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Animate PICS
Volume Number:7
Issue Number:3
Column Tag:Developer Forum

Related Info: Picture Utilities

Animating PICS

By Steven Sheets, Herdon, VA

Note: Source code files accompanying article are located on MacTech CD-ROM or source code disks.

Animating PICS

In the spring of 1988, at the Apple Developer Conference, a standard was agreed upon by several animation and graphic developers that would allow each developer to import and export simple animation sequences. (An animation sequence is a group of pictures that when shown sequentially create an animated image). Since that time, most animation developers have either implemented this standard in their programs, or have promised to have it implemented in the near future. The name of this standard is PICS.

While obviously animation packages need to know how to manipulate PICS files, any Macintosh program can use these files, and display the animated images. The file format is extremely simple and the code needed to animate the images is easy to write and understand.

The main advantage in using PICS files is that while most Macintosh developers know how to animate a bit or pixel map across the screen, they are usually lousy artists. The images they create are often extremely crude, and fail to have a ‘finished’ look. This is especially true if the programmer has to create the bit or pixel map by hand and enter the image in as hex data. Instead of these amateurish attempts, a developer can now create (or have his friend the graphic artist create for him) a professional looking animation sequence using professional animation packages and tools. Once the sequence is completed, the programmer can then import the created PICS data into his program, and animate it himself.

This article will cover how to animate PICS files. First the file format will be described. Then a sample program will be given that displays PICS files. The program will include PICSUnit, a unit that reads, disposes and draws PICS data structures.

PICS File Format

The file type for a PICS file is ‘PICS’. The file creator should be set to the creator type of whatever animation package exported the data. It is recommended that the following icon be used:

The hex data for this icon is given in the example program (even though the example does not create PICS files).

The PICS file itself consists of one or more resources. The file’s data fork is not used by the PICS format. PICS file format is an open ended format in that a developer (or group of developers) can add or use as much information as he wishes. Only one resource is required, although that would make a very short animation sequence. If another application duplicates a PICS file, all resources should be copied. A resource that is not used by one animation package might be used by another.

The single required resource is a picture (resource type ‘PICT’, id number 128). This picture is the initial setting of the animation sequence. All animation will be done inside the rectangle defined by this picture’s picFrame rectangle. Normally a picture’s picFrame is set so that top and left are 0 (zero), while the bottom and right are the height and width of the picture. But be careful! This is not always the case; the top left can be any value. Whatever the top left is, the following drawing is done in that coordinate system.

Once the first frame is defined, each new frame of animation is defined in a new PICT resource. The resource ID of this new frame is sequentially in order after the preceding frame. Thus if the PICS file contains 10 frames, there would be 10 PICT resource in the file, number 128 through 137.

The PICT resource for all the frames after the first one need not be an entire image. The picFrame of the PICT resource defines exactly how the frame is displayed. In all cases, the picFrame of the new PICT should never be larger, or outside, than the picFrame of the first PICT.

First, the picture handle can contain an empty picFrame (usually coordinate 0,0,0,0, but really any coordinates where right is less than or equal to left or bottom is less than or equal to top). In this case, no new animation is displayed for this frame. Such a frame is often used to pause the animation.

Second, a frame can contain an image the exact size, and coordinates of the first PICT. In this case, the entire image is drawn using the same coordinates and rectangle as the first PICT.

Finally, a frame can have only the changes from the previous frame. In that case, the picFrame of the PICT resource would be smaller than the size of the entire image. The picture should only be drawn in the rectange given in the picFrame (again using the coordinate system of the first PICT). The PICT for such a frame is often called a delta picture (PICT containing the difference). The advantage of this type of frame is memory size. If an animation image is large, but the difference from one frame to another is smaller, a series of delta pictures is much smaller in byte size than the same number of pictures of the entire image.

