■■■ Tweaker V1.01 ■■■
- Resident VGA DoubleScan Handler -
Coding & Idea:
- Mads Orbesen Troest ("Marvin") -
ßeta-Testing:
- Dan Have Thomsen ("Lydian") -
(C)opyright 1994:
- Sirius Cybernetics -
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TwEaKeR iS a PuBlIc DoMaIn PrOgRaM!
It Is DeDiCaTeD tO aLl GrApHiCiAnS oN tHe Pc ScEnE...
If YoU lIkE iT oR hAvE aNy SuGgEsTiOnS fOr FuRtHeR uPdAtEs/ImPrOvEmEnTs,
ThEn Do NoT hEsItAtE tO cOnTaCt ThE aUtHoR aT tHe FiDo-NeT.
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Description
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All VGA cards are supporting the 320*400-256 resolution!
Even the oldest, mondo-slow 8-Bit cards...
Now, don't you think it is rather lame that this VideoMode has never
been an official mode??? Though the pixels are twice as wide as they are
high, graphics certainly looks a GREAT deal better! It is, after all,
twice the Y resolution...
Anyway, with this little utility you can actually use existing drawing
programs, such as Deluxe Paint, in this resolution! Though, of course,
you cannot use more than half the screen at a time - the program does
not interfere with the program directly; it merely toggles the state
of the CRT DoubleScanning Mode in the VGA.
You can also use Tweaker to view graphics in 320*400-256 from popular
viewers such as VPIC. In VPIC you can even view the complete screen,
since VPIC (Nice going Bob Montgomery!) is capable of utilizing the
entire display memory! So a complete picture - from, say, Deluxe Paint -
drawn in 320*400-256 can be viewed using VPIC and Tweaker!
Of course you would normally have to program your own shower to use the
whole screen, but this is - after all - fairly easy. Tweaker should be
considered a tape'n glue solution for programs that do not support the
tweaked video modes...
Since Tweaker flips the state of the VGA's DoubleScanning mode, it works
on all other EGA/VGA/SVGA modes aswell... Only, in these modes tweaking
will result in the picture being stretched to it's double Y size,
because only the 320*200 modes are being DoubleScanned. Interresting,
but not very useable - or how about a resolution of 640*240? Or 800*300?
Well, it can be done... It's completely up to you which modes you use it on.
Once you have installed Tweaker, you invoke it by pressing PrintScreen.
This will then - if the display is in a recognized graphics mode - result
in the picture's Y resolution being either doubled (in 320*200 modes) or
halved (in all other modes), depending on the active display mode.
If the display was in a text mode, a short (annoying ≡;■) bleep will
inform you of this fact...
If you had already installed some program that was using PrintScreen,
you will NOT be able to chain this while Tweaker is running. But when
you UnInstall Tweaker, the old interrupt vectors are (of course) restored,
and you will be able to chain it again.
If you encounter any problems, get into any trouble, or want to know more
about how to use the 320*400-256 resolution yourself, just write me a
letter - SnailMail ≡;■) or Fido (Address follows)...
Hope this'll help all of you to create some nice graphics!
< Signed "Marvin" of "Sirius Cybernetics", the 8th of January 1994 >
Parameters
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TWEAKER.EXE : Install Tweaker, if it is not already Installed...
TWEAKER.EXE U : UnInstall Tweaker, if it is Installed...
TWEAKER.EXE ? : Quick RunTime Info
ErrorLevels
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000 : A-OK, no Errors...
001 : Unable to Install Tweaker (already Installed)...
002 : Unable to UnInstall Tweaker...
255 : RunTime Info / UnRecognized Internal Error...
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What's New
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Updates since Version 1.00:
■ Better Layout...
■ "Safer" Resident Code (I'm finally getting the hang of it ≡;■)...
■ Nukes entire Display Memory when Installed...
■ Doesn't Tweak, if PrintScreen is pressed in a TextMode (beeps to signal)...
■ Always toggle Tweak correctly, the 1st time PrintScreen is pressed...
■ Detects if Tweaker is already Installed, before Installing...
■ UnInstall Option Added...
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Release History
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■ Version 0.01ß - 1st speedy version coded for my own use.
■ Version 1.00 - 1st released version. Quite primitive, but well-functioning.
■ Version 1.01 - 2nd released version. Recoded. Much more user-friendly.
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Quick Hos'n Hellos
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Christian Gaarden ("Frodo" of "Sirius Cybernetics")
Jesper G. Jensen ("HeX" of "Sirius Cybernetics")
Dan Have Thomsen ("Lydian" of "Sirius Cybernetics")
Holger S. Jensen ("Hex" of "Sirius Cybernetics")
Peter Hauge ("Doom" of ? (Soon SCC I hope!))
Morten S. Fog (Fellow disciple of Onkel Dunkel.)
Carsten Gehling (Fellow disciple of Onkel Dunkel.)
Torsten Koefoed (Fellow disciple of Onkel Dunkel.)
Lennart H. Larsen (Fellow disciple of Onkel Dunkel.)
David B. Paulsen (Fellow disciple of Onkel Dunkel.)
Als / Surprise! Productions
Cyron / Surprise! Productions
Christian Worm Mortensen / Supjack International
Michael Dahl / SysOp at "Crack Central"
Birger Larsen
Per M. Halskov
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[COMMERCIAL]
Just released at The Party III
AGONY - A MusicDemo dedicated to Anne Hastrup Poulsen
Experience it!
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If YOU have any suggestions for improvements, if you like the program - or if
you just want to chat - then feel extremely free to contact me at:
Mads Orbesen Troest ("Marvin" of "Sirius Cybernetics")
Jernbanegade 12
9610 N¢rager
Denmark
Phone: (DK)+9855 1258
FIDO-Network: 2:234/48.15
I'm also interrested in music-swapping with other PC musicians...
Looking forward to hear from you!
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