Message-Id: <199711050028.TAA19964@delorie.com>
From: "Thanasis Liouros" <liouros AT hotmail DOT com>
To: djgpp-announce AT delorie DOT com
Subject: BETATRON v1.00b game library
Content-Type: text/plain
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 09:58:41 PST
Precedence: bulk
Precedence: bulk

                 BETATRON v1.00b game library announce.

I have uploaded the file btron10.zip, the BETATRON v1.00b high level
library for 2D platform and action arcade games. The file btron10.zip
can be found in the v2tk directory of all DJGPP mirror sites. 
(For SimTel the path is pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2tk )

The library is distributed under the GNU Library General Public License 
and thus is free. Also full source code is included (ASM/C++). 
BETATRON is a very specialized library, not a generic graphic engine
and it's also very fast. Some of its features are:

- written for DJGPP v2.00 C++ compiler
- standard vga modeX 320x200 and VESA 2.00 modes
- hardware and 'game world' abstraction, meaning that the user
  doesn't need to know about how to program the hardware or
  how to draw and clip sprites or perform scrolling etc.
- smooth animation controlled by the vertical retrace (60-70 fps)
- multiple layers, automating drawing, clipping and handling of         
sprites
- sophisticated scrolling algorithm which consumes very little 
  computing power
- pixel precise collision detection routine
- excellent bounding system with bounding surfaces of any shape
- action functions for easy and fast programming of the sprites
- sprite ranges
- sprite priority lists
- clustering grids
- timer handler and keyboard handler
- many bitmap formats including an RLE variant for VESA 2.00 modes
- various functions for raw buffers
- Windows 95 Compatibility  

The Author,
Liouros Thanasis, liouros AT hotmail DOT com