Monday, April 22, 2013

Delphi XE4, very first impressions

First try with XE4 and I'm not able to compile:

BB framework, out of memory!:


HBF in debug mode (but I can in release mode, weird...), very weird message regarding generic collections:



Not a good start

Thursday, April 11, 2013

New HBF and BB versions, the big file version.

I've finally managed to put all data in the release version of HBF into one single compressed file (HBF.big), since many classes now incorporate the BigFile property.

BB framework and HBF are ready to be downloaded in the download section.

Other important changes are atmospheric effects, scanlines in order to simulate crt monitors and a brand new menu. Let's enumerate all the changes:

BB)
  • TSurfaceInfo removed, useless.
  • Some classes now inherit from TObjectEx rather than TComponentEx.
  • TFontEx does not longer inherit from TSpriteEngine but from TObjectEx.
  • TD3DDriver now calls Clear when trying to recover from lost operation, this fixes the weird errors when restoring the surfaces.
  • TAnimationSprite does not longer use a Pool but a dictionary for storing animations.
  • TPolygon does not longer use Pools.
  • TMaterial uses weak references.
  • Pool removed from TSpriteEngine.
  • TSpritePool removed.
  • TFontEx now has its own cache.
  • New TSurface.Lightning.
  • New BB.Debug unit.
  • Priority on maps removed since Z does the work.
  • TSpriteEngine now can load from TBigFile via BigFile property.
  • TMap and TLayer now can load from TBigFile via BigFile property.
  • Many classes with LoadFile() now get the filenames as parameter rather than properties.
  • Some little improvements in the TBigFile to make it more handy.
  • Some warnings removed.
  • FMod library is able to load from BigFile.
  • New BB.Screen.Menu menu class.
HFB)
  • New EffectDispatcher unit that can emit night, rain, snow, fog and darkness effects.
  • Thunder is shown when lightning.
  • New enemy demon.
  • New enemy fish.
  • Hero is also created in the sprite factory.
  • Memory issue when creating rotating platforms fixed.
  • New element trap door.
  • Map changes to include trap door.
  • New sound trap.
  • Fixed an issue with the RotatingDie option in birds, now set to False.
  • Scanlines added, they can be turned on/off in the .ini file.
  • Door is not longer an interface but a class.
  • HBF release mode is now able to load all files from the big file.
  • Music unit refactored.
  • Fixed some minor stuff when pausing and effects were executed.
  • When game finishes all sounds are stopped.
  • Constants renamed to GameTypes.
  • New default menu.
  • New setting class and file, all ini options moved.
Fog effect:

New menu:

Rain:

Night:

Snow: