Free 2D library for MFC users: GapiTools

[Johan]

Hi all!

I would like to announce a free alternative to EasyCE for those of you that use C++ and MFC for the PocketPC: GapiTools ( www.gapitools.com ).

GapiTools has the following restrictions (which EasyCE does not):
-Only MFC and C++ is supported
-The sourcecode is not available
-GapiTools does currently only work on ARM CPUs (IPAQ and PocketPC 2002 devices).

GapiTools is NOT aimed as competition for generic libraries such as EasyCE. I built it since many of my students have problems leaving MFC behind and going back to pure C/C++ programming. GapiTools will never contain any 3D functionality. It is a pure 2D package.

Some of its novel features are accelerated drawing in three screen orientations (vertical + 2 landscape modes), support for multiple pixel surfaces (buffers), real time alpha blends, sprite and mask collision detection and more. It is also very fast.

Please feel free to take a look if you are an MFC developer. If you are not, you already have the excellent EasyCE library at your fingertips!!

Best regards,
Johan Sanneblad

www.gapitools.com

[Phantom]

Johan,

As I said elsewhere, your library looks awesome, and I'm glad you're sharing your knowledge with the rest of the coding scene. I'm sure it will help lots of people to get going in PocketPC game / graphics coding, and if it succeeds at that, it's not a competitor to EasyCE, but rather an ally.

I have two questions, out of curiosity: Why don't you release the source code? And: What are the chances of a non-free future version?

- Jacco.

[Johan]

Hi Jacco!

Thanks!

The chances of a non-free version is below zero (hmm. but that would equal TRUE wouldn't it.. ). No, seriously, I will not release a version of my library one would have to pay for. I simply don't have the time to support a full scale commercial release due to my work. It would cost more than I would earn from it. That said, I think many professional developers will stay away from it, since they are using a non-supported library with no possibilities of adapting it for their purposes.

I guess the main reason I haven't released any sourcecode is that I simply have too little time to maintain an OpenSource release. I can see two scenarios if I release the source:

(1) People contribute changes. I am in the middle of finishing another article for my PhD work. I cannot update the source for 2 weeks. Another distribution of "GapiTools with this cool feature" is suddenly out since so many requests it.
(2) People request changes and comments the code. Usually this is a good thing though, but with regards to my work I can probably seem very arrogant at times due to serious work load.

That said, I am thinking about releasing the source in a real managed (SourceForge?) OpenSource fashion. But not yet anyway..

On my plans for GapiTools are better integration with custom drawing operations, accessing the middleware in GapiTools doing the coordinate transformations. This would make it possible to add custom features to the library without having access to the source.

Ok... Back to my ordinary work now.. See you on the forum Jacco!

Best regards,
Johan

[Phantom]