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Visual bB 1.0 - a new IDE for batari Basic


jwierer

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yuppicide, take a look at this:

If you want to work on an animation and you've never done it before, here's one way to do it. Create a sprite in the Sprite Editor and save it.

You wrote to create a sprite in the sprite editor and save it. How do I do that? I go in to the Sprite Animator and everywhere I click does nothing to draw for me.

 

So, now I am reading you wrote "create in the sprite editor" -- what is "the sprite editor"? VBB has no sprite editor that comes with it that I can see. Only sprite animator.

 

So, I loaded up a game that has Player1 defined. Then fired up Sprite Animator. Still not working or showing me anything.

Leave the Sprite Animator alone. It won't help you. I guess I should make it more clear on the VbB page. I have been making sprites by using other sprites for so long that I rarely have to add a blank sprite first. You can add a blank sprite file to a project from the main menu or by right clicking in the Project Explorer.

 

So one way to create a sprite file is to click on File from the main menu, go down to Add, then select New Item. Just select the type of file, give it a name, and left click the Add button. Now you'll have a blank sprite file to work with that will be sitting in a fake sprite folder in the Project Explorer. Double click on the file and it will open in the Sprite Editor.

 

Maybe jwierer should add Sprite Editor and Playfield Editor to the View menu so newbies can go right to them instead of needing to make a blank file first.

Edited by Random Terrain
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Maybe jwierer should add Sprite Editor and Playfield Editor to the View menu so newbies can go right to them instead of needing to make a blank file first.

It would still need to know which project you want to add a sprite/playfield too. Could be annoying to assume the currently selected project. Also would be a problem if the author hadn't created a project yet, though the default one is always an option (if not already deleted) I guess.

 

Yuppicide, basically add sprites to a current project as RT suggests, save them and the sprite animator will discover them when you open it.

 

-Jeff

Edited by jwierer
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I can't use the graphics editors! Whenever I try to edit a graphic, it says it can't find the proper program and wants to open it in notepad.

ok I think I understand what you are saying. Sounds like you don't have either a valid playfield or sprite?

 

-Jeff

Edited by jwierer
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No, I create a sprite/playfield, and when I right-click on it and select edit, I get the message saying it can't find the right program.

Are you trying to open them from a regular folder? If so, you can't. You double click on a sprite file or a playfield file from the Project Explorer.

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No, I create a sprite/playfield, and when I right-click on it and select edit, I get the message saying it can't find the right program.

Why are you right-clicking and selecting edit in notepad? Just double click it and it will open in the sprite editor.

 

-Jeff

Edited by jwierer
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I did this from the Project Explorer, not from outside the program.

Have you read this yet:

 

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-me....html#projectex

Double click on a file in the Project Explorer and it will open in the appropriate editor. When you have a program open in the Code Editor, you can drag sprite or playfield files from the Project Explorer and drop them right into your program. It can't get much easier than that.
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  • 1 month later...

Am using V1.0 Build (536) at work.. not sure what I have at home.

 

Anyway, I've noticed that with this build it is really slow.. any reason for this?

 

I am running a 2.0Ghz processor, 1GB memory, and crappy video card (built in) with XP Pro SP3.

 

When I start up the program it takes about 30 seconds before I can use it.. the screen is black while it starts up. When it does start up it, anything I

click takes 3-4 seconds to respond. For example, clicking File it will take 3-4 seconds before it responds. When I load a .bas file and type it's lagged

also.

 

Looking in task manager it uses 33,392 memory. At idle my CPU usage (and while typing this) it goes up to 5% maximum. Commit Charge (K) says Total 450752, Limit 3047780, Peak 752568.

 

When I switch from bB to another program and then switch back it takes about 20 seconds.. the screen is blank until bB finally comes up 20 seconds later.

 

The rest of my system seems to run fine.

 

Gonna upgrade now and see if it's better.

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I have the latest version and there doesn't seem to be any lag for me. Don't think I had lag for other versions either.

 

The only time I get any lag for anything running on my computer is when my computer has been on for many days in a row or something major is running in the background like a virus scan.

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The new version seems somewhat better, but still has it's lag.

 

Just now I saved a very small .bas file and it took maybe 15 seconds!

That's weird. When I save a program, it happens instantly without even needing to wait a full second. Does your computer have company spyware on it that keeps track of everything you do?

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This could be caused by anti-malware, scanning everything before it gets written.

 

Could also be caused by media in removable media drives. A CD might have to spin up, or USB key read, or something.

 

If removable media was used to store a program, it could be referenced as part of the save process. Could try plugging media back in to see if the lag goes away.

 

Finally, you get to the disk. Is it running ok? Is it a slow disk, a very full one, a fragmented one? What are the power settings? Is the disk spinning down after inactivity? If so, that's gonna take a second or two to sort out before your file can be written.

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The new version seems somewhat better, but still has it's lag.

 

Just now I saved a very small .bas file and it took maybe 15 seconds!

My initial start up does take a few seconds, but that's because I have about 20 different projects that are opened upon startup and all those projects are set for backup on open so there is a file copy. I could imagine if those projects contain *a lot* of files then enumerating the project list could take a few seconds, but it wouldn't explain the lag in saving files unless something else is affecting the disk write. Files on a network share instead of local disk?

 

-Jeff

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Files not on a network share or a removable device. They're in c:\atari, and bB is in c:\atari\bb, and my files are in c:\atari\bb\samples and c:\atari\bb\samples\bin.

 

I will try getting rid of some of the .bas files and see if that helps. I see .tmp files in the samples directory where my bas files are.. I'll delete the too.

 

EDIT: Just deleted the .tmp files and it helped GREATLY! Started up in like 3 seconds now.. seems normal again.

Edited by yuppicide
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Yeah, deleting those tmp files only seemed to help for a second or two.

 

What seems to help is every 5 mins or so I have to exit out and go back in. Only happens at work. Maybe the old computer can't handle the newer versions because the older versions didn't seem to do that. At home is fine also.

 

Computer at work isn't even dual core or anything.

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Yeah, deleting those tmp files only seemed to help for a second or two.

 

What seems to help is every 5 mins or so I have to exit out and go back in. Only happens at work. Maybe the old computer can't handle the newer versions because the older versions didn't seem to do that. At home is fine also.

 

Computer at work isn't even dual core or anything.

Do you have a bunch of project files open and are using autosave? Perhaps that is what you are seeing.

 

-Jeff

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I always disable autosave for any software that has it. I like to save manually so I know exactly what I'm saving. When I make a significant change, I use Save As to save a new version. I might end up with a hundred versions of the same program by the time I get done. I can go back and grab a piece of code that got deleted later when I didn't think I'd need it or just look back and see how much the game has changed over time.

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Nope. Remember that whole discussion how I felt project files were unnecessary? I only created one because it required me to. So, I only have one open.

 

Oh well, hey, man, I don't want to further this problem because it seems to be only at work which is MY problem, not yours. :D Works great at home as usual.

 

Yeah, deleting those tmp files only seemed to help for a second or two.

 

What seems to help is every 5 mins or so I have to exit out and go back in. Only happens at work. Maybe the old computer can't handle the newer versions because the older versions didn't seem to do that. At home is fine also.

 

Computer at work isn't even dual core or anything.

Do you have a bunch of project files open and are using autosave? Perhaps that is what you are seeing.

 

-Jeff

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Good day,

 

Sorry to change the subject, but does anybody know how to change the background color of VisualBb. The standard white hurts my eyes. If it can't be done, hopefully it wont be too hard to implement. Thanks.

I assume you mean the code editor? Can't be done today, wouldn't be too hard to add that though.

 

-Jeff

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