In addition to the animation frame, there was one other optional resource. A resource of type ‘INFO’ and id 128 provides additional information about the animation sequence. The following is the resource Pascal data structure. Remember that, like the file format, this structure may be expanded in the future with additional fields. The resource handle may be longer than this structure:

{1}

TYPE  TPICSInfoRec = RECORD
 BWColor: INTEGER; {0 = Black & White, 1 = Color}
 Depth: INTEGER; {1,2,4,8,16 pixel depth}
 Speed: INTEGER; {1..200 frames per sec}
 {  else negative seconds per frame}
 Version: INTEGER; {0 currently}
 Creator: ResType; {original creator signature}
 Largest: LongInt; {if non-zero, largest picture size}
 END;
 TPICSInfoPtr = ^TPICSInfoRec;
 TPICSInfoHdl = ^TPICSInfoPtr;

The first field of the structure (BWColor) tells if the animation sequence is in black & white or color. If the sequence is in color, the next field (depth) defines the depth (in pixels) of the image (or in other words, the numbers of colors 1, 4, 16, 256, or more). The next field (Depth) defines the speed that the animation images are displayed on the screen. If the number is 1 to 200, then that number is the number of frames per second. Remember, due to the flicker rate of most Mac screens (around 60 frames of sec) animation of more than 60 frames per sec is impossible. If the Speed number is negative, than the absolute value of Speed is the number of seconds between frames. The Version field defines the version of the file format (currently 0), while the Creator field shows the creator of the data (regardless of what the file type creator was set to). The last field, Largest, gives the size of the largest frame (PICT resource) in bytes. This is an optional field, and may contain the value zero.

The PICS format does have its deficiencies. The format could have been expanded to allow better use of memory. For example, the pictures should have been able to be used in more than one frame. Many times, animation sequences return to the same image over and over again. The PICS format requires each frame to have it’s own picture, even if that image is used in more than one spot. Also, the drawing of the delta frames could have used an X & Y position value. This would have allowed the same picture to be animated across the screen. The PICS format requires multiple pictures even if the image is the same but in a different position.

There are a couple more items that could have been added to the format. The amount of time between two given frames should have been variable. Finally, a color table could have been provided for color animation sequences, that would give the optimal colors for the sequence.

Example Program

The example program demonstrates how code can use PICSUnit, a Pascal unit that manipulates PICS. PICSUnit consists of 3 calls; ReadPICS (which reads a PICS file into memory and creates a PICS data structure), DisposPICS (which disposes of a PICS data structure in memory), and DrawPICS (which animates the PICS data structure in the current grafport at a given X & Y position). Notice that a PICS data structure in memory is a complex handle (ie. handle that contains other handles in it). Be sure to use the DisposPICS call, or a program will start to use up memory with unreferenced handles.

The DrawPICS routine is also passed two flags to indicate how many times to draw the animation (once or continuous) and also whether or not the animation should stop if the user presses a key or the mouse. Be careful! If the call is set for continuous animation without stopping when the user prompts, the program will go into a endless loop of animation (very pretty, but not a very good user interface).

What Next?

Obviously the example program could be improved. The PICSUnit could be rewritten for performance, at the cost of more memory. Drawing with a PICT handle can be a time consuming action; flickering can also occur. If offscreen grafports (and color grafports) were used, the images could be drawn there. Then when it is time for a new frame to be animated, Copybits could be used to move the image onto the screen. For that matter, multiple offscreen grafports could be created for each frame (assuming enough memory), thus speeding up the animation and eliminating flickers.

The example program that uses the PICSUnit is not the end-all utility it could be. A Public Domain PICS Editor would be very useful (any one interested?). Such an Editor would show each frame of animation, and allow the user to step through the frames any way they wished.

Other PICS utilities could be useful. Perhaps a program that takes a PICS file that consists of PICTs all the same size (regardless of how much of the image changes), and calculates exactly the portion of the image that changes from one frame to another. It would then output a PICS file consisting of these delta PICTs. Such a utility would greatly reduce the size of a PICS file.

As always, any comment or ideas or suggestions are always appreciated.

