CompuServe Messages

Aw heck, I forgive you. Now if only my mom would forgive me FOR being a programmer, I'd be allright… :^) The Amiga's software can work in a max of 8 bits. Not 256 colors. 8 bits. That's a big distinction, because in fact, HAM8 is 8 bits, _the same as 256 register colors_. Why isn't the workbench available in 18 bit mode? Good question. It should be. Why aren't there dozens of applications available that open multiple windows in 18 bit mode? Well, there _are_ a few – but I think you can generalize that to why aren't there dozens of applciations, period, that use sophisticated windowing. Very few do, actually. The Amiga's OS is *very* strong deep down "in there"; you can ask other similar questions such as why not use dual playfield and get the same answer – it's not trivial. But lets back up a step. There have been many applciations that used HAM6 (the original Amiga HAM mode, not ours), a 6 bit mode (which would be 64 colors if it was palette mapped, but instead is 4096 when HAMmed. Some worked better than others, and some where, um, "crude". But it's been done and the problems are _less_ with HAM8 than HAM6. How so? First, HAM6 was lores only, pre-AGA. That's pretty crippling for anything but imaging. HAM8 is not only hires, but _also_ available in _superhighres_ which is pretty fabulous for submerging the HAM errors that are inhereent in the mode. Second, there were only 16 color registers, all of which were really needed to come up with a pretty good HAM6 image, which left -0- for drawing window borders and such tasks – HAM8 has 64, which is enough to provide a few (4 is good) for windows and borders and other control, and still leave 60 left over for making the HAM8 look _very_ good. Bottom line: HAM6 or HAM8 both work much better under the Amiga's windowing system than you'd think. Certainly well enough to be used and used very well. Easy? No… but not a programmer-killer, either. In the Amiga market, you have to think carefully before doing something the hard way, if there's an easy way. 256 register colors _can_ look very, very good – ten minutes with Imagemaster on an AGA machine will convince anyone of that. And it's relatively easy to handle. So probably 256 colors is a very sane choice for SoftLogic's new "thing", whatever that may be. I just want to reiterate that I'm only saying that it's doable. –Ben …via AutoPilot