Grey Alien BMax Framework V1.02 (Oz version) out!

Miscellaneous Forums/Blitz Showcase/Grey Alien BMax Framework V1.02 (Oz version) out!

Yes, hot on the heels of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz release ( http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=64952 ), I'm proud to release V1.02 of the Grey Alien BlitzMax Game Framework which was actually used to make Oz!

This version has many improvements. Some of the larger ones include:
- New simple example projects to help get you started.
- TSlider Type. Great for music/sound volume on options page.
- TButton now supports animation. TMenu can now add animated buttons.
- TParticle improved including FadeIn, Sustain and Life capabilities.
- Icon setting improved.
- BMax Ogg file memory leak resolved.
- TProfile now stores which hints have been shown (great for casual games)
- TLoadingbar now supports custom images.
- Basic Armadillo (Software Passport) support.
- Enhanced error trapping and ini repair code added.
- Plus tons more stuff!

The framework is tried and tested, and already in use by many hobbyists and professionals (well over 50 customers!). Give the mini-game demo a whirl today and find out why it's so popular:

http://www.greyaliengames.com/aotmg/aotmg042.zip (5.76Mb)

Find out more about the framework here: http://www.greyaliengames.com/framework/faq.html

Watch a video here: www.greyaliengames.com/aotmg/aotmg.wmv (1.1Mb) (Note: any jerkiness is 100% due to video capture, not the framework.)

Why do you need it? Well do you...

- want the fun of making games without boring research, technical problems and tons of interface code?
- want your game to run on a wide range of PCs using an ultra smooth timing routine?
- want your game to have the same functionality as professional commercial games?
- want to plug your code straight into an OOP environment with tons of ready-made Types?

Then get the Grey Alien BlizMax Game Framework!



How To Play
-----------

Just move left and right and shoot the UFOs with Z, that's it for now...

Keys
----

Press <Esc> to exit the game.
Press <F> to toggle full screen/windowed mode.
Press <V> to toggle VSync on/off.
Press <G> to toggle DirectX/OpenGL.
Press <D> to bring up the debug display
Whilst in debug mode, press <J> to jump level.
Whilst in debug mode, press <R> to restart level.
Whilst in debug mode, press <T> to toggle fast (full speed).
Whilst in debug mode, press <L> to toggle slow motion.
Whilst in debug mode, press <I> to toggle Flip modes.
Whilst in debug mode, press <A> to toggle anti-lag fix.
Whilst in debug mode, press <N> to toggle No Timing.
Press <P> to pause the game.
Press <Q> to quit the game.
Press <S> to toggle sound on/off.
Press <M> to toggle music on/off.
Press <-> and <=> to adjust sound volume.
Press <F12> to take a screenshot.
Press <Ctrl+X> to exit the game instantly.


Summary of features (in no particular order):
Smooth Fixed Rate Logic timing. 
Dynamically change between Full-Screen and Windowed Mode. 
Dynamically change between DirectX and OpenGL. 
Windowed mode has working minimise and close buttons. 
Game and music pauses whenever focus is lost. 
Full icon support. 
Ini file to save user settings. 
Extensive debug suite. 
Take screenshots with F12. 
Integrated mouse pointer. 
Sound and music functions. 
Particle engine. 
Sprite type. 
Button type. 
Menu type. 
Font and Label types. 
Animation type for handling multi-phase animations. 
Splash screen. 
Loading screen. 
Title screen. 
Fully working options screen. 
Fully working Player Profile Manager dialog. 
Dialog type extended to DialogOK, DialogYesNo and DialogTextInput. 
Load, save and enter High Scores. 
Other example screens such as Level Complete, Game Complete, Game Over, and Credits. 
Select Level Map which zooms and scrolls. 
Example types such as Player (with shield, lives, target, and level), Bullet, Alien etc. 
Fast fade. 
Manage multiple game screens easily. 
Top-level general error handling including auto-resetting the ini file upon crash. 
Event-based input instead of PolledInput. 
BlitzMax fixes and workarounds. 
And more!
(For a full list of features, please see the FAQ.)


*********************************************************
The Game Framework (Windows only) is a collection of files that you can use to make a professional quality game. It also comes with an example mini-game called Attack of the Mutant Greys.

You can buy it for £29.95, €43.50 or $54.95 (please ask for prices in other currencies). This gives you a royalty free licence to use the code for freeware and commercial projects. You will receive FREE updates as and when they become available.