Listing:  PICSUnit.p

{}
{PICS Unit- Steve Sheets}
{}
{This Unit provides the Interface to the PICS data structure}
{as well as the procedures to create, dispose and draw the}
{PICS information.}

unit PICSUnit;

interface
 const
 kPICStype = 'PICS'; {File type of PICS}
 kINFOtype = 'INFO';   
 {Resource type of PICS information resource}

{Interface for the optional information handle and the PICS handle which 
contains 1 or more Pictures and the information handle. Notice that the 
PICS handle is a variable length handle based on the number of frames.}
 type
 TPICSInfoRec = record
 BWColor: INTEGER; {0 = Black & White, 1 = Color}
 Depth: INTEGER; {1,2,4,8,16 pixel depth}
 Speed: INTEGER; {1..200 frames per sec, else negative seconds per frame}
 Version: INTEGER; {0 currently}
 Creator: ResType; {original creator signature}
 Largest: LongInt; {if non-zero, largest picture size}
 end;
 TPICSInfoPtr = ^TPICSInfoRec;
 TPICSInfoHdl = ^TPICSInfoPtr;

 TPICSRec = record
 NumFrames, DimH, DimV: INTEGER;
 PICSInfoHdl: TPICSInfoHdl;
 Frame: array[1..1] of PicHandle;
 end;
 TPICSPtr = ^TPICSRec;
 TPICSHdl = ^TPICSPtr;


{Given a file name and volume reference number,  try to read the PICS 
file at that location.  If successful, return noErr in the function and 
the information in thePICS parameter.  If there was a problem, return 
the error number in the function, and thePICS is set to NIL.}

 function ReadPICS (theFileName: Str255;
 theVRefNum: INTEGER;
 var thePICS: TPICSHdl): OSErr;

{Given thePICS data, dispos of all the handles and data structures.}

 procedure DisposePICS (thePICS: TPICSHdl);

{Given thePICS data, and an V & H position to draw at, draw the animation. 
 The Loopflag tells the procedure to either loop the animation continously 
(TRUE), or only draw once time (FALSE). The ScanKeyFlag tells the procedure 
if it should look to see if someone has pressed a key during animation. 
 If so, the procedure is stopped at that point.  Notice that it is dangerous 
to have Loopflag set TRUE and ScanKeyFlag set FALSE (infinite loop time).}

 procedure DrawPICS (thePICS: TPICSHdl;
 HPos, VPos: INTEGER;
 LoopFlag, ScanKeyFlag: BOOLEAN);

implementation

{Simple utility function, given number of frames, size of the TPICSRec 
record in bytes.}

 function PICSsize (theNumFrames: INTEGER): INTEGER;
 begin
 PICSsize := (theNumFrames * 4) + 10;
 end;

 function ReadPICS (theFileName: Str255;
 theVRefNum: INTEGER;
 var thePICS: TPICSHdl): OSErr;
 var
 tempE: OSErr;
 tempResNum: INTEGER;
 tempSize: INTEGER;
 tempPICS: TPICSHdl;
 tempPicture: PicHandle;
 tempFlag: BOOLEAN;
 begin
 thePICS := nil;
 tempPICS := nil;
 tempPicture := nil;

 tempResNum := OpenRFPerm(theFileName, theVRefNum, 0);
 if tempResNum = -1 then
 tempE := ResError
 else
 begin
 tempPicture := PicHandle(Get1Resource('PICT', 128));
 if tempPicture = nil then
 tempE := ResError
 else
 begin
 HNoPurge(Handle(tempPicture));
 DetachResource(Handle(tempPicture));

 tempSize := 100;
 tempPICS := TPICSHdl(NewHandle(PICSsize(tempSize)));
 if tempPICS = nil then
 tempE := MemError
 else
 begin
 with tempPICS^^ do
 begin
 NumFrames := 1;
 with tempPicture^^.picFrame do
 begin
 DimH := Right - Left;
 DimV := Bottom - Top;
 end;
 PICSInfoHdl := nil;
 Frame[1] := tempPicture;
 end;
 tempPicture := nil;

 tempPICS^^.PICSInfoHdl := 
 TPICSInfoHdl(Get1Resource(kINFOtype, 128));
 if tempPICS^^.PICSInfoHdl <> nil then
 begin
 HNoPurge(Handle(tempPICS^^.PICSInfoHdl));
 DetachResource(Handle(tempPICS^^.PICSInfoHdl));
 end;

