Archived News
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| I've got a LOT of feedback recently for stuff I should add to lx5suite - which is great! Keep it coming. After a slow-down period where I upgraded to Windows XP (the DirectX stuff still works! Phew) I've added some extra asked-for functions to lx5suite, and I have released a BETA of v0.71.2. This release adds some stuff (xor, xorbar, and circle) to timage, and also some behind-the-scenes stuff (alpha-maps, automatic locking/unlocking the video), *BUT* not all of the old lx5image methods are 100% yet, and some of it has not yet been optimised. SO - if you want to use the beta, do so, but be aware you may have so make some small changes for existing source code to work - and some features (mainly sprite-transparency) are not yet supported by all drawing functions. So I am keeping both versions available until I have completed the rewrite of lx5image. Check out the new features on the lx5suite page. (I've also added lx5demo4, which shows you how to do very simple stuff like putpixels, lines, boxes and circles, as requested by a user) Note: please don't tell me that this or that doesn't work the same in the new beta. I *know*, and I am working on it. New version ASAP! |
03 March 2002
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lx5suite v0.71.2 BETA available
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| Hi guys! Does anyone have any suggestions for extra stuff you want included in lx5image or lx5graph? Alexander Olk has already pointed out it's missing some drawing methods (circle & arc, etc) which will be included in the next release (with anti-aliasing as well); I'm rewriting a lot of it, and it now supports image-in-image, alpha-maps, and other cool graphical effects (but they stil need optimising), so let me know if there are any graphical functions you need. The major changes to version 0.80 will be in the graphical department, and some fixes/new stuff to the other units. |
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| Quite a few new changes to the site today. The Pascal page on the navigation bar has been replaced with the Guides section, where you can go to get documentation or tutorials on things. The Links page has some new, relevant stuff, and I've added new content to the Projects and About pages as well. My main aim currently is to get more content on the site for everyone; I'm also working on creating a "one-click setup" of a FPC programming environment, so you can just download and run it, and you'll have instant access to FPC, lx5suite, an IDE, and be able to make programs, without worrying about config files, unit paths etc. This is because I know people who would like to learn to program, but can't even get the compiler to work! Once this gets done, I'll start some tutorials on the site - going right up to a game or something actually worth playing =) |
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| Hi Guys! New (minor) version of lx5suite released. Major new feature is TrueType Font support, but there are also some other small background changes; The class-debugging system has been rewritten from the ground up with a GUI interface, which is a lot faster and also lets you view (for example) thumbnails of any timage classes you're using in your application. As always, please email me with any problems or suggestions! Download the new version from the lx5suite page. Also available there now is lx5demo3, both binary & source, showing bitmap-textured antialiased truetype fonts, something to be tidied up and released in the next version! |
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| Merry Christmas everyone! Just a small update; the "Quick Links" option is now there at the top left of the page, done using JavaScript and it only took me two hours! =) Also added some nice Bullet graphics to this page... I'm planning a reshuffle of content shortly, you see. The other thing is the lx5suite "What's New" section has been set up to show the work in progress between releases... It's cool because it grabs the changes straight from the source code & reformats it for the web page! Remember, email me with suggestions! |
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| Just some very small updates. The CPUID Guide has been updated (now includes small notes about the Pentium IV and other minor additions to keep it current). Also, I've added an email button to the navbar at the bottom of the page, and changed all the former mirror sites to redirect to this one. At the moment I'm thinking of making an actual, playable GAME to demonstrate lx5suite - email me with any suggestions!. |
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| www.paradicesoftware.com is setup and running! Main advantages: No more advertising, more web space, faster access. I've also optimised a lot of the images on this site to make it load a lot faster. (Also reorganised some folders) So, the website is www.paradicesoftware.com and my email address is lawrence@paradicesoftware.com. |
