopalooza - thanks for posting this pictures and all details about modes! I try to prepare something for SIRG2 mode, we'll be in touch.
  11.  
    Thanks! I am going to work up a few more demos ... mainly this time, a mode called PCIN 0, which is, Graphics 0 with a GTIA toggle between normal (0) and 9 color pallette GTIA (128) mode. This gets you about 18 colors available at graphics 0 resolution, and 36 if you count for artifacting.

    I'm going to mess with the other PCIN modes (PCIN 1 and PCIN 2) though it may be awhile before I can show anything useful out of those. Both of these are an ANTIC 4 display list matched with a Graphics 0.10 (or 12.10) display (that is, the 9 color pallette GTIA mode), allowing 34-35 colors at ANTIC 4 resolution.

    Also, I have some demos for the GTIA flip modes (so far I have done Super 9, APAC, HIP and CHIP, plus plans to do up one for Super 10) which will also get posted up soon.
  12.  
    Ok more demos!

    Boot the attached ATR and run D:HIPDEMO.TUR and D:CHIPDEMO.TUR

    First one is HIP 0 ... Graphics 0 with GTIA flipped between 64 (mode 9) and 128 (mode 10). Thanks to the famous pixel shift bug (demonstrated in bitmap mode thanks to Polish coders) you get a pixel resolution of about 160 across in text mode ... roughly same as ANTIC 4 resolution, but with 128-144 colors. In this case I have set 704-711 to rainbow color values, but you can also flip 712 every vblank (between 0 and whatever value you want) and add another 16 colors to the mix.

    Second one is CHIP 0 ... like HIP 0 except this time it's a GTIA 10 - GTIA 11 flip. Again, you get 128-144 colors at 160 across resolution thanks to the pixel shift bug. The mode 10 colors are set to monochome (704-711). Register 712 is not used, though if you wanted to you could flip it and again get an extra 16 colors.

    The attached ICE3.tur is for editing characters in these two modes, and also APAC, SUPER 9, SUPER 10, and SUPER 11. When using the HIP and CHIP modes, you get a pixel shifted grid, still 2x2, but with the mode 10 grid shifted 1/2 a pixel to the right ... so when you design characters, you have to watch for bleedover.

    Also, any readable text has to be designed with 2 characters per letter or it will be impossible to read.
  13.  
    Ok, one more time ... :) Boot the attached atr and run "D:APACDEMO.TUR" and "D:SUPER9.TUR"

    First one:

    APAC 0 - GTIA flip mode between mode 9 and mode 11, 256 colors (16 chroma * 16 luma) in a 2x8 grid. Equivalent to the APAC bitmap mode.

    SUPER 9 - Graphics 0 with GTIA set to 9, register 712 gets cycled every VBLANK. 256 duo tone shades, very nice for subtle gradients!
  14.  
    Hi, just running Din and it seems better at NTSC, but one thing mor important:

    There is a place (in NTSC) that the image remains without flicker in all the Screen (just flicker but not much just at the bottom ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^"), on Atari800WinPlus Emulator but, stays there a little bit.

    Can you get/see where and if probably (less colours or so)
    we could use that in some way in a pratical product...
    This DIN seems good, with other lighter colours for some uses and darkest for others, but good...

    Thanks.
    Greetings.
    José Pereira
  15.  
    I just had another idea, regarding Super IRG 2.

    This mode can do 23 colors per scanline. However, I have been thinking about overlaying transparent PMG's on top of these colors as well. I believe with this, I can achieve anywhere from 80 to 160 colors per scanline ... especially if I can add to my VBLANK routine a flip of HPOS0 - HPOS2 which will move three of the overlays every vblank and cover more of the screen, and change the color makeup.

    The idea is, have 5 pms, set the "fifth player" as register 711, and all pm's as maximum width (covering 4 antic 4 characters) ... three pm's will shift position every vblank to cover the rest of the screen and interface with the other half of the Super IRG2 palletted colors. It's a matter of remembering the setting for GTIPRIOR (623) that allows for blending with the playfield colors.

    I am going to work up a pallette test tonight or tomorrow and post a screenshot to test out the results.
  16.  
    Regarding DIN:

    As with any mode, care has to be taken not to use bright colors to interface with darker ones ... the "^^^" graphic at the bottom has a light texture to it.

