Codename: Alpha

Spent the last couple of sessions looking around the current code for a convenient place to start tweaking and adding, and decided on the various grids that are used as a visual aid. Currently there's the basic Grid (set at the current tile size), the Brush Grid (set to the current brush dimensions), and the Tile Grid (which overlays the Tile Panel).

At the monent these routines are reasonably well-integrated, but I'm torn between making my code streamline and modular (i.e. one routine that prints all 3 grids) as opposed to just slapping the code in where necessary and avoiding wasting cycles on function calls; ultimately it's cycles, not memory, that is likely to be my enemy, but I'm still not sure.

Once I was familiar with the code, I set about adding a transparency value for each of the grids; once it was in and working, the grids looked about a thousand times better (and the little highlighted pixels where the gridlines cross makes the grid appear reminiscent of graph paper). Finished off the session by adding a transparency value to the Brush plotting routine, and converted across the routine that allows the user to rename the current layer.

Fix Bug, Compile, Rinse, Repeat...

The past few days have been spent tidying up the code even further. Merging my two sets of code, I neglected to consider that my old code wasn't running in SuperStrict mode like the newer code, which meant fiddling around with a hefty pile of routines, making minor tweaks and compiling, followed by more tweaks and more compiling. Essentially, I paid the price of not keeping my code organised and properly structured - I learned a vlauable lesson (until the next time...).

However, the process has forced me to deal with a number of issues, particulalry the subtle differences between Blitz Plus and Blitz Max, so much of my upcoming conversion work will thankfully be a little more straightforward. Eseentially, I now have a rock-solid code base, and can now start importing routines one by one from FishEd (which is about time, as I also have a thousand-and-one neat ideas I want to add).

Or-Ga-Ni-Zation...

Today saw a welcome return to FishEd, and although not a super-long session, I wanted to evaluate the project thus far, and do a little housekeeping. First of all, I tidied up the screen layout a little, as I'd been throwing gadgets on screen and playing around with ideas without a care. I also took a grab of the screen layout and pasted it into PhotoShop - using a grid is a really easy way to quickly knock up button and GUI layouts that adhere to the various cross-platform rules.

Rounded off the session by going through all my junk files; FishEd's directory was a bit of a mess, and the Max directory now has two versions (one the original, one a cut-down version I send to test pilots). It doesn't pay to have two versions, however, and so a little time was spent tidying up the folders and merging files to bring the project back to just one version.