Gamebladealph

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*                                                                     *
*  GameBlade by Jarek Ilski ( Nokturn32()poczta.onet.pl )              *
*  Distribution: EXAlpha20021013                                      *
*                                                                     *
*  GameBlade Version: 20021013                                        *
*                                                                     *
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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:
------------
13 Oct 2002 ( Version Nr. 20021013 )

About this distribution:
------------------------
This is the first example distribution of release 20021013. It is called
EXAlpha20021013 and it demonstrates the use of alpha blending. The differences 
compared to the distribution Base20021013 are:

- Added the files "gfx/mario.bmp" and "gfx/back.jpg"
- Updated the header "headers/GB_Definitions.h" to use a lower resolution
(640x480) and
  update the GAMEBUILD definition in that file
- Updated the makefile to give the output EXAlpha
- Updated the file main.cpp with the code to load the background graphic, the
sprite
  graphic and setting them up and changed the main loop to display alpha blended
  sprites over a green background
- Removed the file "gfx/8x8font.bmp" from this distribution because it was not
used

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, 13. Oct. 2002

***********************************************************************
*                                                                     *
*  GameBlade by Jarek Ilski ( Nokturn32()poczta.onet.pl )              *
*                                                                     *
*  Version: 20021013                                                  *
*                                                                     *
***********************************************************************

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

Last update:
------------
13 Oct 2002 ( Version Nr. 20021013 )

What is the GameBlade?
------------------------
The GameBlade is a little helper library made only of headers ( and a .cpp file
) which makes
SDL Game programming even easier than it already is.

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 )

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" consists of a main file ( main.cpp ) and many header files. This
library is not
installed to your system but your game or application is built on top of it.
Generally that means:

- You "tar xvfz GameBlade-Base20021013.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 header stands for a new section of the library. Some headers will not be
so interesting for you,
while the headers like GB_Definitions.h, GB_Functions.h, GB_Globals.h,
GB_Classes.h and GB_FilterEvents.h
were made to be changed by you.

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, 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, 13. Oct. 2002