    I haven't got access to a real Atari, and the colors will appear different depending on how the machine it's on handles artifacting, so I would be most curious to see what results people get using a real Atari in this mode.

    Also: I am going to work up another DIN demo, this time using a CHACT (755) flip to kill inverse video on the ANTIC 2 (Graphics 0) side. This will allow for two color text ... the center shading of each letter is in PF 2, which in ANTIC 4 becomes PF 3 when using inverse video (ATASCII > 127).

    Kaz: Think this could be another good mode for G2F? :)
  17.  
    OK, did a little experiment, overlaying PMG's 2 and 3 (PM color 706 and 707) on top of Super IRG 2 graphics.

    Attached screenshot, by my calculations, shows 52 unique colors on screen, but unsure of how many colors there are per unique scanline.

    Number of colors might also be affected by what you set registers 706 and 707 to as well.
  18.  
    OK, another experiment:

    This time, I put up the PMG's, added a flip to 707 in the VBLANK, and also a flip to HPOS2 and HPOS3 ... also set 623 to 32.

    Boot with suprirg2.atr and run pm.tur

    By my calculations, I count 76 colors in total, 52 of which I believe can be displayed per scanline. Can anyone confirm this?
  19.  
    Another demo. This time boot the attached SUPER0.ATR without BASIC and run SUP0DEMO.TUR

    You can display 4 colors in 8x8 Graphics 0 characters, but if you take advantage of artifacting, you get 16 colors available. With the right settings, the artifacted colors play off each other in a virtual rainbow!

    I have used the same font I designed for DIN mode in this one, as it seems to work really well. Results may vary on a real Atari due to the difference in artifacting. Screen shots were done in Atari800Win, though I can't remember the artifacting settings.

    Registers you can use in the accompanying VBI routine:

    1040: Luminance of text (first flip)
    1041: Luminance of text (second flip)
    1042, 1044: Background color (first flip)
    1043, 1045: Background color (second flip)

    To keep the background uniform, I have flipped both register 710 and 712 every VBLANK, the appropriate values (in 1042/1044 and 1043/1045 respectively) should be kept identical so that the display is stable.

    Working on a Super 0 font as I type this.
    • 25:
       
      CommentAuthorKaz
    • CommentTime7 Nov 2010
     
    Synthapopalooza - I'm impressed by your posts. Need more time to prepare something but def. will do it! :)
  20.  
    I had some ideas about using Graph2Font in this setting.

    First off: Each character set font used in my modes is twice the size of a normal Graphics 0 font ... in other words, 2048 bytes.

    Also, by my calculations, the most number of fonts you can use in Super IRG 2 is 4 character sets (these are double fonts) to ... so you would need ram for the equivalent of 8 normal character fonts.

    Also: A DLI would be needed to change the fonts on each screen, and each memory location in the DLI routine where the font changes will also need to be added to the VBI routine which drives my graphics modes. Now here's the thing ... a maximum of 8 registers can be switched each VBI.

    in Super IRG 2, 5 of these registers are used ... for switching the Character set (756) and the color registers 708-711 ... that leaves 3, thereby making 4 fonts the maximum number you can use in this display. you can increase this by flipping fewer color registers, and decreasing your number of colors.

    Normal Super IRG (no color flips) would allow you the use of all 8 fonts to cover the entire screen.

    For normal Super IRG and other modes it is easier because fewer registers get changed, so this leaves more room for DLI font switching. For example:

    APAC 0 mode only switches CHBAS, GTIA, and 712, so that leaves room for 5 fonts (a total of 6) to be used

    MIN mode only switches GTIA and CHBAS (this is the monochrome Graphics 9/graphics 12 mix) so you get 6 fonts (7 total) to use

    Normal Super IRG (no color flips) would allow you the use of all 8 fonts to cover the entire screen.


    A question: Is there a utility which will convert a .GIF file into a standard atari graphics bitmap? Say something in Graphics 15, Graphics 8, or Graphics 11 greyscale, or APAC mode (192 lines)? I might be able to do up my own font conversion, only thing is, there'd be no fifth color in Antic 4 yet so it'd only be 16 colors, but I might be able to do up a test for you in Super IRG 2, Super 0, or DIN mode.

