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Description

I'm mainly a hobbyist programmer (when not doing web design, which is a form of programming). One of the jobs that I like to get done at the start of a project is create the associated !sprite files. The only problem is I can never remember the sprite details. I have made numerous copies of the necessary files but never seem to be able to find them.

This software creates the standard sprite sets. It allows the user to decide which sprites they will create. The sprites created are all blank with the exception of the iconised sprite which has the basic details drawn in. By using this software the sprites are also created with the correct name format.

The software at present does not support RISC OS 4 sprites. The main reason for this is that I am not sure how these are supposed to be dealt with within an application. Different software companies seem to be using different methods of using the higher resolution sprites. Once I have a definitive answer the software will be updated.

Interesting Wimpbasic techniques.

The software makes full use of the RISC OS sprite calls. This proved a very frustrating period and the project took two years to complete. (Although that includes an 8 month break.)

The application loads in a dummy sprite that is big enough to allow the creation of all sprites. This dummy sprite is deleted fairly near the start. The sprite is needed to ensure that the internal workings of WimpBasic allocate enough memory for the task that we need.
The getspritememory() function is used to find the base address of the memory block which is then stored in a global variable.

The sprite details for the iconized sprite are kept in raw data files within the application. When the sprite is created the data is streamed from the datafile straight into the sprite, pixel by pixel. When the RISC OS 4 sprite file is added it will be a simple matter of adding one icon and four lines of code.The process does not slow the software down in the slightest.