Gameblade

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*                                                                     *
*  GameBlade by Jarek Ilski ( Nokturn32()poczta.onet.pl )              *
*  Distribution: Base20030110                                         *
*                                                                     *
*  GameBlade Version: 20030110                                        *
*                                                                     *
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About GameBlade:
----------------
Please read the file README-GB for information about the GameBlade.

License:
--------
Please read the file COPYING for the license. The license is the GPL.

Last update:
------------
10 Jan 2003 ( Version Nr. 20030110 )

About this distribution:
------------------------
This is the distribution Base20030110 of the GameBlade. It is already the fourth
base distribution and the changes compared to the previous version, Base20021016
are:

- Fixed compilation errors/warnings, mainly those which were caused when
  using the new gcc 3.2
- Fixed some problems with compiling the GameBlade with VC++

Where to go from here?
----------------------
Read the file README-GB from this directory and the file "HOWTO" in the doc
directory or
download example or game distributions!

Have fun,

 Jarek Ilski, 10. Jan 2003

***********************************************************************
*                                                                     *
*  GameBlade by Jarek Ilski ( Nokturn32()poczta.onet.pl )              *
*                                                                     *
*  Version: 20030110                                                  *
*                                                                     *
***********************************************************************

License:
--------
Please read the file COPYING for the license. The license is the GPL.

Last update:
------------
10 Jan 2003 ( Version Nr. 20030110 )

What is the GameBlade?
------------------------
GameBlade is a little helper library made to make SDL development even easier
than
it already is. The GameBlade uses the libraries SDL, SDL_image, SDL_mixer and
SDL_rotozoom and wraps them into clean and light C++ functions and classes.

For whom is the GameBlade?
----------------------------
The GameBlade is for people who have only a little time but would none the less
like to code a
game and for people who don't like to get into technical stuff. You can easily
code a game with
sound, music, keyboard handling and nice looking bitmap graphics in one day.

For whom is the GameBlade the wrong choice?
---------------------------------------------
Actually, the GameBlade can be useful to anyone, also to people who want to code
3D games or
games with mouse support or people who would like to code professional games. If
you like, you can
use just one part of the library, for example if you are only interested in
music playback, why not use
this part?

What can the GameBlade do?
----------------------------
Actually, the GameBlade can only call other libraries, like SDL, SDL_image and
SDL_mixer. But
if you ask what it was meant to make easier, here you have a list:

- Take care of the video mode ( SDL )
- Load and display sprites in various formats like BMP, JPG, PNG, PCX and many
more ( SDL_image )
- Load and display fullscreen backgrounds ( same formats supported like for
sprites ) ( SDL_image )
- Handle some basic events like the ESC button and closing the window ( SDL )
- Get input from the keyboard and handle it ( SDL )
- Open and play a sound ( formats like Microsoft WAVE, VOC etc etc ) ( SDL_mixer
)
- Open and play background music ( supports formats like OGG, MIDI and MP3 ) (
SDL_mixer )
- Provides a very simple set of functions for displaying text in a 10x16 bmp
font ( font included )
- Show transparent sprites and backgrounds ( 255 transparency levels ) ( SDL )
- Draw and get single pixels ( SDL )
- Clear the screen, fill and area of the screen or the whole screen with a
specified
  color ( SDL )
- Hide and show the mouse cursor ( SDL )
- Rotate, zoom and anti-alias sprites ( SDL_rotozoom )

As you see, this is all you need to code a little game. Probably you will
replace the font by an own
one or use another font library, because the set of functions of the GameBlade
is very limited.

Concept:
--------
This "library" is based on many source and header files. All the files are to be
modified by you to fit your needs, compiled and distributed. You can treat them
as if you wrote them and as if you were in charge to update and modify them. The
basic steps are:

- You "tar xvfz GameBlade-Base20021016.tar.gz"
- You treat all the new files and directories as if they were part of your
project and you edit
  them as you like. If you like, you can completely change all the code, or you
can use only parts
  of it.

Every file or file pair (header+source) stands for a part of the library. For
example
GB_Sprites.h and GB_Sprites.cpp hold the GB_Sprite class and it's functions.
Please
feel free to modify the functions!

How do I check if it works?
---------------------------
If you are using Linux, just go to the directory with the file "makefile" and
type "make". If you
get no errors and a binary file which executes without errors, it works.

What are the requirements for this library?
-------------------------------------------
All you need is a C/C++ compiler, SDL (I used versions 1.2.5 and 1.2.4, but all
new versions should be ok),
SDL_image and SDL_mixer. If you don't have these, here is a tip where you can
get them:

C/C++ compiler: http://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/gcc.html, you can download it
for different systems.
                If you are using Linux, it is very probable that you already
have it.
SDL           : http://www.libsdl.org/download-1.2.php, there you can find the
newest versions
SDL_image     : http://www.libsdl.org/projects/SDL_image
SDL_mixer     : http://www.libsdl.org/projects/SDL_mixer

Well, then what do I do next?
-----------------------------
Now you can start working on your game/application. First I would advise you to
look through the headers and
to look at the main.cpp file, much of the code is commented and easy to
understand. Please also read the files
in the doc directory.

Have fun!

- Jarek Ilski, 22. Oct. 2002