Utilities

This software has been written to run on ARM powered computers running RISC OS, and should be compatible with 32-bit RISC OS on the Iyonix PC. The archives are compressed in Zip format. Zip files may be opened using SparkPlug, SparkFS (commercial) or Infozip.

Most applications available here require the User Interface Toolbox modules, which are not included in the archives.

ConvertStar3000

The ConvertStar3000 module provides an implementation of an image converter in the form of an ImageFileConvert handler. It can take Star Fighter 3000 bitmap graphics files of type 'SFSkyPic' or 'SFMapGfx' and create sprites from these.

Any applications that use ImageFileConvert (e.g. recent versions of Paint & Draw from RISCOS Ltd) will gain the ability to import files of type &406 or &407. These file types can also be rendered by the Filer as thumbnail images and by the Pinboard as desktop backdrops.

Contributing authors

Chris Bazley, David O'Shea & Justin Fletcher

Latest version

0.01 (10th June 2004)

Recent changes

Version 0.01

• First public release.

Download

Download ConvertStar3000 (26  KB, includes source code).
(Requires ImageFileConvert module, currently available only to RISC OS Select subscribers.)

FednetCmp

This application handles files compressed with an algorithm used in old Fourth Dimension and Fednet games such as Chocks Away, Stunt Racer 2000 and Star Fighter 3000. Game files may be decompressed and compressed, singly or in batches, using a simple desktop interface. FednetCmp is unlikely to be of general use, unless you fancy it as an odd-ball replacement for Acorn's Squash.

Chocks Away and Stunt Racer 2000 include a module named DeComp (©1993 The fourth dimension), which provides a single command *CLoad to decompress the contents of a file (analogous to the standard command *Load). In Star Fighter 3000 a similar module is supplied encrypted but it is named FDComp (© Gordon Key 1994) and its command is *LComp. Many years later, David O'Shea wrote a compatible DeComp module for his Stunt Racer track designer. The compression code incorporated in FednetCmp (and my other programs) is heavily based on his work.

Useless fact : If Star Fighter 3000 were not mostly compressed then it would occupy 5.24 MB (7 DD floppy discs) rather than 1.13 MB (2 DD floppy discs). This would have made life very difficult for hapless gamers without hard discs. When playing the Acorn version of Dune 2 on my A3000, I used to spend almost as much time swapping discs as I did actually playing the game!

Author

David O'Shea & Chris Bazley

Latest version

1.55 (25 Jun 2009)

Recent changes

Version 1.55

• Minor changes to messages.
• Minor changes to code for handling files dragged from other applications.
• Included a description of the decompression algorithm.

Screenshots

The FednetCmp dialogue box that is used to set up a multi-tasking batch operation, with a decompression progress window that has expanded to report an error to the user.

Download

Download FednetCmp (83  KB). Also available without source code (52  KB).
(Requires Toolbox modules.)

SFColours

SFColours is an editor for Star Fighter 3000 colours files.

A polygon colours file (in "!Star3000.Landscapes.Palette") maps the 320 logical colours used for polygonal objects in the game to the 256 colours which are actually available in screen mode 13. The extra 64 logical colours are used for flashing lights and different ship liveries. A hill colours file (in "!Star3000.Landscapes.Hill") contains the 36 colours that are used to plot hills of a certain terrain type.

In terms of practical uses of this editor, how about these suggestions:

• Designing a cool new livery for your Predator fighter.
• Creating mountain colours for a new type of landscape (such as desert), in conjunction with SFToSpr to create a new map tile set.

Author

Chris Bazley

Latest version

1.58 (25 Jun 2009)

Recent changes

Version 1.58

• Internal changes in preparation for saving in a format negotiated with the recipient, when a file icon is dragged from the save dialogue box (not yet utilised).
• It is now possible to save only the selected colours, rather than the entire file, by means of a new option button in the savebox.
• Fixed a bug where the heap block holding the path associated with a file being edited was deallocated immediately before copying that string to a new block, after the user chose 'File' > 'Save' from the menu. (Uncovered by Fortify, which overwrites the content of deallocated blocks immediately.)
• Now tends to stop whatever it was doing if the user chooses to continue execution after an unexpected error (to prevent recurring errors).
• Included a description of the decompression algorithm.

Screenshots

SFColours editing hill colours and polygon colours files, with the colour picker dialogue open at the top right.

Download

Download SFColours (124  KB). Also available without source code (68  KB).
(Requires at least WindowManager 3.80 and Toolbox modules.)

