Really? Does _PRINTSTRING have lag issues? [SOLVED]

[Pete]

This is just for testing. I'm using _PRINTSTRING to write to a hardware overlay. Now in SCREEN 0, this type of letter printing works properly, but _PRINTSTRING seems to have lag, which throws off the timer.

If you try the code, you will need to hold down alt, and it will start printing the alphabet. The problem... what comes after J? O_ay, I'm just _idding. The problem is this: It should print each character with a .4 sec delay between characters. On my machine, it seems to lag around "M" "N" or "P" and then some buffer effect causes it to print two letters together. Now if you use this to print one letter over the other, instead of in a line, that makes it appear like it misses a letter. In other words A-M appears one letter at a time, but N and O get buffered together, so the user sees O as the next letter, instead of N. This is why, for this example, I put the display in a line, so you could see the lag/buffering issue more clearly. Do a REPLACE: [nxt + i] to: [nxt] if you want to see the letters print over themselves.

So, is there a way around this lag issue? 

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. $COLOR:32
2. Screen0 = _NEWIMAGE(80, 25, 0)
3. SCREEN Screen0
4. swidth = _WIDTH
5.  
6. DIM SHARED Overlay
7.  
8. DEFINT I
9. DIM SHARED lmargin%, rmargin%, topmargin%, screenwidth%, level, ibk, ileadingrow
10. DIM SHARED irow, icol, inextrnd, imaxalienmissiles, alienforce%, ileadingmax, imaxalienforce, ihits, score$
11.  
12. _SCREENMOVE _MIDDLE
13.  
14. Overlay = _NEWIMAGE(_WIDTH * _FONTWIDTH, _HEIGHT * _FONTHEIGHT, 32)
15.  
16. _DEST Overlay
17.  
18. font = _LOADFONT("lucon.ttf", 20, "monospace")
19. IF font <= 0 THEN font = 16
20. _FONT font
21.  
22. bxy% = 3.5
23. bxx% = 13 '27
24. COLOR DarkOrange, 0
25. t$ = " " + CHR$(218) + STRING$(27, CHR$(196)) + CHR$(191) + " "
26. PSL bxy%, bxx% - 1, t$
27. FOR i = 1 TO 11
28.     t$ = " " + CHR$(179) + STRING$(27, CHR$(32)) + CHR$(179) + " "
29.     PSL bxy% + i, bxx% - 1, t$
30. NEXT
31. t$ = " " + CHR$(192) + STRING$(27, CHR$(196)) + CHR$(217) + " "
32. PSL bxy% + i, bxx% - 1, t$
33.  
34. COLOR Black, DarkOrange
35. t$ = "    NAME   SCORE    DATE   "
36. PSL bxy% + 1, bxx% + 1, t$
37.  
38. COLOR DarkOrange, 0
39. FOR i = 1 TO 5
40.     t$ = hsdata$(i)
41.     PSL bxy% + 1 + i * 2, bxx% + 1, t$
42. NEXT
43.  
44.  
45. DEF SEG = 0
46. initials$ = "": delay = .4
47. i = 0
48. bar$ = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" + CHR$(27) + CHR$(27) + CHR$(27)
49. lscr = 14
50. DO
51.     IF PEEK(1047) MOD 16 = 7 OR PEEK(1047) MOD 16 = 8 THEN
52.         DO
53.             i = i + 1
54.             COLOR , Black: t$ = " "
55.             PSL 6 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt, t$
56.             IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) = CHR$(27) AND LEN(initials$) = 0 THEN i = 1 ' No go back symbol shown on first initial.
57.             IF i > LEN(bar$) THEN i = 1
58.             COLOR DarkOrange: t$ = MID$(bar$, i, 1)
59.             PSL 6 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt + i, t$
60.             z1 = TIMER
61.             IF LEN(initials$) = 3 THEN
62.                 bar$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(26) + CHR$(26) + CHR$(26) + CHR$(27)
63.             END IF
64.             DO UNTIL ABS(TIMER - z1) > delay
65.                 IF PEEK(1047) MOD 16 <> 7 AND PEEK(1047) MOD 16 <> 8 THEN
66.                     IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) = CHR$(26) THEN
67.                         ''''''''PRINT " ";
68.                         COLOR , Black: t$ = " "
69.                         PSL 6 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt, t$
70.                         COLOR DarkOrange
71.                         flag = -999
72.                         EXIT DO
73.                     END IF
74.                     IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) = CHR$(27) THEN
75.                         IF LEN(initials$) THEN
76.                             i = ASC(RIGHT$(initials$, 1)) - 66: IF i < 0 THEN i = 0
77.                             initials$ = MID$(initials$, 1, LEN(initials$) - 1)
78.                             COLOR , Black: t$ = " "
79.                             PSL 6 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt, t$
80.                             COLOR DarkOrange
81.                             nxt = nxt - 1
82.  
83.                             flag = -2
84.                         END IF
85.                     ELSE
86.                         initials$ = initials$ + MID$(bar$, i, 1)
87.                         bar$ = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" + CHR$(27) + CHR$(27) + CHR$(27)
88.                         i = 26
89.                         flag = -1
90.                     END IF
91.                     EXIT DO
92.                 END IF
93.             LOOP
94.             IF flag THEN EXIT DO
95.         LOOP
96.         IF flag = -999 THEN flag = 0: EXIT DO
97.         IF flag <> -2 THEN
98.             IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) <> CHR$(27) THEN nxt = nxt + 1 ELSE i = 0
99.         END IF
100.     ELSE
101.         _DELAY .5
102.     END IF
103.     flag = 0
104. LOOP
105. DEF SEG
106.  
107. SUB PSL (y, x, t$)
108.     _PRINTSTRING ((x - 1) * _FONTWIDTH, (y - 1) * _FONTHEIGHT), t$
109.     Overlay_Hardware = _COPYIMAGE(Overlay, 33)
110.  
111.     _PUTIMAGE (0, 0), Overlay_Hardware
112.     _DISPLAY
113.  
114. END SUB
115.  

