name: Blanka
author: Gordon Munro (VOTI)
size: 1718 bytes
needs: Acorn Computer (I think RISC OS 3 up)
descr.: uses demos as 'screen savers'
What it does
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Running !Blanka loads a screen blanker which can only be got out
of by clicking a mousebutton or pressing a key.
I must warn that this isn't really a screen saver as it doesn't
multi-task, which means it will be pretty useless for a _lot_
of people eg printing will stop while screensaver is on...
sorry about this, but I doubt this will change.
It only really gets interesting if you change !Blanka.!RunImage
and make saver$= the address of a demo of your choice which will
then be run as the screensaver.
Also you can change the time to blank in the !RunImage.
The demo you choose should fit some characteristics, the first
characteristic is the only one that is necessary the others are
nice to have.
#1 it should run until you press escape, then exit to desktop
#2 it should quit cleanly (no "click mouse to continue")
#3 short load time
Music from the demo will be removed, unless the demo overrides
*Audio Off
Tutorial
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As an example here's a little Tutorial that even the most
inexperienced user should be able to follow.
#1 Hold shift and double click on !Blanka
#2 Hold shift and double click on !RunImage
#3 Change line
saver$="<Blanka$Dir>.blank"
to
saver$="<Blanka$Dir>.^.More.PolymHair"
#4 Press F3 then press return
#5 If you've already run Blanka, quit it from the TaskManager
#6 Double click on !Blanka
This will run PolymHair as a saver after a time delay.
This is last year's CodeCraft 1k 3rd place entry, I take no
credit for the briliance of the work of ArmOric.
There's a random saver bit, I'll let you figure that one out.
Savers to Use
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My favourite saver for this is RotSpinZoom by Paul Thomson.
Reisnac, by Icebird, would be an amazing saver, but as it
doesn't loop, you can't use it. This may change in the future.
Other possibles that loop are the loads of codecraft entries,
Iron Dignity demo, Extreme demo...
Source
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All the basic is unsquashed but the little module (my first)
has its source in More.
The module is very much based on cc#2 2k entry ScreenGrab...
thanks to CasmA & neBula for commenting it nicely.
Why is this a new version?
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Just the textfile has changed.
ArmOric pointed out that he came 3rd, not first, last year.
Thanks to him for pointing that out. Other lies removed.
So, the textfile is a little less rubbishy now,
or at least the rubbish within is a little more accurate.
End Comment
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If you want to contact me, have complaints, can't figure out
the random saver bit, want to make it better,
my e-mail address is
gordon@lokalaji.freeserve.co.uk
Actually, if you see any obvious errors, please, please
contact me. Because I'm the kind of guy who makes obvious
errors.