Quads

I hear this is the best way to achieve 2D using 3D, which is faster and better than any other way. Possibly.

Except I haven't a clue where to start. Are there any guides available, or does anyone have any pointers? Thanks.

/me imagines frying crayons

http://www.blitzbasic.com/codearcs/codearcs.php?code=978

Here's a single-surface collection including a 2d in 3d system that should work pretty well, and if you want to write your own it shouldn't be to hard to dig out the quad creation commands.

Hi Crayola,

I've mailed you some old code for doing 2D in 3D, I can't remember exactly who created it, I suspect it was 'JP' (John Pickford?) by one of the graphics file names, does anyone recall the code with Ermintrude the cow graphics? :)

I'm confident the author made it public at the time, if anyone remembers & can shed more light, please let us know!


Cheers
Tom

Cheers. I'll play around with that when I get the chance (and get my internet connection at home so I can try it out).

Maybe I'll be able to fire something up this week.

Tom,

Yes that's my code (the one wit Ermintrude). Feel free to use it.

Some people have since told me that rebuilding the mesh each frame is quicker than modifying a fixed mesh (what I'm doing in there).

I might re-work the code with this technique and repost it.

My initial tests indicated that modifying the mesh is slightly faster, but that the difference was so negligable, that it really made no practical difference.

I went with the clearing and rebuilding method because it was simpler for my needs.

Clearing and rebuilding would be like a CLS command, so it's quite likely I'll go with that and see how the results are. I'd have a function that updates the screen by clearing it, and replacing any graphics in their new position, just like I would using DrawImage.

I also have a lovely sheep, but that's another matter.