New beta of ICE font editor

[Synthpopalooza]

Hey

 

Been away for awhile, but I have with me here, a new beta of my ICE font editor, which will edit fonts in 19 different characterflip modes.

 

When I last left off on this project, I had gotten support in my editor for the GTIA (2x8) modes. Since then, I have split the project into three seperate editors, over two .atr's:

 

ice-editor.atr:

 

ICE3.TUR will edit in the GTIA modes (Super 9, Super 10, Super 11, HIP, CHIP, APAC)

 

ICECIN.TUR will edit in what I call the CIN text modes (4x8 ANTIC 4/5 or 8x8 ANTIC 2 grid overlaid onto a GTIA 2x8 grid). These modes are called CIN, MIN, and PCIN, there are 9 of these in total.

 

ice-editor2.atr:

 

ICEIRG.TUR will edit in the 4x8 characterflip modes (Super 0a, Super IRG, Super IRG 2, and DIN a)

 

To do in the future: Write three more editors, for the other grid combinations (8x8 - 8x8 Super 0, 2x8 - 8x8 CIN 0 modes, and the 2x8 - 8x8 DIN mode). Then, try to merge all these grids into the same program (which will be a massive undertaking!).

 

I am posting some screenshots from this editor, and am also including updated documentation for these software modes, and also for the character map modes with the GTIA set, for easier reference.

 

WARNING: ICECIN.TUR will not display properly on Atari800Win due to a bug with Graphics 12/13 with the GTIA set. Use another emulator such as Atari++, or a real Atari for this one.

 

Just mount one of the .atr's into your emulator, and boot with it. that's all! Then RUN the appropriate .TUR file.

ice-editor-10-29-10.zip

gtia.txt

software text modes.txt

CIN 0a ICE editor.bmp

CIN 2 ICE editor.bmp

CIN 2 pallette.bmp

DIN a ICE editor.bmp

Super 0a ICE editor.bmp

Super IRG ICE editor.bmp

Super IRG 2 ICE editor.bmp

[marcokitt2000]

Thank you for the nice programs

 

 

gr. marco

[doctorclu]

Thank you for the nice programs

 

 

gr. marco

 

And these fonts would work with ICE T (the terminal program) ?

[Synthpopalooza]

 

And these fonts would work with ICE T (the terminal program) ?

 

 

No, not at all ... ICE was chosen, as an acronym for Interface Character Editor Basically, these fonts are actually double font files ... that is, both character sets are in one file, and when loaded into RAM, a VBI flips CHBAS between these two.

 

I'm working up some more demo programs to show how some of these modes work. I currently have two screenshots from the Super IRG 2 mode (23 colors) which I am trying to upload, but this forum's uploader seems to have crapped out.

[Synthpopalooza]

Ok, here are two screenshots from Super IRG 2. This is a modification of Bill Kendrick's Super IRG, in that all 4 color registers (708-711) get flipped every VBLANK. This is I think similar to what another program called Atari Interlace Studio does in bitmap mode. 16 colors get displayed using normal video, and inverse video adds another 7 colors to the mix to get a total of 23, all at normal ANTIC 4/5 resolution.

[Synthpopalooza]

And now 2 screenshots of ICE editor using DIN mode ... a character flip mode which changes between ANTIC 2 (graphics 0) and ANTIC 4 (graphics 12) every VBLANK. Note the subtle shading of the letters in this font. The mode 0 half of the font is normal, but overlaid by a gradient formed by the ANTIC 4 colors.

 

 

 

din ice editor.bmp

din ice editor 2.bmp

[José Pereira]

Ok, here are two screenshots from Super IRG 2. This is a modification of Bill Kendrick's Super IRG, in that all 4 color registers (708-711) get flipped every VBLANK. This is I think similar to what another program called Atari Interlace Studio does in bitmap mode. 16 colors get displayed using normal video, and inverse video adds another 7 colors to the mix to get a total of 23, all at normal ANTIC 4/5 resolution.

 

 

Seems great, but could you also post .xex in all your Screens tries, soo, that we can see the "Real Thing", just to see different colours/Luminances you have and the flicker we have.

 

Thanks.

José Pereira.

[Synthpopalooza]

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 the attached graphic on your screen:

 

 

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.

 

superirg2.atr

Edited October 31, 2010 by Synthpopalooza

[Synthpopalooza]

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!

 

cin2.atr

 

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2010 by Synthpopalooza

[Synthpopalooza]

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. Here's a screenshot of the CIN 1 pallette in my ICE editor:

 

 

 

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

 

cin1.atr

Edited October 31, 2010 by Synthpopalooza

[Synthpopalooza]

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 mode uses 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++. This mode can also be used in ANTIC 5 (40x12).

 

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

This is MIN 2:

 

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. As this uses a display list flip, usage in ANTIC 5 is impossible.

min.atr

[Synthpopalooza]

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!

 

din.atr

 

[Synthpopalooza]

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.

super0.atr

Edited November 6, 2010 by Synthpopalooza

[Synthpopalooza]

Just did a new demo in Super 0:

 

You get 16 rainbow colors in Graphics 0.

