Search found 13 matches

by russell-s-harper
Fri Apr 19, 2024 1:59 am
Forum: CX16 General Chat
Topic: How to Use VERA FX "Line Helper"?
Replies: 15
Views: 5649

Re: How to Use VERA FX "Line Helper"?

Here's my progress to date: https://github.com/Russell-S-Harper/EXPLORE Directory cx16-v2 has an example of dual 16-color screens, with swapping during the VBI, and 16-color line drawing routines, all using VERA. Even though it's written in C and implements clipping, it's still about 25% faster than...
by russell-s-harper
Fri Apr 19, 2024 1:57 am
Forum: CX16 General Chat
Topic: VERA FX
Replies: 18
Views: 10900

Re: VERA FX

To answer my own question: Is there any chance of getting some examples for the helpers? ... There is now! https://github.com/Russell-S-Harper/EXPLORE Directory cx16-v2 has an example of dual 16-color screens, with swapping during the VBI, and 16-color line drawing routines, all using VERA. Even tho...
by russell-s-harper
Wed Apr 10, 2024 1:57 am
Forum: CX16 General Chat
Topic: How to Use VERA FX "Line Helper"?
Replies: 15
Views: 5649

Re: How to Use VERA FX "Line Helper"?

Thank you for reviewing. I saw that document, too, and was disappointed that there wasn't any sample code! Using 4-bit mode: Here's a screenshot using increments of always 160 and occasionally 1. /* Just line helper mode */ VERA_FX_CTRL = 0x01; ... /* Occasionally increment by 1 */ VERA_ADDRx_H = 0x...
by russell-s-harper
Tue Apr 09, 2024 2:19 am
Forum: CX16 General Chat
Topic: How to Use VERA FX "Line Helper"?
Replies: 15
Views: 5649

Re: How to Use VERA FX "Line Helper"?

Okay, getting closer. Because VERA as defined in cx16.h doesn't reflect VERA FX, I redefined them below. It didn't say which DATA to write to, but I guessed DATA1 and now it's drawing something, but like showing 15 points instead of 30, and it might be corrupting memory because some diagnostic strin...
by russell-s-harper
Mon Apr 08, 2024 4:03 pm
Forum: CX16 General Chat
Topic: VERA FX
Replies: 18
Views: 10900

Re: VERA FX

Is there any chance of getting some examples for the helpers? I'm finding the documentation very hard to follow. For example, I'm trying to use the "Line Helper" but it's like every time I read the documentation I find some other missing detail, and then I'm not sure where it fits in the s...
by russell-s-harper
Mon Apr 08, 2024 1:24 am
Forum: CX16 General Chat
Topic: How to Use VERA FX "Line Helper"?
Replies: 15
Views: 5649

How to Use VERA FX "Line Helper"?

I'm reading the FX documentation but it's very confusing. The version I have was downloaded January 2023, I'm pretty sure it's later than 0.3.1. This is the code I have. It's meant for 4-bit mode (a.k.a. 16-color). It doesn't work, just outputs some @ characters. Not what I'm looking for! I have man...
by russell-s-harper
Thu Apr 04, 2024 11:56 pm
Forum: CX16 General Chat
Topic: TGI functions and 4-bit or 16-color
Replies: 3
Views: 1475

TGI functions and 4-bit or 16-color

I'd like to be able to use 4-bit or 16-color with TGI. I have some existing line drawing functions, but the built-ins for TGI run approximately 3× faster, so would like to take advantage of them if possible. In C, this will configure VERA to 4-bit mode, so enough for two screens, and have it display...
by russell-s-harper
Sat Mar 09, 2024 12:32 am
Forum: CX16 General Chat
Topic: Does the CX16 emulator set to 8 MHz run at a similar speed to the actual hardware?
Replies: 16
Views: 2645

Re: Does the CX16 emulator set to 8 MHz run at a similar speed to the actual hardware?

Some optimizations were made to masking and extended memory handling. So now down to 0.66 s/frame, but still a long way from a 0.20 s/frame goal. I'm thinking about using VERA to render filled polygons, so instead of drawing from near to far and using masking, going in the opposite order, far to nea...
by russell-s-harper
Tue Mar 05, 2024 12:57 am
Forum: CX16 General Chat
Topic: Does the CX16 emulator set to 8 MHz run at a similar speed to the actual hardware?
Replies: 16
Views: 2645

Re: Does the CX16 emulator set to 8 MHz run at a similar speed to the actual hardware?

I managed to optimize the Basic Demo to improve the performance from 1.36 s/frame to 0.91 s/frame. While better, it's still far from the 0.20 s/frame goal. Add in a real scenario as in the DOSBox "Explore" Demo and achieving 0.20 s/frame is likely going to be very difficult. At the core of...
by russell-s-harper
Sat Mar 02, 2024 12:03 pm
Forum: CX16 General Chat
Topic: Does the CX16 emulator set to 8 MHz run at a similar speed to the actual hardware?
Replies: 16
Views: 2645

Re: Does the CX16 emulator set to 8 MHz run at a similar speed to the actual hardware?

Thanks for confirming that the speeds are comparable, I can look into optimizing. With VERA interfacing and extended memory, the CX16 code is already more complex than the DOSBox demo. It would be helpful to have a profiler to know what to optimize first. Both were written mostly in ANSI C. The DOSB...