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------------------------ Art School - Version 1.1 ------------------------ © 1993-94 CarterSoft Productions Exclusively Licenced to F1 Licenceware Not for inclusion on any PD Library / BBS / Compilation CREDITS Design, Documentation and Programming Alan Carter Texture Mapping Routine Jean Baptiste Bolcato Original OL-SYS Routines Paul Wheeler Additional Help David Yarham Off-Hand Support John Howard NOTICE CARTERSOFT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCT DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT AT ANY TIME AND WITHOUT NOTICE. THIS DOCUMENT, AND THE SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT, IS COPYRIGHTED. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS DOCUMENT OR THE SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE COPIED, REPRODUCED, TRANSLATED OR REDUCED TO ANY ELECTRONIC MEDIUM OR MACHINE READABLE FORM, EXCEPT WHERE STATED ANY WHEREBY THE INITIAL COPY IS FOR BACKUP PURPOSES AND THE USE OF THE PURCHASER ONLY, WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF CARTERSOFT PRODUCTIONS, 57 GRETA ROAD, SKELTON, SALTBURN, CLEVELAND, TS12 2NF. ENGLAND. CARTERSOFT AND THE LICENCED RESELLER NAMELY F1 LICENCEWARE MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THIS DOCUMENT AND THE SOFTWARE NAMED IN THIS DOCUMENT, ITS QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THIS DOCUMENT AND THE SOFTWARE NAMED IN IT IS PROVIDED "AS IS." TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- Introduction 1.1 New Features............................... 1.1a Children And Art........................... 1.1b Well Hello................................. 1.1c F1 Licenceware............................. 1.1d CarterSoft Productions..................... 1.1e Chapter One: First Steps 1. Getting Started......................... 1.2 Software................................ 1.3 Hardware................................ 1.4 Using The Discs......................... 1.5 Running ArtSchool....................... 1.6 Chapter Two: Exploring Art School 1. The Enviroment.......................... 2.1 2. The Tool Strip.......................... 2.2 Draw................................ 2.2.1 Lines............................... 2.2.2 Boxes............................... 2.2.3 Circles............................. 2.2.4 Effects............................. 2.2.5 Rubber.............................. 2.2.6 Scissors............................ 2.2.7 Paste Brushes....................... 2.2.8 Paint............................... 2.2.9 Undo................................ 2.2.10 3. The Effects Bar......................... 2.3 Clear Screen........................ 2.3.1 Random Circles...................... 2.3.2 Random Squares...................... 2.3.3 Up and Down......................... 2.3.4 Left and Right...................... 2.3.5 Orbital Drawing..................... 2.3.6 Tri-Spinner......................... 2.3.7 Wacky Worm.......................... 2.3.8 Sample Player....................... 2.3.9 Night Sky........................... 2.3.10 Landscape........................... 2.3.11 Seascape............................ 2.3.12 Snow Mountains...................... 2.3.13 House............................... 2.3.14 Weather Map......................... 2.3.15 Colouring Book...................... 2.3.16 Rainbow Maker....................... 2.3.17 Tiles Maker......................... 2.3.18 Splat!.............................. 2.3.19 Fractal Tree........................ 2.3.20 3D Floor............................ 2.3.21 Ghost Pen........................... 2.3.22 Smoke Puffs......................... 2.3.23 Talking Keyboard.................... 2.3.24 Writing Text........................ 2.3.25 Light Square........................ 2.3.26 Spray Can........................... 2.3.27 Radial Lines........................ 2.3.28 Dotted Lines........................ 2.3.29 Growing Squares..................... 2.3.30 Growing Circles..................... 2.3.31 Invert Palette...................... 2.3.32 Grid................................ 2.3.33 Zoom Screen......................... 2.3.34 Perspective......................... 2.3.35 Slide Shower........................ 2.3.36 Curves.............................. 2.3.37 Magnaline........................... 2.3.38 Fractal............................. 2.3.39 Turtle Power!....................... 2.3.40 Music Player........................ 2.3.41 Rub Through......................... 2.3.42 Comb................................ 2.3.43 Colour Comb......................... 2.3.44 Screen Shrink....................... 2.3.45 4. Altering The Effects.................... 2.4 Changing The Colours................ 2.4.1 The Arrow Keys...................... 2.4.2 5. The Brushes............................. 2.5 Using............................... 2.5.1 Making New Brushes.................. 2.5.2 Loading............................. 2.5.3 Saving.............................. 2.5.4 Flipping............................ 2.5.5 6. Pull Down Menus......................... 2.6 The Project Menu.................... 2.6 Loading Pictures................ 2.6.1 Saving Pictures................. 2.6.2 Loading Brushes................. 2.6.3 Saving Brushes.................. 2.6.4 Help............................ 2.6.5 About........................... 