The innovative solution comes from UK company Dark Basic Software Ltd and centres on its revolutionary programming language DarkBASIC which gives even inexperienced programmers the power to create computer games of a commercial standard.

From schools and colleges to universities and adult learning centres, any educational body can receive 10 free DarkBASIC licences worth $400. All they need to do is log onto the DarkBASIC offer page at //www.thegamecreators.com/, fill in a registration form and upload an image of their letterhead.

• You can now load objects that have no texture or material data, such as those generated from the "save mesh" command
• PRINT will now automatically scroll the text when it hits the bottom of the screen
• Many Matrix fixes including: Randomize Matrix extends all the way along the X and Z axis, Shift Matrix no longer inverts the height, the "ugly lines" are gone with the new "set matrix trim" command and various other Matrix related fixes.
• The PRINT and STR$() precision value has been increased to allow echoing of floats and long variables
• Music Playing can now detect if CD-Audio or a Music Score has finished
• SAVE IMAGE command is back with support for saving out BMP, DDS, DIB and JPEG formats

Beyond even this though are a whole stack of new commands relating to Pixel and Vertex Shaders and Object Manipulation. Some of these new commands include:

• DISABLE OBJECT ZREAD
• SHOW OBJECT BOUNDS
• SET OBJECT SMOOTHING
• SET LIMB SMOOTHING
• SET OBJECT AMBIENCE
• SET OBJECT DIFFUSE
• SET OBJECT EMISSIVE
• SET OBJECT SPECULAR
• SET ALPHA MAPPING ON
• SET EFFECT ON
• LOAD EFFECT
• PERFORM CHECKLIST FOR EFFECT VALUES
• PERFORM CHECKLIST FOR EFFECT ERRORS
• SET EFFECT TECHNIQUE
• SET EFFECT TRANSPOSE
• PICK OBJECT
• GET PICK VECTOR X
• GET PICK VECTOR Y
• GET PICK VECTOR Z
• GET PICK DISTANCE

The final release of Upgrade5 will feature even more changes and additions than the first beta did and for some exciting news regarding the release of the second beta please see Article 7 in this issues newsletter.

Retro Remakes was formed over 2 years ago by JJ, but he has taken a back seat and the site is now run by a team of 4 remake nuts! The site lists just short of 800 remakes, 150 of which they host as well, with such classic names as Bomberman, Dig Dug and Manic Miner available to download and play.

Full details available at their website http://www.remakes.org for those that would like further information.

Click screen shots for larger versions

There is everything you'd expect from an arcade racer. Time trials, multiple cars to select from and fast paced racing action where you often slip through the checkpoint with mere seconds to spare. Beat your way through the first track and head out onto the second one. Each track is a different environment covering the likes of a Florida raceway, San Francisco Bay Beach and .. erm.. Margate :)

You can download a players guide, get cheats and download the game itself from http://www.victory-road.co.uk. If your scores are good enough then post them up onto the on-line Leaderboard.

"How do I get an angle value using a x# pos and a z# pos. The way I get the value at the moment, I point an object using the point command and get the y# value of that object. I'd like to use a more professional way."

Rem Project: GetAngleFrom2DCoordinate
Rem Created: 16/07/2003 00:14:38
Rem Author: Lee 'Dr DB' Bamber :)

rem Set coordinates
youx#=320 : youy#=240

rem Main loop
do

rem Set moving target coordinate
targetx#=mousex() : targety#=mousey()

rem Calculate angle from YOUR position to TARGET position
dx#=targetx#-youx#
dy#=targety#-youy#
angle#=atanfull(dx#,dy#)

rem Clear screen
cls

rem Draw coordinates
circle youx#,youy#,5
circle targetx#,targety#,5

rem Show angle by drawing line
line youx#,youy#,newxvalue(youx#,angle#,100),newzvalue(youy#,angle#,100)
center text 320,260,"ANGLE = "+str$(int(wrapvalue(angle#)))

rem End loop
loop

Would you like a question answered next month? If so - write to me and tell me what it is.

Until now all betas of Upgrades have been released privately to the core development team and then onto the DarkBASIC Developers Network (DBDN). DBDN members have already been experimenting with Upgrade5 Beta1, however in an attempt to get the widest possible test audience out there and to ensure we capture and resolve as many bugs as possible this time around we are going to release Upgrade5 Beta2 to the general public. This Upgrade will be announced as available for download from our site within the coming weeks. You will need to install it onto a 2nd installation of DarkBASIC Professional because it has a time-limited trial period (like all betas to date have). But essentially you'll be able to test out all of the new commands, see the shader effects in action and report your feedback via a bugs submission board we will be setting up.

Keep your eyes peeled on the web site and forums for more information.

We received an email from Lauri Suopera with regard to a new Texture Gallery that has been created with games designers in mind. Here's the information:

"The site got up and running only few days ago, but already there are over 100 free textures for anyone to download. The site is based on a very nice & slick script making it look all very commercial.

My idea from the start has been to offer this almost exclusively for DB users. That's just because I like the community, and I have been around for quite a while (since DB 1.05)."

You can visit the site at http://web2.hamburg041.server4free.de/coppermine/

Download db_waves.zip, it's only 3k :)

You can visit kidscom.com at http://www.kidscom.com.

Click here to Register

What have you worked on in the past?