 tempFlag := FALSE;
 repeat
 tempPicture := PicHandle(Get1Resource('PICT', 128 +
 tempPICS^^.NumFrames));
 if tempPicture = nil then
 begin
 tempE := ResError;
 if (tempE = resNotFound) or (tempE = noErr) then
 begin
 tempE := noErr;
 SetHandleSize(Handle(tempPICS),
 PICSsize(tempPICS^^.NumFrames));
 thePICS := tempPICS;
 tempPICS := nil;
 end;
 tempFlag := TRUE;
 end
 else
 begin
 HNoPurge(Handle(tempPicture));
 DetachResource(Handle(tempPicture));
 if tempPICS^^.NumFrames = tempSize then
 begin
 tempSize := tempSize + 100;
 SetHandleSize(Handle(tempPICS),
 PICSsize(tempSize));
 tempE := ResError;
 end;
 if tempE = noErr then
 begin
 tempPICS^^.NumFrames := tempPICS^^.NumFrames
 + 1;
 tempPICS^^.Frame[tempPICS^^.NumFrames] :=
 tempPicture;
 tempPicture := nil;
 end
 else
 tempFlag := TRUE;
 end;
 until tempFlag;
 end;

 end;
 CloseResFile(tempResNum);
 end;

 if tempPICS <> nil then
 DisposePICS(tempPICS);
 if tempPicture <> nil then
 DisposHandle(Handle(tempPicture));

 ReadPICS := tempE;
 end;

 procedure DisposePICS (thePICS: TPICSHdl);
 var
 tempNum: INTEGER;
 begin
 if thePICS <> nil then
 begin
 if thePICS^^.PICSInfoHdl <> nil then
 DisposHandle(Handle(thePICS^^.PICSInfoHdl));
 for tempNum := 1 to thePICS^^.NumFrames do
 DisposHandle(Handle(thePICS^^.Frame[tempNum]));
 DisposHandle(Handle(thePICS));
 end;
 end;

 procedure DrawPICS (thePICS: TPICSHdl;
 HPos, VPos: INTEGER;
 LoopFlag, ScanKeyFlag: BOOLEAN);
 var
 tempRect: Rect;
 tempTicks: LongInt;
 tempDone: BOOLEAN;
 tempCount: INTEGER;

{Wait tempTicks number of ticks, stopping at any time if mouse or key 
is pressed.}

 procedure WaitFrame;
 var
 tempLong: LongInt;
 tempEvent: EventRecord;
 begin
 tempLong := tickCount + tempTicks;
 while (tempLong > tickCount) and (not tempDone) do
 begin
 SystemTask;
 tempDone := GetNextEvent(mDownMask + keyDownMask + autoKeyMask, tempEvent);
 end;
 end;

 begin
 if thePICS <> nil then
 if thePICS^^.NumFrames > 0 then
 if thePICS^^.Frame[1] <> nil then
 begin
 tempDone := FALSE;
 if thePICS^^.PICSInfoHdl <> nil then
 begin
 tempTicks := thePICS^^.PICSInfoHdl^^.Speed;
 if tempTicks <= 0 then
 tempTicks := -60 * tempTicks
 else
 tempTicks := 60 div tempTicks;
 end
 else
 tempTicks := 6;

 repeat
 tempCount := 0;
 repeat
 tempCount := tempCount + 1;

 if thePICS^^.Frame[tempCount] <> nil then
 if not 
 EmptyRect(thePICS^^.Frame[tempCount]^^.PicFrame)
 then
 begin
 tempRect := thePICS^^.Frame[tempCount]^^.PicFrame;
 OffSetRect(tempRect, HPos, VPos);
 DrawPicture(thePICS^^.Frame[tempCount], tempRect);
 end;
 WaitFrame;

 until tempDone or (tempCount >= thePICS^^.NumFrames);
 until tempDone or (not LoopFlag);
 end;
 end;
end.
Listing:  PICSPlayer.p

