Mobius WinG SpriteKit Product Specification -- 11/4/95

Mobius WinG SpriteKit is a set of native Visual Component Library (VCL) components for 
Borland Delphi. It provides a full encapsulation of the Microsoft WinG fast graphics API for 
games and animation. The whole toolkit is written in Delphi Object Pascal with certain 
sections in 32-bit assembler. Full source code is available.

WinG is an add-on from Microsoft for Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and NT that has been 
designed to give very fast graphical updates within Windows without losing the benefits of 
device independence. The WinG SDK is available free from MS but contains header files 
and examples written in C and C++. WinG SpriteKit gives you full access from Delphi in 
Object Pascal and builds a whole lot more on top.

This product has a multi-layer design as follows:

TSpriteSurface and TSprite

TWinGSurface

TWinGCanvas and TDIB

WinG API access in Pascal


The lowest level gives direct access to to the basic WinG API and can be used in isolation if 
required, since this is a multi-layered product where each layer is independent of the layers 
above.

On top of this we have TWinGCanvas which is a subclass of the standard Delphi TCanvas 
class but which draws on an off-screen WinG bitmap. Standard canvas methods and GDI 
calls can be used to to compose an image. When ready, the image can be blitted very 
rapidly to the screen using WinGBitBlt which is encapsulated into a method in the WinG 
canvas for even easier access. At this level, we also have a TDIB object which encapsulates 
a Windows Device Independent Bitmap and has a property inspector to allow DIB's to be 
loaded at design time as properties.

In the next layer up is TWinGSurface which is a visual component that can be dropped on to 
a form. It manages a WinGCanvas which it exposes as a property and ensures that it's width 
and height tracks that of the TWinGSurface component. Additionally, it updates the display 
automatically using WinGBitBlt.

Finally there is the sprite layer. Here the sprite engine is defined and encapsulated into the 
TSpriteSurface component which can be dropped on to forms. It is the area in which all 
sprite display and movement takes place. A background and foreground DIB can be loaded 
as properties and the animation rate in milliseconds per frame can be set. Sprites are 
encapsulated in the TSprite component which are dropped on the form and attached to a 
sprite surface by setting a property. There are additional properties for the sprite's animation 
images, animation rate, coordinates, size, velocity, acceleration, etc. There are a host of 
events that can be used to track collisions and customise the movement and display of 
sprites.

Specialised property editors are supplied to allow editing of sprite paths and animation. A full 
level designer is under development.

The product is shipped with a Windows help file which fully documents all of the classes and 
gives step-by-step instructions on how to use the toolkit. A printed manual is also supplied.

WinG SpriteKit is supported by electronic mail on CompuServe or the Internet.

For pricing, ordering or additional information please send email to Mike Scott on
CompuServe 100140,2420 or internet 100140.2420@compuserve.com