    Soon as I can, I'll post the BASIC code for the VBI routine, and show you how to use it to flip scren registers.
  21.  
    I just did a new Super 0 demo. Check this out ...

    16 rainbow colors, at Graphics 0 resolution. How it works is, the right 2 settings for VBI for Graphics 0 background register (at 710), in this case hue 1 with hue 7 (16 and 112), text luminance switches between 4 and 10, and combined with artifacting. This screenshot was taken in Atari800win with artifacting set to GTIA (green/purple) ... I would like to know what this looks like on real Atari please! :) I love the rainbows ...

    the program to run is D:SUPER0DEM.TUR
    • 28:
       
      CommentAuthorKaz
    • CommentTime13 Nov 2010
     
    Cool, thanks.

    A question: Is there a utility which will convert a .GIF file into a standard atari graphics bitmap? Say something in Graphics 15, Graphics 8, or Graphics 11 greyscale, or APAC mode (192 lines)?


    I presume there are a few native Atari utils for GIF (or another pc-based formats, which you can convert to GIF).

    However, I usually use tandem of pc program like "XnView" and Graph2Font. You can reduce resolution and number of colors in pc program to prepare it for Graph2Font. Load a converted file into G2F and... you got it.
  22.  
    Ok, beginning an experiment. I believe I can display 12 lines of SuperIRG2 characters from a G2f converted file. This is the picture I am going to display ... downsampled to 16 Super IRG colors. 4 luma by 4 monochrome. Will let you know how it goes.

    The key is, rendering 2 files. One 4 color mono, one 8 color, in a PC program, save as GIF. Load each one into G2F, use not optimized, and save 4 fonts from the screen area you want, also save the colors.

    When writing the code for the Atari, you need to set up DLI for the fonts, and then appropriate locations in the VBI routine to flip the 4 sets. The top one gets flipped anyway because it flips CHBAS (756) but the other three sets will depend on locations in your DLI.

    I think G2F can also be used for generating screens in my Super MIN mode (4 color ANTIC 4 onto a monochrome GTIA Graphics 0.9 16 shade mode). How it's done is, render a monochrome 16 shade gif, load it into G2F and save GTIA mode 9 fonts. Then render the color pic into G2F as ANTIC 4 character sets. The advantage here is, only 2 registers (DLIST and GTIA) get flipped, so that leaves space for 5 double fonts, or 15 lines of display. If you can render into Graphics 12.9 (which I think G2F can do? Graphics 9 in ANTIC 4) then I can use MIN 12, which will allow 18 lines displayable, no display list flip is needed in MIN 12 (only GTIA flip).

    Similarly, G2F can also be used for DIN mode and Super 0. in DIN, 12-15 lines I think, while Super 0 can do 15 lines, 18 if you stick with only flipping 709 (text lum).

    I wish G2F could render color information from a gif into Graphics 11 format, so I could use this in my Super CIN mode, or APAC 0. Another addition for G2F perhaps?
    • 30:
       
      CommentAuthorKaz
    • CommentTime13 Nov 2010
     
    I'm really curious how it will work... keep my fingers crossed. I afraid that you choose picture with too many details and sharp edges, the best pic in my opinion should have more solid surfaces, with soft transitions between colors (like famous "clown face" pic).
    • 31:
       
      CommentAuthorDracon
    • CommentTime13 Nov 2010 zmieniony
     

    Synthpopalooza:

    A question: Is there a utility which will convert a .GIF file into a standard atari graphics bitmap? Say something in Graphics 15, Graphics 8, or Graphics 11 greyscale, or APAC mode (192 lines)?


    Probably APACView (v2.2 or up) should do the work. To convert in reverse direction, you could use GIFNCODE by Jeff Potter.
  23.  
    First experiment done, sort of :)

    I haven't done this with DLI's yet, but I did 4 screenshots of 4 sections of the pic, and pasted them together. This is how it would appear in Super IRG 2. Font 1 is monochrome, font 2 is colors, this is the two blended together. Might do to tweak the colors? This is also without using 5th colors, I may try that next too.

    12 lines displayable, which means it would cover an entire ANTIC 5 screen if we wanted to go that way.

