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<TITLE>RE: [fpc-pascal]GIF 87a/89a</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>> -----Original Message-----</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> From: James Mills [<A HREF="mailto:prologic@comcen.com.au">mailto:prologic@comcen.com.au</A>]</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> On Tue, Nov 19, 2002 at 10:30:33AM +0000, </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> memsom@interalpha.co.uk wrote:</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > > > Does anyone have a working program that'll display a </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> gif image in linux</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > > > please ?</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > > </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > > I have written borland pascal source to display a 256 </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> color BMP image</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > > and usually run a batch conversion of the required images </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> to BMP format.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > > GIF contains compression and is thus more complex than BMP.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > > My source should compile on Free Pascal. But if you find source</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > > for reading GIF files I would like to get a copy as well.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > You also have the added problem that the algorythm used by </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> GIF is something </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > like LHZ which is patented and that the GIF format is also </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> on dubious legal </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > ground. You may find that a lot of open source projects </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> will ignore the GIF </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > format, and getting info on the format may be tricky. I </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> know people like Eric </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > Raymond support the 'Burn all gifs' campaign.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > Matt</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> Well, someone please tell me then. I haven't developed games much in</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> linux, let alone pascal. What's the best way to do graphics (sprites)</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> for game development? I'm starting small, space invaders clone. But I</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> need some help/ideas of what people generally do.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> cheers</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> James</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Well, for games, prefer a plain bold BMP images. Why? The trick in games is to do a mix between space (memory/disk), speed, and simplicity. For Images BMP is very simple, very quicky but use a lot of space. For the majority of games BMP images are good and perhaps the best choice you can do. But If your game is graphics intensive in the sense of quantity (Gigs of images) then the best deal could be on the space... All depend of the kind of game you plan to write.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Thierry</FONT>
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