Main README

Main README.TXT file for "Game Programming for the Propeller Powered HYDRA"

by Andre' LaMothe

Root Directory.

CD Version 1.1

-------------------------------------------------------------------

License Agreement

CD-ROM and software copyright (C) 2006 Parallax Inc., Nurve Networks LLC, Andre' LaMothe. All rights reserved. Individual programs are copyrighted by their respective owners and may require separate licensing. This CD-ROM may not be redistributed without prior written permission from the publisher. The right to redistribute the individual programs on the CD-ROM depends on each program's license. Consult each program for details.

Publisher Website

http://www.parallax.com

Publisher Support

support@parallax.com

Author Email

ceo@nurve.net

http://www.xgamestation.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Table of Contents:

I. INTRODUCTION

II. INSTALLING THE CONTENT FROM THE CD

III. INSTALLING THE TOOLS

IV. PROBLEMS YOU MIGHT ENCOUNTER (PLEASE READ!!!!!!)

V. COMPATIBILITY.

VI. BONUS MATERIAL - The Black Art of 3D Game Programming.

VII. ERRATA

I. INTRODUCTION

Welcome to "Game Programming for the Propeller Powered HYDRA". This CD is all you need to get started with the book and understanding the HYDRA game console programming and development.

The first thing you might notice is that isn't any kind of main installation program on the CD. I have found that 9 out of 10 times the best installer is the user since only he/she knows what and where to install things, so I'm going to leave the actual file copying and installation to you. However, within each directory there is a README.TXT file that explains what the files are and what they are for. The CD is set up like this:

CD_ROOT:\

HYDRA\

\SOURCES\

\DESIGNS\

\DRIVERS\

\DEMOS\

\TOOLS\

\MEDIA\

\DOCS\

\EBOOKS\

\GOODIES\

README.TXT

license.txt

The contents of each of the directories is are follows:

HYDRA\ - This is the main root directory of the entire CD, everything is within this directory, thus to copy the entire CD, simply right click on this directory, "copy" and then you can paste it anywhere you like on your hard drive, I suggest placing it at the root of C:\ so the paths are short to the files within.

DESIGNS\ - This directory contains electronic design schematics.

SOURCES\ - This directory is the source directory that contains the entire source for the book.

DRIVERS\ - This directory contains any 3rd party drivers for the HYDRA and/or Propeller chip.

DEMOS\ - This directory contains copies all the HYDRA demos as well as any other demos from the book. Some of this data is copied from the SOURCES\ directory, but is copied here to find more directly if you want to play with demos.

MEDIA\ - This directory contains stock media and assets you can use for your game and graphics development. All the media is royalty free and can be used for anything you wish, even in commercial applications. However, you can not license, sell, or otherwise transfer the files in the MEDIA\ directory as a product.

DOCS\ - This directory contains documents, tutorials, articles all relating the HYDRA, Propeller chip, and game development.

EBOOKS\ - In this directory you will find complete eBooks. Included specifically with the HYDRA is "The Black Art of 3D Game Programming" which can be used as a companion guide to this book for more advanced DOS game programming techniques and PC development that are similar to working with the HYDR - a $60 value!

GOODIES\ - This directory contains all kinds of cool little extras, so check it out and see what made it on the CD!

README.TXT - This is the README.TXT file for the CD, please read it carefully it has many last minute changes, errata, and anything else you need to know.

II. INSTALLING THE CONTENT / SOURCE CODE FROM THE BOOK

The source code and data for each chapter of this book are contained within the HYDRA\ sub-directory. I suggest simply copying the entire directory as-is onto your hard drive by dragging" it from the CD or by using XCOPY or other similar technique. You may need to unzip the contents of each directory, if so make sure to enable directories.

III. INSTALLING THE APPLICATIONS AND TOOLS

There are a number of applications and tools that are contained on this CD such as the Propeller IDE, and various media tools. Take a look at the README.TXT file for each application for details.

IV. PROBLEMS YOU MIGHT ENCOUNTER

* Read Only Flag *

This is a very important detail, so read on. When creating a CD ROM disk all the files will be written with the READ-ONLY flag enabled. This is fine in most cases unless you copy the files to your hard drive (which you will) and then edit and try to write the files back to disk. You will get a READ-ONLY protection error.

Fixing this is a snap. You simply need to clear the READ-ONLY flag on any files that you want to modify. There are 3 ways to do it. First, you can do it with Windows and simply navigate into the directory with the file you want to clear the READ-ONLY flag and then select the file, press the RIGHT mouse button to get the file properties and then clear the READ-ONLY flag and APPLY you change. You can do this will more than one file at once by selecting a group of files.

The second way is to use the File Manager and perform a similar set of operations as in the example above. The third and best way is to the DOS ATTRIB command with a DOS/Command Shell prompt. Here's how:

Assume you have copied the entire SOURCE directory on your hard drive to the location C:\HYDRA. To reset all the READ-ONLY attributes in one fell swoop you can use the ATTRIB command. Here is the syntax:

C:\HYDRA> ATTRIB -r *.* /s

This instructs the command shell to clear the READ-ONLY flag "r" from all files "*.*" and all lower sub-directories "/s".

V. COMPATIBILITY

The contents of this CD/book were tested on Windows XP/2000/2003 Pentium III, IV, and equivalent AMD processors.

VI. BONUS MATERIAL - The Black Art of 3D Game Programming.

As a BONUS, we have included an eBook version of the original groundbreaking 3D tome "The Black Art of 3D Game Programming". Released over a decade ago, it was the bible for many 3D game programmers and covered such topics as binary space partitions and voxel graphics. You will find the eBook PDF as well as source code in the directory BONUS_BA3DBOOK\ -- enjoy!

VII. ERRATA

None.

VERSION 1.1