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| Just a small note: lx5suite demo programs 1 & 2 have been updated and placed for download on the lx5suite page. They are zip files which include the source code, and exe files for both DOS and Windows. The first demo shows lx5suite scaling & tiling images in real time, while the second one shows use of transparency levels when drawing images, also in real time. Check them out! |
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| The DirectX and FreeType units for FPC, which are used by lx5suite (for Windows graphics modes, and TrueType fonts, respectively) have been uploaded to this website, as the home page (by Thomas Schatzl) seems to have disappeared, and the only other place where you can get them (GraphiX page) has just announced it's being discontinued. So - they're on the lx5suite page, under "Needed Libraries". Also, new version coming soon! |
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| It's here: The first version of lx5suite to support Windows GUI using DirectX. So far, DirectDraw (for graphics) and DirectSound (audio) have been implemented, so users can write platform-independet graphical applications and games. For a simple example of this, look at Powerpuff memory! You can view unit functions & documentation, as well as download the suite itself, on the lx5suite page, and don't forget to e-mail me if you like it, or want to see anything else added to it (I'm still full of ideas for improvement!) |
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| I now have the lx5audio unit working for both Dos (Sound Blaster & clones) and Windows (DirectSound). I've uploaded the latest Windows release of Powerpuff memory which now includes some simple sounds. There is still work to do (volume controls, looping sound, multiple sound channels etc) but the framework is in place. |
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| Two things happened on the site today: New version of Powerpuff Memory released (on the Projects page), and the first demo for lx5suite v0.70 (the first with DirectX graphics support). Lx5suite itself is still being polished for release, but the demo is available for download now, and includes the source used to build it. Get it from the Pascal page. |
5 November 2001 - New version of Powerpuff Memory |
| Integration between DOS & Windows for lx5suite is continuing nicely. It's now completely seamless for graphics, keyboard & mouse operations, and I'm working on sound capabilities. I've also had time to compile new versions of Powerpuff memory, go to the Projects page and download your choice of Windows or DOS version. Main new feature is cards now flick down nicely when selected, and better looking (shaded) cursor. |
28 October 2001 - DirectX version of Powerpuff Memory |
| Hi Guys - in the continuing effort to get lx5suite cross-platform friendly for all tasks, I've re-created the Powerpuff girls game using the DirectX engine (pure lx5suite code!). It also now includes a persistent high-score board, and the windows executable is also a lot smaller than the DOS one... |
29 August 2001 - An update! (At last!) |
| It's been four months! I haven't had a lot of time for any of the projects on this site, but things are beginning to settle down a bit. The next step in the evolution of lx5suite is DirectX compatibility. I'm scrapping a lot of code and re-writing it to work transparently across Go32 and Win32, including the graphics engine, sound & networking. It's a lot of work but DirectX is the way of the future and I can't wait to buy Windows XP! I now have two computers permanently set up so expect a real time LAN game to be the first test of cross-platform capabilities... |
25 April 2001 - ANZAC Day / Powerpuff Memory Game |
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First of all, today is ANZAC day (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and we all look back to our war veterans, lest we forget. It is a Public Holiday all over New Zealand. Now, on the lighter side, the Projects page now has the Powerpuff Girls memory game available for download! This is a little game I knocked together to test the new mouse handling functions of lx5suite, try it out! And as always, |
21 March 2001 - lx5suite v0.65 released! |
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Sorry about the huge delay everybody! But in the one-week period I have now between jobs I have worked constantly
and am able to present to you the new version of lx5suite, v0.65! The biggest new features are documentation of every
function (both in the source files, and as HTML documents) and a highly advanced integrated debugging engine! There are a
couple of screenshots of the debugger in action in package on the lx5suite page.