2.6.6 Quit............................ 2.6.7 The Supervisor Menu................. 2.6.8 Lock Menu....................... 2.6.8 Enable / Disable Samples........ 2.6.9 Set Book Path................... 2.6.10 Set Slide Path.................. 2.6.11 Set Music Path.................. 2.6.12 Set Fractal Type................ 2.6.13 " " Viewmode............ 2.6.14 Reset Rainbow 2.6.15 7. Keyboard Shortcuts...................... 2.7 -O- 1.1 INTRODUCTION -------------------- 1.1a New Features -------------------- Since the release of version one Art School has had a few reviews. In the main, they were particularly favourable, however, a few 'bad apples' managed to invade the barrel. Many of the 'bugs' that were reported by reviewers were in fact due to concluding without researching i.e. the program seizure reported in Amiga Shopper was in fact the menu lock! As I have spent a not inconsiderable amount of time writing this program, I though it was time for an upgrade, even though it hasn't been out that long. While re-writing some of the code I did actually find a few bugs (they are listed!), so nobodys perfect. Anyway, in true doc fashion, here are the revisions... :-) BUGS FIXED since 1.0 -------------------- * Error trapping on saves now fixed. * File buffer overflow now stops itself causing damage. * Confused narrator & keyboard now sorted. * Occasional effect changes failed : now fixed ... er, that's em all! I think... NEW FEATURES ------------ * Help available from menu as well and keyboard. * Independent file buffer for Slide Shower. * Independent file buffer for Music Player. * Independent file buffer for Colouring Book. * File Path settings can now be altered for the above three functions. * Child Lock renamed 'Menu Lock' to avoid confusion! * Rainbow feature can now be reset to default. * Arrow Key Action Arrows are now animated to draw the users attention to the fact the current effect can be altered. * Fractal drawing feature now included and can draw either Mandelbrot or Julia sets to either a pre-defined window or full screen. Zooming and positioning controls are in. * Curve effect added. * Music player added with selectable playlist, tape transport style control panel. * Turtle graphics language now implemented with full text editor, saving and loading. Instruction set limited to 20 commands and simple branching, but if anyone wants it extended let me know. * Screen shrinking by 50%. * Magnadraw. * Comb & ColourComb effects. * Invert palette effect now 1000% faster! * Spare work screen now avaiable! * Rub through effect from spare to current screen! I think that's it for the time being. Enjoy them! 1.1b Children and Art ------------------------ This program came about originally after I saw a PD painting program on a magazine coverdisc. Although the program was competent in its aims, I found it to be a bit boring and so couldn't hold a childs attention for very long. I decided to write my own program, and, after seeing the Electronic Arts contender some time later I thought I had better widen my goals a little and include more features than any other program currently selling out of the full price range. I hope I have achieved the original aim of producing a fun art package that children will find enjoyable. From my own experience I have seen that children like many features that are 'grown up' in feel, such as texture mapping made easy. They will eventually move up to the likes of Deluxe Paint 7, and hopefully the transition will be easy and natural. The use of rainbows for skylines is one example of a tool that was thought up by children, and I think its one of the best effects in ArtSchool. As you will hopefully see, with these tools, brushes and your childs (or your!) creativity ArtSchool is the ideal medium for creating beautiful pictures with ease. Often children will come up with 'wish lists' if they enjoy something, so if your child or yourself has an idea that you feel would work well inside ArtSchool, and if would like to see it implemented in future revisions, then please contact me. Likewise, any bug reports or dislikes would be welcomed. My latest address can be found by reading the 'About' message in ArtSchool. Thank you. Alan Carter. May 1994 1.1c Well Hello... --------------------- Sorry to all the people who I ignored last time around, I was in such a rush to get it together and out the door that I completely forgot about the greets list. Also, If your not mentioned, please forgive me but as is usual, its after four in the morning and I'm running on autopilot. So here they are, in no particular order... Steve 'n Belinda from F1 Licenceware All the people who bought Batdog 1 & source code. THANKS! David Yarham Les Edgar Shawn Carter John (Honestly!!) Howard Gears!!! Sorry pal. Colin Yarnall Jackie (Laws of motion) Lowe Andy (forgetful) Gibson Phil South Paul Overaa (thanks!) Chris Evans Craig Pell ( are you still alive Mr Northallerton ? Its Mr Carter calling! Allinson & Textiles Inc !! Haha) Commander Data, I know you MUST exist somewhere you smart **** Sorry if I've missed you, maybe next time - hey! Maybe never! 1.1d F1 Licenceware ---------------------- This company, formed in February is dedicated to bringing you the very best quality Amiga software at a price thats unbeatable. All titles are exclusive, so you won`t find them in the Public Domain, prices start from 3.99 for one disc programs. Their latest detailed catalogue is availble by sending a SAE and either a disc or 75p to the address soon to follow. ArtSchool is licenced to them, so you know you can`t go wrong! Well, what are you waiting for, give `em a call or drop `em a line at: F1 Licenceware 31 Wellington Road Exeter Devon EX2 9DU Tel: 0392 493580 Today!! 