Pete

EDIT SOLVED!

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. $COLOR:32
2. Screen0 = _NEWIMAGE(80, 25, 0)
3. SCREEN Screen0
4. swidth = _WIDTH
5.  
6. DIM SHARED Overlay
7.  
8. DEFINT I
9. DIM SHARED lmargin%, rmargin%, topmargin%, screenwidth%, level, ibk, ileadingrow
10. DIM SHARED irow, icol, inextrnd, imaxalienmissiles, alienforce%, ileadingmax, imaxalienforce, ihits, score$
11.  
12. _SCREENMOVE _MIDDLE
13.  
14. Overlay = _NEWIMAGE(_WIDTH * _FONTWIDTH, _HEIGHT * _FONTHEIGHT, 32)
15.  
16. _DEST Overlay
17.  
18. font = _LOADFONT("lucon.ttf", 20, "monospace")
19. IF font <= 0 THEN font = 16
20. _FONT font
21.  
22. bxy% = 3.5
23. bxx% = 13 '27
24. COLOR DarkOrange, 0
25. t$ = " " + CHR$(218) + STRING$(27, CHR$(196)) + CHR$(191) + " "
26. PSL bxy%, bxx% - 1, t$
27. FOR i = 1 TO 11
28.     t$ = " " + CHR$(179) + STRING$(27, CHR$(32)) + CHR$(179) + " "
29.     PSL bxy% + i, bxx% - 1, t$
30. NEXT
31. t$ = " " + CHR$(192) + STRING$(27, CHR$(196)) + CHR$(217) + " "
32. PSL bxy% + i, bxx% - 1, t$
33.  
34. COLOR Black, DarkOrange
35. t$ = "    NAME   SCORE    DATE   "
36. PSL bxy% + 1, bxx% + 1, t$
37.  
38. COLOR DarkOrange, 0
39. FOR i = 1 TO 5
40.     t$ = hsdata$(i)
41.     PSL bxy% + 1 + i * 2, bxx% + 1, t$
42. NEXT
43.  
44.  
45. DEF SEG = 0
46. initials$ = "": delay = .4
47. i = 0
48. bar$ = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" + CHR$(27) + CHR$(27) + CHR$(27)
49. lscr = 14
50. DO
51.     IF PEEK(1047) MOD 16 = 7 OR PEEK(1047) MOD 16 = 8 THEN
52.         DO
53.             i = i + 1
54.             COLOR , Black: t$ = " "
55.             PSL 6 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt, t$
56.             IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) = CHR$(27) AND LEN(initials$) = 0 THEN i = 1 ' No go back symbol shown on first initial.
57.             IF i > LEN(bar$) THEN i = 1
58.             COLOR DarkOrange: t$ = MID$(bar$, i, 1)
59.             PSL 6 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt + i, t$
60.             z1 = TIMER
61.             IF LEN(initials$) = 3 THEN
62.                 bar$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(26) + CHR$(26) + CHR$(26) + CHR$(27)
63.             END IF
64.             _DISPLAY ' <-------------------------Moved it here from the sub.
65.             DO UNTIL ABS(TIMER - z1) > delay
66.                 IF PEEK(1047) MOD 16 <> 7 AND PEEK(1047) MOD 16 <> 8 THEN
67.                     IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) = CHR$(26) THEN
68.                         ''''''''PRINT " ";
69.                         COLOR , Black: t$ = " "
70.                         PSL 6 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt, t$
71.                         COLOR DarkOrange
72.                         flag = -999
73.                         EXIT DO
74.                     END IF
75.                     IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) = CHR$(27) THEN
76.                         IF LEN(initials$) THEN
77.                             i = ASC(RIGHT$(initials$, 1)) - 66: IF i < 0 THEN i = 0
78.                             initials$ = MID$(initials$, 1, LEN(initials$) - 1)
79.                             COLOR , Black: t$ = " "
80.                             PSL 6 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt, t$
81.                             COLOR DarkOrange
82.                             nxt = nxt - 1
83.  
84.                             flag = -2
85.                         END IF
86.                     ELSE
87.                         initials$ = initials$ + MID$(bar$, i, 1)
88.                         bar$ = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" + CHR$(27) + CHR$(27) + CHR$(27)
89.                         i = 26
90.                         flag = -1
91.                     END IF
92.                     EXIT DO
93.                 END IF
94.             LOOP
95.             IF flag THEN EXIT DO
96.         LOOP
97.  
98.         IF flag = -999 THEN flag = 0: EXIT DO
99.         IF flag <> -2 THEN
100.             IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) <> CHR$(27) THEN nxt = nxt + 1 ELSE i = 0
101.         END IF
102.     ELSE
103.         _DELAY .5
104.     END IF
105.     flag = 0
106. LOOP
107. DEF SEG
108.  
109. SUB PSL (y, x, t$)
110.     _PRINTSTRING ((x - 1) * _FONTWIDTH, (y - 1) * _FONTHEIGHT), t$
111.     Overlay_Hardware = _COPYIMAGE(Overlay, 33)
112.  
113.     _PUTIMAGE (0, 0), Overlay_Hardware
114.  
115.     ' --------------> Moved this out of sub and into main: _DISPLAY
116. END SUB
117.  