{PICS Player-  Steve Sheets}
{}
{This Progam displays a PICS animation sequence.  It loads PICS files, 
animates the file once or animates it in a continous loop.  Either animation 
can be canceled by pressing any key.  The program uses alerts to prompt 
the user for actions.  The actual animation is drawn in a window the 
size of the screen.}

program PICSplayer;
 uses
 PICSUnit;
 const
 kLoadQuit = 500;
 kPICSinfo = 501;
 kError = 502;
 kColorProblem = 503;
 var
 gDone, gColorFlag: BOOLEAN;
 gName: Str255;
 gNum: INTEGER;
 gPICS: TPICSHdl;
 gWindow: WindowPtr;

 procedure SetUp;
 const
 ROM85Loc = $28E;
 TwoHighMask = $C000;
 type
 WordPtr = ^INTEGER;
 var
 tempWordPtr: WordPtr;
 begin
 tempWordPtr := POINTER(ROM85Loc);
 gColorFlag := (BitAnd(tempWordPtr^, TwoHighMask) = 0);
 gDone := FALSE;
 gName := '';
 gPICS := nil;
 if gColorFlag then
 gWindow := NewCWindow(nil, Screenbits.Bounds, '',
 TRUE, dBoxProc, POINTER(-1), FALSE, 0)
 else
 gWindow := NewWindow(nil, Screenbits.Bounds, '',
 TRUE, dBoxProc, POINTER(-1), FALSE, 0);
 if gWindow <> nil then
 begin
 SetPort(gWindow);
 EraseRect(screenbits.bounds);
 end;
 SetCursor(Arrow);
 end;

 procedure ShutDown;
 begin
 if gPICS <> nil then
 begin
 DisposePICS(gPICS);
 gPICS := nil;
 end;
 if gWindow <> nil then
 begin
 DisposeWindow(gWindow);
 gWindow := nil;
 end;
 end;

 procedure PlayPICS (Loop: BOOLEAN);
 var
 tempH, tempV: INTEGER;
 begin
 if gPICS <> nil then
 begin
 SelectWindow(gWindow);
 SetPort(gWindow);

 EraseRect(screenbits.bounds);
 with screenbits.bounds, gPICS^^ do
 begin
 tempH := (right - left - DimH) div 2;
 tempV := (bottom - top - DimV) div 2;
 if tempH < 0 then
 tempH := 0;
 if tempV < 0 then
 tempV := 0;
 end;

 HideCursor;
 DrawPICS(gPICS, tempH, tempV, Loop, TRUE);
 ShowCursor;

 EraseRect(screenbits.bounds);
 end;
 end;

 procedure LoadPICS;
 var
 tempList: SFTypeList;
 tempPt: Point;
 tempE: OSErr;
 tempStr: Str255;
 tempNum: INTEGER;
 tempReply: SFReply;
 begin
 if gPICS <> nil then
 begin
 DisposePICS(gPICS);
 gPICS := nil;
 end;

 tempPt.v := 40;
 tempPt.h := 40;
 tempList[0] := kPICStype;
 SFGetFile(tempPt, '', nil, 1, tempList, nil, tempReply);
 if tempReply.good then
 begin
 gName := tempReply.fname;
 tempE := ReadPICS(gName, tempReply.vRefNum, gPICS);
 if tempE <> noErr then
 begin
 case tempE of
 memFullErr: 
 tempStr := 'Memmory full error.  The file you are reading is to large';
 fnfErr: 
 tempStr := 'File not found error';
 resNotFound: 
 tempStr := 'A required resource was not found in the file';
 otherwise
 begin
 NumToString(tempE, tempStr);
 tempStr := CONCAT('Error Number: ', tempStr);
 end
 end;
 ParamText(gName, tempStr, '', '');
 tempNum := Alert(kError, nil);
 end
 else if (not gColorFlag) and (gPICS <> nil) then
 if (gPICS^^.PICSInfoHdl <> nil) then
 if (gPICS^^.PICSInfoHdl^^.BWColor = 1) then
 begin
 ParamText(gName, '', '', '');
 tempNum := Alert(kColorProblem, nil);
 end;
 end;
 end;

 procedure DoInformationAlert;
 var
 tempStr: Str255;
 begin
 NumToString(gPICS^^.NumFrames, tempStr);
 ParamText(gName, tempStr, '', '');
 gNum := Alert(kPICSinfo, nil);
 end;

begin
 SetUp;

 if gWindow <> nil then
 repeat
 if gPICS = nil then
 gNum := Alert(kLoadQuit, nil)
 else
 DoInformationAlert;

 case gNum of
 1: 
 PlayPICS(FALSE);
 2: 
 LoadPICS;
 3: 
 gDone := TRUE;
 4: 
 PlayPICS(TRUE);
 otherwise
 end;
 until gDone;

