BSP nodes builder front-end
BSP front-end | Cogs | Hot Metal | Launcher | Maze | Mico Joystick Driver | New desktop icons | Noughts | Oddities collection | ScreenGrabber | Tutenkhamen's Tomb | Type | XmasTime
With the exception of Hot Metal, this software has been written to run on ARM powered computers running RISC OS. The title and icon of each program are linked to the relevant Zip archive for download. On RISC OS computers Zip files may be opened using SparkPlug, SparkFS (commercial) or Infozip. You can see full-size versions of some of the screenshots by clicking on the thumbnail images.
Items related to the game Star Fighter 3000 (SFpatch, SFtoSpr, RedefKeys, documentation) have moved to my Star Fighter 3000 web home.
BSP nodes builder front-end
This is a front-end to Colin Reed and Lee Killough's excellent Doom BSP node builder. It allows an input WAD file and various options to be set in a desktop interface, and then invokes BSP using these parameters. When BSP has finished building the nodes, the resultant WAD can be saved using drag and drop.
I use BSP because I mistrust the nodes builder
built into DETH, which in my experience
tends to produce visual artifacts and sometimes crashes
entirely. This may be just my tendency to create
over-complicated levels (and ignorance of the
-SplitFactor command line option, which I only just
noticed).
The application contains Justin Fletcher's port of BSP version 2.3 (which is not 32-bit compatible). You will also require the FrontEnd and DDEUtils modules from Acorn's Desktop Development Environment. DDEUtils is quite widespread (and seems to be in ROM on later OS versions), but getting hold of FrontEnd might prove more difficult...
Release 1 (3rd May 2003)
Cogs
Did you ever play with a Spirograph set when you were younger? There were a number of different-sized gears with holes in just big enough to push the point of a pen through, and these gears fitted into larger 'plates' (circular holes with teeth round the inside). You pushed your pen through a hole in a gear and rotated the gear around the plate. One of many things may then have happened, one of which involved the production of an amazing geometrical pattern and most others of which involved curse words and, if necessary, Sellotape.
This program allows you to draw Spirograph patterns without the need for purchasing a set or importing special American-specification paper to fit it. Simply specify the number of teeth around the wheel, the number of teeth around the plate and the 'hole' you wish to put your 'pen' in and away you go!
1.00 (2nd June 2008)
Hot Metal
A work-in-progress motor racing game in same the genre as the Atari 'Super Sprint' and 'Badlands' arcade machines. It is being written for the BBC Master Series microcomputer, and it is planned to feature three super cars - the Lambourghini Diablo, Porsche 959 and Ferrari F40. I have put up this page of graphics from the game as a teaser. If nothing else, it shows what can be achieved with only 2 bits per pixel to play with (4 colours)!
Launcher
This program provides an easier way to load and run the large number of public domain Doom levels supplied on the third CD-ROM of the boxed set (the 'Maximum Doom' levels). The list of WADs may be filtered by name or whether deathmatch, new maps, new graphics, new sound, or more than one level are contained in the WAD. The problem of it taking nearly five minutes to open a directory containing 1,960 files (the Doom II levels) is also avoided, and help files are accessible whether or not they are correctly named.
1.15 (15th June 2000)
Maze
This is a BBC BASIC program to generate random mazes. The length, width and grid size are all customizable. It is quite fun to play with.
16th August 2007
Mico Joystick
Driver
This is a module that adds support for up to two standard PC analogue joysticks connected to the gameport of a MicroDigital Mico computer. Because it implements the standard Joystick SWIs it should be compatible with all existing and future RISC OS software. The new calibration and 16-bit read SWIs introduced in RISC OS 3.6 are also supported.
Extensive documentation for both users and application programmers is included in the archive, together with a program to allow joysticks to be easily calibrated and tested. I welcome feedback from other users, having only been able to test it with my own (rather knackered) PC joystick.
The module is released under the GNU public licence, and comes with full sourcecode.