    Going to do up one in MIN mode next.
  24.  
    Two more ... again cut and paste from screenshots.

    First one is a Super 9 render, two instances of Graphics 0.9 GTIA, one is with the color render, one is monochrome.

    Second one is Super MIN, color ANTIC 4 on top of monochrome Graphics 0.9 16 shade GTIA.

    In Super MIN you will be able to display 6 double character sets as shown, or 24 rows, with narrow playfield.

    You can also display 6 double sets in Super 9 with narrow playfield.

    I will work on DLI code next.
  25.  
    two more tests ... a sunset picture, cut and paste from Super IRG2 screenshots, and Super MIN screenshots in Atari800 Win

    Again Super IRG2 can only display 4 sets (16 rows in narrow playfield) but I went ahead and captured the whole 24

    Super MIN can display the whole screen in narrow playfield.

    Next, some more tests in Super 0 and DIN
  26.  
    Another test out of super 0 with the artemis picture. First one is screenshot with Atari800win, Artifacting GTIA. Second is same emulator, no artifacting, slight color change. 4 level shading at Graphics 0 320 resolution.
  27.  
    I have done another demo in the DIN mode (ANTIC 4/ANTIC 2 flip)

    This time, I did a CHACT (755) flip to kill inverse video on the ANTIC 2 side and cut down on the flicker, and more readily show off the ANTIC 4 fifth color which adds at least another 5 artifacted colors to the mix. The blue and yellow ANTIC 4 colors blend with the purple and green artifacts in ANTIC 2 (GRAPHICS 0) to give a wide variety of colors at GRAPHICS 0 resolution.

    I have also attached the two composite screens in ANTIC 2 and ANTIC 4 used to make this DIN mode display:


    ATR is attached. Run D:DINDEMO2.TUR ... again, I'd like some screenshots of this on a real Atari, to see what results everyone else gets. Colors will vary depending on artifacting, this was done in Atari800Win with Artifacting set to GTIA.


    This is rapidly becoming my favorite of the characterflip modes.
  28.  
    I am having troubles with my DLI programming.

    here's what I want: Top 4 rows of screen point to the first character set, so no DLI, just set 756 to location of first character set to cover first 4 rows

    I want a DLI set every 4 rows to change 756 for every 4 rows, so that changing chbas on this row will affect this and the next 3 rows.

    so it's like this:

    first 4: no DLI
    next 4: one DLI to change these 4 rows, 2nd char set
    next 4: one DLI to change these 4 rows, 3rd char set
    next 4: one DLI to change these 4 rows, 4th char set
    next 4: one DLI to change these 4 rows, 5th char set
    next 4: one DLI to change these 4 rows, 6th char set

    This will be on a narrow playfield (POKE 559,33)

    the location of each char set will be 2048 bytes from the first one, and I have reserved memory for 12 1024 byte character sets. Somewhere, though, my DLI programming is wrong. I am attaching an ATR, could someone have a look and figure out what I am doing wrong in my DLI's?

    Basically what the VBI routine is supposed to do is: flip 756 between ART0COL1.FNT and ART0GR1.FNT (first 4 rows), flip 710 and 709, then flip the beginning of each DLI entry between ART0COLx.FNT and ART0GRx.FNT to cover the whole screen (each DLI change is every 4 rows). Somewhere, though, this isn't happening.
  29.  
    Ok, some progress ... I can get all but the last 4 lines of the pic to display. Something is still giong wrong with my DLI routine. Anyway, I have screenshots now ... these are not cut and paste, these are shots from the actual program displaying the artemis picture in Super 0 using 5 doubled character sets. I have taken a screenshot at all 5 artifacting settings. ATR is attached. Need someone to debug my DLI code please :)
  30.  
    Seem to have it sussed now ... full screenshot!

    SUCCESS.

    Run ARTEMIS0.TUR off the ATR
  31.  
    Ok, another ATR, this time the pic in Super IRG 2.