 ShutDown;
end.
Listing:  PICSPlayer.r

/*----------------------------------------------------------
#
#PICS Animator Resource Source
#
#Steve Sheets
#
----------------------------------------------------------*/

#include "Types.r"

#include "SysTypes.r"

type 'PcPl' as 'STR ';

resource 'PcPl' (0) {
 "PICS Player 1.0, © Steve Sheets." };

resource 'vers' (1) {
 0x1, 0x0, 0x0, -0x80, verUs, "1.0", "1.0, © 1990 Steve Sheets." };

resource 'vers' (2) {
 0x1, 0x0, 0x0, -0x80, verUs, "1.0", "PICS Player 1.0" };

resource 'BNDL' (128) {
 'PcPl', 0,
 { 'ICN#', { 0, 128, 1, 129 },
 'FREF', { 0, 128, 1, 129 } } };

resource 'ICN#' (128) {
 { $"FFE0 0000 8030 0000 8010 0000 9FFC 0000"
 $"9006 0000 9002 0000 93FF 8000 9200 C000"
 $"9200 4000 927F F000 9240 1800 9240 1400"
 $"9248 3F00 9248 4080 9248 8040 9249 3020"
 $"924B C810 F24E 7F8F 1242 3007 1241 0007"
 $"1E40 8007 0242 6007 0245 1FE7 03C8 811F"
 $"005F C107 0040 0100 007F FF",

 $"FFE0 0000 FFF0 0000 FFF0 0000 FFFC 0000"
 $"FFFE 0000 FFFE 0000 FFFF 8000 FFFF C000"
 $"FFFF C000 FFFF F000 FFFF F800 FFFF FC00"
 $"FFFF FF00 FFFF FF80 FFFF FFC0 FFFF FFE0"
 $"FFFF FFF0 FFFF FFFF 1FFF FFFF 1FFF FFFF"
 $"1FFF FFFF 03FF FFFF 03FF FFFF 03FF FF1F"
 $"007F FF07 007F FF00 007F FF"  } };

resource 'ICN#' (129) {
 { $"FFE0 0000 8030 0000 8010 0000 9FFC 0000"
 $"9006 0000 9002 0000 93FF 8000 9200 C000"
 $"9200 4000 927F F000 9240 1800 9240 1400"
 $"924F 9E00 9248 8200 9248 8200 9248 C200"
 $"9249 2200 F24E 1200 1242 1200 1241 2200"
 $"1E40 C200 0242 0200 0245 0200 03C8 8200"
 $"005F C200 0040 0200 007F FE",

 $"FFE0 0000 FFF0 0000 FFF0 0000 FFFC 0000"
 $"FFFE 0000 FFFE 0000 FFFF 8000 FFFF C000"
 $"FFFF C000 FFFF F000 FFFF F800 FFFF FC00"
 $"FFFF FE00 FFFF FE00 FFFF FE00 FFFF FE00"
 $"FFFF FE00 FFFF FE00 1FFF FE00 1FFF FE00"
 $"1FFF FE00 03FF FE00 03FF FE00 03FF FE00"
 $"007F FE00 007F FE00 007F FE"  } };

resource 'FREF' (128) { 'APPL', 0, "" };

resource 'FREF' (129) { 'PICS', 1, "" };

resource 'ALRT' (500) {
 {40, 31, 170, 481}, 500,
 { Cancel, visible, sound1,
 Cancel, visible, sound1,
 Cancel, visible, sound1,
 Cancel, visible, sound1  } };

resource 'ALRT' (501) {
 {40, 31, 170, 481}, 501,
 { OK, visible, sound1,
 OK, visible, sound1,
 OK, visible, sound1,
 OK, visible, sound1 }  };