SFSkyEdit

SFSkyEdit is an editor for Star Fighter 3000 sky colours files.

A sky colours file (in "!Star3000.Landscapes.Sky") specifies the colours used to paint a particular type of planetary atmosphere (e.g. sunset, morning, night, gas clouds etc). This application allows you to edit these colours or define new skies.

SFSkyEdit has a sophisticated selection model for colour bands. Copy/move operations may either be done using the clipboard or through a drag & drop interface. Changes to sky files can be observed in real time using the preview window, which renders the sky as it would appear in the game. Multiple files may be edited simultaneously, and accessed from the iconbar menu.

Author

Chris Bazley

Latest version

1.49 (25 Jun 2009)

Recent changes

Version 1.49

• Changed the keyboard shortcuts to trap/free the caret, open the preview window and set the stars/ground height offsets (although the old Ctrl- T/P/S/G key shortcuts still work). These are now mapped to function keys, which are language-neutral and only require a single keypress. (The idea is that only editing actions should be mapped to Ctrl-letter key combinations.)
• If the preview window is already open then it is now shown by bringing it to the front of the window stack and giving it input focus, instead of re-opening it relative to the position of the editing window.
• The preview window now claims the system-wide caret/selection entity when it gains the input focus, so that the current owner can undraw its caret or fade its selection.
• It is now possible to save only the selected colour bands, rather than the entire sky file, by means of a new option button in the savebox.
• Internal changes in preparation for saving in a format negotiated with the recipient, when a file icon is dragged from the save dialogue box (not yet utilised).
• Fixed a bug where the heap block holding the path associated with a file being edited was deallocated immediately before copying that string to a new block, after the user chose 'File' > 'Save' from the menu. (Uncovered by Fortify, which overwrites the content of deallocated blocks immediately.)
• Now tends to stop whatever it was doing if the user chooses to continue execution after an unexpected error (to prevent recurring errors).
• Included a description of the decompression algorithm.

Screenshots

SFSkyEdit editing a sky file 'Earth3' with the interactive preview window open on the left.

Download

Download SFSkyEdit (159  KB). Also available without source code (81  KB).
(Requires at least WindowManager 3.80 and Toolbox modules.)

SFToSpr

SFToSpr is a graphics file-format converter. It converts between the bitmap graphics formats used by the game Star Fighter 3000 and the ubiquitous sprite file format. This allows the game's graphics to be edited in almost any RISC OS painting program.

A sky pictures file (in "!Star3000.Landscapes.Planets") contains the pictures of nearby celestial bodies which the game paints in the sky. A map graphics file (in "!Star3000.Landscapes.Sprites") contains the square tiles that give an illusion of detail to the ground texture map. These are the main bitmap graphics formats used by the game.

Recent versions of SFToSpr can also be used to convert sky colours files (in "!Star3000.Landscapes.Sky") to sprites and vice-versa. However you might be better off using SFskyedit, which is a dedicated editor for that type of file. It offers a higher level view and a more user-friendly interface.

Author

Chris Bazley

Latest version

3.81 (25 Jun 2009)

Recent changes

Version 3.81

• Added mechanism for using Fortify to find memory leaks.
• Minor changes to code for handling CSV files dropped on save dialogue boxes.
• Reduced duplication between the code used for dealing with file icons dragged from a directory display and those from another application's save dialogue box.
• Now gives a more helpful error report if the user drags a directory from a save dialogue box to SFToSpr's icon on the icon bar (which still isn't supported).
• Linked with RISCOS Ltd's generic stubs library (previous version was accidentally released with an undocumented dependency upon a version of the shared C library which supports APCS-32).
• Included a description of the decompression algorithm.

Screenshots

Clockwise from top: scan progress window expanded with error report, converted graphics displayed in Paint, directory of graphics files, SFToSpr tiles set creation dialogue box.	Some Star Fighter 3000 map tiles converted to RISC OS sprites by SFToSpr, displayed in a Paint window.

Download

Download SFToSpr (139  KB). Also available without source code (77  KB).
(Requires Toolbox modules.)

I do not expect to release further Star Fighter 3000 utilities, as my attention is currently focused on the final major project of writing a full map/mission editor. In any case, the only remaining candidate file format for an editor is that of the polygonal objects sets. The effort involved in writing an editor for these would not be justified!

Designed by Christopher Bazley. All material relating to Star Fighter 3000 is © Fednet Software, 1994, 1995 Labelled with ICRA.