    You can only display 20 rows of graphics in narrow playfield in this mode, not 24. This is because there is one fewer character set available for flip. I am flipping registers 708-710 only (no 5th color) ... adding a 5th color cuts your lines displayable down to only 16. So by sacrificing the color resolution (20 colors instead of 23) we get 20 rows of display. By eliminating a flip of one of the other registers, we decrease our color resolution further, but can add 4 more lines of display to get the full 24

    This is because VBI can flip a maximum of 8 registers. 708-710 count for three of those 8, leaving 5 character sets * 4 lines per character set, or 20 charater rows.

    The program is D:ARTIRG2.TUR ... you can use this for your own graph2font files, here's what I did ... I took the artemis pic, made a color and a B&W one, and used G2F on each one to make 2 sets of 5 font files ... one set named ARTGREYx.FNT and one named ARTCOLx.FNT, these get loaded into RAM one after the other. The VBI will take registers on the DLI to flip between these two sets to make the display.

    Try this on your own gif files uisng G2F and see what results you can get. :)
  32.  
    Last one for tonight ... Artemis in DIN mode.

    The render didn't come out quite right, the key I think is to get a nice monochrome capture in Graphics 0, and an accurate color rendering in ANTIC 4. Again, only 20 lines displayable, because I have to flip 710, 709, and the display list to get a good display. Also, no 5th color, which would cut down our display another 4 lines (I'd need to do a CHACT 755 flip to kill inverse video)

    You can get another 4 lines by eliminating the 709 flip, but that means that your Graphics 0 text and playfield 1 in ANTIC 4 will always be the same luminance.

    program on this ATR is D:ARTDIN.tur
  33.  
    Another experiment ... I will post up an ATR tomorrow, but this is my attempt at a Mario screen in the DIN mode (ANTIC 2/ANTIC 4)

    The pipe gradients are a green ANTIC 4 color, playing off of a green artifact from ANTIC 2. You will notice the gold shading of the coin, and three turtle shells colored a triple shade each of blue, green, and purple. The font is also antialiased, which gives the font a true 320 pixel look.

    I think I have kept flicker to a minimum, this might be a good mode for someone to attempt Super Mario in, or some other type of similar platform game.

    DIN is becoming one of my favorite character flip modes!
  34.  
    Finally! I can now demonstrate the PCIN (Programmable CIN) modes. Load the attached .ATR and run the following programs:

    PCIN0DEM.TUR
    PCINDEMO.TUR
    PCIN2DEM.TUR

    These are variations on CIN, except that this time it is Graphics 10 that gets paired up with ANTIC 2/4

    Here are the modes:

    PCIN 0: Graphics 0 with a GTIA flip into mode 10. 8x8 on top of a 2x8 GTIA grid allowing for 18 colors, 36 if you count artifacting, at Graphics 0 resolution. I am still using the CIN font (ANTIC 4) here so the letters look horrible still. I will design a new font for this mode

    PCIN 12/13: This is ANTIC 4 (Graphics 12) with a GTIA mode 10 (128) flip. You get 34 colors here, plus registers 708-711 are shared between flips, so you can do character dithering like in Super IRG. The paletting is different because of the strange way ANTIC 4 handles data in Graphics 10, some colors are available only in Inverse. In fact the Inverse palette has one fewer color. This mode will NOT display properly on Atari800Win, use a real Atari or a different emulator such as Atari++. This is because Atari800Win doesn't like ANTIC 4 with the GTIA set for GTIA modes 9-11.

    Super PCIN: This is ANTIC 4/Graphics 0.10 GTIA/Display list flip. This increases your colors to 35, but with the advantage that all color registers are available in both regular and inverse palettes.

    These are the most difficult modes to set up. There is a bug in the GTIA chip that causes the mode 10 pixels to be one color clock off to the right (which gets used in the HIP modes). To fix this, requires an altered display list, with LMS on every line and HSCROLL enabled. In PCIN 0 and PCIN 12/13, you then also have to flip HSCROLL (54276) between 13 and 12 every vblank to move the antic 4 pixels one color clock right, so that they will line up properly.

    In Super PCIN it is even harder. Instead of flipping HSCROL, HSCROL remains set at 13 all the time. Instead, it is the display list flip which shifts the pixels. The ANTIC 4 display list gets modified for scrolling, while the ANTIC 2 (Graphics 0.10) display list is normal.

    I believe it is possible to increase the color resolution in both modes to about 45 colors by flipping 708-711 every vblank as well (as in Super IRG 2), except you can't dither the colors anymore.

