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What are the best QB libraries?

Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:13 am
by zanzibar
I'm starting my first library projects and I wanted to know a few things...

1) best gaphics libary? Rel, Cosmox, future, direct, etc
2) best sound format? mod, midi, wav, mp3
3) should i use sound with or without directsound?
4) any combinantion of the above?

Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:22 am
by MystikShadows
Hi darklink246,

Ok, i'm gonna answer your question in numerical order. :-)

1) Seems that every one that uses YAGL have nothing but greatness to say about it. If you want to accomplish something very different from YAGL you might consider going back to the roots and using SDL or OpenGL as the basis for your library and add your specific functionality to it.

2) If I am assuming you're going the Windows way..(Linux too) I would say that MIDI files (files with the .mid extensions) and the MP3 format would be your best bet as it's probably the most widespread and available file formats available.

3) Again, if your target OS for your library is Windows only, DirectSound might be a good alternative. However, if you aim for multiplatform, I suggest using one of the libraries supported by freebasic such as Fmod, Open AL or BASS and build your specific functionality on top of those sound systems.

4) specialized functionality designed to make using these engines even quicker and simpler than they are can definitaly apply to all of the above. :-).

Hope this helps,

Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:26 am
by Z!re
MP3 is NOT free. You need to obtain a license or a decoder that is licensed.

Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 4:18 pm
by zanzibar
Anyways, I still use Qbasic :lol:

I don't know if Yagl can handle qbasic.

I know, one day I'll make the jump

Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 8:39 pm
by Nodtveidt
For #2, MIDI is so NOT the way to go...never really was. For streams, OGG or FLAC is the way to go, otherwise modules (.IT specifically) are the way to go.

For #1...if still using QB (not qbasic...if you're using qbasic, your choice is simple...Blast! or PUT), there are way too many to choose from that are good but keep in mind that some do not work properly on modern computers (UGL, DirectQB, etc).

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:39 pm
by impersonator
How about MODs, XM, 3SM, etc?

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:13 pm
by Nodtveidt
MOD, S3M, and XM are all very outdated formats that are lacking in capabilities.

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:19 pm
by zanzibar
well right now, I'd like to use dsqb44 and relLib together. dsqb44 is fabulous and rellib has the best sprite routines. Well the two libraries play nice with each other?

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 5:06 pm
by Guest
From my QBASIC expiriances, you may only use one library at a time.

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 6:51 pm
by Nodtveidt
Your experience is severely lacking then. :)

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:44 pm
by zanzibar
how do i load two libraries, then?

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 8:13 pm
by Guest
Nekrophidius wrote:Your experience is severely lacking then. :)
Well, I don't program in BASIC as much as I did...

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 8:35 pm
by Z!re
IIRC You can only use one in the IDE, you can link however many you want..

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 11:19 pm
by zanzibar
What?

Please elaborate on that! All I know iis to run a batch file of qb with the library:
c:\qb l/ c:\libDirec\lib

and then include the .bi file
rem $include 'lib.bi'

how would you include two libs? Besides using PAK or other lib manager

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:07 am
by Nodtveidt
You use multiple libraries in QB using the library manager, lib.exe, as well as the linker, link.exe. You first consolodate all of your object files or library modules into one .lib file using lib.exe, then if you need QLB support, use link with the /qu switch to create your quicklibrary. If you need assistance in how to use this, there are plenty of FAQs on the Internet (there's one at QBN and probably something here at Pete's as well) or if you still can't figure it out, post here stating as such and someone will explain it in more detail.

Someone mentioned dsqb44...I think that's ds4qb. :) Although it is a library by definition, it's not a .lib/.qlb so it doesn't need special linking, you just include the module into your project. That applies to all versions of the program (DS4QB, DS4QB2, and DS4QB++).

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 12:53 am
by DrV
The best QB library for game programming or anything remotely similar is UGL. Nothing comes near it in speed or capabilities (VESA, Sound Blaster waveform audio and module playback, keyboard, mouse, blits of all sorts, optimized affine and perspective-correct texture-mapped triangle drawing, etc...)

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 6:30 pm
by Patz QuickBASIC Creations
What I wanna know is...

What is the best text-PDS library?