1.1e CarterSoft Productions ------------------------------ A bit of an `Indy` outfit, but we, or I, as it is 97% of the time have been going over two years now. I`ve released various programs: Batdog, an old platformer was once sold to Amiga Computing. Simon and Skeet was a recently put on PD. Touch`n`Go was released through F1 recently and will be featured on the The One`s coverdisc. Batdog II would have been out now if I hadn`t have reviewed this program first and I think it`ll do pretty well, the source code will be available seperately code fans!! My fave has to be this one though, ArtSchool, because I just like it myself. It was actually on a disc for over 8 months before John Howard gave me the inspiration to get it finished along with everything else. At that point I had a habit of starting 27 things at once (I know Steve!). So if you ever read this John, I want to say thanks, honestly, for giving me that final push to progress. I know we`ve had a few differences, but thanks anyway, its forgotton. Best of luck with your Army career, cheerz! In a funny kind of weird like fuzzy way, a bit hazy as well as kind of hot - no, cold way I owe this all to you. Funny old life innit ? Soon to come from ol` Cartersoft is a commercial release that is bound to be a smash hit, but I can`t say more than this is how it all starts, from humble beginnings. Were also gonna be involved in the Amoszine project, and so can you, so get in touch with F1 now! I personally however would be looking for any talented GFX artists and musicians to work on future CD projects, so if you want to apply, write to me, Al, with some demos of your work and I`ll be in touch with you. Don`t delay though, CD will soon be moving away from the realm of small developers, so act now!! I won`t be turning away from the Licenceware / PD scene though as I`m a firm believer in the `scene stuff, I owe a lot, as do many others to the collective knowledge of the thousands of extremely talented individuals and groups who have contributed to the PD / Licenceware / Shareware scene. One name that springs immediately to mind is Anders Bjerin, the author of the extensive PD C manual that trashed my original printer! To end on another advert!, any publisher looking to contract out Amiga projects and would like to contact me can do so, thanks everyone and long live the AMIGA. << Applause >> -O- Chapter 1 First Steps 1.2 Getting Started ----------------------- 1.3 SOFTWARE ---------------- ArtSchool comes on two disks: the Program disc, which as you can guess holds the actual computer program, default pictures and samples, and the Extras disc, which holds music, brushes, pictures, turtle examples etc. Sorry it had to spill on two discs but its got to large to even consider the one disc option. 1.4 HARDWARE ---------------- For ArtSchool to work properly you will need an Amiga with at least one megabyte of memory, this must however be at least 512k of CHIP memory. Accellerated machines or AGA Amigas such as the A1200 will not affect the operation of ArtSchool. An extra disc drive is recommended. 1.5 USING THE DISCS ----------------------- Before jumping in and running ArtSchool it is a good practice to make back-up copies of both discs, and then store the originals in a safe place. Information on copying discs can be found in your Amiga Users Guide. 1.6 RUNNING ARTSCHOOL ------------------------- To load and run the ArtSchool program first make sure the Amiga is switched OFF and no discs are in the drives. Switch on, and insert the Program disc into the internal drive, the program will now load. If you have an external drive, you may like to insert your AS_Extras disk. -O- Chapter 2 Exploring ArtSchool 2.1 The Enviroment ---------------------- 2.2 THE TOOL STRIP ---------------------- On the main screen after loading you will see a strip of large buttons running down the left hand side of the screen - this is the Tool strip. Almost every option is initially accessed from these buttons so it is important to understand what they do. We will now have a look at their functions starting at the top, with the Draw button. While reading the descriptions, the word 'pointer' is used to describe the cross-hair that simulates mouse movements. 2.2.1 DRAW ------------ When selected the Draw button will draw a freehand line in the current ink colour as long as the left mouse button is pressed down. You can not accidently press another button or change the current ink colour while drawing, you must first release the button. 2.2.2 LINES ------------- To draw a straight line between two points, first position the pointer on screen at the start of your line, then press and hold the left mouse button while re-positioning the pointer. When you have finished, release the mouse button and the line is drawn in the current ink colour. 2.2.3 BOXES ------------- This function will draw a box between two points in the current ink colour using the technique as mentioned above. 