    I would like these demos tested out on a real Atari, as I am not sure how the emulator handles HSCROL (54276) settings.
  35.  
    I've done a chart up of all 19 of the character flip modes, and how many lines of display you can use when displaying converted picture files (GIF, JPG, or other format converted into font files).

    For color pics, I think the best modes to use would be both Super IRG modes, DIN, Super CIN, Super MIN, Super PCIN, APAC, HIP, and CHIP. CIN 12 and MIN 12 can be used instead of the Super CIN and Super MIN, you get fewer colors available but more lines of display.

    For monochrome pictures, Super 9, Super 0, DIN, the MIN modes, and HIP will work as well, if you set the playfield registers to monochrome in DIN, both MIN modes, and HIP.

    I am going to try some more experiments in some of these modes. I am eager to see what some pictures will look like in the Super CIN mode (80 colors at ANTIC 4 resolution). It's basically like the bitmap CIN mode (160x192x64 colors) but with the ANTIC 4 5th color you can get 80 (16x5) colors.
  36.  
    Hello ...

    This is the latest beta release of my ICE font editor, a character set editor which edits in Super IRG and 18 other new characterflip text modes. These modes are supported:

    IRG modes:
    Super 0 (8x8 character 4 colors / 16 artifacted)
    Super IRG (4x8 character 14 colors)
    Super IRG 2 (4x8 character 23 colors)
    DIN (4x8/8x8 double character grid, 10 colors/20 artifacted)

    GTIA modes:
    Super 9 (2x8 256 duo tone shades)
    Super 10 (2x8 45 colors)
    Super 11 (2x8 256 hues at 3 shades)
    HIP 0 (pseudo 3x8 144 colors at simulated ANTIC 4 resolution)
    CHIP 0 (pseudo 3x8 144 colors)
    APAC 0 (2x8 256 colors 16 hue x 16 luma)

    CIN modes:
    CIN 12 (2x8/4x8 60 colors 14 hues x 4-5 shades)
    Super CIN (2x8/4x8 80 colors 16 hue x 5 luma)
    MIN 12 (2x8/4x8 60 coloors 4-5 hues x 14 shades)
    Super MIN (2x8/4x8 80 colors 5 hues x 16 shades)
    pcin 12 (2X8/4X8 31 PALETTED colors)
    Super PCIN (2x8/4x8 35 Paletted colors)
    • 46:
       
      CommentAuthorKaz
    • CommentTime22 Apr 2011
     
    Great!

    BTW: I stuck with translation of your text, however still remember about.
  37.  
    I now have a new beta of the ice editor!

    This is close to what I will be entering into the ABBUC contest at the end of this month.

    New features:

    * Edit masks - You can now edit fonts on the mask level, i.e. with Super IRG you can edit each ANTIC 4 mask individually, with APAC you can edit either the GRAPHICS 0.9 or 0.11 mask

    * You can now load or save 1024 byte fonts to each individual mask

    * Loads and saves a new .ICE format which contains graphics mode info, color settings, and font data. When an ICE format file is loaded the program automatically goes into the correct graphics mode

    * Loads and saves as .FN2 double font file, but with no color info.

    * ICE GTIA adds a new graphics mode, Super 10+ which shifts 7 of the 9 color registers every VBLANK. This allows for 80 colors onscreen at once at GTIA resolution. In addition, a new command "View" lets you shift views in the editor, to overcome a limitation in the editor where not all 80 colors can be seen at once.

    * ICE GTIA adds a shifted HIP-CHIP grid which makes the character grid appear more accurate to the display mode


    * in ICE IRG, the DIN mode now has a CHACT flip added so that Inverse video is killed on the Graphics 0 side of the display. This makes the inverse characters look nicer and shows up better the 5th color in ANTIC 4 (register 711).

    * There is also an undo function added as well which will reverse to the last change you made.

    * The menus more accurately display the commands you can use in each program

    * When you change graphics modes, the color settings you use in each mode are saved.

    * In ICE CIN, the PCIN modes now display properly, with the Graphics 10 pixel shift having been corrected. A bugfix regarding the background register in PCIN 0 has also been implemented.

