What is Fastgraph for Windows?
Fastgraph for Windows is a set of linkable libraries (DLL's when used with the .NET framework, Visual Basic, or PowerBASIC) that provide low-level graphics capabilities in Windows.

How does it work?
Fastgraph is very easy to use. The first step is establishing one or more "virtual buffers", which are rectangular drawing surfaces. Then, you simply draw to it using Fastgraph's easy, intuitive functions. For example, to draw a line, you call fg_draw(x,y).

What is the current version of Fastgraph for Windows?
6.03.

What versions of Windows does Fastgraph work with?
Fastgraph for Windows works with Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 (with service pack 3 or later), Windows 98, and Windows 95.

Does Fastgraph for Windows support Windows CE or Pocket PC development?
No, but a separate version of Fastgraph is available for Windows CE and Pocket PC development. Please see the Windows CE FAQ for more information.

What compilers does Fastgraph work with?
Fastgraph for Windows currently supports these compilers:
Borland C++ (version 5.0 or later)
Borland C++Builder (version 1.0 or later)
Borland Delphi (version 2.0 or later)
Microsoft Visual Basic (version 4.0 or later)
Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (version 2002 or later)
Microsoft Visual C++ (version 2.2 or later)
Microsoft Visual C++ .NET (version 2002 or later)
Microsoft Visual C# .NET (version 2002 or later)
PowerBASIC (version 6.0 or later)
Symantec C++ (version 7.0 or later)
Watcom C/C++ (version 10.6 or later)
Fastgraph sometimes works with other compilers but documentation and examples are not currently available. Contact the office for details.

What functions are in Fastgraph for Windows?
At last count there are more than 360 functions in Fastgraph 6.0 for Windows. Some are more commonly used than others. There is a complete list in the tutorial appendix.

What about DirectX?
Fastgraph for Windows supports but does not require Microsoft's DirectDraw and Direct3D. There are advantages and disadvantages to using Fastgraph with DirectX.

Where can I get DirectX?
DirectX is available from the Microsoft web site.

What advantages does Fastgraph for Windows offer over DirectX?
Fastgraph for Windows offers advantages over DirectX in terms of reliability, functionality, and ease of use.

While DirectDraw is a powerful blitting engine and video memory manager, it is not sufficient for writing Windows graphics applications by itself. Once you have constructed an image or an animation frame, DirectDraw is great for copying or "blitting" it to the screen, but how do you build that image in the first place? That's where Fastgraph for Windows comes in, providing the graphics and animation tools needed to do just that. Fastgraph for Windows treats DirectDraw drawing surfaces just like its own virtual buffers, so you use the same code whether or not you're using DirectDraw.

Direct3D is Microsoft's answer to hardware rendering in 3D games. It works well if your user has adequate hardware and drivers (perhaps half of them do), and if you only want to render triangles. Fastgraph lets you render polygons other than triangles, and Fastgraph's software rendering is significantly faster than Direct3D's software rendering (see preliminary benchmark results).

If you've looked at the DirectX API, chances are you'll agree it's not the easiest API you've ever seen. Fastgraph for Windows shields you from the details of using the DirectX API by accessing DirectX at the assembly language level in Fastgraph's own functions. This lets you use Fastgraph's own intuitive, simpler API and still have access to DirectX's features.

Finally, Fastgraph programs are reliable on all (nearly all!) Windows systems. DirectX, especially Direct3D, introduces instabilities on systems with problematic drivers, incompatible versions, or video cards that don't have 3D accelerator chips. Fastgraph will run on all these systems. If you rely on DirectX alone, you may have to tell your users to upgrade their system (or drivers) for your program to run. Fastgraph will run without requiring changes to the user's system.

What are the advantages of using Fastgraph with DirectX?
If you have an application that is capable of taking advantage of hardware acceleration (VRAM to VRAM blitting) then using Fastgraph with DirectX will enable that capability.

Fastgraph without DirectDraw will allow you to change the screen resolution on the fly. For example, if the user's system is configured to run at 1024x768 or 800x600, you can force it to 640x480. Fastgraph with DirectDraw will give you the additional capability of changing the color resolution on the fly. For example, if the user's configuration is set to high color or true color, you can force it to 256 colors.

Note that a 256-color Fastgraph game will run on a system with a higher color resolution, and vice versa. But there is some speed degradation in doing the conversion on the fly.

Fastgraph for Windows lets you use DirectX with more compilers and programming languages. DirectX works great with Visual C++, but try using it with straight C, Delphi, Visual Basic, PowerBASIC, or C++Builder. You will find it challenging, but Fastgraph solves the issues involved in using DirectX with different compilers.

Using Fastgraph with Direct3D will let you take advantage of 3D hardware acceleration on the systems that can handle it.