2.2.4 CIRCLES --------------- Although described as a circle tool this button can actually draw ellipses. Again, first press and hold the left mouse button where you want the centre of you circle to appear, then drag the mouse out. Release when the shape is how you want it. 2.2.5 EFFECTS --------------- After selecting this button the horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen will change to a row of large square buttons. These are the special effects and will be covered later. 2.2.6 RUBBER -------------- When this tool is selected pressing the mouse button will draw a solid block of colour. You may also notice notice two arrows that appear at the top right of the screen on the title bar. These indicate that pressing the arrow keys will affect a change with the current tool, in this case altering the rubbers size. To make the change in this instance you must also be pressing the left mouse button. As well as being used for eraser large areas of a drawing the rubber can also be used for drawing filled squares, also for a nice effect, select the rainbow colour and draw around with the rubber on its largest setting - very pretty! 2.2.7 SCISSORS ---------------- The Scissors tool is used to make a temporary brush from the current picture. Use it in the same way as the box tool to outline a rectangle containing the image you want to use and then release. That image inside the rectangle is now available as a brush to be stamped and flipped atwill. You will notice that ArtSchool has automatically switched modes so that you are now in 'Paste Brushes' mode, this is for your convenience. Please note that the brush will remain as the spare until you re-select the scissors tool or choose another brush. This enables you to cut a brush, clear the screen or perform some other action and then re-select the 'Paste Brushes' tool to use the spare brush again. 2.2.8 PASTE BRUSHES --------------------- As was just mentioned, this tool alters the bottom panel to show the current selection of brushes, and if a brush has been cut out with the Scissors tool, that will be shown at the pointer position. The arrows that will have appeared at the top of the screen show that cursor keys have affect on the brushes and will flip them horizontally and vertically. 2.2.9 PAINT ------------- This tool is used to fill enclosed areas with a varied selection of patterns and colours. After selecting the Paint tool a box with arrowed buttons on either side will appear on the bottom left of the screen. This shows what pattern and colours will be used to paint with when the user clicks the left button on the screen. To change the pattern, use the arrow buttons. To change the colours simply click a colour on the palette box beside it. NOTE: clicking with the right button will cause a 'background' colour to be chosen, this enables you to have a two coloured pattern. Please also note that the first two patterns refer to the 'foreground' and 'background' colours, so occasionally it may seem like the tool isn't working. Just click back to the beginning and all will be fine. 2.2.10 UNDO ------------ Clicking on this tool will cause the last action you did to be 'un-done', so allowing you to quickly forget any hasty mistakes. It isn't recursive and so won't undo itself! PAH! 2.3 THE EFFECTS BAR ----------------------- These are where the backbone of ArtSchool is formed. If you haven't already grasped the fundamentals then let just explain. Any arrows that appear on the title line at the top of the screen mean that the current option can be altered by pressing the arrow keys. At any time, pressing the right mouse button when in 'Effects' mode will bring up the palette, simply choose another colour and release. 2.3.1 CLEAR SCREEN -------------------- This invokes one of seven different methods of clearing the screen. They are chosen randomly so as not to be totally boring! 2.3.2 RANDOM CIRCLES ---------------------- Simply paste random sized filled circles at random positions around the pointer 2.3.3 RANDOM SQUARES ---------------------- Same as above but with filled squares! 2.3.4 UP AND DOWN ------------------- This tool will cause the actual drawing position to move up and down from the pointer. 2.3.5 LEFT AND RIGHT ---------------------- This tool will cause the actual drawing position to move left and right from the pointer. 2.3.6 ORBITAL DRAWING ----------------------- While using this tool the drawing position will be constantly rotating in a circle around the mouse pointer. 2.3.7 TRI SPINNER ------------------- The Tri-Spinner is similiar to the old Spirograph drawing sets and is best used while keeping the mouse stationary until the drawing loop finishes. Many hundreds of combinations can be found by altering the angles of the triangle, or changing it size with the arrow keys. 2.3.8 WACKY WORM ------------------ Select the Wacky Worm and watch it follow the pointer! Pressing the left mouse button will cause any colours under the worm to get eaten and leaving them partially changed. It wont destroy any pictures but it can change them there colours! 2.3.9 SAMPLE KEYBOARD ----------------------- While the Sample Keyboard effect is selected, pressing the function keys will play a sample 2.3.10 STARPIC --------------- This button loads a pre-drawn 'stars at night' picture. As with the other picture loading buttons, the actual picture is contained within the System drawer of the boot disc and can be saved over with your own choice of picture if you want. A key point to note is that the pictures were designed to induce creativity and are deliberately sparse while retaining enough detail to justify using them. They work particularly well with the preset brushes. 