Date:	1993-08-10
		From:	Paul
		Subject:	Re: Alex Lives!

1. No, I am not a "non-FPU 68020+ CPU".

   Currently, the only compiler distinctions are pre/post-68020 and FPU/non-FPU. In your case - and mine - generating 68020 code is presumably "better/faster", although I haven't attempted to quantify any differences. Ditto for FPU, but you say you don't have a FPU, and Alex does very little floating proint arithmetic. I'll just leave that switch off.

2. My monitor size in pixels is 640 by 480.

   Well, I think this may be my monitor size as well. What I really should have asked is, "How does the default size window come out on your monitor?" Alex is supposed to auto-size to just a touch smaller than your screen. Sounds like this is working.

3. My performance is excellent.

   Excellent! Welcome to the 90's! ;-)

4. Resizing the window (not the world) still seems a bit buggy.

   About which version is this comment made? No matter, actually; I've re-coded much of this over the weekend. I'm still seeing a pesky scrolling bug after generating a new world map when either thumb is not in its minimum position; barring this, scrolling always works fine for me. If you still have trouble after the next shipment, complain again. This whole area is seriously taxing my knowledge of Mac programming. The bug I reported last message as probably easy to fix is *still* giving me fits.

5. When I can I see the color version?

   Well, I'm determined to first stomp out existing bugs before adding fancy features. However, your color maps *do* look attractive. If I can figure out how to do it easily, you'll see color shortly. Is this really the #1 feature you'd like to see? Let's start on a wish list.

6. Are you ready to tackle the Cartan recursive shoreline algorithm?

   Not quite (see above for an explanation). Where do you place this on the wish list?

7. It would be nice to be able to zoom in and out (that is, change the basic pixel size). Wouldn't it?

   Well, *I* can do that. All it takes is changing one constant and recompiling. Not what you had in mind? Do you really see the need for ultimate flexibility here, allowing any (reasonable) pixel size? Or would two standard sizes be enough? Either one would take a bit of coding. My current thought is this: provide one standard size, as in the current window, and provide as an option a second fixed size in a second fit-to-screen window (so no scrollbars here). Of course one would want to allow both screens to be simultaneously visible.

   What do you think of the current pixel size? It's rather smaller than SC .They fit a 37x30 grid on my screen; I currently fit 60x41. This size is nicer for views of the world, but probably a bit too small for actual play.

8. Sometime when you get a chance, could you transmit our old Alexander stack - I lost mine in my recent drive crash. Maybe you can include it with your Archipelago shipment.

   I've still got this, dated - yikes! - Fri, Nov. 2, 1990. Onto Archipelago it goes.

Mr. Duk

P.S. Later it is: a day later, and I say with no great confidence that I've fixed my scrolling/resizing bugs. Give this new copy a try. As an added bonus, this release has the beginnings of a new, much needed, feature: labels for cell locations along the left and top borders. No scrolling or repainting here, yet. Let's hope that functionality will be easier to add now, my second time around.