 

How it works is, the background (710/712) get flipped between a dark brown (hue 1) and a violet-blue (hue 7). The text luminance is shifted between luminance 10 (with dark brown) and luminance 4 (violet blue), and these colors play off of artifacted colors to create the rainbows and subtle gradients.

 

This screenshot was taken on Atari800Win with Artifacting set to GTIA. I'd love to see what results are gotten on a real Atari.

 

super0.atr

 

[+Stephen]

Just did a new demo in Super 0:

 

You get 16 rainbow colors in Graphics 0.

 

How it works is, the background (710/712) get flipped between a dark brown (hue 1) and a violet-blue (hue 7). The text luminance is shifted between luminance 10 (with dark brown) and luminance 4 (violet blue), and these colors play off of artifacted colors to create the rainbows and subtle gradients.

 

This screenshot was taken on Atari800Win with Artifacting set to GTIA. I'd love to see what results are gotten on a real Atari.

 

super0.atr

Very nice! I will take some pictures of this running on my real machine. It is currently hooked up to a Commodore 1084S monitor (I wanted to try out my new light pen). The machine usually drives a flat panel LCD monitor via a VGA scan doubler. I have not been able to get a stable image on the monitor via luma/chroma. I have very bad vertical lines, and every few seconds the color drops out. It is a sync issue.

[Synthpopalooza]

I think the .atr I posted may not have the correct demo on it ... so I am posting again. Run D:SUPER0DE.TUR

It might also be a good idea to tweak the colors a bit until you get the right mix. The key is registers 1044/1046 and 1045/1047 (flipping both 710 and 712), set these to even multples of 16 to keep your BG luminance dark.

super0.atr

Edited November 14, 2010 by Synthpopalooza

[Synthpopalooza]

And, 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.

 

Here are 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.

 

din.atr

 

[Synthpopalooza]

Another DIN mode experiment ... this time, an attempt at a Super Mario screen.

 

I will post up a complete ATR in the next day or 2, but here are 2 screenshots, one of the Mario screen, and one of the font from inside my ICE editor.

 

This is again, ANTIC 2 flipped with ANTIC 4, with some nice antialiasing on the letters to give them the 320 pixel across look. The pipe gradients are achieved by the ANTIC 4 colors playing across the green artifacting from ANTIC 2. Flicker is, for the most part, kept to a minimum, and I think this would be a neat mode for someone to try a Mario conversion in, perhaps.

 

 

 

 

[Synthpopalooza]

More DIN stuff ... I did some modification of the Robbo fonts used in the game, to see what they would look like in DIN mode ... Here are some screenshots plus ATR's. These were posted earlier on the atarionline.pl forums ...

 

Pay particular attention to the Robbo sprites, the question marks, and the teleport portals, these have been antialiased to give the 320 pixel resolution effect, while still displaying in a possible palette of 20 colors (10 actual colors, plus an extra 10 created through ANITC 2 artifacting).

 

Also, the title screen font has been given a gradient using the DIN Antic 4 overlay. Normal video produces a gold gradient, while inverse produces the silver. Also, as before, a CHACT flip (755) has been used to kill inverse video on the ANTIC 2 side.

 

These screenshots are from Atari800Win with artifacting set to GTIA. Colors will be different depending on how your machine or emulator handles artifacting.

 

Also included on this atr is the latest version of ICEIRG.TUR, the ICE editor which will edit in Super 0 (4x8 artifacting), DIN (4x8 artifacting), Super IRG and Super IRG 2. An advanced color pallette select has been introduced, to allow you to better fine tune your color registers in these modes.

 

Run these programs: D:ROBBDIN1.TUR, D:ROBBDIN2.TUR, D:ROBBDIN3.TUR

 

 

 

 

robbodin3.atr

[Synthpopalooza]

New update to 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.

 

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.

 

I have been unable to get these programs working in the Altirra emulator, seems it doesn't like TurboBASIC's GET command, it insists on returning an ERROR 136 everytime the command is used on a file.

Note also, the CIN 12 - MIN 12 - PCIN 12 modes will not display properly in Atari800Win, due to that emulators handling of ANTIC 4 with the GTIA set to >=64

ice-8-7-11.zip

Edited August 8, 2011 by Synthpopalooza

[Synthpopalooza]

Just an announcement:

 

I have done stable versions of my first three ICE editors (IRG version, CIN version, GTIA version) and these have been entered in the ABBUC software contest. I spent a few days ironing out some bugs, and I think I have gotten these about as perfect as I can get them for the contest. A few screenshots are attached below:

 

For the future ... I still want to add editing Super 0, DIN, and CIN/MIN/PCIN 0 in non-artifacted (8x8) mode, and some more work on the HIP/CHIP editing grid so it edits in 4x8 mode. Currently the versions of ICE IRG and ICE CIN that I have in the contest will only edit in artifacted (4x8) mode with these display modes.

 

Also: I am writing up two new ICE editors, for the Graphics 1 based modes, and also an ICE customizer, which will let you design your own display modes, in case the ones I've supported in my editors aren't good enough. I've even planned a few experiments in mixing Graphics 1 with Graphics 0 or 12, blending 20 and 40 column characters. We'll see where this leads

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 8, 2011 by Synthpopalooza