View Full Version : Asphyre Sphinx 2 has been released.
A new version of Asphyre Sphinx v2.0 has been released. This release requires Delphi XE 2 with Update 1 and allows developing applications for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, Mac OS and iOS platforms.
This release supports many new providers on Windows platform including DirectX 7, DirectX 9, DirectX 9 Ex (Vista), DirectX 10, DirectX 10.1 and DirectX 11. For Mac OS platform OpenGL is used, while for iOS platform OpenGL ES 2.0 is used.
Features new to this release include multiple monitor support in full-screen mode, shader effects (for DX10+ providers), customizable spacing between letter pairs for pixel-perfect font rendering among many others.
In addition, this release includes native GUI framework and WYSIWYG designer, full documentation of all major Asphyre functions and Asphyre wiki.
Click here to visit Asphyre Sphinx 2 page. (http://www.afterwarp.net/products/asphyresphinx2)
Andru
06-11-2011, 09:32 AM
This month is rich on exciting news for Pascal developers. Congrats with getting new supported platforms for Asphyre :)
Traveler
06-11-2011, 11:47 AM
For the record, when you say it requires Delphi XE 2 with Update 1, does that mean I can't use any other version of Delphi with AS2?
AirPas
06-11-2011, 01:25 PM
does that mean I can't use any other version of Delphi with AS2?
i think thats because of dx11 units !! if i am not wrong
For the record, when you say it requires Delphi XE 2 with Update 1, does that mean I can't use any other version of Delphi with AS2?
Edit:In my first post I forgot to clarify the supported platforms and compilers, sorry. I've been posting all this in a hurry. After some checking, indeed Delphi XE 2 seems to be minimal Delphi version supported, although Delphi XE may work for 32-bit platform only. Earlier versions do not have DirectX headers supplied with them.
In addition, it also works for FPC/Lazarus on Windows platform using DX10+ providers. DX7 and DX9 providers are unavailable because the headers are not included (though they can be taken from previous Asphyre release). Other platforms for FPC/Lazarus are not implemented because Asphyre uses FireMonkey on Mac OS and iOS for device management. However, to make Asphyre work in FPC/Lazarus on other platforms such as Mac OS and Linux, minimal work is required as you only need to port OpenGL provider (Windows OpenGL provider or OpenGL ES 2.0 provider can be used as references for this). Asphyre itself compiles nicely in FreePascal using Delphi compiler mode; this is actually how it works on iOS since FireMonkey is compiled using FPC on this platform.
mobilus
06-11-2011, 10:03 PM
Asphyre still is my favorite framework and Sphinx2 is really the first thing that will force me to have Delphi XE2.
Thank you for sharing your great framework with us.
Excellent news! :) I was hoping that Asphyre was getting an update since Delphi XE2 to help support those new developers who became interested. Nice work.
I plan to make a front page news announcement of this soon. Any new examples or videos of the new features? (native GUI framework/WYSIWYG designer)
I like to show of a bit of other media with my news posts because it attracts more eyes than not. Same reasons why juice boxes have pretty colors. ;)
azrael11
07-11-2011, 10:36 AM
Great news lifepower... Great news for the pascal...
Asphyre
CastII
GLScene
SDL
ZENGL
Allegro
Kambi VRML
QUAD Engine
....
And the new that comes by
Reflios.... and others
This makes me thing that the pascal/delphi compilers is enough mature, to saw fantastic things...
First, I'd like to thank everybody for the comments!
I plan to make a front page news announcement of this soon. Any new examples or videos of the new features? (native GUI framework/WYSIWYG designer)
In Asphyre package there are examples that show new features: FullScreenApp uses one or two monitors for full-screen rendering, BasicGUI shows new GUI and setting letter pair displacing, BasicDX11 shows how to use DX11, CustomEffects how to use shaders, etc. There are other examples in their respective folders for iOS and Mac OS (FireMonkey).
Unfortunately, I am still in a hurry adding content. There are still several articles to publish on wiki, such as installation steps for iOS, Asphyre's architecture and so on. Yesterday I've added a new example (http://afterwarp.net/forum/topic/7-security-example-for-asphyre-sphinx-2-06-nov-2011/page__pid__18) of using password-protected archives.
