Blitz BASIC
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Blitz BASIC is a BASIC compiler. Originally developed on the Amiga, Blitz BASIC compilers are now available on several platforms. The term Blitz BASIC is often used to refer to the general syntax used in the entire range of Blitz languages, as well as the original product that started them.
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Amiga Languages
Blitz BASIC
The first compiler, originally designed by Acid Software from New Zealand, was Blitz BASIC for the Amiga. It competed with Europress Software's AMOS. Both AMOS and Blitz were distinguished from other BASIC implementations by their built-in support for writing computer games.
Blitz BASIC 2
Shortly after the first language, its sequel was released. Blitz BASIC 2 became very popular and spawned popular titles such as the original version of Worms.
PC Languages
Blitz Basic 2D
The first PC version of the Blitz suite of languages was written a while later, using the power of DirectX for 2D graphics. Blitz Basic goes for around $50.00, which is pretty cheap for a programming IDE/Compiler. Blitz BASIC PC, often known as Blitz Basic, was published under Idigicon (formerly Guildhall Leisure) and quickly grew in popularity. It is now discontinued from its developers, but still available from Idigicon. It is known for its simple commands, such as "DrawImage" and "PlayMusic". There is a small population of Blitz Basic programmers located at CodersWorkshop.com and BlitzBasic.com.
Recognition of Blitz Basic 2D was boosted dramatically when a limited range of "free" versions were distributed on popular UK computer magazines such as PC Format.
Blitz3D
Not long after the release of Blitz BASIC PC came the eagerly-anticipated Blitz3D, which allowed the creation of true 3D games, for the first time in the range of languages. It kept all of Blitz 2D's older commands, and incorporated an entirely new set for the movement and rendering of three-dimensional objects. Using DirectX7 for 3D game creation, it became a known competitor for the other popular PC game-development language Dark Basic.
It was shortly after this time that Acid Software became known as Blitz Research Limited and concentrated on the sole development and promoting of Blitz languages and tools.
BlitzPlus
As a replacement for Blitz Basic 2D, Blitz Research Limited produced a new title for the range of Blitz products. BlitzPlus brought new features to the 2D side of the language by allowing some control over Microsoft Windows forms and gadgets, as well as pulling compatibility of the 2D engine as far back as DirectX 1 with no loss of speed or quality.
Cross-Platform Languages
BlitzMAX
The latest installment of the Blitz suite of languages is BlitzMAX, a language which supports PC, Linux and Mac installations. BlitzMAX brought the largest change of language structure to the modern range of Blitz products by adding object-orientation concepts and switching the graphics layer to favour OpenGL.
BlitzMAX is also the first truly modular version of the language, allowing complete plugins to be written for the language. This has opened up new possibilities for programmers to configure the language, as well as to purchase improved components from Blitz Research Limited. Blitz Research is said to be currently working on a 3D engine module to implement features common to modern 3D engines and middleware.
Blitz Programming Books
As well as the reference books that were bundled with the boxed versions of Blitz Basic 2D and Blitz3D, there have been a few programming guides written.
Game Programming For Teens
Game Programming For Teens was written by Maneesh Sethi to teach young programmers how to get started writing games with Blitz Basic 2D. It became very popular because of its appealing concept, helping to get new developers quickly into programming.
The second edition of this book was released in May 2005.
Learn to Program 2D Games in Blitz Basic
Written by John "Krylar" Logsdon, Learn to Program 2D Games in Blitz Basic was another popular book written to teach new programmers all they need to know to write their own game. It started from the fundamentals of programming and took the reader through every aspect of Blitz Basic 2D, as far as writing their own network game.
Blitz Basic example code
The following code creates a normal windowed Windows application that shows the current time in binary and decimal format.
AppTitle "Binary Clock" Graphics 150,80,16,3 ;Copy, modify and redistribute this source as much as you like ;##################################################### ; MAIN LOOP ;##################################################### ;create a timer that means the main loop will be executed twice a second secondtimer=CreateTimer(2) Repeat Hour = Left(CurrentTime$(),2) Minute = Mid(CurrentTime$(),4,2) Second = Right(CurrentTime$(),2) If Hour >= 12 Then PM =1 If Hour > 12 Then Hour = Hour - 12 If Hour = 0 Then Hour = 12 ;should do this otherwise your PM dot would be left up once the clock rolled past midnight! Cls Color(0,255,0) ;make the text green for the PM part If PM = 1 Then Text 5,5,"PM" Color(255,255,255) ;set the text colour back to white for the rest For bit=0 To 5 xpos=20*(6-bit) binaryMask=2^bit ;do hours If (bit<4) If (hour And binaryMask) Text xpos,5,"1" Else Text xpos,5,"0" EndIf EndIf ;do the minutes If (minute And binaryMask) Text xpos,25,"1" Else Text xpos,25,"0" EndIf ;do the seconds If (second And binaryMask) Text xpos,45,"1" Else Text xpos,45,"0" EndIf Next Color(255,0,0) ;make the text red for the decimal time Text 5,65,"Decimal: " + CurrentTime$() Color(255,255,255) ;set the text back to white for the rest ;will wait half a second WaitTimer(secondTimer) Forever
External links
- Blitz Research You can buy and download Blitz3D, Blitz Plus, or BlitzMax from this website. There are also forums for discussion of the language.
- Idigicon
- CodersWorkshop
- BlitzBasic on dmoz
- Game Programming for Teens's Web Site
- Learn to Program 2D Games in Blitz Basic on Codersworkshop.com
- A great german blitz3d tutorial
- Game Programming for Teens on Amazon.comde:Blitz Basic