The decision whether to use Fastgraph with DirectX, Fastgraph without DirectX, or DirectX by itself involves trade-offs. For example, using hardware accelerators is not helpful if your goal is to make your game run at the same speed on various hardware configurations. The speed gain achieved in changing the color reduction on the fly is offset by the other undesirable features of DirectX. If speed, color resolution, and screen resolution are issues in your game, you may want to experiment to find the optimal development strategy. Your decision will ultimately depend on the nature of the game you are writing, your target audience, and external pressures such as publisher requirements (some marketing departments still think DirectX is a great buzzword!).

Some people prefer to use "conditional compiles" to write their code once and have it work both with and without DirectX. There are examples of how to do this in the tutorial. This is usually a pretty good solution.

How does Fastgraph for Windows compare to Fastgraph for DOS?
Much of the functionality of Fastgraph for Windows is exactly the same as that of Fastgraph for DOS. Drawing a bitmapped sprite to a virtual buffer is the same whether using DOS or Windows, for example. The speed of the low-level functionality is comparable, but there is a degradation of speed involved in the event-driven Windows environment. This can't be helped; it's a feature of Windows.

The 3D functions in Fastgraph 6.0 for Windows are not available in Fastgraph 5.0 for DOS. Similarly, the image processing functions (gamma correction, etc.) are only available in Fastgraph 6.0 for Windows.

How do Windows palettes work?
This is a very complicated subject. Windows reserves certain colors (usually the first and last ten colors) for its system colors. This is often one of the trickiest parts of developing Windows programs, but Fastgraph for Windows provides easy solutions to common palette problems. It integrates with the Windows palette manager to create and realize logical palettes. It offers automatic color reduction of BMP and PCX files if requested, and can apply the same color reduction methods to any rectangular area of a virtual buffer. In addition, the Fastgraph for Windows on-the-fly palette modification functions make it easy to perform palette animation and palette fades. See the Fastgraph for Windows manual for more information.

Can I use the Windows fonts?
Yes. Fastgraph for Windows string display functions work with both Windows stock fonts and logical fonts created from external font files such as TrueType fonts. Strings can be written directly to the program's client window, or to a virtual buffer.

Can I print a virtual buffer?
Yes. Fastgraph for Windows allows you to print any rectangular region of a virtual buffer and provides several ways to define the size of the resulting printed image.

What is Fastgraph/Fonts for Windows?
Fastgraph/Fonts for Windows is an add-on product that makes it easy to add bitmapped font support to Fastgraph for Windows applications. It includes 40 font files in several point sizes, font scaling and conversion utilities, and an interactive font editor. Requires Fastgraph for Windows.

What is Fastgraph/Image for Windows?
Fastgraph/Image for Windows is an add-on product that provides functions and utilities for managing resource files containing images and other files. While the product was designed to manage and display BMP, PCX, JPEG, AVI, FLI/FLC, and pixel run files stored in resource files, Fastgraph/Image can be used with any type of file, including bitmaps, text files, and Fastgraph/Fonts font files.

Besides making your product distribution cleaner, Fastgraph/Image resource files save disk space normally lost to disk sectoring. Fastgraph/Image comes with a library manager to conveniently add and remove files in a resource file. The resource files are indexed for quick access. Requires Fastgraph for Windows.

How much does Fastgraph for Windows cost?
Fastgraph for Windows costs $299. That includes a royalty-free license to use it in your programs. It includes libraries for all supported platforms and compilers, but it does not include the source code.

Fastgraph/Fonts for Windows and Fastgraph/Image for Windows are priced at $69 each.

Our Graphics Power Pack for Windows bundles Fastgraph, Fastgraph/Fonts, and Fastgraph/Image for $399, a savings of $38 over the individual product prices.

Specially-priced DOS and Windows bundles are available. Please see the price list page for additional information.

Are upgrades available?
Yes. We update Fastgraph frequently and make the improved code available for free in the form of downloadable patch files. Upgrades happen about once per year. Please see the price list for upgrade pricing information.

What about Fastgraph DOS customers?
Special discounts are available on Fastgraph for Windows for Fastgraph for DOS customers. Fastgraph 4.x/5.0 for DOS customers can purchase Fastgraph 6.0 for Windows for $199, and Fastgraph 2.x/3.x for DOS customers can purchase it for $249.

Is source code available?
Sure! Fastgraph source code is nice. Fastgraph is written in highly optimized, perfectly formatted assembly language. You are not going to see prettier assembly code than this very often. Call Ted or Diana at (702) 735-1980 if you want to talk about a source code license.

What about manuals?
Fastgraph for Windows comes with a detailed User's Guide (641 pages) and Reference Manual (371 pages) in both Adobe Acrobat (PDF) and Windows help formats.

What is your technical support policy?
We have always offered free technical support on Fastgraph products. Technical support is available by voice, fax, and email. Please note that while we are glad to provide Fastgraph technical support, we do not have the resources to provide general Windows programming help.