Games Master System V0.5B

G A M E S   M A S T E R   S Y S T E M
V0.5B NOW ON AMINET


The new version of the Games Master System (games.library) is now on
Aminet!  The filename is:

  pub/aminet/dev/misc/gms_dev.lha

This beta is being released in the hope that if you download it, you send
us some feedback.  Otherwise it will not be worth releasing future betas,
and they will become private access only.  As the project nears V1.0 it
becomes even more important that any mistakes or flaws are dealt with very
quickly, and that new ideas keep coming in.

CURRENT FEATURES OF THE GAMES MASTER SYSTEM

This is just a summary of the major features that have so far been
implemented.  Not all new features and changes have been documented here. 
For the complete low-down on all features of GMS check the developer
information files.

  NEW!
* Support for Multiple BOB image structures (MBOB's) for blitting many
  images from one structure.  Makes allowances for structure mutations (for
  storing extra program data with image entries).

  NEW!
* CPU assisted drawing with blitter functions, drawing speed is no longer
  limited to blitter throughput.  Added optional mask generation for BOBs
  on intitialisation.

  NEW!
* Internal resource tracking on memory allocations.  GMS will free
  resources that you have not deallocated when your program closes the
  library.  Warnings are given to help you fix any problems.

  NEW!
* Structure and object pre-processing, for compiling structures before
  run-time.  This makes GMS the first system to support up to 100% user
  editing of game data.

* Fast blitter functions for drawing BOB's, copying for screen buffers, 3
  different screen clears, auto background saving and clearing for BOB's. 
  Also includes Pixel and Line drawing functions, and support for list's
  for very fast mass-drawing operations.

* Full sprite support, and that is: All available sprite dimensions, colour
  table offsets, 16 colour sprites, width-doubled sprites, full animation
  support, lo-res, hi-res, and superhi-res support.

* Sound support includes: Support for sound priorities, intelligent dynamic
  channel play-back, channel modulation for special effects, IFF support.

* Proportional colour fading, functions are: PaletteMorph, ColourMorph,
  PaletteToColour and ColourToPalette.  Support for setting speed and
  colour ranges.

* Full support for raster/copperlists, with effects such as: Colourlists,
  Mirror, Flood, Screen and Sprite Splitting, and Palette changes.

* Allows you to support all different kinds of input devices (joysticks,
  joypads, mouse etc) through just one simple function call.  This enables
  you to support devices that don't even exist yet.

* Stable memory allocation and a freemem routine that will not crash your
  machine if you have written over your memory boundaries.

* Smart Saving and Loading of files, with automatic packing and depacking.
  Packer support covers files crunched with XPK (external), PowerPacker
  (internal), and RNC methods 1&2 (internal).

* 320k of assembler, E and C sources, demonstrating all uses of the
  library.

* All games can multi-task with no significant drop in speed or
  performance.

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