Basically you can keep an eye on every class you use, and it automatically checks your classes have all been destructed,
catches exceptions and displays extra info, etc etc. The best part is that to immediately use all the features, just
build lx5suite with the $debug definition set. If this isn't defined, your code won't be any bigger than
before, either! I've got more big plans for the future, too, so download & try the new version, and
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29 January 2001 - lx5suite v0.60 almost ready! |
| After a long delay (starting a new, 45hr/week job!) I've finally found enough spare time to update the site! lx5suite v0.60 is on it's way, hopefully I will be able to release it on next Tuesday (Feb 6) as this is a public holiday so I'll get time for some decent work. Major changes include documentation of each and every function & method in all the units, as well as HTML documentation of all the functions (indexed for quick finding), and some new units, including the one most people have been waiting for, lx5audio. It supports all Sound Blaster & compatible sound cards (at the moment - other sound cards later), and can play any number of samples simultaneously, and in stereo, at any combination of sample rates (up to the max rate supported by the card). I'm also working on integrated streaming, to allow playing of mod files, mp3s etc in a simple, class-oriented way. This is all in the not-too distant future, so send me email to keep my spirits up!! Email me! |
11 January 2001 - lx5suite v0.50 available for download! |
| The new version of lx5suite, v0.50, is now available for download on the lx5suite page. This release features all the extras I have talked about both here and in ICQ to interested parties. All the new units since the last release are now included, such as lx5drive, lx5page, lx5array, lx5fonts and lx5comms. lx5image has recieved the most attention, now able to load BMP, ICO, CUR, GIF, JPG and PCX files, and also major speed upgrades for pasting images, whether normal, transparent, or (new) translucent (with any exact opacity you specify!) Check it out, and send me feedback!! |
5 January 2001 - Lx5suite new units: lx5array and lx5page. |
| I'm putting the finishing touches to two new components of lx5suite, lx5array and lx5page. lx5array simply lets you handle an array of infinite size, without declaring the size beforehand. It will dynamically allocate additional memory as you use more elements, and the user treats it exactly like a normal array. lx5page is a kind of "virtual-page" engine, where you can create a page of any dimensions, and then add elements to it (images, text, backgrounds, sub-pages). You can then "render" this page to a timage or the screen. It allows you to build pages much larger than the screen without consuming vast amounts of memory for a giant timage, so it's ideal for displaying things like web-pages, or if you are creating a GUI, set the inside of the windows as a page, and scrolling is done for you automatically! (with clipping, of course). View page at any offset, set elements relative to other elements... infinite recursion (for "page-within-page", or a frames-based web site look).... Oh, and I'm also going to add an HTML decoding unit using this to the lx5suite extras, so you can instantly show web-pages for help, or to make your very own browser in seconds! Finally, lx5image can now load JPG, GIF, ICO and PCX images in addition to BMP, and I may add TIF and TGA support later. |
27 December 2000 - Lx5ipx, Mirror site list (with ping times!) |
| Lx5ipx is available on the lx5suite page, complete with a fully-functional chat program example. The example is in zip form, including a precompiled exe and the source code for the example (not stand-alone, download lx5suite v0.30 and install to compile it yourself) Also, many of you have noticed the profusion of JavaScript on this site - I've just added some more. The mirror site list (get to it by pressing the small 'M' in the very top-right of the site) now has JavaScript to tell you the ping-time to each mirror, so you can see for yourself which site is the fastest for you! |
24 December 2000 - Lx5suite available! |
| It's Christmas Eve, early morning (4am). The lx5suite page now has descriptions and interfaces posted for all currently existing units, and you can download the lx5suite 0.30 alpha sources to try for yourself! I'm currently writing more example programs, and as soon as they are done I will begin the tutorial. I have also added a "specification" section to lx5suite, featuring specifications written by me of some of the programming interfaces I've used for lx5suite - invaluable if you want to do programming in these areas yourself. At the moment, I've posted my CPUID Guide (fully interactive! a labour of love), and in the future I will post the IPX, Sound blaster and VESA specifications. In other news, the fastest-mirror redirection seems to be working, except Fortunecity seems to sometimes replace my images with it's own, and Geocities blocks the ".exe" and ".pp" example files on the lx5suite page. =( |
22 December 2000 - URL redirection & Lx5suite progress |
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The absolute, final, permanent address for Paradice Software is http://connect.to/paradice.
I'm currently engaged in some scripting to choose the fastest mirror for each user and take them there, so make sure you use the
connect.to url in your bookmarks! I'm hosted on fortunecity (U.S.), NBCi (U.S.), Yahoo! Geocities (U.S) and Recycle.net (N.Z). I have begun the long task of putting descriptions, interfaces and examples of all the lx5suite units onto the site. Visit the lx5suite section, and open the units folder. The yellow text represents a unit with a description & interface posted. The lx5cpu unit also has a working example posted and available for download. I will add more of these examples as I have time and as I complete testing. BTW, the html versions of the unit interfaces were created by Palaside 2001. |
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21 December 2000 - Paradice Polarised Unveiled. |
| The new Paradice Software website, Paradice Polarised, is on-line, thanks to our friends at recycle.net. The new site also has new featured items - lx3suite has been superceded by lx5suite, a complete redesign with the emphasis on stability & performance. The Pascal section still contains information about FreePascal. The Projects page contains information about Palaside Millennium, Paradice Software's Freeware IDE for FPC. All of the links are activated from the navigation bar along the bottom of the screen. Site designed for IE5. Email us at paradice@free.net.nz with any comments / questions. |