Instant Graphics/Desk Accessory Terminal/Commercial
From: Doug Wokoun (aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 08/28/91-08:25:59 PM Z
From: aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Doug Wokoun)
Subject: Instant Graphics/Desk Accessory Terminal/Commercial
Date: Wed Aug 28 20:25:59 1991
Taken from: ST Report online magazine, issue #730 (July 26, 1991):
WHAT'S INSTANT GRAPHICS?
========================
by Larry Mears
Instant Graphics (IG) is a desk accessory terminal for your ST.
MS-DOS clone support coming in a few months, see MS-DOS IG below. IG is
used with a modem, it's a dumb terminal in the sense it doesn't do file
transfers but when it comes to online graphics IG is extremely smart.
Since IG is a accessory you can use it to do the online graphics and pop
back to your favorite terminal to do file transfers and the other standard
fair.
IG is sort of like super VT-52 or ANSI but these are character based
graphics. Try drawing a circle with VT-52 or ANSI you got pixels the size
of cursors! IG has real pixels it has commands that tell it to draw
lines, plot points, set colors, set fill patterns, draw rectangles,
boxes with and without rounded corners. There are text commands to plot
text to the screen. The plotted text can be put at any X,Y coordinate on
the screen using the system FONT and at several different point sizes,
big text for titles. IG also does bitblit so animation can be done
online. BBSs can really be souped up with IG. There are ZONE commands
for turning a standard BBS into a mouse driven BBS remotely, IG is wild!
Oh, there's more... How about sound effects, 20 of them that use the
CPU itself to control the sound envelope for really amazing sound effects
from the ST! You can use GIST (from ANTIC) to edit new sound effects and
plug them into one of the 20 sound effect slots with online commands. The
sound effects can be played as musical notes for online music and if you
run a MIDI BBS there is a utility for converting Music Studio tm files to
IG MIDI format so they can by played by your MIDI keyboard online! All
this neat stuff is done with standard ASCII text commands that IG
interprets online. Example: G#O 319,99,25: <--- draws a circle at x y
319,99 radius of 25 pixels.
It's real simple and interpreted just like BASIC. The G# gets the
terminal's attention 'O' is the command itself. IG is a Shareware project
(dream) of mine with 6 years development behind it. IG is a powerful
graphics tool for online communication with impact. It looks meek and
mild mannered on the surface but if you will read the docs on the commands
you will be very surprised.
SYSOP INFO
To IGnite your BBS with IG it has to be able to handle alternate text
menus. FoReM and ///TURBO Board bbs software does this with its
GRAPHICS.TXT file and the *.GRx files. Work up IGized menus for your
BBS!!! IG215 is available on GEnie, this is the latest version. There
is a loadable EMU version of IG215b for Interlink tm. A few IG BBSs are
around already, WRB 205-837-2025 I added IG menus to it myself, I'm a
remote sysop there. The best way to IGize your BBS is to get your remote
sysop to do it, unless you have a second ST to use as a IG terminal to
call your BBS with. The graphics appear on the terminal side only, on the
BBS side the SYSOP sees the raw IG commands only. There is a Instant
Graphics XNET The London Smog bbs is the lead node 632, it even has a few
UK boards in it. London Smog 714-546-2152 USR DUAL STANDARD (I think),
"Clueman" is SYSOP, "Mr. Rodgers" the best IG artist around, Bob Ahsley
and Robert Gieger are very talented at IG also. Call the SMOG to
experience the ST IG. I can be reached on GEnie as L.MEARS or HAUG BBS
205-722-0900 node 74 as Larry Mears for more info.
MS-DOS IG
Blue Instant Graphics! (BIG) is the MS-DOS version of IG. It is about
90% compatible with it's ST ancestor. BIG uses I# instead of G# the dif-
ferences are sort of like going from one BASIC to another. Most commands
have the same syntax or at least the same function. BIG will be released
well before Christmas, this Fall I hope. It requires 256K video RAM with
EGA or VGA color. BIG is a full working basic terminal, it has Zmodem
built in with Xmodem fall back, supports three 16 color modes 640x200,
640x350, 640x480(VGA only). BIG has all the graphics IG has and several
real FONTS. BIG does sound effects via the PC speaker and plays notes.
BIG can be used with the standard ANSI driver so you can have your cake
and eat it too! For Adlib tm, SoundBlaster tm owners there is support for
playing ROL files online and doing sound effects that sound like they came
right out of a SCIFI flick. BIG will literally 'ROCK' the online world.
If you like ANSI you will flip over BIG! BIG will be released as Shareware
in demo version with a register fee of $25. Keep a eye out for it on the
major online services this Fall. I hope to eventually write a MAC version
also. It all depends on my finances mostly.
--
Doug Wokoun / / | If you don't
(aa384@cleveland.Freenet.Edu) [o]-[o] | stand for something,
||| L (((( STe )))) | you will
Atari / | \ S I G \___/ | fall for anything.
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