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greeting from my ecletic world...

while not new to programing i am new to dark basic.

i find coding in it after using visual basic and the other visual studio programs a bit strange - takes me back to my quick basic days. However I am not complaining, just trying to explain my first dilema.

i am very much enjoying the graphic freedom that dark basic gives me but one aspect that causes me a problem is how do i clear out a line.. in visual basic the command sequence:

anumericvarable=1
loop
locate line,column : screen.print anumericvarable
call pause(2) ' wait 2 seconds
anumericvarable=+1
until anumericalvarable=20

would slowly count to 20 showing the result on one spot on the screen.
doing the equilivent in dark basic causes a bloody mess. it writes each number on top of the previous one making it unreadable. How do i clear out a space to write the number rather then have it do that. this would be something useful to display a score, or a message or what ever in a game?? right now i am using it to show where the mouse pointer is, but surely there is a command that clears to the right of the coursor for a rewrite of something??


have i missed something??

If you use the TEXT commands in DBPro (which would be ideal for this, given the X and Y values you can pass them) then you should set the text opaque value to off (set text opaque), which will stop the 'over print' you describe above. Alternatively, you can clear the screen each loop with a CLS.

Another way is to set the backdrop on, which is a good point to understand.

The default is BACKDROP OFF. This means it's up to you to clear up the background in between SYNCs. Run the following 2 snippets, and you'll soon understand what setting the background on does for you...

Backdrop Off


Backdrop On:


Text without smudge:


BACKGROUND ON has overheads, and will slow your game down. But until you get to a stage where the screen is completely filled with 3D objects (such as a Skybox for a background), it's essential.

the first one (for 2d) works great.

(mostly) i must ensure the second line is atleast as long as the first.

thanks.

my next question... is there a discounted upgrade path to dark basic pro??

i got the basic (smaller) compiler because i was told the tutorials were easier. But i think my ultimate project will need the more advanced compiler.

again thanks.

There is a discounted upgrade:

http://darkbasicpro.thegamecreators.com/?f=order

But right now it would be cheaper to just buy DBPro (boxed or online) in the 30% December Discount deal. Visit the site, you can't miss it (at the top). That will give you a much better offer than the upgrade does, at least for the next couple of weeks anyway.