resource 'ALRT' (502) {
 {40, 56, 160, 456}, 502,
 { OK, visible, sound1,
 OK, visible, sound1,
 OK, visible, sound1,
 OK, visible, sound1 }  };

resource 'ALRT' (503) {
 {40, 56, 190, 456}, 503,
 { OK, visible, sound1,
 OK, visible, sound1,
 OK, visible, sound1,
 OK, visible, sound1 }  };

resource 'DITL' (500) {
 { {10, 125, 30, 325}, StaticText { disabled,
 "PICS Player 1.0 - Steve Sheets" },
 {100, 80, 120, 180}, Button { enabled, "Load PICS" },
 {100, 260, 120, 360}, Button { enabled, "Quit" },
 {40, 10, 90, 440}, StaticText { disabled,
 "This is an example program that demonstrates how to animate "
 "PICS files.  This program was written for MacTutor magazine." } } };

resource 'DITL' (501) {
 { {100, 10, 120, 110}, Button { enabled, "Play Once" },
 {100, 230, 120, 330}, Button { enabled, "Read PICS" },
 {100, 340, 120, 440}, Button { enabled, "Quit" },
 {100, 120, 119, 220}, Button { enabled, "Play Loop" },
 {35, 10, 90, 440}, StaticText { disabled,
 "Name: ^0\n"
 "Number of Frames ^1\n"
 "Select the amount of animation, load PICS or exit the program." },
 {10, 125, 30, 325}, StaticText { disabled, 
 "PICS Player 1.0 - Steve Sheets" } } };

resource 'DITL' (502) {
 { {80, 170, 100, 230}, Button { enabled, "OK" },
 {20, 20, 60, 380}, StaticText { disabled,
 "There was a problem while reading the file \"^0\".  ^1."     }
 } };

resource 'DITL' (503) {
 { {110, 170, 130, 230}, Button { enabled, "OK"},
 {20, 20, 86, 380}, StaticText { disabled,
 "You are running on a Black & White Macintosh, and the PICS file "
 "you selected contains color information.  There may be a problem "
 "when drawing using Quickdraw.  Proceed with caution."  }     }
 };

 

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New ‘Sonic Dream Team’ Performance Analy...
Sonic Dream Team (), the brand new Apple Arcade exclusive 3D Sonic action-platformer releases tomorrow. Read my in-depth interview with SEGA HARDLight here covering the game, future plans, potential 120fps, playable characters, the narrative, and... | Read more »
New ‘Zenless Zone Zero’ Trailer Showcase...
I missed this late last week, but HoYoverse released another playable character trailer for the upcoming urban fantasy action RPG Zenless Zone Zero. We’ve had a few trailers so far for playable characters, but the newest one focuses on Nicole... | Read more »
Get your heart pounding quicker as Autom...
When it comes to mobile battle royales, it wouldn’t be disrespectful to say the first ones to pop to mind would be PUBG Mobile, but there is one that perhaps doesn’t get the worldwide recognition it should and that's Garena’s Free Fire. Now,... | Read more »
‘Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition...
Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition () launches beginning Tuesday worldwide on Apple Arcade bringing a new version of the game without any passes or microtransactions. While that itself is a huge bonus for Apple Arcade, the fact that Disney... | Read more »
Adventure Game ‘Urban Legend Hunters 2:...
Over the weekend, publisher Playism announced a localization of the Toii Games-developed adventure game Urban Legend Hunters 2: Double for iOS, Android, and Steam. Urban Legend Hunters 2: Double is available on mobile already without English and... | Read more »
‘Stardew Valley’ Creator Has Made a Ton...
Stardew Valley ($4.99) game creator Eric Barone (ConcernedApe) has been posting about the upcoming major Stardew Valley 1.6 update on Twitter with reveals for new features, content, and more. Over the weekend, Eric Tweeted that a ton of progress... | Read more »
Pour One Out for Black Friday – The Touc...
After taking Thanksgiving week off we’re back with another action-packed episode of The TouchArcade Show! Well, maybe not quite action-packed, but certainly discussion-packed! The topics might sound familiar to you: The new Steam Deck OLED, the... | Read more »
TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Hitman: B...
Nowadays, with where I’m at in my life with a family and plenty of responsibilities outside of gaming, I kind of appreciate the smaller-scale mobile games a bit more since more of my “serious" gaming is now done on a Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch.... | Read more »
SwitchArcade Round-Up: ‘Batman: Arkham T...
Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for December 1st, 2023. We’ve got a lot of big games hitting today, new DLC For Samba de Amigo, and this is probably going to be the last day this year with so many heavy hitters. I... | Read more »
Steam Deck Weekly: Tales of Arise Beyond...
Last week, there was a ton of Steam Deck coverage over here focused on the Steam Deck OLED. | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