To buy it, please go here: http://www.greyaliengames.com/contact.php and use the appropriate Paypal donate button (this is my preferred method).
Or use Share-it! https://secure.shareit.com/shareit/checkout.html?PRODUCT[300072102]=1
If you are based in the U.K. and want to pay by cheque or postal order, please email me (my email address is in my blitz profile and on my website).
*********************************************************

Once again, thanks go to everyone on the forums who has offered advice and helped with testing. Also MEGA-ULTRA thanks go out to all my loyal customers for your continued support and good vibes :-D

Don't delay, try it today!

Great stuff Grey. Looking forward to receiving the update!

just about to email it...

Oops. I just posted in your other thread. I've just received it. Nice one Grey :D

looking forward to it grey. BTW, i finnaly started a new project...wooohooo! Its for the next shmp-dev competition...

Neuro: you should have it by now... Great so make a mega shooter with it. I'm jealous as I wnted to enter that autofire compo. I look forward to seeing your entry!

Looking good. My only comment is our example screenshots do not have very good `color`. The saturation is low, they are altogether kind of grey and I think it would help to sell even more if your examples had better graphics. That said it's a nice framework. :-)

Interesting. Maybe the jpg conversion makes them a bit washed out unless the graphics are just greyish throught. Yeah nice new graphics would be a bonus but I'm not ultra skilled in that dept...

The graphics in your signature (Wizard of Oz) don't look to shabby.....

yeah it's a shame it's so big haha, but I wanted their faces in it.

Can you resend? I dont think i got it....

yep will do now...

Last night I found out a workaround to a BMax problem where DirectX isn't always detected on PCs even when it's intalled. So now the framework will autoswitch to OpenGL and if that fails it will make a nice error. This will be out in V1.03.

Didn't get 1.02, could you please resend ? Or if it's not going to be long till .03 I can wait.....

no I'll sent it. Weird how lots of people didn't get it. Tell me if you don't get it. Sorry about this.

to all the people that recently posted, Blitzbasic.com lost a day's worth of posts, but anyway I resent your frameworks. If you still don't have it, please post again.

Grey send mine, I ordered it! :)

Still not received it Grey, those pesky email gremlins {;->

I think it's funny how you sent me an email asking me to tell you if I don't receive the email. :D

maybe that one got through

Thanks grey, went through this time...

Grey send mine, I ordered it! :)
you bet sir! Thanks very much.

BlitzPliter (haha cool typo). Hmm weird, I'll make a special download link for you...[edit]check your email.

TomToad: Haha, yeah kinda like "if you can't read this, you need glasses". Well actually the idea was that maybe small emails with no attachments got through but not the big ones with .zips.

Neuro: great.

I gotta sort out this delivery mechanism but I'm a bit dubious of just leaving the latest version online as there is no key to lock it.

Some good news: One of my customers, John Gilmore, has sent me some tweaks to make sure that it totally compiles on Mac. He says "I was amazed when the game popped up and it seems fully playable in full screen mode!!" Cool. This code will be out in V1.03. Some of the Windows features are still missing but the point is that the code compiles :-)

@Grey: Yeah, I figured as much, but then again, if someone doesn't reply, does that mean they got the framework or does it mean they didn't get the message telling us not to reply?

Yeah maybe next time I should just get everyone to reply and keep trying for those who don't...I dunno.

I didn't get it yet Grey

wah! OK I'll send a link (DONE). Did you get the first email I sent saying that it was on the way?

no, and emails usually come instantly. :)

weird, sent again from a different acccount. Beginning to wonder if I'm treated as spam by certaion ISPs or something...

nothing from you yet Grey would you like to try a different address for me? I am getting anxious now.

:(

Cruis.In. Really sorry about this. I've sent it multiple times to your address and from more than one of my addresses! If you have another address (or three), please email it to me and I'll send it to that one. This is very odd.

I got the framework. Again.

I got your second email first haha.

Thanks Grey, got the framework.

cool, so that's two more got it, but what about Cruis.In?

hey Grey I got it in gmail. if stupid shareit had allowed me to use Gmail this would have been avoided.
I will do the sing praises after I work with it a bit, it will take me a while to understand it in its entirety, but I will , and I am sure once I do it'll rock for me.

this hobby of mine is rather expensive :)

Crus.In: Yay party one! Enjoy.