home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
AMOS PD CD
/
amospdcd.iso
/
326-350
/
apd341
/
reviews
/
sbe.seq
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1990-08-11
|
6KB
|
127 lines
124
aaa00000ff00fe0080333fff70f
^2.............................oooOOOooo..............................
^6@2 S.B.E.@
^4[2 L.P.D. 40.[0
^4{6 By The Blitter Boys.{
^1[5 Reviewed by Len Tucker.[0
^2.............................oooOOOooo...............................
^6 As soon as you load ^2[2SPRITE BANK EDITOR,[0^6 you get the impression that
^6you are seeing something special.
^7 The commercial quality graphics are supplied by the enormously
^7talented Stoo Cambridge. The highly professional panels and display
^7suggest that if so much trouble was taken over the display, then the
^7program must be something special.
^6 The first screen you see is divided into three sections.
^4 On the left are the three disk control areas, for loading and saving
^4bobs. The section to the right displays the system information such
^4as free memory and the number of bobs in a bank. The centre section
^4houses the nucleus of the program where you can manipulate the bob
^4banks.
^2 To load in a bank, just click on the `load' icon and you will be
^2presented with one of the most professional file requesters I have
^2seen. The layout and the graphics are superb. On the left is a list
^2of available devices and on the right is a list of the files. The
^2default file type is .abk, so only these will be displayed, and as
^2opposed to[2 AMOS's[0 file requester, if you leave the requester, then
^2return, the directory will still be there, which would have been a
^2good point to add to the[2 AMOS[0 version.
^6 If you click on the sprites directory, you will be able to load in
^6any bank from a list of sprites, all of which would not look out of
^6place in commercially released games and which are supplied for you
^6to use in your own programs. However, if you do use them, be sure to
^6credit them to Stoo.
^5 Once you have selected your sprite bank, select `edit' from the
^5central part of the panel. Now you are in the main workshop of the
^5program, you will have seen a lot of Vinni's talent in the requester,
^5but this is the part of the program where his ability really comes
^5into its own.
^7 This is split into two areas. You have access to the top part, which
^7is the control panel. The lower part of the screen is where the
^7source and destination of the bobs are displayed.
^6 The control panel is split into four sections, discribed here from
^6left to right.
^2 The first has the block controllers with arrows indicating the start
^2and end of the blocks. This allows you to cut out a section of your
^2source bobs and place them in your destination bank, a very handy
^2feature.
^1 The second part is where the copying process is controlled. There
^1are four buttons,^6[2 BLOCK CUT[0^1 - cuts a block specified in block
^1start/end.
^6[2 CUT[0 -^5 cuts a single image and upends it to the destination
^5bank.
^4 Next is ^6[2INSERT[0 ^4which puts a bob into the destination bank as
^4specified by the destination number.
^4 Finally^6 [2DELETE[0^4 - deletes the current image from the destination
^4bank.
^7 The next section shows individual sprites both in the source and
^7destination banks which allows you to create each specific sprite on
^7either the source or the destination.
^2 That's the description done, now, what purpose does it have?
^6 My first thoughts on seeing^2[3 S.B.E.[0^6 - apart from being impressed with
^6the way it looks - were about what it could be used for, as you
^6cannot alter sprites with it. Then someone turned on the light and it
^6all seemed so obvious! It will save me hours and hours of time!
^4 It lets you create a bob bank fo your current masterpiece from
^4existing sprite banks with just the click of a few buttons!
^7 Until I saw this program, all my sprites were stored on IFF screens,
^7and I cut them out as needed. This meant that they also had to be
^7repositioned every time I needed them, but now this program has
^7changed my method of storing sprites.
^5 I will now store all my sprites as sprite banks, with each bank
^5holding a specific character e.g. a spaceship, man etc. all saved
^5with a descriptive name. Eventually I hope to build up a library disk
^5of sprites all ready to put into games. This program will merge the
^5files I need into one bank within minutes.
^6 So I don't think you're in for a treat if you buy this disk,
^2 [3I KNOW IT