Apple has Certified Refurbished iPhone 12 Pro...
Apple has unlocked Certified Refurbished iPhone 12 Pro models in stock starting at $589 and ranging up to $350 off original MSRP. Apple includes a standard one-year warranty and new outer shell with... Read more
Holiday Sale: Take $50 off every 10th-generat...
Amazon has Apple’s 10th-generation iPads on sale for $50 off MSRP, starting at $399, as part of their Holiday Sale. Their discount applies to all models and all colors. With the discount, Amazon’s... Read more
The latest Mac mini Holiday sales, get one to...
Apple retailers are offering Apple’s M2 Mac minis for $100 off MSRP as part of their Holiday sales. Prices start at only $499. Here are the lowest prices available: (1): Amazon has Apple’s M2-powered... Read more
Save $300 on a 24-inch iMac with these Certif...
With the recent introduction of new M3-powered 24″ iMacs, Apple dropped prices on clearance M1 iMacs in their Certified Refurbished store. Models are available starting at $1049 and range up to $300... Read more
Apple M1-powered iPad Airs are back on Holida...
Amazon has 10.9″ M1 WiFi iPad Airs back on Holiday sale for $100 off Apple’s MSRP, with prices starting at $499. Each includes free shipping. Their prices are the lowest available among the Apple... Read more
Sunday Sale: Apple 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro on...
B&H Photo has new 14″ M3 MacBook Pros, in Space Gray, on Holiday sale for $150 off MSRP, only $1449. B&H offers free 1-2 day delivery to most US addresses: – 14″ 8-Core M3 MacBook Pro (8GB... Read more
Blue 10th-generation Apple iPad on Holiday sa...
Amazon has Apple’s 10th-generation WiFi iPad (in Blue) on Holiday sale for $349 including free shipping. Their discount applies to WiFi models only and includes a $50 instant discount + $50 clippable... Read more
All Apple Pencils are on Holiday sale for $79...
Amazon has all Apple Pencils on Holiday sale this weekend for $79, ranging up to 39% off MSRP for some models. Shipping is free: – Apple Pencil 1: $79 $20 off MSRP (20%) – Apple Pencil 2: $79 $50 off... Read more
Deal Alert! Apple Smart Folio Keyboard for iP...
Apple iPad Smart Keyboard Folio prices are on Holiday sale for only $79 at Amazon, or 50% off MSRP: – iPad Smart Folio Keyboard for iPad (7th-9th gen)/iPad Air (3rd gen): $79 $79 (50%) off MSRP This... Read more
Apple Watch Series 9 models are now on Holida...
Walmart has Apple Watch Series 9 models now on Holiday sale for $70 off MSRP on their online store. Sale prices available for online orders only, in-store prices may vary. Order online, and choose... Read more

Jobs Board

Omnichannel Associate - *Apple* Blossom Mal...
Omnichannel Associate - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple Read more
Senior Product Manager - *Apple* - DISH Net...
…Responsibilities** We are seeking an ambitious, data-driven thinker to assist the Apple Product Development team as our Wireless Product division continues to grow Read more
Senior Product Manager - *Apple* - DISH Net...
…Responsibilities** We are seeking an ambitious, data-driven thinker to assist the Apple Product Development team as our Wireless Product division continues to grow Read more
Senior Software Engineer - *Apple* Fundamen...
…center of Microsoft's efforts to empower our users to do more. The Apple Fundamentals team focused on defining and improving the end-to-end developer experience in Read more
Omnichannel Associate - *Apple* Blossom Mal...
Omnichannel Associate - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple Read more
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