2.3.11 LANDSCAPE ----------------- Another picture loader, this time a nice country scene. After loading you could try changing the rainbow to see the different moods it creates. 2.3.12 SEASCAPE ---------------- Another picture loader, gusty seas! Oh yes! 2.3.13 MOUNTAINS ----------------- Another picture loader, beautiful and cold. Try using some snow-flakes and clouds to build the scene. 2.3.14 HOUSE ------------- Picture loader again. This time a bare house, waiting to be made into a pretty picture. 2.3.15 MAP ----------- Picture Loader. This loads in what was intended to be a weather map. In conjunction with weather map symbols it could be a fun way to simulate the weather maps on television. 2.3.16 COLOURING BOOK ---------------------- The Colouring Book button is a slightly different picture loader. When ArtSchool is first loaded it will look for a folder named Col_Book on the extras disc, and if it finds it will make a list of all the pictures it finds. Then, when you click on the Colouring Book button it will load the pictures in a carousel fashion, looping back to the first when the end of the list has been reached. It is intended that the pictures be painted with various filling patterns and colours. The directore path can now be altered by selecting the 'Set Book Path' option from the Supervisor menu. 2.3.17 RAINBOW MAKER --------------------- This button causes the rainbow colour to be randomly generated, creating a gradient fill similair to that in arcade games. To use it you must have used the rainbow colour (top right on the palette) somewhere in your picture, otherwise you wont be able to see the effect. The rainbow is excellent for adding atmosphere to pictures and will be saved along with your picture. Please note that the effect can only be used from within Art School, and loading the picture into any other art package will not show the rainbow properly (indeed not all!). 2.3.18 TILE MAKER ------------------ The Tile Maker is quite a powerful tool that is used to fill the screen with a selected picture block. After selecting the effect a box will appear on screen. This will contain the piece of picture that will be used to fill the screen. Simply position the box over the piece you want to use and click the mouse button. For a quick example, make sure you are using the default brushes and then choose the small brown square next the gate brushes. Paste it on the screen. Now select the Tile Maker effect and position the sqaure over the brown brush. After you click the screen will be filled with what looks like mud. Now choose the Rubber tool and set it to the largest setting. Rub away the top of the picture to show a semi-skyline and fill that with the rainbow colour. Instant hillside! Wow eh ? Woopie doo! 2.3.19 SPLAT ------------- This effect simply squirts a blob onto the screen. 2.3.20 FRACTAL TREE -------------------- This effect will draw a randomly generated tree on screen at the pointer position. Don't forget that holding the right mouse button will bring up the palette bar so you can change colours. Also, don't forget that pressing 'U' on the keyboard will undo the last action. Oh and don't forget... 2.3.21 3D FLOOR ---------------- This effect can be very nice to play with as it draws a 3D chess board like floor (or ceiling) on screen. While in testing a friend said it would be useful if it drew up from the bottom - well, without complicating things I said why not pick it up as brush and flip it for the bottom screen! Please see the example pictures for a good example of this effect. 2.3.22 GHOST PEN ----------------- While this effect is selected, any drawing on the screen will be mirrowed. 2.3.23 SMOKE PUFFS ------------------- This effect is similair to the Splat effect, but varies this time by pasting puffs of smoke on the screen - useful for trains and house chimneys. 2.3.24 TALKING KEYBOARD ------------------------ After choosing this effect pressing letters on the keyboard will invoke the standard Amiga narrator to say what key was pressed. 2.3.25 WRITING TEXT -------------------- This very powerful effect is used to print text on the screen in a variety of styles and fonts. While entering text on the screen pressing the up and down arrow keys (at any time) will cause the font to change, while pressing the left and right arrows will cause the style to change between bold, underline and italics. The current text will not be fixed on the screen until you either press return or move the mouse pointer to a new position. 2.3.26 LIGHT SQUARE -------------------- While using this effect any colours inside the square will be shifted up one position in the palette. 2.3.27 AIRBRUSH ---------------- This effect will spray pixels onto the screen as long as the left button is pressed. 2.3.28 RADIAL LINES -------------------- Once this effect is selected, pressing and holding the left mouse button and then dragging the mouse around the screen will cause lines to radiate out from the start point to the pointer. 2.3.29 DOTTED LINES -------------------- The effect is exactly the same in operation as the line tool but will draw a dotted line instead. Pointless ? Try drawing a dotted line with any degree of acuracy! 