Ertnerd Productions

Mr. Ertnerd says:

it can get pretty advanced, but all you really need to know is how to get user input and display stuff on the screen.

For adding a single pixel, you would add all the usual ‘using’ stuff.
also add “using Cosmos.Hardware; using Screen = Cosmos.Hardware.VGAScreen;”
Then somewhere before the main loop (which can be as simple as “while(true) { }”)
add “Screen.SetPaletteEntry(int index, byte r, byte g, byte b);” //this declares what color is assigned to the index number. I don’t think there is a standard, but there may be.) Add this line for each color you want, adjusting the color values, and change the index number. You can have up to 256 (0-255) colors in COSMOS because all the color declarations are stored in a single byte.
After that you add
“Screen.SetMode320x200x8();
Screen.Clear(int colorIndex);” //this sets the screen size and then colors the whole screen a single color.
Somewhere within the main loop add
“Screen.SetPixel320x200x8(uint x, uint y, uint color);”
//this actually makes a certain pixel a different color!

However, early on in my experimentation, I discovered that just coloring each pixel when you draw something, actually creates a flashing effect… which is very, not good.

So, to fix the issue, I created a simple buffer.
“private static uint[] screenbuffer = new uint[512000];”
//you get 512000 from 320 * 200 * 8 //the screen size//yeah you need the 8 too
now instead of calling SetPixel320x200x8(…); you would use
screenbuffer[y * 320 + x] = uint color;
and for actually drawing the buffer onto the screen, create a function that is called at the end of the main loop and sends the buffer to the screen.
public static void reDrawScreen() {
for (uint x = 0; x < 320; x++)
{for (uint y = 0; y < 200; y++){
uint num = y * 320 + x;
Screen.SetPixel320x200x8(x, y, screenbuffer[num]);
screenbuffer[num] = 0;} } }

Now you just need some functions that draw different shapes. (so far I can only draw rectangles and pre-rendered images [kind of like bitmaps, only my own style])

For mouse support, I just have another function called before the reDrawScreen().
to get the x and y pos of the mouse, just use Cosmos.Hardware.Mouse.X and Cosmos.Hardware.Mouse.Y;
using your basic shapes (or editing the buffer directly in the mouse function) you can draw a cursor at that position, and check for what mouse buttons are being pressed.
"switch(Mouse.Buttons)" along with all the cases (Mouse.MouseState.Left, Mouse.MouseState.Right, Mouse.MouseState.Middle, Mouse.MouseState.None)

Oh, and one thing else, memory is always limited, so you will have to make some way of clearing the memory..
I edited Cosmos.Kernel.Heap by making the first few variables public [instead of private] so that I can do just that.
if (Cosmos.Kernel.Heap.mStartAddress >= (Cosmos.Kernel.Heap.mEndOfRam / 100) * 88){
Cosmos.Kernel.Heap.mStartAddress = starter;} //just a simple way of cleaning house…
Please note that this is more of a temporary fix, and can cause A LOT of bugs, EVEN TOTAL CRASHING. But for the most part it gets the job done.

If you have any questions, just ask.