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QBasic Gazette e-vol. 1 no. 5
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QBasic Gazette e-vol. 1, no. 5
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Here is another 'gaz comin at ya! Last I checked there were about 215 subscribers to this newsletter, so things are looking pretty good in that regard.
What's the latest at NeoZones? Not a whole lot. =( I've been rather busy, but here's a list of happenings: There are about 150 files for me to add, there are about 80 questions for Ask Tek that I have to sort thru.. yesterday I wrote a quick masking tutorial (in the tutorials section now, I've added a few links, fixed up a few things, posted the Colorado followups on the QBasic Gazette page (thanks to the submitters), and the QBoard has been very active.
Enjoy the issue, and check below for addresses/urls to submit stuff/drop a line.
So don't forget, NeoZones is at http://neozones.quickbasic.com/, and my email is neozones@quickbasic.com.
Hope ya enjoy the issue (all articles are written by me unless otherwise specified),
-Tek & Contributors
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Contents
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* Article
Where's QBasic headed?
Quick overview of image masking
How do YOU spell NeoZones?
* Reviews
Pasco's project: Freelancer
Newest QBTM
* Links in the Spotlight
Alternate Logic
Make money from your website!
Free, fun, online game (Utopia)
* News & Announcements
May CodeX
April CodeX extension
Check in on the Qlympics
Tek's C Extravaganza!
Chat with the elite coders, IRC #quickbasic
* Info/Contacting/Submitting
Submit something
Translation of 'gaz articles
Your thoughts/comments appreciated
In closing
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Articles
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* Where's QBasic headed
So, where IS QBasic headed? The Quick Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code interpreter (and compiler) have been around for quite some time. Many say that both are a bit outdated, and too slow. Are they? Perhaps. I believe that "slowness" doesn't necessarily force your game to be not as good as it could be, if it were written in another language, for instance, C. As Windows 2000 comes closer and closer to market, many fear that the fate of the beloved QBasic is sealed. Although Windows 2000 will not run on top of DOS, it will include command.com, so you'll be more than able to open up a dos-box and run most programs as usual. But aside from the next major Windows operating system release, many feel (and have voiced opinions) that QBasic just doesn't cut it. My question to you is, did it ever cut it? =)
Although there are some pearls in the vast ocean of BASIC progs out there (to quote the common list: MonoSpace, WetSpot 2), the fact that QBasic may be slow does not limit your ability to be creative. In fact, because it is "slow", in my eyes, makes people better coders and better at optimizations (a trade that is less and less apparent these days ... *cough* Visual Basic *cough*).
To conclude this article, if you are one of the naysayers of the QBasic community, then that's your perspective. Feel free to move on to a "powerhorse" language such as C, or C++. Although, if you enjoy the challenge of making something truly fun, and sharing it and it's secrets with others, or pushing the limits of what you have, or the "simpleness" of this soft and friendly language, then I say, QBasic is the place to be.
* Quick overview of image masking
What is image masking? Quite briefly, using the QBasic PUT command, we take an image we want to show, and show it, such that any outer regions (which are not wanted) are not shown. You may have seen an example of masking in seeing an RPG map display with a character in the middle. Although I could take the time to explain in more detail what masking is, if you want to know how it works, why it works, and how to do it, then I have written a tutorial which is located in the tutorials section of QCity on NeoZones (http://neozones.quickbasic.com/).
* How do YOU spell NeoZones?
Over the months (and years) I've notice lots of spellings of NeoZones. The "correct" spelling would be "NeoZones", but many people spell it "Neozones". For those of you that don't really care about most capitalization, then you just say "neozones". =). Some people also have other variations (among these, spelling NZ wrong..) such as "NEOZones" or "NeoZONES" or "neoZones". So in any case, if you are a perfectionist, then now you know how to spell it (in case you couldn't tell from all the other places which spell it...)