2.3.30 GROWING SQUARES ----------------------- While using this effect and the left mouse button is depressed, ArtSchool will draw bigger and bigger squares onto the screen. 2.3.31 GROWING CIRCLES ----------------------- Please see GROWING SQUARES 2.3.32 INVERT PALETTE ---------------------- This effect will invert any colours inside the square you choose. New version is a lot faster as it simply XORs the screen! Dopey me! 2.3.33 GRID ------------ This effect simply draws a pixel spaced grid over your picture to give it that 'dotted drawn' look! Wow! As they say on the toothpaste advertisement. 2.3.34 ZOOM ------------ Select this effect and the whole screen will be zoomed 100% 2.3.35 3D SCREEN WRAP ---------------------- After selecting this tool the current picture will be replace by a 3D square. The square represents the angle the your picture will be pasted on to, and clicking the left mouse button will start this process. Pressing the 'Escape' key will halt it should you not want the effect to be finished 2.3.36 SLIDE SHOWER -------------------- This effect will bring up a selection box containing all the pictures in the current directory path ( to change the directory path choose 'Set Slide Path' from the supervisor menu). You can click on all the pictures you want to include in your slide show and press 'Okay' to continue. The screen will fade and each picture you selected will be loaded and shown one by one. While a picture is being displayed press the mouse key to continue the show or the 'Escape' key to quit. 2.3.37 Curves ------------- This effect will draw a curve between two points, similair to Dpaints effect. 2.3.38 Magnaline ---------------- Upon activating this effect another cursor will wander onto the screen and `attract & repel` itself away from the real cursor. When you press the mouse key a line will be drawn between the two cursors and an interesting effect is formed. 2.3.39 Fractal -------------- This button is added in addition to the other fractal commands and has the same effect as pressing the F key, in other words it simply activates the fractal drawing functions once, and returns back to a stanby state. 2.3.40 Turtle Power! -------------------- This function is one of the best additions to ArtSchool I could have hoped to have thought up. Using my own hybrid of the Logo language you can create many interesting shapes and effects that would simply be impossible or impossibly difficult to attain with a different paint package. Although limited (purposefully, this package is aimed at the younger user!) the commands available can produce excellent results, as well as showing the basics of writing a computer program. The actual interpreter has only 20 commands and is limited to 100 lines of turtle program code, but it will be extended if anyone has any suggestions. Upon clicking the button or pressing T the Turtle editor will scroll on from the bottom of the screen. The display consists of main editing window on the left, and a command index on the right. Above the editor window are control buttons used to perform various functions. I`ll deal with these quickly. GO!: Pressing this will `run` the current program SAVE & LOAD: Save & Load a turtle program. Note that while saving, the file selector will automatically add a .turtle suffix if one is missing. CLEAR: This will clear and reset the editor Note that various key functions are also used: F1: Run current program DEL: Delete current character SHIFT+DEL: Delete current line CTRL+UP: Scroll text up one screen CTRL+DOWN: Scroll text down one screen SHIFT+LEFT: Jump to end of line SHIFT+RIGHT: Jump to start of line ESC: Halt execution of program Pressing return at the start of line will shift the whole program down one line, but only works if the current line is occupied. Also, if the last line in the editor is full an error is displayed. Its all very similair to any other text editor actually and is fairly straight forward. The basics of programming the Turtle are fairly self explana- tory, but I`ll go over each function anyway, just to make sure. The letters in brackets are the shortcuts for the functions, just enter them as you would the full function. ie: fo 3 = forward 3 The editor will accept any case fluctuations and will tidy up the line for you automatically. Function: (fo) Forward n ------------------------- This function will move the turtle forward `n` number of steps. Function: (ba) Backward n -------------------------- See above Function: (ri) Right n ----------------------- This function will turn the turtle right `n` number of degrees. The value is added to the current direction. Function: (le) Left n ---------------------- See above Function: (pu) PenUp --------------------- This will cause the imaginary pen to be lifted from the page so that no actual drawing will take place, the turtle will still move. Function: (pd) PenDown ----------------------- This reversed the above action and causes actual drawing to resume. Function: (re) Reset --------------------- Using this function at the start of a program will reset the pen colour, the screen position and the angle to zero Function: (mo) Move n,n ------------------------ This function uses the two values seperated by a comma and is a function to move the position of the turtle to a new screen co-ordinate x,y Function: (co) Colour n ------------------------ This function will change the current drawing colour the the value entered as `n`. It should be in the range 0-31 and will take its colour from the standard palette in ArtSchool. Function: (fa) Fast -------------------- By default, the drawing speed of the turtle is set to slow to allow younger ones the opportunity to see exactly what is going on when the turtle is drawing. Using this function will make the turtle draw at full speed. Function: (sl) Slow -------------------- Instructs the turtle to draw slowly, see above. Function: (cl) Cls ------------------- This function instructs the turtle to clear the screen. Function: * label ------------------------ This function allows the user to enter a label, or mark, in the program that can be jumped to at any time. The asterix must be followed by a space and then a label that can consist of either letters or numbers. Eg: * alan or * bob1 Function: (go) Goto label,n ---------------------------- This function will jump to a label, n number of times, and then the turtle will only execute the function between the two points. It is not like a for/next loop or similair, it will only execute a jump once in the running of the program, so once its done it done. What I`m saying is that you cant nest them. Yeah. You may have guessed that I`m no teacher and so this is sounding a little sketchy, the best thing I can say is to look at some of the example turtle programs, trust me, it`s all very straightforward. Function: (st) Star n ---------------------- This function will draw a 5 pointed star the size of `n` Function: (sq) Square n ------------------------ This will draw a square the size of `n` Function: (ci) Circle n ------------------------ Hey, does this draw a circle the size of `n` ?! Function: (en) End ------------------- You can include this anywhere in a program, it simply stops the program from going any further and can be quite useful. -O- ERROR MESSAGES -------------- While entering the functions the following error messages may be flashed on the screen: No Room!: The editor is full -------- Must be a number!: The function requires a number as one of ----------------- its parameters, you have inadvertently entered some text instead. Command Error: The function you have entered is not recognised, ------------- check it on the list. Parameter Error: The function you have entered has either too many --------------- or too little parameters, see the list above. Note that the Turtle editor treats any values seperated by commas as seperate parameters. -O- 2.3.41 Music Player ------------------- This function allows you to select a music module from a list and play the music while drawing. The control are the same as a standard tape deck. 2.3.42 Rub Through ------------------ This effect allows you to `rub through` to a picture on the spare screen. 2.3.43 Comb ----------- This is similair to the standard freehand draw but has a few extras thrown in. Firstly, the height if line can be altered by pressing the up and down arrows while drawing: this has the effect of drawing in varying pitch italics. Also, pressing the left and right arrows will vary the spacing between each point on the `comb`. 2.3.44 Colour Comb ------------------ Similair to the above except this time each point is drawn using an adjacent colour. The starting colour is taken from the current ink colour. 2.3.45 Screen Shrink -------------------- This command is the opposite of Zoom and was overlooked on the previous release. It will shrink the screen half size. -O- 2.4 ALTERING THE EFFECTS ---------------------------- 2.4.1 CHANGING THE COLOURS ---------------------------- While in Effect mode the current ink colour can be altered by pressing and holding the right mouse button. This causes the palette bar to be shown and to select a new colour simply click on the palette with the left button. Simply release all buttons to return to the effect you were using. 2.4.2 THE ARROW KEYS ---------------------- Occasionally an effect may well have several options assigned to it that may for example, alter size and shape. To show that an effect can be changed, up to four little arrows can appear at the top right of the title bar (very top right of the display). If any arrows appear the relative arrow keys on the keyboard will have some effect. Please see the descriptions of the effects for any effect specific information. 2.5 THE BRUSHES ------------------- 2.5.1 USING ------------- The brushes supplied with ArtSchool are designed to aid and complement a childs drawing style and are simple to use. Simply select the 'Paste Brushes' tool from the tool strip at the left of the screen (smiling face button), and the bar at the bottom of the screen will turn into large buttons with various images. These images are the brushes you can use. To see more, click on the arrow buttons at either side of the large buttons, if these become ghosted (dark) then that means you have reached the end (or start) of the brush file. To select a brush, click on the brushes button and then move the pointer into the screen, it should be accompanied by you brush image! To paste it into your picture, click the left mouse button. 