Stuff I Like: Razor
Sorry for the long wait between updates; the Christmas season has been a very busy time, and planning for future products has pulled me away from the programming work that inspires these.
To start off 2002, I'm introducing a new feature called Stuff I Like. This is an occasional column to point out useful tools for people using CodeWarrior to write their Palm OS applications.
For the first edition, I'm selecting Razor, a C++ game framework from Tilo Christ. The framework handles five key aspects of building a game:
- Timing and flow control
- Canvas handling
- Sprite manipulation
- Music and sound effects
- Input management
As a framework, Razor handles most of the setup, calling user-supplied code as customization points the author calls HotSpots.
The framework is organized as a collection of C++ classes, with ActionEngine as the class representing your application. You customize the framework by inheriting from this class and overriding its methods.
The framework comes well documented, with Doxygen-generated HTML descriptions of all the classes and their methods. This includes a class hierarchy chart, a list of files in the framework, and an index of class members. The framework also comes with a sample project that animates several sprites while playing music.
The SDK is distributed under the MIT license, similar to the original X Window System distribution. This makes it suitable for closed source and open source projects.
You can download the current library from PalmGear at http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=9953. The author, Tilo Christ, can be reached at tilo.christ@online.de, and he has a website with Razor info (along with other cool things) at http://www.tilo-christ.de/razor/index.html.
Send feedback to combee@techwood.org
Copyright © 2004 Benjamin L. Combee
Palm OS is a registered trademark of PalmSource, Inc.
Metrowerks and CodeWarrior are registered trademarks of Metrowerks Inc.
The views expressed on this website/weblog are those of mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of PalmSource or Metrowerks.
qwertYAK / frobnovich
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