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Reviews
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* Pasco's project: Freelancer
What's the infamous Pasco working on these days? A vertical scroller (formerly named "Vertical Scoller", heeh), but now referred to as Freelancer. From what I've seen so far of Freelancer, there is some quite nice animations and overall gameplay with snazzy looking graphics, and 100% old fashioned "just like Mom used to make" "Bill Gates had a hand in this" QBasic code! Yeehaw! No libraries used whatsoever! If you'd like to run a game with some snazzy fonts, great 3d cutscenes, good gameplay (thus far in the demo), and all that good stuff (FM sounds), then check out Pasco's site. The download is graciously separated into 2 zips, the animations and the actual game. This is so that you can download the game updates without having to get the meg or so of animations every time.
http://members.tripod.com/~Pasco_QB/
* Newest QBTM
The newest QBasic: The Magazine came out earlier this month. Packed full of news, reviews, and the normal lineup of QBTM content, (and the common errors/typos/inaccuracies), be sure to not miss it, check out the new issue at:
http://qbtm.quickbasic.com/
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Links in the Spotlight
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* Alternate Logic
Looking for all the QBasic tutorials you can ever hope to find? Look no further than Alternate Logic! Your SOURCE for tutorials for QBasic, including Assembly, Scrolling, Graphics, Misc, and more! Don't miss it. Another proud member of the quickbasic.com family.
http://alternatelogic.quickbasic.com/
* Make money from your website!
Want to make money showing banner ads on your website? Look no further than ValueClick! Earn a minimum of 12 cents (US) from each unique click off a banner from your site. And, if you wanna help out your 'ole buddy Tek, use the link right below to get to ValueClick and signup. Thanks if ya do!
http://valueclick.com/cgi-bin/refer_host_signup?host=h0074654
* Free, fun, online game (Utopia)
If you like a strategy game where you build a civilization, war with enemies, and ally with friends, then be sure to check out "Utopia" from EE. Hop on over to the following site for more info on the game, and/or to signup:
http://games.eesite.com/
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News & Announcements
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* May CodeX
The May CodeX challenge is going until the end of the month, the goal is to turn an image into text-mode display thingy. Check it out in the CodeX section of NeoZones.
* April CodeX extension
April's challenge was a *little* bit too much to ask for in a month or less, so it was extended for another month. If you have a submission (the challenge was an HTML reader-ish program), check out the CodeX page for more info.
* Check in on the Qlympics
The Qlympics have progressed since last month, so be sure to check out the current results!
http://www.sonicblue.com/Qlympics/
* Chat with the elite coders, IRC #quickbasic
Want to chat real-time with the coders on IRC? Then look no further than #quickbasic! You can goto http://www.mirc.co.uk/ to pick up a great IRC program, mIRC. From there, join channel #quickbasic on EFNet, and you're all set.
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Info/Contacting/Submitting
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* Submit something
Submit an article for publication in the 'gaz, there is a handy submitter on the bottom of the QBasic Gazette page. Visit NeoZones (link at bottom) to get there. Suggestions/complaints/whatever can also be submitted there.
For regular email, send it to me, Tek, at neozones@quickbasic.com.
* Translation of 'gaz articles
The translation of some QBasic Gazette articles has already been started for French, if you can translate into Spanish, German, Italian (wink wink Angelo =), or some other language (Dutch), it'd be appreciated in an effort to reach out to people that may understand things better in their native tongue.
Old articles (in default English) can be found in the ListBot QBasic Gazette archive (http://qbasicgazette.listbot.com), if you'd like to grab one or two, then email me the text file which is translated. Thanks much if you do!
* Your thoughts/comments appreciated
NeoZones likes to hear what YOU have to say! If you have any comments, suggestions, thoughts to share (in the newsletter), compliments, death threats, etcetera, please email them or submit them to me!
* In closing
In closing, I think that this Gazette article was probably the best one yet. More content and longer. =) That's about it for now, so there should be another Gazette out in about a month, until then, see ya later!
--
Tek & Contributors
neozones@quickbasic.com
http://neozones.quickbasic.com/
