My general ( biased and limited ) approach to programming
last page update sep 2004
My own interest in dark basic is limited mostly to the simulation of fluid, realistic motion, especially of flight,
and with a particular style of 'artistic realism' in graphics.
I have only once or twice briefly played the typical first person shooter type of game and then lost interest. Same for
puzzle /skill games. I found the first 'myst ' very good, but the only game which had my passionate attention for
years was the Gran Turismo series on the playstation. Even now it can be fun occasionally. It seems that it is the
sense of subtle control over a real moving object that appeals most to me. Plus effective, but not overbright graphics.
More generally, I have a bias towards simple programming. Partly this is lack of experience compared with say,
the widely expert individuals you can find on the dark basic forum, partly it is reluctance to face what looks difficult.
I spot what looks like an easier way, and will spend weeks and months re-inventing 3d in my head and on paper and
in experiment, rather than face someone elses 'proper way' to do things. Sometimes I am lucky and get a result which
brings much satisfaction .... other times .....
But the author remains aghast at the sheer size of modern day program downloads . As for windows, in it's ever
bloating incarnations, demanding ever faster machines just to run it ... truly, he despises the approach. Sure, there are
extra media players etc. etc. , but it takes so little actual machine code to do something on a computer.
This may explain the author's bias. Learning 8 bit machine code for a time, and producing an 'asteroids' game in
fake 3d, with about 3k of program code and 20k of data .....
( or seeing my son's side scroller, or his graphics programs of that time ..... and this is a chance to add another link to
his website known as 'Roon's house'.. thus>> 
)
...... makes you think it should not take gigabytes to make a program which essentially draws bitmaps on a screen,
tracks their behaviour, and handles various interrupts and calls. Disk and other heavy data input/ output operations,
can be more complicated, but I would love to have an operating system of a size like the old amiga .. all up, about
500k. A high speed, optimised kernal of operating routines available to anyone.
I was under the impression that Linux was like that, but it seems also to have stretched to large sizes. Which implies
that these days there is much more to an operating system than I think.
But I still do not really believe this huge size is essential. I would have liked a tried and true program like Win 98 , and
DOS underneath, to have been polished and pruned and optimised till it was a blistering fast 'do it all' program. ( then
made public domain. !!. )
About graphics in games. Each person seems to prefer a particular style and there's no doubt that graphics can be
stunning. A few years ago, I would not have believed the illustrations in current magazines were of real moving 3d
games. It's a "can they really do that ? wow !!" factor. However, I suspect that beyond a certain point graphics
simply numb the mind, deaden it. Requiring more and more extremes for a person to get a 'kick' out of them (very
$$$ consuming) . This the natural path of the well-off young male I think. I feel though, that the graphics, are about
the only things that change ... the game style and actions seem to follow a well worn path. Well, from the little I
see. I have wondered how I could change the control style in these games to make them appeal to me, but so far,
nothing ... perhaps with a new control interface ? And even then .. shooting evil threatening predator aliens .. okay ,
but people .. and being shot, without cost?
In discussion ( of an enjoyable 'morally superior ' flavour ) with friends, I proposed a more realistic game. A game
which was easier at the start but as it progresses, when you are shot/damaged sufficiently to die, it's over. That is, the
game will never run again. Ever. How real can you get?
Alternately we thought 'pain electrodes' attached to the player were needed. Or a simple ( !) electric ram which can
knock you clean out of the seat according to how hard you are hit. Definitely a new dimension to game play ??
Force feedback that merely shakes the controller ? How unreal. Similarly in car simulation I think pressure pads or a
yoke around the shoulder or chest would give quite good G effects from different directions.
A somewhat different approach, which the author is interested in pursuing as he grows older, is to make games that lead the mind 'into' itself , into subtlety, so that it awakes, becomes more free, less in need of a 'fix'. Appreciating more what already is, rather than needing the new. ( The zen of computer gaming? ) To find completion, and ultimately rest, through a 'game'. Sound impossible? An adrenaline rush could still be part of such a game. It is in the overall balance.
-----------------
My interest in flight sims. sprang naturally from a childhood interest in flight and model making. Then when I
could actually afford a computer, I discovered that simulators were unnatural looking or did not control in a way I
liked, or were too demanding on the computer - or etc.etc. I still have the old sketch books with many cheat 3d
graphic effects. They are not all flight, there are athletics (runners) and cars, and space craft against stars. Somehow
they never got very far.
Then I played about with flight sim. ideas off and on for a few years with the old amiga AMOS 3D program. ( you
haven't heard of the amiga ? and AMOS? )
That program did not have object relative rotations and it's euler rotations were in the worst possible order. To get a
fairly satisfactory flight sim ( and that could not be of the camera view, only an outside observer) one had to literally
turn the world co-ords on their side - and then every object in that world. This meant the order of rotations appeared
as if different. And it took many attempts and many days idly playing about with a physical model of the 3D axes
before the light dawned. The programs made were in the Amiga internet archive ... though where that is now I don't
know.
B.T.W. The amos 3d screen was 320 x 240 in 16 colours of which only 8 could be used on objects. In practice
more like 6 because there were only certain colour combinations on the 'primitives' . You had a pyramid, cube, and a
variety of plain shapes. You could 'bend' them or stretch points on them and join them together ... but still .. you think
dark basic can be tricky?! Try making a landscape out of the above. Only 12 or so objects at one time ....
Since writing that, several people have mailed telling me they also attempted flight sims with Amos and amigas .. and
finally dark basic. As one said .. ' Long road .. to make own game!!!'
It has not been all flight simulation for the author. I remember a home grown word processor, required to make
decent printouts from a dot matrix printer. Some midi music stuff , and experiment after experiment , especially in
simple 3d. Then when I started with dark basic ( early 2001 ?) reasonable flight simulation became possible. But
some other interest can even now arise and turn into an obsession to " get it to work". I imagine many DB
programmers are like me --- exploring what dark basic can do -- what graphic effects are possible, why it doesn't do
xxx , and why does it do yyy instead of what I want , and would it be very hard to make a gran turismo copy ..
perhaps if I .. hey! that's a neat effect ... etc etc. .... That's what I like in other db programmers efforts, that sudden
original effect or routine.
Programming can devour time and energy, and though this author has sometimes had inspiration, he usually
programs slowly, with seemingly endless tests ( and seemingly endless errors) and probably should concentrate on
simple, concise programs. With time, a reserve of routines builds up, which make new ideas possible. It becomes a
chain of experience which might lead to areas not explored by others.
It might be possible for a small simulation program, finished to a high graphical standard, and concentrating on
perfecting just one aspect e.g . very realistic and satisfying control, or perhaps artificial intelligence, to find a small
commercial niche ... if there was time .. . energy ... and a good deal of luck.
Link back to dark basic page