Video layers: I want more control.

BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Beginners Area/Video layers: I want more control.

Dubious Drewski(Posted 2005) [#1]
Back when I was using QBasic 4.5 with DirectQB (A fan-freaking-tastic library), I could access any number of video layers simply like so:

DqbPoint (x,y,colour, videoLayer)

In Blitz, can I do anything similar? I mean, draw a point or rectangle directly to a buffer of some sort? Or can I draw things directly to the screen? Either would be nice.


Dreamora(Posted 2005) [#2]
Now you can't. You can only draw directly to the backbuffer.
You could theoretically extend the OpenGL implementation, to allow writable buffers.


Hotcakes(Posted 2005) [#3]
Has anyone managed to do that? Or attempted it? I'm not clever enough to figure it out myself =]


Dreamora(Posted 2005) [#4]
Haven't seen any sample of it so far ...


Shagwana(Posted 2005) [#5]
You could also use the depth/z buffer!


Dreamora(Posted 2005) [#6]
For usage as imagebuffer like?


Dubious Drewski(Posted 2005) [#7]
I'm surprised that such a well-designed language like Blitz has such
crude video buffer control (Almost none, actually). This lack of multiple
layers makes my work a little tougher now.

I can't even copy from one layer to another. There's only Flip.

Anyone thinking we should petition to have this feature in a future update?


Dreamora(Posted 2005) [#8]
This future is not OpenGL 1.2 so it won't come as Max2D was designed to be openGL 1.2 compatible as well as D3D7.

For buffers you would need pBuffer extension which means not supported by default OS OpenGL drivers -> a big no no I fear


Hotcakes(Posted 2005) [#9]
A big no no for BRL maybe... which version of OpenGL do pBuffers appear in?