I had to move the _DISPLAY out of the sub, for some reason I still haven't figured out. I just took a shot at it. Bullet casings everywhere!

Edit: Well moving did cut the number of _DISPLAY calls in half, if that was the issue. Now it prints the blank space and then the next letter before it cycles to _DISPLAY again. Before, it printed the blank character, displayed it, and then the next character, and displayed it. Weird. Graphics stuff is just weird. SCREEN 0 up Mr. Sulu, and phasers on _FULLSCREEN.

Pete out

[SMcNeill]

_DISPLAY turns off the autodisplay which updates your screen automagically.  Once you call it, you'll either need to call _DISPLAY again to update the screen, or else you'll need to turn _AUTODISPLAY back on.

[Pete]

@SMcNeill  Well I think I've got it worked into the previous routine. I like the effect. It's a keeper.

Strange it's  bit of trial and error with matching colors using OUT vs _RGB() It seems like...

            OUT &H3C9, 6
            OUT &H3C9, 6
            OUT &H3C9, 6

Perfect choice for Halloween, right? matched RGB(24, 24, 24)

Code has file creation disabled. No file will be created if used as is.

Oh, if anyone trying this has not tried the ASCII Invaders game in the "Competition" thread, you enter your initials using just the Alt key. Hold it down to file through letters. Release it when your letter comes up. Wait for the arrow back symbol to appear, after "Z" to go back and redo. After the 3rd initial is input, hold the Alt key down again. You will have the choice of arrow back to correct, and arrow forward. Release Alt on the arrow forward symbol to finish.

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. $COLOR:32
2. Screen0 = _NEWIMAGE(80, 25, 0)
3. SCREEN Screen0
4. swidth = _WIDTH
5.  
6. DIM SHARED Overlay
7. REDIM SHARED hsdata$(6), highscore$(6)
8. hsdata$(1) = "01  BBB  065000  10-19-21"
9. hsdata$(2) = "02  CCC  053460  10-17-21"
10. hsdata$(3) = "03  DDD  045700  10-17-21"
11. hsdata$(4) = "04  EEE  034780  10-16-21"
12. hsdata$(5) = "05  FFF  025890  10-12-21"
13. FOR i = 1 TO 5
14.     highscore$(i) = MID$(hsdata$(i), 10, 6)
15. NEXT
16.  
17. DIM SHARED intro%: intro% = -1
18.  
19. skip_intro:
20. DEFINT I
21. DIM SHARED lmargin%, rmargin%, topmargin%, screenwidth%, level, ibk, ileadingrow
22. DIM SHARED irow, icol, inextrnd, imaxalienmissiles, alienforce%, ileadingmax, imaxalienforce, ihits, score$
23.  
24. _SCREENMOVE _MIDDLE
25.  
26. score$ = "069000"
27. imaxalienforce = 6
28. imaxalienmissiles = 3
29. lmargin% = 2
30. rmargin% = 79
31. topmargin% = 3
32. ialiencolstat = 6
33. iwin = 3 ' 3 Levels.
34. screenwidth% = rmargin% - lmargin% + 1
35. ibk = 0 ' Background color
36.  
37. REM Make aliens
38. a1$ = "^^" + CHR$(79) + "^^  "
39. a$ = a1$ + a1$ + a1$ + a1$ + a1$ + a1$ + a1$ + a1$ + a1$ + a1$
40. alt1$ = "--" + CHR$(79) + "--  "
41. a$ = a1$ + alt1$ + a1$ + alt1$ + a1$ + alt1$ + a1$ + alt1$ + a1$ + alt1$
42. alt$ = alt1$ + a1$ + alt1$ + a1$ + alt1$ + a1$ + alt1$ + a1$ + alt1$ + a1$
43.  
44. DIM SHARED a(imaxalienforce) AS STRING * 68
45.  
46. CALL qbide
47.  
48. COLOR 8, 0
49. ialiencol = ialiencolstat
50. LOCATE 5, ialiencol
51. FOR i = 1 TO imaxalienforce
52.     IF i MOD 1 = 0 THEN PRINT
53.     LOCATE , ialiencol
54.     IF i = imaxalienforce THEN
55.         ileadingrow = CSRLIN: ileadingmax = ileadingrow
56.     END IF
57.     IF i \ 2 = i / 2 THEN a(i) = a$ ELSE a(i) = alt$
58.     PRINT a(i)
59. NEXT
60. _DELAY 3
61.  
62. CALL displayhighscores
63.  
64. WHILE LEN(INKEY$): WEND ' Clear keyboard buffer in case user pressed a key during program run.
65. a$ = INPUT$(1)
66. SYSTEM
67.  
68. SUB PSLC (y, x, t$)
69.     _PRINTSTRING ((x - 1), (y - 1) * _FONTHEIGHT), t$
70. END SUB
71.  
72. SUB PSL (y, x, t$)
73.     _PRINTSTRING ((x - 1) * _FONTWIDTH, (y - 1) * _FONTHEIGHT), t$
74.     Overlay_Hardware = _COPYIMAGE(Overlay, 33)
75.     _PUTIMAGE (0, 0), Overlay_Hardware
76. END SUB
77.  
78. SUB underline (y, x)
79.     STATIC ucnt
80.     ucnt = -ucnt - 1
81.     IF ucnt THEN COLOR DarkOrange, _RGB(24, 24, 24): t$ = "_" ELSE COLOR , _RGB(24, 24, 24): t$ = " "
82.     _PRINTSTRING ((x - 1) * _FONTWIDTH, (y - 1) * _FONTHEIGHT + 4), t$
83.     Overlay_Hardware = _COPYIMAGE(Overlay, 33)
84.     _PUTIMAGE (0, 0), Overlay_Hardware
85.     IF unct = 0 THEN COLOR DarkOrange
86. END SUB
87.  
88. SUB qbide
89.     PALETTE 2, 59
90.     COLOR 15, 0
91.     CLS
92.  
93.     COLOR 0, 7
94.     LOCATE 1, 1
95.     PRINT SPACE$(80)
96.     LOCATE 1, 1: PRINT "   File  Edit  View  Search  Run  Debug  Calls  Options                   Help"
97.  
98.     COLOR 7, 0 ' Black background.
99.  
100.     LOCATE 2, 1: PRINT CHR$(218)
101.     LOCATE 2, 2: PRINT STRING$(78, CHR$(196))
102.     LOCATE 2, 80: PRINT CHR$(191)
103.  
104.     LOCATE 2, 76: PRINT CHR$(180)
105.     LOCATE 2, 78: PRINT CHR$(195)
106.  
107.     COLOR 0, 7
108.     LOCATE 2, 77: PRINT CHR$(24)
109.     LOCATE 2, 36: PRINT " Untitled "
110.  
111.     COLOR 7, 0
112.     FOR Rows = 3 TO 24
113.         LOCATE Rows, 1: PRINT CHR$(179);
114.         LOCATE Rows, 80: PRINT CHR$(179);
115.     NEXT Rows
116.  
117.     COLOR 0, 3: LOCATE 25, 1: PRINT " <Shift+F1=Help> <F6=Window> <F2=Subs> <F5=Run> <F8=Step> ";
118.     LOCATE 25, 59: PRINT SPACE$(4);
119.     COLOR 0, 3
120.     LOCATE 25, 63: PRINT CHR$(179);
121.     LOCATE 25, 64: PRINT SPACE$(6);
122.     LOCATE 25, 68: PRINT "C  00001:001 ";
123.  
124. END SUB
125.  
126. SUB displayhighscores
127.  
128.     COLOR 0, 3
129.     LOCATE 25, 68: PRINT "Score "; score$;
130.  
131.     DIM hs AS STRING * 25
132.     ''''''''''''''REDIM highscore$(6), hsdata$(6)
133.     DO
134.         IF _FILEEXISTS("ascii-invaders-high-score.dat") THEN
135.             '''OPEN "ascii-invaders-high-score.dat" FOR RANDOM AS #1 LEN = 25
136.             '''FOR i = 1 TO 5
137.             '''  GET #1, i, hs
138.             '''highscore$(i) = MID$(hs, 10, 6): hsdata$(i) = hs
139.             '''NEXT
140.             '''CLOSE #1
141.         ELSE
142.             '''FOR i = 1 TO 5
143.             ''' hsdata$(i) = SPACE$(25)
144.             '''NEXT
145.         END IF
146.  
147.         IF VAL(score$) > VAL(highscore$(5)) THEN
148.  
149.             IF VAL(score$) > VAL(highscore$(1)) THEN
150.                 msg$ = " <<< HIGH SCORE / Enter Your Initials >>> "
151.             ELSE
152.                 msg$ = " <<< Top 5 Score. Enter Your Initials >>> "
153.             END IF
154.  
155.             GOSUB hiscore
156.  
157.             a = 14
158.             OUT &H3C8, 0
159.             OUT &H3C9, 20 - a
160.             OUT &H3C9, 20 - a
161.             OUT &H3C9, 20 - a
162.  
163.             OUT &H3C8, 8
164.             OUT &H3C9, 30 - a
165.             OUT &H3C9, 30 - a
166.             OUT &H3C9, 30 - a
167.  
168.             OUT &H3C8, 7
169.             OUT &H3C9, 30 - a
170.             OUT &H3C9, 30 - a
171.             OUT &H3C9, 30 - a
172.  
173.             OUT &H3C8, 3
174.             OUT &H3C9, 30 - a
175.             OUT &H3C9, 30 - a
176.             OUT &H3C9, 30 - a
177.  
178.             _DELAY .5
179.  
180.             '''''''''PRINT VAL(score$), VAL(highscore$(1)), highscore$(1): END '''''''''''''
181.             COLOR 6, 0
182.             LOCATE 4, 41 - LEN(msg$) \ 2
183.             PRINT msg$;
184.  
185.             LOCATE 4, 41 - LEN(msg$) \ 2
186.             COLOR 6 + 16, 0
187.             PRINT msg$;
188.             _DELAY 2
189.             COLOR 6, 0
190.             LOCATE 4, 41 - LEN(msg$) \ 2
191.             PRINT msg$;
192.  
193.             GOSUB hardware_overlay
194.  
195.             DEF SEG = 0
196.             initials$ = "": delay = .33
197.             i = 0
198.             bar$ = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" + CHR$(27) + CHR$(27)
199.             lscr = 19
200.             DO
201.                 _LIMIT 60
202.                 IF PEEK(1047) MOD 16 = 7 OR PEEK(1047) MOD 16 = 8 THEN
203.                     DO
204.                         _LIMIT 60
205.                         i = i + 1
206.                         underline 5 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt
207.                         COLOR , _RGB(24, 24, 24): t$ = " "
208.                         PSL 5 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt, t$
209.                         IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) = CHR$(27) AND LEN(initials$) = 0 THEN i = 1 ' No go back symbol shown on first initial.
210.                         IF i > LEN(bar$) THEN i = 1 ' loop.
211.                         COLOR DarkOrange: t$ = MID$(bar$, i, 1)
212.                         PSL 5 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt, t$
213.                         z1 = TIMER
214.                         IF LEN(initials$) = 3 THEN
215.                             bar$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(26) + CHR$(26) + CHR$(26) + CHR$(27)
216.                         ELSE
217.                             bar$ = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" + CHR$(27) + CHR$(27)
218.                         END IF
219.                         _DISPLAY ' <-------------------------Moved it here from the sub.
220.                         DO UNTIL ABS(TIMER - z1) > delay
221.                             IF PEEK(1047) MOD 16 <> 7 AND PEEK(1047) MOD 16 <> 8 THEN
222.                                 IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) = CHR$(26) THEN
223.                                     COLOR , _RGB(24, 24, 24): t$ = " "
224.                                     PSL 5 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt, t$
225.                                     COLOR DarkOrange
226.                                     flag = -999
227.                                     EXIT DO
228.                                 END IF
229.                                 IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) = CHR$(27) THEN
230.                                     IF LEN(initials$) THEN
231.                                         i = ASC(RIGHT$(initials$, 1)) - 66: IF i < 0 THEN i = 0
232.                                         initials$ = MID$(initials$, 1, LEN(initials$) - 1)
233.                                         nxt = nxt - 1
234.                                         COLOR , _RGB(24, 24, 24): t$ = "  "
235.                                         PSL 5 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt, t$
236.                                         COLOR DarkOrange
237.                                         flag = -2
238.                                     END IF
239.                                 ELSE
240.                                     initials$ = initials$ + MID$(bar$, i, 1)
241.                                     nxt = nxt + 1
242.                                     i = 26
243.                                     flag = -1
244.                                 END IF
245.                                 EXIT DO
246.                             END IF
247.                         LOOP
248.                         IF flag THEN EXIT DO
249.                     LOOP
250.  
251.                     IF flag = -999 THEN flag = 0: EXIT DO
252.                     IF flag <> -2 THEN
253.                         IF MID$(bar$, i, 1) = CHR$(27) THEN i = 0
254.                     END IF
255.                 ELSE
256.                     underline 5 + rank * 2, lscr + nxt
257.                     _DISPLAY
258.                     _DELAY .2
259.                 END IF
260.                 flag = 0
261.                 COLOR _RGB(24, 24, 24), 0: t$ = "____"
262.                 _PRINTSTRING ((lscr - 1) * _FONTWIDTH, (5 + rank * 2 - 1) * _FONTHEIGHT + 4), t$
263.                 Overlay_Hardware = _COPYIMAGE(Overlay, 33)
264.                 _PUTIMAGE (0, 0), Overlay_Hardware
265.                 _DISPLAY
266.                 COLOR DarkOrange
267.             LOOP
268.             DEF SEG
269.  
270.             hsname$ = initials$
271.  
272.             MID$(hsdata$(rank), 5, 3) = hsname$ + SPACE$(3 - LEN(hsname$))
273.             OPEN "ascii-invaders-high-score.dat" FOR RANDOM AS #1 LEN = 25
274.             FOR i = 1 TO 5
275.                 hs = hsdata$(i)
276.                 IF LEFT$(hs, 1) = "" THEN MID$(hs, 1, 2) = "0" + LTRIM$(STR$(i))
277.                 PUT #1, i, hs
278.             NEXT
279.             CLOSE #1
280.  
281.             SOUND 700, .3: _DELAY .2: SOUND 1100, .3: _DELAY .2: SOUND 1400, .3
282.             _DELAY 1
283.             _DISPLAY ' Remove scoreboard.
284.             _DELAY 1
285.             _FREEIMAGE Overlay
286.             _FONT 16 'select inbuilt 8x16 default font
287.             _FREEFONT font
288.  
289.             _DEST 0 'Reset dest back to the normal screen 0.
290.  
291.             _AUTODISPLAY
292.             COLOR 6, 0
293.             msg$ = SPACE$(40)
294.             LOCATE 4, 41 - LEN(msg$) \ 2
295.             PRINT msg$;
296.             _DELAY 1
297.  
298.             EXIT DO
299.         ELSE
300.             EXIT DO ' Not in the top 5 highest scores so exit sub.
301.         END IF
302.     LOOP
303.     EXIT SUB
304.  
305.     hardware_overlay:
306.     Overlay = _NEWIMAGE(_WIDTH * _FONTWIDTH, _HEIGHT * _FONTHEIGHT, 32)
307.  
308.     _DEST Overlay
309.     _DISPLAY ' Turn autodisplay off.
310.  
311.     font = _LOADFONT("lucon.ttf", 20, "monospace")
312.     IF font <= 0 THEN font = 16
313.     _FONT font
314.  
315.     bxy% = 4
316.     bxx% = 13
317.     COLOR DarkOrange, 0
318.     t$ = " " + CHR$(218) + STRING$(27, CHR$(196)) + CHR$(191) + " "
319.     PSL bxy%, bxx% - 1, t$
320.     FOR i = 1 TO 11
321.         t$ = " " + CHR$(179) + STRING$(27, CHR$(32)) + CHR$(179) + " "
322.         PSL bxy% + i, bxx% - 1, t$
323.     NEXT
324.     t$ = " " + CHR$(192) + STRING$(27, CHR$(196)) + CHR$(217) + " "
325.     PSL bxy% + i, bxx% - 1, t$
326.  
327.     COLOR 0, DarkOrange
328.     t$ = "    NAME   SCORE    DATE   "
329.     PSL bxy% + 1, bxx% + 1, t$
330.  
331.     COLOR DarkOrange, 0
332.     FOR i = 1 TO 5
333.         t$ = hsdata$(i)
334.         PSL bxy% + 1 + i * 2, bxx% + 2, t$
335.     NEXT
336.  
337.     _DISPLAY
338.  
339.     RETURN
340.  
341.     hiscore:
342.     FOR i = 1 TO 5
343.         IF VAL(score$) > VAL(highscore$(i)) THEN rank = i: EXIT FOR
344.     NEXT
345.  
346.     hsdata$(6) = SPACE$(25)
347.     MID$(hsdata$(6), 10, 6) = score$
348.     MID$(hsdata$(6), 18, 8) = MID$(DATE$, 1, 6) + MID$(DATE$, 9, 2)
349.     highscore$(6) = score$
350.     FOR i = 1 TO 6
351.         FOR j = 1 TO 6
352.             IF i <> j THEN
353.                 IF VAL(highscore$(i)) > VAL(highscore$(j)) THEN
354.                     SWAP highscore$(i), highscore$(j)
355.                     SWAP hsdata$(i), hsdata$(j)
356.                 END IF
357.             END IF
358.         NEXT
359.     NEXT
360.     FOR i = 1 TO 5
361.         MID$(hsdata$(i), 1, 2) = "0" + LTRIM$(STR$(i))
362.     NEXT
363.  
364.     RETURN
365.  
366. END SUB
367.  

Pete

[SMcNeill]

Use _PALETTECOLOR.  Much easier than the old caveman way and it works with _RGB automatically.

_PALETTECOLOR 14, _RGB32(255, 128, 64)

or use _RGBA32 if you want to include alpha channels.

[FellippeHeitor]

_RGB32 can take an extra fourth alpha parameter too. _RGBA32 remains for retrocompatibility, but it became unnecessary with v1.3 I think.

Also:

1 parameter: _RGB32(255) is the same as _RGB32(255, 255, 255)

2 parameters: _RGB32(255, 30) is the same as _RGB32(255, 255, 255, 30)

3 parameters is the default RGB setting.

4 parameters is RGBA.

[Pete]

Are you guys trying to make my head explode? If so, you'll have to come over and clean up the mess. And Steve says... No worries, I'll bring the half-a-napkin and Fell can bring the dust pan.

Kidding aside, it's pretty amazing how much the coding slows to a crawl when one is not familiar with just a half a dozen statements. It just isn't at that intuitive point yet; but I've always credited BASIC with being the most intuitive language available; so, this old goat will chew through it and have it digested before he kicks the can. Farm references provided so Steve will find my reply more intuitive.

Thanks guys! 🤯

Pete