2.02 (18th September 2004)
New desktop icons
A set of 75 new file and directory icons for the RISC OS desktop. Also included is an alternative set of window border sprites and a replacement window background tile. Together, these give the desktop a more colourful appearance than its usual drab grey. All the new icons are designed for the default 256 colour palette.
The screenshot opposite shows a highly contrived directory display containing many different types of file (to show some of the new icons).
20th December 2006
Noughts
(Note: Also available without source code - much smaller download.)
Possibly the best desktop version of 'Noughts & Crosses' available for RISC OS. Unfortunately, I didn't do my market research beforehand, and apparently no-one wants to play 'Noughts and Crosses'... (Historical note: actually I'm not that clueless - it was originally an A-level computing project, but subsequently became something of an obsession!)
You may play against computer opponents (of varying ability) or other people. Will also keep track of the score. Fully configurable and supports interactive help.
1.67 (6th September 2003)
OS_File 18 instead of
*SetType and OS_File 8 instead of
*CDir.
Oddities collection
A collection of many BBC BASIC programs that draw a variety of different patterns on the screen. Also, a non-graphical fruit machine simulator and a program to generate listings of filing system contents (in plain text or HTML format).
12th August 2007
ScreenGrabber
(Notes: requires Toolbox modules. Also available without source code - much smaller download.)
One day I finally got bored of searching for a program that would perform that most basic of tasks - taking a picture of the screen. So, I wrote my own.
ScreenGrabber is the name of a relocatable module that allows you to take multiple pictures of the screen display, even when you are running a single-tasking application (such as a game or graphical demo). The screen display is saved as a Sprite file, optionally with the current palette. The snapshots are numbered, so you can take as many as you like without overwriting the previous picture.
A desktop front-end application allows easy configuration of settings such as whether the 'hot' key is enabled, the current save location and base filename, and whether or not to include the palette.
If you have more hard disc space than sense, then making animations is fun. Continuous recording can be synchronised automatically with screenbuffer swaps, or with a fixed delay period between frames. You can then convert the numbered screenshots into an animated GIF using Peter Hartley's InterGif.
2.19 (16 Jul 2006)
Tutenkhamen's Tomb
This is an old game for the BBC Microcomputer, updated to work on RISC OS computers. You control a little man from a side-on viewpoint, with a new screenful of scenery displayed when you reach the edge. The graphics are fairly simple, but the gameplay is actually pretty challenging.
The player must escape an egyptian pyramid, collecting keys (which open the door of the same colour), and treasure. Deadly spiders patrol the corridors, and the player must plan his route to avoid being trapped by falling boulders.
Included is a level editor - TutenEd - written for my brother Martin by Harriet. This allows alternative layouts of corridors and ladders to be created, and objects added and removed. In addition, the updated version of the game allows different level sets to be played, and records a high score for individual levels.
Original author unknown, updated by Christopher & Harriet Bazley.
Level editor by
Harriet Bazley.
1.3 (10th September 2000)
Type
Type is a silly program which takes a text file and displays it, character by character, on the screen. As each character is displayed a sound effect is played. There's really not a lot more to say.
Actually, you can do more than that. You can customize the font, the background colour, the text, the letter spacing and even the sound until the program is exactly (?!) the way you want it.
As for possible uses? Search me! You might be able to utilize it in a presentation, I suppose...
2.03 (26th May 2007)
*Echo command in the
hardcoded configuration with a more conventional
PRINT. I had hoped it would allow me to display the
warning in a window, but it doesn't.
XmasTime
XmasTime is a very small BASIC program that Martin wrote for the festive season, although it will in fact work all year round. It displays the number of days left until the next Christmas, not to mention a variety of seasonal (and not always polite) messages as the day gets closer. It is fully leap-year compliant, just in case you should have your computer's internal clock set to the year 2100.
0.3 (1st March 2008)
AND has priority over
OR.
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Designed by
Christopher James Bazley using a
RISC OS workstation and HTML³.
Background pattern is © Sophia Field. |
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