    Next version, to add:

    * Editing in artifacted (8 pixel) mode for Super 0, DIN, and CIN 0 - MIN 0 - PCIN 0

    I am also working on a utility which will turn ICE files into BASIC and TurboBASIC code so you can use these directly in your programs.

    There are two ATR's attached. ICE.atr contains:

    ICEGTIA.TUR - edits in the GTIA modes (super 10, super10+, super 9, super 11, HIP, CHIP, APAC)
    ICECIN.TUR - edits in the CIN modes (CIN 0, MIN 0, PCIN 0, CIN 12, MIN 12, PCIN 12, Super CIN - MIN - PCIN)

    ICE2.atr contains:

    ICEIRG.TUR - edits in the IRG modes (Super 0, Super IRG, Super IRG 2, DIN)
    Sample .ICE files ... note that ICE files created in a graphics mode other than what is supported in the program running, will not load.
    • 48:
       
      CommentAuthorxeen
    • CommentTime11 Aug 2011
     
    impressive! Super 9 is very interesting....
  38.  
    I did some more experimentation, and looks like I've come up with a few new graphics modes. These are again character flip modes, but also involve using Graphics 1/2 and flipping the screens.

    This mode is called Super 1.10

    What I've done is used graphics 1 by taking a Graphics 0 screen and setting each like to ANTIC 6. This gives you room for two GR 1 screens. I then set GTIA to mode 10. This gives you ANTIC 4 type characters, spread across three color palettes. I also flip the screens every vblank, and plot identical characters in the same location on both screens.

    This produces 9 unique color palettes, 9-16 colors per palette, with a total of 36 onscreen at once. This mode looks similar to a low-resolution display mode on a Commodore 64.

    I've also done screens in APAC 1, HIP 1, CHIP 1 as well. Looks like its time for a new font editor!
  39.  
    Some new things happening ...

    My ICE editor is entered into the 2011 ABBUC contest. Should be interesting, it seems ABBUC are running a feature on it in their current magazine.

    I've also been doing some experimenting with rendering GIF and JPG pictures into Super IRG 2 and Super CIN (and other modes). The process is very simple, you will need G2F, and you'll need Jeff Potter's APACVIEW if you want to do Super CIN or any other modes based off of Graphics 11.

    To do Super IRG 2 pictures, you will want to first resize your picture into the appropriate resolution. 320 pixels across for 40 column mode, 256 across if using 32 char (narrow) mode.

    When you load the resized picture into G2F, you will want to check "Dither" (2x2), sort colors, and 5th colors. There is a list of colors along the bottom of the window, corresponding to 708-712. Making sure these first 5 are the only ones clicked, you then set the character set usage to "Standard", then save your g2f file, save your character sets, and also export an .scr file.

    Next, reload in the picture file again, and repeat these steps, only highlight the next three instances of 708-711. This will give you an altered picture with different colors. Again you will save char sets, g2f, and scr files.

    I have an ATARI BASIC program which can take both scr files, compare them for inverse (5th color) usage, and generate a composite scr file. This gets loaded into screen memory, along with the necessary font files, and the VBI code to flip the character sets and colors.

    You can only display 16 character lines of picture in Super IRG 2, this is because each character set takes up 4 lines of display, and you can only flip 4 sets per VBI, the other 4 allowed flips are for registers 708-711. The next step is to come up with a character optimization routine which will allow you to use fewer fonts per screen (and more lines of display.)

    I am attaching a sample ATR of a picture I did in Super CIN (Gr. 11 + Gr. 12) mode. This displays 80 colors at Antic 4 resolution. The picture is a conversion of the ICE artwork from the current ABBUC magazine. Run "ICEABBUC.TUR" once you boot the ATR

    Converting to Super CIN is different. You proceed as above for the Gr. 12 part of the display, except you need to also check "grayscale" to make a monochrome 5-color pic. You will also need to load your GIF into Jeff Potter's APACVIEW to render a Gr. 11 picture which can then be made into fonts. You will also need to load this font into ICE and manually inverse each character in the Gr. 11 font that is opposite a 5th color character in graphics 12.

    Super CIN will allow for 20 lines of character display in Narrow mode (5 char sets) as only 3 flips are needed for this mode.

    I will have more Super IRG 2 examples later. :)