Color Your World
by Sol Guber
This program uses a joystick control to draw lines and figures on the television screen. There are three different types of drawing capabilities and several modifications of each one.
There is a fine drawing capability using Graphics 8 mode. Another capability uses different shades of the same color in Graphics 9. The last capability in Graphics 11 uses 16 colors simultaneously on the screen.
There also is the ability to change the thickness of the line drawn with the joystick and to fill in shapes drawn on the screen. There is the ability to save and load pictures from either disk or cassette. The different modes can be found by pressing the OPTION button on the consol. The OPTION button will remove the system from the present graphics mode and go into the MENU section. The background of MENU has a different color for each selection so little reading ability is needed.
The following is a detailed description of the various capabilities. When the program runs, it defaults into the Graphics 8 mode. The joystick is used to draw the picture. When it is pushed to the left, the line moves to the left. When it is pushed to the right, the line moves to the right. The line also can be diagonal. When the joystick is kept in the neutral central position, there is no drawing on the screen.
The joystick signifies the direction of the movement and the amount of movement is determined by the duration of the non-neutral positioning. When the line moves off the screen, a BEEP sounds, signaling you are off the screen. There are no other error messages. To clear the screen, the trigger is pressed. A new drawing now can be made. This mode is best for young children because there are no keys to push and the out of boundary BEEP signal can be learned very quickly. The only controls are the joystick and the trigger button.
Another option, which also uses Graphics 8, is a slower drawing program. The line drawn by the joystick can have a different width. For example, the 'S' key can be pressed for single thickness, the 'D' for double thickness and the 'T' for triple thickness. At the end of the line will be a flashing point on the screen. The return key does not need to be pressed and has no effect when it is done. The keys can be pressed in any order and at any time to change the thickness of the line. The trigger is used to clear the screen. This option also has an eraser mode. The 'E' key can be pressed and the eraser mode can be used. This will make the line the same color as the background and thus erase a part of the screen.
The thickness of the eraser will be the same as the previous line, however, the eraser line width can be changed at any time.
To go back to the non-eraser mode, the 'E' key is pressed again. The BEEP is used to signal the out of boundary condition. This program is more suited for 5 to 8 year olds. A little keyboard recognition is needed. Using good hand-eye coordination, very complicated drawings can be made.
A final option, started by pressing the OPTION button is similar to the second option, but has a shape-filling capability with the various line widths. When the 'F' key for FILL is pressed, the program will fill in the figure. A short BEEP at a different tone will signal when the fill operation is completed. At the end of the FILL operation, the line will be back at the original position. The shape must be a closed one or the filling subroutine will escape from the figure and draw a line to the side of the screen.
Depending on the part of the program the fill subroutine uses, there may be several lines drawn before the subroutine stops. Again this will be signaled by a short beep. The trigger will clear the screen. This program is suited for 8 to adult, since the filling capability is more complicated to use. Care must be taken to move the end of the line into a closed figure. If the figure is not closed, then the line will escape. After the BEEP, to show the fill is completed, the end of the line will be in the center of the screen. The only normal keys that will work on the keyboard will be E, S, D, T, and F. The others will not be recognized. Do not use FILL in the second option since the escape from a non-enclosed figure will not return to the right part of the program.
Except for the first option, the drawing can be saved to either a disk or a cassette. When the Menu is shown, the SELECT key can be pressed rather than RETURN. When this is done, another set of commands are shown. The commands are CTRL-S (the CTRL key held down and then the S key pressed) to Save the drawing, CTRL-L (CTRL first and then the L) for Loading a picture, and the CTRL-U for Updating the picture file number.
When the SELECT Menu is shown, the system asks if the picture is to be saved to a cassette or to a disk. It expects either a C or D answer. If neither of these answers are given, the question is asked again. If a 'D' answer is given, then the file name desired can be entered into the system. Be sure to use a colon after the D.
An example of a correct response is D:GAME or D:SNOOPY. Only slight checking is done to make sure the file is a proper one.
At the bottom of the Menu is the name of the file in which the next picture will be stored. There is a default name PICSAVE. Before any picture can be saved, the SELECT must be pressed at least once to give a file name where the drawing is to be saved. When you are in the Menu section, SELECT can be pressed to see the name of the next file to be saved.
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During the drawing of a picture, CTRL-S can be pressed and the screen will be saved on the predetermined device. If the CTRL-L is pressed, the program will stop and ask for the name of the file to be Loaded. The picture will be in the appropriate graphics mode and will use the proper colors. If CTRL-U is pressed, then the number of the file will be Updated by one so a new picture can be saved without destroying the old file. Be sure to press CTRL-U before saving a picture so it will not write over a previous picture. This feature is not suitable for young children since it uses up large amounts of disk space quickly. Each picture saved will use 68 sectors on a disk. The save will take about 50 seconds on disk and about 4 minutes on cassette. The Load will take about the same time as the Save.
Options 4 and 5 can be found by pressing the OPTION button again. These are similar to options 2 and 3, in that they can have different widths of the lines under keyboard control. Option 5 uses the FILL capability. The Graphics mode is 9, and 16 different shades of the same color can be used. The trigger is the controller for the shades. As the trigger is held down, the different shades cycle through. To use a specific shade, the trigger is released. In both options 4 and 5, the background color can be controlled. In the Menu section, RETURN must be pressed to start the program. If a number is inputted rather than just the return button pressed, then the number will be used as the background color. The various colors are 0-15, corresponding to the 16 colors used in the SETCOLOR command.
If the number is not correct or a letter is pressed, then the system defaults into green. To clear the screen anytime during the drawing, the START button must be pressed. To go into any other options, the OPTION button must be pressed. To save the drawing, the CTRL-S key is pressed. The shades can be changed before the 'F' command is used. This option is suitable for age 8 to adult. The various shadings can be used to make quite sophisticated drawings.
Options 6 and 7 can be found by pressing the OPTION button again. They are similar to options 2 and 3 in that they have different widths of the lines under keyboard control. Option 7 has the fill capability. The Graphics mode is 11, and 16 different colors, are usable. The trigger button is the controller of the different colors. The colors cycle through the 16 possibilities as the trigger is held down. The START button is used to clear the screen. The OPTION button is used to go to the various options.
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As in the previous modes, the widths of the lines can be used in any order, and at any time by pressing the appropriate button. Again the eraser option and the save option are usable. These options are suitable for age 8 to adult. However, because there are only five keys to operate under normal conditions, younger children can easily learn to use the system and make picture and designs with the various colors.
Listing: PASTPENC.BAS Download