2.5.2 MAKING NEW BRUSHES -------------------------- If you need to make a temporary brush of your own, the last image in each file is spare, however, if you want to make a complete brush set of your own, you can. The easiest way is to click on the brush you want to replace with the right mouse button, this will put a square on the screen. The square should be positioned around the part of picture you want to make a new brush with and clicked with the left mouse button. If all is well, the brush button should now be showing your new brush. NOTE: If at any stage you want to cancel making a new brush, simply select a new brush or choose a new tool. 2.5.3 LOADING --------------- Loading a new Brush set is easy, just select 'Load Brushes' from the Project menu. 2.5.4 SAVING -------------- Saving a custom Brush set is just as easy, simply select 'Save Brushes' from the Project menu. 2.5.5 FLIPPING ---------------- While a brush is under the pointer the arrow keys can be used to flip it along the relative axis. 2.6 PULL DOWN MENUS ----------------------- These menu are desinged mainly for parental use and should ideally be disabled with the menu lock facility before letting a child use ArtSchool. 2.6 THE PROJECT MENU ------------------------ In here are the main file operations: 2.6.1 LOAD PICTURE : Loads an IFF or *PIC picture 2.6.2 SAVE PICTURE : Saves both IFF and PIC pictures 2.6.3 LOAD BRUSHES : Loads a brush set 2.6.4 SAVE BRUSHES : Saves a brush set 2.6.5 ABOUT : Displays ArtSchool info, memory free 2.6.6 QUIT : End the current ArtSchool session * PIC pictures are IFF's with file extensions. We chose this method to retain compatability with other art packages. 2.6.7 THE SUPERVISOR MENU --------------------------- Quick access to switch features: 2.6.8 ENABLE / DISABLE MENU LOCK ----------------------------------- Locks out the menus use CTRL+ALT M, to restore them, a bell will sound if you got it right. NOTE: all error messages etc will be ignored while the child lock is on. 2.6.9 ENABLE / DISABLE SAMPLES : Switches on/off button noises. -------------------------------- 2.6.10 SET BOOK PATH --------------------- Select this option to change the directory path to that of your colouring book 2.6.11 SET SLIDE PATH ---------------------- Select this option to change the directory path to that where your ArtSchool picture are located. NOTE: ArtSchool will only recognise pictures with a .PIC suffix to avoid any file confusion while displaying the pictures. 2.6.12 SET MUSIC PATH ---------------------- Select this option to change the directory path to that where your music is located. NOTE: ArtSchool will only recognise modules with a MOD. prefix and they should only be sountracker format. 2.6.13 SET FRACTAL TYPE ------------------------ Choosing this option brings up the fractal type requester and allows you to set the following parameters: MANDELBROT / JULIA ------------------ Click on one of these buttons to alter the fractal set that ArtSchool will use to draw with. ZOOM ---- Enter a value here in the range 1-999 to alter the amount of zoom, with 1 being the maximum zoom. ITER ---- Enter a value here in the range 1-999 to alter the amount of iteration ( resolution ) used while calculating the fractal set, the higher the more detail. X and Y ------- Enter a value in either of these in the range -32676 to 32767 to alter the relative X and Y positions to be used while drawing the fractal set. GO! --- This button while draw the fractal using currently set parameters and then return control back to the fractal set requester. CENTRE ------ This button will reset all fractal co-ordinates to the centre depending on which fractal set is currently selected, ie the Mandelbrot sets centre is different to that of the Julia. OKAY ---- This button will exit the requester and leave all settings intact CANCEL ------ This button will exit the requester and leave the settings as they were before you changed anything. OUTPUT TO WINDOW / SCREEN ------------------------- When the fractal is drawn it will either be output to a pre defined window or to a full screen. 2.6.14 SET FRACTAL VIEWMODE ---------------------------- This option will bring up a requester that control the way the fractal is shown on screen. The options are: WINDOW ------ Click this button to make ArtSchool output the fractal to a pre-defined window. SCREEN ------ Click this button to make ArtSchool output the fractal to the full screen size. SET --- This button will allow you to set the size of an output window by dragging a square over the area you want. NOTE you must have clicked on the WINDOW button for it to work. 2.6.15 RESET RAINBOW --------------------- Choose this option to reset the rainbow function to its default blue to red gradient. 2.7 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS -------------------------- The following keys will invoke the named functions during the operation of ArtSchool: Z: Zoom the screen U: Undo the last action F1-F10: Play samples F: Draw fractal to current definition T: Invoke turtle graphics editor S: Swap Screens DEL: Clear Screen HELP: Show these keys Arrow Keys: Alter Effects (when available) Control Alt+M: Enable Child Lock -O- ArtSchool was created using AMOS Professional on the Amiga 1200. The CRAFT extension was used in the development of the high speed fractal routines and music player. Thanx! DOCUMENT © 1993-94 CARTERSOFT PRODUCTIONS, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SOFTWARE © 1993-94 CARTERSOFT PRODUCTIONS, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED