From:	"D. Huizenga" <skis AT concentric DOT net>
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject:	Allegro WishList -- Update
Date:	Mon, 06 Apr 1998 02:12:05 -0400
Organization:	Student
Lines:	174
Message-ID:	<35287235.5642E663@concentric.net>
NNTP-Posting-Host:	ts002d06.gps-mi.concentric.net
Mime-Version:	1.0
To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway:	from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

I don't think I've posted the list
here since it's conception.  I will
post the latest version of the list
here, if you want something added, 
go to my home page and submit
the form there. If you know of a wish
that has been answered, or that you
want to answer, please let me know.
Thanks.

(Please forgive me for the poor formatting,
 It is maintained in the HTML format, I
 didn't want to post that to the NG)
(If you're using NetScape, try setting
 your word wrap wider)


The Wishes For Allegro:
[Added on 3/22/98]
1. A windowing system in which each window contains 
a"standard" allegro dialog (using pointers). (I am 
already working on this, but it isn't going well). 
(Update: this project is on hold until I finish the 
General Media Player. I found out that I will probably 
have to try and redo most of do_dialog :-).

2. More documentation, preferably on more specific 
aspects of Allegro than the currently available 
documentation.


[Added 3/24/98]
3. ESS Audio Drive sound input drivers.

4. Editable, multi line text box. Like in Visual 
Basic. A rich text input routine would also be nice 
(It could just throw out most of the tags, and 
output plain text).


[Added 3/27/98]
5. Better example programs showing how to directly
access a memory bitmap in all depths (including 24bpp).

6. Sound Interpolation.

7. Dithering support (for 24bpp->8bpp, 24bpp->16bpp,
 and 24bpp->15bpp color conversions). 
Note: I didn't think that there would be any noticible 
degredation of image quality when putting a 24 bit 
bitmap on a 16 bit screen, but I've been told that 
there are certain bitmaps where a big difference 
can be seen.

8. Faster (if possible) floodfill() routine. 
(Apparently, he has a game which makes heavy 
use of it and is kind of slow..)

9. LFB support for native drivers.

10. Linux port done. 

11. Faster memory copies:
    A. Support for MMX (ie.: memory copies using 
       MMX instructions where available or 
       selectable by the user).
    B. Support for FPU copy (faster for Pentiums 
       and AMD´s, user selectable).

12. Special compression for sound files (LZW + u-law or alike).

13. MPEG or AVI video support (possibly as an addon).
Added [3/28/98]

14. Locked Interrupt-Driven Stream Callback Sound 
(Wouldn't this be impossible/impractical on some 
sound cards? (If I understand what he wants correctly :-) )

15. Overridables For Memory-Access 
(like an void*(*allegromalloc)() etc). This would allow 
users to make Allegro use their own memory manager.


Added [4/4/98]
16. A Pro Audio Spectrum 16/Logitech Soundman 16 
    audio driver

17. In the new WIP, instead of just updating the 
    docs, it would be nice to have something like 
    an addendum.txt, which contains all of the changes
    to the docs since the last "final" release. This
    way, you wouldn't have to re-print the entire thing
    to get a hard copy of the changes to the WIP.


The Wishes For Allegro Add Ons:
[Added 3/22/98]
1. Printer drivers, capbable of outputting in the 
   post script format, and possibly also in PCL.

2. IPX/TCP-IP Networking support

3. Windows sockets support (Not _Exactly_ the same 
   as above. This is like Quake1, while the one 
   above would use DOS drivers.


Wishes for change:
[Added on 3/22/98]
1. Fix the scroll bars on list boxes so that they 
   look like the ones on an Atari STe. Right 
   now they are inverted from a normal ST.


Answered Wishes:
[Added 3/24/98] (Thanks Shawn)

1. Gui/Windowing system (Sort Of)
There are already several addon packages 
that provide enhanced GUI routines. 
In particular, take a look at:
       http://huizen.dds.nl/~deleveld/degui.htm
http://moopws.csse.muroran-it.ac.jp/~kutch/mtd.htm       
http://www.cpedu.rug.nl/~N0772984/
*Note: As Far As I Know, none of these packages 
fullfill the origional wish for windows that 
contain Allegro dialogs. Please correct me
if I am wrong about this. 

2. There is a serial library available at
   ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2tk/allegro/dzcom052.zip.

3. CD Recording abilities are available in the current WIP.

4. Wave and Midi input are available in the current WIP.

5. Allegro tutorials can be found at
http://www.canvaslink.com/gfoot/vivace/ http://www.arcticnet.no/~ovek/allegro/ 

6. I would fix the scroll bars, but I am not sure of everybody 
   else's opinion. Let me know what you think.
Added [3/28/98]

7. More utilities, such a Draw Tool, 
   Tile-based games tools, etc.
      These can all be found in the 
      links/addons on the Allegro Home Page.

8. Do an Allegro general media player, with the ability
   to play audio, music, fli's/flics, show images, play
   CD's, etc. Possibly include basic image editing, and
   sound recording.
     Update:
	I am currently working on this. As soon as I feel
	 the code is ready to be posted, it will be on the 
	 General Media Player project page. This may take
	 a bit, because it uses the new Maintenence Release
	 of BGui that I am working on, and in an attempt to
	 make it easier to use, more Allegro compatable, and
	 more "Windows-Like", I introduced several new
	 problems/bugs that need to be worked on. Currently
	 I have the Main Module and the Sound Module
	 (or "Wave Module") written.


--
Dan Huizenga
Email: Skis AT Concentric DOT net
Visit my page: http://www.concentric.net/~skis
The Official Home Page of BGui and The Allegro Wishlist.
The Official Mirror Page of the G_Windows GenII Project.

{Finally got around to changing this. I think I posted       }
{the BGui .3 ANNOUNCE with the "BGui is untouched" one :-).. }

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