Subject: Re: AMAL & Serpents Game
From: "PRL6A::UKRBAKE"@prl.philips.co.uk ([email-masked])
To: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1993 13:51:19 GMT

Hey, Jeff...
What Serpents game?? Sounds good, where can I get my hands on it... gimmie, 
gimmie, gimmie.....

But seriously, folks.. I use AMAL lots.  It's about the only bit of Amos that 
runs fast enough, about the only thing that stops me from buying Blitz Basic...
I use it mostly for handling my joystick + collision detection routines, it's 
also handy for shots.. the stuff that would slow down your main program.  Using 
more than 16 is easy, I don't mind putting in a Synchro function before my wait 
vbl... There's just one problem with AMAL... no Zone checking functions, thus 
making any complex collision-detection impossible, and relegated to the main 
program. For example, in a game that I'm writing, you drive around in tanks 
shooting each other, picking up bonuses and avoiding mines... in this I use AMAL 
for:
* joystick control of tanks 
* collision detection for mines
* timing for mines
* shot control - collision into mines + tanks
* control of images for bobs + sprites
Because of lack of Zones in AMAL, I have to do this lot in main prog:
* collision detection for walls -
  i. tank / wall
  ii. shot / wall
  iii. shot / bonus
  iv. shot / wall that becomes a bonus
  v. tank / bonus (see below)
* picking up bonuses
  i. changing weapons
  i.  shields - activation + timing
* all sound fx.. (amal progs set event flags which are read by a routine)
Now if I had PROPER collision detect in AMAL, I could have nearly the whole game 
running it it, but at the moment it has to be compiled or it slows down with 
lots of shots + mines on-screen if it's interpreted.

oh, well....
PS. Has anyone used the assembler that comes with the compiler, I had a look in 
the manual the other day, but there's only 1 page on it.. is it any good?

Mark Baker