On 12/2/06, Daniel Martin <martin / snowplow.org> wrote:
> To be fair, they don't do the compression in pure ruby - they call
> Zlib, so the really computationally intensive bit isn't in ruby.
>

Thanks for the correction here.

> Also, the fast line-drawing algorithm used for writing to that old
> 320x200 VGA mode wasn't what they're using here.  Here, they're doing
> *anti-aliased* lines, which no one would ever think of trying when you
> only have 256 colors available and the pixels are going to be visibly
> squares no matter what you do.
>

People were most definitely drawing anti-aliased lines in mode 13h:
http://freespace.virgin.net/hugo.elias/graphics/x_wuline.htm

Aesthetically sensible when, as you say, each pixel is a visible rectangle? no.

Still pretty fun though. hehe. ;)

> That old line drawing algorithm I could just pull out of a book on my
> shelf; what they're doing here is enough different that it's very
> tough to disentangle.
>

It's a bit of a shame too, this lib would otherwise be *perfect* for
doing cross-platform turtle graphics in Ruby.

Regards,
-Harold