For most of my working life I worked as a Producer at Europress Software. When I first joined Europress I started as a programmer. It was the mid 80s and I was coding on my dream machine the Atari 400. I used Assembler and BASIC to build my projects. I was thrust onto a project called Mini Office II. All of a sudden I found myself coding a Spreadsheet, Database and charting program - it was great fun and ended up being a very cool piece of software. I then wanted to code on the new Atari ST, I started on this and learnt 68000 machine code. Then I was asked to look at a project called STOS from a French company. It was amazing, sprites in just one command! It was at this point in my life that I entered the management side of business and was heading up the STOS and AMOS projects.

During my years at Europress I worked on many titles. Some of my most memorable include: STOS, AMOS, Art Attack, and Rally Championship. We had a great team at Europress and I made many friends. One day I was interviewing a new chap - he had grand ideas for this future, he said he wanted to one day run his own company. I was so impressed I hired him there and then. Later I was asked to work exclusively on Rally, so I headed over to the developers office in Chester and worked on that for 18 months. Europress were then bought out by Hasbro and I opted for redundancy. I then had an opportunity to think what else I wanted to do. I re-contacted the chap I had employed, he had indeed started his own company and was doing the type of software that I wanted to be involved with. Have you guessed yet? Yes, it was Lee, and now he became my Boss! :-)

When Lee started the company he decided the name of the company should mirror the product he was writing. At the time this seemed a great idea. Nearly four years later the company has evolved and grown significantly. So much so that the original name doesn't express the many areas that we're working in. For some time I had been thinking of changing the name and finally put the idea into practice. Hopefully the new name will mean more to the average person on the street - I know for sure that "Dark Basic" can generate the response "What does that do?"

We always set out to keep the team as small as possible. Choosing experienced and self motivated individuals who excel in their skill set. We currently have five key team members, Lee, Mike, Rich, Simon and me. We also have other people helping out like Lee's brother Chris, he's our order fulfillment whiz and talented animator. We also have a project running that's nothing to do with game creation. This is being developed by a programmer I found within the Dark Basic online forums. He's coding the project in Dark Basic Version 1. I cannot say anything about it yet (later in the year). There are many other people involved in what we do, at all sorts of levels.

You can view our company as a sort of virtual company. Everyone involved works from home and we all communicate using the net. In today's competitive market and uncertain trading conditions, it's proved to be a most effective way to run a company.

Well, over the past year the core team has been adding new code into Dark Basic Professional. DBPro is our flagship technology, we are dedicated to making it the best game creation language. We acknowledge that the first versions suffered from bugs and problems and have since rectified these issues and also added in many more commands and technologies. We are very pleased with all the people that believed in us and stuck with the product. It feels like it's starting to evolve into an awesome application. You can rest assured that we will continue to develop and improve DBPro for many years to come.

We are also developing an exciting new product called FPS Creator. Lee, Mike and Simon have been contributing to this for some time now and it's really starting to take shape. In a not so distance newsletter we will be bringing you screen shots and information on how it's going to work. Our aim from the start was to create a non-programming FPS game making system that utilising all the latest 3D techniques. The results so far are looking very promising, we are using our DBPro 3D engine - so if we need any extra features, these will be added into DBPro, benefiting all DBPro users!

Rich has also been working on a new web site, it combines all the sites we have now (plus any in the future) into one main design.

The Game Creators' main objective is to create easy to use yet powerful game making tools. We take away the pain and give you all the gain. It feels like we have only just scratched the surface as to what's possible, we're in this for the long term and we will be designing many more innovative game making ideas in the future.

I would also like to see more third party developers adding new DLLs into DB and DBPro. There's now such a strong foundation of engine that I'm sure there are great opportunities to link into the engines.

We are also always on the look out for new titles to re-sell. We want to focus on tools that help people make games, so if anyone reading this wants us to expand their sales revenue, just send an email to me (rick@darkbasic.com)

I love to play 5-a-side football. I used to play this twice a week. Since the birth of our daughter Hollie I have only opted for one game a week. I'm hoping now that she's 8 months old I can get some freedom back. Having a step son of 7 and a baby leaves little time for leisure pursuits.

I do like playing games, my step son Sam has a PS2 and Nintendo 64 - so I usually battle him on Bomberman or SSX. I like to play FPS games on my PC but this is rare due to my roles of being a Dad and Husband. I'm looking forward to the new Counter Strike game and hope it's all its been hyped as. Oh, and one day we might see the new Duke Nuke 'em game (just loved the multiplayer 3D version that we spent hours playing at Europress).

I like to read in my spare time. I'm very interested in personal development. There's a book that I highly recommend to all, it's The Power of NOW by Echart Tolle. Check it out on Amazon. If you want to experience more of your life and generate the results you desire then read this book. It's a very easy read and will give you a fresh perspective.

We were amazed to see 95 games entered into the last competition. It really boosted our moral and was a clear indication that the community is highly creative. With such awesome results we decided to work on a new competition idea with the aim of bringing a bigger prize to the winner. We are happy to report that we have secured a great prize and will be announcing the competition later in August... It will not be a Retro comp, it will have it's own theme and I'm sure you can all raid the retro archives to make a game that suits the theme. More later...

Thanks to everyone out there for supporting us. We are doing all we can to bring you cool game making tools and we are dedicated to this. It's just great working in a field that is simply fun to be in. I'd also like to see more schools and colleges signing up to the FREE Dark Basic offer, so please, all of you, spread the word to your schools, friends, parents, lovers, pets...

This game is quite awesome. It's a full 3D Pacman game, complete with power-up pills, chasing ghosts, dots to eat and responsive controls all in 20 lines of code! Very impressive work from Mike Smith indeed. You can visit his web site at http://www.btinternet.com/~mikenmaz/

You can download the 3D Pacman game here. We have included a compiled EXE version and the DarkBASIC Professional source code: Download 3D Pacman (1 Meg).