From: Subject: TECH: 256 Colors, faster?! Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1993 02:46:08 EST Organization: Penn State University Well, after having played with Castle Wolfenstein 3D and a driving simulator from Road & Track (sorry, can't remember the name), it seems that someone has realized that it can actually be faster to manipulate 256 color graphics than 16 color graphics. I'll assume it has to do with the fact that you're moving whole bytes rather than parts-of- bytes and don't have to deal with all the bit-shifting etc. that you have to deal with when moving nibbles. (Sorry, should I explain what the h**l I'm talking about?)... The graphics in the two games have excellent shading in full color, AND some of the fastest 3D rendering I've seen (just move the mouse back and forth on Castle Wolfenstein real fast, you'll see what I mean). If anyone's played the driving simulator I'm talking about (It's coming back to me...it's by Accolade ...in association with Road & Track ...maybe if I start a new paragraph I'll remember the name. Nope. Oh well...if anyone's played that game I'm thinking of (you get to design your own racetrack...you even have control of the level of the ground; you could put a mountain in the middle of the track if you like...the road follows the contours of the ground) ...then you must appreciate the animation. (Get to the point Tom...) ...Here's my point...I want the code. Yes, that simple, I want to code to that program. Ok, so maybe I'm being a little optimistic; how about this: Does anyone know anything about the techniques used in these animation subprograms? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Oh yea, as long as I have you on the phone...let me ask you something else. I want to import an image file from Mathematica into (the .PLG format) REND386 I know it's a little much to hope for, but does such a filter/program exist? Does anyone feel like making one? Please? Thanx people. Tom Rusnock DPE101@PSUVM.PSU.EDU