Thread: 32bit 16bit compilers

  1. #1
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    32bit 16bit compilers

    Using 16bit compilers its easy to create dos aplications and I can easily draw images to the screen. But with 32bit compilers (MSVC or GCC) how can I goto full screen and draw images?

    Thanx in advance!

  2. #2
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    Well first off we need to get some symantics straight here. MSVC can only do graphics via DirectX. Windows also will not allow MSVC to directly access video hardware or inovoke interrupts. To setup DirectX I recommend buying a book and coding as you go. Andre Lamothe's Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus is a great starting point for learning DirectX programming. MSVC calls DirectX functions via pointers which in turn point to code either in the HAL (hardware abstraction layer) or HEL (hardware emulation layer). The HEL is written by Microsoft and the HAL is written by your video card vendor. Microsoft provides the prototypes and calling conventions and your vendor provides the proprietary code for your video card - ala drivers.

    When you say GCC I assume you mean something like DJGPP or something similar. With DJGPP you can get access to the linear frame buffers via near pointers but you must turn off the protection mechanisms of protected mode to do it correctly. There are a ton of resources on the internet concerning graphics in DJGPP as well as a game library called Allegro and a link to more help on this topic in the DJGPP html help file.

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