File :-(, x, )
CGA -or- Who needs true colour? Two bits per pixel shoud be enough for everyone. Anonymous
A few months ago there was a CGA wallpaper thread. Someone mentioned something along the lines of "I wish I had a program that did this automatically, like a screensaver or suchlike, for when I'm feeling nostalgic." I happened to share the sentiment and I couldn't let go of the idea so I finally decided to implement it. For now, here's the .exe, but I plan on releasing the source, if I can think of a good name and clean up the code. Suggestions for names are welcome, as are suggestions on how to open-source-ify stuff. Interface not in English for now, but it's simple and you're all very good with languages, no?

Enclosed file is really a .zip file. Try opening it in WinAce, or cutting off the .gif part of the file and renaming it .zip.
>> Anonymous
Trying to find the needed DLLs right now.

Thanks for this, btw.
>> VB40032.dll Anonymous
If you get a message about VB40032.dll try here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q196286
Other DLL's it needs should already be present on your system, but I didn't really clean up the source yet so there's the off-chance it still links against unnecessary libs, as in not doing anything with them, but just wanting them to be there. It has happened to me before - programming can be like that sometimes.
>> Anonymous
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>>361692
B.t.w. it shouldn't actually matter if you put them in the application folder or in System32. (Although you'll only need one copy of the file if you opt for the latter choice.)

Anyway, nighty-night.
>> Anonymous
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Good morning!

As you can see a low diffusion factor makes light and dark areas more solid (less dither) but it can help preserve detail.
>> Anonymous
I'm probably just being stupid but...how do I get it to find images? All I get when I launch it is a blank screen with two scrollbars.
>> Anonymous
>>362205
I think the readme file contains an error on this point. It does mention that you can paste filenames, but the first line of the section OPTIONS should read:
<path to program>.exe /<options> <file/folder>
(Under option c it says "If you've specified a file or folder on the commandline"...)
So you'd get something like:
C:\...\CGADither.exe D:\...\Image.jpg
Or, using a folder and an extra option:
C:\...\CGADither.exe /f D:\My documents\My pictures

Minor nitpick: the pause menu option is not disabled in single-file mode. Tsk tsk.

What the right-click menu options do:
pause, back, forward
next folder, /a, /e, detect palette
copy image, paste filename (why no foldernames?)
/i
>> SilentCaay
Holy crap... That was my comment. It looks awesome from the samples. If I can get this working you are my new god :D
>> Anonymous
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OP here. I've updated the readme file - it was indeed incomplete, but well, it was a written rather quickly. And pasting foldernames will definately become a possibility but perhaps not in the first release.
I'm isolating the strings for better ease of localization, as well as other minor UI improvements.
I'll probably release the source under the GPL but I'll need to find a place to put it permanently, although I will also post it here if the thread's still alive by then.
And I perhaps need a better name... CGADither doesn't exactly roll of the tongue.
>> Anonymous
>>362517
Some of the samples turned out rather well, although if you know where to look you can see defects too. Also, I'm not really sure what the ideal diffusion factor for screensaver mode is - based on my manual experiments with a lower diffusion factor I think the default may be too high. I think you can also see that in one of the demo images. Note: there is the /e switch of course.
>> Anonymous
Keep posting these, these are GREAT!
>> SilentCaay
This is awesome. Great job! The only thing I noticed is that when you use the "Copy" function it copies the image that's being processed and not the one being shown so you get wierd half-processed pictures. "Print screen" works fine, though. I love it :)
>> vb.wikia.com? Anonymous
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Title screen of the CGA version of Warcraft III. :-) Default settings. Even though the source image is more realistic in style it is still recognizable, although it helps if you squint a little. Heh.

>>362576
Ah yes. Quick programming at its best. The technical reason is as follows. (Feel free to fall asleep at this point.) The pixels in a window (in Windows at least) are not really permanent. When part of a window gets uncovered Windows asks the window to draw the uncovered bit. In this case the window draws itself using a bitmap. Because I was lazy and/or hasty I let the dither function write to that bitmap directly, hence the strange effects when you drag another window over the window or use the copy function while it's still processing. When it is not (usually recognizable by the invisible progressbar) it will work fine though. Perhaps a future version should draw to a backbuffer and use an RtlMoveMemory on the final result.

P.S. There is a Wikia that could host the code, although it isn't a very big or active wiki.
http://vb.wikia.com
Now the admin of that site is going to kill me for linking it on 4chan. Better pack my bags.
>> Anonymous
where is the program? O.o
>> Anonymous
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Here, for now, in enclosed zipfile.

When I upload the files to the wiki, after I have perhaps thought up a better name and worked out how best to upload .frx files, I'll probably put them in the Code category. But first, I'm going to sleep. Oyasumi-nasai.