There is also a bug in FPC 2.5.x compiler distributed by Embarcadero (using Delphi XE 2 for iOS) when generating ARM code, which I will document so people can avoid it. The workaround is quite simple. Hopefully the bug gets fixed in new FPC releases and/or when Embarcadero provides their own ARM compiler.
In addition, there are few immediate updates planned. One is to remove DLL dependencies from DX11 provider (which is the only provider that needs external DLLs) by using raw shaders instead of effect framework, another is to add 3D support for iOS since both CPU and GPU on iOS devices such as iPhone 4 and iPad are sufficiently powerful to handle it.
Congratulations Lifepower, that is a massive achievement. I am going to download it straight away.
I have added a new article to Asphyre's wiki explaining about using Asphyre on iOS (http://asphyre.afterwarp.net/index.php?title=Using_Asphyre_on_iOS).
Awesome lifepower - how are you finding iOS speed wise? Is asphyre able to generate sufficient FPS? When are you going to have your first game out on the iPad?
Awesome lifepower - how are you finding iOS speed wise? Is asphyre able to generate sufficient FPS? When are you going to have your first game out on the iPad?
It is difficult to judge the performance on iOS because VSync seems to be forced on, so frame rate is limited to 60 FPS. However, relatively complex scenes don't seem to suffer from any performance issues even on older iPod Touch. I would say that iOS devices are quite capable of some even more advanced tasks. However, the power consumption and battery drain are more important issues to consider, which we haven't checked well yet.
It takes significantly more time to develop a project for iOS, however, because a single compilation in FPC takes several minutes and before that you need to move the project from Windows to Mac; instead you could work in XCode, but it's code editor is too crippled. For our incoming online game we are trying to provide iOS client, although it is going slowly.
Hopefully EMB will implement as simpler compile system for iOS similar to compiling for MacOS. I am avoiding iOS at the momemnt as I am trying to get a MacOS project finished. I am finding that at the moment I am stumbling from one problem to the next. Issues as simple as copying a file from a to b need to be researched and checked and that all takes way more time than I had anticipated.
Hopefully EMB will implement as simpler compile system for iOS similar to compiling for MacOS. I am avoiding iOS at the momemnt as I am trying to get a MacOS project finished. I am finding that at the moment I am stumbling from one problem to the next. Issues as simple as copying a file from a to b need to be researched and checked and that all takes way more time than I had anticipated.
I agree. I think iOS itself is a great platform, I really like its architecture. However, being tied up to an older XCode version with a long and complicated compilation process makes the development somewhat difficult.
New version of Asphyre Sphinx v2.0.2 is now available, which includes some minor fixes and additions.
The following is the list of changes:
Fixed texturing issue in FireMonkey platform when using Delphi XE 2 with Update 4.
Added support for render targets on Windows and Mac OS when using FireMonkey.
Added support for Vampyre Imaging Library to load external PNG files. The internal PNG loading approach provided by Delphi itself had alpha-channel issues. All tools have been recompiled to use Vampyre Imaging library.
Added support for Turbo Delphi, BDS 2006, Delphi 2007, 2010 and XE. Make sure to copy files from Legacy folder to Source, if you plan using these versions. Only DirectX 9 and OpenGL providers will be available though.
FreePascal/Lazarus can be used if Delphi compatibility mode is set for the entire framework by using Legacy folder from above. More complete support of other providers (e.g. DirectX 7) is planned for the next release.
You can download the new version here (http://www.afterwarp.net/products/asphyresphinx2).
AirPas
14-03-2012, 08:33 PM
good news and thanks for BDS 2006 support (my best version of delphi)
but why can't use dx10 & 11 providers with BDS2006 ?
but why can't use dx10 & 11 providers with BDS2006 ?
Asphyre uses DirectX headers that were made by John Bladen for Delphi XE. They need some minor modifications to be used in earlier versions. And I agree that BDS 2006/2007 are the best versions if you only need to develop for 32-bit Windows platform.
This is yet another bug-fix release of Asphyre Sphinx 2, which addresses some of the issues caused by using the latest Delphi XE 2 with Update 4.
The following are the issues that were fixed:
* Fixed issue of clearing depth/stencil buffers for Direct3D 9 in FireMonkey-based applications on Windows.
* Fixed issue when black screen appeared in FireMonkey-based applications running on Mac platform, while using Delphi XE 2 and its PAServer with Update 4.
You can download the latest version here (http://www.afterwarp.net/products/asphyresphinx2).
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