Turbo Pascal v7.0

This program is a simple implementation of a computer program to get control of the computer’s “Serial Port”. The ultimate utility of the program becomes apparent when we want to check and see if a computer is connected to an external device using the Serial Port.

The program is a graphical implementation of the famous “MinesSweeper” game. The implementation has been made possible by solely using Turbo Pascal v7.0’s build-in graphics routines. The game features a “Main Menu”-like operational template through which the player can choose between options like the difficulty level, etcetera, and fully annotated code. Controlling the game is through the mouse, for which the "cursor" has been created especially for the game and its full source code is given as part of the main program. For the implementation of the mouse "cursor" the Assembly programming language has been used throughout, as well as elsewhere when that was possible and offered more advantages compared to Turbo Pascal v7.0.

This program is another implementation of the well known game “MinesSweeper”, in text mode this time. This particular implementation was based exclusively on the ASCII characters set. Because the program originally was written for educational purposes only, “bombs” are represented on the screen by the “@” character. The character "#" represents a covered square, while the dot character “.” represents an open square. Movement from square to square is achieved via the keyboard’s “Arrow Keys”. To open a square we need to move over it (it becomes yellow) and to press “Enter”. At any time we can exit the game by using the “Esc” button.

This program implements a stunning graphic effect of the type that was common in games Intros at the time when Turbo Pascal v7.0 was the ultimate computer programming language. Usually, in this impressive manner logos and game titles were presented. Sometimes the game itself was less impressive than the intro graphics. The program "reads" a .LBM image file and reproduces it on the screen by use of a series of impressive animations, with focus and rotation included.

This program is an implementation of a graphics mode “Screen-saver” application. The basic idea was originally derived from the corresponding “Screen-saver” available with “ Windows '98”, only in this case the background is not an image of the “Desktop” but a background image generated by the program itself. The program is more Asse6mbly language based than Turbo Pascal v7.0. The reason for this is that graphics routines of the type required for the job were very resources demanding to be implemented entirely in Turbo Pascal v7.0. Of course this doesn’t mean that it was impossible to implement the code entirely using Turbo Pascal v7.0 functions in the first place, but rather that doing so would have produced an end-program too long and complicated to be used for any educational purposes.

This program implements the algorithm necessary to read a ZSoft “.PCX” image file. The way the program is structured, is making it easy to identify the various parts of a ZSoft “.PCX” image file and so is ideal for educational purposes. In the code the formatting style of this type of image files is followed throughout, so the code is easily transferable in other programming languages if desired with optimum results.

This is another program that implements the necessary algorithm to read a ZSoft “.PCX” image file, with some advanced features included. The program includes better code annotation and procedures for the implementation of the reading algorithm. The big difference between the two algorithms presented is the inclusion in this version of one advanced image processing procedure for the ZSoft “.PCX” image format, which uses the pixels’ threshold values to present the complete image.

This program implements a graphics mode, rotating and rolling around the horizontal axis, Banner. The program’s methodology follows the same track as were the previous two programs of the same type, only this time the graphics alteration is made on a horizontal sort of fashion. The graphics procedures are again written primarily in Assembly language, while the remaining of the procedures were written in pure Turbo Pascal v7.0. The program can easily be extended in such as way as for the axis of motion to be the vertical axis, or alternatively to involve both axes at the same time.

This program is an implementation of the corresponding to the “Hello World!” program, in the graphics world. An animated cube on the screen was the first ever program someone had to be able to come up with in order to justifiably claim a first sit into the world of graphics programming. Later, the addition of images (instead of simple color fillings) and the addition of motion within the images were the next logical steps in a graphics programmer’s line of evolution. Many variants of the idea were subsequently implemented by different programmers ("cubes within a cube’s sides", etcetera). The program presented here creates a cube out of independent graphics blocks (cube’s sides) which are then rotated according to the laws imposed by the Cartesian coordinates and the boundaries of their corresponding axes. To create the squares the program uses a somewhat different method from the one considered a classic. Starting, the memory block is formed as a combination of horizontal lines, which come prior to any displaying on the screen. The advantage of this technique is that it can be easily extended, theoretically on any number of squares.

The program implements a fairly impressive “Fire” graphical display. On a smaller scale, by analogy, the same graphical representation can be found in all the old-fashioned games where there are depictions of torches (Prince of Persia) or other objects, which in one way or another involved animated fire components. The program can easily be modified to give a greater flame height on the screen and a more dense and slow fire effect, so that the quality of realism can be significantly improved.