"Pixie!"
Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 2:55 pm
Well, I'm not even sure uploading this may actually be useful to anyone - ever...
... anyway!
This is a drawing software I had been designing and writing in 1986. Please do not expect anything brilliant. The main raison for my designing this was that none of the currently available software (at that time, and for that machine) would do what I then needed them to. So I decided to try my own way and see for myself whether or not I would actually be able to do anything from scratch. And it was only intended for personal use.
But after sending fully functional copies to a few friends of mine, they did their very best to convince me that it was worth sending to some Dragon software publishers and have it distributed! This is how the user's guide was quickly born afterwards.
Basically, it was a matter of making most Dragon's graphic functions available under full joystick control (... the only keys used being in order to BOOT the software!). And a bit more... I did incorporate a "zooming" routine that had been published in "Dragon User", and I even "stole" a couple of icons (the "eye" icon was from "Manic Miner", and I seem to remember the "mouse" icon was from a LCD game ad I had found in a toys catalogue! But everything else was my very own work and, once again, it was only intended as a personal tool in the first place, nothing that was meant to ever reach outside my circle of friends associated with the Dragon). So, if anyone was ever offended by this, I want to apologize now.
Sending a copy provided a positive response from Harris Micro Software, who offered to distribute it since its spirit was close to the graphic environment the company provided (such as "Basic 42", etc.). And this is how an extra line appeared in the ads for that company, starting (I think) with the June 1986 issue (P. 31). I just could not believe I was listed in Dragon User as a genuine software author!
Since Mr. Harris was never to be heard from again afterwards, I assumed that he had either never sold any copy of "Pixie!" (... which would not be too surprising, actually), or decided to run away with the loot!
Earlier today, I did generate a user's guide in "Word" format, but I found out such a file may not be uploaded here. So it is available to anyone who has the ability to put it up for download from the archive. Please let me know whom I should mail it to (the file's size is only 114 KB).
One more thing: I'm not sure it can actually be used (...!) since control was heavily based on analog joystick reading. It looked easier to use it under "MESS", and merely impossible under "XRoar". Any ideas or help about this welcome.
One final word of warning. Due to the tight (to say the least) memory available on a Dragon 32, I remember eventually facing some "?OM" issues after working with the software for a while. The Basic code was made as compact as possible, and stack allocation was tight, too. Yet 32 KB are still 32 KB, which is not that much whenever two graphic pages are needed by the software.
This is something I'll be glad to discuss here. That is, should anyone be actually willing to!
... And, just to demonstrate the software could actually be used, you have to know the icons on the main screen were all created using Work In Progress versions of "Pixie!" : That says it all, does it not?!
P.S. ... And maybe it's far too many words here for such a piece of crap!
... anyway!
This is a drawing software I had been designing and writing in 1986. Please do not expect anything brilliant. The main raison for my designing this was that none of the currently available software (at that time, and for that machine) would do what I then needed them to. So I decided to try my own way and see for myself whether or not I would actually be able to do anything from scratch. And it was only intended for personal use.
But after sending fully functional copies to a few friends of mine, they did their very best to convince me that it was worth sending to some Dragon software publishers and have it distributed! This is how the user's guide was quickly born afterwards.
Basically, it was a matter of making most Dragon's graphic functions available under full joystick control (... the only keys used being in order to BOOT the software!). And a bit more... I did incorporate a "zooming" routine that had been published in "Dragon User", and I even "stole" a couple of icons (the "eye" icon was from "Manic Miner", and I seem to remember the "mouse" icon was from a LCD game ad I had found in a toys catalogue! But everything else was my very own work and, once again, it was only intended as a personal tool in the first place, nothing that was meant to ever reach outside my circle of friends associated with the Dragon). So, if anyone was ever offended by this, I want to apologize now.
Sending a copy provided a positive response from Harris Micro Software, who offered to distribute it since its spirit was close to the graphic environment the company provided (such as "Basic 42", etc.). And this is how an extra line appeared in the ads for that company, starting (I think) with the June 1986 issue (P. 31). I just could not believe I was listed in Dragon User as a genuine software author!
Since Mr. Harris was never to be heard from again afterwards, I assumed that he had either never sold any copy of "Pixie!" (... which would not be too surprising, actually), or decided to run away with the loot!
Earlier today, I did generate a user's guide in "Word" format, but I found out such a file may not be uploaded here. So it is available to anyone who has the ability to put it up for download from the archive. Please let me know whom I should mail it to (the file's size is only 114 KB).
One more thing: I'm not sure it can actually be used (...!) since control was heavily based on analog joystick reading. It looked easier to use it under "MESS", and merely impossible under "XRoar". Any ideas or help about this welcome.
One final word of warning. Due to the tight (to say the least) memory available on a Dragon 32, I remember eventually facing some "?OM" issues after working with the software for a while. The Basic code was made as compact as possible, and stack allocation was tight, too. Yet 32 KB are still 32 KB, which is not that much whenever two graphic pages are needed by the software.
This is something I'll be glad to discuss here. That is, should anyone be actually willing to!
... And, just to demonstrate the software could actually be used, you have to know the icons on the main screen were all created using Work In Progress versions of "Pixie!" : That says it all, does it not?!
P.S. ... And maybe it's far too many words here for such a piece of crap!